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OPINION JANUARY 15, 2021 | The Indian Eye 16

imran khan and Pakistan’s

enduring Political crisis

The Pakistan prime minister keeps reiterating his promise to transform the country into a

corruption-free Islamic welfare state. However, he has not taken any action against his own party

members or government ministers accused or found guilty of corruption

not reflect a ‘moral authority’
nazir aHMad Mir either.

akistan is once again wit- While the Pakistan premier
nessing confrontation- has blamed wide spread cor-
Pal politics between the ruption for the country’s ills,
government and the opposi- the accountability drive seems
to be targeted only at the op-
tion, with editorials slamming position leaders, leading to crit-
the ‘slowing down’ of democ- icism that Khan was practicing
racy. Academic-activist, Noam ‘one-sided accountability’.
Chomsky, speaking at the Ka-
rachi-based Habib University’s Imran Khan’s rise in Paki-
stan’s politics was facilitated by
flagship Yohsin Lecture Series people’s frustrations with the
on December 7, 2020, warned mis-governance of the past, and
that democracy in Pakistan was Imran Khan has more focus on faith and less on corruption quiet support from the pow-
in decline and the country had
“no future if it is going to live in a faith and the attendant values then Prime Minister Nawaz erful military establishment.
world of religious superstition”. in his own society. He further Sharif on corruption charges, His efforts to build legitimacy
Instead of addressing the underlined his (bad) experienc- Imran Khan had called for “real around his ‘personality’ as a re-
substantive issues being raised es in the West, and added that democracy” in Pakistan. Af- ligious person and a crusader
against corruption, do not seem
by the opposition, Pakistan Pakistan’s advantage was “our ter being in power for two and to have convinced many people.
Prime Minister Imran Khan is belief in God and the hereaf- half years, the contradictions in His government’s inability to
laying much stress on his reli- ter.” Khan’s statements and behav- bring the much-promised tab-
giosity and image as a crusader The Pakistan prime minister ior stand out.
against the corrupt elite, who, keeps reiterating his promise Contrary to the political deeli (‘change’) to Pakistan is
in his view, are solely responsi- to transform the country into morality that characterises de- beginning to hurt him political-
ble for the country’s problems. a Riyasat-e-Madina, a corrup- mocracy, he has even refused ly. The enthused participation
of people in the opposition jal-
Khan, it seems, is dabbling in tion free Islamic welfare state. to meet opposition leaders sas (demonstrations) in recent
the art of personalised politics, However, he has not taken any and has not shown any interest months, implies that the Khan
which turns the focus “from action against his own party to engage with them over the magic is fast withering away.
topics to people and from par- members or government minis- complex issues confronting the
ties to politicians”. ters accused or found guilty of country. The opposition parties Dr Nazir Ahmad Mir is a Re-
Imran Khan has been able corruption. on their part also do not recog- search Analyst at Manohar
to mobilise people – especial- Apart from the rhetoric, he nise the Pakistani premier as Parrikar Institute for Defence
ly the youth – around the nar- has also carefully cultivated a legitimate winner of the July Studies and Analyses
rative that all other politicians his image as a pious believer. 2018 elections. Views expressed are of
were corrupt, incompetent and This is quite visible in the man- Khan has built his image by
self-serving, while he was a cru- ner of his dress — long coats claiming a moral high ground the author and do not necessarily
sader against corruption and (sherwani), monochromatic vis-à-vis other politicians in the reflect the views of the Manohar
wished to build a ‘Naya Paki- tunics (kameez), white trou- country. Back in 2016, in the Parrikar IDSA or of the Govern-
ment of India.
stan’. sers (shalwars), and a waistcoat, wake of Sharif’s name surfac-
Two days prior to Chomsky’s apart from holding a string of ing in the Panama papers, Khan This is the abridged version of
lecture in Karachi, Khan gave beads (tasbih). Such tactics, had noted that unlike other the article which appeared first
an interview to actor Hamza however, are unlikely to resolve types of rulers, like military dic- in the Comment section of the
Abbasi, which was mostly about the myriad issues that plague tators or kings, “democrats rule website (www.idsa.in) of Mano-
his personal experiences and the country. by moral authority. When you har Parrikar Institute for Defense
views on various issues. Khan At a public rally on July 30, lose that, you can’t rule.” How- Studies and Analyses, New Delhi
emphasized his love for his own 2017 to celebrate the ouster of ever, Khan’s rule, it seems, does on January 4, 2021

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