Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Mian Nawaz Sharif have never been birds of a feather. One is compelled by Islamic ideology and leads the most disciplined political party in the country. The other is motivated by capitalist ideology (“Profits! Profits! That is Moses and the Prophets”) and fronts a most disparate crowd of opportunists called the Muslim League. Yet their ‘alliance’ goes back years and has weathered many crises. How is that?
The Jamaat’s long-term strategy has been to infiltrate the institutions of the state and harness them for the purposes of its ideology. Mian Tufail’s alliance with Zia ul Haq served that end perfectly. Qazi Sahib, however, has added a new plank — electoral politics — to be Jamaat’s agenda. And Mian Nawaz has provided Qazi Sahib an IJI umbrella under which to conduct his business. In the bargain, the Jamaat has sponsored Mian Nawaz and lent muscle to his battle against the PPP. Each has scratched the other’s back for purely mundane reasons.
Recently, their relationship has hit a bad patch. Mian Nawaz has thundered against Qazi Sahib, accusing him of undermining ‘national interest’ at the alter of Jamaat politics: over the Gulf crisis, over Islamisation of the economy and now over Afghanistan. Qazi Sahib has retorted by calling him “an agent of imperialist USA”. The Jamaat is also threatening to revert to form in the event a street-movement is launched by the APC against the government.
To protect his flank, Mian Nawaz has held out the olive branch to archenemy Benazir Bhutto and facilitated the return of Mr Asif Zardari to Islamabad. Is the JI out of the IJI for good?
We’re not convinced. Both Mian Nawaz And Qazi Hussain hate the PPP of Benazir Bhutto to their back teeth. Also, both have much to lose from relinquishing Islamabad to a military regime or to a ‘national’ government. If either comes to pass, Mian Sahib will lose everything he has got. And the best Qazi Sahib could hope for would be to graze in oblivion if he agreed not to make trouble. No, the deep blue sea out there is far less welcoming than the devil each one knows. We would be surprised, therefore, if the two of them don’t get back to business as usual.
What, then, should we make of Mian Nawaz’s conciliatory gesture towards Benazir Bhutto? It has come at a time when Mian Sahib is in considerable trouble. His Afghan policy has backfired, relations with the President and COAS have plumbed new depths and the economy demands a budget which is sure to incur the wrath of people across the class divide. Naturally then, Nawaz Sharif is looking to diffuse.