Legend has it that once the “Tabdeeli” mafia and the “Barray Sarkar” were in agreement. After years of political failure due to poor lobbying and a weak narrative, the “Tabdeeli Sarkar” finally found a breakthrough by striking a deal with their Western backers. These backers were willing to take a risk on him due to his playboy image, lack of rational thinking and decision-making abilities, and his various addictions. The ultimate goal was to once again stagnate and destabilize Pakistan.
So, what was the deal?
Their first target was the moral and intellectual decline, which they successfully achieved through social media. As an expat who has been following Pakistani social media for a decade, I noticed that certain elements were operating various accounts and handles posing as pseudo-liberals or PTI supporters. Anyone who held a different opinion was subjected to severe trolling, abusive language, and harassment. This toxic culture of foul language and direct verbal attacks became a trademark of the “Tabdeeli” mafia, with party workers, leadership, and even the leader himself engaging in this behaviour.
The next mission was the brainwashing of immature and ambitious minds, which they accomplished by using religion as a card. They turned a man whose personal character, past, and affiliations had nothing to do with the religion into a symbol of piety, using slogans such as Sadiq and Ameen, Madina ki Riyasat, Allah Al HAQ HAI, and more. To strengthen the illusion of religiosity and fulfil the claims of his followers that he was the Messiah, he even agreed to marry a woman believed to bring him spiritual powers and good luck.
But it didn’t stop there. Self-proclaimed religious scholars were introduced into the party, charging opponents with blasphemy and issuing fatwas whenever needed. Photoshopped videos and images of female political opponents were circulated, and vulgar hashtags trended on Twitter. We witnessed the moral downfall of an entire generation. To counter this, the ISPR had to officially announce and launch the fifth-generation war against enemies within and across boundaries. A fraction of the Army that supported the “Tabdeeli” mafia spent a fortune operating social media accounts from abroad. It is a tragedy that one of the biggest conspiracies against Pakistan was supported by a like-minded group of defenders of the State. Perhaps there were vested interests at play?
The next target was civilian leadership that refused to surrender to the “Tabdeeli” mafia. Tags like Chor, Ghaddar, Corrupt, and Watan Farosh were repeatedly used to build a negative image of opponents, while completely ignoring the agenda and intentions of those who joined the mafia under the direction of higher authorities, electives, and notorious horse traders like Tareen, who were favourites of Khan and accompanied him until his mission was accomplished. Once in power, Khan had a personal grudge against those who exposed the corruption within the “Tabdeeli” mafia, even within his own home. Many well-known journalists lost their jobs, and others were threatened for bringing PTI’s corruption to light. Even the Chief of one of the agencies was removed from his post when the First Third Lady was found guilty of financial discrepancies.
The way the Government was toppled in 2017, CPEC rolled back in 2018 onwards, and relationships with the friends of Pakistan slowly but gradually loosened and dismantled through deliberate and well-planned poor foreign policies, it was obvious who was the ultimate beneficiary of all this Tabdeeli saga. The Western lobby, who had their bets on their tamed horse, did win them one game for a start. Still, it all ended eventually at the hands of the same Demagogue because of his incompetence, fragile ego, shortsightedness, weak faith, inability to trust the right people and his talent of playing in the hands of others who succeed in pleasing him unendingly.
