The overhyped Khan

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Appearances have their place in life—especially for those selling themselves as dispassionate observers engaging in putatively objective analysis of politics. However, post-PTI’s Lahore rally many such appearances have fallen by the wayside. A few TV anchors who sell themselves as analysts have mentioned the ‘tingling’ they experienced during Imran’s rally. While reliance on tingling sensations, as a mode of analysis, is debatable the most intellectually honest step for these people would be to openly endorse Mr Khan and stop misleading the public with pretences of objective analysis. At least Glenn Beck and Fox News openly acknowledge ideological leanings.
Despite the blind optimism of PTI warriors, questioning and criticizing Imran Khan is not the moral/intellectual equivalent of endorsing corruption. Anyone who, like Khan, engages in ceaseless rhetoric should be prepared to be peppered with hard questions.
There is something lamentable in the way the PTI phenomenon is taking hold among the many young minds of Pakistan. The biggest casualty in the process is open debate. When I heard a renowned historian say some days ago that ‘majorities have to be earned in a democracy’ I felt uncertain of his meaning but now the dangers posed by majorities that are not earned are becoming clear. Thousands of people, apparently so weary of corruption and abuse of power, are unquestioningly buying into the rhetoric of a party and a man whose leanings deserve the strictest scrutiny like all other politicians.
Even if corruption is ‘the’ issue in the eyes of so many, why is there an assumption that the PTI will not be corrupt? It is laughable that Imran Khan’s management of a hospital is an argument for the purity of a political party. Most people, including politicians, would run any project that they have a financial interest in a manner that benefits the project. Therefore, while Khan’s hospital is a commendable effort it is ridiculous to hold that up as an argument against corruption by party members.
If Khan is relying on ‘electable’ candidates who were part of the allegedly corrupt political parties (i.e. any party that is not PTI) then how does his dependence on these candidates reduce chances of corruption? You cannot run the ‘if leader is clean the rest will be clean’ argument here since the leader is dependent on the rest — they control his chances and he does not control them.
Furthermore, your worry about PTI’s corruption should also incorporate a broader view of corruption, i.e. whether Khan calls a spade a spade. In all the rabble rousing ways he hits the right buttons. He lambasts US policy, he opposes drone strokes and he demonises politicians in general except those who join him. However, as he told Karan Thapar in a TV interview he does not believe in questioning General Kayani since ‘the Prime Minister is the head of state’. If ever there was a case of willful blindness, this was it. Khan proceeded to compare Pakistan with India in the same breath and asked Thapar whether the army chief or the prime minister should be questioned?
India is not Pakistan in so many ways. Civil-military imbalance is not an unrelenting reality of the life of the Indian state as it is in Pakistan. If Khan refuses to acknowledge that the military is the biggest player in Pakistan’s politics and thinks that the army should be questioned only when it is directly in power then he is a leader who does not deserve anyone’s confidence — except the ISI’s. And who knows? The stars may have aligned there.
Having someone like Mr Hameed Gul on one’s team ought to have been suicidal in a country awash with cynicism. But this rhetoric of demonising politicians apparently has enough power for people to forget the dangers of a leader keeping dodgy company — very dodgy company at that. Also on Khan’s agenda is negotiating with the Taliban. He shamelessly said that all political leaders in Pakistan are ‘non-leaders and are here to take money’. One wonders what Khan makes of the courageous stance taken by the ANP against the Taliban in KP and the sacrifices endured by that party? It has lost party workers, ministers and children of its members to Taliban’s violence. Those people were killed not because the Taliban was reacting to a drone strike but because the ANP, instead of engaging in rhetoric, took a courageous principled stand to denounce the madness perpetrated in the name of religion. That is what political parties do.
I want to ask Khan that if all politicians are just interested in money then why the Federal Government would stand behind a war on militancy—a war that is not making the incumbents popular but is our war based on principle. Surely it is not the money? If it was the money they wouldn’t want to risk unpopularity since staying in office means more money. Get the argument?
The statistics stated in his latest book are absurd; he says that 90% of all militants are not terrorists and the remaining 10% that are terrorists can be negotiated with. No sources cited of course. And he ignores a vital point: the Pakistani Taliban are not ordinary militants or terrorists opposing a country’s foreign policy. The Pakistani Taliban seek to establish their extremely orthodox version of an Islamic state; a version that violates the rights of people (especially women). Most importantly, they want political power. This has already been manifested in Swat where the Nizam-e-Adl regulation was only accepted since it gave them power. But the inevitable happened—it failed. And what will we negotiate? Give them an area where they reign supreme? What about the rights of people living under them and the injustices they suffer because PTI chose a hands-off policy?
A government that denounces terror and is willing to wage a fight to protect the rights of its children to attend schools is one that is courageous. A party that doles out rhetoric with no concern for the nuances of reality is our ticket to moral decrepitude and a numb conscience.

