Dawn Magazine, Friday, June 21, 1996

THE 'CAN-DO' KHAN

By Adil Ahmad

Imran Khan has taken a flying leap into the fray. Some fray. Some leap. Billed to wake us from our sleep. Can Imran swim the deep? Will he land up in a heap? Questions stir the citizen's concern.

There is a childlike jubilation in the rank and file. The establishment quivers as it awaits what promises to be a thunderous yorking. C'ruption! C'ruption! C'ruption! where art thou? Show thy sinful face! Imran the avenger is here, never fear! All you c’ruptors and c'rupted to him are dear! You are essential to his crusade. Without you he would have a much reduced mandate.

But wait! It's not hate, at any rate. The misled and the easily tempted are the more mortal of all us mortals. Then again, power c’rupts most powerfully! Power, that essentially inglorious beast of burden which should really have no pride in its ancestry, nor any hope for its posterity, has assumed the proportions of a rearing, bucking mule much to the detriment of civilised society. How now brown cow?

Or is it brown sahib? It's a complex issue. How does one reconcile the stretch limo in Beauchamp Place with an across-the board condemnation of the VIP culture? Imran must have a valid reason up his sleeve. It is too obvious a baiting of the opinion-makers. There he goes again, they'll say. And yes, there he goes again leading the high life in great style, born to it as it were. The subcontinent's royal roots make it a reflex action for the legacy's pampered and carefully nurtured inheritors. If it isn't the poor taxpayer that's being crushed under the weight of the bill at the end of the day, then it's not only valid, it's even desirable. If it's not a case of flaunting one's wealth in the face of impoverished masses then it's alright. At Beauchamp Place there are no impoverished masses, and its Uncle Goldbrick, not Uncle Sam who is picking up the bill for the high life. That's fine too. So where's the problem?

It's the brown sahib bit that remains a bother. The Anglo-Saxon race ruled this neck of the woods quite admirably, and for a considerably lengthy period of time. The Muslims of the subcontinent viewed the English as conquerors and vanquisher of their Mughal Legacy. The white man spoke with forked tongue and forked the subcontinent's many fortunes into his treasuries across the seven seats. Having said that, the English left an indelible impression upon the subcontinent's psyche, and it wasn't all bad. The solar hat, to begin with, custom-invented for local climatic conditions. The breeches and the 'plus four'. The barrister sahib and the civil servant. Trained professionals in problem-solving, champions of Spartan living with a pride in their professions. Discipline in the rank and file. Early to bed and early to rise. A penchant for punctuality.

The English marshalled the subcontinent for two centuries and succeeded in replacing the ruling royalty with the middle-class and an aristocracy based on the intellect. The large land holdings in the form of jagirs bearing testimony to that 'intellect' at work. And that is the bottom-line on the 'brown sahib'.

Imran 'the chastiser' has curried little favour, though plenty of interest in the global village. Imran the 'grassroots functionary' is the one who is being awaited with some impatience. A drastic rethinking on the meaning of literacy, a skill orientation of the national education format are worthwhile starting points, along with broad-based access to basic health and potable water.

The multi-million-dollar question agitating the collective mind is whether Imran will persevere, and will his perseverance command success? Abdul Ali Khan and RVW Dykes and Major Langland would have absolutely no reservations on that count. Pakistan, with its fragile and very limited leadership base badly needs a meeting of the minds that matter. Success in this particular sport will depend upon establishing a unanimity of views on what is good for the entity

Pakistan

. Imran must refrain from the favourite pastime of Pakistani politicians of fretting and fuming their hour upon the stage, and treating the ground reality as nothing.

The fraternity waits with bated breath as Imran gathers momentum in his run-up. His line and length have wavered occasionally. It's a cold, crisp spring day and the body has as yet to open up. There's a whole long innings ahead. The air is full of anticipation and visible excitement. "....and when the final Scorer comes to write against your name, He sees not whether you won or lost but how you played the game...." So what's the latest on ball tampering?