After the 30th October jalsa and the sudden surge of love for Imran Khan from all sections of the Pakistani urban youth, despite my many reservations with his politics I was certainly impressed by the man who could politicise the most hopelessly apolitical and cynical amongst us.

Everyone, from those with the political acumen of Zohair Toru, to those who firmly believe in the revival of the Khilafat, to those who had more faith in Kim Kardashian’s 72 day marriage than this country’s future; Imran Khan had managed to unite them under the banner of ‘change’. As much as I loathe admitting it, for approximately two minutes I was inspired and wanted to give into this love affair and wholeheartedly celebrate the political reawakening of our youth.

However, then the inevitable happened, when push came to shove, though many vehemently supported Imran Khan they failed to intelligently articulate why. In fact, if you ever wondered what it would feel like to converse with someone suffering from an extreme temper, schizophrenia and dementia simultaneously, try asking a PTI supporter exactly why they support Imran Khan. There, in one sentence you will hear them contradict themselves multiple times and make gigantic leaps of logic. If you dare to point these out, they will lose their composure and react irately. Over the course of the past week, esteemed political analysts, columnists and even foreign journalists constructively critiqued the simplicity of Khan’s political rhetoric, his tendency to pander to the popular sentiment, confuse the debate on contentious issues and how he has filled his party with the worst cronies of the past regimes, supporters of military dictators and is now officially forging alliances with Jamaat-e- Islami.

Regardless the veracity of the critique, in response, PTI’s supporters resort to the following two arguments; firstly; Imran Khan is an honest man who has not been given a chance, so give it to him already and secondly, who else is there? A close third is of course personal attacks and emotionally charged drivel on how everyone or anyone who dares to critique Khan is an agent of the establishment or just a hopeless cynic and a complete ‘buzz kill’.

This attitude is reminiscent of the religiously devout whose faith is ruled by blind emotions and can never be rationalised; which if damaging in religion, spells the death of critical thinking in politics. It is also telling of the political maturity and motive of PTI supporters; clearly their devotion does not stem from an informed analysis of Pakistani politics, knowledge of the ideological underpinnings of the various political parties, appreciation of the gravity of the problems plaguing Pakistan and hence belief in Khan’s capacity to resolve them. In fact it is exclusively borne out of anger and frustration with the past decades of political and economic failures.

This form of reactionary ‘support’ is anything but revolutionary. When people are frustrated with their corrupt political elite, power hungry military generals and the gaping economic divides in their society they take to their streets, they rally, they strike and they occupy the strongholds of the powers that be. They do not out source all their responsibilities to democracy to the first man masquerading as their messiah on the grounds that he will be the agent of the change they aspire for.

However, such revolutionary fervor, faith in people’s power or political maturity cannot be expected from the products of Zia’s Pakistan. After all, that is what comprises PTI’s greatest constituency; people who never witnessed a democratic culture at the grass root level, were never part of vibrant student unions or trade unions, probably ridiculed all others who believed in street power too, still believe extremism started the day American invaded Afghanistan, got all their history lessons from books printed by the Punjab text book board,  have been raised to distrust democracy and hate politicians, whereas the real power brokers of Pakistani politics, the military top brass holds a special place in their hearts.

Indeed if you look at the ideals and values those on the ground have internalised and then Imran Khan’s emotionally charged rhetoric, you understand the deep and powerful resonance. You also understand why support for PTI takes on a personal, almost religious character.

For many who support PTI, democracy starts and ends with the ballot, which would explain why in response to any criticism of Imran Khan’s politics they will answer with the question; who else do we vote for?  Well their time has come; Khan has finally brought them into the political fold. They should whole heartedly vote for their Kaptaan, my only hope is that as the months roll on this hero worship evolves into more critical support. Indeed there is some merit in passionately believing even if it is to be disappointed, than never believing at all.

Perhaps this will be the only way this generation’s childish fascination with messiahs, heroes and saviors can be broken; for when and if Imran Khan back tracks on his promises, they will realise that it is not Khan’s impeccable character, his patriotism or persona of a moderate Muslim they should have been banking on but their own resolve to come out on the streets and hold him to it.

 

 

The author is a development activist based in Lahore.

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.

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