LAHORE has broken the monotone and created space for Imran Khan to send his message across. At the Minar-i-Pakistan meeting on Sunday, Mr Khan highlighted some salient features of his ‘Save Pakistan’ campaign. He threatened a countrywide blockade if those in government did not declare their assets; he vowed he would rather die than beg for money; he said that he would never use the army against its own people. This was more or less a repeat of his recent speeches. It was the size of the rally and its venue which lent greater significance to the Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf challenge. The rally was easily one of the biggest in Lahore in recent times — a surprise to both detractors and old fans frustrated by Mr Khan’s inability to live up to the promise he made when his party was set up a decade and a half ago.

Imran Khan the politician has taken a long time to arrive in his hometown. His arrival now has been facilitated in large measure by the popular disillusionment with the old power politicians. These old players are viewed by people as being too involved in their own persistent duels to allow a surge for real change in Pakistan. In a way, Mr Khan today stands at a distance from the deeply polarised Pakistani politics where a debunking of President Zardari is often equal to support for the Sharif camp, and vice versa. His recent rise as a popular leader has coincided with his attacks on the PML-N. His stance on the judiciary has helped as have his relatively bolder positions on serious Pakistani problems such as the war on terror and the drone attacks.

The gathering at the rally was varied as it was big; young and old, men and women, children, professionals, political activists — many drawn from the PML-N and the PPP. Some among them may have an issue with certain parts of Mr Khan’s emerging ideology, but it appears as if they are prepared to, for now, ignore these details and commit themselves to a drive for dismantling the old and for creating a third option in Pakistan. They have made a start but the task will take some doing, still. The successful PTI show on Sunday has led to comparisons with Benazir Bhutto’s rally held at the same venue in 1986. The Minar is a pyramid rooted in people’s wishes with a cage-like top. It can also serve as a symbol for the sad compromises those who have been hailed in its shadow have later had to make to be in power.