I have had several discussions with family and friends during the last three months and most of them are super invested in Imran khan but a few have the opinion that Imran khan is going too soft on the establishment. I had a few arguments with them, a few examples
In my opinion, all these arguments are juvenile.
Answers:
In my view, IK's strategy of appealing to popular support, logic, and reason, shaming, and exposing is the best strategy. Having 'low political cost' events like Lahore is the way to go. IK knows, that no extreme moves would work but rather it will damage the narrative.
- Imran khan should mention Bajwa by name. why is he pussyfooting around the main issue?
- Imran khan should declare that he will march on Pindi
- Imran khan should start countrywide strikes.
- We need a civil war, or else we can't kick these generals out.
- He is not standing with Shahbaz gill as strongly as he should, he should not care about politics and stand with him no matter the consequences.
In my opinion, all these arguments are juvenile.
Answers:
- Mentioning Bajwa's name will accomplish very little in regards to shaming the generals to do the right thing, they know what and who IK is talking about when he talks about neutrals, and by mentioning people in name, it will make them move further closer to PDM, a bigger danger is those professional elements of the military that recognizes the command structure and don't want to break it but they still want to support IK. You can potentially make them choose sides, which might negatively impact IK's rapport within the ranks.
- A march on Pindi is not going to happen because no one wants to stand against the full might of the military, you have understood the concept of the monopoly of violence. Even a very unprofessional military can not be fought with by civilians like that. If IK does it, a lot of people will in one way or other, find ways to desert him, so in the end, he will be standing almost alone at the gate in Pindi.
- He can not ask the people to shut down the whole country as it can not be done for more than a few days max. He has to work through a long game, if you put your vehicle suddenly in the highest gear, your engine turns off. you have to rev things up slowly before you can reach extreme measures as keep it on that level for longer is a lot difficult.
- There are two major types of civil wars, identitarian civil wars between different ethnic, tribal, lingual, and religious groups. This is something we don't want at any cost. The other type is the Philosophy oriented civil wars, like the French revolution, and the American civil war both were fought by nations far different from us. Our outlook on society is not yet that mature even today.
- He IS standing with Shahbaz Gill, and everyone in PTI, but you can not provide the establishment, the reason that they need to shut PTI/IK down despite it being a bullshit case. It is an entirely another story, that how people will react to such actions but we need to understand that it is more of a 'do or die situation for a lot of enemies of Imran khan as now they have realized that tides have changed completely and they can not just reverse things, they know that they have lost in public and they can not recover.
In my view, IK's strategy of appealing to popular support, logic, and reason, shaming, and exposing is the best strategy. Having 'low political cost' events like Lahore is the way to go. IK knows, that no extreme moves would work but rather it will damage the narrative.
