Imran Khan Must Walk the Talk for a Strong Democracy
Standing in a jam-packed stadium is not something new for Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan. As a cricketer, his personality, skill and leadership often pulled thousands of people to the stadium. He went on to reach the pinnacle of success in his cricketing career when he led the Pakistan team to a World Cup win in 1992.
But on July 21st 2019, he was surprised to see a packed stadium in Washington DC with 30,000 people who had gathered just to listen to him. This time he delivered an inspirational speech to the Pakistani-American audience mainly elaborating on the importance of ‘Jamuriyat’ (democracy). In the same breath, he also emphasized how merit and talent can flourish only in democracy.
One can only hope that Mr. Khan really believes in the fundamental pillar of democracy — Peace. And to maintain harmony in Pakistan and South Asia, he now has a pivotal role to play. His country has already faced the huge human losses because of in-house terrorism. Time and again the people of Pakistan have democratically elected governments but the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Pakistan Army have only used the people in power like puppets. It is a known fact that terror groups such as Jaish-e-Mohammad and Lashkar-e-Taiba have always flourished in Pakistan. We’ve seen Hafiz Saeed openly deliver inflammatory speeches which further contribute to the infiltration in the Indian state of Kashmir. If one disagrees about Pakistan being the safe shelter for terrorists, then let’s remember how Osama bin Laden’s was killed by US SEAL Team in Abbottabad in May 2011.
Until Indian soft targets were attacked by the militants, most countries including the United States of America were advised India to restrain and resolve the bilateral issues peacefully. But post the 9/11 attacks, things have changed. US has taken a strong stand against terrorism and so has the world. Meanwhile, other countries such as the UK, Australia, and France also suffered barbaric attacks followed by Mumbai’s 26/11. Since then the entire world started cornering Pakistan to act strongly against the extreme elements.
“But post the 9/11 attacks, things have changed. US has taken a strong stand against terrorism and so has the world.”
As Pakistan started bowing to the US pressure, militant groups based out of the Pakistan region were annoyed which led to them starting to single out soft targets within Pakistan. The attack on Hotel Hyatt was the major one, to begin with. Attacks on schools, prayer houses, local markets followed. Terrorism has no religion, but this monster ended hundreds of innocent lives in Pakistan. The spineless governments of Yusaf Raza Gillani and Nawaz Sharif failed to show any intent to take on the terror groups.
Today, the common Pakistanis have realized that violence is not the answer to any issue. They are more concerned about their bread, butter, and education of their kids. Prime Minister Imran Khan has two tasks on his hand. The first one is to show courage to curb terrorism effectively, and the second one is to bring the country out of a financial crisis. In the last one year, he must have understood that both these problems are interdependent but not easy to resolve.
He was always heated and aggressive on the cricket field but his eventual involvement in the Charitable Cancer Hospital named after his mother Shaukat Khanum made him humbler, grounded and level-headed. In recent times he has shown maturity and often lectures, propagating peace and harmony. In Washington DC he has yet again delivered the speech praising democracy. Let us hope to see him acting in a positive way to give peace a chance. There was a time when Imran Khan and his fast bowlers invented reverse swing. Today, he and his government need legislative inventions and reforms to bring Pakistan back on the track.
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