Our own quintessential Englishman is out in the political arena of Pakistan. Not that he hasn't been noticed its just that he hasn't been a sensation. He has an impeccable record as a cricketer (translation hero to the cricket frenzied public,) a matching brilliant performance as do-gooder what with the Cancer hospital, but a somewhat lack-luster stint at being an agitator. Politics in Pakistan is a dirty game, you cannot play by the rules simply because there aren't any. Mr.Khan has repeatedly lost seats in the PA and NA because he doesn't have the party machinery at hand, trained to utter perfection, to manage (euphemism for cheating) counting in favorable polling booths come election time. He also wants to stick to the weak slogan of Tehrik-i-Insaf, of fighting for justice? HUH? is Mr. Khan in touch with reality or is he deluded that he is some county of the UK trying to convince an educated well-informed public of their rights? What is going on?
I happened to be reading the Manifesto of Khan's party, hmmmm, whose written it? I wonder? (and yes there are losers like moi who read these things!) and this reading came after a heavy duty perusal of The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx and Engels. Now I am no proponent of communism and my interest in reading it was purely political, academic and literary, for after all, it is one of the most important documents of the 20th century and has influenced the world tremendously. Now, Khan's party manifesto reads less like a political agenda and more of a child's wish list, it is badly written and hyperbolic, and extremely impractical. We all want justice, no doubt, but how do we get it? is it by making the Judiciary unbiased and free? and how in a culture like ours where family, tribe, now ethnicity means everything and bending rules for such close relations is justice than injustice. How is Mr. Khan proposing to put all his wonderful ideas in practice? Yes, education is the need of the hour, but how is he going to get complete literacy in 5 years? In a society where education is only a means to get hold of a degree ( and recently, thanks to our ingenious leaders even those can be bought) because education isn't learning new things, or new and broader ways of thinking and acting, rather a means to earn livelihood and not much more. And the timeless question facing the education ministry of Pakistan, how much truth do we tell the nation's youth? do we actually reveal history as it happened or as we wished it may have happened, as we have been doing for past 60 odd years. How many textbooks is Mr.Khan proposing to write anew?
The Communist Manifesto first lays out the problems faced by the European countries at that time as perceived by its authors, they discuss and analyze how the Bourgeois exploits the Proletariat. After diagnosing the problems facing the society it proceeds to give solutions. In Mr. Khan's treatise, there isn't anything of the sort, there is no deep analysis of what is ailing Pakistan. He has taken short-cuts typically a Pakistani trait, quoting the Quaid on Unity, Faith, and Discipline UFFFF! how utterly nauseous is that tri-worded, sentence, it means nothing to any of us, never did. He says that he wants Pakistan to gain back its dignity? huh?? when exactly did Pakistan have any dignity?
I am not trying to be cynical for the sake of it, I have a point, and that is, if we are unable to identify our problems down to the nitty-gritty and away from the high language of speeches and pump-up talk and all doctored spin, if we are not honest, ruthlessly honest about what ails us, we can never put anything right.
So, Mr. Khan you need a rethink on a massive scale? what do you stand for? what in your view ails us, yes we know its corruption, and feudalism, and lack of justice, education and so on and so forth, we know all that, ad nauseam. Why do we have these problems? Oh, right the muddled reply, that we don't have institutions!! what the bloody hell does that catch-phrase mean for I keep hearing that! and to be honest it always bring to my mind images of mental-hospitals!! Do we not have enough of those? what?
Please, tell us what is actually wrong with us, the disease and not the symptoms, and then give us a fool-proof way of addressing the problems. Only then you will become relevant otherwise you are always going to remain in the fringes of the political storm for there are others who know our problems much better, and instead of curing them are ready to cash in on them - the main being an illiterate, easily influenced, gullible and stupid public.
Another, very important issue, revolution or any major change is never imposed, it is a kind of implosion, a breaking up of something from within, as we saw in Egypt recently, the average man was the catalyst there. Who is the average man here? Not Mr. Khan certainly! and definitely not with the uber expensive designer sun-glasses that he dons on the very desi Dharanas of his against the drone strikes. Mr. Khan you stand out like a sore-thumb amongst the crowd of people you wish to lead.
Well, if you want to be the English Sahib of the colonial era, who managed the continent exceedingly well with a mix of stick and carrot and which you have admired so many times publicly, then, I must say you are on the mark. But, sorry to break this to you, colonialism ended errr... like half a century back, and the brown-man here is no longer "the white-man's burden" he is you and me! so you must get off your very English high horse and come to the level of the Urdu medium locales like us and speak our lingo! My sincere advise to you is - ditch the glasses asap! for the public wants to look you in the eye and see what you're really all about.
Moreover, Mr.Khan I feel sorry for you for I can feel you squirming under the pressure of trying to find a pleasant balance between Islamic state and secularism! What exactly did the Quaid want? please re-read your history lesson and this time try reading Indo_pak history. And this coverting with the mullahs isn't going to get you very far, for no matter how sensitive people maybe about religion the religious parties have always been seen for what they are - a nuisance and will remain so. So finish aligning with them and for once be creative and be original and be a leader!
P.S the price of your sunglasses is probably higher than the income of a family of six, on average, per annum (tough reality)
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