IK should see Lagaan

In the movie, Captain Andrew Russell promises to cancel the taxes on the local people for three years if they could defeat his men in a cricket match. Just like the people of Pakistan have not experienced living in a corruption free Pakistan, the locals under Russell’s control didn’t know how cricket was played. The deal was if they want their problems to go away, they had to defeat the Brits. Imran Khan’s message has been similar: if Pakistanis want their problems to go away, the root cause of which is corruption, then they have to support him.

Let us commit to memory for a few minutes that all politics is local. ‘Electables’ are important because they win. The problem is not just that the idea of electable goes against IK’s politics, but also that he doesn’t go far enough in his defense to include the baggage the ‘Electables’ come with. ‘Electables’ are electable because they thrive in a culture of patronage. They give favours to select locals, which are mostly illegal and sometimes immoral. The way it works is that locals cut under the table deals for politicians, raise slogans for them in rallies, find avenues of corruption and create a more suitable environment for the swamp to sustain itself. Once elected, these locals have to be paid back by placing their people in positions of power, getting their people out of jails, allowing them to further their illicit money making enterprises, which are so creatively run that they may shock even the most creative Silicon Valley based entrepreneurs.

That deprives the local masses of their ability to succeed on the bases of merit. Does that word ‘merit’ ring a bell? Tsunami, the revolution. That jobs would be given based on merit. But the system of patronage works exactly opposite of that. It is either the guy with ability or the guy with connections. They are mutually exclusive. Survival of the fattest not the fittest. IK had promised to change that. But the criminals, thugs, robbers, clowns that he embraced with arms wide open is mind boggling for the supporters including myself as to how such nefarious individuals would be expected to become born again loyal public servants.

Many counter argue that ‘Electables’ wouldn’t have a role in central policy making, which may be true. But that’s not the point. ‘Electables’ would have every role in local politics, which actually affects the people more than central policy making, which is why I asked the readers to commit to memory that ‘all politics is local’. The ‘Electables’ may make victory at the ballot smooth but they ensure defeating the party’s manifesto. The grease here doesn’t run the machine, it actually renders it rotten.

In Lagaan, Aamir Khan won the match with a team of players who were rookies at best against a formidable British team. IK himself won the 1992 World Cup with a team that wasn’t really the best at the time. And some of the great players including Waqar Younas and Saeed Anwar weren’t even playing. People support IK because of his message and today many are leaving him because of this manufactured pragmatic approach. If democracy is about people, then ‘Electables’ strategy is wrong. If not, then democracy is flawed. IK’s message sounded like a combo of Obama’s and Trump’s slogans: change (tabdeeli) and drain the swamp (Parliamentary chor jail jayengay). It is hard to tell the swamp from the PTI now. If not Lagaan, IK should read George Orwell’s Animal Farm, where at one point it becomes difficult to tell man from the pig.