By Agha Iqrar Haroon
“Hateful to me as the gates of Hades is that man who hides one thing in his heart and speaks another.”
― Homer, The Iliad
Friends who had been pampering and promoting former Prime Minister Imran Khan today believe he is too much and he has gone too far, targeting too sensitive possessions like Nuclear arsenals and expressing too dangerous possibilities of watching cracks in ranks and files of the Pakistan Army. I think it is too late to know who Imran Khan actually is?
History testified that bidding on the wrong horse had been one of many causes for the fall of richest families and even empires. Here in Pakistan, we are facing a situation of bidding on the wrong man. He was portrayed as a 69-year-old young angry man who wanted to cleanse the corrupted system of Pakistan and who is the savior of forthcoming generations. Stucco made through several experiments was excellent for constructing a multifaceted and multifaced Prince having features of a religious scholar, a revolutionary fighter, a nationalist and a saint having Tasbih in his hand.
Many religious scholars and fortune-tellers like in any Greek story were collected who through their sermons and fortune-telling session told us that Allah has been kind to us and has sent Imran Khan to save this nation.
Writers, journalists, and motivational and inspirational speakers were assigned to tell us we must beg him to stay in Pakistan and not go to his children living in the United Kingdom in the House of Goldsmiths because his departure would extinct last hope for Pakistan. Retired military and civil bureaucrats were placed to tell us through their experience that he is the best administrative choice and he would make wonders. Yes, he made wonders. Nobody could ever in Pakistan raise controversies and doubts against Pakistan’s nuclear program and Pakistan Army that he has already done. Nobody had ever allowed fanning so much hatred among and between civil and military relationships, among political workers, politicians, the public at large, and youth in particular as he has already done and today brothers are killing brothers after commotion on political discourse in Pakistan. All was said and done.
In an exceptional move and in defiance of rules and norms, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) through Shireen Mazari sent a letter to United Nations for its intervention to cease the Pakistani government’s “misuse of the blasphemy law” against Imran Khan and senior PTI leaders. The letter has been addressed to the UN’s special rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary executions, the special rapporteur on the freedom of opinion and expression, and the special rapporteur on the freedom of religion and belief.
In the latest interview with a US-Pakistani anchor on Bol television, PTI Chairman Imran Khan without any fear threatened that country would descend into a civil war if elections were not announced as desired. He also said that:
‘If the establishment doesn’t make the right calls, the country will head towards suicide. If the establishment doesn’t make the right decisions, then I can assure you in writing that they and the army will be destroyed because of what will become of the country if it goes bankrupt. Pakistan is going towards a default. If that happens then which institution will be [worst] hit? The army. After it is hit, what concession will be taken from us? Denuclearisation”.
Imran Khan did not tell us why this country is heading towards default and what he did during his 42 months regime to put this country at an economic cliffhanger?
The new government came into power in April 2022 —just less than two months ago and how has this government pushed the country towards this grave situation Imran Khan indicated? Is this a question Imran Khan should have answered?
In my article “Is Civil War in Making in Pakistan?” I indicated that the majority of cabinet members of the former prime minister Imran Khan are responsively indicating that Pakistan (God forbids) will face civil war soon if the multiparty government will not go for early elections.
In another article “Is Imran Khan an Avatar or an Evil?”, I indicated that hate-filled Imran Khan can go to any extent if he is not allowed to rule the country with a two-thirds majority and if power would not be given to him in a platter.
A Prague-based writer Shazia Anwer Cheema in her article titled “Imran’s Good versus Evil mantra can bring bloodier and catastrophic events” expressed her fears that Imran Khan is slicing all security institutions slowly but surely and she fears that his narrative that all those who are not standing with him are standing with evil would be disastrous for Pakistan Army in particular. In another article of her titled “Is Imran Khan becoming the darkest conspiracy ever hatched against Pakistan?” she expresses that Imran Khan acts and behaves like the darkest conspiracy ever done against Pakistan and he with full conviction is engineering civil unrest in the country.
In her article, she writes that counting on extreme polarization and direct confrontation between the general public and state institutions, Imran Khan is presenting himself as holy and divine and using biblical metaphors of good vs evil.
Being a student of History and Philosophy, Imran Khan would remain in the history of administrative science as “Imran Khan Syndrome” for students to know how a creature can eat his/her creator and why administrators should avoid cloning hybrid leaders otherwise such creatures become so dreadful that creator cannot sleep at night under the fear of “Imran Khan Syndrome”.
I fear that the aggressive tone and moves of Imran Khan have already pushed important state institutions to the wall and they look afraid of his slur brigade and give him the benefit of doubt instead of taking administrative actions against him. It looks like they are applying a primitive strategy of offering the snake passage to go away instead of confronting the snake. I believe this strategy is good enough for someone living in a remote village in South Asia but state institutions having all powers at their disposal should not act like peasants working in paddy fields.
“Be strong, saith my heart; I am a soldier;
I have seen worse sights than this.”
― Homer, The Odyssey
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article/Opinion/Comment are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk (DND). Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk News Agency.
