Imran the Inevitable

Imran the Inevitable The historic Lahore rally proves Imran Khan’s legendary self-belief has found new adherents. For Pakistan’s heady politics, this is a game changer. By Syed Mansoor Hussain | From the Nov. 11 & 18‚ 2011, issue. Arif Ali / AFP Lahore loves a show. And on Oct. 30, Imran Khan gave the city one grand enough to remember for a long time. Iqbal Bagh—where the obelisk-like Minar-e-Pakistan marks the 1940 Lahore Resolution, which set the creation of Pakistan in motion—was packed, the enthusiasm undimmed by the long wait for the cricketer-lothario turned political contender. The last time Pakistan had witnessed such fervor was in 1986, when Benazir Bhutto ended her self-exile and came to the city. She romped to power in the elections held two years later. Khan’s political coronation within sight of the Lahore Fort capped a week of rallies that confirmed Pakistan has entered the election cycle. There were the modest Occupy This and That events, pop singer Abrar’s Save Pakistan procession, and, two days before Khan’s event, Punjab’s Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif took to the stump encouraging Tahrir Squares across Pakistan and fanning anti-Zardari fires. (That same day Khan also led an anti-drone rally in Islamabad with his visiting ex-wife, Jemima.) Shortly before Khan spoke on Sunday, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement had mobilized a typically large demo in Karachi to snarl at Sharif for his diatribe against President Asif Ali Zardari. By the time Khan finally did speak—hours after the enthused faithful, the curious, and the hopeful had been dutifully gathered—all eyes were on him. “You are very lazy,” Khan told Lahore. “It takes a long time to wake you up!” As far as wake-up calls go, the rally was a loud one. Fifteen years after founding the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Khan had well and truly arrived. The party said half million people attended the event, while a seemingly unnerved Sharif spokesman put the figure at between “40,000 to 50,000” and dismissed the Khan show as “not very good.” So gnarled was traffic that it took me hours to get to Iqbal Bagh. Along the way one saw families with boxed lunches in hatchbacks as if they were headed to a picnic, bearded men and their burqa-clad betters on motorbikes, coed vans with iPod-listening boys and girls, sinewy young labor riding crammed trucks, cacophonous buses with silken PTI colors pouring out the windows. All of them bound in common direction, sharing the same destination. There were 20 or so of us old timers who parked ourselves on a rooftop with a panoramic view of Iqbal Bagh. With me at the vantage point were members of the Muslim League (Quaid), now a coalition partner with Zardari’s PPP, and the Jamaat-e-Islami. They seemed worried. The Jamaat member kept shaking his head as we all watched the park fill up—even when we thought it couldn’t possibly accommodate any more people. “This is a game changer,” he muttered. By his estimate, at one point there were about 350,000 people at the event not counting the thousands we could see trying to wend their way in still. Judging by how the event was organized, Khan’s party is not a badly-oiled machine. The venue had been sprayed for mosquitoes, the security was light and affable, and around the park there were closed-circuit cameras, food stalls, well-thought-out seating enclosures, even a red carpet. There were no fights or reported harassment of women. There were pop stars galore rousing the crowds. The traffic jams were tolerated in good humor. And Khan didn’t take behind a bulletproof glass to speak. Yes, this was not your usual political jalsa. Undoubtedly, Khan’s newfound aura of imminence will attract electables from other parties over to his PTI—even if this does not fit with how Khan concluded the festivities: “Change is not coming, change is here!”

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