Like many Pakistanis, I admire Imran Khan and his sincerity. But supporting him politically is a different matter. He and his party – Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf (PTI) – have some serious soul searching to do before people give it their political support.
Imran Khan is one of the few principled politicians we have. There is no doubt that he truly cares about the country. His bold stance on May 12 and his consistent support for the restoration of the judiciary was unmatched by any other prominent politician. His cancer hospital and the projects he has started in the field of education have been praised even by many of his critics.
Someone like myself, who is dissatisfied with the politics and corruption of the leading parties, is naturally attracted to Imran Khan who talks about principles and accountability. However, as much as I like Imran for his honesty and devotion to the country, I have some concerns about him and can not help agreeing with Shafqat Mahmood’s statement that Imran never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity.
Being politically inclined, I have even considered joining PTI at times, but reservations about his politics prevent me from doing so.
Imran Khan has been in politics for 13 years, and this is a long enough period to develop the party into a vibrant, democratic entity. Unfortunately, PTI still comes across more like an Imran Khan fan club rather than a democratic political party. For the most part, there is an absence of grass roots forums that meet regularly where any party member can raise issues and be heard, and the party line almost completely comes from the top.
Secondly, Imran does not realize that politics requires an appropriate mix of idealism and pragmatism and confuses this balancing act with opportunism. If he wants to serve the people of Pakistan by coming into power, then his decisions should be geared towards that goal. He had an excellent opportunity to launch himself when Nawaz Sharif offered him 20 odd seats in 1997 and again when Musharraf was willing to help him become the prime minister. Instead of spurning these offers, he should have taken a few ministries and worked hard on demonstrating through performance that he was someone who could truly deliver if given a chance. This could have provided him with the impetus needed to launch PTI into a force capable of getting elected into power on its own and then implement its reform agenda.
This unwillingness to balance idealism and pragmatism also creates doubts about his ability to deliver even if he came into power some day. It makes one wonder whether he would really take a practical approach towards addressing the country’s problems.
On top of all this, Imran Khan has a very confused stance on the Taliban where he still falls well short of fully condemning them.
He has been very consistently and forcefully bashing the Americans in recent years but the same kind of condemnation for the Taliban has not been forthcoming. This sharp contrast, when the Taliban have killed many more Pakistanis than the American drones, and when they are directly trying to destroy the state structure to establish their own rule, is hard to understand. It has taken some strong criticism for Imran Khan to finally make a few “too little too late” statements criticizing the Taliban, whereas what one expects from a good leader is the ability to clearly identify and point out a problem well ahead of time.
His stance on the current situation in Swat has again left a lot to be desired. He first vehemently opposed the military operation but did not explain what the government should do when the Taliban break a peace agreement and keep on expanding into neighbouring districts as they blatantly did after the Swat deal. Only after coming under regular fire has he finally accepted that a military operation can also be an option. He rightly says that bombings should be avoided and the operation should be carefully targeted, but the national debate could have been more focused on discussing how military action can be carried out in a way that minimizes civilian suffering if he and others had not been creating confusion by insisting that there should never be an operation.
In yet another example of muddled thinking, he now argues that before sending the army, a group of politicians should have been allowed to go and try to convince the Taliban to abide by the Swat peace deal. This makes one wonder why he did not publically propose this in the days leading up to the operation and what he is trying to accomplish by undermining the military’s efforts now that the time for this idea has clearly passed.
I really admire Imran Khan for his sincerity, but these are some of the serious issues that he and his party have to come to grips with, before PTI can make serious headway in realizing its full potential.
Well I agree with most of the content of the post and let me admit that I am a PTI member at present. I have a few questions for the “pragmatics” here.
What is the most important quality of a political leader? Integrity and honesty or pragmatism?
Some mentioned that 13 yrs is a long period to form a party and achive political success….I think it is not if you are not nurtured in a dictator’s nursery. some gave the examlpe of Quaid e Azam, to be honest he joined AML in 1913 and only in 1935-36 he became a unanimous leader and then needed 10 more yrs to achive a political success in 1946 elections.
