Politics is not an exact science. It is the doctrine of the possible. The art of the next best.
Otto von Bismarck
I have never liked Imran Khan much personally. I have never hated him either. I have criticized him on numerous occasions from giving an extension to General Bajwa to accepting myriad perennial “lotas” in his party with pomp and pride. I have many issues with his political and ideological understanding as well. His performance never really caught up with his rhetoric. He could never eliminate corruption, uphold merit, and take practical steps essential for even beginning to march towards the romantic goal of Riyasat-e-Medina. But, I have been forced to support Imran Khan. I have been forced to think that perhaps, Imran Khan is the best possible option for Pakistan today. I have been forced to believe that Imran Khan remains the last hope of my beloved Pakistan.
How have I been forced to believe this? Or, more aptly, who has forced me to believe this? Well, not Imran Khan of course. Whenever I take a look at all the other options available, I shudder, I quiver, I tremble with fear. Fear for my Pakistan, fear for its people, fear for its ideology. If any of these people get to run the country again, they will make sure that Pakistan is lost and its people are trampled upon by Hindutva goons in the same way Israelis are daily reminding the Palestinians of their failure to protect their state from their own elite that practically sold them to the Zionists in the 1930s and 1940s.
Think I am being hyperbolic? Well, let’s examine the other options. There is the runaway kleptocrat who has ruled Pakistan three times. Every time he ruled Pakistan, our exports nose-dived, our industry fell victim to his “family business”, our economy was torn to shreds by his daughter’s father-in-law and the famous “dollar peg”, and our national honor was offered as a bargaining chip to all and sundry from the Hindutva goon next door to the Saudi monarchs. His brother, hard to believe it is though, was even worse whose 16-month tenure saw the worst ever inflation in Pakistan’s history that pushed poverty and suffering to unprecedented levels while the kleptocrats raked in more and more money. This family’s “democracy” is limited to finding any master who will enable its corruption and give it a chance to trample over the people of Pakistan to bolster their and their minions’ egos. It doesn’t matter to them whether that master is a white man in Washington or a brown sahib in the GHQ.
There are other options as well. The well-known Mr. Ten Percent and his effeminate son. The bigoted Maulana who preaches sectarianism and sympathy for terrorists at home while begging the USA to make him the Prime Minister of Pakistan! Then there is the party of goons and thugs of Karachi who proudly held Pakistan’s largest city hostage for many decades. Lastly, how can we forget the ethno-nationalists who believe in, and have actively worked for, the disintegration of Pakistan for their own nefarious ends? Unlike Imran Khan, I find myself hating all these other options. These “options” represent all that was and is wrong with Pakistan. But wait. Let me qualify this statement. They don’t represent “all” that is wrong with our country. How can we talk about political forces and not talk about the force that has ruled Pakistan the most even if I refuse to count the years when it ruled Pakistan indirectly?
An average military official considers himself an honest, patriotic, and sacrificing citizen of Pakistan. Many of them are well within their rights to do so. But, sadly, they don’t call the shots. Just like an average worker of PTI, N-League, JUI, PPP, MQM, etc might be a delightful and upright person but he doesn’t call the shots. The party leadership does. While discussing the military as a political actor, it is pertinent to recognize that only a few run the political show. These few are members of the high command and the intelligence services. Let’s call them the military establishment. Unlike political leaders, they stay away from the public eye and seldom engage directly with the public or the media. Unlike political leaders, their personal character or deeds rarely become public knowledge especially while they are in office. So, while the political parties can be judged by their leaders and their deeds or misdeeds, the military establishment can’t be. That leaves us only one way to evaluate the military’s role in Pakistan’s politics: Its track record. Fortunately for us, an organization’s track record is a much better indicator of its core motivation and utility than the personalities of its leaders. So, let’s briefly examine the military’s political track record.
Like Imran Khan, the military establishment has always vowed to eradicate corruption. Like Imran Khan, it has always found itself in alliance with many leading kleptocrats of the country (in fact many political commentators have pointed out that many leading rotten eggs of the PTI were “presents” from the military establishment itself for its erstwhile ally!). Like Imran Khan, it has denounced traitors and anti-national politicians like Sheikh Mujeeb and Mohsin Dawar but like him, it has found itself accommodating them due to “political necessity”. Like Imran Khan the military has championed the cause of Pakistan’s Islamic ideology but like him some of its policies went clearly against Islamic teachings (eg the championing of transgender bill by Shireen Mazari and Fawad Chaudhry, etc for PTI and Musharraf’s “enlightened moderation” etc). The parallels are many. But there is one very important difference. Imran Khan is an individual while the military establishment is a conglomerate holding unquestionable sway over the nation’s most powerful and organized institution. When Imran Khan professes himself to be sometimes powerless in the face of “political realities”, he can point towards his individual conduct as a contrast. The military establishment, on the other hand, has never shied away from showcasing its power. This raises an oft-asked question: Why does the powerful military always cut deals with thieves and thugs? Either the military establishment isn’t as powerful as it portrays itself or it isn’t as patriotic and scrupulous as it portrays! Or maybe both of these are true to some extent.
