The past decade in the politics of Pakistan has been marked by the rise of a Qoum e Youth, that traces its origin from an event in 2011.
No singular event might have had been more consequential during the last decade than the rally of October 2011, where a man was selling his dreams. However, the happy buyers of that dream are the resenting now for the customer support, which is scarcely available since 2018.
On the night of October 2011, that old boy, with his enchanting persuasion, created a political class, or Qoum e youth, whose unbiblical account I seek to present here.
So, the decade of the 2010s incessantly labored to pave the way for the dream seller, We know as Imran Khan.
In his life-changing address, Imran Khan had sketched an alternative political leadership that he always boasted by comparing it with that of the West. Both in collective scruples and individual manners.
His high hopes gave him people’s confidence in the 2013 elections in which he became from a lone cart puller to the driver of a train full of men and women. The passengers followed wherever the driver took them.
It was Imran Khan’s dream of the state of Madina, that was too good to be true for the people of Pakistan in the presence of the leadership they had been used to for decades.
For, the leaders like Nawaz Sharif and Benazir, and later her successor, Zardari, had always delivered less than they promised.
Yet, Imran Khan had placed himself above and beyond the existing leadership, in some case perhaps rightly so. Still, from that elevated stature, it was always easy to fall since there was no further elevation.
Imran Khan, along with a train of the Qoum e Youth, had embarked on a journey in the hope of “Naya Pakistan”. Little did they know that the only catalyst would be the person who is their prime minister.
Admittedly, the most implacable enemy of Imran Khan would blush before blaming him for corruption. But it is not the ultimate redemption from the accusations of bad governance. Ironically, nothing changed since the deposition of Nawaz Sharif.
Undoubtedly, the system was rotting before Pakistan Tehreek Insaf came to power, and the people voted PTI for change. Earlier, the leaders before Imran Khan had embarrassed their voters for their choices in elections.
However, the dream seller of the last decade never completed the purchase. He took the vote but never fulfilled the dreams he promised to the youth.
Yet, one salutary lesson could be extracted from this satirical love story between the enchanter and his captivated multitude. The lesson is that power definitely tends to corrupt, if not financially, then at least politically it does.
It also suggests that the reclining position in a cozy chair of the PM house serves to erase the memories of the hardships and promises of the old days.
However, it renders the PTI voters into a dilemma, especially for those who were tricked by the promises. They have been reduced into admitting the guilt of being tricked by lofty promises, that are U-turned on every stage.
Since 2018, the year when PTI came to power, there have hardly been any radical changes that its voter could be proud of. Instead, the Qoum e Youth is reduced to defend those imperfections of their leader; they promptly pointed out as the error of governance during previous governments.
In any case, the youth was tricked at the expense of the enchanter. From petrol prices to renew the contract of a real hero, nothing suggests a picture different from past practices.
Yet, the most humorous aspect of this change is that the agents are in a delusion that it has come!
