Things gotta change.

The horrific terror attack in Islamabad on Saturday has made one thing clear – whatever we are doing to combat terrorism is not working. Or not working as well as it should. Synchronised terrorism in Balochistan a few days earlier also raised similar red flags. We need to up the ante.

But how?

Afghanistan is the epicentre. Almost all acts of terrorism in Khyber-Pukhtunkhwa, Balochistan and now in Islamabad emanate from Afghan soil. All terror outfits have found sanctuary in Afghanistan from where they freely plot and execute their attacks inside Pakistan. The Taliban regime has done nothing – despite repeated efforts by Pakistan – to rein in these terrorists. We have launched limited strikes on their camps across the border, eliminated a few leaders and neutralised hundreds of their foot soldiers, and yet the problem remains. Some say it may even be worsening. Pakistan cannot afford this state of affairs.

Combating, degrading and defeating terror should now be our top priority. It is clear that such brazen attacks are undercutting all progress in other areas, especially when it comes to the economy. It is time therefore to put those options on the table that were previously filed away in drawers. The gloves need to come off.

Which means Afghanistan and India both require from us some tough love that is less love and more tough. Can Pakistan manage this? Of course, as long as we are clear that the policy of quid pro quo plus needs to go a few plusses higher. No emotional knee-jerk reaction, but a well-considered, well-crafted and well-executed policy that takes toughness to new heights. Pakistan must avenge the blood of its citizens.

While we mourn those who lost their lives in the terror attack in Islamabad, we also celebrate an event that has been brought back from the dead. Life goes on.

Basant is back. Lahore has gone wild, even by its own standards. Nothing could be more awesome.

Anecdotal facts are raining down from clear blue skies: billions spent on kites and material, lakhs and crores doled out for roof rentals, airfares flying higher than planes, hotels packed to capacity, motorways and highways into Lahore clogged, and music – all genres and languages – reverberating across four corners of the metropolis. The party is well and truly on.

For younger Pakistanis – Gen Z, Gen Alpha – this is their first experience of Basant, and the festivities that cut across all demographics. For their parents and grandparents, the festival provides a deliciously strong dose of nostalgia. Not surprising then that Basant video clips from yesteryears are going viral on social media. As is Fareeha Pervaiz’s Basant anthem ‘Dil hua bo kata’.

Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif and her government have done well. It has been a massive operation to organise an event at this mega scale while ensuring all safety protocols are not just put in place but also executed. Three days of non-stop festivities and partying is not something we in Pakistan are used to. About time we did.

Basant is the latest in a series of high-profile projects in Punjab that are being acknowledged and appreciated – sometimes grudgingly – by people inside and outside the province. Punjab has always been ahead of other provinces in most respects, and there are genuine concerns too that it gets favoured treatment from the Centre, but with Maryam Nawaz at the helm, things are moving even faster than usual. She has succeeded in generating an unmistakable buzz around her pro-active governance style.

But can such hyper-governance bring back PML-N’s lost voters?

This question goes to the heart of Maryam’s approach. PML-N has always prided itself as a party that delivers. This performance narrative was birthed in the early days of Nawaz Sharif’s first stint as prime minister. Fresh into office in 1991, he had pushed through an aggressive privatisation process aimed at reducing the government’s large footprint over the economy and allowing market forces to chart their organic course. In this policy, he was ahead of India whose foreign minister (later prime minister) Dr Manmohan Singh was to follow suit shortly. From then onwards, under subsequent PML-N governments in Islamabad and Lahore, performance remained a selling point for the party’s politics.

But it was not privatisation, or performance indicators that catapulted Nawaz Sharif from a military ruler’s protégé to a popular politician – it was defiance. That lesson served him well in later years when he was ousted in 1999. Since then, Pakistan has changed; Pakistani demographics have changed; Pakistani politics has changed.

Or has it?

Maryam Nawaz finds herself in a very peculiar situation. Even though she has established her defiance credentials as an opposition politician, her journey into the chief minister’s office has been made possible through collaboration with the establishment. The results of the 2024 elections tell a story PML-N never thought it would have to hear. For the first time since its formation, the party of Nawaz well and truly lost Punjab. The fact that it was able to form a government in its former heartland was a direct by-product of collaboration that bound the party of defiance with those it was used to defying.

This is not the first time that a politician has swept into the Punjab chief minister’s office with the help of the establishment. Almost all previous CMs enjoyed the blessings of Rawalpindi. It is what the CM, or the CM’s party does after being brought into office that has determined, to a large degree, the political trajectory of the leader(s).

History suggests that excellence in governance does not translate directly into votes. If in doubt, think Usman Buzdar. It can help, sure, but it is not the decisive factor. So what is the decisive factor? Defiance? Nawaz did that, and got rewarded with public popularity. Maryam did too, and got similar results. As did Imran. Ditto.

So, beyond the great buzz, and service delivery, and good performance, where does Maryam go? What does she do to regain lost voters in her home base? This is the question that will determine her political future, and that of her party.

Bo kata!