The trope of the white saviour is quite prevalent in Hollywood movies. These include classic films such as To Kill A Mocking Bird and Lawrence of Arabia, and recent productions Avatar and 12 Years as a Slave. The motif, as defined by Mathew H. Hughey in his book The White Savior Film, is one in which a white messianic character saves a lower- or working-class, usually urban or isolated, non-white characters from a sad fate.

In much the same manner, Imran Khan is projecting himself when he recently declared that he was coming to Karachi to rescue-of-sorts people who are forced to attend Muttahida Qaumi Movement rallies and defeat Altaf Hussain in a by-election in Azizabad, the bastion of the MQM.

Are these empty boasts by Mr Khan or are there grounds for his optimism? Will he be coming to ‘liberate’ Karachi at a time when the perennially dominating party of the metropolis, the MQM, is in a tight spot? And will the by-election on April 23, in NA-246, be an indicator of things to come for the PTI in the “heart of Pakistan”?

“The May 2013 general elections were a strong indicator that the people of Karachi are ready for new leadership,” says Ali Zaidi, the Karachi division head of the PTI. “They are sick and tired of violence, extortion and targeted killings.”

Referring to the May 2013 elections, he says that even though it was “rigged to the core” they polled a significant number of votes in the city. “The ECP admitted that it failed to conduct free and fair elections. Now we have the MQM’s Umair Siddiqui and his confessions of rigging.”

The PTI should dispel the notion that it is coming to Karachi on someone’s command

Though the rigging allegations are yet to be proved, it is a fact that the PTI polled a large number of votes in Karachi. The fact is substantiated by simply adding the results provided by the Election Commission of Pakistan on its website. Hence, the total number of votes polled by the PTI in Karachi is 527,677 and that by the MQM is 1,807,491.

Senior journalist Idrees Bakhtiar says: “The PTI is definitely eyeing Karachi, especially at a time when they have the space and want to capitalise on the MQM’s beleaguered position.”

He is referring to the party’s embroilment in a raft of issues, including a raid on its headquarters by the Rangers, the arrest of over 100 of its workers, an unexpected video statement of Saulat Mirza just hours before his execution, implicating its worker in the Baldia factory fire case, and the Sindh government withdrawing its offer to the MQM to rejoin it.

“It is an unannounced political ban on our party,” says the MQM’s Farooq Sattar. “We are being pushed to the wall and there is a palpable sense of fear in our workers as they feel anyone can be arrested.”

Talat Aslam, senior editor of The News, finds Mr Khan’s saviour statements distasteful. “He is seeing himself as a liberator to free the slaves of Karachi. It is a bit insulting. It is a typical outsider’s view of Karachi. People here are not stupid and they vote for a reason. People have positive reasons to vote for the MQM. Imran should tone down his rhetoric and refrain from making sweeping statements.”

He does believe that the PTI has Karachi for their taking notwithstanding their organisational weaknesses. “There is a vacuum in Karachi, especially for a national party that speaks for the middle class. The MQM had this position by default as the PPP has completely abandoned the city and has become more of a regional party. There is disaffection with the MQM; people are tired of its tactics. So, the PTI does have a good chance to make its presence felt as we saw in the last elections,” he says. “The party without having done any organisational work, has the vote bank for their taking especially in areas such as Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Tariq Road and Federal B Area [traditional MQM constituencies].”

But does the cause for Mr Khan’s overconfidence lie in perhaps groundwork being prepared for the PTI in Karachi? “Pakistan is the land of conspiracies, so one cannot help but notice the timing of the whole thing,” says Mr Aslam. He adds that the PTI should dispel the impression that it is coming on someone’s command. Mr Aslam advises Mr Khan to be very careful in what he says, after all “he is a politician and not a fauji”.

“The PTI needs to make itself credible or it could suffer a severe backlash with the MQM exploiting the perception that the operation is targeting a community. And there is a possibility that the people in Karachi could turn away from the PTI because of this.”

About its infrastructural weaknesses, Mr Aslam says there is a lot of infighting within the party, their leadership in the city comes across as clueless and they seem to be cut off from ground realities. Mr Bakhtiar also points out the PTI’s lack of presence in Karachi. “Who are the PTI leaders in Karachi? Where are they? Their presence is unknown.”

Mr Zaidi agrees that their organisational structure is weak. “To a certain extent I do agree with this observation. There were shortcomings in our intra-party elections. We need to reorganise ourselves and get our act together.”

But Mr Aslam thinks that Karachi is an afterthought for the PTI and “it is a stepping stone towards the real prize which is the centre. Their agenda is focused on Punjab and the four ‘halqas’. They need to be serious about their long-term stakes in the city. They need to consolidate themselves.”

And so what is going to transpire in the upcoming by-election in NA-246, Azizabad, the citadel of the MQM? Can Imran Khan actually defeat Altaf Hussain? Here is what the stakeholders and experts say:

Mr Sattar: “We are always looking for a good and healthy competition. However, the PTI must remember that this has been the MQM’s constituency for over 20 years. We are readying ourselves for canvassing for the by-election.”

Mr Zaidi: “The entire leadership of the PTI will be campaigning for NA-246. We feel very confident and hope to win by a large margin.”

Mr Bakhtiar: “It will be a risky testing ground for the PTI.”

Mr Aslam: “It will be interesting to see what happens in NA-246. It is nearly impossible that the PTI wins the seat, but even if it does gain a significant number of votes, it will be demoralising for MQM workers.”

Published in Dawn, March 29th, 2015

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