Stop this joke! 

He was asking in a confused tone, What happened?

How did this happen? I asked, What happened? A friend associated with a foreign broadcasting organization was saying on the phone that you have spoiled my house. I did not understand anything. What is behind his anger and complaint? 

He asked that you not watch TV. I told him that my papers often come very late. Even today, they came around ten o’clock. I was reading a book written by Bob Woodward, who called Donald Trump the “wrong man” for the United States and the president. It was very inappropriate. When the book was completed at eleven o’clock, I started watching the newspapers. The headlines of the Urdu newspapers were the same as in the news bulletin on KTV at nine o’clock last night. Due to the late delivery of the newspaper by the hawker, the interest had waned, so he opened the editorial page of an English newspaper and started reading. 

Stop this joke!

 

The friend shouted and asked whether the TV is installed in front of you or not. I told him yes, yes, the TV is on, I am also watching coverage of the California fires on CNN. The friend said, Why are you not watching any Pakistani channel? Answered that all the channels must be telling that Imran Khan was sentenced to fourteen years and Bushra Begum was sentenced to seven years in prison. I have known this news for many days, so what is the point of hearing it again and again? Now my friend has passed away. He roared and said, “Sir, your news turned out to be wrong.” The accountability court has acquitted Imran Khan. Hearing this, I burst out laughing. 

Imran Khan

I said that Imran Khan was told about the jail sentence before the sentence was pronounced, and that the sentence cannot be over. My friend said, “Sir, I read your claim yesterday in your column in Daily Jang (January 16, 2025) that Imran Khan is expected to be imprisoned for ten to fourteen years and then he will get political benefits from this imprisonment.” willAfter reading your column, I told my head office that Imran Khan will be sentenced on Friday but he has been acquitted and this breaking news has been aired by at least two TV channels, ten in front of me. Channels are connected. I was shocked to hear this. I picked up the remote to change the channel. My friend was walking away. 

He suddenly stopped while speaking. Hey, hey, what happened?

I asked, What happened now? He said that Imran Khan was sentenced to fourteen years of imprisonment. When his laughter stopped, he asked why you were laughing. He said that at first he was laughing at himself, then he started laughing at the Pakistani media, which has made a joke of the court’s decision, sometimes acquitting Imran Khan and sometimes convicting him. 

My friend started a speech declaring himself a part of Western media instead of Pakistani media. He was naming the owners of various TV channels and saying that in a country where the owners of TV channels become ministers and some channels start accepting dictation not only from state actors but also from non-state actors, laugh at the media of that country laughs. Neither what to do? It is very difficult to defend the Pakistani media these days, so the phone was turned off after taking the permission of a friend. The TV channel that had announced the acquittal of Imran Khan, now on the same channel, an official tout in the name of a senior analyst, praised the punishment given to Imran Khan.

He was forgetting that, for the first time, no former Prime Minister was convicted. For the first time, claims are not being made to establish the supremacy of the constitution and law by locking a former prime minister in jail. When Nawaz Sharif was sentenced and declared ineligible, even then, there were not a few people who appreciated the court decision. When Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged, after this court decision, a religious group celebrating Thanksgiving Day could not stand again till today. It is a pity that the Muslim League-N and the People’s Party have not learned from the injustices done to them, and now they have become toys in the hands of the perpetrators of injustice. Ironically, Tehreek-e-Insaaf also has no shortage of key toys. One of them said to Imran Khan in jail that “they” say learn a lesson from the situation in Syria. 

As the army weakened in Syria, civil war started there. A message was given to Imran Khan to stop the confrontation with the army for the sake of Pakistan. Khan Sahib said in reply that the army is our institution; we do not want to fight with the army, but the state does not run on the bill of only one institution; all the institutions of the state should be held accountable. I wish Imran Khan had remembered this even when he was the Prime Minister and used to drive away the disgruntled members of his party through former ISI chief General Faiz to pass the budget in the National Assembly. It is a good thing that now Imran Khan has understood in jail that the state should not be run with the help of one institution, but with the help of the constitution, and the limits of the institution set in the constitution should be respected. An institution has also understood that if it is weakened, then Syria-like situations may arise in Pakistan, so this is also a good thing. Trying to reconcile with Tehreek-e-Insaf is a very good thing. If there can be an understanding with Nawaz Sharif, who called this institution a space creature, then there should be an understanding with Imran Khan. But remember, Imran, in case of any secret agreement or deal, his fate will be the same as that of Nawaz Sharif. Why don’t you want Imran Khan to stay in jail forever? 

