On a visit to Karachi in 2011, I witnessed a surprising spectacle. Imran Khan, Pakistan’s legendry cricketer, was in town. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party was holding a rally in the shadow of Quaid-e-Azam Mazar, the mausoleum that houses the tomb of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of the nation. Jinnah, a Lincoln’s Inn-educated barrister with a penchant for suits tailored in Saville Row, died barely a year following the creation of the state, providing insufficient time for democracy to take root. The country has suffered much since then. Now, sixy-five years later, the former playboy who is seldom seen these days out of shalwar kameez, the national dress of the country, was offering the nation a new hope.
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