Zoe K Khan<\/p>\n
Khan leaves behind a politically polarised Pakistan soaring with inflation, one that has been brainwashed by Khan himself against the Opposition parties<\/p>\n
August 18, 2018. The day Imran Khan began his term as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan. Khan, also known as Kaptaan, hailing from a relatively affluent, prominent family, graduate from the best, most elite all-boys school in Pakistan, foreign qualified from the University of Oxford, often spotted in the company of upper-class glitterati locally as well as abroad and moreover, world renowned for his cricketing skills- hardly translating to a man of the people, however a label that he would be referred to by many, including his own self, in the years leading up to his appointment to holding the most powerful office in the country.
\nHence, one begs the question \u2013 what made the general public pin their hopes on one Imran Khan, a mere novice in the world of politics. Was it that he, as Captain, lead the team that won the 1992 Cricket World Cup for Pakistan? Was it his philanthropy for which he remained in the public eye especially for setting up Pakistan\u2019s first state-of-the-art Cancer Hospital, in the name of his late Mother? Or was it his critique of previous as well as incumbent governments, which struck a chord with those disgruntled at the hands of what Khan proclaimed was a mafia of a select few, who were running the country based on nepotism, corruption, economic inequality and dynastic politics, all elements which Imran Khan vouched to eliminate from the political landscape of Pakistan.
\nAnd he could, firstly, for he was a firebrand nationalist, his own person was free from any corruption charges, foreign assets, even political affiliations and secondly, for what he represented \u2013 a fresh, clean slate for Pakistan, one unencumbered and free of the good, bad, the ugly that crowded Pakistan\u2019s political history including the turbulent past of the Bhutto family, the mighty House of Sharif and military rulers and dictators which tainted the past and consequently the future of the Pakistani nation.
\nImran Khan brought hope. And it was not until Khan and Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf\u2019s political rally in 2011 that political analysts and the masses started to take him seriously, resulting in what was once popular support being translated into a political force. Many witnessed and believed Khan\u2019s strength came from the youth of the country, who came out in throngs to vociferously support his party and his message, essentially a \u2019cause\u2019, perhaps for the first time in their lives. And what better means to gain substantial popularity, for, after all, Pakistan is considered to be the fifth-largest young country in the world with, according to the UN Population Fund Report, around 63 per cent of the population comprising of youth aged between 15 and 33. It was with this backing and consistency dating from the 2002 elections to when Imran Khan won his first seat in the National Assembly to the struggles of October, 2007 where Khan was amongst the politicians to have resigned in protest of Pervez Musharraf\u2019s candidacy in the upcoming elections, thereafter Khan\u2019s open criticism of Musharraf\u2019s regime which lead to his imprisonment (however brief) during a crackdown in the period of his state of Emergency throughout Pakistan and ultimately his boycotting of the 2008 national elections in protest of Musharraf\u2019s regime that established Khan\u2019s writ over the political arena in Pakistan. The man was here to stay. In Khan\u2019s very own words, \u201cno power can defeat you as long as you stand firm in your ideology.\u201d
\nNo one can deny that Khan\u2019s journey is one for the books. After Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto\u2019s \u2018Roti, Kapraa aur Makaan\u2019 which remains PPP\u2019s slogan to date, it was he who reawakened the people of Pakistan from their slumber, inculcating in our youth a sense of duty, a message to fight against the allegedly corrupt, power hungry politicians, which created almost a restlessness, the kind that reminds me of the question: if your house is burning, wouldn\u2019t you try and put out the fire? It was with this fervour and promise to the people of Pakistan that millions came out to vote for the first time and the powers joined hands to declare PTI as the winning party in 2018\u2019s General Elections.
\nBe it for the sake of surviving democracy in Pakistan or otherwise, many, including Khan\u2019s biggest opponents, believed he may just be the first Premier in the history of the country to complete a five-year term. But, was the slogan \u201cNaya Pakistan\u201d quite enough to sustain a population of 220 million? These sky-high hopes of the people of Pakistan in the name of the pledges Imran Khan made in the build-up to the elections including ten-millions jobs, an Islamic welfare state, rooting out corruption and lifting his nation out of poverty, soon became runaway expectations and promises he just could not keep.
