The capital is under siege and it is not a pretty sight, not for the economy, not for a nation mired in multiple problems, and certainly not for our fragile democracy. As promised, Imran Khan’s PTI has carried its azaadi (independence) march to Islamabad with Tahirul Qadri’s PAT followers and inqilab (revolution) march riding on the popularity and coattails of Imran Khan’s sound and fury. The camps of the PTI and PAT have been set up just outside the Red Zone, which has been cordoned off by large shipping containers, the federal government’s weapon of choice. Tahirul Qadri gave an amusing speech to his followers, listing his 15 demands, which include the dissolution of the federal and provincial assemblies and the arrest of the Sharif brothers, and dramatising his willingness to take a bullet in the chest for his disciples as well as eat slices of bread instead of proper meals for all those killed in the Model Town tragedy. Imran Khan, on the other hand, has called upon his PTI loyalists and the charged crowd in front of him to rise to the occasion and carry out a civil disobedience movement in which no one pays their taxes or bills. He has also given the government two days after which he says he will not be able to hold back his supporters. He even went as far as saying that he wanted to storm the PM House and take the prime minister out by dragging him from his collar but that he and his supporters should show restraint because he did not want innocent policemen to be killed in clashes. If this is not incitement of the mob then we do not know what is. This entire drama is playing out to the detriment of the entire country and its infantile democratic system, one where we have seen only one democratic transition, back in 2013, one that Imran Khan is trying to overthrow. Civil disobedience in a country where one is stretched to find a hint of civil obedience anyway? Encouraging a small segment of people who honestly pay their taxes, in a nation of tax evaders, to stop paying their bills and taxes is not really what this country needs. Will Imran Khan refuse to collect taxes from his people in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa? Asking for the resignation of the government through the flexing of street muscle is unconstitutional and plain wrong. If either he or Tahirul Qadri have any quarrel with the PML-N government, they need to bring their demands to the table like the opposition in any democracy in any country have the right to do. Laying siege to the capital city, bringing all life within to a halt and provoking adrenaline-charged masses of supporters to near-violence is dangerously close to anarchy. If such a precedent is allowed to be set, there will be no end in sight to the devastation to our political system. Any government elected by the votes of the people can expect to be ousted because of the sour grapes of losing parties. No government will be able to survive the ‘tsunami’ of anarchy and disturbance. Is this what Imran Khan is setting out to do? Tahirul Qadri, on the other hand, really has no standing, with no presence in parliament. He is a one-hit wonder, followed by a spattering of loyalists and an ambition to enter the political arena through the back door. The less attention one pays to him, the better. The government has made its fair share of mistakes by delaying paying attention to Imran’s demands. The PML-N should never have let matters reach the Red Zone. Acceptable demands must be heard and debated upon while unconstitutional agitations need to be nipped. The government cannot ignore the PTI and its substantial following. All parties must sit down and find a solution that keeps democracy intact and satisfies all players, including the people. The alternatives are far more worrisome. *