Kidding?

Imran Khan’s speech at the 3^rd convocation of Namal University was standard graduation day fare; work hard, work for your country, the works. The bit of his speech about himself and his party was also nothing out of the ordinary.

The only thing worth remembering is the one you already know by now: the threat. “Four acres are lying in front of the university building,” he said. “But owners are reluctant to sell the land.”

Sell us the land while things are still civil, he said. Otherwise, when we are in power, we will seize the land under Section 4.

He was talking, presumably, to the Sillo clan. Malik Ghous Sillo, one of the clan’s elders, told reporters that they had already donated land to the university but now the latter wanted the land their houses were on. They merely wanted other land in exchange for this one so that they could build new houses on it.

The fallout was, spirited, as expected.

Yes, the cited section does grant the government the right to seize land if it is to be used for “public good” and yes, even private enterprises, which Namal University is, can request the government to use the law if the same “public good” can be proved. Theoretically (strictly) it could happen.

But that isn’t an argument any of Khan’s defenders is taking. Because the manner was brusque and his specific mentioning of the fact that the action will be done “when we will be in power”, clearly implies strong-arming.

As it is, the Land Acquisition Act is a bit problematic, with the affected parties crying foul if they feel short-changed, which they often do. This is, even if done without the explicit dekh loonga tujhe of this particular case.

*****

The track the legion of Imran Khan’s defenders have taken is that he was only kidding; come on, cut him a little slack, they say.

This was what we heard Hassan Nisar saying on Geo’s Report Card.

True, the he-was-kidding argument could be invoked. Though, truth be told, Imran Khan is not that good at the whole deadpan snark thing for it to have been a joke, as Nusrat Javeed noted on Aaj TV’s Bolta Pakistan.

Certain benefits of the doubt are, of course, extended to Imran Khan, that aren’t extended to anyone else. For instance, Nawab Aslam Raisani, a man certainly not without his faults, was not serious when he had said, in a lighter tone, at the end of a press conference, “degree degree hoti hai, asli ya naqli”.

The former chief minister Balochistan has been immortalised by the statement. It just won’t leave him.

*****

Former US President Ronald Reagan was called the Teflon President. Why teflon? Because nothing would stick to him. Casual, minor gaffes by other politicians would ruin political careers. Reagan’s mammoth faux pas would be quickly forgotten; miraculously, even by opponents.

Imran Khan has a teflon coating. What to speak of minor gaffes, but people have (by and large) forgotten that the man wanted to overthrow the democratically elected government of the day and also ordered his activists to raid the parliament, a charge which he didn’t even deny (it was the PTV raid that he denied).

People will forget this current spat as well. Woe be to others who imply the same.