Blink and you’ll miss it. The political landscape of Pakistan has completely shifted over the past few weeks. Without getting into the nitty-gritty of what happened and why we can safely say that a lot of people are very angry. Imran Khan’s ouster as the prime minister, while a grim reminder of how no prime minister has completed a full term in office, is actually quite different from every other prime minister who was ever forced out.
Political pundits are arguing that Imran Khan’s current political momentum is due to his “anti-US” narrative and claims of a foreign conspiracy. They liken Imran Khan’s rhetoric to a cult and his supporters to cultists/fascists. While it is true that unfortunately anti-US propaganda still sells in Pakistan, focusing on the alleged conspiracy alone misses the point. Regardless of whether a foreign conspiracy was involved or not, one cannot ignore that the majority of young people of Pakistan consider Imran Khan as their only hope. Even if there were no conspiracy (or interference, if you prefer), Imran Khan’s ouster was bound to ire the public.
So how did we get here? Why does the only popular politician among the educated youth give a “culty” vibe? The answer is simple and right in front of us. None of the other major political parties have ever clearly presented their case to the public. As much as we’d like new political parties to break through to the main stage, only PML-N and PPP are the alternatives to choose from at the moment. After all, it took somebody as popular as Imran Khan 17 years to be part of any form of government in Pakistan.
So, let’s start with PML-N and why the majority of young people rule them out as an option. The primary issue with PML-N is that they don’t stand for anything. Historically, the party started under Zia’s shadow and later claimed to be democratic. Having played “will they, won’t they” with PPP since the 90s, it is safe to assume that their ideologies do not contradict significantly. At different times, they have claimed to both bring back all the looted wealth and never to have fought against corruption. What adds to this lack of a solid footing is a barrage of mind-numbingly stupid lies that insult the intelligence of anybody willing to believe them. They continue to dance around pro and anti-establishment positions and expect people to completely ignore one thing they said for another. I understand that walking back has become an integral part of Pakistani politics (including Imran Khan), but nobody does that more than PML-N. If you ask a PML-N leader/supporter why Nawaz Sharif is still in London, they will not be able to give you a satisfactory answer. Recently, during a TV interview, a PML-N leader said that Nawaz Sharif will be back soon because doctors in London say that doctors in Pakistan have now started treating patients well, so it is okay for him to go back to Pakistan. In what dimension can one say that and expect intelligent people to respect you?
Moreover, the fact that the whole of the Sharif family is entrenched in corruption cases does not help. They never give acceptable answers when asked about corruption, and in fact, one of the leaders said, “Yes, it is all looted money, do whatever you want.” This is the 21st century, and we live in a digital world where arguments and counter-arguments need to be established to convince people. I personally know a few PML-N supporters and none of them argue the fact that the Sharifs are corrupt. Each and every one of them say they prefer “corrupt competence” over “honest incompetence.” That is a matter of shame for the whole party that their supporters have simply accepted the fact that our leaders are corrupt, and that’s just the way it is going to be.
The PPP, on the other hand, has all of the characteristics of PML-N listed above and some. They have the added baggage of feudalism. While their core principles are (or at least historically were) democratic, the current PPP is not even a shadow of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s PPP. Any claim otherwise is a lie, and putting up pictures of dead leaders or changing Bilawal’s name or hairstyle is not going to change that. They refuse to acknowledge how despite being in power in Sindh for two decades, it continues to lag behind in education and health. Add to that the disappointment of the people of Karachi, and you can clearly see that they just don’t care and are perfectly fine ruling over Sindh using existing power and influence in rural areas. They don’t even try to address Karachi’s core issues. The law-and-order situation in Karachi has been the same (if not worsened) over the past few years, and the PPP couldn’t care less. They know they can stay in power in Sindh without Karachi.
Furthermore, the PPP government has shown no respect for the law when it comes to prosecuting influential personalities. They have historically provided VIP treatment to the accused and prisoners from influential families in Sindh. They have made sure murders by influential people go unpunished. They also harbored racist cops who targeted certain ethnicities and backgrounds with impunity. Despite claiming to be leftist, they have taken no concrete steps to prevent forced conversions. They also refused to take IDPs during times of crisis. While journalists raise hell over alleged harassment elsewhere, murders of multiple journalists in Sindh have gone unmentioned. The people of Pakistan are well-aware of these facts and will never forget.
What adds to the frustration of the youth is the blatant partial behavior of certain “senior journalists.” You would find them on Twitter peddling false propaganda and labeling any response as “trolling.” Some of the people post fake news and videos that’s sole purpose is to hurt Imran Khan. For example, one particular journalist has been posting videos of Imran Khan’s gatherings from the night before and claiming the grounds were all empty. This is the most critical problem with why people side with Imran Khan. The people criticizing him are so helplessly out of ideas that they resort to extremely dumb propaganda, insulting the public. A lot of the journalists also throw around a misogynistic curse (cursing one’s mother), coined by twisting the term “youth.” This term has been so normalized that recently I heard it twice on the television.
With the lack of choices and blatant propaganda, it is no surprise that the young people of Pakistan have no choice but to support Imran Khan, even if they don’t completely agree with his ideologies. If the political parties are to present a challenge to Imran Khan’s “cult,” they need to introspect and adapt. As long as they remain in the shackles of the two families, the new generation will not take them seriously. When party leadership is inherited and not elected, the party has no right to call itself democratic. When any alternative to Imran Khan feels like an insult to one’s intelligence, the young educated Pakistanis will always stand behind him, willingly or unwillingly.
