By Babar Ala ud din
Cult leaders are psychopaths with a desire for absolute power and take ideas from politics, religion, and psychology to fulfill their purpose. They make the person believe that problems are always their own fault and not of the leader.
Cult leaders use brainwashing techniques to attract and keep followers. They omit a general perception that only they have the solution to every problem hence if they are in power then everything is fine and without them, everything will fall to the ground. They give a semblance of populism, fascism, and authoritarianism.
Imran was brought into power in 2018 amidst high hopes to make a new Pakistan as he has been propagating for a long but after having been in more than 42 months of absolute power he ended up dividing Pakistan
Imran Khan has a hard-core cult-like following that believes anyone who does not agree with their leader is a traitor and anti-Pakistan. Imran was brought into power in 2018 amidst high hopes to make a new Pakistan as he has been propagating for a long but after having been in more than 42 months of absolute power he ended up dividing Pakistan, mismanaging the economy, polarizing the society, and undermining Pakistan’s relationship with rest of the world. Just before his ouster through a no-confidence motion, his claims of being a victim of a US-engineered foreign conspiracy have injected new venom into the veins of his rigid supporters making the overall political environment even more polarized.
Under Imran Pakistan’s economy dived into a tailspin with per capita GDP declining considerably in many years while all other key economic indicators to portraying a dismal picture. The rupee plunged in value and the stock market never really recovered after 2018 levels. His own finance minister admitted that their government neither had a team nor any meaningful economic plan.
On the foreign policy front, he went out of the diplomatic norms to criticize the West in total disregard for Pakistan’s external economic interests. US remains Pakistan’s largest export market while the EU and UK are major investors and trading partners. His ill-timed Russian trip made no economic or foreign policy sense as it was made at a very heavy cost of annoying the US and the west. He even annoyed Pakistan’s traditional friends and economic benefactors like China, KSA, and UAE.
Like most the populists Imran hardly paid any attention to policymaking and described himself as the solution to all the problems. His followers see him as a messiah opposing what they think of the corrupt and traditional politicians. He poses himself to be a man for all seasons and all problems. His followers believe that if he is at the helm of affairs everything is fine and without him, all is useless and chaotic. He believes in me and “Me” rather than We and Us.
Imran’s incendiary rhetoric is threatening chaos in Pakistan as he is back on the roads and doing what he does the best. He is blaming the US for conspiring to oust him from office while naming the judiciary and all-powerful establishment as coconspirators as a cover-up to his 42 months of dismal performance as Prime Minister. He is building a dangerous narrative that may prove counterproductive for Pakistan’s internal/ external security. His intentions to start a civil disobedience movement in case immediate elections are not called have rung the alarm bells across the country.
No good has come from this experience of a hybrid regime. Imran Khan has misled the youth of Pakistan into despair and uncertainty. He along with his cronies threaten civil unrest. Historically the cost of power politics in Pakistan has been very heavy and a cult leader like Imran Khan has only added to this quagmire through his self-centered and arrogant style of politics.
Note: The writer retired from Defence, Security, and strategic organization.
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.
