26 INDIA TODAY AUGUST 13, 2018
army’s encouragement). He was pro-talks
with the Taliban when nobody wanted to
talk to the Taliban (now, everyone wants
to talk to them, at least to the Afghan
wing). And in his latest incarnation as
PM-designate, he has said exactly what
any of Pakistan’s top brass would usu-
ally say about India at their finest dar-
bars: get serious about Kashmir, take
the first step towards dialogue, treat us
with equality and respect, and you’ve got
yourself a peace process.Y
ou’ve got it wrong and side-
ways,” Khan told me in our last
interview, days before his his-
toric April rally in Lahore that
galvanised the Punjab, when I asked him
about his perceived proximity to the
military. “The CIA and the Pentagon
weigh in with the US president. The MoD
and MI6 weigh in with the British PM.
What’s wrong with GHQ weighing in
with me, or anyone else in power in Is-
lamabad? They’re a stakeholder, no?”
But with me unimpressed, he shift-
ed to the operative bit, beyond rhetoric.
“Clearly, they’ve stepped into areas not
expected of them. But that’s because gaps
of governance have been created by one
bad administration after another. Pro-
vide good governance, and there won’t be
any vacuums for anybody to fill.”REVERSE STING
Back in 2008, when I first interviewed
him, Khan still stood for the infamous
but effective tribal jirga [jury] system
of the Pashtuns, and against Pakistan’s
US-inspired military deployment in the
tribal areas. Since then, in every sitting
we have had, he has nuanced his position
on terrorism and fighting it, evolving his
stance—much like he gradually devel-
oped his famous run up and leap before
his delivery, making it more poignant,
more appealing, even more effective.
Yet, he’s slammed in liberal and in-
ternational circles for being a Taliban
apologist. The ‘Taliban Khan’ narrative
remains, but is now limited to American
editorials, Lahore drawing rooms, and
Karachi blogs. With K-P’s low crime and
anti-terror policing adding wind to hisOVER STORY
PAKISTAN
sails, Khan remains unapologetic. Now,
when debating counter-insurgencies, he
can cite case studies from Sri Lanka to
Syria. He insists on law, order, civic infra-
structure and capacity-building to follow
up any kinetic effort. And he’s been ahead
of his time in proposing deweaponisation
and dialogue with militant organisations
that have local support, while insisting on
zero tolerance for nihi list terrorists like
ISIS. Interestingly, he’s never made the
headlines in connection with any Kash-
mir-centric groups thanks to his exten-
sive, and strategic, silence on the matter.
“He is wrongly perceived. He has
changed. As a freelancer politician, he
was free to say whatever. He could get
away with anything when he was the op-
position,” says Shehzad A. Chaudhry, theretired air vice-marshal. “But once in gov-
ernment, you have far greater responsi-
bility to move things along. Whatever he
said in the past has absolutely no value
anymore. His first speech was indicative
of that. A different tone. A different tenor.
A sense of far greater possibility. Clearly,
the man is ready for rapprochement.”
A senior intelligence official cleared
the terror-sympathy factor further,
framing Khan’s resounding victory in
the northwest against the powerful and
conservative alliance of the country’s
mullahs, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal,
or the MMA, as an example.
“Frankly, Khan never supported ter-
rorism or militancy but also, very smartly,
never alienated the populace involved,
rather gave them hope about returningDYNASTS AFTER
THE DEFEAT
What happens to the Sharifs and the
Zardari-Bhuttos now and their respective
strongholds in Punjab and Sindh?THE SHARIFS Patriarch Nawaz is
in jail for 10 years, and disqualified
from active politics for another 10.
Has a heart condition, will have to
shuttle between hospital and jail.
He’ll be 89 before he can contest
again. Brother Shehbaz (far right) is
relegated to being Nawaz’s shadow
forever while daughter Maryam is
serving a 7-year sentenceAAMIR QURESHI/AFP