After Sunday's tremendous show, what do u see common between Jinnah and Imran Khan? In short they both lacked in skills required to give a decent public speech. Perhaps a trait which only Bhutto could master in our nation's history. But despite this apparent deficiency, both have been very charismatic in their personalities - a paradox may be! Equally important is the fact that no one put much heed to them during their early phases probably due to their seemingly contradictory and in some sense complex thought process.
Having not gone to the rally, it will be unwise on my part if I try suggesting how many people might have participated. But the figure could be anywhere between 70,000 and over 100,000, depending on the number of people standing outside the boundary. However, its very difficult to entertain the possibility of above 300,000 like some PTI supporters suggest. Anyways, in my opinion, its no more a matter of number game and PTI has definitely exceeded the maximum expectations of many analysts and crossed the minimum threshold required to set the tone of its political movement.
One major and the most important factor which has gone unnoticed or may be noticed but unsaid so far has been the participation from not only all income groups (leaving the top and bottom percentile) but also from people loyal to inherently contradictory ideologies. For once, after a long time, men with religious or non religious outlook and women with or without headscarf all appeared in complete harmony with each other while sharing the same platform for a common cause - a cause of better Pakistan. Going back in history and studying few cases in which polarized societies successfully transformed themselves into huge empires, the causality has always run from social unity to economic prosperity and not vice versa. Early Islamic and Mongolian empires, though distinct in themselves, are two interesting and somewhat familiar case studies.
In today's state of chaos which is only leading to increasing frustration and thus reinforcing the cycle, Imran Khan does appear to present himself as a Glue who may succeed in bridging our increasingly polarized society. With a World Cup victory up his sleeves, he has already risen beyond ethnic identification and has established himself as a Pakistani. Not many Pakistanis will be willing to forego their claim on Khan due to any political affiliations. Furthermore, having done most of his social work in Punjab, with a 'Khan' in his name and focusing all his energies campaigning against the Pakistani version of the 'war on terror' in FATA (can always be debated but not here), it becomes very difficult to pin him down to a certain region. Knowingly or unknowingly, playing national anthem in front of a huge Pakistani flag on 30th's rally organized at Minar-e-Pakistan lent further support to his Pakistani character. Each of these factors might not be very important on its own, but together they do have significant role in shaping public perception.
It wasn't just the stage which presented an interesting show of symbols but participants themselves also looked more future oriented - another aspect which analysts have missed in pointing out. Yes, much of the crowd was frustrated at the current lot of politicians and were looking for an alternate - as was acknowledged by Imran Khan - but less energies were wasted is hooting 'Go XYZ Go'. Though this was very refreshing, it would have been even better if someone from the crowd might have talked about his/her suggestion on how to get things right? PTI supporters might turn around and say that no such question was asked by the media people or otherwise at least they bothered to leave their comfort zone for a cause unlike many other (including me) who like to be the master of their keyboards. Fair point!
Before concluding, I must say that some analysts have gone slightly overboard when critically analyzing Imran Khan's speech. Despite being all over the place, it did present a significant breakthrough when compared with traditional speeches. PTI Chairman did target political leadership of the country but he did not let it become the focal point. A very different stunt (i call it stunt because of the political risk involved) which he successfully pulled was cursing the audience for their apathy towards the state of affairs in the country. On issues dealing with governance, much of the speech was mundane except few points which need to be highlighted:
1. Electricity Crisis. This one took be by surprise and unfortunately it went unnoticed as well. It is the first time someone presented the true picture of Pakistan's electricity generation and distribution network and proposed a practical solution in terms of improving the efficiency of the underlying infrastructure (wapda) from the current level of 25% to around 60% rather than just focusing on building new projects. The question 'How?' can never be fully answered but at least someone has got his focus right.
2. Corruption in the Police Department. The idea of SHO being an elected represented on patterns of USA system is also a very creative one. Its effectiveness in context of Pakistan can always be debated but it is definitely a food for thought.
3. Foreign Policy. His foreign policy statement was quite similar to that of PML-N - friendship with all. But it definitely is the only right option for this country at this point in time.
All in all his manifesto may not yet be clear and his team not very apparent, but Imran Khan is emerging as the only leader who could unite the varying factions of our society - an achievement which will set the tone for any future progress.
One major and the most important factor which has gone unnoticed or may be noticed but unsaid so far has been the participation from not only all income groups (leaving the top and bottom percentile) but also from people loyal to inherently contradictory ideologies. For once, after a long time, men with religious or non religious outlook and women with or without headscarf all appeared in complete harmony with each other while sharing the same platform for a common cause - a cause of better Pakistan. Going back in history and studying few cases in which polarized societies successfully transformed themselves into huge empires, the causality has always run from social unity to economic prosperity and not vice versa. Early Islamic and Mongolian empires, though distinct in themselves, are two interesting and somewhat familiar case studies.
In today's state of chaos which is only leading to increasing frustration and thus reinforcing the cycle, Imran Khan does appear to present himself as a Glue who may succeed in bridging our increasingly polarized society. With a World Cup victory up his sleeves, he has already risen beyond ethnic identification and has established himself as a Pakistani. Not many Pakistanis will be willing to forego their claim on Khan due to any political affiliations. Furthermore, having done most of his social work in Punjab, with a 'Khan' in his name and focusing all his energies campaigning against the Pakistani version of the 'war on terror' in FATA (can always be debated but not here), it becomes very difficult to pin him down to a certain region. Knowingly or unknowingly, playing national anthem in front of a huge Pakistani flag on 30th's rally organized at Minar-e-Pakistan lent further support to his Pakistani character. Each of these factors might not be very important on its own, but together they do have significant role in shaping public perception.
It wasn't just the stage which presented an interesting show of symbols but participants themselves also looked more future oriented - another aspect which analysts have missed in pointing out. Yes, much of the crowd was frustrated at the current lot of politicians and were looking for an alternate - as was acknowledged by Imran Khan - but less energies were wasted is hooting 'Go XYZ Go'. Though this was very refreshing, it would have been even better if someone from the crowd might have talked about his/her suggestion on how to get things right? PTI supporters might turn around and say that no such question was asked by the media people or otherwise at least they bothered to leave their comfort zone for a cause unlike many other (including me) who like to be the master of their keyboards. Fair point!
Before concluding, I must say that some analysts have gone slightly overboard when critically analyzing Imran Khan's speech. Despite being all over the place, it did present a significant breakthrough when compared with traditional speeches. PTI Chairman did target political leadership of the country but he did not let it become the focal point. A very different stunt (i call it stunt because of the political risk involved) which he successfully pulled was cursing the audience for their apathy towards the state of affairs in the country. On issues dealing with governance, much of the speech was mundane except few points which need to be highlighted:
1. Electricity Crisis. This one took be by surprise and unfortunately it went unnoticed as well. It is the first time someone presented the true picture of Pakistan's electricity generation and distribution network and proposed a practical solution in terms of improving the efficiency of the underlying infrastructure (wapda) from the current level of 25% to around 60% rather than just focusing on building new projects. The question 'How?' can never be fully answered but at least someone has got his focus right.
2. Corruption in the Police Department. The idea of SHO being an elected represented on patterns of USA system is also a very creative one. Its effectiveness in context of Pakistan can always be debated but it is definitely a food for thought.
3. Foreign Policy. His foreign policy statement was quite similar to that of PML-N - friendship with all. But it definitely is the only right option for this country at this point in time.
All in all his manifesto may not yet be clear and his team not very apparent, but Imran Khan is emerging as the only leader who could unite the varying factions of our society - an achievement which will set the tone for any future progress.
