Twenty six years after winning Pakistan’s first and only cricket World Cup, twenty four years after building country’s largest Cancer hospital and ten years after founding Namal College, Imran Khan sat down a wooden chair with paper in his hand at his Bani Gala residence. It was a delightful day in Islamabad; PTI had clean sweaped the Federal Capital and Rawalpindi. PTI won from Lyari and nine zero in Karachi after winning a simple majority in KP.
Just like a jeweler puts pearls in a string, one after another to end up with a magnificent necklace, IK hopped from one issue to another ever so smoothly, to describe his vision for Pakistan. There was continuity, as if the words he was uttering didn’t require any thinking. It felt so natural and melodic. The pauses, the word stress, the highs and lows were perfect to milliseconds. He spoke from the heart. For a moment the whole nation was just happy to see such an eloquent person as their Prime Minister.
Eloquence is one thing, content is another. In his speech, Imran touched all the key issues facing Pakistan. And the values that the founding fathers had envisioned for this country.
For decades, Balochistan has suffered from oppression, poverty and terrorism. Pakistan finally got a Prime Minister who started his victory speech by remembering the brave people of this province. In an era, where the Muslim world looks perplexed in its own history and ideology, he reminded us of the Meccan welfare state. Pakistan finally got a PM who spoke openly for half of the population that lives below poverty line, a PM who emphasized on education, health and human development, a PM who emphasized on accountability and social justice. Pakistan finally has a Prime Minister, who has conveyed in his very first speech to the World that Pakistan wants peace. He extended a hand of friendship to India and talked about the real deal (Kashmir). A Prime Minister, who instead of falling in one camp, carefully balanced himself between Iran and Saudi Arabia while proposing a mutually beneficial relation with the US.
Earlier, he had started his speech by mentioning his twenty two year long journey from absolutely nowhere to the corridors of PM house; maybe he had been preparing this speech for twenty two years. How can someone so aptly squeeze the cure for seventy years of blunders in just one speech? Clearly, there is a vision, a purpose and most importantly a direction. Nations rise and nations fall, but too often they just need the right man at the right time with the right vision. Ata Turk, Jinnah, Mandela and the list goes on. Whether, Khan will make it to that illustrious list, we shall know soon. This speech will be remembered for a long time as a speech that gave hope to the nation in a hopeless time. Imran Khan has made it clear that this government will be rule of the common man; it will stand with the weak and hold everyone accountable of their actions.