ALTHOUGH the PTI has postponed its protest march on Islamabad, the capital city’s container-blocked roads continue to reflect the country’s deeper crisis. The crisis is not merely political, economic, or security-related; it is rooted in an elite class that cannot forge an accord within themselves.

Islamabad is not witnessing a siege-like situation for the first time; it has become part of life for the inhabitants of the twin cities. Even a cricket match or a visiting dignitary can bring life to a standstill. Despite huge investments in infrastructure and expensive surveillance systems, the security providers remain nervous. They have turned the federal capital into a city of checkpoints, where the average citizen must pass through long queues every 10 minutes during his daily commute — with police officers regarding him with suspicious eyes. Citizens end up feeling that they themselves are responsible for all the country’s ills, while those who have actually encroached on green belts, footpaths, and even highways escape punishment for crimes they do not even understand. The crisis runs deep, and even the postponement of the protest by the PTI, and earlier by the Jamaat-i-Islami, will not solve the country’s political, governance, economic, and security crisis.

These lines may seem cynical, but the streets of the federal capital tell Pakistan’s whole story. The ‘container-ment’ approach shows serious fractures among the power elites over the division of power, which has not been shared proportionately and has, in fact,........

© Dawn