While it is often criticised as overly ambitious and idealistic, or what some like to call naïve, political rhetoric riddled with cricket metaphors, Imran Khan in his address during the National Assembly session on Wednesday, in which he took oath, presented himself as the voice of an opposition. It was sound, reasonable, and hopefully, could prove itself to be a positive force in the democratic dialectic and dialogue, which Pakistan needs in order to deal with the multitude of problems it now faces. In his 40-minute long speech to the assembly session presided over by Ayaz Sadiq, Khan outlined the nature of some of the pressing issues that are now on the national agenda, from a faltering economy to the militant forces breathing down our necks in different parts of the country. Looking beyond the fact that much of his speech echoed the political rhetoric that we are all too familiar with, which begins with a historical account of a once glorious and thriving Pakistan, he did present some important points that in the light of recent events become, at the very least, reasonable alternatives for consideration.
Bringing up the ongoing debate on drone attacks and Pakistan, Khan in his argument against, alluded to the fact that there is an ideological force to the Taliban issue that is neglected when they are often misunderstood simply as angered, disgruntled militants joined together by more, angered tribesmen. He argued that drone attacks link the Pakistani army fighting the militants and the government to the USA, and, therefore, ideologically warrant the militant’s jihad. He said that “Until we take away the motive of jihad from them, this war will keep going on.” He went on to say that it is necessary, with regard to drone attacks, for a clear policy to be outlined on the issue in order to “emphasise our sovereignty”, and called for transparency on the issue rather than making backdoor deals with the US government. The socio-economic dimensions and reality of the situation of terrorism in Pakistan is complicated by the number of international players and dimensions involved. It is a problem in which the more questions one asks in trying to understand, the deeper one goes and the more complex it gets. Therefore, I would say that Khan’s stance on the issue should not be written off completely as right or wrong but could be seen as one take on the problem, simply for the sake of dialect if not more.
What was interesting to note was that while a lot of ignorance is seen with regard to the nature of the militant situation, Khan alluded to the fact that the problem is indeed a multi-faceted one and that Baloch nationalist or separatist militants and sectarian elements or the Taliban not be lumped together, and that a separate strategic approach be devised to deal with each of them, citing a history of injustice as the main cause of the former.
Moreover, in addition to presenting his views on governance and fighting injustice and corruption, Khan drew attention to the need for an inquiry to be undertaken regarding some of the constituencies where there were claims of rigging to have taken place. In doing so he specifically addressed his concern to the Election Commission and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to take notice, arguing that addressing this “reasonable request” was important to remove doubts in the minds of the voters who turned out for these elections on what he called “a theft of democracy.” However, it was encouraging to see that he welcomed seeing the government and opposition move forward in trying to grapple with the host of problems the country faces rather than trying to stifle the democratic process by bringing up election grievances. Though, both the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf have their political differences on how to go about tackling various issues strategically and in terms of policy, one can hope that at the places where they stand at complete odds, they will serve as a dialectical force to each other. And that any reason and intelligence that may come out of this will help steer Pakistan out of dangerous waters before things get worse, if that is even possible.
The writer is a freelance writer and an intern at Daily Times