Maybe that’s why, the “powers that be” are bending over backwards to shatter the image of Imran Khan the individual. From an ex-husband who suddenly discovered his anguish after many years to a washed-up actress peddling transparent lies bordering on pornographic content, the purpose is to paint Imran Khan with the same brush as the rest so that the nation puts him in the same box in which all the other politicians are present. When this is accomplished, the nation can then re-discover its “love” for its “real saviors” i.e. the military establishment. After all, this playbook has worked many times before. Why shouldn’t it work this time? The answer to this question is very important as this answer will also lead us to the answer of the question asked in the title of this article.
The fact that our military establishment has conveniently ignored is that Imran Khan has been associated with victory and integrity in the national psyche long before he became Prime Minister. The images of Pakistan’s sole World cup-winning captain, the philanthropist building Pakistan’s largest cancer hospital, the lone voice against corruption and kleptocracy even when his party was just a “tonga party”, the man who stood firm against the drone attacks when all others were complicit, etc, etc are imprinted on the minds of the vast majority of Pakistanis. Even when he became Prime Minister, he became the only one in Pakistan’s history to outshine his uniformed partners. When the General was advising restraint, the civilian ordered a glorious counter-strike against Bharat. His uncompromising stand for Kashmir and Palestine, his deft handling of the COVID pandemic, his refusal to close down the means of livelihood of Pakistan’s poor under lockdowns despite immense domestic and international pressure, and his ability to say “absolutely not” to the country worshipped by most of our military and civilian elite are just some of the acts he did which endeared him to the masses. That is why, despite high inflation (which appears negligible now thanks to Mr. Shehbaz Sharif’s “golden” era), a failure to root out corruption, a failure to bring forth structural reforms in the bureaucracy and the economy, and many other significant failures, Imran Khan remains the only politician Pakistanis trust. He remains the only politician who provides hope. That is why Pakistan wants Imran Khan. That is why Pakistan needs Imran Khan.
The renowned French scientist and philosopher Blaise Pascal once observed: “We run heedlessly into the abyss after putting something in front of us to stop us seeing it.” Today, Pakistan is unquestionably facing oblivion. Our economy is in tatters, and the IMF recipes are only ensuring its long-term demise without any hope of resurrection (after all destroying 3rd world economies and keeping them hostage to the USA is the IMF’s real job!). The brain drain has reached unprecedented levels. Terrorism has surged its ugly head again with many of our brave soldiers getting martyred every day. Our military budget which was 7 times less than that of India only a couple of years ago is now more than 11 times smaller. But worst of all, our nation is fast losing hope. The immense brain drain of our best and brightest has only been made possible because of diminishing hope in Pakistan’s future. But our military establishment is oblivious to everything under the Sun except for its task of neutralizing Imran Khan in an effort that personifies Pascal’s abstract observation.
One might ask a simple question here. Why is the military establishment acting as it is? Not knowing any of the involved individuals personally, I can only guess. Maybe some among them are unscrupulous ones who want power at all costs and see Imran Khan as a threat. Maybe some don’t like him due to personal reasons. But probably the most significant cause is the one hinted at by famous author Albert Camus: “How many crimes committed merely because their authors couldn’t endure being wrong!”
Whatever the motivation behind the anti-Imran project is, I must ask our military establishment to analyze the situation now. The country has suffered immensely since the regime change operation. Imran Khan’s popularity has only increased despite desperate measures like the exploitation of martyrs for political utility by the establishment. These measures have only served to widen the gap between the people and the military (a most grave national security threat!) and even engender hatred against the military in some who previously loved it. Even our martyrs, the most sacred link between the people and the military, have been somewhat delegitimized in the eyes of many due to the cynical political propaganda being run in their name. Please, stop now! The people have suffered enough. The army has suffered enough. The martyrs and their families have suffered enough. Pakistan has suffered enough. Please accept for once that you made a mistake. Please let the people make their choice now. Please stop the persecution and let a free and fair election be conducted. Please let whoever is the people’s choice run the country. Please let a man trusted by Pakistanis become a constitutionally empowered Prime Minister. Please let him give the people hope. Please step away from politics. It’s not your job and it has only delegitimized the whole military due to the nefarious schemes of a few. Please guard the borders, not the corrupt politicians who serve as pawns on your political chessboard. Please don’t let the military become hated by Pakistanis. The military is essential for Pakistan. But the military establishment’s political shenanigans are not only inessential but potentially fatal. After all, Pakistan’s dismemberment in 1971 was caused in chief by the political games of the military establishment. Few know today that Pak Army was loved even more in East Pakistan than in West Pakistan during the early years. However, the military establishment’s egoistic, self-righteous, and bullying politics made much of East Pakistan hate the Pak army. Inevitably, a civil war and the destruction of Pakistan ensued. Please let not a repeat of 1971 occur. I beg you again: Please let Pakistan have hope. There is an old Italian saying: “Hope is the last thing ever lost”. Please don’t let Pakistan lose hope because then Pakistan will be lost as well.
Dr Hassaan Bokhari heads the India Desk at South Asia Times, Islamabad. He is also running a youtube channel “History with Hassaan” which focuses on the objective analysis of history and current affairs. Dr. Hassaan Bokhari has also authored a book titled “Forks in the Road” about the 1971 fratricide. He tweets @SHBokhari13 and can be reached at: hassaanbokhari13@gmail.com
