Imran Khan – Myth of the Pakistani Middle-Class
By Nadeem Farooq Paracha
Vanguard Books
ISBN: 978-969-402-659-6
129pp.

In Imran Khan — Myth of the Pakistani Middle-Class, Nadeem Farooq Paracha charts the course of Imran Khan’s career arc from his cricket-playing days (from 1971-1992) up to the present with his role in politics. The book benefits from Paracha’s role as a long-term observer of Pakistani society.

The book begins with Khan’s cricketing days. While it may not be immediately obvious why the recounting of this history may be important to start with in relation to the main focus of the book — the role of Khan in Pakistan’s politics along with the changing nature of middle-class politics in the country — Paracha draws important insights from this era, that speak to the psyche of both Khan and the country (in particular its growing middle-classes).

If you didn’t know or remember them all, you will find stories of intrigue, cousin rivalry, authoritarian captaincy, class dynamics, near incessant infighting and the clash of egos, coupled of course with glory.

But Paracha does draw out one arc of his argument in particular from those days, which he builds on to bring the story to the present: it is an insight into Khan’s ability to talk up his game and that of his team (having a ‘secret weapon’) — perhaps a very important skill for a player and captain in competitive sports to have.

A book that attempts to give context to Imran Khan’s political trajectory in Pakistan’s dynamic class and political landscape with its many competing interests

As a long-term observer of Pakistani society, Paracha relies on this insight to build his claim that Khan took this skill set from his sports days with him into his political life — to sometimes questionable effect.

As the book’s arguments develop, Paracha reminds his readers of the important role that the group ‘Pasban’ (drawn from the ranks of former members of the religio-political party, the Jamaat-i-Islami, and with a foundational role of the former chief spymaster of the country, General Hamid Gul) played in the nurturing of Khan’s foundational political understanding, during the transitional period after his retirement from professional cricket.

Many of the group’s aims — such as claiming to fight for middle-class rights against the ‘corrupt’ mainstream political parties voted in by the ‘gullible’ and ‘uninformed poorer classes,’ and the goal of increasing support for both the presidential system (contrasted with the ‘messiness’ of federalism) as well as desiring an important role for the military in the country’s broader governance — continue as themes to the present day.

Paracha lays out the strands that Khan draws on for his political views, attributing them to a mix of political Islam, Sufism, anti-colonialism, socialism and ideation of the ‘perfect Islamic State’ from 7th century Arabia, which, taken together, would deliver social and economic justice for citizens.

As Paracha points out, ideas from Abul Ala Maududi, Edward Said, Ali Shariati, Mohammad Iqbal and Noam Chomsky intermingle easily in this hodge-podge of a developing political ideology and understanding.

Pakistan’s then ongoing participation in the ‘war on terror’ under General Pervez Musharraf (who was also the president at the time) and the opening up of the private media landscape, starting in 2002, provided room for the regime’s critics — including, by then, Khan — to loudly and confidently take to the airwaves.

Exiting what was seen as a US-funded war was a key demand that Khan advanced as a way to end the menace of militancy in the country as well as support for opening up talks and negotiations with ‘misguided’ brethren. Efforts to promote ‘Westernisation’ and modernity in an ‘inherently conservative society’ also featured as common tropes advanced by Khan, along with the menace of ‘enslavement’ through foreign — including IMF — funding.

Paracha also notes Khan’s response to Benazir Bhutto’s heinous assassination in 2007, that laid the blame at her feet along with his refusal to condemn the targeted assassination — surely, a glaring case of ‘victim blaming,’ if ever there was one.

Paracha goes on to detail the sustained support of the then military establishment to Khan to enable him to inherit the constituency that Musharraf had built up during his time in power, including the pivotal role of head of the Inter-Services Intelligence, occupied by Lt. Gen Shuja Pasha at that time. The ‘conspiracy’ of US support and collusion with the then civilian government against Pakistan’s critical strategic interests, that the military establishment sees itself as primarily safeguarding, was dramatically ‘revealed’ by Khan during a jalsa (public rally) in 2011.

Nearly a decade later in 2022, a little before his removal from power through a vote of no confidence in parliament, Khan ‘revealed’ the existence of the ‘cipher conspiracy,’ to indict the military establishment as either bending to or colluding with the United States and the country’s then civilian opposition parties.

Sadly, and perhaps ironically, in the words of Yogi Berra, the feeling of ‘deja vu all over again’ is never far in the cyclical turnings of the country’s political wheels.

Paracha unpacks the changing nature of the military establishment’s support for different political factions and groupings, grounded in the ultimate foundation of its own interests as well as its understanding of the country’s long-term strategic interests. Ultimately, and intricately, he situates his analysis of current-ist politics within the shifting dynamics of class politics and the political parties that represent them.

In many ways, this book is very much about unfolding events and tussles that are current and ongoing, and about whose ultimate resolution there is not yet closure within the country’s politics. Given this fact, it is an impressive undertaking by Paracha to help situate what feels like current events, within historical academically grounded analysis.

One clarifying lens he brings to bear to see events and trends more clearly vis-a-vis Khan’s political persona is by drawing on the late American scholar Arnold Beichman’s conception of an ‘anti-leader’ — someone who is both popular and charismatic, but who nevertheless subverts himself, and in fundamental ways, seeks to subvert the very society from which he arose, including one who continues to see himself as moral.

Adhering to this self-image makes the leader somehow stand apart from the messiness that is run-of-the mill politics — one that requires the figurative rolling up of one’s sleeves to get down to working across divisions to help tackle myriad societal challenges, that may very much involve the making of difficult compromises and challenges. The leader’s continuing stance of somehow standing apart from workaday politics may not serve society’s best interests.

Given these are unfolding events in the dynamic that is Pakistani politics, this book should be widely read, both by those who may initially align with the author’s critical viewpoint, and by those who are still making up their minds about where they stand on the ongoing debate. But, perhaps more importantly, by supporters of Khan’s brand of politics.

Perhaps, they will shift in their opinions, but at a minimum, they may be better prepared to argue with the thesis the author lays out. Grounding our current discourse in history and theory is surely a worthy goal: one that may lead to more mature political discourse, in which temperatures are lowered and well-meaning individuals can come together under a wider political tent.

Another hope is that local publishers would invest in high-quality editing capacity to ensure that the published manuscript that goes out into the world has benefitted from having professional eyes on it. On all fronts, one lives one’s life in hope.

The reviewer has a doctorate from Harvard Law School. X: @erumsattar

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, September 8th, 2024