Daily Times

History tends to repeat itself. If former prime minister Imran Khan ever wishes to write the second volume of his “personal history,” he would be better off starting with a tirade against those who stop their ears to this outstanding lesson. Because the messiahs and their unwavering belief in being above reproach have driven a larger nail into the coffin of the “promised land” than the civilian fiefdoms playing a “game of plunder and loot.”

To the misfortune of the self-minted messiah, the unavoidable had finally happened. The day had begun with firebrand leader Musarrat Cheema and her husband calling it quits. Following their lead, many smaller figures wasted no time in jumping off the sinking ship. However, a few resignations would continue to haunt the party in the coming days. A leader as senior and as visible as Shireen Mazari (who is known far and wide for her ferocious nature) could not be expected to throw in the towel this easily. Call it family pressure or growing disillusionment with her chief, the retirement of a true believer would be an extraordinary loss for all remaining fighters. Rumours mills are hard at work; revelling over which side of the fence the likes of Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Fawad Chaudhry would come down. If one keeps his ear to the ground and tries to listen, murmured whispers of Asad Umar’s farewell are becoming pronounced.

The writing on the wall screams a new order but the old warrior is yet to walk away.

Still, no defection has been more newsworthy than the sensational and long-winded banter of Fayyazul Hassan Chohan. Not satiated with the idea of cutting ties, the former leading lion went on and on, rubbishing claims here and lighting a fire there. There was nothing brand new to the electrifying details he brought into the open except the fact that this time, it was being sighed by someone in Mr Khan’s inner circle. As opposed to his political rivals, Mr Chohan (no matter what he says about his growing alienation) had been the face of the party’s policies for quite a while.

The writing on the wall screams a new order but the old warrior is yet to walk away. Mr Khan is probably still stuck in the grandiose of the dinner hosted by General Ziaul Haq where he had been asked to return from retirement for the sake of the country. Had he swallowed the bitter reality pill, he would have long realised that cricket and politics are two different games altogether. Here, the ruthless streak needs to be balanced out by a honeyed tongue, an all-encompassing vision and the flexibility to walk in a group. No matter how magnetic, looks cannot make for a lack of homework. Mr Khan committed the one mistake common to all blue-eyed, golden-haired proteges: he took the favours bestowed upon him for granted. Just a cursory glance at the country’s chequered past would have told him how many had become a household name overnight only to be tossed to oblivion. Pakistan is in uncharted territory, yes. But, not for the first time. Who would dare forget the menacing reign of Altaf Hussain and his remote-controlled Karachi? The only difference here is the leeway Mr Khan has been handed time and again. In the case of the power broker pulling strings from the London exile, one anti-state speech was enough to render him a pariah. There are many who can still manage to find hope in the ruins. For them, Imran Khan’s willingness to pursue dialogue might still be reciprocated. But all this talk of normalcy needs a revisited narrative. Borrowing from former ambassador Hussain Haqqani, “Imran Khan is popular, but the question is, does that popularity reach the point where he and his supporters can overwhelm everybody else and not play by any rules?” Therefore, the pursuit of democratic solutions to a democratic problem would have been a far more reasonable choice than setting eyes on a coup. The never-say-die attitude sounds lovely until it borders on outright recklessness. By expecting the street power to magically pull the rebellion bunny out of the hat, Mr Khan burned the few bridges that could pave the way for his comeback. He may have been a fan of Turkish unconventional supreme leader Erdogan and his iron-clad grip over his people, but this is not Turkey and here, boys like to play by their own rules.

The writer is Oped Editor (Daily Times) and can be reached at durenayab786@gmail.com. She tweets @dureakram