The curious case of Nawaz Sharif

The cold shoulder given to the Pakistani delegation at the recently held Arab-Islamic-US summit, held in Saudi Arabia, has gotten him much criticism at home.

It is not every day that a leader of a country is subjected to severe criticism following an appearance at a major international event. And even if it does happen, such a bashing usually has a couple of elements to it.

The first being, it usually comes from those who are critical of the leader and his country, and the second, that in most cases it follows, a speech or action, that a head of state gives or shows at such a gathering.

But in the curious case of Pakistan's Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, both these elements seem to be missing. And what is even more surprising is that the exact opposite of these seem to hold true for the reactions that he is receiving.

This has followed his appearance at the recently held Arab-Islamic-US summit, held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where Trump met with leaders of Muslim majority countries.

And while it would be assumed that at a summit where terrorism was the main issue in focus, and trying to eliminate it the uniform call made, the leader of Pakistan, a country with a integral role to play in the issue whether as a source of exporting terrorism which most countries see it as doing, or as a victim of it, or as a key place where any solution to eliminate it must be decisively applied, would be given utmost importance and would surely be heard.

Surprisingly for many, and not so much for many others, this did not happen. And this is what has led to the situation where instead of being criticised by those of other countries for something he did or said, he is being targeted by leaders, media, and the people of his own country for doing absolutely nothing, except for to show up and receive a cold shoulder from all the major world leaders present.

The Pakistani media has described the performance and feelings, of the prime minister and his delegation, with terms such as 'mortified', 'total humiliation' among others. Not only this, opposition leaders like Imran Khan have gone one stepped further and blamed Sharif for disgracing Pakistan at the summit.

Though such circumstance and events may seem odd, but a look at the history of the country and Sharif in particular would make for such events to be seen in a more probable light.

He is the prime minister of a state, which for a majority of its history, since its formation, has been under the rule of the military, with heads of the army regularly dismissing the democratically elected civilian government and taking over.

Former prime ministers have been hanged, assassinated and no political leader has come back to power after completing a full term in office. This is what Sharif is trying to achieve if he can hold on to power to complete his term.

He too, in his previous term as prime minister was dismissed by the then army chief General Pervez Musharraf, and his flight was not even being allowed to land by the General, which could have easily turned into a tragedy, as he was returning to the country while the coup was in motion.

He then stayed out of the country as Musharraf's reign continued only returning near to his stepping down and when fresh elections were to be held. Lost the next elections that took place and finally came to power for the current term.

Adding to such a volatile political career, every time he chooses an army chief he hopes that he would be able to work with and not against them, they keep undermining him, as is the present case with Qamar Javed Bajwa.

All his attempts to make peace with its neighbour, India, with which it has a territorial dispute over the state of Jammu and Kashmir, keep getting thwarted by the military, which make him look like a weak leader to those at home and abroad.

The current rise in tensions with India, and the Kargil war in 1999, soon after two different prime ministers of India tried to build friendly relations with Pakistan under his leadership, being case in point.

This is not to say, that none of this is a result of his own doing. Many critics would point to his incapability, to handle tough circumstances and make crucial decisions, for his current situation.

And if he was not having enough of a crisis of credibility, the names of those associated and related to him have come up in the 'Panama Papers,' linked with off shore accounts, which allegedly hold unaccounted money from dubious earnings.

These are just few of the problems that he faces which are visible at the surface, with many serious issues existing inside the politics of the country and simmering underneath the surface.

With all this and more, Sharif has all those who hold power in his country like the army, political opposition and the media gunning for him. And the recent summit showed that even those not from his country don't seem very fond of him.

All this put Nawaz Sharif in the curious position of being the only democratically elected leader, who is held responsible and blamed for every misstep made by him and the mistaken actions of his country, but holds the least power, if any, of all such leaders over their own country, with the army and everyone but him seeming to be calling the shots.

OneIndia News