The public is often surprised that everyone meets Imran Khan in Adiala, but the name of the party’s Vice Chairman Shah Mehmood Qureshi is not heard of by any of his visitors, nor have the PTI chairman or his nominated leaders and lawyers ever mentioned Multani Makhdoom’s name by mistake. The latest situation is that apparently neither Shah Mehmood Qureshi has any contact with the authorities nor does the PTI leadership give him a lift. Be it Shah Mehmood or Ijaz Chaudhry, Mahmood Rashid or Yasmin Rashid, all of them have been in prison continuously since May 9, but they are not even consulted in any decision of the PTI. Apparently, neither the PTI nor Imran Khan has any disagreement with Shah Mehmood Qureshi. Apparently, neither Shah Mehmood Qureshi has spoken out on every decision of the PTI nor has he formed any group, nor has he apologized to the authorities nor has he received any concessions, but apparently despite his loyalty, the captain must have some doubts about him, which is why Shah Mehmood Qureshi is being unnecessarily ignored.

It is true that the record of the Makhdoom Qureshi family of Multan was not exemplary in political loyalty. Shah Mehmood Qureshi started politics as a young man with the IJI or today’s Non-Profit League. He was a member of the Punjab cabinet. His father Sajjad Qureshi was also the governor of Punjab with the same party and with the patronage of General Zia-ul-Haq. He left Nawaz Sharif over a ticket dispute and joined the PPP. He also included his entire family in the PPP. Mohtarma Benazir made him a federal minister. During General Musharraf’s martial law, he remained in the PPP but he was also in touch with General Musharraf behind the scenes. After the assassination of Benazir Bhutto, when the PPP government was formed under the leadership of the second Multan Makhdoom Yousaf Raza Gilani, Shah Mehmood Qureshi was made the Foreign Minister, but then his differences with Yousaf Raza Gilani started increasing and he became close to the ISI chief at that time, General Pasha. Finally, he refused to accept the federal ministry using the Raymond Davis incident as an excuse and thus, with the help and cooperation of General Pasha, he joined the new project of the ruling party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, with drums and cymbals. When Imran Khan’s government was formed, he was made the Foreign Minister in the matter of the cipher, he was at the forefront of Imran Khan’s homophobic and anti-American narrative. Apparently, he is completely loyal to Imran Khan till date, he even won the election from Multan while in jail, but despite this, there is a suspicion about him in the minds of the party ranks and the leadership that he can be brought in as an alternative leadership any day. This suspicion is based on the illusion that Shah Mehmood Qureshi has changed loyalties many times in the past. The Makhdoom family has always been a favorite of the powerful and Qureshi Sahib can be showered with favors at any time. Shah Mehmood Qureshi has more political experience than the entire leadership of the PTI. He is skilled in dealing with powerful and political people. He holds the most important position in the party after Imran Khan. Shah Mehmood has personal connections with all the feudal families of Punjab and Sindh and he also has political influence in many constituencies of Sindh and Punjab. Apparently, these things show the political importance of Shah Mehmood Qureshi, but in the internal politics of the PTI, these same things work against him. The propaganda is that if Shah Mehmood Qureshi becomes strong, he will form his own faction, betray Khan or cause some big loss. The way Shah Mehmood Qureshi has stood firm in the last 3 years, it seems that Shah Mehmood Qureshi has not even considered any other option except resistance. And according to his Multani supporters, Shah is standing firm!

Historically, the role of the Qureshi Makhdoom family of Multan has been extremely important and controversial in many respects.

This Suhrawardi family has also had the honor of being the Sheikh-ul-Islam of Muslim rulers. They are also accused of supporting the British in the 1857 War of Independence, lobbying against the freedom fighter Rai Ahmad Khan Kharal, and then the then Makhdoom Shah Mahmood Qureshi had a big hand in his martyrdom and failure (the current Shah Mahmood Qureshi was named after his elder brother). On the other hand, when the Sikhs attacked Multan, the Qureshi Makhdoom of Multan supported the Muslim Nawab of Multan, Muzaffar Khan. The old Nawab Muzaffar Khan was martyred along with his young sons and daughter. The Nawab asked in his will to build his tomb at the gate through which those who greet the court of Hazrat Zakaria Multani have to pass by placing their feet on the grave of Nawab Muzaffar Khan. It seems that the role of Makhdoom Qureshi in the resistance against the Sikhs was historical.

The tragedy of Shah Mehmood Qureshi seems to be that despite his sacrifices, Captain Khan and his blind devotees are not ready to trust him, even though Shah Mehmood Qureshi, if given the chance, would have taken some political path. He has also been active in the ARD and has a lot of experience in political manipulation.

Tehreek-e-Insaf is definitely a popular party in the country, but firstly, it does not accept the state, secondly, there is not a single reasonable person in its leadership who knows the art or skill of bringing the situation back to normal. They all make up numbers, they have arranged to keep the captain in jail with their false battles, they abuse him, their anger comes out on the captain. How can they be supporters or loyalists who have no choice but to cause trouble to Khan? Either they are all so senseless that they are unable to get Khan out, or they are all so wise that they do not let Khan out because if Khan comes out, those who show off on TV every day will have to disappear. The Trump card is gone. Before that, the court card, the general card, the IMF card, the opposition card, the sit-in card have all failed. Now try the Shah Mahmood card and see….