Mariam Nawaz Sharif has finally shrugged off her ailing father’s mantle and come into her own. Sitting center stage with PMLN President Shahbaz Sharif and ex-PMLN Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on either side, she stole the show exposing the dubious role of NAB Accountability Judge Arshad Malik in the conviction of Nawaz Sharif in the Avenfield Flats Reference that sent him to prison for ten years. It was, by all accounts, a forceful performance which has set the stage for a revival of the beleaguered PMLN’s fortunes in the face of a relentless assault by the government and Miltablishment. Last week, Mariam whipped up an impressive rally in Mandi Bahauddin without the key stalwarts of her party in attendance. Throughout her campaign, her tweet brigade has hogged social media with stinging barbs at the “selected” and “fake” prime minister.
The PTI government has responded by pressurizing the mainstream TV media to black out her presence. Three “errant” TV channels led by Channel 24HD were taken off air for showing her rally. Channel 24HD has cancelled a scheduled “Up, Close and Personal” interview with Mariam. Now the government has ordered NAB to file another case against her. But, instead of being cowed down, Mariam has warned that if she is dragged to the courts again in trumped up cases, she will exploit the opportunity to reveal the shady role of high functionaries of state organs in compelling Judge Malik to pronounce her father guilty.
In the new NAB case she is accused of submitting a fake Trust Deed in the Avenfield Reference. The maximum punishment for such an offence is six months. But she has already been awarded a seven-year sentence in the same case because the judge did not accept the validity of the Trust Deed. The case is also hollow on one critical ground. The NAB Ordinance specifically bars the judge from entertaining an application from NAB seeking a fresh conviction on any aspect of the case after 30 days of the pronouncement of the judgment, which was pronounced over a year ago.
Clearly, the aim of NAB is to intimidate and harass Mariam. The government has already stopped Nawaz Sharif from meeting visitors apart from core family members. It has also stopped him from receiving food from home even though he has charged the prison administration of “poisoning” him to aggravate his illness. Mariam has threatened to go on hunger strike outside Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore if these rules are not relaxed. The government has now allowed a family doctor to see Nawaz Sharif once a week. She has upped the ante by releasing another incriminating video against Judge Malik.
Shabaz Sharif is silent. But Mariam’s daring has compelled Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to stand up and be counted too. He has gauged the mood in “relevant quarters” and said that tenure extensions have not served the armed forces well in the past, therefore General Qamar Javed Bajwa, COAS, will not seek an extension in November this year. Ominously, though, he says the PTI government will fall before November.
Mariam’s courage is infectious. Respected voices in mainstream media are beginning to openly resist government diktats through PEMRA. Pressure is mounting on judges to thwart the blackmailing tactics of the Miltablishment. Even though many lawyers bodies have been bribed by the government (in the form of monetary grants by the Law Ministry) not to agitate against a cooked-up Reference in the Supreme Judicial Counsel against Qazi Faez Isa, the Supreme Court judge who has dared to chide various organs of the state for overstepping constitutional red lines, a majority are still geared up to defy.
Elsewhere, agitated business bodies have either shut shop or are threatening to strike against crippling IMF-dictated tax impositions while the public is groaning under the weight of double digit inflation following 40 per cent rupee devaluation in the first year of PTI government.
The combined might of the PTI government and the ubiquitous Miltablishment has not been able to consolidate the gains of the rigged elections of 2018 for two basic reasons. The “Selected” prime minister is clueless about how to select and manage his team. He has wasted one full year taking policy U-Turns and shuffling ministers, compelling the IMF to blame the PTI government no less than the PMLN for the current economic mess. He has also focused on hounding the PPP and PMLN instead of delivering on his good governance promises to the people. Worse, his tactics have forced the hitherto warring mainstream parties to join hands and try to oust him from power. The instability and uncertainty thus engineered has exposed the many fault lines in state and society and made the prospect of a “New Pakistan” full of doom and gloom.
Leaders are born in the crucible of resistance to tyranny, oppression and injustice. Like it or not, Mariam Nawaz Sharif is the new star on the horizon eclipsing Imran Khan.
The PTI government has responded by pressurizing the mainstream TV media to black out her presence. Three “errant” TV channels led by Channel 24HD were taken off air for showing her rally. Channel 24HD has cancelled a scheduled “Up, Close and Personal” interview with Mariam. Now the government has ordered NAB to file another case against her. But, instead of being cowed down, Mariam has warned that if she is dragged to the courts again in trumped up cases, she will exploit the opportunity to reveal the shady role of high functionaries of state organs in compelling Judge Malik to pronounce her father guilty.
In the new NAB case she is accused of submitting a fake Trust Deed in the Avenfield Reference. The maximum punishment for such an offence is six months. But she has already been awarded a seven-year sentence in the same case because the judge did not accept the validity of the Trust Deed. The case is also hollow on one critical ground. The NAB Ordinance specifically bars the judge from entertaining an application from NAB seeking a fresh conviction on any aspect of the case after 30 days of the pronouncement of the judgment, which was pronounced over a year ago.
Clearly, the aim of NAB is to intimidate and harass Mariam. The government has already stopped Nawaz Sharif from meeting visitors apart from core family members. It has also stopped him from receiving food from home even though he has charged the prison administration of “poisoning” him to aggravate his illness. Mariam has threatened to go on hunger strike outside Kot Lakhpat Jail in Lahore if these rules are not relaxed. The government has now allowed a family doctor to see Nawaz Sharif once a week. She has upped the ante by releasing another incriminating video against Judge Malik.
Shabaz Sharif is silent. But Mariam’s daring has compelled Shahid Khaqan Abbasi to stand up and be counted too. He has gauged the mood in “relevant quarters” and said that tenure extensions have not served the armed forces well in the past, therefore General Qamar Javed Bajwa, COAS, will not seek an extension in November this year. Ominously, though, he says the PTI government will fall before November.
Mariam’s courage is infectious. Respected voices in mainstream media are beginning to openly resist government diktats through PEMRA. Pressure is mounting on judges to thwart the blackmailing tactics of the Miltablishment. Even though many lawyers bodies have been bribed by the government (in the form of monetary grants by the Law Ministry) not to agitate against a cooked-up Reference in the Supreme Judicial Counsel against Qazi Faez Isa, the Supreme Court judge who has dared to chide various organs of the state for overstepping constitutional red lines, a majority are still geared up to defy.
Elsewhere, agitated business bodies have either shut shop or are threatening to strike against crippling IMF-dictated tax impositions while the public is groaning under the weight of double digit inflation following 40 per cent rupee devaluation in the first year of PTI government.
The combined might of the PTI government and the ubiquitous Miltablishment has not been able to consolidate the gains of the rigged elections of 2018 for two basic reasons. The “Selected” prime minister is clueless about how to select and manage his team. He has wasted one full year taking policy U-Turns and shuffling ministers, compelling the IMF to blame the PTI government no less than the PMLN for the current economic mess. He has also focused on hounding the PPP and PMLN instead of delivering on his good governance promises to the people. Worse, his tactics have forced the hitherto warring mainstream parties to join hands and try to oust him from power. The instability and uncertainty thus engineered has exposed the many fault lines in state and society and made the prospect of a “New Pakistan” full of doom and gloom.
Leaders are born in the crucible of resistance to tyranny, oppression and injustice. Like it or not, Mariam Nawaz Sharif is the new star on the horizon eclipsing Imran Khan.