The Dithering Ends

Khan's plunge into politics is bound to cause ripples, coming as it does against a backdrop of feuding politicians. His supporters believe the masses do not look to him as a politician, something which works to his advantage. Analysts consider him a more serious contender than Jamaat-e-Islami chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed or former chief of army staff Mirza Aslam Beg. Ahmed and Beg launched the Pakistan Islamic Front (PIF) and Pakistan Awami Qiadat (PAQ), respectively, hoping to project these as the third force in a country dominated by the Benazir Bhutto-led Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N). Both the PIF and the PAQ, however, failed to click.

Besides Khan's categorical statement that he believes in a change within the system, there was little else in what he said. His movement's manifesto has slogans which have been used many times over in the past: the ills plaguing the country and the failure of the political system and the politicians to remedy it. Khan also outlined his strategy, which includes setting up eight committees to recommend changes in the "current terrible state of affairs" in the country.

From the Tehreek-e-Insaaf platform, Khan plans to organise a countrywide socio-economic justice movement. A similar slogan was raised by the late Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto who promised 'roti, kapra aur makaan' (food, clothing and shelter), a pledge Khan claims only ended up in the exploitation of the people. But he privately admits that he admired Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. But unlike Bhutto, who appealed to the lower rungs of society, Khan is looking to the middle class, urging them to come forward and put an end to the prevalent exploitative system. Khan is convinced that the civil-military bureaucracy which has ruled Pakistan for almost three decades has deliberately suppressed the middle class. His other grouse is against the feudal-industrialist clique, which, he claims, has struck a body blow to the country.

But though Khan appears to be confident and courageous, the charismatic cricketer has his failings too: he is undiplomatic, arrogant, short-tempered and impatient—traits which may work to his disadvantage. He is also known to be autocratic and admits that he is a misfit in the present system.

Prime Minister Bhutto welcomed Khan's decision to join politics, though she did sarcastically point out that he would need 109 seats in the National Assembly to occupy the 'coveted' chair. She earlier handed down a polite warning when, using cricket parlance, she expressed the hope that Khan would not indulge in 'ball tampering', the reference being to Khan's admission last year that he had tampered with the ball in cricket matches. The former cricketer retorted that it was up to the masses to decide who was indulging in this practice.

Bhutto is, however, convinced that Khan's plans will not affect the PPP's vote-bank which represents the country's "liberal and progressive forces". Nawaz Sharif, irked with Khan's statement that "the masses are fed up with both the government and the opposition", said he should not bracket them together. PPP Secretary-General Sheikh Rafique Ahmed feels that his party will be the ultimate beneficiary of Khan's political foray because the Tehreek-e-Insaaf will cut into the PML-N votebank. "Both Sharif and Imran Khan represent the rightist forces. Khan's Tehreek will damage the PML-N," he said. Sheikh's statement seems credible because the PML-N leadership is lobbying hard to woo Khan into its fold, though he is playing hard to get.

While none of the parties seem to be overly worried about Khan's entry into politics, he is being watched with caution. He obviously lacks the longstanding linkages within the politico-feudal set-up which other politicians have. Sharif, who has an industrial background, managed to secure a place for himself in this set-up because he was handpicked by the martial law administration of General Zia-ul-Haq.

 Khan has flirted with a lot of ideas and people since he indicated that he would join politics. There have been religious leaders, like Dr Ghulam Murtaza Malik, jurists like S.M. Zafar, newspaper owners like Mir Shakilur Rehman and Zia Shahid, politicians like Mir Sher Baz Khan Mazari and Nawab Akbar Bugti, top Pakistani industrialists like Shahzada Alam Munnoo, Syed Babar Ali, Tariq Saeed Saigol and many others. But the two people with whom Khan had some serious brain-storming sessions and from whom he later distanced himself were former ISI chief Lt Gen Hamid Gul and Pasbaan chief Mohammed Ali Durrani, both completely right-wing. He still has a long way to go before he can become a real threat to the existing political set-up. Bhutto, though not particularly anxious, cannot ignore him. She has enough problems on her hand, like the recent bomb explosion in a bus near Lahore which killed more than 50 people. It came a few days after the blast at Khan's hospital.

On his part, Imran Khan, the cricketer, who led the Pakistan team to great successes, was always a shrewd captain on the field. But the political arena may be quite a different ball game.