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Imran Khan is on a high. From being a fringe player in Pakistani politics for over a decade, he has suddenly become the most likely contender for the top position in the country. UTPAL KUMAR, however, doesn’t really cherish the moment
When Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan called off his Delhi visit this Wednesday because he wasn’t willing to participate in a conference that included Salman Rushdie (incidentally, Imran was a member of the Rushdie fan club in the early 1980s), it didn’t come as a surprise to most. Imran, after all, is no longer the man he used to be during his playing days — his youthful vigour and single-minded determination may have lasted, but the liberal playboy in him has given way to a drab Islamist who believes the emergence of the Taliban in the mid-1990s was not a bad thing to have happened to Afghanistan.
For Imran, the Taliban are not a threat, not at least to Pakistan. Instead, he finds problems with the liberals whom he disdainfully calls the “scum”. And, this seems to be working well for him and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the party he founded way back in 1996 and had many humbling moments — winning no seat in the 1997 elections and one in 2002. But as one says — “change is the only constant” — the PTI saw a change in its fortune after a decade of political wilderness. Suddenly, lakhs of people started joining the jalsas organised by the party. And, many lined up to get its membership, some of them were the ones who had held prominent positions in previous regimes.
Why this sudden fascination for the former cricketer and his party? Caught for decades in a whirl of jihadi crossfire and dysfunctional Government, Pakistanis seem to have discovered a politician in Imran, thanks to his clean image and his populist brand of political Islam. His hasty popularity also owes a lot to his obdurate anti-Americanism, especially after the killing of Osama bin Laden in Pakistan and November’s wayward NATO airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Interestingly, Imran has not once questioned how the world’s most wanted terrorist could manage to hide himself for years in Abbottabad, a garrison town run by the Pakistani Army.
Imran is livid only with those who support the American policy of drone attacks carried out relentlessly in the country’s tribal west. He believes that the religious zealots would instantly become peaceful citizens once the Americans withdraw from the region. “Withdrawal from Afghanistan is essential for defeating insurgency in Pakistan,” he says. Incidentally, while with the Taliban he seeks engagement and unilateral ceasefire, the former cricketer wants India to first sort out the Kashmir issue before Islamabad should even consider any trade-related deal !
Allah Vs America
There is a saying in Pakistan that if you are willing to do well in politics, garner the support of two ‘As’ — America and Army (the third ‘A’, Allah, is ever omnipresent without being overtly invoked). What Imran has done is that he has explicitly called upon Allah and traded America with him, without disturbing the delicate military equilibrium.
And, he isn’t at all apologetic about it.
In his book, Pakistan: A Personal History, Imran says: “I find it strange that in Pakistan, people who stand up for Islamic values are called Rightists. Islamic values actually have more in common with Leftist ideologies in terms of social equality and welfare.” One wonders why then were all the communists who had supported the Islamist takeover of Iran in 1979 massacred or thrown out of the country post-Islamic Revolution. Or, for that matter, what happened to the Left radicals in Pakistan who had provided legitimacy to the two-nation theory before Partition ?
Imran’s duplicity is further evident on his stand on the country’s blasphemy law, which has been used to persecute religious minorities. He believes that the law is “abused”, refusing to blame it per se. Similar is his stand on the Hudood Ordinance — a set of draconian laws enacted by Gen Zia-ul-Haq that enforce severe punishments for extramarital sex. His defence: “The Hudood Ordinance imposed strict punishments for crimes, including adultery, and abuse by a corrupt police and judicial system undermined the legal status of women, especially the lower strata of society.” So, again, the ordinance is good, only it is being misused by a corrupt police and judicial system in the country !
It’s distressing to see such a desperate defence from the man who once made “little pretence of fidelity” even to his “special girls”. Christopher Sandford writes in his biography about how Imran’s “taste of women ignored all considerations of age and appearance, and also spanned the class structure”, how the overall impression of his London abode was of a “sixties art gallery crossed with a Sultan’s harem”, and how on his first visit to Karachi in the mid-1980s novelist Hanif Kureishi finds an 18-year-old boy strung out on heroin, dancing around and pointing to his quite prominent erection, which he referred to as his “Imran Khan”. And, also, how one religious leader complained that Imran’s practice of rubbing the ball on his trouser leg “had a sexually stimulating effect on the feminine populace”.
Indeed, Imran has come a long way. But why does the man who enjoys the pleasures of the West by night go on a rampage by the day? Maybe Imran is in the process of transformation, being caught in the middle of the two worlds. Or, maybe he is a “different man at different times”, as observed by his former colleague Wasim Raja. “I knew at least three or four Imrans,” Raja once famously said.
