The era of Baba Bulleh Shah was one of political and economic crisis; the rise and fall of power, the improvement and deterioration of law and order, and social fragmentation were described by him with great skill and beauty. When the season of emergency arrived, Bulleh Shah was remembered. What he said was about his own time, but it seems to be poetry applicable not to 3 centuries ago, but to today’s circumstances.
The times have turned upside down / Crows have started defeating roosters / Sparrows have eaten falcons / The times have turned upside down / The truthful are getting shoves / The liars are seated near [in power] / The times have turned upside down / O Bulleh, the command came from the Presence [on high] / Who can turn it away? / The times have turned upside down.
Bulleh Shah says, “Such times have come that crows have begun to overpower roosters, and sparrows falcons; those who speak the truth are having to endure shoves, while those who lie are seated near the holders of power. These times have completely changed, and O Bulleh, when the command comes from ‘above’, who can brush it aside? Completely upside-down times have arrived.” If one reads and understands Bulleh Shah’s verses carefully, the entire story of the enforcement of the emergency is understood. In the hybrid government, the mutual partnership that is running between politics and the establishment—first, (PML-)N delayed the emergency for many days, then the People’s Party entered the arena and tried on its part to delay or postpone it, but who can reverse what is destined? According to Bulleh Shah, the command came from the Presence, meaning the command came from the heavens, so its implementation was bound to happen. Now it remains to be seen what the political, administrative, and social effects of the simultaneous enforcement of the emergency and governor’s rule will be. Politically, the most important thing is that Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) as a political party has completely exited the national system. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s government remained with PTI for approximately 13 years; excluding the caretaker government, PTI’s such long governance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a record in itself. During this period, Pervez Khattak, Mahmood Khan, Ali Amin Gandapur, and Sohail Afridi performed the duties of Chief Minister one after another. During his tenure, Pervez Khattak made PTI a strong political platform through politics and development works; Mahmood Khan’s condition was slightly better than Punjab’s Buzdar, but during that era, it was merely a passing phase, and no major feat or work could be accomplished. After the 2024 elections, Ali Amin Gandapur was nominated as Chief Minister by Imran Khan. Gandapur proved to be a political magician; on one hand, with his flute, he kept soothing the cobras and female snakes present within PTI, while on the other hand, he kept the pythons inside the powerful ones convinced through sweet tunes. But his magic could not last long either. The flute’s tune with which he had tamed the cobras and female snakes fell victim to a female snake’s uproar and anger. Then Sohail Afridi came. Prisoner 804’s wish was that the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa should neither be a magician nor play the flute, but rather become a python himself and attack the opposition government and the establishment. Afridi first played the magic flute, but the pressure was so great that he soon broke the flute and became a python. He knew that pythons can quickly become prey, but he considered political martyrdom better than murder, so he chose just that, and now, even by falling victim to the emergency, he has become greater in politics than before. As Chief Minister, the federal government and establishment institutions had already pulled the ground out from under his feet, and he was no longer capable of delivering anything, which is why he only wanted political martyrdom, which he got. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government was also a safe haven for PTI leaders across the country, and the Chief Minister sitting there was, in any case, their economic and political shield. Since the Chief Minister was a part of the system of power, PTI’s problems and its stance were present in every meeting. Presence inside the system is very important; complete knockout from the system after 13 years is a major blow for PTI.
On the other hand, the suspension of the elected government and the enforcement of governor’s rule along with the announcement of an emergency could be a precursor to a very major crisis. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s largest political party is PTI; when it was in government, there was at least a political mandate in the fight against the Taliban. After the end of the PTI government, they are absolved of this responsibility, so now they will openly support the Taliban and militants and increase verbal opposition to the operation. The political paternity of the operation will now be federal rather than provincial. Regarding the operation, the way Awami National Party (ANP) stood with the establishment, PTI never did. Almost every ANP leader was targeted by assassination attempts by the Taliban; PTI’s Chief Minister, ministers, and members of assembly never became targets of the Taliban in this manner due to their weak and soft stance. After the enforcement of the emergency, governmental boundaries and constraints on them will end, and they will openly give verbal support to the Taliban and openly oppose the operation.
After the enforcement of the emergency, the country’s political situation has become even more severe. Any attempt at reconciliation, compromise, or running the state together with PTI has completely failed. Apparently, it feels that in the matter of enforcing the emergency, the establishment, (PML-)N, and the People’s Party have all come onto the same page and carried out this most difficult political action through mutual consultation. Although all three appeared united on the matter of PTI and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, despite their mutual apparent agreement, their mutual differences remain hidden beneath the carpet. The matter of new provinces is the most important issue; there is news of President Zardari holding some very high-level meetings. In these meetings, new provinces and several alternative proposals for them were discussed. Despite Bilawal Bhutto’s strong oppositional statements, President Zardari is meeting one or the other most important individual of the system every day. Although no formula for resolving these differences has come to the forefront yet, it seems that continuous negotiations on this matter are underway. The atmosphere of negotiations is not bitter but friendly; however, there is still a vast distance or difference in the positions of both parties.
When I turned to Bulleh Shah for the upheaval of political conditions, Bulleh Shah justified it by saying “the command came from the Presence.” Call it what one may, this is neither a normal political process nor a normal political era. The enforcement of emergency and governor’s rule are signs of extraordinary crisis conditions. Remember that crises are ultimately resolved through negotiations, and the key to making negotiations successful is flexibility. The enforcement of emergency is the failure of flexibility and the victory of stubbornness and ego.