Like Imran Khan, Tahir-ul-Qadri is new political sensation in Pakistan. He landed in politics from nowhere (Canada) and has become a household name after addressing successful public rally at Minar-i-Pakistan Lahore. Prior to his arrival in Pakistan an expensive but effective medial campaign was launched. He was virtually everywhere in the country through television adverts, giant billboard, posters and every other medium of advertising.
Tahir-ul-Qadri has never been a political force in Pakistan. His all worth being a political was of a voter. His “Pakistan Awami Tehreek” could never make any impression in any constituency of Pakistan except one. He managed to win a National Assembly seat from Lahore in 2002 elections. Being sole representative of his own party he could not play any role in National Assembly. Frustrated by the political situation of Pakistan, Tahir-ul-Qadri decided to leave the Parliament as well Pakistan. He resigned from Parliament and immigrated to Canada in 2004.
During his stay in Canada, Tahir-ul-Qadri remained fully engaged in propagation of Islam, writing books and giving lectures at various universities. He also consumed his energies on interfaith dialog and sometime got involved in controversies as well. During his stay in Canada he scripted his famous fatwa on terrorism which earned him fame world over. Based on this he was nominated for Noble Peace prize as well.
Sheikh-ul-Islam Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri made best use of his time away from Pakistan and further developed his abilities as an orator, writer and religious scholar. He also used his time to organize his religious Organisation Minhaj-ul-Quran internationally.
Political System of Pakistan is largely dependent on three parties which include one non-political party as well. Pakistan Muslim League, Pakistan People’s Party and Pakistan Army have ruled the country for most part of its history. Failure of political parties ends up giving chance to military rule. Military has honor of ruling the country for longest period but all stakeholders has failed miserably. Continued failure of ruling elite has created a “Demand” for change in political setup of the country.
Traditional political setup received its first jolt when Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf arranged a huge public gathering at Minar-i-Pakistan Lahore in October 2011. Prior to this, Tehrik-i-Insaf was just a one man party which does not get any serious political consideration. Conventional parties were surprised by the number of people attending the gatherings. Lahore gathering earned Tehrik-i-Insaf status of “Third Political Force” which party successfully en-cashed to arrange follow-up gatherings. Senior politicians like Makhdoom Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Javed Hashmi, Jahangir Tarin, Khurshid Mehmood Qasuri and many others joined the bandwagon of Tehrik-i-Insaf.
Exactly after one year of “Political Tsunami” people started noticing a strong “media campaign” about a new political slogan. This time it was Dr. Tahir-ul-Qadri coming up with a slogan of “Save State not Politics”. Strong media campaign and equally strong organizational structure of Minhaj-ul-Quran helped organizers bring large number of people to Minar-i-Pakistan despite chilling whether. Everybody was in suspense about what Qadri is going to say.
Tahir-ul-Qadri made a long speech constructed over constitution of Pakistan. He was at his best an orator. He enthralled his audience by a very logically drawn speech. After his speech, Tahir-ul-Qadri presented a charter of demand based on constitution of Pakistan and set deadline of January 10, 2013 to fulfill his demands. Demands brought forward by Tahir-ul-Qadri mostly revolve around caretaker setup and electoral reforms. Being a dual national he himself is not eligible to contest elections. He went on to say that elections may be postponed for an indefinite period to fulfill his charter of demand. Mainstream media outlets telecasted his speech live for couple of hours.
The interesting part of the story is that his congregation was attended by a delegation from Muttahida Qaumi Movement as well which usually keeps a distance from religious parties. No only this, MQM invited Tahir-ul-Qadri to have another congregation in their stronghold Karachi as well which he accepted. Only few days later, Tahir-ul-Qadri visited MQM headquarter 90 and addressed a large public gathering at Azizabad ground which was co-addressed by MQM chief Altaf Hussein as well.
Tahir-ul-Qadri through his successful landing has created sensation in political arena. All the political pundits are made to keep guessing about his real motives. His joining hands with MQM added fuel to the mystery. Since his arrival he is selling like a hot cake. He is the only most sought after personality in media. However, suspicion still surrounds him regarding his plans and programs. His much propagated and much awaited long march just round the corner and it is yet to see if any positive comes out of this new political sensation.