MINORITIES intimidated
Pakistan has recently seen some of the worst atrocities committed against its minorities. Last month, at least 16 Shias were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while returning from holy sites in Iran. Then, there was the abduction of Rinkle Kumari, a Hindu girl who was allegedly forced to convert to Islam by a gang that enjoyed the patronage of a well-known legislator. Ahmadiyyas are no less threatened. The National Database and Registration Authority has introduced a new religious category, ‘Qadiani’, in online forms for national identity cards. This is designed to single out the Ahmadiyya community, which was previously identified as “non-Muslim”. Does it in any way remind us of Jews in Nazi Germany? At least the community feels so. And, if this is the situation now, what will happen if ‘Taliban Khan’ comes to power?
The fear isn’t unjustified. Pakistani politics is at a crossroads. It is torn between two extremes — a pro-Taliban and an anti-Taliban politics (the latter is less anti-Taliban and more pro-America). The politics of the PTI and the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) have been pro-Taliban. In his recent interview to a television channel, Imran categorically said that he would not criticise the Taliban as it wouldn’t be good for his party and politics. Shahbaz Sharif (Nawaz Sharif’s brother) had also requested the Taliban not to attack his province, Punjab, as his party and the militia were on the same page.
So, the ‘Talibanisation’ of Pakistani politics has gone beyond Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It has reached the Pakistani heartland of Punjab, where the two major pro-Taliban parties — PTI and PML-N — are competing with each other to grab the power centre. APING THE PROPHET
Taking cue from Prophet Mohammed, Imran promises to set up an Islamic welfare state. This isn’t a viable proposition. A welfare state is one that assures its citizens access to the basic amenities of life, usually by subsidising them, which mostly come from taxes levied on the rich. Here it needs to be mentioned that the welfare state in Islamic history could merely last for 40 years — 10 years of the Prophet’s rule and 29 years of the caliphate. During this period, all Muslims received a stipend from the state, supported from taxes paid by non-Muslims and booty captured in wars and plunders. But as the frontiers of the Muslim state stabilised and most of the non-Muslims in the conquered areas converted to Islam, these sources of income dried up and Muslims were told to work for a living.
So, the question is: From where will Imran get the money to set up an Islamic welfare state? He doesn’t have a strong economy, and the minorities in Pakistan are already leading a wretched life; he can’t get more from them. Aping the Prophet in the 21st century wouldn’t be an easy task.
Apart from the Islamic welfare delusion, Imran talks of no institutional changes. For him, the problem in Pakistani politics has more to do with the personal ethical shortcomings of the political class, rather than any systemic failure. Maybe he knows correcting an institutional malaise will require tough actions — land reform, wealth redistribution, etc. And this may antagonise a lot of influential people. He, therefore, focuses on individual politicians. “Change Zardari and things will be improve… Imprison Sharif and all will be fine.” No wonder, he promises to uproot corruption in 19 days and terrorism in 90 !
ARMY’S FRONTMAN
Maybe Imran has no option. He has to talk in the air — and as loud as possible. Because he doesn’t have any concrete programme in place, and even no grassroots organisation in sight. He exists on borrowed support, mostly from the Islamists and the Army. Until late last year, Imran’s biggest rallies were organised by Qazi Hussain Ahmad, a prominent sympathiser of the Taliban. The former cricketer inherited his anti-Western attitude from his political mentor, Gen Hamid Gul, a former head of the Inter-Services Intelligence. Gul was responsible for recruiting, training and providing funds to the mujahideen during the Afghan war, besides being a central player in the emergence of the Taliban. Also, Gul is said to have links with those who executed the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
As for the Army, Imran always had good relations with the Generals. It was Gen Zia who called him out of retirement from cricket in 1987. Gen Gul encouraged him to enter politics. When Gen Pervez Musharraf took power in a coup, Imran provided him full support. And, when the US launched a raid to assassinate bin Laden, Imran blasted the civilian Government, rather than questioning the military on his presence in a garrison town?
The defence establishment, too, likes Imran because he is seen to be untainted, something that suits the current mood in Pakistan. Imran also has strong ties with ISI, is hostile toward both the US and India, and supports the Pakistani military’s strategy in Afghanistan. More importantly, he is politically inexperienced. Perhaps, the Generals see him as a puppet that can be easily manipulated.
So, the cricketer we admired so much in the field is an Army frontman, Taliban-backer and an Islamist who supports the blasphemy law. The world would be better off without him. Unfortunately, Pakistan doesn’t seem to think so.
Source : Daily Pioneer
