Opinion: New star over Pakistan
Maryam, tipped to be the supreme leader of Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), is a confrontationist who intends to lock horns with the army.
By Amitava Mukherjee
Hyderabad: In sub-continental politics, Pakistan stands apart as a class in itself. It is the only place where army rule and authoritarianism have become synonymous with the existence of the country. India, its next-door neighbour, is a vibrant democracy. Bangladesh, in spite of having slipped from the democratic path on some occasions, has been successful in its course correction and has come back to the democratic path. Though democracy in Sri Lanka has come under strain in recent times, it cannot be said that the institution has been given a total burial in the island nation.
Democracy means spaces for everybody, irrespective of gender, caste, religion etc. So we had Indira Gandhi in India, Hasina Wazed and Khaleda Zia in Bangladesh, Sirimavo Bandaranaike and her daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga in Sri Lanka and Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. But Benazir had to lay down her life because of authoritarianism and the resultant religious extremism in her country. Benazir’s presence in Pakistan was necessary because, apart from everything else, she even symbolically represented her country’s womenfolk’s desire for emancipation.
Daughter Rises
After Benazir, there was a long gap till recently when Nawaz Sharif, the supremo of the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), nominated her daughter Maryam Nawaz to be the senior vice-president and chief organiser of the party. In a word, she is the number two of the party, tipped to be the supreme leader in the near future.
The significance lies in the fact that like Benazir, Maryam is a confrontationist who intends to lock horns with the army. In it, apart from Benazir, she has other predecessors, the most important of them being Fatima Jinnah, the sister of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, who had vehemently opposed Ayub Khan.
However, viewing Maryam’s presence in Pakistan from any women-centric perspective will be a wrong assumption because since as far back as 2013, ie, during the time of her father’s premiership, she was involved in youth development programmes and it is on this turf that Mariam will have to fight with Imran Khan who has also been eyeing the youth constituency.
Vulnerable Points
But Maryam has her vulnerable points too. True, the judiciary recently exonerated her from corruption charges. But there are other allegations against her. Trying to become successful in life is okay. But that has to be above board and must not have any grey area. Allegations are that to become a doctor, Maryam first got herself enrolled in a non-descript medical college away from Lahore and then got a transfer to the King Edward Medical College of Lahore, the most prestigious and sought-after medical education institution in Pakistan. It was nothing but a backdoor entry. But, she did not continue her study. Instead, she completed her post-graduation in English literature.
Her real test will be the coming Punjab (Pakistan) State assembly election where she will have to fight not only Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) but a subterranean opposition from her own party.
Shahbaz Sharif, her uncle and Prime Minister of Pakistan, is rumoured to be not favourably disposed to his niece on two counts. First, Shahbaz is known to be maintaining an attitude towards the army which is not as hard as those of either Nawaz Sharif or Maryam. In short, he wants to have a working relation with the ‘deep state’. The second factor is Hamza Sharif, Shahbaz’s son and a previous chief minister of Pakistan Punjab, who may be harbouring an ambition to succeed his father in the Prime Minister’s chair.
Hamza has been acting as a troubleshooter for his father and uncle for a long time. He is a bit slow but a sure-moving operator, unlike Shabaz who is sometimes restless to show results. It is he who till now used to maintain contacts with local PML(N) leaders, and through them with the grassroots workers. Initially, he was given charge of the Punjab province which was later extended to other parts of the country.
Relations with Hamza
As elections in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are approaching, equations between Hamza and Maryam will be keenly watched. As a sign of her political maturity, Maryam is leaving no stone unturned to publicly present the picture of a smooth relation between her and her cousin and is addressing Hamza as ‘mera bhai’.
But to what extent it will placate Hamza is a difficult question to answer. Through all these years, the son of Shehbaz Sharif was maturing himself to be the successor of Nawaz Sharif and had mastered the art of ‘jorr torr’, a salient feature of Pakistan politics which in effect means stitching up or breaking of coalitions. But entire equations within the PML(N) went into a topsy-turvy after Imran Khan successfully swayed the youth component of the Pakistani electorate, a very large segment indeed, towards his PTI and has also been successful in driving a wedge in the army on the question of supporting or opposing the PTI. Under such a situation, Hamza Sharif was considered to be a bit non-descript or insipid and the PML(N) needed somebody who could attract the mass with his/her glamour.
Pakistani politicians use the India card according to their own needs. So India should not expect much from Maryam as New Delhi’s experience with Benazir or Imran has not been good either. Sometime back, while criticising Imran, Maryam had spoken highly of Indian democracy. She had referred to the number of no-confidence motions against Indian Prime Ministers and how the Indian PMs behaved gracefully in such situations. But when Imran Khan recently praised Indian democracy’s resilience, Maryam became vitriolic and asked Imran to shift to India if he liked it so much.
It is too early to say whether Maryam is fit to be regarded as one who can rescue Pakistan from the clutches of authoritarianism, military dictatorship, religious extremism and the economic morass that the country is now in. But the Pakistan army may have reasons to feel uncomfortable at her rise. The ‘deep state’ is now in a divided state. To give it a knee-jerk experience, Maryam Nawaz will have to win at least the Punjab provincial election first.
