By Agha Iqrar Haroon
The followers of the Imran cult have come up with an interesting justification in favor of their cult leader. They are of the view that neither their cult leader is a conspiracy against the state nor he is a threat to Pakistani society because he rose to power with the support of military leadership of the past and if he was a risk or if he was against the state then his mentors could be as their product but they are living normal lives within the country and abroad and no action has ever been taken against his mentors, therefore, Imran Khan is innocent and the only fault of Imran Khan was that he could not stop his followers to take the law into their hands on May 9, 2023, because he was under arrest.
The immediate mentors of Imran had allegedly been former COAS Gen Qamar Bajwa who had been seen roaming around in Paris and former Lt Gen Faiz Hameed who had been seen attending private events in Rawalpindi. Everybody knows that Pakistan Army has a tradition of not taking any action against its former chief and the best example had been Gen Musharraf who had allegedly been involved in handing over Pakistanis to Americans during war or terror but he was laid to rest with full military honor.
His followers believe that later or sooner Imran Khan would come out of cases because if he is responsible to harm the country then his mentors should also be tried and it is impossible in Pakistan to try any former military General. According to the justification promoted by his followers, the only error that Imran Khan made was an error of judgment and that was he trusted his military mentors un-proportionately and he faced the consequences of this trust.
Imran Khan himself had indicated that he had been loyal to the military but former COAS Gen Bajwa ditched him and betrayed him. His statement is successfully sold to his followers and they are promoting Imran as a trustworthy, honest, and committed personality while his military men were not. This justification looks reasonable at first stance but if someone tracks downs the history of Imran Khan as an individual, one can find that he had never been faithful to any person who had been supporting, promoting, or investing in him.
His former girlfriend who is the mother of his undeclared daughter in her several statements said that he had been taking care of even the finances of Imran Khan and running his two houses on her expenses but he betrayed her. His cousin Majid Khan who introduced him in cricket has the same opinion about him that he is an unfaithful person and in the recent past, Reham Khan and Jahangir Khan Tareen have had the same opinion about him therefore portraying Imran Khan as a faithful personality contrary to the facts. Aleem Khan can also be added to the list who claim that Imran Khan is an unreliable person who thinks only for himself and he uses people for his political and economic gains.
The second point is that he is not a threat to the country nor he is an anti-state element because he was chosen, invested, and made by military men of Pakistan who are free and had not been under any charges for crafting an anti-state person. Here one can say that it was an error of judgment so his mentors bided on the wrong man but they had no ill motives by raising Imran Khan. This error of judgment was also found in choosing Altaf Hussian in the past and also promoting paratrooper journalists and anchors like Dr. Moeed Pirzada, Imran Riaz Khan, Sabir Shakir, and many more like them along with a big cadre of female anchors who had never been in journalism before landing as top anchors on television screens. The error of judgment is part of human psychology but it does not mean that wrong choice cannot be anti-state like Imran Khan and Altaf Hussian.
Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed in this article/Opinion/Comment are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk (DND). Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of the DND Thought Center and Dispatch News Desk News Agency.
