Ambition without ideology

Amidst all his speeches - fiery, self-indulgent, all over the place - Imran Khan mourned over his own helplessness as well as the helplessness of others like him if they want to prove that any wrong was done and the elections were rigged against them.
Although he hasn’t produced enough substantial evidence and most of the allegations levelled are of an anecdotal kind but he says that even where evidence is produced in Pakistan, nothing has happened. And he says that nothing will happen in the future under the present circumstances since nothing has happened in the past in such matters. The irony is that this argument also leads to the conclusion that everyone and everything is sellable in Pakistan. No hope then if that is the case.
When Imran Khan makes these accusations, there is no evidence to prove anything otherwise against what he says either. The onus of providing solid proof lies on him, though, as he is levelling some serious charges implicating all and sundry.
Even if this evidence is not admitted and accepted in the courts of law due to coercion or corruption or if they are admitted and deemed fit to prove wrongdoing in lower courts, stay orders are obtained from higher ones, the proofs should be brought to public knowledge. Hearsay, anecdotes, blames and allegations must be substantiated with robust evidence.
However, something Khan finds hard to understand is the nature of capitalism and the way in which it works – anywhere in the world but in a far more brusque, crass and crude manner in the third world. It is not just about the Sharifs, it is about how the neo-elite – the traders, indenters, transporters, real-estate developers and businessmen of various hues and colours and the remnants of aristocracy – operate in this country.
They influence, instruct, coerce, command, bargain or buy, whichever suits them best when dealing with a situation that may adversely affect their power and pelf. Some may go overboard in exercising

their power to perpetuate their power or acquire more of it. But who else with power and privilege doesn’t do that here?
I would be the last person to hold a brief for the incumbent rulers in these matters of using power to further increase and concentrate power, even if I think that derailing their government at this juncture is not good for the future of democracy during this post-martial law period that, in my humble view, the country is still going through.
Imran Khan falls short of determining the reasons for this situation as he has no political theory to back him. If he could ever appreciate and develop the ability to analyse the class question lurking behind this oppression and injustice, not only in its historic and philosophical context but also appreciating the need for modern solutions, he and his party could evolve a far better strategy to continue with democracy and bring about the material changes needed by us to move forward.
How could he do that though? During his recent march on the capital and the sit-in that followed, he was flanked by individuals who belong to the same or related classes of the Sharifs. There are many other such people in his party who clamour for change but come from the same class that is an obstruction to any change in Pakistan.
Does Khan really believe that his rich party leaders conduct business or concentrate privileges in a different way now or operated in a different way in the past when they amassed the wealth they possess? They may all be good, admirable, educated and mannered women and men in many ways. It is more enjoyable for some of us (in all honesty, this scribe included) to spend quality evening time with such people. However, their manner and etiquette, education and knowledge, is not just inherited from their elders. It comes from a privileged elite schooling as well. But isn’t their time in Aitchison, Kinnaird, Eton, Harrow, Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Smith, etc been subsidised by the peasantry, artisans, house servants or spiritual disciples in native villages and towns?
Or have they all changed since joining Imran Khan’s party? After he becomes the prime minister – which he so desperately craves to be – will Jahangir Tareen announce equal shares for workers in all his businesses? Will the school system run by the Kasuris open its doors to people belonging to all income levels including children of peasants from their native Kasur rather than developing separate systems for separate classes?
Will the generations of spiritual disciples inherited by Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Makhdoom Javed Hashmi etc be asked not to present gifts beyond their means to the son of the son of the son of the true spiritual leader? Some are using this widely held respect for their forefathers to further their personal political ambition, and either using the spiritual disciples of their forefather as captive voters or using the money from gifts and the wealth generated from tracts of land that came as gifts to run election campaigns even in other constituencies. Will such voters be asked categorically and allowed freely by the keepers of the shrines to vote for anyone they like?
Dear PTI friends, Sharifs will come and go. Following what Khan keeps saying about the inherent system run by thanedars and patwaris (land revenue clerk), one small way of beginning to bring about real change is to stop the rampant under-invoicing of land and subsequent tax evasion done in land deals under patwaris and tehsildars (revenue officials) rather than not paying taxes.
For example, if a PTI supporter or MPA buys a piece of land for ten million rupees and he writes the same amount on the sale deed, it will bleed the old, inherently corrupt system and enrich the national treasury. Will you do that?
There are four conditions for bringing about real change. One is the alteration in the material condition of people through transforming the relations of production by investing in industry, commerce and mechanised agriculture. The second is the provision of quality education at all levels in all subjects ranging from philosophy and the social sciences to physical and natural sciences. The third is creating a balance of power between the federating units. The fourth is the continuity of the system of people’s representation and making parliament supreme.
All these are also interlinked and until these conditions are met in tandem, we will remain where we are. Or, God forbid, sink deeper into the abyss. After the demise of the totalitarian model of socialism, the choice we are left with today is the journey from the present plutocracy to liberal democracy to democratic socialism by working within the framework of a constitution and a democratic dispensation.
A new Pakistan will be one where markets function but are regulated. A country where private entrepreneurship is encouraged but not at the cost of public service provision by the state, where education and health are not commercialised and where equal opportunities are provided to all.
The writer is a poet and author based in Islamabad.
Email: harris.khalique@gmail.com