Youth factor is a relatively new phenomenon in Pakistan’s politics. The credit for mobilizing the youths of the country mainly goes to the cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).
The sit-ins organized by Khan and Dr. Tahirul Qadri provided the youngsters with an opportunity to channelize their energies and created in them political awareness. Qadri has called off the sit-in in Islamabad and plans to hold similar protests in other parts of the country.
Similarly, Khan’s movement is also losing steam, as both the leaders have so far failed in forcing Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to tender his resignation.
Despite a few setbacks, both leaders seem determined to continue with their plans in one way or the other. The youths, however, appear to have politically awakened.
Khan and Qadri are now planning to hold countrywide rallies, different in nature but cohesive in intent and purpose. Drawing massive crowd in major cities, at best can be of psychological advantage.
That does not mean that Sharif is not unnerved. A likely change has become a household topic in Pakistan.
Khan and Qadri may have failed in their original plans but people generally agree that their efforts have brought about a perceptible change in a country where middle and lower middle classes quietly accepted everything, howsoever, unfavorable to them. Now they are ready to fight for their rights and the youth, nearly 60 percent of the population has been at the forefront for a more dedicated and committed leadership for their country.
Evidence of that, if any still required, is the huge turnout of youngsters, males and females, who know that after 18 years of age, they have the right to vote. Their enthusiasm is worth witnessing in rallies addressed by Khan or Qadri or even by Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Their exuberance now has a purpose. The youngsters see Khan as their ideal. Most analysts now are keen on the role the youths are likely to play in politics. If they do organize themselves in a cohesive force, Pakistani political landscape is up for a change.
