Islamabad – May 2026
The trouble didn't come with an FIR.
It came with "pending files", "unreplied memos", and "confused protocols."
By May, Tajdeed had quietly integrated into five federal departments and two provinces—digitizing services, cutting redundant reporting loops, even installing live feedback dashboards in district offices.
But now, resistance had a new weapon: bureaucratic jiu-jitsu.
---
Signs of Static:
One dashboard officer was reassigned to "Office Stationery Audit."
The SRS budget file vanished for a week, "lost in inter-wing routing."
Two young civil servants helping Rayan were suddenly sent on training in Gilgit—"for capacity building."
Even the chai at the SRS office started tasting suspiciously burnt.
---
Rayan's Reaction:
"This is it," he told the team one night. "The immune system is kicking in."
Zara rolled her eyes. "Let me guess—autoimmune bureaucracy?"
Kamal Haider leaned back, arms folded. "No, this is classic asymmetric defense. They won't attack you directly. They'll make you irrelevant."
Justice Rahim, watching silently, added: "They'll wait for a scandal, even invent one, then whisper it everywhere."
---
And then came "The File."
An anonymous report circulated within the Establishment Division: "Unauthorized influence on governance from unelected advisory group."
No author. No signature. No official seal.
But it was forwarded to three ministries and casually mentioned in a parliamentary standing committee. A senator from Sindh thundered, "Who is this Rayan, and is he running a shadow cabinet?"
It had begun.