One
cannot be faulted for assuming that Difa-e-Pakistan Council comprise of officials
of defence ministry, four star generals and decorated admirals who wish to
ponder over the defense needs of the country and make major strategic decisions.
To find out that it is actually a motley crew of 40 odd religious parties,
banned terrorist outfits like Jamaatud Dawa (JuD), a few other political has
beens like Sheikh Rasheed and Ijaz-ul-Haq, and the former spy master Hameed Gul
among others can be shocking. To figure out what it stands for can be even more
astounding. Let’s try and figure it out by asking a few questions.
So
what does this Council stands for? According to Hafiz Saeed of the JuD, it is a
coalition with the aim to “defend
Pakistan”. What do they actually do apart from claiming to defend the
country? Not much besides holding rallies in different cities and threatening
the government of dire consequences if their demands are not met.
What
are those dire consequences? Chaos, anarchy and suicide
bombings. But don’t we have them – anarchy, chaos and suicide bombings – already?
Yeah, but they have promised to upscale the operations if their demands are not
met.
And
what are those demands? For starters, they want the parliament to not restore
NATO supply lines. But those supply lines have always been open and were
blocked only a few weeks back, why this sudden realization that it undermines
the sovereignty of the country? Well, it is better late than never, isn’t it?
What
else do they want, surely they cannot spend millions of rupees on all those
public gatherings to seek that government does not restore the Nato supply
lines? The ultimate goal is to severe all diplomatic, cultural, political and
economic ties with United States of America. Errr, can our country survive this
ultimate isolation? Most probably not, but the Council would surely like the
government to try that. Is it Just USA that they want to do away with or has
any other country faced a similar wrath? They hate India just as much and are
angry with the government for awarding them Most Favoured Nation status.
But
by regularizing trade with India, the government will not only discourage cross
border smuggling of goods but will also benefit from taxes and duties levied on
the imports which can be used for public welfare, surely that cannot be bad?
Difa-e-Pakistan Council is not concerned with public good, According to its
chairman, “the council’s sole agenda was to ensure the integrity and
sovereignty of Pakistan.”
What
legitimacy do they have, if any, to demand all that? Between the 40 parties and
organizations of Difa-e-Pakistan council, only JUI-F is in the parliament and
they too have only 8 seats. One can surely figure out their legitimacy by their
underwhelming electoral performance. They, of course, would like to think
otherwise. According to Maulana Sami-ul Haq, Chairman Difa-e-Pakistan Council,
their gatherings
are a clear message to US and it is a referendum for the government of Pakistan
to immediately reconsider relations and foreign policy for US and its allies.
Does
any of it make any sense at all? Not really, but then our politics has never
been about logic, finding solutions and peace and harmony. It has always been
about rhetoric, confusion, demagoguery and posturing and Difa-e-Pakistan
Council is doing one hell of a job of it.
First published in The Express Tribune
