Verily, a moral debacle

A new, consequential round of power struggle has begun after the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) ruled on Tuesday that Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had received millions of dollars of funds from foreign companies and nationals. And the battles that have a bearing on Imran Khan’s political survival are to be fought in the superior courts.

These, thus, are momentous times. The gravity of the situation is enhanced by the overall circumstances that have put this nation at risk. In this month of August, they are gearing up for next week’s celebrations of Independence Day, an occasion to think about our collective sense of direction, even if in a ritualistic mode.

A 75th anniversary is an important landmark. But there are questions that we do not even like to pose, to say nothing about our willingness to look for their answers. Is it right to begin at 1947 when the country that was founded during that year was broken in half in 1971?

We now have to deal with the enduring grievances of the province of Balochistan. Incidentally, the province stands devastated by the monsoon floods and this tragedy was initially underplayed in the media because the political developments are dominating the headlines.

Overlapping with the ECP verdict, the crash of the military helicopter in Balochistan’s Lasbela district, with the loss of six army officials – including Commander XII Corps Lt-Gen Sarfraz Ali – has shaken us all. But will this affect our understanding of how to heal the wounds of Balochistan?

Anyhow, the ECP’s verdict on the PTI’s ‘prohibited’ foreign funding is bound to retain the nation’s attention, with the prospect of Imran Khan’s disqualification. There is a great sense of drama in what is unfolding. Imran Khan’s leadership is manifestly in trouble, presenting the possible spectacle of a leader slipping into the shallows just when he was riding the tide.

Actually, this verdict was seen coming – for a long time. It took almost eight years for the ECP to decide the case and finally pass a judgment that is damning in all its implications. What the ECP judgment said was brought into sharper relief by revelations made in an investigative report published last week by the respected British daily Financial Times.

No doubt is now left in the fact that the PTI had “knowingly and wilfully” received donations from sources “hit by prohibition and in violation of Pakistani laws”, as the ECP verdict underlined. This was the FT headline: ‘The strange case of the cricket match that helped fund Imran Khan’s political rise’. And the sub-heading: “Despite laws banning foreign funding of politics in Pakistan, documents show a money trail from Oxfordshire via the UAE to the coffers of Khan’s party”.

While the future course of Pakistan’s politics will depend on judgments made by the Supreme Court and the ECP, it will be interesting to see how this process will influence the supporters of Imran Khan. Will a substantial number of them be worried about the facts that have been revealed and have doubts about their own personal affiliations?

This is a study for political and social scientists to take on. It should also explore the reasons why certain kind of people support specific parties and leaders. There is a history of how charismatic leaders raise expectations of people who are emotionally inspired by their leader. But Imran Khan’s charisma was born in the field of sport and not politics. That difference is perhaps becoming more evident now.

In light of what the extensive ECP verdict has divulged, it is possible that Imran Khan’s image in the eyes of the general public will somewhat suffer, particularly among those who occupy the middle ground. As for his ardent supporters, here is a test for their sense of judgment – and it could take a long time for them to read the writing that has always been there on the wall.

Many of Imran Khan’s devotees may have been protected from all the clips from his interviews that are available in social media. It would be natural for them to contemptuously disregard allegations made by activists of the ‘enemy’ parties. But the problem here is that the most critical indictment of Imran Khan’s moral and financial waywardness has come from his own former associates, the ones who are so much more credible and upright than the likes of Sheikh Rashid and Shehbaz Gill and Fawad Chaudhry.

This is how the foreign funding case was filed and diligently pursued by one of PTI’s founders, Akbar S Babar. He had worked closely with Imran Khan and had intimate knowledge of the party’s financial activities. Then, there was another founding member, Fauzia Kasuri, who had openly objected to the mismanagement of funds collected abroad.

A rather recent example is that of Justice (r) Wajihuddin Ahmed, a person of impeccable integrity and a former PTI leader. In December last year, he issued a statement to say that Imran Khan’s aides paid his household expenses, citing the exorbitant amount paid by Jehangir Tareen, the person who contributed the most to the PTI’s electoral performance in 2018, not counting the support of the establishment.

Anyhow, Justice Wajihuddin said: “This belief is entirely false that Imran Khan is a [financially] honest man”. In this respect, there is one example that baffles the mind. Almost all our previous rulers may have been guilty of buying gifts presented by foreign dignitaries at less than their market price, benefiting from rules they would themselves prescribe.

Ah, but imagine the ignominy of the Toshakhana scandal of the former prime minister, who had led a vigorous campaign against the corruption of the two other mainstream parties.

Well, Imran Khan is accused of selling a Toshakhana gift in the market. I am not aware of any other leader, in any other country of the world, making this kind of profit. Do his supporters care about these things?

The writer is a senior journalist. He can be reached at: ghazi_salahuddin@hotmail.com