Pakistan election 2018: All roads to India can lead through the Pak army

A Pakistani soldier stands guard on a bus carrying election officials and voting materials to kiosks in Karachi. (Photo AP)

As Pakistan was at the end of its controversial election campaign, Coca-Cola Pakistan announced the 11th consecutive season of Coke Studio, releasing its first opus, Hum Dekhenge, the revolutionary poem of the famous poet Pakistani progressive, Faiz Ahmed Faiz. Hum Dekhenge had attained immortality in the early 1980s as a protest anthem against General Zia ul-Haq's military regime, sung by Iqbal Bano in a black sari in a full stadium. While launching the current version, Coke Studio said, in the voices of more than 70 artists, celebrate the message of "unity, hope and peace" through a "song sung by the people Pakistani for the Pakistani people ". 19659006] But the last interpretation had parts of the original song missing, the most discordant being the iconic lines "Sab taaj uchaal jayenge, Sab takht giraye jayenge (When the crowns will be thrown, When the thrones are slaughtered)". It's important not because Coke Studio has avoided any reference to a call for a revolution but because anyone would have won the elections, the crown and the throne – at least with respect to the issues that matter to them. India would stay with Pakistani Army headquarters in Rawalpindi

This has gained ground in New Delhi as a basic truth, but it has now been brought home after the way in which The Pakistani army has actively manipulated the elections, colluded with the judiciary and controlled the media.

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The unexpected level of popular support across Pakistan could cause Imran to badert his independence vis-à-vis screw generals on the Indian front. (Express Illustration: CR Sasikumar)

Imran Khan may not have been on his way to becoming Pakistan's next prime minister when he was not elected general . Unlike a Nawaz Sharif or an Asif Ali Zardari, who could attempt a reconciliation with India despite the Pakistani army's reserves – even though eventually they too succumbed in the opposition of Rawalpindi – Imran will probably not attempt these attempts. All the private lines of communication that the elected government in Delhi established with the elected government in Islamabad would now have even less value than they had before. Diplomats and politicians would be totally enslaved to the generals, be it the Kashmir issue or any other peace initiative with India.

The obvious temptation in India would be to open up direct channels with the Pakistani army, something that Rawalpindi has actively looking for, without reciprocity, from India. New Delhi relied more on established diplomatic channels and lines opened by Ajit Doval, National Security Advisor (NSA), with his Pakistani counterpart.

Even during the election campaign, whenever Iran spoke of the rest of the world, a strongly accusatory manner, where he blamed the Trump administration and the "international establishment" for a conspiracy against him and Pakistani democracy. But politicians, as they say, often campaign in poetry and govern in prose. He is unlikely to continue acting on his tirade as he seeks to repair Pakistan's foreign policy.

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A salesman sits next to the images of the man from Cricket turned politician Imran Khan, President of Pakistan's Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) at a market in Islamabad, Pakistan. (Photo Reuters)

Notwithstanding Imran's relations with the Pakistani army and his dependence on the Independents in Parliament, there is always a chance that the unexpected level of popular support in Pakistan may lead Imran to badert its independence from the generals on India. front. In the best case, he could try to enjoy his honeymoon period and boldly push some initiatives with New Delhi. But India is already in voting mode, with the next general election only a few months away. There will be little appetite in Narendra Modi's government for any bold action on Pakistan in the midst of an acrimonious electoral campaign. The windows of opportunity on both sides do not open clearly in the same time space.

The "central problem" between the two countries, as Pakistan likes to say, is Kashmir. Just for the record, the ITP Manifesto proposed a solution on the Kashmir issue in accordance with the UN Security Council Resolution. It is also true that India or Kashmir did not occupy a prominent place in Khan's election campaign, but it should not be read too much. It only means that foreign policy with regard to India should remain in the hands of the army. This has been Pakistan's course for most of its seven decades of existence – and it's unlikely to change under Imran.

But strange things happened, and in the immortal words of Faiz, "Hum dekhenge".

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