ONLY last Monday, I was reminded of Gen Ziaul Haq with a somewhat strange reference to one of the top political leaders in this democratic Pakistan of ours. Imran Khan was under attack by some of our friends on the ‘left’ who are often mixed up with the liberals. So intense was the emotion directed at the PTI chief over his opposition to the lone PSL game in Lahore that it brought back memories of the times when Gen Zia used to be at the receiving end of the most forceful ire of the people I knew, even if often this sentiment was expressed in whispers back then.

The tone stirred up a train of thought that had been shrugged off many times before, each new occasion taking more effort to resist the tendency of stereotyping. This latest spell made it impossible. The question wouldn’t go away: have they finally found another Ziaul Haq in Imran Khan to target to their hearts’ content? They had surely been missing that definite, incorrigible and irredeemable enemy to aim at all these years. Did the great Mr Khan qualify for that slot?

Before you grade the idea as absurd or designed to outrage or create controversy, you would do well to take a look at some of the statements the PTI founder has been inspiring in the recent past. The statements, by people I would be ideologically placed with, would far surpass the combined impact of all the remarks and jokes and anecdotes someone like Asif Ali Zardari has generated in his honour right from his time at Petaro till today.

Have people finally found another Ziaul Haq in Imran Khan to target to their hearts’ content?

To my mind and in ‘my group’ no one else can come closer to contesting the place except Imran Khan, after Mian Nawaz Sharif disqualified himself from the race due to, among other gestures and adjustments, his ‘positive’ overtures — to an extent — towards the progressive camp since 2013.

And as was the case with Zia, this is ideological cannon fire that has been so generously piled upon Imran, layer upon layer of it from everyone who is close to the PML-N to whosoever could have been in proximity to the PPP, had it found a way of divorcing itself from one or two of Benazir Bhutto’s heirs.

Back to the grand finale at the Gaddafi which, to our collective relief, we were able to stage without incident and with flying colours.

Imran Khan is an opposition leader and he came up with a view that was opposite to the one provided by the establishment, including the civilian government and the military high command in this case. He said it was dangerous to have the match in Lahore, an opinion that could easily be backed by logic, and which should under no circumstances and according to no notions of patriotism and nationalism have led to the condemnation of its holder as a traitor.

There could always have been a better choice of words and tone. There could have been a more ‘balanced’ reaction where Mr Khan could have rounded it off with ‘but-I-wish-you-well’ note at the end. But to hurl whatever you could lay your hands on at this ‘anti-Pakistan’ politician and call him the choicest, the most despicable names betrayed his loud detractors’ own lack of evolution. He could be let off with a stern ‘No sir we don’t agree with you’ for making an honest evaluation of the situation as he saw it — and maybe noted for finally disagreeing with the powers who are credited with inventing him, the military top brass.

So much else could have been said in his defence till last Monday, which seems a long time ago. A few more lines have been spoken between then and now and some drastic changes in the draft have been made absolutely necessary. Not only does Imran Khan appear to relish his position as the recipient of the most intense and craziest anti and pro feelings, he is without doubt doing all he can to help add more fuel to the steaming hot chorus against him.

You might have a different perception but then you probably don’t hang around with the Imran-bashers this writer is surrounded by, which, give or take a few new names, is the same bunch which was once bound by a common hatred for the dictator in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s.

This was a self-explosion only God can save Imran Khan from. Maybe the gentleman was hurt that nobody was paying due attention to his protest and that’s why he took an even wilder swipe at it than his previous attempt — the wildest and one impossible to defend by even those who shared his utter dislike for Najam Sethi and the PML-N leadership. It was as if he had just emerged from a protective childhood and discovered the common man and his parlance for the first time.

The brilliant-thinking Mr Sethi and his backers in Lahore and Islamabad could not have hoped for a more valuable bonus to accompany the successful and most welcome holding of the PSL final in Lahore. Imran Khan’s slip about ‘phateechar’ and ‘railu kattas’ having marred the PSL match between Quetta and Peshawar by no means signifies a conclusive Sharif victory in the long-drawn battle between PML-N and PTI.

There have been silly remarks emanating from the same source in the past and the PTI chief has recovered from the self-inflicted injury to retain his appeal as the alternative to the Sharif rule. He might — he will — survive this huge embarrassment just as Pakistani politicians including him have emerged unscathed from making the most horrifying and at one time seemingly unforgiveable blunders. Only for some of us looking for as definite a villain as we had the luxury of having in the Zia days he will find it extremely tough to redeem himself.

The writer is Dawn’s resident editor in Lahore.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2017