The born-again Muslim
Across a broad spectrum of the Pakistani intelligentsia and masses, Imran Khan is considered a hero. His handsome looks, his deeds for the country in the cricket field, his iron self-discipline in maintaining his athletic physique well into middle age, his single-minded struggle to establish a world class cancer cure hospital in Pakistan, etc have all combined to make him an all-Pakistani Superstar. Who can ever forget the sight of Imran Khan clutching the 1992 Cricket World Cup, a fairy tale feat of nigh impossible permutations and combinations? The world loves an underdog and we came back from a near hopeless position to achieve the ultimate prize. Pakistanis will cherish this as one of their proudest moments and who better could be representative of the country on the media images flashing across the world than the proud visage of our genuine home-grown real life hero. The victory was a combined team effort but Imran Khan forgot to mention Javed Miandad, Wasim Akram, Inzamam, Rameez Raja, Mushtaq, etc, in his victory speech in supersession to his own dreams and ambitions of the Cancer Hospital, this was taken as a passing aberration rooted in the euphoria of the moment. How many times have we seen damsels going into distress over our cricket Captain pounding in to send red thunderbolts hurtling towards quivering opposing batsmen? The combination of the Imran Khan physique and the “suggestive” gesture in the rubbing of the cricket ball on his white flannels to maintain the shine was too much for our clergy to let pass unnoticed. Thankfully for the well-being of Pakistan’s cricket, the uproar was only a storm in a teacup and Imran kept taking wickets and leading his team to victory. There can be no doubt that Imran was also the inspiration for our current great fast bowling pair, Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis. His imperious attitude may have damaged the careers of some independent-minded young cricketers over the years but in Imran’s defence one must say that the strict team discipline he enforced, presently sadly lacking, made a major contribution to our success.
A bevy of women of the Emma Sergeant and Zeenat Aman-kind seemed to surround Imran wherever he went, film stars, models, etc but they were all American, British, Indian, etc, gossip never associated Imran with any Pakistani female. Imran has always carried himself with dignity, the cheap theatricals of others would have been hard put to avoid public approbation. Pakistanis remained proud of Imran’s manly conquests — forgiving his playboy image as one would a favourite errant Prince and Prince indeed he certainly can claim to be, by dint of achievement and merit, buoyed by his good looks.
Imran’s dream about a Cancer Hospital named after his late mother (who was afflicted with the disease) was a natural progression after his retirement from cricket. A passing hiccup was the post-World Cup disagreement about division of cash gifts, etc with Imran maintaining that the entire team had agreed that all collective gifts would go to the SKMT, not so said some of the team’s senior players, who wanted to divide the spoils. The campaign for collecting money for the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust (SKMT) Cancer Hospital was brilliantly organised, the initial response emanating from the school children level throughout the country. Instead of promises only, we saw reality in the form of the hospital taking shape before our eyes, the fulfilment of a single-minded dream. Cheering crowds welcomed him in every town and city with open arms and liberal cheque books, the spare change kept coming in. The adulation of the masses in any country is always something to see, in Pakistan the well of emotion was too deep to ignore as a passing fancy for any old circus. In a country where our heroes, mainly political figures, were increasingly seen to be having feet of clay, Imran Khan stood proud and tall, the crowds loved it and kept up a tremendous drumbeat of approval. A new cry went up among the frustrated masses, “Imran Khan Prime Minister, Prime Minister Imran Khan”.
This overwhelming hero-worship translating into political support may have surprised both the major political parties but they were quick to recognize political potential and searching probes were made through intermediaries about his political preferences and availability. Pasban was in the forefront in conducting his appearances for collection of donations for SKMT, building up support for Imran’s possible future political career without Imran really participating, even seeming to being oblivious of the full implications. A well researched book, a couple of focussed documentaries, a biography, etc all helped to deepen the political image build-up process.
When Imran started to write articles in the newspapers all hell broke loose. To detractors jealous of his rapport with the masses, he was viewed as a potential threat, likely to become an alternate force in politics. Those who have read through Imran Khan’s articles in some depth will hardly find fault with his views as a large portion of Pakistan’s populace subscribe to the same. It may not be “Mein Kampf” but it serves as a basic document for a political launch-off because substantive issues dealing with individuals and society have been addressed. Imran has taken on the “Brown Sahibs” who had forgotten their own culture and adopted that of the West, his views on dress appreciation were deeply satisfying to Pakistanis very keen to go back to one’s roots and shun the pervasive decadent culture of the West. Imran’s fulminations about corruption and hypocrisy in politics ran like sweet nectar down the throat of most Pakistanis fed up with the corrupt, nepotism-oriented politics in vogue in Pakistan today. For almost anything that concerned Pakistanis on a day-to-day basis, Imran had something to say (except perhaps about Kashmir). For a short period of time he must have been the most well-read columnist in Pakistan, given that his articles were appearing in many newspapers. But there were discordant notes, the conservative demeanour of his articles went against the grain of the westernised image he once fostered. Having discovered Islam he seemed to become one of its most fervent propagators. Given his playboy-image track record, the true Believers could not believe the Born-Again Muslim metamorphosis. A large number of skeptics were women who voiced their doubts at this miraculous 180 degree turnaround. This negativism was most pronounced among those he seemed to tacitly (and generally) target and criticise as modern “Brown Sahibs” and their aping of western dress and culture. Having been used to fake sincerity, Pakistanis are desperate to believe in their leaders. Imran Khan does indeed seem to be the long-promised political Messiah.
