my  block

where uzairs roam

Imran Khan, he is a Superman!
Super, super, super, super, Supermaaaaan!
He is a Superman!
- Hassan Jahangir

This is really worth reading. Imran Khan’s always been (paradoxically) a bit of a recluse, so lots of people, myself included, think of him as a hypocritical elitist, lecturing about ‘Brown Sahebs’ while being one in the truest sense. Even more unfair is the perception that his campaign to establish Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital was selfish and wilful. WAC, for one, argues he has mellowed with age and that this view of him is typical Pakistani resentment and mistrust of success. Either way, it’s hard to get a real handle on the real Imran Khan.

The Guardian’s interview portrays Imran favourably, as a man committed to his country and his family, and not bitter about his failures, both political and personal, in the last few years. They don’t gloss over his eccentricities, carefully tracking his sunglasses about his person and repeatedly remarking on his shyness, but that’s fair enough.

Amusingly, Imran counters the view most people have of him (that he’s a naive celebrity who has no clue about how politics works) with more naivete: that had he joined forces with Nawaz Sharif or Musharraf in 2002, he would have been tainted by their corruption. Well, buddy, I won’t spite you your purity, but trying to overthrow 50 years of corruption with a few thousand supporters is an act of vanity I can’t condone. There’s a place for heroism, and it isn’t Pakistan — we need change now.

The Quaid found a way to work with his opponents while maintaining his morals and outlook. If Imran Khan is to help Pakistan in a meaningful way, he must find a way to engage the Jamaats, and possibly even the PPP and the PML.