Dear Imran Khan Sahib,
ASAK,
Hope you are doing well. I hope this letter reaches you and hope you read it and reply even if it is one liner by yourself and not through one of your minders.
I would like to start with by stating that I am not one of your supporters. In fact, I disagree with most of your stands, and I question priority on other; I disagree with your backers and you letting the rental mules joining your party right now. I am writing to you due to my sense of duty and a very dim hope that you may become the one who can rise above the petty thieves and do something for this miserable nation. You at least have a great chance right now to gain power in a country with 180 million miserable human beings; in a country where humans beings are treated worse than stray animals are treated in civil societies.
I would like to remind you that becoming the leader of a nation carries a very heavy burden. You will be responsible for the fates and lives of 180 million human beings in this country and possibly other. If a child sleeps hungry or is being abused due to your negligence, inaction, or policy, you will be responsible for it. If anyone despairs and you or your statesmen live lavishly, you will have to answer on the judgment day. I am sure you have run these scenarios through your mind and have reasoned with them. Taking the responsibility of other human being let alone millions of them is a tall order and I hope you realize what it means and are ready for it.
You have risen from a point where everyone counted you out. You are a great fighter and a nationalist but above all an egotist. These are the traits of a winner who wants to win at any cost but not a leader. To become a leader, you must have all of the above based on a true principle. When a person wins on principle with these traits, he becomes a great leader or sometime more than a simple human being. If you fight based on true principles, make sure you do not underestimate the power of principles and do not compromise them for winning a battle because you will lose the war at the end. There are great examples of true Muslim and non-Muslim leaders who died fighting for principles but then lived forever because of what they stood for.
You have more responsibility right now than any other politician in Pakistan since the inception of the country. This is because you have given hope to millions of wanderers in Pakistan. They are betting on you to fix 60 plus years of corruption and bigotry. You have encouraged them through popular slogans, and they are following you like sheep. Whether correct or not, a lot of people especially young people have extremely high hopes from you. They think you are the person who can make the changes and suddenly make a heaven out of this country. After you take the power and nothing much changes for whatever reason whether due to your fault or not whether intentionally or unintentionally, the hope and possibilities of another person rising to your level will die. That may become an unrecoverable blow that may finally break the camel’s back. I would like to request that you think things through honestly and would like to recommend following for your considerations.
- Stand tall and do not compromise on principles at any cost.
- Always stand by the truth not just when it is convenient.
- Whatever you do, do it with sincerity. Anything done without sincerity will end up in a mess. Make sure all your workers do the same.
- You should rather die than letting the same old corrupt system drag you down.
- Chose your running mates wisely. You will get the votes, NOT the name brand candidates. Pick like minded honest individuals who are willing to fight the fight alongside you rather than corrupt name brands.
- Do not let anyone go stray on your watch.
- If and when you are in power, do not let sycophants surround you. Find people who have the courage to tell you the truth.
- Plan for your term only. Do not let anyone con you into thinking that no one besides you can do this so you have to stay in power at any cost for the poor people.
- Justification of ills is mother of all sins.
There are doubts about your stand and who will run on your party ticket. You can satisfy both by reading my blog at following URL, especially in “who can do this” part.
http://a-case-for-pakistan.blogspot.com (Write up attached as well for your convenience)
Once again, I am sure you have considered all this but sometimes you have things in the back of your mind but not verbalized. This may be that scenario.
In my opinion, you should openly announce that if your party wins, you and your party winners will serve the country for free for 5 years. You can assure that there will be no backdoor way of compensation like travel, meals, house allowance etc. announce that you will make your parliamentarians live in the living conditions of their average constituents. This way anyone who wishes to win on your ticket and make money later, will be discouraged and at the same time you can satisfy at least a portion of doubters who think you are trying to find winners at any cost. You should also play this against other parties and get them to commit to the same.
You should campaign for any candidate who has been elected in the past to give up 1/3 of their net worth as I have described in my blog. You should campaign that nothing can ever be proven against any corrupt politician so to show their honesty, sincerity and patriotism, they should give up 1/3 of their net worth in favor of the education. This will further reduce the doubts about who joins you and caution people who want to join you just for free ride. These items are described in more details in my blog and can be further improved/ fool proofed. Just asking to disclose their assets will not do much.
Please consider the priorities I have listed in my manifesto. Clearly speak against any act of terrorism no matter who does it and regardless of the reason. This will at least reduce some of the concerns people have about your leaning towards terrorist groups. Speak clearly against those are responsible for murdering and abusing the innocent people.
Best wishes, good luck and may Allah direct you to the right path.
Shahab Hasan.