Imran Khan had launched the political party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) in 1992. It emerged as an anti-status quo force in the country, with a unique manifesto: aiming to ensure justice and establish the rule of law. After struggling for about 22 years, the PTI finally came into power, with Imran Khan as the 22nd Prime Minister of Pakistan. He floated the concept of Riyasat-e-Madina as a governing model.
Imran Khan has grasped only the fundamental concept of Riyasat-e-Madina, asserting that current issues and crises are merely symptoms of a disease. He believed the true disease is immorality, and if it could be completely eradicated, and all individuals embrace high standards of morality and righteousness, Pakistan will overcome its complex issues and problems. This sounds like a populist argument, as populist leaders often offer simple solutions to complex problems, ignoring their intricacies and interconnected nature. However, labelling Imran Khan as a populist leader would be inaccurate without meeting other criteria, such as frequently quoting misleading and false facts and making people more subjective than objective.
With 77 years of accumulated challenges, replicating the Riyasat-e-Madina model to transform society immediately is unrealistic.
Given the contemporary complexity of both domestic and international affairs, addressing symptoms first is essential. By effectively managing these symptoms, we can then tackle the core issue of immorality. Otherwise, we risk falling far behind the rest of the world. In Riyasat-e-Madina, the social, cultural, and politico-economic dynamics were entirely different. For instance, overpopulation, climate change, resource depletion, etc were not concerns at that time.
The Riyasat-e-Madina concept provides a strategic framework for governing a newly established state, not one with 77 years of history. This approach might have been effective at Pakistan’s inception, during the defining moments of 1947, when the country failed to set the right direction.
Pakistan is grappling with numerous problems, including unemployment, inflation, extremism, violence, terrorism, debt crisis, fiscal and current account deficits, climate change, overpopulation, and a dearth of educational and health facilities. These problems stem from a single root cause: immorality.
The state comprises various components, with the population being one of them. If individuals in Parliament, the Executive, and the Judiciary – three pillars of the state – undertake their duties with integrity, honesty, and lawfulness, everything would be fine. However, this is an ideal situation. Society comprises both good and evil forces, maintaining a balance and illuminating a path to virtue. Achieving a state where everyone is honest, righteous, and virtuous is impossible, and even in Riyasat-e-Madina, this was not achieved.
In the contemporary context, making a large portion of the population honest, decent, upright, moral, just, and worthy requires decades. Indoctrinating such qualities is not as easy as it seems; it requires a radical societal change. A true example of this is the upbringing of Allama Iqbal. His mother, Imam Bibi, led a remarkable life focused on strong values. This dedication to morality illustrates the path to creating a state filled with individuals like Allama Iqbal.
With 77 years of accumulated challenges, replicating the Riyasat-e-Madina model to transform society immediately is unrealistic. Firstly, we must address the pressing symptoms and then tackle the actual disease, making our country great again on the lines of Riyasat-e-Madina. While it may be effective in the long run it would likely require at least three decades to create a new generation that upholds high standards of morality and humanity. Currently, we cannot afford to reverse our course for thirty years to achieve such excellence and become a successful nation.
The writer is a student of Strategic Studies at National Defence University, Islamabad. He tweets @afnanwasif