There are three main aspects of Imran Khan’s public address. The first is its status as a political meeting… It was a political gathering and such gatherings have special significance at crucial stages in politics.
Admittedly, this was a huge and extraordinary gathering. One of the two largest PTI’s public meetings. A large number of people participated in it. It should be noted that the number was not in the thousands but in the millions. The important thing about the participants of the meeting is that thousands of people could not reach it and despite walking for many kilometers they could not find a place in the Parade Ground. This happens in extraordinary meetings.
A journalist friend who had gone from Lahore said that despite walking two kilometers, he could not reach the venue as there were so many queues of vehicles and the rally had actually spread for miles outside the parade ground. Well-known journalist, anchor Habib Akram says that he also covered the rally at Minar Pakistan on October 30, 2011, and also watched March 27’s rally at Parade Ground. According to him, the public rally was much bigger than the rally at Minar Pakistan. In this respect, it is one of the historic meetings of Pakistan.
I do not agree that the importance of politics is of the speeches and conversations that take place there and not of the participants. This does not happen in politics. In a situation where an opposition rally is to be held in Islamabad and there is a risk of a clash between the two sides, it is an important sign that millions of enthusiastic PTI workers have turned up for the rally.
It showed that the political power and credibility that Imran Khan had lost due to his poor performance, now he has taken advantage of the no-confidence motion and restored it. His activists and supporters are reconnected with him. As much as the opposition attacked with force, it helped bring PTI voters, especially the youth, closer to Imran Khan and try to thwart this attack.
The crowd was very charged, people waited patiently for hours at the Parade Ground and listened to all the speeches. Every political analyst who saw the crowd knows that it was a gathering of die-hard passionate political activists. What was said in the meeting is a very important aspect of any political meeting, what was said in it and what was the style. Key PTI leaders delivered speeches in their own way.
Of the allies, only Dr. Fehmida Mirza of GDA addressed and spoke well. It seems that only GDA is openly standing with PTI, MQM and PML-Q are engaged in bargaining and it is quite possible that their vote will go against Imran Khan. By the way, Sheikh Rashid also has his own party and he can be considered an ally in a way, although he is considered a part of PTI.
Speech of Imran Khan
The most important was the text of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speech. Surprises were repeatedly mentioned by him and his ministers. Almost all political circles were interested in knowing this surprise. Imran Khan’s speech had two parts. His speech lasted ninety minutes or one and a half hours. In the first hour he spoke in his usual traditional way. To a large extent, it was boring, full of uniformity and contained Khan Sahib’s traditional satire.
Khan made sarcastic remarks against his political opponents and especially the three main leaders of the opposition (Shahbaz Sharif, Asif Zardari and Maulana Fazlur Rehman), called them rats and everything that he has been saying for the last few months. He did, however, try to keep his political activists and supporters informed of his three-and-a-half-year government performance. He kept counting his government achievements, repeatedly saying that he did all this and if he collected more money, through tax collection then he would provide more facilities to the people and so on and so forth.
Last part of the speech
The last fifteen to twenty minutes of Imran Khan’s speech were very important. He described his “surprise” in it. Contrary to his habit, Imran Khan had written some things and read them very carefully. Many times he got stuck talking, maybe a line was dropped at the last minute. Imran Khan said those words very carefully.
What message was given?
Imran Khan said three or four things a little more openly, and in some envelopes. He said that a foreign conspiracy was being hatched against his government. He did not say who was conspiring, but he did say that external sources were working against him. He pointed out that some sources inside Pakistan were working on the agenda of foreign powers. He also termed the recent no-confidence motion of the opposition as part of the same conspiracy.
In Imran Khan’s view, the fabric of this foreign conspiracy is connected with these meetings of fugitive Nawaz Sharif. The Prime Minister has clearly stated that this conspiracy is being funded from outside and crores, billions of dollars are being spent for this purpose.
The Prime Minister has said more than once that we know who is bringing together these dissident opposition leaders.
Pointing to Bhutto, the Prime Minister said that since Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto had adopted an independent foreign policy of Pakistan, the United States had conspired against him and the opposition leaders of that time had joined hands in it. He told Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Nawaz Sharif that their parties namely JUI and Muslim League etc. did all this together.
After that, Imran Khan also satirized that those who hanged Bhutto have got Bhutto’s grandson and son-in-law with them. Both the killer and the victim have come together, he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that Imran Khan, knowingly or unknowingly, expressed skepticism over the PNA protest, the most important movement in Pakistan’s political history, and said what only PPP supporters in Pakistan have been saying. Remember that the protest movement was not on Bhutto’s foreign policy but on election rigging. The PNA’s demand was for new elections, but he did not criticize foreign policy.
Letter
One thing is for sure, it did not come from any intelligence. The intelligence agencies are directly accountable to the Prime Minister, the ISI and the IB. If this information or the details of the conspiracy had come from them, it would have reached the Prime Minister first and Shah Mehmood Qureshi would not have been the mediator. Shah Mehmood Qureshi is the Foreign Minister. Anything can come to them through any diplomatic means. Now there are only two options.
This letter is either a threatening message from a foreign government or the Foreign Ministry to the Government of Pakistan. Such messages are sent through diplomatic channels. They are usually told orally instead of in writing, but there can be such a letter. One option would be for the letter to be a message from a third country, rather than a direct threat from a foreign power, and an indication that if such and such a thing did not happen, then such and such a world power could do so. Such a message is also conveyed in a clear, somewhat ambiguous way, through a third country so that the direct intimidator is not blamed.
There may be a third option. This could be a message to the Foreign Minister from a Pakistani embassy instead of a direct letter from a foreign country. It is possible that one of our embassies has detected such a conspiracy from its own sources or has received information from diplomatic intelligence sources.
Naturally, such information is forwarded to the Foreign Minister through diplomatic channels which is conveyed to the Prime Minister.
After the meeting, the Foreign Minister shared on a TV channel that the military leadership was also taken into confidence on the threatening letter. However, he declined to comment further and did not answer the question of the reaction of the powers that be. The issue of this letter seems to be moving forward.
No-confidence motion
We will not have to wait long to find out what effect the meeting will have on today’s no-confidence motion. Apparently, Imran Khan seemed a little disappointed in this regard. Looks like he’s convinced he’s lost the numbers game. Therefore, in his speech, he did not make any triumphant claim regarding the no-confidence motion. His speech was like the speech of an opposition leader or a leader who is preparing for the next election.
The public meeting of Minar-e-Pakistan on October 30, 2011, is of great significance in the history of PTI. This meeting is also very important, to see if it can lead to the rebirth of the PTI.
