“Unhappy is the land that breeds no hero!
No, Andrea….unhappy is the land that needs a hero.”

From the play “ The life of Galileo

― Bertolt Brecht

Humans are mortals. They make mistakes, they can break under pressure, they can be bought and sold. Once they get absolute power, they can be corrupted absolutely. That is the lesson of history. Charisma has a huge unifying as well as a destructive force. While  charisma can motivate millions, it can and has destroyed millions in human history. Humans through their personal charisma can fool and mislead others under any lofty and holy banner. The destruction and death of millions of people throughout human history shows how the cult worship has ruined nations and countries. Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Kim Il Sing in the political arena are examples of doom and gloom. That is the verdict of history.

IMRAN KHAN PHENOMENON:

There has been a desire in Pakistan’s power circles to use charismatic figures to mobilize people and use them to overcome parochial, ethnic nationalism, communalism and dynastic politics. Imran Khan was a classic fit for the role. A cricket super star with Western education and connections but leaning and pleading Pakistani conservative values at the same time was a tight fit for this character, ready to be cast.

Imran Khan’s emergence on the zenith of the political landscape coincides with the Internet revolution’s next stage – the stage emergence and blossoming of the social media in 2011. While the huge state resources were used to catapult Imran Khan, he too gathered the stars and helped them create the cyber monster we face today. While the traditional political parties were snoring out loud in slumber, the new Frankenstein was in the making.

Imran Khan used everything to attract the aspirations of the young people. Young people got everything they wanted from PTI created by Imran Khan. They wanted Western tilt, a party scene with a touch of Islamic rituals and a superficial and artificial Pakistani identity. And they got them all in PTI under Imran Khan who would start with a Quranic Sura wearing jeans and offering prayer on stage, following by a rock music concert and dance.

HERO BECOMES FRANKENSTEIN:

Imran Khan and his party were good in demolishing the federal and Punjab governments in 2017 so the makers of the phenomenon facilitated his crowning in 2018 with much ease. However, the trouble started early on when they found out that the celebrity hero was only interested in his personal glory and wanted the governance left to his cronies. He wanted the permanent state to manage his woes and shoot his troubles to manage his personal rule like an emperor.

As Imran Khan tasted power, all his focus was on maintaining it by eliminating all voices of dissent within the society and the state apparatus. With economy sliding down to oblivion and governance at a level of complete mess, he picked up new battles to rattle the steel framework of the state that catapulted him in the first place. With media, civil society, opposition political parties, all opposed to the model, his shenanigans with the permanent state turned out to be the proverbial last straw on the camel’s back, bringing his downfall in April 2022.

IMRAN THE TERRIBLE:

After his unceremonious fall from grace, Imran Khan, the egoist celebrity and the spoilt brat, went berserk and used his charismatic destructive powers to the fullest. He did what he said he will do if thrown out of power. He said he will be “khatrenaak” (dangerous) for the system if thrown out of power. And he has so far followed through his words. His troll brigades, both inside and outside Pakistan, and lynch mobs have wreaked havoc in Pakistan.

May 9, 2023, was the culmination point in this quest, but many mini May 9 have followed since then.

The cancer of cult following has spread in the body politics and the society at large. Imran Khan through a sheer display of destructive influence has attracted many regional and global forces that have deep interests in undoing and weakening Pakistan. Once a savior of the system, Imran Khan has proved to be a potential grave digger of the very system that gave birth to him.

DE-IMRANIZATION:

As a society, we have seen, just like any other, the havoc cult worship and individual heroism plays with societies. That is the bitter truth. Without creating an ecosystem opposing cult and individual heroes, we will be moving in the same vicious circle. We don’t need a new hero to kill the old hero who has turned into a monster. We, as a society, need an ecosystem that negates individual heroes and replaces them with collective wisdom, consultation, flexibility, rational thinking and a democratic spirit by emphasizing on developing and nurturing critical thinking and enhancing critical faculties both in the society and the state apparatus.

DEMOCRACY IN POLITICAL PARTIES:

Just like other democratic societies, we need to legally develop a democratic environment and delegation and devolution of power within political parties. While every Pakistani is eligible to be part of any political party, we need verified registered lists of party members under the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP). With the digital technology evolving at an unprecedented level and speed, it should be a piece of cake.

At the same time, the political parties must have democratic elections to be overseen/supervised by the ECP. Similarly, the participation of the party members in granting tickets for National Assembly, Senate, provincial assemblies and local governments must be ensured to deprive the party leaders from turning them into fiefdoms and family property. We must ensure to check concentration of power in persons and special groups to stop the emergence of Frankensteins in future.

A single messiah and a single savior breed cult following and catapults monsters. Monsters must not be replaced with other monsters, otherwise, we will be moving in circles.

CULTURE AND SOCIETY:

The cancer of cult following and charismatic personalities has gone into the body and bone marrow of the society. It needs a chemotherapy like De-Nazification. Just like what was done in Germany after the horrific end of the Nazi Germany, we need our own version of De-Nazification.

How? This De-Nazification process in Pakistan must comprise sets of special measures in education and culture to enlighten the society with a special focus on young people, making them learn the benefits of collective wisdom, rational thinking, tolerance and flexibility, and enabling them unlearn the horrors of cult worship. Our homes, playgrounds, social gatherings, educational institutions and the centers of art, literature, music, films and dramas must create a new ecosystem. We need a new “ Shaukat Khanum” to treat the cancers we have created.