Reviving The Original PTI.

It was the best of times; it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness'. The Minar-e-Pakistan has witnessed it all. It was there on October 30, 2011 that PTI emerged as a major political force mainly due to the relentless struggle of the Kaptaan together with his 'Comrades of Change'. After scaling the peak of popularity, the party moved for another show of strength at the Mazar-e-Quaid on December 25, 2011. After a period of merely 56 days, the players on the main stage had been changed. Those who had struggled and scaled heights with the leader were relegated to a lower level. After another successful jalsa, the old and the new leadership got together for a dinner arranged by comrade Ahsan Rashid, the 'Chou-En-Lai' of the movement. It proved to be the proverbial last supper for the genuine ideologues. The party had been hijacked. While the Kaptaan was euphoric, the comrades were disappointed.

Unfortunately, Ahsan sb lost his battle with cancer. Naeem-Ul-Haq remained close to the Kaptaan but he too passed away, leaving the field open. Omer Cheema, an old party ideologue, boldly fought back, but his efforts were thwarted. President Arif Alvi is holding the fort well despite his limited powers. The nuts and bolts of the party were put together by comrade Ahsan sb, who was one of the six founding members of the movement. He was heading an oil company in Jeddah, he returned to lead the party in Punjab on the special invitation of the Kaptaan. He worked honestly, tirelessly and selflessly to build the much-needed infrastructure. It was under his leadership that think tanks were organised to formulate policies, and a sixteen-member shadow cabinet was announced. After day-long deliberations the first 100-day plan was also prepared. All the homework was in place to implement the much-needed change but then the pandemic of the electables hit the party. The old guard resisted, but their protests were overruled and muffled. Dr Shireen Mazari left the party in protest, to return later. The most prepared party of change after Bhutto's People's Party of the seventies was offered on a platter to the soldiers of the status-quo. While the chairman was spared, Ahsan sb came under attack. He was made to lose the elections of President Punjab and then a conspiracy was hatched to deny him the seat of the provincial assembly from Lahore to block his elevation as Chief Minister. The election tribunal under Justice Wahjudin...