February 16, 2016
By Saeed Qureshi
Imran Khan the Chairman
of Pakistan Insaf Party (PTI) could have flashed like Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as a glowing
star across the political horizon of Pakistan. But all these years in the politics
he has remained a nonstarter. Once in a while he appears on the stage, frets
and fumes, throws his tantrums and then recedes into the oblivion to reappear
all of a sudden at a time of his own choice.
He runs his political
bandwagon by fits and starts. He is sincere and possesses boundless passion and
limitless energy to make a difference but his fury and passion is invariably
short-lived. He suffers from a chronic
malady of inconsistency and conceptual bipolarity.
He swerves from extreme to
extreme on both sides of his agenda. He thunders like the charged clouds but
then drifts away after a strong but brief shower of hyperbolic statements and high
sounding propositions.
Pakistan has ever
remained in the dire need of revolutionary persons because the resolution of
Pakistan’s daunting problems is beyond the competence of mediocre or
self-serving individuals and parties. In the prevailing chaos, hanging over
Pakistan since the demise of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Imran could have created a
niche of a liberator, a redeemer or a revolutionary for himself with a bag full
of meritorious accomplishments.
He won the first and
the last cricket world cup in 1992 thanks to his managerial skills and because
of sudden favorable turn of events. In 1994, he established Pakistan's first
and only cancer hospital, Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital &
Research Center, bearing the name of his mother Shaukat Khanum who died of
cancer. It is a charitable cancer
hospital with 75 percent free care.
He was relatively
young and robust when he made his debut in Pakistan’s politics, by founding; his
own political party - Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1996, under the slogan
of "Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem." He was then bubbling up with a brimming zeal
and reservoir of ideas for the betterment of Pakistan and to change the destiny
of the people of Pakistan. But after almost over a decade of his presence in
the political arena, it simply looks as if he has been merely dribbling and not
directing the ball into the goal post.
Undoubtedly, he is thoroughly
honest and utterly unimpeachable. He is the repository of a reputation for
being incorruptible. He has lofty ideals about Pakistan but he has failed to
capture the necessary instruments and use the right strategy to translate these
traits into concrete output.
He talks very
emphatically about the rotten system of Pakistan as exhibited and reflected
from his stressful facial features and restless body language during a debate,
discussion or talk shows. But beyond that, barring occasional lashing outbursts
at public rallies, he has failed to craft himself into a firebrand leader who
would keep inspiring the masses.
Indeed, he is a non-conformist
who shuns and is disgruntled about the style and antics of the traditional
political players. He certainly looks distinct when it comes to the question of
principles and ethics. But somehow, he runs short of mobilizing the masses a la
Chavez of Venezuela, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto of Pakistan, Mahathir of Malaysia,
Lenin of the former Soviet Union, Nelson Mandela of South Africa, Ahmed Ben
Bella of Algeria, et al.
Yet these are too
lofty personages to be compared with most of the leaders in the third world
countries, let along Imran Khan. But at least a cue can be taken from them as
to how a momentous change can be brought about. Mr. Khan yearns to cast himself
in the role of a number one victor, but finishes as a kind of a runner up or
still far behind.
The pent up passion and gusto remains dormant and unleashed
in him once he feels he has lighted himself by a robust public rhetoric or a
forceful delivery of his point of view at an electronic media forum.
There is no dearth
of pious platitudes and rosary plans
formulated and doled out by the best and the most of fertile minds that if
implemented would make the earth a much better place to live. But what matters
is that there must be someone who can actually show these plans and projections,
the light of the day.
The grandiose ideas
and exalted ideals that Imran Khan has professed on numerous occasions are
still like fables in the books. The sincerity and earnestness drips from his
every motion, and words and utterances. However,
his outpourings have yet to trigger a salubrious change in the sterile
socio-political landscape of Pakistan.
