Adil Najam
Flying in from London to Islamabad, I bumped into Imran Khan on the plane. There he was, sitting a couple of rows ahead of me, reading The News, with his own picture on its front page (meeting Nawaz Sharif in London). I had not yet seen the paper, nor followed that days events in London (I was flying in from Amsterdam where I had been in meetings all day). We exchanged a few pleasantries, said nice things about what we had been up to since we had last met in Chicago just about a year ago (I had reported in detail on that here).
I must say, I did not fully grasp everything he said until later after I landed in Islamabad and first saw his supporters and TV cameras lined up at the airport, and then every news channel covering his press conference in London, and its political implications. In our short conversation he pretty much covered the exact same points I saw him presenting on TV,with pretty much the same passion. I guess he had come fresh from the press conference. Since all of that is now in the news already, I will not repeat it. The one thing I did ask him about were rumors about his ‘patch up’ with the MQM leading to the lifting of the ban on his entry into Sindh. Readers would remember those rumors surfacing everywhere, including on ATP, a few days ago. He shrugged those away as nonsense and just rumors.
My own sense from this very brief discussion chat was that:
(a) he does seem very serious abut taking on MQM Chief Altaf Hussain,
(b) that he fully realizes the seriousness of what he is doing, and
(c) he seems to be doing this out of personal conviction much more than political opportunism.
I may turn out to be wrong, but my first impression was that the earnestness with which he spoke about what he was doing and why that cannot be easily faked. This, then, seems not to be a story that will fizzle away easily. Not if Imran can help it.
If this is, in fact, so then Pakistan politics will continue to become even more interesting than it already is. ‘Party’ politics may just come back into limelight, but not ways one had expected. If indeed there are to be elections in Pakistan soon then the impact of this tussle could go well beyond defining what happens to just Imran Khan and the MQM.
By the way, as it turned out it was an interesting PIA fight to be on. Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao boarded soon after me. As did Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan (returning, I believe from the WTO meeting in Geneva). They both greeted Imran graciously, and briefly, and then then nearly all of us made the best of the overnight flight by going off to sleep. Of course, I first watched the ‘Tribute to a Legend’ show on Pakistani filmstar Muhammad Ali on the PIA channel.
P.S. In case you wonder, no, I did not speak to either of the Ministers. I do not know either of them, and would not have known what to say anyhow, especially if either of them had seen my own most recent musings on the political happenings in Pakistan.
Here is a thought. We as a Nation need to get to a point where politicians become irrelevant. Yes, that is exactly what I mean; no more worrying about the Sharifs or the Bhuttos or the Faujis. That is already a case in most of the developed world. People go about their day to day business without any regard to who is governing them. Of course that does not imply not being part of the political process; on the contrary, when there are elections every few years, peoples’ voices get heard based on what the issues of the day are. However when the elections are over, everyone goes back to their business and life resumes as normal; nobody gives a damn about the politicians anymore.
Two things have to happen for this to work. One, there has to be justice for all. No one should fear anyone; every one should fear the law. From current history, we are not even close to that point. However if the current struggle by the judiciary is successful, it will go a long way in establishing a judiciary which has teeth, and which can provide justice to everyone.
2nd, the economy has to become strong, to a point that people don’t fear where their next meal will come from. If people are poor, they get exploited by the politicians, in the false hope that they will change their lives. We have to learn to understand that we have to change our lives ourselves; no one will do it for us. We are a long way from getting to this 2nd more long term goal. There may be sections of the society which are reasonably immune to the whims of the politicians, but the agrarian economy controlled by the landlords makes sure that parts of the society are never independent enough to control their destiny. Adversity begets adversity. However we have to come out of this vicious cycle of poverty. That goal may seem elusive, but is achievable if every segment of the society strives for that.
Here is a thought. We as a Nation need to get to a point where politicians become irrelevant. Yes, that is exactly what I said; no more worrying about the Sharifs or the Bhuttos or the Faujis. That is already a case in most of the developed world. People go about their day to day business without any regard to who is governing them. Of course that does not imply not being part of the political process; on the contrary, when there are elections every few years, peoples’ voices get heard based on what the issues of the day are. However when the elections are over, everyone goes back to their business and life resumes as normal; nobody gives a damn about the politicians anymore.
Two things have to happen for this to work. One, there has to be justice for all. No one should fear anyone; every one should fear the law. From current history, we are not even close to that point. However if the current struggle by the judiciary is successful, it will go a long way in establishing a judiciary which has teeth, and which can provide justice to everyone.
2nd, the economy has to become strong, to a point that people don’t fear where their next meal will come from. If people are poor, they get exploited by the politicians, in the false hope that they will change their lives. We have to learn to understand that we have to change our lives ourselves; no one will do it for us. We are a long way from getting to this 2nd more long term goal. There may be sections of the society which are reasonably immune to the whims of the politicians, but the agrarian economy controlled by the landlords makes sure that parts of the society are never independent enough to control their destiny. Adversity begets adversity. However we have to come out of this vicious cycle of poverty. That goal may seem elusive, but is achievable if every segment of the society strives towards that.
There are several people who have realistic expecttions from Imran Khan, like winning several seats in the NA. However most are expecting Imran to sweep the next elections and form the next government. That is just not going to happen.
These people are also forgetting that Imran, Nawaz, Benazir or any other politician could not rouse the nation. The man of the moment, the man of the match is CJP Iftikhar Chaudhry. His single act of defiance has roused the valiant nation of Pakistan. Behind him are the panj sher, the five lions: Aitzaz Ahsan, Muneer Malik, Ali Ahmad Kurd, Tariq Mahmood and Hamid Khan.
Imran Khan and other politicians have even admitted that lawyers are the vanguards of the people’s movement. Politicians are mere follwers.
It was a lawyer who put forth the idea of Pakistan, another lawyer founded the country. Takmeel-e Pakistan i.e. completion of Pakistan will also happen at the hands of the legal fraternity.
Pakistan zindabad!
CJP and the legal fraternity paindabad!
Latest Merey Mutabiq with Mian Shahbaz Sharif (June 16 2007):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33u6bev_u6Y
Zahrajan:
To face the reality of Pakistani politics people of Pakistan have to stand up against the atrocities of those who have themselves elected. No Imran Khan, Abdul Sattar Edhi or Dr Rizvi can be their political saviors. If people of Karachi have repeatedly preferred to elect “goons” they deserve to be governed by “goons” unless they take them to task themselves through the political process. We are in the habit of seeking saviors and dragging good people into politics and politics has its own dynamics which we choose to forget. It is dirty not only in Pakistan but everywhere in the world.
And while I am writing this in early morning in the middle kingdom I can hear on the Aaj TV a piece of ghazal from Tarranum Naz which aptly describes entering politics:
Dekhen hein bohat hum ne andaaz mohabbat ke
aghaaz bhi ruswai anjaam bhi ruswai