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Imran Khan: From cricket hero to Pakistan leader?
Khan brims with confidence that he can solve Pakistan's myriad and devastating problems.
Khan brims with confidence that he can solve Pakistan's myriad and devastating problems. PHOTO: AFP
ISLAMABAD: As an imperious all-rounder who dominated the cricket pitches he graced for more than two decades, Imran Khan exhibited a self-belief that often made Pakistan’s opponents crumble.
But that lordly demeanour may not serve him as well on the political wicket as a self-proclaimed saviour of the strife-torn country, despite his status as a national hero for leading Pakistan to its only World Cup title in 1992.
Khan brims with confidence that he can solve Pakistan’s myriad and devastating problems.
Striding into an interview, kitted out in tiny running shorts and drenched in sweat after an afternoon workout in 80 percent humidity, he swats away any doubts about his prospects at the ballot box.
Nuclear-armed Pakistan returned to civilian rule in 2008 after nearly a decade under military dictator Pervez Musharraf. Elections are due by 2013 at the latest.
Asked whether he would contest the next polls after boycotting the last vote, the 58-year-old was emphatic.
“Stand for election? We will sweep the election. What are you talking about ‘stand’? The next party in power is going to be Tehreek-e-Insaf,” Khan said, referring to the Movement for Justice party he founded.
“I’m taking bets with anyone. You know I played five World Cups, never did I ever tell anyone, except in the last World Cup, that we would win it,” he added at his sprawling hilltop home overlooking the capital Islamabad.
Twenty-one years on the cricket pitch, he says, honed a “killer instinct” and with Pakistan lurching from political to economic to security crisis under the fragile People’s Party coalition, he believes power is within his grasp.
But Khan’s party has no seats in parliament and it is criticised for lacking grassroots support and the infrastructure needed to win an election.
While Khan was long a darling of the Western media, dazzled first by his “playboy” lifestyle and then celebrity marriage to and divorce from British heiress Jemima Goldsmith, his reputation at home is more circumspect.
Secular commentators, Western journalists and officials also express alarm at his policies, in particular his call for an end to Pakistani military operations against the Taliban and his populist anti-Americanism.
Yet last week US pollsters Pew Research Center named Khan as the most popular politician in the country, with an approval rating of 68 percent. Pew gave President Asif Ali Zardari a miserly rating of 11 percent.
Khan says Pew’s findings were a vindication of his call for an independent judiciary, his anti-corruption drive and demands for an end to the “insane” war on terror conducted by the US-allied Pakistani leadership.
“The ruling elite, just for the sake of US support and dollars, is killing its own people, paid to kill its own people. It is the most shameful part of our history,” he said.
The government, opposition and military have undoubtedly been discredited by rampant Taliban and al Qaeda-linked violence, economic meltdown, perennial political crises and the US raid against Osama bin Laden on May 2.
Khan rejects conspiracy theories that bin Laden was not killed in Abbottabad but describes his death at the hands of US Navy SEALs as “cold-blooded murder”, comparing it unfavourably to the courtroom justice meted out to the Nazis.
Khan is a man of contradictions who straddles cultural divides; the elite world of his education at Oxford University, and that lived by the masses who are drawn to his cricketing appeal and calls to tax the rich.
His recommended reading is the “brilliant” “My Life with the Taliban” by Abdul Salam Zaeef, once the Islamists’ ambassador to Pakistan and later an inmate at Guantanamo Bay.
Yet Khan rubbishes any prospect of Talibanisation in Pakistan, a country he says is dominated by the mystical Sufi strand of Islam.
His solution to the semi-autonomous tribal belt, where a homegrown Taliban insurgency is concentrated and foreign militants are based, is a peace agreement.
He compares his appeal to the popularity of prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, who was voted in on a socialist ticket in 1970 before being hanged nine years later following a military coup.
But few share his confidence.
Veteran political analyst Hasan Askari says Khan will struggle to translate crowds into votes and will suffer for his stance on the Taliban and his name-calling of opponents.
“People in Pakistan cast their votes with a lot of considerations, and Imran’s problem is that he is calling every leader a thief,” he said.
