Political maturity and politics of agitation.

Hard to be a bystander. May 9, 2023 would indeed be a black day in the institutional and political history of Pakistan, when leaders of the PTI that ruled Pakistan for over three years actively encouraged its rank and file to attack, ransack, loot and plunder police, government and military installations all across Pakistan. This included the revered Jinnah House in Lahore Cantt, the official residence of Corps Commander, while the Army exercised utmost restraint.

This day would also be remembered for how low politics has stooped in Pakistan, evaporating any veneer of maturity and consolidation, that one hoped was earned all these years by the stalwarts of PTI. It would also be remembered for PTI's public flareup against its own national and volunteer Army that continues to fight terrorism under the most trying conditions. And it would be remembered for how misguided and venomous the Party rank and file had become, after being poisoned regularly and incessantly through PTI leadership's tirades against their own Army, and by skillful social media teams, penetrated undoubtedly by hostile agencies.

All this was for what? For the Army presumably responsible for engineering PTI's ouster from power in April 2022, under the watch of the then Army chief, with no involvement of the larger field Army. To put the record straight, even that vote of no confidence was possible by PTI's own 20 odd members crossing the floor.

The firestorm was triggered by Imran Khan's arrest in one of the many cases, just like other political leaders were arrested in the past. But those leaders' supporters never torched Jinnah House or attacked its own military like the PTI did. When political scenarios are debated, many PTI supporters draw a comparison between IK/PTI and the 'corrupt cabal' of PDM, to plead IK's case. Sadly, today under PTI's agitational politics of jalao-gherao, the PDM stands tall. Realising the backlash from the silent majority of Pakistan on this overreach, the PTI is now trying to spin facts by dubbing the mob-violence as the handiwork of PDM and/or the Military. No soldier worth his salt would allow ransacking of his bedroom, under any political expediency whatsoever, at the hands of hooligans, entering his residence illegally with no regard for chaadar and chaardiwari. Military veterans of all political affiliations can vouch for this. This single, brazen and indefensible overreach will haunt PTI forever.

The direction of agitation also smears of...