Politics all over the world is undoubtedly entertaining even for those who despise it. But few countries could compete with Pakistan for the top spot.
“Pakistani politics has the quality of a Netflix series. There are coups, assassinations, jihadist attacks, street-stopping protests, tribal insurgencies and, every now and then, threats of nuclear war.”
And this story about how Imran Khan’s third marriage to Bushra Bibi, a married lady with a mystic background allegedly backed by the ISI, unbeknownst to Khan, helped him rise to power and then fall, might make Game of Thrones look boring. The authors Owen Bennett-Jones who has been BBC’s reporter in Pakistan and has authored two books on Pakistan, and Bushra Taskeen provide a riveting plot for a Netflix worthy drama.
The story begins with Khan falling for Bushra’s mystical abilities including a prophecy about him leading the country: “If she did make a prediction to Khan about his political future, his confidence in her powers must have soared when the PTI won the general election a few months after their marriage. At last, Khan was prime minister. His victory was partly the result of the army’s backing. But there was more to it than that. His anti-corruption message, and image as a political outsider, chimed with the public mood.
…Holding on to power in Pakistan is harder than winning it, however. The political system is volatile, raising leaders up and casting them down again mercilessly. Five prime ministers have found themselves in jail after leaving office. The army, which is well-resourced, has repeatedly seized power. Even when civilians are running the government, they have to be mindful of what the generals want. (Only one civilian government in Pakistan’s history has been allowed to complete its term.)
Once in office Khan struggled to fulfil lofty campaign promises of creating an Islamic welfare state and 10m jobs. His relations with the political and military elite quickly soured. His wife upset crucial friends and allies. Ministers and household staff grumbled about the eccentric First Lady being given too much power. “Her interference”, one member of his cabinet told 1843, “was absolute.”
In 2022 Pakistan’s parliamentarians passed a no-confidence vote in his government (an action widely assumed to have been abetted by the army), and Khan was forced out. Rather than go quietly, he went public with criticism of the army and launched street protests. As generally happens to those the generals have removed from power, he found himself in jail facing corruption charges.
Bushra Bibi is also in prison (she too faces corruption charges), and some in the PTI are hoping she will persuade Khan to compromise and get the party back into power. How a housewife from the backwaters of Punjab came to play such a prominent role on the national stage is a topic of endless speculation in Pakistan—one often coloured by misogyny, misinformation and conspiracy theories.”
Theories about Bushra Bibi’s role in the rise and fall of Imran Khan’s political career abound: “There is a long tradition of attributing the failings of powerful men to their scheming wives—think of Lady Macbeth. For those inclined to this way of thinking, Bushra Bibi fits the mould perfectly: a sorceress bewitching the nation’s hero and bending him to her will.
But there is another theory about Bushra Bibi’s influence which has less to do with magic. In this version of events, her hold over Khan is the result of Machiavellian string-pulling, orchestrated by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan’s feared spy agency.
The ISI reaches deep into every aspect of life in Pakistan; eavesdropping, gathering kompromat, exploiting relationships with jihadists and politicians alike. Its senior ranks are made up of army officers on secondment, so for the most part it reflects army thinking.”
The ISI approved of Khan and Bushra’s relationship and saw an opportunity. Referring to a conversation between a prominent journalist and a General:
““She’s a good match.” Surprised that the ISI had an interest in the matter, Hussain asked the general if the ISI was the matchmaker. “He said, ‘No, we are not. But we have been watching it for a long time, and there’s nothing wrong with it. So please, you know, don’t do this.’”
The ISI may not have arranged the relationship, but there are reasons to think the agency took advantage of it. The organisation has a history of pressing servants and staff in politically important households to become informers. But according to a story circulating in Pakistan, and picked up by the media, Faiz (as he is usually known) used Bushra Bibi to pull off something more subtle and effective. The story goes that the ISI sent one of its officers to convey intelligence to one of Bushra Bibi’s pirs, who would relay it to her—and she would relay it to Khan.
Because the ISI has an extensive network of informants, as well as the ability to listen in on telephone calls, it often knows what is going to happen in Pakistan before anyone else does. According to the rumours, the officer would, for example, give one of Bushra Bibi’s pirs advance notice about which politician was about to be arrested. Bushra Bibi would then tell Khan that she had received a revelation about the future. When the event she predicted came to pass, Khan would be amazed at his wife’s perspicacity and conclude she did indeed have a direct line to God.”
But Khan seems to have gone too far and jeopardised his own career when he sacked the then ISI head and now Field Marshall Asim Munir. “The rumour, widely reported in Pakistani media, was that the general had come to Khan with evidence that Bushra Bibi was corruptly helping her friends.
…On November 24th 2022 Asim Munir, whom Khan had sacked as director general of the ISI, was appointed head of the army, making him the most powerful person in the country. Khan was arrested in May 2023.
Field Marshal Munir, as he is now known, is more powerful than ever. He has won plaudits for his successful courtship of President Donald Trump, and this month Pakistan’s parliament voted him new powers and lifetime immunity from prosecution. Faiz, the former ISI chief whom many saw as Khan’s ally in the security establishment, lost his job, and is now in custody awaiting a court-martial.”
We shall certainly look forward to the Netflix series if and when it is made.
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