Is Pakistan turning into a civil society
because of a relentless revolutionary movement led by firebrands and visionaries
like Imran Khan.? Is there a re-awakening and pulsating awareness visible
somewhere? The answer to these questions is certainly in the negative. So let
us admit that Imran Khan has his limitations. But are these the inlaid genetic
limitations that impel him to run fast for a time and then relent and rest till
he can recapture his breath again?
Or else, are these
limitations imposed by external forces and agents that bridle him and keep him
under the tab not to exceed the fixed contours set for him? Is he hostage to
the dreaded exposure of sensitive information about his private life which
restrains him from going out of the way and walk ahead defiantly?
His political
philosophy has been undergoing a ripening process since 1996 when he turned a
politician. At the outset, he was a resolute proponent and a votary of the
quick fix tribal system of justice. At that time he discarded democracy and
institutional based governance.
Thereafter, he swung to support democracy and representative form of
government with a civil society tag. So he has been experiencing and undergoing
changes and transformation of perceptions and precepts with regard to his
political doctrine.
Khan supported General
Musharraf’s military takeover in 1999, but denounced his presidency a few
months before the 2002 general elections. He was elected MNA from Mianwali, in
2002 elections. Once in office, Khan voted in favor of the pro-Taliban Islamist
candidate for the prime minister in 2002.
Similarly, Imran Khan bitterly
criticized Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, but later joined him in 2008 against Musharraf.
The Guardian portrays Imran Khan as a
person who “preaches democracy one day but gives a vote to reactionary mullahs
the next.”
The rest of the
political legions in Pakistan are a bit on the higher or lower side of Imran
Khan. He can certainly make a difference if he breaks his self or externally
imposed shackles and embarks on a political clean-up and reformation mission in
the political wilderness of Pakistan with unswerving courage and unmindful of
the odds or consequences.
First of all he has to
firmly formulate and clarify his political goals and mandate as to what he
intends to do. Thereafter, he has to stand unshakably and uncompromisingly by
his ideals and political philosophy. He should make himself a steadfast
defender and resolute exponent of his manifesto and agenda for change.
“Revolution is not a
garden party” said Mao Zedong, the legendary Chinese revolutionary leader and
founder of the People's Republic of China. If a leader appears and disappears
for fear of incarceration or succumbs under pressures then better he may not
talk big or pretend to be an ideologue or a savior. Anyone including Imran Khan
who wants to rebuild Pakistan as a modern, and stable state will have to wage a
relentless war against the corrupt and decadent system and its unworthy
protectors.
A real national leader
will have to vie and wrestle with his political contenders in order to excel.
This is like fighting a multi-directional battle. Pakistan needs ruthless
surgical overhaul of its entire body politic and radical restructuring of its
moribund socio-economic edifice.
Can Pakistan throw up such an undaunted,
absolutely upright and ruthless redeemer to rescue Pakistani nation from a perpetually
trauma and unrelenting swindling by its trashy leaders? Such a person should be
an aggressive runner and not a whimsical nonstarter like Imran Khan.
His Dharnas
(sit-in) proved to be a strategy of catching the political bandwagon from the
wrong side. The reason is that the Dharnas can sustain for a short period of
time but then turn out to be an exercise in fatigue and futility for both the
torch bearers and the followers.
Besides a whole horde of opportunists were
allowed to enter the party thus polluting its pristine mandate and disfiguring
its glitter. This is exactly what is
happening to Imran Khan and his party PTI presently. Of late there seems to be
a visible disarray and fragmentation in his party.
Finally his marriage
solemnized after a long spell of time proved to be a disaster because of the
wrong or unpalatable choice of a spouse. One would wonder if his choice of a partner
of life could be erratic, how he would be able to diagnose and cure the
innumerable maladies afflicting the body-politic of Pakistan.
It shows that he
is prone to making whimsical or hasty decisions. Finally PTI provincial
government in the Pakhtunkhwa is under the shadows of poor performance. Its
chief minister Pervez Khattak is being blamed for a host of irregularities.
Note: This article was written some time back.
It is being reproduced with the necessary changes.
