One great common tragedy with all leaders is that they often lend their ears to the voices that should always be kept at long distances— preferably in the deserts.
Imran Khan once had a half-debate with me on this issue.
“It is fine to have occasional meetings with your team members and followers, to share your thoughts and plans with them, but to get enaged in long and aimless exchange of irrelevant ideas is a huge waste of time, “I said to him.
“But the Holy Prophet (PBUH) encouraged consultation”, replied IK.
“Off course he did, but can you name a few men other than Hazrat Umar (RA) and Hazrat Abu Bakr (RA) with whom he consulted. The Masjid-i-Nabvi meetings were aimed more at what the Holy Prophet said and Sahaba listened to than having free-for-all debates. No doubt even your chauffeur will have some ideas about how a state should be run and how a complicated political issue be resolved, but please confine him to the steering wheel of your car.”
I was a member of the Core Group as well as the Central Executive Committee and I should have attended several dozen meetings, but I remember only one occasion when I rose to speak out my heart on an issue of long-term consequences. I was happy my point of view prevailed on that occasion.
Unfortunately when such heavyweights as Asad Umar, Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Jahangir Tareen made their entry, I had got fed up with the LISTENING TO NONSENSE routine. And now I cannot give any opinion on what has been transpiring in the meetings since then.
What I fiercely believe in, is the Gift of leadership that Allah has given to IK, and in the earnestness of his faith in working for the resurrection of the Madina Spirit in the way governments should be run.
Can that happen when your ears develop an obsessive liking for the voices that deserve to be banned from his life?
I am being harsh. And cruel. But it is because I love the man’s passion and sincerity. Too many people are talking on his behalf with too confused statements (or misstatements). Imran Khan is capable of winning matches singlehandedly. But for the first time in his life he is expecting the likes of part-time medium pacers like Muddassar Nazar to bowl googlies on green wickets. (Don’t get offended Muddassar Nazar, you certainly had the Golden Arm but you weren’t Abdul Qadir. More importantly you were a batsman who could bat on and on and on. Not meaning thereby that you were Awn Chaudhry).
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