IN a set of regrettable remarks, the PTI chief Imran Khan has threatened owners of the lands that surround his university project with forcible seizure of their properties if they don’t consent to sell their lands at the price being offered to them.

Apparently, the PTI chief wishes to build a stadium for Namal University in Mianwali on land that is adjacent to the campus; but the farmers who own the land have been refusing to sell it at the rates that are being offered to them.

Although Mr Khan may not have the means to act on his warning, even to talk of forcible seizure is reprehensible to say the least.

Also read: Imran ‘makes jibe’ at land owners

He threatened to invoke Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act once his party came into power, which he seems to believe is inevitable.

Though his party’s steep losses in the recent LG polls would appear to belie his belief at this point, given that politics is a game of fluctuating fortunes, the PTI could do much better in the next general elections.

This is one reason why a more mature attitude befitting a leader of a major political party should have been in evidence.

Instead, his remarks were disappointing and revealed a dictatorial mindset, which can hardly prove a boon for Pakistan’s democracy.

True, there are others in the political pantheon that may also harbour what can be called a feudal mindset. Pakistan has seen several such politicians whose arrogance and determination to persecute those with differing views have proved to be costly mistakes.

Perhaps, appreciating this, and also as a consequence of being censured routinely by a society more informed about its rights than it was previously, many politicians have seen the wisdom in being moderate in their approach, at least in their interactions with the public.

It is hoped that Mr Khan, too, will see the wisdom in adopting a less belligerent tone.

He must revise his opinion if he thinks that private ventures are automatically synonymous with the public good, and that putting pressure to achieve what he believes is a noble goal is justified.

It is about time he understood both sides of the picture and refrained from pushing a personal agenda. In any case, Mr Khan needs to realise that his remarks were hardly those that one associates with national leaders of stature and that the land and people of Pakistan are not there to serve his private interests.

Published in Dawn, December 22nd, 2015