- A job well done
Imran Khan is back home after his week-long trip to the United States. Upon his return he thanked the nation for its support and prayers. Displaying continuation of rare mid-season diplomatic form, he also singled out the first lady for her special prayers. The trip was a hectic one. Apart from his UNGA address, he had as many as seventy meetings on the sidelines including one with President Trump. He also appeared for multiple TV interviews.
After India’s action of 5th of Aug, the expectations from Khan were unrealistically high across Pakistan, in Kashmir, and among the Pakistani diaspora around the world. So much so that it started as a lose-lose assignment for him. The fact that he had been dealt a very weak hand meant that the trip would have been considered a disappointment even if he never put his foot wrong at any point during the trip, which appeared to be a tall order at the time. Of course, his detractors were hoping for more: to pounce on any gaffes or moments of indiscretion on his part. Thanks to an unbelievably powerful performance at the UNGA however, which is widely being hailed as by far the best speech by any Pakistani leader on world stage, Khan has emerged with his stature as a statesman increased many-fold, much to the chagrin of his critics. The domestic score after the trip, therefore, stands as follows: those who loved him love him even more; those who were not his fans are even less of his fans than they were before the tour.
Those who have heard Khan over the years knew it was an expression of his own thoughts and not something based on a brief handed over by some foreign office bureaucrat
Some of the reasons that these critics have put forward make for amusing reading. Barring the colour of the jacket Khan wore, there’s every sort of complaint. There are those who thought he spent less time talking about Kashmir than they would have liked. There are those who thought he spoke for too long. Some critics found it necessary to enlighten the nation by telling it that a speech is, after all, only a speech. Aristotle would have been delighted in his grave on such an illuminating illustration of his law of identity. There were others who pointed out that a speech wasn’t quite enough to liberate Kashmir. Somebody obviously forgot to inform this crowd that they don’t (yet) have wrestling matches at the UNGA. Neither is there any provision for lifting bicycles with teeth or pulling trucks with moustaches. So, a speech was all Khan could deliver. Which he did, and how!
Khan’s speech was a study in oratory. Know your subject, structure the narrative, engage your audience, work hard preparing and practicing, avoid undue repetition, build up momentum and end on a high are the things any debating coach worth his salt is sure to tell his charges. Khan did all this, of course. Although how he managed it all without a piece of paper in sight, only he knows. But the passion with which he spoke, the way everything seemed to come straight from his heart (as indeed, it did), and the way he was one with his audience, are things that can’t be taught in any debating class. Those who have heard Khan over the years knew it was an expression of his own thoughts and not something based on a brief handed over by some foreign office bureaucrat.
It was a difficult message that he had to convey during his interactions in the US, which he did incredibly eloquently and consistently. Especially pointing out the way Muslims have been stereotyped in the world, often deliberately, was long overdue. The trickiest was the Kashmir issue, where he had to walk an especially tight rope. He negotiated the challenge admirably. Neither did he mince his words regarding Pakistan’s reaction to any potential false flag operation by India; nor did he come across as aggressive at any point. It was especially gratifying to see how clear he is on the undesirability of infiltration into Kashmir from Pakistan. Talking to Christiane Amanpour he said: ‘On the pretext of going after terrorists there will be more oppression of Kashmiris, and that will divert the world attention towards Pakistan. Anyone going into Kashmir will be an enemy of Pakistan and an enemy of Kashmiris.’
Considering how the world operates, even though Khan made his case in the best manner possible, it’s extremely unlikely that the world at large will heed Khan regarding any of the four points he raised in his speech: the way climate change is affecting worst the countries that contribute almost nothing to it; flight of dirty money from developing countries into tax havens in the form of money-laundering; cultivation and exploitation of Islamophobia to persecute Muslims; and the situation of Kashmir, that has destabilized an entire region and more. Still, Khan had to say what he said. He had to, because to quote Ravish Kumar: ‘Not all battles are fought for victory. Some battles are fought to tell the world that someone was there on the battlefield.’ Or to quote Khan himself: ‘A man’s responsibility is to do his best; success is up to God.’
