Selective Justice Is No Justice______ Imran Khan!

PTI displayed its political strength by staging a protest rally at D Chowk Islamabad over the alleged rigging in the general elections of 2013.  Although PTI`s stance about rigging in elections is not new at all, this took a new turn when Imran Khan openly accused the former Chief Justice Iftekhar Muhammad Chaudhry as well as GEO and Jang group of being involved in the rigging.

If Imran Khan`s charge is true that May 11th`s elections were completely rigged, then is it logical to keep taking political benefits from the KPK government, which also resulted from the same elections? Should PTI not have decided to resign from the provincial government of KPK even before announcing the protest campaign? Or perhaps, just like the sit-ins in KPK against the NATO containers, the PTI`s KPK government would clarify that it has nothing to do with the protest of a political party (PTI) over rigging?

It may be true that PTI might have got affected by rigging in the elections, but it was not only PTI at all. The ugliest part of the 2013`s elections was witnessed by the entire world when  the banned outfit Thereek-e-Taliban Pakistan played a vital in the elections to bring their supporting parties (namely PTI, PML-N and Jama-e-Islami) come into power. TTP not just threatened, but proved it by targeting the election offices and public gatherings of PPP, MQM and ANP during the election campaign which took dozens of lives of their workers and leaders. As a result of which, PPP, MQM and ANP could not run their election drives even in their own political forts which directly benefitted specific political and religious parties which were in the good book of Taliban. It was, no doubt, a predeclared “Dhandhla” in the 2013`s elections whose beneficiaries were exclusively PTI and PML-N.

The question is, why did “Kaptaan”, who claimed to be an honest leader, keep playing the match against the teams whose hands had already been tied on back so as to give a free hand to his team? Taking into account the match being so openly fixed, should he not have boycotted it by taking his team back to the dressing room?  

God knows the best if Geo and Jang group were really involved in rigging in elections against PTI. However, Imran Khan seems to be right while complaining about a media group for giving more coverage to PML-N. But, where he looks to be wrong is that he is comparing the media coverage given to his party with that of PML-N. If he impartially analyses the role of media especially GEO and Jang group against PPP and MQM in comparison to PTI and PML-N, he would then come to know who actually got negatively affected by the media propaganda and who turned out to be its real beneficiaries.

To tell the truth, it was the media coverage due to which it appeared as if the elections were being held only in Punjab and that the real competition was going on only between PTI and PML-N. Perhaps, the rest parties were only “independent and individual” candidates who were only fulfilling the formality by running their election campaigns. Furthermore, if more coverage from Geo and Jang group was a plan of rigging to help PML-N win against PTI, then what name should be given to the media trial targeting PPP and MQM during the elections who were the political rivals of PTI and PML-N? Should that also not be termed as a part of rigging in favor of PTI and PML-N?

Above all these, Imran Khan`s biggest accusation on the former Chief Justice Supreme Court of Pakistan of being involved in the election rigging was of a very serious nature. Like other charges, if it is assumed that what IK claimed about the former CJP is true, can Iftkhar Muhammad Choudhry anyhow be considered as a neutral judge? When logically no, then what about the honesty and impartiality in his judgments given as the head of judiciary during his tenure? Most of the verdicts given especially in the cases from NRO to Rental Power and from Memogate to Karachi-violence, had raised very serious questions over their legality as well as constitutionality. But, Imran Khan, instead of showing his concern over the controversies emerging about the “neutral umpire”, not only appreciated those verdicts, but also announced to declare any imminent retaliation as an attack on judiciary.

The question is, why has he taken a U-turn about CJP now? Just because of the reason that previously the victims were his political opponents and this time he himself feels to have been affected? More importantly, should all his accusation and criticism on the former Chief Justice of Supreme Court not be construed as an attack on judiciary?

Honestly speaking, if Imran Khan had raised his voice in time over all the injustice done even to his political rivals, he would have truly proved his slogan of “justice for all”. But, very unfortunately, by following “enemy`s enemy is our friend”, he became the part and parcel of the foul play and, thus, damaged his own image on whose basis he was being welcome all over the country. This is the only reason why his stance over rigging has been limited only to the political stunt of a rival party of the government.

Therefore, if Imran Khan really wants to be a real national leader, he will have to put himself above his political interests and will have to raise his voice over any injustice against anyone including his opponents. Otherwise, he will remain only a head of a political party who cannot bring the entire nation on one page on any issue.