Thanks to the ever-increasing reach of social media in Pakistan, most of us have by now seen the utterly deplorable and ridiculous acts of harassment carried out by supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan in London against the former Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa and his family.
Chief Justice Isa was in London on an invitation from The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple — one of the four Inns of Court of Law in London — to be admitted as a Bencher, a high honour for a jurist wherever he or she may be.
Instead of celebrating such an achievement, we saw a despicable display from PTI supporters, who, on more than one occasion, chased and harassed ex-chief justice Isa, his wife and other family members - even as they were driven in a vehicle to and from the Middle Temple in Central London.
The group of supporters who did this were the usual gang of assorted buffoons and for-hire protesters who have, in the past, also carried out similar protests.
On the face of it, they are led by a young man who claims to be a law student and who has in the past been questioned for his actions by the London police and who was also sued by the very people whom he had accused of engaging in acts of corruption in Pakistan. In that court case in London, the young man in question lost all arguments, so much so that his lawyer had to take the line of argument in court that his client was mentally disturbed and that the court should take a lenient view of his actions. It should be mentioned here that the college where this young man was previously studying at, had also taken action against him for these very antics.
The former prime minister has three children who live in London and have never been seen at any of these protests. The obvious question to ask here would be, "Why not?". And the answer to that is not hard to figure out
Of course, it goes without saying that people such as this young man should be in college or university and spend their time in constructive activities — and if they feel so strongly about stamping out corruption in their homeland (some would argue that the homeland should be the UK and not Pakistan) then they should return to their homeland and fight it in person instead of running after vehicles on the streets of London.
It also needs to be pointed out that while in the past the PTI used to distance itself from such acts of harassment by its supporters in London, this time it seems to have wholeheartedly embraced it with PTI's former federal overseas minister Zulfi Bukhari and others taking selfies with the protesters. There is also a video clip available on social media which shows a close confidante of Imran Khan telling the young man who had led the protests exactly what to do and where.
What is telling in all of this is the fact that the former prime minister has three children who live in London and have never been seen at any of these protests. The obvious question to ask here would be, "Why not?". And the answer to that is not hard to figure out. As many have suspected, actions which appear ridiculous and will appeal only to the base instincts of the party's supporters - but also possibly invite attention from the UK police — are better to be done by those who occupy the lowest rung on the social ladder; or by those who will do it for a small fee. The latter possibility has been mentioned by several journalists based in the UK as well and is lent credence by the recent videos of the leader of the protesters being briefed and advised by a UK-based PTI leader who is known to have funded such protests in the past as well.
Either way, the actions of the past few days only reinforce the popular perception among neutral observers that the party stands for bullying and harassment of the worst kind. While those who indulge in such acts claim to be carrying them out to "protect democracy" in Pakistan, they are anything but that and indicative that they are part of the cult and that any action is valid as long as it pleases and has the approval of the cult leader.