Bowing to the inevitable, at last

The protracted saga of Nawaz Sharif's illness has finally yielded a belated realisation on the part of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) government that his health really is critical. The slow waking up to this fact led to incremental arrangements for his treatment, first in government hospitals and finally at his home in Jati Umra after he was granted bail by the courts. A special ICU unit was set up in Nawaz Sharif's residence to monitor and treat his various afflictions, the most critical being his blood platelets count that has been fluctuating wildly and, according to last reports, is still way below the minimum 50,000 count required for him to fly to London where his DNA tests and further treatment will be conducted by specialists in the famous Harley Street. However, even the belated recognition by the PTI government that they had a very sick prisoner on their hands requiring the best treatment possible, whether here or abroad, has been smirched with ministers and PTI leaders not refraining from politicising the illness, despite Prime Minister Imran Khan's reported instructions to desist. Not only that, Imran Khan, in one of his by now infamous U-turns, forbade any attempt, as in the past since Nawaz Sharif fell ill in incarceration, to make fun of his ailments. Despite these clear instructions to treat the issue with some sensitivity and humaneness, the undisciplined ranks of the PTI government and party have been hard put to it to follow these directives to avoid creating more embarrassment for the government. As it is the government and ruling party heavyweights are now having to swallow their disparaging remarks about Nawaz Sharif's health in red-faced manner. The other concern is that even after taking the decision in principle to follow the advice of the medical board constituted to treat Nawaz Sharif's complicated case that the option of treatment here has been exhausted and now the only option is treatment abroad, Imran Khan has unnecessarily created a new complication or roadblock by insisting that the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) take the decision to remove Nawaz Sharif's name from the Exit Control List (ECL) since it was NAB that put it there in the first place. NAB in its wisdom has in response asked for Nawaz Sharif's medical reports in order to form an 'informed' opinion whether he should be allowed to depart for London by removing his name from the ECL. Reports speak of the matter being tossed from NAB to the interior ministry, the latter empowered to remove names from the ECL even in NAB-related cases, because neither institution wants to take the responsibility for the decision. Meanwhile, precious if not critical time is ticking away.

The whole episode of the treatment of the issue of Nawaz Sharif's health while being incarcerated has been messed up by the PTI government to its own detriment because its worthies seem incapable of climbing down from the invisible 'container' they still seem to be atop, including the kind of language for their political rivals for which the PTI has earned a terrible reputation. The kind of invective and abuse that has been directed towards their political rivals before the PTI came to power last year should reasonably have been expected to give way to more respect and parliamentary language during incumbency. However, the PTI government and party ranks seem incapable of understanding that such antics are creating problems for no one but themselves. If, God forbid, something happens to Nawaz Sharif, the fallout would be extremely damaging for the government and potentially destabilising for the country. There are lessons here for the PTI if it chooses to learn them. Amongst these, the first and foremost may well be: think before you speak. Adherence to this ancient wisdom may well spare the incumbents a repeat of their present blushes because of an excess of rubric and un-parliamentary rhetoric.