The chicken has come home to roost.

Byline: Nighat Kamal Aziz

The ungainly sight of Maulana Fazal ur Rehman and his band of motley crew of soldiers might look like a comic sight, but in actual fact, it is no laughing matter. Maulana is no Robin Hood and his band of merry men, who have threatened to arrive on horseback, camelback or even donkeys, if need be, are a threat to be reckoned with as they have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Exploiting religion and using it for personal gains has been his mojo since long and he has become an expert in that field.

His following is large and can be mobilized easily.

When Imran Khan was riding his crest of popularity and aiming to come to power, by hook or by crook, many die-hard supporters and far-sighted people were against his tactics of mobilizing and encouraging street power, inciting civil disobedience and breaking laws to topple government.

PTI should have realized that in this age of media, every step and every word should be used with extreme caution as it goes into the archives and can be used as a tool by the opposition when the time is opportune.

New to power, Imran Khan dreamed to turn matters around with his sheer will and good intentions.

But politics is a dirty game where only good intentions do not run governments. It is unwise to make too many enemies and to antagonize them too much before you have consolidated yourself. It gives a reason to the opposition to join hands and attack like vultures to avenge the physical, emotional and verbal abuse that they have suffered.

It is human nature, after all.

Every word that PTI and its leaders used, every tactic that they applied to come to power , are now being used against them by none other than Maulana Fazal ur Rehman, a person known to be self-serving but who has a lot of clout and capability to mobilize street power . Whether the other political parties agree with his brand of politics or not, they are still rallying around him to create mischief for PTI.

The very same problems PTI created for them.

The chicken has come home to roost.

It is ironic to call Fazal ur Rehman a 'Maulana', a name used for Allah. In fact, he should be referred to as Maulvi instead of Maulana.

It is also ironic that he has already achieved much more success than he hoped for even before the march itself. Being perpetually in the limelight, all political parties toeing his line...