Get Well Soon, Imran Khan

Adil Najam

Legendary cricketer, motivated philanthropist and maverick politician Imran Khan had an emergency stomach surgery performed yesterday.

He is still in hospital (yes, at the very same Shaukat Khannum Hospital that is his greatest gift to Pakistan – yes, it is a gift far greater than even his World Cup cricket victory). But he is reportedly out of danger and recovering.

All Things Pakistan wishes him a speedy recovery.

Get well soon, Imran. We need you.

Here is a news story from BBC with some details:

Surgeons have performed an emergency operation on former Pakistan captain and all-rounder Imran Khan to remove an obstruction in his small intestine. The procedure was carried out on Monday at Lahore’s Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital after Imran, 56, complained of severe pain in his abdomen. A hospital spokesman said afterwards: “Mr Khan is now out of danger.”

Imran, who captained Pakistan to World Cup success in 1992, was a member of the national parliament for five years. He is in intensive care and has been advised to remain in the hospital for at least three days. The hospital where he is being treated is named after Imran’s mother and was established following a charity appeal launched by the ex-cricketer himself, after she died of cancer.

I have known Imran for many years, and in many capacities. I have always admired him. (Here and here).

But, like many others, I have become more and more distanced from his recent political pronouncements. But even as his political stance has sometimes become questionable, his sincerity is beyond doubt and beyond question.

We – Pakistan and Pakistani politics – need Imran. Even for those who may no longer see him as a voice of reason, he is a voice of passion and a voice of principle. We have too few such voices in our politics, and we need more.

Much more than whatever he adds to Pakistan politics is what he adds to Pakistan’s self perception: a belief that we can help ourselves and if we were only to commit ourselves to the right causes, we can rise to great heights. He has done so both with the Shaukat Khannum Hospital and with Namal College (here and here). That, beyond everything else, was what made him the cricket giant that he was – and that, beyond everything else, is what makes him the Pakistani hero that he will always be.

Get well soon, Imran. We need you.