Seeing another politician getting “ill” after an arrest is not surprising in our country. There is a long list of such leaders who fall ill after being jailed or arrest and look fit when they are out, but It must be lonely being Shahbaz Gill these days. With his own party now back-pedaling from its ‘moral support for the controversial statements, he made during a TV show last week.
The condemnations now being directed at him by other PTI leaders threaten to blow away the fig leaf of his only plausible defence: that the most problematic remarks he made were never intended for the armed forces but were directed at civil servants instead.
Former prime minister, who ShahbazGill serves as chief of staff, earlier this week called his remarks “wrong” and regretted that they were ever uttered. It seems that the PTI chief had realized that Gill may have poked a sleeping beast right in the eye.
There now remains the important question of whether Mr Gill made those remarks of his own accord or whether he was dictated or handed a statement to deliver. The government is hell-bent on proving the latter, as is evident from its tug-of-war over Mr Gill’s custody, which devolved into a two-hour stand-off between the Rawalpindi and Islamabad police late Wednesday night.
Gill is currently in PIMS hospital as the Islamabad court suspended the police’s remand to grant 8-day physical remand of the PTI stalwart. The so far reports of Gill said he is fit and sound but the condition of the latter was telling the other story when he was presented before the court on Friday a wheelchair.
The judge after hearing the arguments suspended his remand and ordered to shift him back to PIMS hospital and carry out his medical tests.
Here, the question arises, why do Pakistani politicians suddenly fall “ill” after being taken into custody or arrested, we have examples from Nawaz Sharif to Sharjeel Inam Memon, who were not fine in jail, but both are looking fit and sound now.
Torture cannot be endorsed over any argument or ground, but politicians must be brave enough to face the consequences of their words or action bravely.
