POLITICAL rhetoric is entering a danger zone. With rallies and jalsas taking place every day, all leaders have ample opportunity to scale up their tempo by going after their opponents. Now the government has also ratcheted up its war of words against the opposition alliance PDM and Prime Minister Imran Khan is himself leading the charge. First in Swat and then in Hafizabad on Saturday, the prime minister addressed political rallies thinly disguised as the launch of schemes. At both venues, the prime minister resorted to incendiary speechmaking and accused the PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif of attempting to incite mutiny in the armed forces. He also said Mr Sharif was trying to bring about a coup. Coming from a prime minister, such words are not only irresponsible, they are also alarming for their possible consequences. The government has adopted an approach that can only create further fissures in an already fractured polity. It is expected of the government to work towards stabilising the system by cooling political temperatures instead of aggravating them further.

Whoever is advising the prime minister to adopt this course of action is doing him and his government no favours. In any case, the prime minister should be the last person to speak about mutiny. After all, during his dharna days it was he who advocated repeatedly that citizens should not pay their utility bills as a mark of civil disobedience. He had also said time and again that overseas Pakistanis should not send their remittances through regular banking channels and should instead use hawala and hundi to transfer money. This amounted to rebelling against the state system and was deemed irresponsible in the extreme. The prime minister should recall his own words before hurling accusations at the opposition today. When Mr Sharif had criticised the establishment as a whole, he was accused of attacking the institution, and when he criticised individuals he is now being accused of fanning mutiny. There is a clear contradiction in this logic.

There would be no need for any such controversy if the establishment kept away from politics and concentrated on its primary job. This is what PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari also referred to in his interview with BBC which has stirred a controversy. In fact, in some ways his position is fairly close to that of Nawaz Sharif. The difference is that he has kept his criticism of the establishment’s political role more generalised whereas Mr Sharif has named names. The basic thrust of the argument, however, remains valid. Mr Bhutto-Zardari has in many ways justified Mr Sharif’s position by saying that as a thrice-elected prime minister, he knows what he is saying and why he is saying it. However, in today’s polarised and charged atmosphere, nuances get lost in the constant noise of shouting. All leaders need to weigh their words carefully.

Published in Dawn, November 9th, 2020