The elite in Pakistan think Pakistanis as a nation do not care about Kashmir or the Kashmiris and nor does the army. They turn a blind eye to it much like the Muslim ummah (community) turns on the inescapable plight of the Palestinians, in favour of courtship around business pursuits with our giant neighbour as the sole course of action available. They forget or fail to understand that the issue will only heighten in significance and if the people are not worth it, the water will be. No choice there.
Also, the incessant insistence on Mr Khan’s part over negotiations with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), a shifting enemy with a majority mercenary element, was the second glaring chink in his armour. Even though, recently, the TTP has singularly maligned itself with distinction by officially aligning itself with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Mr Khan’s position remains unchanged and he is happily on the same page with all the political parties he loves to condemn.
The Pakistani army has deep-rooted problems similar to the civilian side that it appears hesitant to resolve within the institution regarding corruption as well as traitorous intent. Unless they can first expose, then punish their own, it is difficult to imagine how any cleaning house endeavours can be a success in the sense it is imperative they are.
I often wonder why Pakistan is not a Syria or Iraq and I asked the uncle that. I have not been to Iraq yet but I love Syria like I love Pakistan, sometimes more. Both countries have a stature in the world and, particularly, Islamic history as the centres of culture and learning, not for one or two centuries but longer, starting from when learning was being defined for the world till the end of time. They have more significant shrines than we do. True, Pakistan is young, they are old – maybe time has been crueller to them.
The only thing I came out of that tea with was that we have an intercessor that protects us and allows us to trudge along the minefield intact. The depressing thing is that, like elsewhere, anywhere, the poor bear the brunt of the burden of the journey, the disappointments, the calamities and the false promises. They are the soul of the nation. Yet, somewhere, on the other side of the skies, there is someone whose prayer for us, it seems, is never denied. Those who do not have a sense of faith will not be able to comprehend this but that is their problem. They can go back to trite news and inane drawing room discussions. For Pakistan, it is the only silver lining in a dark, giant cloud. Mr Jinnah said in multiple speeches that Pakistan was created to become a beacon for the Muslim ummah, a laboratory where the values of Islam would be applied and practiced, then exported to the rest of the world. So, maybe what saves us is simply our destiny, unavoidable and inescapable even if undeserved. It was a deeply humbling thought. Those who will live to see it take form will be the chosen ones.
I am not a student of history and I know it repeats itself but I thought that was over centuries, not in less than 40 years. And, then again, for people but not for nations. In the 1970s there was a leader in Pakistan by the name of Bhutto, the father of the one who was assassinated. He belonged to a wealthy feudal family himself and he instilled in the common man a sense of self-worth, which was a first for them. Bhutto proved to be a brutal megalomaniac, murdering many while he was in power. Still, his legacy of waking up people to demand basic rights for themselves remains. This despite the hypocrisy of his personal life, which was lived in antithesis to the values that now make him unforgettable. Many think he was pure genius, others add the word “evil” because of his role in the breakup of the country from West and East Pakistan to Pakistan and Bangladesh. A dying generation and their offspring still mourn that loss deeply, inconsolably. For those few or many, the two countries still beat with the same pulse, parallels running all the time. But what is gone is gone.
Mr Khan today offers that same sense of self-worth to Pakistan’s young and old, a courage to stand up to an abusive political culture, to expect and demand better for themselves. That will make him a legend in some eyes as well but, ultimately, what will determine his legacy is not that a cricketer became a prime minister. That will only render him a catalyst. But if he can protect Pakistan from its enemies far and near, he might give it the opportunity to fulfil a potential that is undeniably potent. If he can elevate the quality of life of the people, their standard of living, as promised to them by the constitution, then we will remember him as a saviour; otherwise, Plato said it best: “This and no other is the root from which a tyrant springs; when he first appears above ground he is a protector.”
(Concluded)
The writer is a freelance columnist