Imran Khan’s public speaking is a perfect example of theatricality. The storyline Imran Khan follows is consistently based on counteractive strategy. Imran Khan’s narrative is built up upon his own most visible flaws, he reverses his flaws and characterizes his opponents on the bases of his own shortcoming, which serves the purpose of “deviation-elimination”. Let me explain how; his most substantiated blemishes as a presumed leader are; 1-that he has no stake in Pakistan, 2- his next generation is not Pakistani and has no interest in Pakistan, 3- his means of expenditure and source of earning have no correlation. He crafted his theatricality on these three points, that’s why his speeches sound bizarre to all sound minds. He blames his opponents for the shortcomings he possesses, he reinforces insanely that the PML(N) and PPP have no personal stakes in Pakistan, and he euphorically repeats that they are living the lives of monarchs and asks for their source of income. He blames other politicians for having their families abroad, for being westernized, for speaking English and speaking bad Urdu, and links it all to psychological slavery.
This technique of theatricality deviates the audience from his own inconsistent personality, the second step of elimination occurs when the opponents do not respond promptly and properly. Khan’s success actually lies in the PML(N)’s perceivable defeat in targeting the negatives and faults of Khan’s personality. Nobody is perfect and every person lives with his weak points and with some exploitable personality faults, and Imran Khan who lives in a mansion spreading hundreds of acres is no exception. The weak counter-strategy, specifically of the PML(N) provides free ground for re-associations crafted by Imran Khan. In plain words, Imran Khan deviates the public eye from his fault lines and associates them with someone else; this eliminates him and implicates his opponents.
His ruthless mockery of our society and our institutions is being presented as a saleable commodity for the buyers who have no knowledge of history and no insight into the future. Imran Khan deliberately makes fun of Pakistani politicians, parliament, constitution, judiciary, bureaucracy and military with the claim that he is the one without errors and rest is all full of flaws and needs to be destroyed in order to be rebuilt.
The oldest form of staged entertainment is theatre based on the phenomenon of theatricality. Theatricality primarily focuses on the principle of then and there, engaging the audience and getting applause; hard facts, concrete ideas; and empirical data is not necessary, just create a storyline and give it your best.
His destruction doctrine, which he is selling to our youth, could be long banned in any first-world country. Imran Khan’s mantra of destruction and reconstruction is a core principle of a fascist philosophy. Imran Khan somehow managed to convince the Pakistani youth that in order to build a new prosperous Pakistan the old Pakistan has to be destroyed, and he firmly believes in it. If we analyze him and his words under the lenses of destruction and construction, we get a clear idea why his words are so destructive, how come he is so socially awkward and politically insensitive that he gives destructive statements about Pakistan’s foreign policy and Pakistan’s institutions. Imran Khan wants and has convinced our youth that destruction is inevitable if we want to build a utopia.
On August 18, Imran Khan while addressing a forum, compared media freedom in Pakistan with other countries and claimed that there is (was) no free media in the Middle East. I strongly object to his comments because they are loaded and can antagonize Middle Eastern countries, the majority of whom have very cordial relations with Pakistan. Why should he taunt countries with Pakistan having good relations? During his speech, he claimed he provided full independence to the media during his government. His statement is contrary to the facts and everybody linked with the media industry remembers how many journalists had been abducted, harassed, subjugated, and economically strangulated and the constant arm twisting of media hubs is still fresh in the minds of all of us.
I believe that there is no need to explain this point in detail. But the point remains intact that how he is successful in selling his narcissistic formula of destruction-reconstruction? I figured out one answer from history, during the Middle Ages there used to be philosophers of fear, they were usually state-funded philosophers who invented theories based on fear of chaos.
While studying Cognitive Sciences I came across research explaining that the human cognitive system is an orderly system, based on patterns of thoughts and processes through assimilation. The biggest fear of the human brain could be chaos, and we know that an extremely chaotic situation creates a nervous breakdown, meaning the human nervous system shuts down automatically to avoid a collapse. The fear of chaos is the most dangerous weapon in psychological warfare. Imran Khan is following the footsteps of the philosophers of fear, he infuses fear of chaos and collapse and remodifies it with his destructive-reconstructive ideology.
Former US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in one of his speeches commented that nations faced destruction if they are (were) victims of fear. He was of the view that “there must be nothing to fear but fear itself”.
“Let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself— nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” Well before Roosevelt, Stoic philosophers said that “fear was to be feared because of the miseries it creates”. Imran Khan has been injecting fear among the masses that Pakistan (God forbids) would collapse if he is not re-elected and his fear game is playing a dangerous game with our minds.
I believe Imran Khan is successfully altering the young minds with fear of absolute chaos, and preparing them for the ultimate destruction of every inch of Pakistan, he is convincing the youth that he is the sole saviour by deviation-elimination technique, he has successfully convinced the youngsters that his primary flaws are in fact non-existing and he ruthlessly with extensive articulation has convinced the youth that Pakistani politicians are corrupt, have no stake and interest in Pakistan, and are not Pakistani plus they spend beyond their means or they don’t have a legal source of income. On the contrary, these are the personal fault lines Imran Khan is standing on.
He systematically convinces our youth that he is a messiah, and indispensable, with this trajectory he emphasizes that if we want to be saved, we need to destroy everything and we will resurrect in Naya Pakistan. Moreover, if we choose to disagree with his proposal of destruction-resurrection-reconstruction, then there will be chaos with no escape whatsoever.
“We are more often frightened than hurt, and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.” – Seneca
