Not since the late 1960s have I seen so much enthusiasm for a leader amongst the masses as I am seeing today for Tehrik-e-Insaf’s Chairman Imran Khan. And interestingly the questions of the same nature are being raised by the political pundits and foreseers of today about Imran Khan as had been raised about Zulifiqar ALi Bhutto in the pre-election days of 1969 and 1970.
As I have the distinction of having observed both eras closely, both as a media person and as a political supporter, I am in an excellent position to pinpoint some key similarities in Zulifiqar ALi Bhutto of 1970 and Imran Khan of 2011.
One such similarity that requires to be kept in view is that, like an Imran Khan existed in 1996-1997 and then in 2002 before the Imran Khan of 2011 filled the political horizon of Pakistan, there had existed a ZAB in 1958 and 1964 too before the ZAB of 1970 started blowing the trumpets of war against the seemingly invincible defenders of the status quo.
In early 1970, I used frequently to come across a question about ZAB’s visible weakness in the area of his ability to assemble a substantial number of electable candidates whom he could field against those who had been controlling the political life and dynamics of the country for decades.
This is interestingly the exact question that is hurled at those amongst the masses who are harbouring dreams of an IK era in Pakistan.
“How will he be able to translate his popularity among the youth of the country into political success, in the absence of a convincing list of electable candidates in his political arsenal?”. This been the question that I have come across many a time.
In 1970 I was an avowed Bhutto supporter. A yearning young idealist who atlast was witnessing a real opportunity for the long-deprived masses of the country to rally behind a leader who was up in arms against the forces of the status quo, and was promising them a huge change in their fortunes. Today, four decades later my idealism has matured. Still I can hear the same message of change echoing in the air— and the same surge of expectations and hope filling the hearts of those who for years have known nothing but deprivation, deceit and despair.
And my support for Imran Khan is rooted in the same passion for a future of honour, dignity, joy and greatness that had fired my spirits in the year 1970.
And believe you me, not many among the elite and the intelligentsia of the country had heard the names of those whom ZAB’s magic carried to a thumping victory in the elections.
History is going to repeat itself.
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