The stage is Lords Cricket Ground London and two prominent Pakistani politicians-Imran khan and Jhangir Tareen are watching the second test between India and England. Jhangir Tareen is nibbling channa chat or some other meal. It is the month of fasting for the Muslims in which the Muslims have been ordained by the Creator to abstain from eating or drinking from dawn (sehri) to dusk (aftari).

The picture might appear to be puny to many, since countless Muslims eat and drink during the forbidden times of the holy month-Ramadan and as a matter of fact; most of Muslims choose to ignore such ignoble acts of the secular Muslims. However, the presence of Imran Khan, the hero of millions of the Pakistanis living both in Pakistan and abroad makes issue more significant and worth pondering upon.

Imran Khan, ever since the inception of the PTI has worked tirelessly to challenge the forces of status quo and other feudalistic political parties. He has admirably been a vocal criticizer of the American polices and the so called war on terror. In fact, no one from any political party or right wing religious parties has criticised the American and the Pakistani government of toeing the American polices and narratives of terrorism, as Imran Khan has.

Also, it was the charismatic leadership of IK which took the youth out of their drawing rooms to play their part practically in shaping the future of Pakistan. Undoubtedly, and to the good of Pakistan, the PTI has asserted itself as a potential political force to rise to power to serve Pakistan, in a not very long future.

Quite frequently, Imran Khan in his interviews and public speeches has referred to the rule of Caliph Umer. Sometimes his start of his speeches with soul strengthening iya ka nahbudu wa iyayya ka nasteen (You alone we worship, and unto You alone we turn for help) also echoes through media. Such sort of speeches by Imran has drawn many to PTI from other religious parties, including the politically aware Jamat-e-Islami as well. In this backdrop Imran Khan has emerged as a shimmering ray of hope for Pakistan.

But, but the picture of Lords Cricket Ground has propped many questions. Sitting beside Jhangir Tareen, who is devouring the channa chat, Mr. Khan  being a Muslim and representative of a sizeable segment of Pakistani society also appears to be unperturbed by his action. Contrarily, as mentioned in the beginning, this act of eating so openly in Ramadan might appear insignificant to many, especially to the diehard PTI supporters.

However, this picture speaks volumes about the mental makeup and priorities of the people who are around Imran Khan, and these are the ones whose voices matter in the party. Jhangir Tareen is amongst those who paraded to the tone of general Musharraf and later joined the PTI when they saw it getting the momentum. The presence of the affluent feudal like Khurshid Kasuri, Shah Mehmood Qureshi in the party  has already questioned the much trumpeted slogan of the change and nya (new) Pakistan of the PTI.

The question arises, in future if the PTI gets a chance to steer the country with the people like Kasuri and Jhangir Tareen at the helm of affairs, which ideology would they follow and foster. It appears as if they would go ahead with the same secular approach which they are practicing now. Would they not challenge the very ideology of the creation of Pakistan for which millions of the Muslims rendered the unprecedented sacrifices? Would Mr. Tareen walk on the path of his political godfather Musharaf who would proudly show puppies tucked under his arms and proclaim Mustafa Kemal- the secular cursed ruler who ruined the very Muslim fabric of Turkey, as his hero?

Undoubtedly, Imran Khan has a huge fellowship of the youth, both males and females and most of them come from secular orientation. So far Imran Khan has done well to keep them cool enough to behave sensibly in rallies and protests, which, of course deserves the due kudos. However, to train this youth, particularly on ideological lines is a challenge of enormous proportion to Imran Khan and other leadership of the PTI which needs thorough soul searching by the supremo of PTI. Beyond a shadow of doubt, Pakistan is in dire need of the selfless leader like Imran Khan, but replacement of leaders from the soiled political parties like PPP and PML N, with the seculars like Jhangir Tareen would further complicate the ideological issues of the county. Aside from that, it would deepen the already existing divide between seculars and the Islamists.