A fake Bhutto?

The lessoned learned after the 1968 movement translated into a doctrine whereby even Bizenjos and the Mengals were discounted let alone Bhuttos and Mujibs. The reconfiguration first created the Sharifs and now Imran is given a go-ahead to capture some of the turf without straying from the scripted actions

Those were the last days of the second Benazir premiership; I met an old friend who was a senior PPP leader back then. I asked him how many more days for your government in power? He replied, “We are one corps commander away from losing it”.

We started discussing the alternatives the establishment had in store. The name of Imran khan popped up in the conversation. Imran Khan even back in the late 1990s was making waves. I can not recall his exact political position or standing at the time. But both me myself and my PPP-friend agreed that the establishment would never allow another Zulfiqar Bhutto to dominate the political arena.

In fact, Bhutto-Imran analogy was not indeed far fetched. Bhutto and Imran shared many traits. Both had a well cultivated aura surrounding their dominating personalities. While Bhutto was a seasoned politician who established himself as the fighter for the Kashmir cause, Imran being national hero after his cricketing exploits, developed a core following among the urban middle classes. Bhutto had the kind of charisma that was never seen in politics before. He appeared on the scene when change had become a clarion call.

Imran entered the fray when the desire to see another strong and charismatic leader was slowly taking roots in the urban middleclass. Like Bhutto, Imran also decided to go his own way building his own party and running it very much Bhutto-style: a strong streak for making the final decisions all alone.

The differences between the two, however,  are glaring too. But that is for the most part owes to the turn politics in Pakistan has taken since Bhutto days. Bhutto rose to prominence when socialist hegemony dominated the common sense  while a general discontent with the establishment as well as the system all over the world was widespread. Bhutto manipulated the situation skillfully. It was clear that he did not subscribe to any ideology. It was a vehicle for him, not the goal. Initially, Bhutto rode to eminence owing to his rhetoric on Kashmir. But he soon realized that Kashmir ‘cause’ could give him support in the Punjab urban lower middle class only but the urban middle class just did not have enough votes to propel anyone to power. He, therefore, began to champion the cause of the peasantry dominated hinterland of Punjab and Sindh. He vowed to make an example out of feudal lords and capitalists. His rhetoric excited the poor landless peasants and heavily exploited rural labour.

On the contrary, Imran Khan is trying to ride a wave of conservatism, religious dogmatism, anti-liberalism and a general apathy towards the system. However, the political brilliance of Bhutto is sorely lacking in Imran Khan.

He is bowling on a doctored turf. Doctoring of the turf started in the late 1970s. The lessoned learned after the 1968 movement translated into a doctrine whereby even Bizenjos and the Mengals were discounted let alone Bhuttos and Mujibs. The reconfiguration first created the Sharifs and now Imran is given a go-ahead to capture some of the turf without straying from the scripted actions.

The question is: does Imran have it in him to deliver? He is making the right statements. He is rallying the crowds against the USA. He is talking about the reconciliation with the Taliban. Finally, he is becoming progressively aggressive against his main political adversary in the Punjab, the Sharifs. He needs to be on the far right of the Sharifs to capture the constituency that matters in Punjab: the urban middle class. The urban middle class in Punjab in the last thirty years has embraced religious conservatism doused in the conspiracy theories. It basks in the false sense of national pride.

But will he score an electoral victory Bhutto-style mere through inflammatory rhetoric? Election success, it seems, for Imran Khan will remain elusive. He is pitched against the established players like the Muslim Leagues of the Sharifs and Chaudharies, the PPP and feudal lords in the rural Punjab. The Sharifs now have a long history of winning elections in Punjab. They have twice confronted the establishment. The establishment might look down upon that but some in Punjab still attach value to Sharifs’ defiance.

And if Imran Khan keeps embracing Shah Mehmud Qureshis, will he be able to maintain his image of Mr. Clean?