On the basis of available evidence, we can safely conclude that Imran Khan has emerged as the third political leader in Pakistan’s history who has succeeded in transcending ethnic boundaries. Before him, Zulifiqar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto had achieved this feat. What exactly is meant by transcending ethnic boundaries?
Pakistan is a federation and each federating unit comprises, more or less, an ethnic nationality. When a leader crosses the borders of their home ethnic community and gains popularity in another ethnic nationality, it means they have transcended ethnic boundaries in the context of Pakistani politics.
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto’s home constituency was obviously Sindh, but he built a strong popular base in Punjab. Benazir Bhutto was equally popular in Punjab and Sindh. Nawaz Sharif, on the other hand, never succeeded in transcending ethnic boundaries—his popularity has remained restricted to central Punjab throughout his political career. Now Imran Khan seems to be at the apex of his popularity in Central Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
There are also emerging signs that he is gaining popularity among the Urdu speaking population of Karachi. Pakistan’s strong headed establishment will do a service to Pakistani nationalism’s cause if it starts to see a silver lining in political developments related to PTI’s intermittent protest movements since Imran Khan was ousted from power. We see protests in Peshawar, Lahore, Karachi and Quetta at the same time, which in practical terms would mean that Pashtun, Punjabi, Urdu speaking and Baloch respectively have started to think alike. At least there is some point of convergence between these ethnic communities, which, otherwise always tread on parallel paths—paths which seldom converge.
Pakistan’s strong headed establishment has very little capacity to understand the intricacies of politics.
We should not underestimate the value of this convergence. This convergence means that the feeling of being a Pakistani—a feeling which apparently is manifesting itself in the love for the persona of Imran Khan - is being channelized into a political cause. May 9 may have been despicably bad, but in its wake, political activity associated with Imran Khan and his incarceration has been peaceful.
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