A note of sympathy for Imran Khan
“I have done what I could for Pakistan, now it is up to you to continue this revolution,” was the message that the popular Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chairman delivered from the Intensive Care Unit. It takes a brave man with great commitment to deliver this inspiring message after a freak accident involving a 14 foot plunge from the stage at an election meeting in Lahore. A combined consequence of carelessness in preparing a safe stage with proper ladders and overcrowding of security staff in a tight space around him had the hearts of all Pakistanis, even those who were not supporters, leaping in their mouths. The incident happened as Khan was on his hectic campaign trail, with six corner meetings scheduled later for the evening. Whatever views one may have about Imran Khan’s political savvy and his party agenda, there is much to respect in a man no one took seriously until a few months back. The way Imran captured the hearts and minds of millions while building a strong and highly energized party geared for the May 11 elections is an unprecedented personal success. And it has created hope among those disillusioned by the lacklustre performance of the mainstream parties. Imran seems to have politically matured from the man who launched a ‘one-man party’ in 1997, then hitched his bandwagon with the dictator Gen Pervez Musharraf and then chose not to contest the 2008 polls.
=ince the April 21 launch of the PTI’s election campaign, Imran has addressed 78 separate political gatherings and the toll that the campaign took showed on his 61-year old visage. An undisputed global icon of international cricket, Imran made a name for himself as a standout philanthropist when he launched the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital at Lahore. As an educationist, he built the Namal University in his hometown of Mianwali, and commands respect as the Chancellor of the UK’s University of Bradford. Indeed, the PTI chairman is a national hero who has won international recognition, something of a rarity for Pakistanis.
From his already cemented status as a World Cup 1992 winning captain to becoming the harbinger of change for many, and a threat to the PML-N in its Punjab fiefdom, Imran now poses a real and present danger to the political establishment. The early indications are good, as doctors at Shaukat Khanum hospital have predicted a full recovery from the minor fracture on the skull and a spinal cord injury, and equally reassuring is his unwavering commitment. His sister told the media that Imran’s first words in hospital were: “Let Allah protect Pakistan.” The next words were: “How soon can you get me back on my feet?” Sooner, rather than later, is our hope.
