EDITORIAL, THE NATION, 15-11-2011

Listening to Imran Khan’s views on Kashmir, expressed in an interview with Karan Thapar of the CNN-IBN’s Indian channel on Sunday, one was, for a moment, apt to ask oneself: “Do my ears deceive me?” But then soon one realised that it was, doubtless, the PTI Chairman who was declaring in explicit terms that he would go along with President Zardari’s point of view on the Kashmir dispute with India and leave it to the next generation to settle. Right now, the two neighbours, he thought, needed to develop trade relations and put in place confidence building measures to raise the level of mutual trust. However, in the same breath, he called Kashmir the core issue between the two countries and believed that any terrorist incident happening in India, whether through a militant group in the disputed state or elsewhere, would undo the positive effects of the CBMs and the commercial ties. Strange, rather confused logic, for putting on the backburner a dispute which should be the first issue to be put out of the way for real and lasting trust to take root.
Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan has slogged for a good 15 years to reach the landmark of public recognition, and all this while he has been known for maintaining consistent, principled positions on fundamental issues the country was confronted with. He is an untried figure in politics, but has demonstrated an uncompromising opposition to the loot and plunder and bad governance the current political setup was widely accused of. Though the rumblings of his arrival on the scene has been heard for quite a while, the mammoth crowd that assembled in the grounds around Minar-e-Pakistan, Lahore, at the end of the last month put the seal of his coming of age as a politician who could carry a sizeable section of the electorate with him – a worrisome prospect for already established parties. However, it seems that the urge to get into power has taken hold of him and, in his impatience, he is out to garner as many votes as possible, even at the cost of principles to which he has for so long adhered. By advocating promotion of trade with India to the neglect of Kashmir, he intends to win the hearts of MFN lobby. With PTI casting its lot in favour of MFN to India, all mainstream parties, except Jamaat-i-Islami and some other religious parties, have joined hands on this issue. The Azad Kashmir Prime Minister (PPP) has made the comment that the MFN is worrying only the media and Punjab.
With one miscalculation, Imran Khan may have down in public estimation. There is yet time for him to think. The nation has become sick of having leaders who are ready to make compromises for the sake of power; it can stand no more of them. Even if he succeeds in coming into power on the score of the politics of compromises, history would not forgive him for losing the chance to lead the country to a successful path.