Does Imran know about Civil Disobedience?

By Syed Atiq ul Hassan

The aim of the civil disobedience movement in any state is to paralyse the functionaries of the government so that the rulers are forced to quit the government. The functionaries of the government can only be paralysed when the entire nation is united on one-point agenda of overthrow the government. Therefore, civil disobedience is a systematic campaign and used as the last resort of the campaign against any government.  Before declaring civil disobedience the leader mobilises people, create momentum by executing various options to oust the government for example; close down commercial centres, stop working in government offices, hunger strike by prominent leadership and so on.  Until yesterday, Imran Khan was demanding the resignation of the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif and for this he brought the mob close to the red zone of Islamabad. Now if he had to eventually call for the civil disobedience then why he put himself, his team and followers in extreme adversities of long march from Lahore to Islamabad, the civil disobedience could have been announced from Zaman Park Lahore. The fact of the matter is that Imran demonstrated charismatic character of gathering youth through patriotic songs and speeches and it all worked well but when a stage came of showing the mental toughness in making fearless and dangerous decision Imran failed to control his nerves.

In Pakistani politics where the followers and party workers never accept the mistakes of their leaders, PTI workers would not expose the regrets they had yesterday but fact of the matter is that Imran Khan shocked media analysts, reporters and news makers who were struggling to find what was the headline of Imran’s speech and millions of those heartfelt Pakistanis who were expecting Imran Khan to be the man of saving Pakistan and People of Pakistan from corrupt politicians and rulers.

The game has not finished yet, Imran Khan can restart his inning, he can come back into the game by sticking to his demands doesn’t matter on what cost he, his team and his party workers have to pay. Secondly, Imran should learn flexibility and acceptance of others, he should join Allama Tahir-ul-Qadri, firmly standing on his demands; he has experience, mental toughness and committed workers.