4 hours Ago
This must stop. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf is effectively waging a low-level insurgency against the legitimate government of Pakistan. Every few days, its leader from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leads mobs of party workers to key choke points in the cities of Punjab, blocking them in an attempt to provoke confrontations with the police, administration, and armed forces.
The aim appears to be to draw blood on both sides, creating images for television screens to garner more sympathy for the party. At present, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf may be doing as much damage to the country’s economy as militant groups, given that its actions are directly responsible for the repeated shutdowns of major economic hubs such as Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad, and Rawalpindi, as well as key arteries like the motorway and the GT road. There is no clear endgame.
The government cannot unilaterally withdraw cases currently being contested in court. If the government succumbs to public pressure today and releases a charged individual, it sets a dangerous precedent: tomorrow, anyone could gather a crowd to demand the release of a murderer, embezzler, or traitor. This slippery slope is highly perilous, and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf must recognise this.
Yet for the party, it seems that endless confrontation has become an end in itself. This destabilisation will not endear Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf to the public, nor to its main detractors in the government and key institutions such as the judiciary and the military. The party is merely making itself a larger nuisance, offering no tangible benefits or progress to the people it claims to represent.
With more protests planned in various cities, this movement risks evolving into a rolling insurgency, and it may now be time for the government to clamp down accordingly. The disruption to Pakistani citizens’ lives is intolerable. The damage to state property and symbols is intolerable.
The injuries and loss of life among servicemen, forced to confront their own countrymen, are intolerable. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf must cease this senseless violence, or it will soon find itself trapped in a cycle where only violence answers violence..
