A troubled man went to an elder and began to lament about his problems. The elder went inside and brought out a dirty, stained pot and said, “Wash this, and your troubles will end.” The man sat under the tap and polished the pot, bringing it back clean. The elder then asked, “Did it take you longer to clean the outside or the inside?” The man replied, “Sir, all the food is cooked inside the pot; it’s dirtier inside. I had to scrub it two or three times on the inside, while I just swirled water around the outside.” The elder smiled and said, “Son, just like the pot, a person needs to scrub their inner self more than their outer self, but instead of changing our inner selves, we remain busy changing our appearances. Thus, we cannot bring any change to the world. If you clean yourself from within, the outside world will shine on its own.”
Today, I see that troubled person as Imran Khan—an Imran Khan who wants to change the entire country and the world instead of changing himself. Imran Khan is undoubtedly the most popular leader in the country; his party surprised the world by winning the February 8 elections without an electoral symbol. He is more connected with the youth of the country compared to all other leaders. He is still the hope of millions, and despite a dismal performance in KP, the public has given him power for a third time. All political parties and leaders have lost credibility and public support compared to him. We know where Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari stand today, and what the status of MQM’s credibility is. But where is Imran Khan?
Despite having a two-thirds majority government in one province, the largest voter base, and being the majority party in the National Assembly and Senate, he is in jail along with his wife, while Ali Amin Gandapur enjoys power. The Chief Minister hasn’t achieved anything significant in seven months of governance, yet he walks around like a macho man. The situation is such that a bomb attack occurred on a convoy of ten European ambassadors in Malam Jabba on Sunday, resulting in the martyrdom of police personnel and injuries to four others, but the Chief Minister was busy conquering Lahore with the provincial government.
On the other hand, Goher Khan and Omar Ayub are enjoying their time in the National Assembly, while Arif Alvi and Asad Qaiser are engaged in serving Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman. So what benefit has Imran Khan gained from this popularity, the power in one province, and the majority in the National Assembly and Senate? Is Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman not benefitting from Imran Khan’s imprisonment? Is his bargaining position not improving, and are Shahbaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari not gaining from this? If they are the Prime Minister and President today, it is solely because of Imran Khan. Had Imran Khan not been obstinate and rebellious, Zardari would not be President today, nor would Shahbaz Sharif be Prime Minister. The PPP and PML-N would have been limited to ten seats each. So, what advantage has Imran Khan gained from all these accomplishments? His difficulties are increasing day by day.
Imran Khan should answer with his hand on his heart: is the purpose of politics not to come to power and implement one’s policies? If that is not the case, then what is the purpose? If you do not wish to come to power, if you do not want to implement your policies, if you do not want to change the condition of the people, then why are you engaged in politics? If you do not want to win the World Cup or a trophy, then why are you playing? If you have to stay in jail, then why are you involved in politics? Leave it! I think Imran Khan should now calmly wash his inner self instead of the outer one. He should sit down and thoughtfully consider his strategy. He must realize that the state and the establishment are stronger than one person and one party.
The more you push it, the stronger it becomes. Look, if the government couldn’t pass its constitutional amendments in Parliament, what did the state do? The state amended the Practice and Procedure Act; now the committee includes the Chief Justice and the senior-most judge, with the third member being decided by the Chief Justice. In half an hour, the Chief Justice replaced Justice Muneeb Akhtar with Justice Amin-ud-Din in the committee, resulting in two votes for the Chief Justice, while Justice Mansoor Ali Shah stood alone. Secondly, the Supreme Court will decide old cases first, after which the constitutional amendments and Form 47 cases will be heard in 2032. Will Imran Khan be able to spend so many years in jail?
Additionally, the country’s economy is improving; the stock exchange is setting record after record, inflation has dropped below ten percent, the dollar has stabilized, and a new IMF plan is set to start in September. There are also prospects for foreign investment. Maryam Nawaz is working vigorously, and the federal government is becoming stronger despite weak legs, while Imran Khan is where? In jail! Imran Khan thought the public would not be able to pay electricity bills; they would come out, and he would benefit in jail, but the public has endured the shock of the electricity bill.
The government is negotiating with IPPs; Liberty Power is ready to forgive capacity payments. The government hopes the remaining IPPs will also agree, after which electricity prices will decrease. Imran Khan made two calls to the public from jail, but both calls failed. The rally on September 8 ended with Gandapur’s filthy speech, and for the first time, police entered Parliament House and arrested MNAs. If it were not for the Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, Aamer Farooq, and Speaker Ayaz Sadiq’s assistance, PTI leaders would still be in jail. The second rally was on September 21 in Lahore; this rally was crucial, and the entire nation needed to come out. However, neither happened, nor did any boat burn. Lahoris stayed home, enjoying their ‘siri paye,’ while PTI leaders waited for them at the rally. You can gauge the success of the rally from this—Ali Amin Gandapur arrived in Lahore with his convoy after the rally, but opposition leader Omar Ayub didn’t even come to Lahore, while Hamad Azhar, Mian Aslam Iqbal, and Murad Saeed were hiding in basements, inviting the nation to come out. What was the outcome? This rally also failed.
Imran Khan has now pinned his hopes on the Karachi rally, but that rally will be more unsuccessful than the Lahore rally. Why? Because PTI is the establishment’s party, and until it receives support from the establishment, none of its rallies will be successful, nor will the public come out.
Imran Khan’s second hope lies with the judges. He believes that as soon as the government passes the amendment package, half of the judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts will resign, and the government will be embarrassed in the world. That is a possibility. Frustration is increasing among judges over time. If the government extends Justice Qazi Faiz Isa’s term, changes the method of appointing the Chief Justice, and begins judicial rotations, then perhaps the judges will actually resign. But what difference would it make? The government has prepared lists and will appoint new judges, and PTI will run a movement for judges’ restoration for a few days before the public forgets and turns to watching PSL matches.
Imran Khan must understand that the nation has not learned from the tragedy of 1971; we have forgotten East Pakistan. Therefore, Imran Khan should step back from the path of political suicide and compromise with the circumstances. He may indeed lead the country to true freedom and bring about a revolution, but for that, he needs to survive and come to power.
A fish can only flop outside of water; if you die in jail amidst your struggle or if your party is swallowed by amendments, then where will the revolution come from, and how will the nation achieve true freedom? If an athlete cannot play, how will he be named Man of the Match? Therefore, Imran Khan should wash the pot from within rather than the outside; he should strive to change himself instead of the world. True freedom will come, and the country will change. Khan must also know that people trapped in a web of hopes do not live long.