Imran’s crowd pulling potential was also recognized by the much respected former spymaster and visionary Lt Gen (Retd) Hameed Gul. A not so subtle push for Imran as a possible political force was initiated. Maulana Abdul Sattar Edhi among other respected notables was contacted for good measure but this ran into complications when Editor Salahuddin of Takbeer was assassinated. Edhi decided that he was next on the list and in any case the ideas were beyond his capacity to fathom and absorb. He promptly abandoned ship rather publicly and he pushed off to London, blowing the lid off the “covert operations” and embarrassing everyone all around. GoP’s media managers spoke darkly about a “conspiracy” involving retired army and police officers, etc. Frankly, this disclosure may have been God-sent because while Hameed Gul is sincere about his nationalist feelings, some elements with more sinister motives had certainly infiltrated the campaign with the intention of capturing power on the pristine shoulders of people like Hameed Gul, Imran Khan, Maulana Edhi, etc. Those who had manipulated Moeen Qureshi into office were rumoured to being among those engaged in funding “the cause” and providing crucial logistics support. Ms. Benazir’s regime started to give Imran the status of an Opposition leader in their normal fulminations in the government-controlled media against perceived enemies. SKMT’s advertisements asking for donations were banned from PTV and GoP’s “dirty tricks” (DT’s) department went into high gear to tarnish this idol-image in the public eye. Whenever any government tries character-assassination, the measure and esteem of the “victim” goes up.
Then Imran went and got married to Jemima, Sir James Goldsmith’s oldest daughter. GoP’s DT’s department went into overdrive, particularly because Goldsmith happened to be an extremely rich Jew and Jemima a Britisher. Momentarily Imran’s popularity in Pakistan took a tumble as confusion persisted. When it became clear that before marriage Jemima had embraced Islam and there was nothing wrong in any case in marrying someone who believed in the Book, Imran’s loyalists took heart and re-surfaced. The dark hints of a Zionist plot started to fade away and Imran’s “betrayal” at not marrying a Pakistani began to be seen in true perspective i.e. it was entirely Imran’s prerogative to get married where he pleases. The contradictions came mainly into focus because his deeds were wrongly taken to be not in consonant with his writings. In fact if anyone has cared to read what Imran has been writing, this is not so. As the seeming ambiguity resolved itself, the furore has died down. The masses now await Imran’s arrival in Pakistan along with his newly-wed bride in tow with some fervour. Imran’s homecoming should break some records in a city used to such public adulation, e.g. Ms. Benazir’s arrival in 1986. Imran may not have the same name-recognition in the west as Ms. Benazir Bhutto’s, but he matches her and more in celebrity status in western social circles. The common man in Pakistan sees him as their Prince who has carried off a foreign Princess and brought her home.
In retrospect, maybe Imran should have been more circumspect in his articles so as not to give the perception of being anti-west, he could have thus avoided the charge of not practising what he preached. Another area of some concern is the Indian connection, those Pakistanis familiar with the Godrej family at various international forums speak of their open contempt and hatred, Imran could have exercised some discretion in being so publicly chummy with the delightfully ugly Ms. Parmeshwar. In the particular charged atmosphere in the Sub-continent where Kashmiris are daily dying fighting for their lives while Muslims are being persecuted and externed from Bombay, Imran could have put his friendly Indian connections on the back-burner. The charge of stubborn arrogance does rear its head from time to time but it is also true that the discipline he enforced in return was priceless in the search for excellence. Imran’s Karma is that he cannot escape the public eye and thus may well be forced into the mainstream political process despite his denials or even his intentions. The test of his mettle will come in facing up to unwarranted criticism without losing his cool. For those either jealous of his success or apprehensive of it, Imran Khan looms high on threat perception, in Pakistan the Imran Khan phenomenon has a place in our mass psyche. While everyone knows where Imran has come from, no one really seems to know where he will go in the national context. About one thing there is no doubt, if Imran Khan chooses to, he could easily don the mantle of leadership of the “third force”. In that Jemima will be no hindrance, she will be an asset.
Did you enjoy this post? Why not leave a comment below and continue the conversation, or subscribe to my feed and get articles like this delivered automatically to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Leave a comment