Wishing Imran Khan Good Luck!
Imran Khan’s Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf has emerged from Wednesday’s election within
touching distance of a majority. The former cricketer will come to the Prime
Minister’s office. First he will have to assert a legitimate claim to power.
Are the allegations of rigging and
military interference true? The removal of Nawaz Sharif as Prime
Minister and later from the
electoral arena has helped Khan considerably.
Pakistan has already sought more
loans from China, This will be a big challenge for Khan. His
next set of challenges emerge from the region, where he will have to crack down
on terror. Khan has soft corner for Taliban
militants who he had said were
fighting for “independence”. Khan will also have to tackle terror groups
inside Pakistan.
Khan had spent the most time on
ties with India when listing his foreign policy priorities. His comments
on alleged human rights violations in Jammu and Kashmir will not be viewed
kindly in New Delhi. Khan claimed that no Pakistani leader had engaged more
with India than he had. He offered to take two steps forward if India
reciprocates.
We need not worry about the way
elections were conducted but focus on how he tackles the Army which puts
stumbling blocks in the relationship between the two countries. His relations
with China and US are of nominal importance to us as both will have not much
confidence in him in leading the country until he proves himself.
Imran Khan is probably the first
person in the world to become the leader of a nation after leading his country
in an international game. Imran’s career in Cricket was exceptionally good. In
the field he was always at the centre of attraction for his mastery in bowling,
prowess with the willow. History anywhere in the world has not recorded an
instance where successful sports person has become successful leader as well.
The reason is simple. What matters most for success in politics is rectitude
much more than fortitude and probity more than competence whereas in Sports it is
the vice versa.
This is one of the reasons why
Imran had to work hard for over two decades in politics. Imran has to continue
to work hard to adapt himself and answer in time to the demands of politics in
leading a nation. The all rounder Imran has a herculean task of lifting
Pakistan from the deep pit.
While congratulating Imran Khan,
the Cricketer turned politician, for working upward and reaching the position
of PM of a tumultuous Pakistan, one must also be cautious in trying to predict
about how he might conduct himself in taking Pakistan forward. The primary
problem of Pakistan, an otherwise excellent Society, is that in spite of
attempting to usher in Democracy, the Law of the Land and Governance are
dictated/ controlled by the Army, the Intelligence wing of the Army, the ISI,
the religious Mullahs and added to this is the fear complex instilled by
Militant Taliban groups. Imran Khan has been observing that Pakistan is always
under control of the USA, and he is against the same. However, his attempt to
soft pedal the role of Taliban as a group working against USA, for the purpose
of bringing Independence, is fraught with danger in that Talibanism has created
conditions for nurturing Terrorism. The immediate future would tell us how
Imran works. Let us wish him well.
It seems that he may soft pedal
with India and come to talks across table. The cricket hero who bowled bouncers
in games now has to face tough political bouncers during his tenure of polity.
Wishing him good luck!
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