Why is there a ‘no-discount’ policy for Imran Khan?

• We need to kill our animal instincts in order to become a human

Imagine a house that has not been cleaned for a month. Spider webs, dust, dirt, signs of termites, and many other forms of filth would be waiting to welcome the denizens of the place. The cleaning process would, therefore, consume much more time in the case of this house as compared to any whiter than white accommodation. This is exactly what pro-PTI faction chants every now and then. The contamination caused in 71 years cannot be sluiced overnight. The opponents, on the contrary, eye the notion as a tactic to conceal inefficiency and unreliability of the winning party, in general, and its leader, in particular. But what they fail to realise is that an entity enjoys the advantage of being called pristine only if: (a) it is new; or (b) it has been kept immaculate.

Pakistan movement caused the advent of a designated homeland for Muslims of the Indian subcontinent but it was itself a potion comprising promises and hopes. The extent to which these have been fulfilled is not hidden from anyone. Convincing a population full of hero-worshippers to follow a leader is not at all a tough job, but remaining their leader truly is as people find a hero’s replacement way before the actual process of succession.

Quaid-e-Azam was no different. He is worshipped to date without his worshippers having even a faintest idea of the ideology he followed and tried to propagate in his life. His legacy is deemed more important than his words, a dilemma Pakistan continues to face in the age of reasoning. The Muslim population was compelled but to build one dream after another and fabricate a huge pile of expectations from the neonate country with limited resources to suffice everyone’s needs. Besides, the horizon of hopes was not restrained to material resources and, instead, covered almost everything that was the colony’s status quo – persecution of the innocent, way too less opportunities for Muslims in the realms of academia and politics, and lack of compassion, to list a few. Pakistan was portrayed as a wonderland where all matters have already been settled and where Muslims will not have to suffer anymore. Eyed as an Arcadia, Pakistan was dreamt to be a fruit that is enjoyed after lengthy days of cultivation and ripening. And that was the real mistake.

Jinnah had neither promised nor guaranteed a future free of struggles, sacrifices and hardships. His job was to provide the Muslim population with an undisputed opportunity – a separate homeland – where the foundations of a disciplined nation had to be laid. It was not the end to all sacrifices; it was just the beginning. And it was on us to make this country a nation.

Similar is the now-curious case of Imran Khan, the premier-in-waiting. Unlike Jinnah, he has made tall claims. Unlike Jinnah, he has let people believe in an instantaneous transformation of prevailing scenario. Unlike Jinnah, he is indecisive, which has, in turn, put several question marks on Pakistan’s future policies in the domains of international relations, monetary stability, etc. Yet, it would be as irrational to believe in an instant change as is the idea itself. Even the fastest method of change – revolution – requires some strategy and time.

Yes, Imran Khan has promised change. But the country that elected this ‘change-maker’ on 25 July 2018 has been in news for several reasons that show change is still a distant dream.

While Imran Ali, the rapist and murder of Zainab, was sentenced to death for heinous crimes committed to three other minor girls, Pakistan has witnessed the lifeless body of yet another daughter who hailed from a different city but was born with the same fate. Kainat’s body was found in Karachi when the country had allegedly entered into its new phase.

Pakistan movement caused the advent of a designated homeland for Muslims of the Indian subcontinent but it was itself a potion comprising promises and hopes

While Mashal Khan had fallen prey to false blasphemy allegations in purana Pakistan, TLP emerged as the third largest party of Lahore in naya Pakistan.

With much reluctance and less willingness to change, how can we expect Imran Khan to swish a magic wand and put everything in order overnight? Why is there a ‘no-discount’ policy for Khan owing to which a heavy faction of people preferred other parties to PTI? All the political parties that have ruled to date (the throne being majorly exchanged between two prominent ones) have manifestoes; their leaders have promised welfare of people and betterment of society. Yet, despite their failure to deliver and that, too, in most indelible manner, many people actually voted for the past sinners as the future sins of IK were too evident to overshadow the ghosts of the past.

This rings the alarm bells for the sane. We actually do not need Khan or any other leader to bring about a change. It is all about changing attitudes and perceptions that can warrant irreversible metamorphosis.

We need to differentiate between truth and falsehood, right and wrong.

We need to kill our animal instincts in order to become a human.

We need to separate the essence of religion from exaggerations and suppositions.

It is us who can bring the required change.

To quote Barack Obama: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

If we were willing to give other parties several terms to prove their point (which they miserably failed to utilise) then we should wait until the end of IK’s term before making him our hero or equating him to zero.