I have no qualms admitting that I have never been miserly in harbouring dreams, ideals, expectations, longings and faith in all of them. Only ruthlessly cold-blooded, and unashamedly opportunistic persons don’t get bogged down by their dreams and ideals, and don’t indulge in longings that are divorced from their material and pragmatic well-being.
I have never been in love with persons. I have been in love with my perception of what they stand for. Precisely why my list of modern age heroes include such diverse individuals as Hitler, Napoleon,Tipu, Iqbal, Jinnah, Nasser, Mao and Mahatir Mohammad. Among those I have interacted with, I harbour substantial respect for Ayub Khan’s skills as a great patriot and a superb organizer, I have a mixture of love and hate relationship with ZAB, I regard Benazir Bhutto as a flawed angel, I consider Mian Nawaz Sharif as God’s punishment to this Nation for its sins, and I enjoy a healthy respect for Imran Khan’s capability to dream big, think big and also for his integrity and genuine straightforwardness.
I have not mentioned here two classy wizards— Air Marshal ( Rtd) Asghar Khan and Lt. Gen. (Rtd) Hameed Gul for the simple reason that they failed to create inroads into the corridors of power— one for his lack of passion for Faith, and the other for his lack of commitment to the leadership role.
Imran Khan among them is the only survivor. And he has the greatest opportunity to carve his way into history.
He has ‘it’ in him. He is a man of destiny. He has the singular ability to lead from the front. But his impetuousness is his Achilles’ heel.
Let me explain this point. In seven years since August 2011 he has relied on the following image-builders and the mouthpieces of the Party.
Akbar S. Babar—Rauf Hassan—Shirin Mazari—Shafqat Mahmood — Iftikhar Durrani— Faisal Javaid— Fawad Chaudhry & Fiaz ul Hasan Chauhan.
For some of them I have great respect but then a chest specialist can’t heal a wound in your ankle.
It was in 2010 that I was desired to replace Umar Cheema as Information Secretary, but I didn’t agree. I proposed that I would work with him to support his endeavours; because in my view, in the given circumstances he was doing a fine job.
But my effort to stand behind Umar Cheema failed. And the PTI today is being defended by those who in their hearts laugh at the idea of Riasat-i-Madina.
IK is quite capable of doing damage control in this area. But suppose Asad Umar continues to act like an Alice in Wonderland, and remains as unsure of his prescription as he has been till now, will it be within IK’s capability to make amends?
- Latest
- Trending