\nFor starters, Khan failed to choose a cabinet that did justice to his vision; instead he chose a team recycled from previous administrations, like old wine in a new bottle, with ideas that were done and dusted; one that, from the get go, failed to set into motion the ideology of Khan\u2019s New or \u2018Naya Pakistan\u2019. What did not help his cause is his government\u2019s attempts at side-lining media freedom, effectively intimidating and censoring journalists who dare to not toe the government\u2019s line and passing draconian laws such as PECA to curb \u2018fake news\u2019 against the government, a statute later declared illegal by the Courts, so much so that Khan was dubbed as a \u2018press freedom predator\u2019. Finally, possibly the last straw was Imran Khan\u2019s rhetoric claiming it would take much longer to clean up the mess left by previous governments, which, however true, seemed to many as an excuse for his acts of commission and omission that collectively failed to make the cut in establishing a strong, viable government under Khan and to no surprise, helped create an opposition, bigger than ever before, under the name of the Pakistan Democratic Movement, which would eventually, as events unfolded yesterday, other than Khan himself, be the cause of his downfall.
\nTo put it simply and as cricket analogies go, which seem to be the favourite when referring to the Captain\u2019s (Kaptaan) tenure, perhaps Khan was unable to fully gauge the pitch, one which was meant for a medium pacer but Khan, with his fast bowling, began delivering sermons on corruption a bit too early in the game.
\nPerhaps if Khan had paced out his bowling, his focus would have shifted from getting out the opposition to scoring some much-needed runs for the people of Pakistan. But Khan was a man on a mission. In the words of American Journalist Mehdi Hassan who once interviewed Khan and asked \u201cwhy he thought he was qualified or experienced enough to be Prime Minister, he said maybe he wasn\u2019t but had I checked out the awful alternatives on offer.\u201d
\nToday, Khan\u2019s innings may not be over just yet, however, he leaves behind a politically polarised Pakistan soaring with inflation, one that has been brainwashed by Khan himself against the Opposition parties, be it PMLN, PPP, JUI-F, irrespective of what these parties and their leaders to bring to the table, other than experience and good governance. Imran Khan made the mistake of making the opposition the main focus of his past four years in power, not the economy, not foreign relations nor healthcare nor education \u2013 instead the PMLN, the PPP, the JUIF. Perhaps the less said the better of the final days of brinkmanship in which Khan held on to his office for dear life and all attempts to dissolve assemblies and avoid a vote of no-confidence stood futile in the eyes of the Constitution, 1973 and Judiciary of Pakistan.
\nListening till the wee hours of the morning to speeches delivered in the National Assembly pursuant to vote of no confidence by all veteran leaders which collectively made up the (former) opposition, \u201ccorrupt\u201d or non-corrupt, religious or secular, young or old, activist or conformist, conservative or liberal, the one quality that unites each one of these politicians: experience, and at this point, maybe, that is just what Pakistan needs.
\nFinally in the words of Fatima Bhutto, \u201cpurana Pakistan was squalid\u201d so with that in mind, let\u2019s hope & anticipate a Better Pakistan. A Pakistan where family tree of a judiciary is not desiccated in the search for questionable links. Where the constitution is upheld, never fractured. Where Media is strong and maintains neutrality. Where Pakistan is independent enough to have a say in the international arena instead of piggybacking on richer, more influential allies. Where tolerance for religion, politics, opinions is free-flowing. Where there is no bitterness for those in power, and every error in policymaking and administration is not crucified as the ultimate sin. Finally, where a culture of badmouthing is looked down upon and differing opinions are respected. In the words of Nehru, \u201cwhere freedom is menaced or justice threatened or where aggression takes place, we cannot be and shall not be neutral.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Zoe K Khan Khan leaves behind a politically polarised Pakistan soaring with inflation, one that has been brainwashed by Khan himself against the Opposition parties August 18, 2018. The day Imran Khan began his term as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan. Khan, also known as Kaptaan, hailing from a relatively affluent, prominent family, graduate […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[5871,1352,20,5872],"class_list":{"0":"post-254648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-article","7":"tag-cried-wolf","8":"tag-nation","9":"tag-pakistan","10":"tag-zoe-k-khan"},"yoast_head":"\n