They should not try to reconcile only Tehreek-e-Insaaf and the authorities of this country through negotiations. If he is really a national leader, then present the case of Pakistan and not just Tehreek-e-Insaf in the talks. The case of Pakistan is that the Parliament and the Judiciary are openly violating the Constitution at the whim of someone’s hands. The guarantor of Pakistan’s security and unity is not our nuclear program but the Constitution. After the bifurcation of Pakistan in 1971, the institution became weak, so the politicians saved the rest of Pakistan by agreeing to the 1973 constitution. When the institution was strengthened again, the constitution began to break down again and again. Today, the nation needs negotiations to implement this constitution. If Imran Khan is made Nawaz Sharif, then the path of Manzoor Pashteen and Mahrang Baloch will be clear, so there should be reconciliation with them too. If the joke with the constitution is not stopped, it will be difficult to manage Pakistan. 

Pakistan’s Political Turmoil and the Need for Constitutional Supremacy

The continued political instability in Pakistan increases serious concerns about the future of democratic governance, media integrity, and institutional responsibility. My pal’s speech, wherein he distanced himself from Pakistani media and criticized the nexus between the kingdom and non-state actors, highlights a fundamental disaster: the lack of credibility in Pakistan’s media panorama. Whilst television channels end up mouthpieces for political narratives dictated by means of outside forces, the function of free journalism is successfully eroded. The same media house that after introduced Imran Khan’s acquittal is now justifying his conviction through government-subsidized analysts, revealing the extent of media manipulation.

However, this isn’t the first time a former high minister has been convicted. Whilst Nawaz Sharif was sentenced and declared ineligible, many supported the court’s choice. While Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was hanged, a nonsecular faction celebrated, only to vanish into obscurity later. The lesson is clear: political forces that have fun in their fighters’ downfall frequently discover themselves going through the same destiny. The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), as soon as victims of the country’s oppression, have now aligned themselves with the very forces that once persecuted them. Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is also experiencing the effects of its own beyond strategies, especially the usage of country establishments for political profits throughout Imran Khan’s tenure.

Imran Khan, now in jail, has reportedly been counseled to avoid confrontation with the army for Pakistan’s balance. He has rightly spoken back that whilst the navy is a vital organization, governance can not be dictated by one entity alone. The state has to feature under constitutional supremacy, with all institutions running within their distinct roles. It’s commendable that Khan now recognizes the significance of constitutional governance—something he overlooked for the duration of his premiership when he relied on former ISI chief trendy Faiz Hameed to manipulate political effects.

Similarly critical is the belief within the established order that immoderate interference in political beliefs weakens the country. The warning that Pakistan may want to face a scenario much like Syria if its establishments persist in clashing ought no longer be taken lightly. If reconciliation is possible with Nawaz Sharif, regardless of his rhetoric in opposition to the status quo, then similar efforts should be made with Imran Khan. However, any secret deal or electricity-sharing agreement will ultimately lead to the same fate as Nawaz Sharif’s political exile.

Pakistan’s political disaster can’t be resolved simply via negotiations between PTI and the national government. If Imran Khan certainly sees himself as a national chief, he must present the case of Pakistan, no longer just his birthday party’s grievances. The actual crisis is that Parliament and the judiciary are being manipulated, openly violating constitutional concepts. Pakistan’s stability does not depend entirely on its nuclear guns, however on the supremacy of its constitution. Records suggest that after the 1971 disintegration, political leaders salvaged the United States by agreeing to the 1973 charter. But, each time the army regained its strength, the constitution became sidelined again.

These days, what Pakistan sincerely desires is not just reconciliation between the establishment and PTI, but a nationwide communication on restoring constitutional governance. If the constitution is still left out, and political engineering stays the norm, opposition voices like Manzoor Pashteen and Mahrang Baloch will gain in addition to momentum, leading to even deeper divisions. The political elite need to recognize that Pakistan’s survival relies upon institutional reform and respect for democratic procedures. In any other case, dealing with the United States becomes harder and harder, and the results will be dire.