After Asia Bibi’s acquittal

IMRAN Ahmed Khan Niazi got a second chance to redeem himself as Prime Minister with the Asia Bibi judgment. This is an opportunity he grabbed with a state-of-the-nation address where he put the mullahs opposing the judgment on notice. In September, the newbie PM had muffed up the first opportunity by giving in to demands of the mullahs to exclude a noted economist but an Ahmadi from his economic advisory council. In the Asia Bibi case, the mullahs might have left their flanks open by calling for the murder of Supreme Court judges and urging all ‘Muslims’ in the Pakistan army to revolt against the apex court’s judgment. With the army apparently by his side, Imran Khan, on the other hand, had secured his flanks.

If the desultory action by the zealots in the bazars of Pakistan is an indication, Imran might have the upper hand so far. His stern and unyielding address with smart juxtaposition of Islamic ideals may have struck the right note with the masses. In one stroke, Khan endeared himself to the West, but also assuaged Beijing’s concerns about the overflow of radical Islam from Pakistan into Xinxiang province after the operationalising of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Khan’s backing for the legislature has important lessons here in India where the Supreme Court’s handling of Sabarimala and Ram temple cases is being questioned on the streets. In both cases, the protagonists are hamare log. But Khan has drawn a clear line between dissent and hooliganism by observing that ‘the thugs cannot hijack this country in the name of Islam and they will be treated accordingly if they mess with the state’. Since the mullahs are the Pakistan army’s strategic assets much like gau rakshaks are indispensible for the Hindutva forces here, it remains to be seen if Imran’s divorce from them is irrevocable. But the stirrings of a ‘Naya Pakistan’ are in the air. If Imran stays the course , not only Pakistan, but also the region will benefit.