Daily Times

The election 2018 are over, giving Imran Khan’s PTI a clear and decisive victory. One can argue endlessly on the fairness of the polls, but there is absolutely no doubt that over the past decade, PTI Chairman Imran Khan has ended up successfully creating a genuine constituency, comprising mostly of the urban middle and lower, middle-class. Within these segments, it is the youth who have proven to be the most ardent supporters of Imran. His win has obviously delighted these diehard young supporters, who for years have waited for a politician they felt could represent them.

However, this is an emotionally charged age-group. Many of them seem to enjoy engaging in relentless trolling of Imran’s critics on social media. All journalists, who have broadcasted even remotely critical opinions on Imran Khan can vouch for this group’s collective viciousness. Right now, after the election victory, it is reasonable to be apprehensive about this particular group demanding vengeance against many of Imran’s critics.

Despite all of the PTI Chief’s arguments, Najam Sethi’s performance has been exceptional. After all, it was during his tenure that international cricket returned to Pakistan

During the past five years, prominent journalist and current Chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Najam Sethi is one of the individuals who has constantly been targeted by PTI trolls. In Sethi’s case, the fact that Imran himself was severely critical of him due to the former’s role in the alleged rigging of the 2013 elections (a charge which was subsequently dismissed by Supreme Court), made him a special target. As a political commentator, Sethi has been critical of Imran’s alleged ties with the establishment, both Imran and his followers’ hostility has only increased with the passage of time.

On top of all this, Sethi is also chairman of the PCB, an appointment which Imran being has criticised severely. He has attributed this decision to nepotism, terming it a reward from the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) for Sethi’s alleged role in rigging the 2013 elections.

To be fair, Najam Sethi was a strange choice due to his non-cricketing background. And to a certain extent, criticism of the PCB Chairman being appointed by the central government is also justified. However, he should ultimately be judged on how he has performed in his capacity as a chairman. Despite all of the PTI Chief’s arguments, his performance has been extremely good. After all, it was during his tenure that international cricket returned to Pakistan. This by no means is a small achievement, as the international teams have really been afraid to come to Pakistan and for the past many years, Pakistani cricket teams had to play local series in neutral venues like the UAE. Apart from this, he also created the Pakistan Super League (PSL) and was able to successfully organise the finals of the second and third seasons in Lahore and Karachi respectively. Furthermore, during his tenure, Pakistan reached reached the top position in the ICC Test rankings in 2016 for a brief period. The national team also won Champions Trophy against all the odds in 2017 and is currently ranked as number one in T-20 Cricket.

Unfortunately, Imran who as a cricketer had been famous for a legendary sportsman spirit, could not show the same grace when it came to judging Seth’s performance as a chairman. He trivialised Sethi’s success of organising PSL final in Lahore by mocking the calibre of the foreign players (who actually had done Pakistan a huge service by coming) and despite invitations did not attend both the PSL finals.

Imran’s hostility towards Sethi also encouraged his supporters to adopt similar kind of behaviour towards him. I still remember his supporters manhandling Sethi outside the Oval after Pakistan’s historic win in ICC Champions Trophy. This was a highly condemnable act which leaves a very bad impression of PTI supporters, and by extension, Imran Khan himself.

Due to such history, Sethi and for that matter, other critics of Imran have every reason to fear victimisation as now the PTI is in power. However, I hope that all the acrimony is left behind as the elections are over and Imran has emerged as a winner. After all, Imran Khan himself assured the country that he would not engage in political victimisation in his July 26 speech. It is important that we move forward by burying the hatchet and adopt a policy of tolerance and non-victimisation. For this, Imran must show dignified leadership and maturity by refraining from using the state machinery to attack his opponents. Furthermore, he must also pacify his followers. His victory speech has given the country hope that despite the aggressive election rhetoric, Imran will act as a mature and sensible politician after assuming power.

With respect to PCB, it is the government’s prerogative to replace Sethi if it wants to. However, I sincerely hope he should be allowed to continue as he has performed well.

The writer is currently doing PhD in Political Science from Maxwell School, Syracuse University, USA

Published in Daily Times, August 16^th 2018.