DESPARATE FOR AN IMAGE MAKEOVER
Aditya Aamir
It’s a dull and gloomy day under the overcast sky, the light obfusc and aqueous. It could rain, it would rain. In Pakistan, Prime Minister Imran Khan – ‘IK’ to mesmerized Pakistani youth – is suffering, angry. IK wants retribution for being stood up. “What did IK do wrong? He only wants peace between the two neighbours, stability in the region,” the anchor on Dunya TV said.
Pakistanis want revenge. It is like “sorry, I get stuck on something that pisses me off, I can’t let go till I’m vented.” There is more than resentment. “Look what Modi did? You say IK shouldn’t have said ‘small men in high places’, but what else do you say when India’s foreign office declares ‘IK’s real face has been exposed’, what true face? What did he mean by that, nothing good? The world is now starting to realize that Pakistan is not part of the problem, but part of the solution. Therefore, the paradigm shift in India’s strategy.”
Pakistan’s media and political circles are burning. India’s decision to “meet” raised hopes. Then, the unexpected reversal left Pakistanis fuming. “Khan Sahab extended a hand of friendship. Pakistan wants peace and stability in the region. Khan Sahab went to the UAE and Saudi Arabia and won them over. He was keen to mend fences with India, too,” former Pakistan high commissioner to India Shahid Malik weighed in, warning that India “is not to be trusted, take it from me.”
The consensus in Pakistan is that ever since Imran Khan took charge, the country was on track to do a turnaround: “World powers are seeing in Imran Khan a sincere desire to normalize ties with India; solve the thorny Kashmir issue, even discuss ‘terrorism’. But India does not want Pakistan to prosper. India is rattled that Saudi Arabia could join CPEC. As also the UAE, Japan and Russia. We have to resist.”
More than the media and former diplomats, Imran’s parts Tehreek-e-Pakistan is boiling mad and finding support even from opposition parties. Imran Khan’s “letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi” was written with care, with all the right words and pauses. It requested for the resumption of a “constructive dialogue” to address all outstanding issues between India and Pakistan, including “Sir Creek, Siachen and Kashmir.”
But the “dirty lowdown trick” played on the “Captain” pissed off Imran Khan, who is known for his short fuse and Punjabi invectives. Imran lost it when thwarted in his desire and design. “He tweeted like Donald Trump and you know where that landed Trump. Why did Imran have to do a Trump, why use the “small men” metaphor?” asked the bald journalist on TV92. “He should know he’s the Prime Minister, not a nondescript foreign office spokesperson.”
Pakistan’s celebrity journalist and Geo TV anchor Hamid Mir wouldn’t take any of that. “In what way should Khan Sahab have reacted to the kind of disparaging references made to him by India’s foreign office and the Indian media? You can’t expect him to take it lying down,” Mir told his TV92 rival, whose response was that it was “his duty as a journalist” to question “irresponsible behaviour”, no matter by whom!
Imran’s tweet, which targeted Modi without naming him, was seen as proof in Pakistan that Pakistan would henceforth not take squat from India. Get “bullied by a baniya nation.” But there’s also the feeling that Imran boiled over because Nawaz Sharif, Maryam Sharif and Capt. Safdar were out on bail and probably laughing at Imran’s first major foreign policy goof-up. The timing of extending an olive leaf had gone terribly wrong. Imagine a Greek God being stood up!
Ego apart, it was imperative for Pakistan to mend fences with India. The country was bankrupt, in need of urgent big bucks with a backlog of interests on old loans to pay. The US decision to cut “defence grant” was also hurting and new loans to tide over the financial crunch depended on a US nod to the IMF. But the United States had run out of patience and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit was harrowing. The “Do More” harangue hurt national pride. It was now or never.
An image makeover was imperative and for that India had to come aboard. And IK was just the guy who could do it. So thought Pakistanis. He was “different”, making the right kinds of noises and moves. And here he was being shown disrespect for being earnest. Pakistanis in general do not like Modi, now they hate his guts and are glad he is “embroiled in accusations of corruption” and “will soon be sent to his hometown by the people of India.”
The common belief in Pakistan is a change of regime in India will do wonders for Indo-Pak relations and the quicker the “people of India” evicted Modi from Delhi, the better for the overall health of the region. And if Modi thinks he’s victor, then he has another think coming: IK has always won the big points, the finals. Didn’t IK bring home the World Cup with his dynamic personality and electric words? It’s another matter that they did not work Sunday in Dubai for the Asia Cup. That was because of the weather – dull and gloomy, the light obfusc and aqueous. (IPA Service)
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