The writer is a Barrister and an Advocate of the High Courts. He is currently pursuing an LLM in the United States and can be reached at [email protected]

25 COMMENTS

  1. sorry mate but your not getting it. You might have swallowed the US state department line that you can tackle terrorism or fundamentalism by bombing people, but unfortunately that's not quite the case. It might have a short term impact but in the long run the issue festers on. You just need to look at Ireland, Columbia, Chile, Turkey, Palestine etc.

    You need to address the root cause and that's what IK has been saying for a long time. Even the US have realized this and are trying to negotiate ther way out of Afghanistan very similar to the approach and agreement they had with the Shia and Sunni groups in Iraq.

    The problem we have in KP is that the ruling Junta ANP has not done anything to address the concerns of the people. They had a great opportunity to address the problems and concerns of people and isolate the fundos but they missed the bus. They only thing they have excelled in is bad governance and corruption. What investment have they made in fata, swat or any of the settled areas. You are quick to criticize IK but chose to ignore the fact that the ANP government (and the PPP) has been in power for the last 3.5 years and has failed to deliver. What else can you expect from this type of leadership look at bilour and the impact he has had on Pak Railway (money is ther lord and master)

  2. Bull eye. Talib Khan is not a leader but a cunning opportunist and murder of hope. Of course such impostors are 'Tsunami' for the nations having potential of inflicting damage and destruction only.

  3. I take 30 days ago there was no talk on the lines of these articles and remotely Imran Khan was a sidelined hero,… today he stands tall because he roused the emotions of the greater public and got them behind him in a big way.

    This is not rhetoric it's a miraculous undertaking of not accepting reality and projecting an idea or ideology that people actually believe in, that being the ideology of Allama Iqbal. Imran is playing all his cards right, and everyone corrupt or clean (in politics today) wants to be part of a winning party by hook or by crook.

    By the way you site a few things in your article without any references to sources and its absurd to say that Imran did the same in his book, we all do. Which conservative version of Islam are you talking about that limits human rights or women's rights in specific?

    Are you talking about the West's version of human rights that abuses Women as mere objects of lust and filth? What version of Islam are you willing to accept? An adulterated and corrupt version at that? Which version did the Prophet of Islam bring to this world, and when? The World and the West for that matter was in the dark ages back then… and it is still now.

    Actually the earlier part of your article sounded as the same defeated logic people tried to impress with when Imran Khan was planning and working on the Cancer Hospital.

    Change is in the air, accept it and contribute to it, or feel happy that you will be left behind…

  4. Ok, first of all you said that the fact that he runs a hospital doesnt mean that he wont be corrupt in government. Shaukat Khanum is run on donations my friend.People donate money to the hospital on the honesty of Imran Khan, why do u think it has been successful so far. If he had been corrupt he could have at least drawn a salary from shaukat khanum, but he hsnt even done that, so if one person is not corrupt there of course he wont be corrupt in the government. If you have any other logic for judging how someone wont be corrupt, kindly explain it to me.

    Secondly you questioned the fact that khan is so naive for blaming gillani whereas he should blame qiyani. Everybody knows qiyani is pulling the strings, which is why imran said that the isi and army would be accountable to him if he becomes pm. However, in a true democracy, the army is answerable to the pm. The fact that khan states that Pm is responsible is infact the essence of true democracy, which we dont have in Pakistan. That is why Khan said that pm is responsible.

    You talk about ANP, dude its leadership is huddled up in dubai. I acknowledge their sacrifices but the policy adopted by them is short term and wont be effective in the long term. Dont u think karzai and the cia know about the taliban? why is it that they are trying to negotiate with them? why is it that they want isi to help bring haqannis to the negotiating table?

    You said that Khan shamelessly says that politicians are here to make money. Can u proof otherwise. All the parties have one agenda, COME TO POWER. U ask any of them what their vision is about how to run the country and they will be clueless. Proof, 5 times PML N in power, 4 times PPP in power, PMLQ always in power, MQM always in power, what have they done besides make money? Can u state any other good policy besides the war on terror point u raised about these so called good parties?

    And you also talk about the fact that isi is supporting Imran? You want facts by Imran Khan, where are ur facts regarding this? hasnt Imran been the biggest critic of the army role in FATA? hasnt he clearly stated that he wont accept being a pm unless the army is answerable to him? what more do u want ?

  5. A man is best known by the company he keeps, look at his polit buraue, IK is a recepi for disaster. Agreed with Waqas.

