STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan
History has many inspiring stories of true leaders facing adversity and how they rebound. I am particularly impressed by a folklore about King Bruce of Scotland. He had suffered a loss on battlefield and fled taking refuge in a cave. His army was routed and in a disarray. Sitting alone he felt dejected and was reflecting on the recent events. What would be his road map; it would be a Herculean task to regroup and fight back. Suddenly he saw an ant attempting to climb on the stony wall carrying some food.
The ant fell after a few steps; it started up again, went a little further and fell. King Bruce started to focus on the ant’s journey and counting the attempts. The ant would not give up despite falling 99 times. It was able to reach its destination on the 100th attempt. Bruce was mesmerized. This ant’s determination lit up his soul, uplifting his spiritsinspiring him to overcome despondency and restart his struggle. In the next round King Bruce decisively defeated his enemies to be crowned a king. I love sharing this anecdote. I believe it helped my kids when they faced challenges in life. It is a game changer for those who don’t give up.
One can relate to this incident to Imran Khan squatting alone in his cramped, dirty, smelly and dark jail cell as “prisoner #804”. Records term him as a convict, jailed on corruption charges. Where do these charges stem from? Failure to report some petty information, missed by his accountants. How ridiculous can it get? The judgment was announced without according the accused an opportunity to present his defense by an unscrupulous Judge,Hamayun Dilawar. Based on accounts circulating on social media he is a depraved debauch gallivanting on the streets of London cozying up to the Sharifs and their ilk.
Attempts to undo this injustice to IK are being frustrated through the devilish manipulations of the justice system. I have heard from many friends and sources with an Army background stating “They will not let Imran Khan come to power again.” Who are “they”? I recollect sitting with Saudi friends during Afghan war in the eighties. They were curious about the role of the army chief and his generals. I asked them do they want the long answer or the short one. They agreed on the short answer. I said “they are our self proclaimed Al Saud (referring to their ruling family) holding a gun to our temples.”
There were many similarities between Princes of Royal family and our ruling generals. They get plum contracts; have monopoly on lucrative segments of the economy, hold prize positions, and control enormous chunks of land and real estate. While lineage decides who is a part of Al Saud; in Pakistan these top positions are decided through an extended patronage network duly signed off by the State Department. For me, and those in my age bracket,we have seen the quality of leadership deteriorate over time. It is a fall from grace, valor, courage and integrity to the pits of greed and selfishness.
There is one huge difference. Whether it is an Al Saud or a Saudi national, they are fiercely nationalistic and take a lot of pride in their culture and heritage. Unfortunately our ruling elite are just the opposite. To them Pakistan is just a parking lot where they come to penetrate the power structure to loot and scavenge. Moral values have disappeared. Rule of law is a pipe dream to be molded and manipulated for the rich and powerful.
It is this depraved state of affairs we have a one man army fighting to overhaul this dysfunctional system and society. Imran Khan is not perfect, he may have many follies but one thing is certain; he is a true Pakistani totally committed to serving the poor and neglected masses. He has taken on the ruling elite in his struggle to break theirshackles holding as hostages our present and future.Every effort is being made to break his resolve and dismantle his party and its leadership.
As per Constitution Pakistan is a democracy. In reality it an “armed democracy” controlled by the Army. They control the parameters within which all political parties can operate in. Anyone who steps out of line is punished and persecuted. This process started in 1958 and over decades this grip has turned into a chokehold. The ring masters have perfected the art of taming. It includes using intelligence agencies to collect dirt, manipulating judiciary, and bullying bureaucracy into submission. The add-ons were started by General Bajwa and taken to new heights by the present leadership. It includes cruel and brutal force to subdue dissidents and using spineless corrupt politicians to pass legislation directly conflicting with the Constitution.
Interim regime, directly controlled by GHQ, has dropped all pretensions of grace or civility. Their entire focus is to keep IK behind bars and take all possible repressive measures to weed out PTI as a political entity. An overwhelming majority of Pakistanis have repeatedly rejected these devilish schemes. It’s time for the masses to renew their vows to freedom (Azadi) and stand upto this cruel repression. Stung by a runaway inflation, it will only take a spark to unleash the pent-up anger this nation feels. You don’t have enough uniforms to suppress a popular uprising in a country of 240 million.
