A scholar of English Literature, Ali Zaka Azad expresses His views about Imran Khan’s UN Speech at September 27.
It took him 22 years to finally make it to the top. He was already one of the greatest cricketers in the history of cricket and, he cemented his legacy as one of the greatest captains of all time by leading Pakistan cricket team to the ultimate glory way back in 1992. He had done everything that there was to do in Cricket but, his journey did not stop there. He was an ultimate dreamer. His dream was to make Pakistan a corruption-free country. His name was Imran Khan. Khan entered into the realms of politics in 1996. He suffered humiliating defeats early on in his nascent political career, was subjected to unfair criticism but, he did not quit as he possessed nerves of steel. He taught all of us a lesson in tenacity when after the hardcore struggle of 22 long years he eventually became the 22nd PM of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.
Of course, his main agenda was to fight the corrupt mafia and purge this country of this blight. But, maybe God wanted him to turn his attention towards a more serious issue: the issue of Kashmir. On the 5th of August, the Fascist regime of Modi illegally annexed the special status of Kashmir. There was a curfew, Indian troops were committing all sorts of unimaginable atrocities in Kashmir. These actions on part of Indians were pretty provocative. Kashmir was once again the flashpoint. Khan could have decided to wage a full-scale war but, that would have been inevitably catastrophic for the whole region. So, he resorted to more sensible actions. He worked tirelessly to draw the attention of the world towards this issue. He tried each and everything in his power to internationalize this issue.
He exposed the arrogance of Modi on all international platforms. They say words sometimes are all that we have and words have magic if one knows the art of using them perfectly. Khan only had words in his arsenal when he delivered his speech at UNGA on 27th of September. The supporters of Khan were mesmerized by his rhetoric power. But, this time round even his detractors were forced to praise him. He discussed 4 main issues in his speech namely Climate Change, Corruption, Islamophobia and of course Kashmir. No leader could do that. He was brief, precise and pretty emotional for quite obvious reasons. He spoke his heart out. Climate change is a pretty serious issue and Khan highlighted the fact that most of the leaders around the world are utterly oblivious. He tried to awaken the world from its slumbers. The way he discussed the dangers of freedom of speech was worth praising. He represented the emotions of 1.3 billion Muslims when he explained how painful it is for Muslims when someone mocks, maligns or ridicules our prophet PBUH under the garb of freedom of speech. His words proved that he has emerged as the true ambassador of Islam.
In the Imran Khan’s UN Speech, the way he exposed the sheer hypocrisy of World in general and India, in particular, was unprecedented. He was fearless in his approach. Once again he tried his best to draw the attention of the UN towards the issue of Kashmir. This was without a shadow of doubt one of the greatest speeches ever delivered in UNGA. Neutrality demands to call it one of the most iconic speeches ever. As was said earlier, sometimes words are all that we have. Khan made full use of the words. The impact of this speech will be far-reaching.
Also see: Summarizing Imran Khan’s UN Speech