  6. Was this writer sitting on mall road and having his degree in had sipping tea without sugar would have made me sense. while who ever is promoting the agenda of their forefathers who have been blessed by these corrupt political uncles does not impress me much. even imran turns out to be another Devil i am damn sure he will be less evil. Go on PTI

  7. I dont agree with everything Waqqas said but it's a nice article with some strong criticism on PTI and IK; which they should be able to answer (and i think they are). This criticism would be even more critical in coming times as all other parties start preparing for elections as well and the party needs to be more open to all sorts of feedback, i think they are but some of us supporters are not. We need to act more mature and be open to positive criticism, it only helps us to improve.

    Change is coming.

  8. I am not a supporter of Imran khan. But honestly bro, God knows what were you thinking when you sat down to write this article.

  9. Well, criticising a person or raising doubts about one’s intentions is not difficult. This article clearly shows that. However, of all the things that have contributed towards Imran’s popularity at this point in time and they have been mentioned in passing by the writer, Imran’s standing tall for 18 long years and safeguarding his passion and ideology for a cleaner Pakistan is surprisingly not appreciated and valued by his detractors. Imran’s supporters certainly rate him far more highly on this count. His building a cancer hospital and a university and his refusal to be part of power politics when opportunities were readily available to him are still more factors which have endeared the great Khan to the people. And should I say that the greatest factor, perhaps, for his rising popularity has been provided by the extremely bad governance and the concordant ills? Whether Imran can deliver or not will be seen when he comes into power and completes his term as the prime minister. Raising doubts about him before he has been tried is childish and uncharitable.

  10. why is the writer so thick headed? his entire piece is based on assupmptions and apprehensions and outcome of somebias. someone please give him a chill pill.

  11. To me the crux of the article is "There is something lamentable in the way the PTI phenomenon is taking hold among the many young minds of Pakistan. The biggest casualty in the process is open debate."
    Much substantiated by some of the remarks above !

  12. “There is something lamentable in the way the PTI phenomenon is taking hold among the many young minds of Pakistan. The biggest casualty in the process is open debate.”

    • you are right Ali Nazir, but you have to understand that its not only IK or PTI phenomenon, but the incapability and the inconsistent performance of the last few governments… and i personally believe that from the very first international match he played to this day, he has a commendable record… He could have become a minister in Zia ul haq's cabinet almost 25 years ago, but he never opted for that. Many people have seen him standing in the queue at SKMT cafeteria like all other employees… the list is reasonably large which suggest that he should be tested this time around over PPP and PML (all factions).

  13. <a href="http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2 Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DiXcJ2J7Brlk%26feature%3Dshare&h=rAQE1pCSBAQHv3AGcN6-Yea7IYSZSphrl_YlU9XYwEwpQgg” target=”_blank”>http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2 <a h…” target=”_blank”>Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DiXcJ2J7Brlk%26feature%3Dshare&h=rAQE1pCSBAQHv3AGcN6-Yea7IYSZSphrl_YlU9XYwEwpQgg Who is corrupt ? One who is talking against corruption , He is a son of a person sacked from government service due to corruption .
    You will be surprise to see this.

  14. Well, criticising a person or raising doubts about one's intentions is not difficult. This article clearly shows that. However, of all the things that have contributed towards Imran's popularity at this point in time and they have been mentioned in passing by the writer, Imran's standing tall for 18 long years and safeguarding his passion and ideology for a cleaner Pakistan is surprisingly not appreciated and valued by his detractors. Imran's supporters certainly rate him far more highly on this count. His building a cancer hospital and a university and his refusal to be part of power politics when opportunities were readily available to him are still more factors which have endeared the great Khan to the people. And should I say that the greatest factor, perhaps, for his rising popularity has been provided by the extremely bad governance and the concordant ills? Whether Imran can deliver or not will be seen when he comes into power and completes his term as the prime minister. Raising doubts about him before he has been tried is childish and uncharitable.

  15. I agree with Waqqas Mir . IK doesn't have any policy on major issues except solagons &the supporters to call names against those not agreeing with them.

  16. I believe one needs to have a spark of nobility in oneself to believe that nobility IS possible. I pity you ilk Mr. Waqqas. Heckle and sneer is all you can do.
    Why do you assume that he will be corrupt? Why can't you assume that he won't be? And this is not even an assumption.
    And I have never been able to understand the "argument" that calling for dialogue makes one an apologist of Taliban. This is what the Afghans and the Americans are so desperately wanting to do after ten years' worth of bloodshed.
    As for politicians joining him, it puts me in mind of Aesop's fable about the father and the son and their donkey.
    We dare to hope, Mr. Waqqas. Do we have a choice?

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