An aimless political movement

By Asheq Ali

In an atmosphere of political chaos, self-centered leaders have started Azadi March with the motto to save democracy, resolve Kashmir issue, reduce inflation, poverty etc. There are so many factors associated with this movement such regaining of the lost political ground, plans for future political maneuvering and uniting the opposition parties.

The frontline of Azadi March is led by Molana Fazlur Rehman, who lost his inherited seat in the general elections of 2018. The loss was so horrible for him that it closed every door of hope for the Molana. Firstly, he didn’t accept his defeat and from the first day dubbed the prime minister as “A threat to democracy.” Molana with no status inside the legislative body now has employed the traditional politics of agitation to save democracy with the support of teenage students of Madrassas. Is this a rational move? Is this a move to support the policies of Pakistan? The answer is ‘No’.

Secondly, the past governments left the state with drowning economy, each sector with billions of debt and deficits. The new government worked on accountability to recover the looted assets of the country; the political leaders of PPP, PML-N and JUI-F, pointed as political revenge, because they were involved in the process and their involvement in corruption was proved in courts. It is of no doubt that Inflation and poverty are increasing in the country. It’s because the elite class is not paying the tax and people under the poverty line suffer.

Moreover, as the ambassador of Kashmir the prime minister is raising the issue in every humanitarian platform, while opposition leaders particularly Molana, are blaming the government for dividing Kashmir. Molana had been the chairman of Kashmir committee twice but not a single time he had arranged a talk with Indian authorities.

Furthermore, our foreign office and establishment agencies have been busy in engaging the Indian government which is taking every step to blacklist Pakistan economically and impose a war on it. For a year the border tension has been growing and in such a situation protests within the country would stigmatize the image of Pakistan.

This movement is illegal because it is a direct challenge to Article 256 of the constitution which states “forbidden – No private organization capable of functioning as a military organization shall be formed, and any such organization shall be illegal.” This move offends the supreme law of the states as Molana has assembled its own military organization.

To conclude, Pakistan is facing economic issues with border tensions growing exponentially. In such circumstances, political turmoil must be avoided and the opposition leaders must sit with the government to talk on the future objectives of national interests.