Hawk’s Spirit
By Junaina Fazal
The heart lit up with the fire of hope and those flames pursuing him to reach what seems unreachable. That’s the Hawk’s spirit!
While reading the verses from one of the famous poem of Iqbal my wit struck at Iqbal’s illustration of ‘Hawk’. For him hawk is a bird who has no hunger for pigeon nor for quail, who soar to new heights, who swoop down on opportunities and for him sky is the limit more over an emblem of courage, fearlessness and audacity. These attributes made him strikingly different from others and thus giving humans a model to follow. Iqbal was expecting the people of his nation to glide like a Hawk.
As far in our case, the nation of Pakistan had never seen one until a crazy, insane and a lunatic guy appeared from somewhere, retired from cricket as a winning captain of 1992 cricket world cup, patent of the Pakistan’s first cancer hospital (Shaukat khanum Cancer Hospital), the chairman of an educational institution (Namal College) and last but not least the founder of a political party (Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf) which has now become Pakistan’s largest party leaving behind PMLN and PPP. This man had a vision, a sight of “Naya Pakistan” in his eyes. Yes! A Pakistan which is a welfare state, a Pakistan where everyone is equal before law, a Pakistan who don’t beg to others for aid. With slogan of Justice, Humanity and Self-esteem this screwy guy began his struggle 22 years ago.
His opponents accused him of being a ‘Yahoodi Agent’, a warmonger not to do away with these but such assertions left deep marks on his marriage life and eventually resulted in separation. His wife used to say to him that “You are an honest man and there is no place for honesty in Pakistani politics.” This sorrow made him more tough. He stood fast against every odd and every collapse made him jump a step higher. He was the true face of Jinnah’s saying, “Failure is a word unknown to me.”
He bestowed the people of his nation with a gift. Yes! A gift of awareness and awaken in them the power of perception and provided them an insight. Then there came the elections of 2013. Alas! But there was no stop to his determination. He continued to thrive and thrive. He was a man of action and soon the world saw the culprits crying foul and he, the champion, the fighter shining like a supernova. But it was not the end of what was his struggle all about. He continued to focus on the tussle he had chosen for himself instead of the luxurious life.
At last that day arrive which was for others just an election day but for him it was the day guarantying the fruit of his untiring hard work of 22 years. The voter turnout was more than the usual as we have seen in the past history of elections. At night all the media houses were in the race to announce the results first and then the ‘ghair hatmi ghair sarkari’ results were out as the sign of Allah’s blessing on him. The whole nation was about to witness the dawn of ‘Naya Pakistan’. Many big names and so called contractors of religion were defeated and an eccentric dreamer has won.
From getting one seat in general elections of 2002 to emerging as the most successful politician of the world with a party securing majority seats in the National Assembly. This man materializes the vision which was called an unattainable thing at that time by the others.
He sticks to his mission because he knew that he was the only ray of hope in this deep down sink of corruption, injustice and inequality. He believes in the power of hard work done in a positive direction. In his victory speech he showed that he will be an untraditional Prime minister the country had ever seen. His life is a true demonstration of the phrase “Hard work pays off”. He is hope. He is courage. He is motivation. He is dedication. He is Imran Khan, a man with the Hawk’s spirit.
The contributor is a student of history at GC University, Lahore.
