STRAIGHT TALK by Hafeez Khan
AUTHOR’S NOTE
July 12: It’s a judicial revolution following the people’s revolution on Feb 8th. PTI must diligently file reference against ECP in SJC and register FIR under Article 6. After Qazi’s debacle, General Asim’s 2nd crutch must be removed. IK’s perseverance has paid off. Read more about it in the article.
It was academic session 1970-71. Punjab University Student Union’s elections were in full swing. I headed the “rightists” panel and the opponents, “leftists”, were led bymy friend, Jehangir Badar. Badar was a larger-than-life candidate as a popular past president of Hailey College and Law College. He was serving a sentence inflicted by military courts. I was decidedly the underdog. Thus, we had to campaign hard and wide to create a breakthrough.
One day I was making a speech in the sprawling, nicely manicured lush green New Campus lawn adjacent to Canal Bank Canteen. A big crowd had gathered. I had an edge of being tall, yet I was having trouble reaching out to those on the periphery despite standing on my toes. Suddenly a “guardian angel” whispered in my ears “Khanji spread your legs”; I was bewildered but complied. I was hoisted up, and found myself sitting on shoulders of Athar Shah. I could see and connect with the whole gathering.
It was a game changer and became a practice thereafter. The enablers of these joyrides were my close friends, mostly graduates from public schools, my hometown Lyallpur and locally cultivated friendships. It included Athar Shah, Sarwar Khan, late Javed Noor, Jawed lovingly called “Mamaa”, Rashid “Sheeda Pistaul”, former IGP Shaukat Javed, Salim Chaudhry, Rahim Din and many other friends. All these guys were physically fit sportsmen. I am indebted to them for contributing towards my election victory.
Last weekend I got a message from Athar Shah that he was visiting Mississauga. We met up as families and had a wonderful Sunday afternoon that continued till late night. Aziza bhabi is an accomplished artist with an amazing array of paintings. Meeting after decades, we reminisced about all our wonderful memories. Joyful incidents came gushing back, making us laugh like teenagers interspaced by tears remembering those no longer amongst us. Athar Shahji had gone onto becoming an electrical engineer in UK and recently retired as a top-notch automobile engineer in US. Now he is a much sought after auto quality controller and mixes it with farming on ancestral lands in Bahawalpur. Mad hats like us never retire.
Memories of Punjab University are my greatest treasure.We re-capped our individual journeys through life and expressed pain about our beloved Pakistan messed up by corrupt self-centered, toady leaders. We recollected that all-powerful Nawaz Sharif those days was a sidekick of Malik Nazir of Mubarak cinema, who often visited New Campus. Nawaz at that young age had a receding hairline, was quiet, non-descript person who blushed very easily.
As in most gatherings of overseas Pakistanis, our discussion gravitated to the plight of Imran Khan jailed under atrocious conditions for nearly a year. We reached out to a common friend Mehmood Awan, aka Mooda, nowliving in Tampa, Florida. Athar Shah had played cricket with IK in school competitions and subsequently met him in his UK university days at dinners hosted by Benazir Bhutto in Oxford. He always found IK reserved, quiet and almost a loner. Mehmood Awan after Punjab University moved to USA. Since 1989 he had developed a close friendship with IK attending many cricketing events with him.
After Pakistan’s sole World Cup victory over England in 1992 led by Imran Khan, he decided to launch Shaukat Khanum Cancer Memorial Hospital. By then he was a global celebrity. He chose not to bask in that glory and preferred to do something meaningful. He adopted the arduous path to serve cancer patients and alleviate their sufferings. He had seen his mother’s pain and anguish. It was hailed as a great idea but most medical specialist called it unachievable. IK’s millionaire friends offered lip service; however, they evaporated when the time came to commit their resources. A frustrated but undeterred IK turned to Mooda in USA to organize fundraisers. Mehmood Awan did a brilliant job in organizing events and reaching out to donors to open floodgates of funding for SKMT.
IK is blessed in more ways than one. He found support around the world for SKMT that included my friends like Khalid Usman in Canada and late Ahsan Rashid in Saudi Arabia. Despite opinions to the contrary, IK values those who dedicate themselves to the causes he espouses. Ahsan and Mehmood went onto become founder members of PTI; a privilege that I enjoy too.
Mooda, Shahji and I have a boat-load of memories of our association with IK and a deep understanding of his persona. We all agreed to work together to share these details to help people understand the unique phenomenon known as Imran Khan. IK’s trials and tribulations over the past two years have only polished him further to become the catalyst of change for a better Pakistan.
Unfortunately, the myopic generals running Pakistan’s army and their touts in SC, ECP and corrupt coterie of politicians have totally failed to profile IK. They really don’t understand what they are up against. They are worse off than the vast majority of Pakistanis who have bought into IK’s vision for a successful nation. Adversity brings out the best in IK. He is like a caged tiger that these pygmies are petrified of and they continue to deploy their bag of dirty tricks. With faith in Allah as his strongest weapon, he continues to stand as pillar of strength, undeterred by multiple challenges. He continues to be the best option for Pakistan. Beware General Asim, your brute force is brittle that will fall against IK’s perseverance, Insha Allah.
