IT was not a quiet weekend by any stretch. The PTI, like Downton Abbey’s dowager countess, is unfamiliar with the idea of a weekend, as it continued its long march and Imran Khan’s media appearances.

Meanwhile, the PML-N remained busy with its lengthy huddle in London. Were they discussing an interim government or the appointment that has us all bamboozled? Only those in the know would have the answer to this. But in all this noise, there was a story noticed by only a few — about yet another film being banned.

Joyland, which has been internationally acclaimed, and passed by some local censor boards, was stopped by a notification issued by the Ministry of Information, which is with the PML-N.

Read: Is Joyland facing curbs for humanising transpersons?

News stories report a senator from a religio-political party may have played a role in this decision. But considering how highly religio-political parties are ranked by those criticising this decision, the flak will be aimed at the Ministry of Information and the PML-N; Marriyum Aurangzeb holds the portfolio.

But in this barrage of questions and criticism, the incident simply underlines how far the PML-N has come in this short year.

Indeed, while we may not be able to agree on who is good for this country and who is not; who should be in power and who shouldn’t; who can or cannot run the economy — on which there is little agreement even within parties — few would disagree that the PML-N has lost the most from the April vote of no-confidence. Nope, it is not you-know-who.

It seems as if the PML-N has thrown it all away in the past six months.

Even the party cannot deny it and it doesn’t. The riyasat and siyasat line and the struggle and infighting to fix the economy and the dollar, which is interchangeable for some, has taken its toll on the party’s ‘political capital’.

Read more: Ministry warns of rising inflation, tough economic conditions ahead

This has been discussed to death and conceded by some in the party also. This much is evident by the spate of by-elections it struggled in and tried to explain away. So much so, that many are now publicly stating that the vote of no-confidence was a bad choice, forced on the party by namaloom afraad.

But in this focus on the seats the PML-N is losing, the other loss experienced by the party is going unnoticed — the party’s human rights record, which the notification about Joyland has simply highlighted. And to understand this, the PML-N’s past rebranding needs a bit of recounting.

Like other parties, the PML-N, did not cover itself in glory in its first two terms, when it was more than comfortable projecting a conservative, rather illiberal image. Fights with the media, decisions making it mandatory for women to cover their heads when appearing on state-owned television, attacks on the Supreme Court — these were some of the key decisions which defined the PML-N’s image in the 1990s.

Post-2008, however, their leadership made a concerted effort to move away from this 1990s image.

The five years that the party was limited to Lahore, it made a concerted effort to win over the right liberal circles. And after 2013, this effort became rather visible.

The new inductions in the party of women who didn’t necessarily conform to the image of the party, and younger, non-traditional politicians was immediately visible. As were important symbolic gestures such as holding the screening of Sharmeen Obaid Chinoy’s film at PM House.

Also read: By-poll results: Blow to PML-N’s political capital, some chinks in the PTI armour

These were not disconnected events. And neither was Nawaz Sharif’s decision as prime minister to attend Diwali celebrations and make a speech there. At the same time, the party projected itself as one which ‘respected’ institutions, helped along by the PTI which kept walking in and out of parliament.

It was a new PML-N; one that seemed to be as much a part of the post-9/11 world and Pakistan as its earlier incarnation belonged in the post-Zia era.

These credentials were simply burnished as the party struggled with the loss of power in 2018. The victimisation by NAB and other cases, the emergence of a young woman among the leadership and its rhetoric about press freedom as well as the rights of minorities. Again, the PTI government simply helped the PML-N build this image by providing a contrast.

However, it seems as if the party has thrown it all away in the past six months, along with the political capital everyone is focused on.

From the crackdown in Lahore on the eve of the PTI’s long march, to arrests and allegations of torture, a lot has been thrown at the PML-N and much of it has stuck. Partly because the party has made no effort to distance itself from the events.

If sedition cases were registered and people picked up, government officials came on screen and owned up to the acts. If journalists were hounded and channels blocked, they defended the decisions.

The interior minister, Rana Sanaullah, even seemed to relish the use of tear gas on PTI activists in interviews. And while he does get a fair share of this blame, others have not been far behind.

The party is now not above playing the religious card, implying and even saying outright that Imran Khan is guilty of blasphemy, four years after having been on the receiving end of similar allegations.

Indeed, in their eagerness to appear to be in charge, the PTI’s record on human rights is being forgotten as the Noonies take up the cudgels on behalf of the state, security and national interest.

After all, let’s also not forget the party, which spent three years regretting having passed the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, has now amended the law to make it worse. And while it promises to take the amendments to parliament, there is no clarity on what the status is right now.

Unfortunately, there is little evidence the party is aware of this, as it continues to simply fret over its loss of political capital. But the latter might be far easier to regain; just one five-year term in these economic conditions may stem the political reversals but the memories of its statements, press conferences and notifications will last much longer.

The writer is a journalist.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2022