About Bhutto: The so called genius/pragmatic/The Mao of subcontinent: served Ayub and Iskander Mirza for 10 odd yrs, mastermind of the disastrous Operation Gibrallter, and please do not forget an ardent supporter of millitary action in East Pakistan and resultant messacre. Yes he won in 2 out 5 provinces of united Pakistan.Grabbed zero NA seats in East pakistan and Balochistan and one in NWFP.
You may disagree with Imran on Army operation.( so do I on a few fine details).But this is a recent event.After all our army is in tribal areas for past 6-7 yrs why we got to this point that we have to face with the largest displacement of people in recent world history.
Last point: Why we are discussing/debating someone who is on scene foR 13 yrs and so far has one odd seat in NA? WHY HE and HIS OPINION MATTERS IF HE IS SUCH A BIG FAILURE?
This article is pretty much BANG ON!!!!
Thank you for the honest and balanced piece of writing
Ah yes, Shireen Mazari, darling of the security establishment, defender of every hair-brained cross-border misadventure conducted in our name…
I would like to see her stroll down some village street where the Taliban hold sway, with that blue-tinted hair dye (which by the way never ceases to irritate me) and black lipstick… they would probably stone her to death for appearing on TV with Na Mehram men…
The irony, not to mention the absurdity, of her support for these thugs is probably lost on her… but if there is a party for her and her ilk, it is the PTI…
@ Eidee Man
Referring to Imran’s voting record is hardly relying on unsubstantiated gossip. Look it up please—he did vote for Fazlur Rehman as PM and did not support the women protection bill (the only pro women legislation submitted to Parliament during his time there).
When I spoke to some senior women in PTI about why that was the case, they responded by saying that they advised him otherwise but he does not listen; that he is very single-minded in his views, which is why PTI has seen the most attrition of any political party. Nasim Zehra had joined him at one point too, but then left.
Shireen Mazari was not part of PTI then, but pls do look up her record as well—she is quite right-wing and has reached where she is today because of her very close nexus with the establishment and defense of detrimental policies like “strategic depth” which have led us where we are today.
Since it is clear that you did not read the excellent article by Mr. Saadullah I posted earlier, let me reproduce the relevant para differentiating Bangladesh:
“It is surprising how those who have opposed the military action have compared it to the military action against the former East Pakistan. The Awami League was a legally constituted political party which contested an election conducted by the state on the basis of a manifesto. That election, by all accounts, was the most free and fair ever held in Pakistan and the Awami League won it hands down. In other words, their activities were entirely legal and constitutional, and therefore obviously to resort to physical force in that situation was wrong. On the other hand, here in Swat and FATA, we have people going around with bandanas to cover their faces, armed heavily, defying the writ of the state and terrorising people at the barrel of a gun, and blowing up innocent people as a form of retaliation. Far from using any constitutional instrument, they have denied the validity of all the fundamentals of the Pakistani Constitution
@eidee Man
You said “discontent among the Pashtuns and Baloch have reached extremely dangerous levels”. I cannot speak for the Baloch but, as a Pashtun, I can say that the discontent amoung the Pashtuns is purely due to the unwillingness of government to deal firmly with the Talibans and their associates. Thounsands of innocent Pashtuns have been slaughtered and the society as a whole has been left at the mercy of the Taliban. There is a general sense of fear and the people who can afford to leave are leaving the province. The only ray of hope is the present operation conducted by our armed forces. If this operation fails than I am afraid for our country. It may sound outlandish that the Taliban can overtake Pakistan but believe me that is what we used to think living in Peshawar. After you see a few people beheaded in the open no one can oppose the Taliban.
For Imran Khan to oppose this operation shows that either he doesnt know the realities on the ground in the NWFP or he has his head so far up the Jamat-i-Islami’s behind that he can only see this situation from the eyes of the very people who created it.