Reader Comments (23)
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Research polls now show Imran Khan being the most popular leader in Pakistan. If FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS are ALLOWED, we will most certainly see amazing changes in the fortunes of Pakistan and its 180 million citizens. For this to happen, the youth that is frustrated by the politics of the past few decades, and is sick of the same old parties and the same old faces making the same old promises and never delivering them (the three-four major parties who have all shared power now over the last two decades), needs to work from the grassroot level and help the Tehriki-Insaaf become a populous movement. Recommend
Yes, every other leader is a thief and Imran has withstood every opposition, including that of USA. He has gone through the political cauldron and come out a polished and a humble politician. He did not rise on the shoulders of the Establishment and through the corrupt political organizations of our parties. He stands as his own man, not willing to sell himself for few pieces of silver. Askari and his ilk have never said anything good about him, yet the leaders they support have always sung like a canary, as evidenced in Wikileaks. I ask Askari and his kind why this hatred of Imran??? Instead of supporting him and seeking a change in Pakistan’s fortune, is it that their bowl of rice maybe at risk and that they will be asked to tell the truth for once?? There is no reason for such obfuscations!!!Recommend
I would like to request everybody to support Imran Khan and gather for Hakomat Hatao Mulk Bachao Movement in Lahore on 24th July. Speically youth needs to come out its now or never. thanksRecommend
He is one of the best cricketer in the world but politics is very bad thing to indulge in. Whatever experiment these cricketers done in India was an utter failure. Eg- Navjyot Singh siddhu. Imran is starting a new party which is the most difficult task for a cricketer. To start a party he must have huge party fund, very good people from various institutions,He has to choose right coalition partners as his party can not win single handedly in today’s world. He must work hard for atleast 12 years to create base. In 12 years he must win atleast one state to create an impact on national polictics. He can learn many things from Mamta banerjee who recently capture west bangal. Politics is not a joke. It’s real hardwork. Imran should have great decision makers in his party to guide him as he does not have exposure in politics. The most important thing avoid tainted people in party and be down to earth. The magic will work ask mamta bannerjee. Recommend
if election hapend not selection under army spy direction then imran khan is the winner.
i wanna see him as prime minister he is closer to teyyep ordogan prime minister of turkey.Recommend
Has anyone ever asked this hero a tough question — or are all the interviews “powder puff” ones like this? He likes to use a broad brush and imply that everything will be just peachy when Pakistan abandons the war on terror and he makes peace with the Taliban – but the current govt has already made peace deals with the Taliban and that route doesn’t work, further the current govt has functionally abandoned the war on terror but is going through the motions to collect money from the USA and that doesn’t work.
How about cornering this guy and requiring him to answer some tough questions — how is he going to keep the economy going? – how is he going to take control of the military/isi? – how is he going to stop drone attacks? – what steps will he take to make peace with India? – how’s he going to handle relations with the USA and what really happens if that relationship ends? You get the drift — pandering to the masses is one thing – but Pakistan needs someone with substance – someone who has real answers to tough questions.Recommend
“People in Pakistan cast their votes with a lot of considerations, and Imran’s problem is that he is calling every leader a thief”
What else is he supposed to call them … angels ? Unfortunately, most leaders are thieves in some way. Some have stolen money from the national coffers, some have sold away their country’s assets at throwaway prices just to line their pockets with kick-backs, some have stolen from poor peasants working on their land by paying them pittance and forcing them to stay uneducated, some have effectively stolen by evading taxes for years and the list goes on !! We shout and scream against our leaders’ corruption and the lack of meritocracy they promote but when a guy calls this out straight, we even put him down ! Are we hypocritical or what ?! I agree Imran might struggle getting seats (I really hope he doesn’t!) and he should come out with more candidates doing the rounds in rural and urban neighborhoods, so people can identify with them and put a local face to a PTI symbol. I for one am willing to give Imran a shot. I really hope the Pew survey results materialise in the next election.Recommend
well you know what is the real problem of PAKISTAN,when some one stand to take step for the betterment of this homeland people start standing against them, I know God is also not away from these amusement of people but still it hurt alot Recommend
Veteran political analysts seem to be living in a world of make believe.
“People in Pakistan cast their votes with a lot of considerations…” – for crying out loud, does this veteran analyst not know how elections are rigged in this country . . . did he not read the report from the Election Commission about bogus votes (over 30 million)?
Imran is not calling every leader a thief . . . he is calling a spade a spade. Veteran analysts and investigative journalists should do their jobs and present to the public their findings on the the financial and ethical integrity of individuals holding public office and positions of influence.
Let’s get real.Recommend
He is the man!Recommend
Imran Khan is a spineless terrorist sympathizer and populist who says anything to get votes. He’s the Pakistani equivalent of Mitt Romney when it comes to populism. He just says whatever it takes to get people excited but has almost no real solutions and can’t face the fundamental fact destroying Pakistan – it’s inability to say no to radical Islam.Recommend
O come on et … why the heck can’t you guys see MQM or JUI or PPP or PMLN for that matter.. don’t be what is FOX to americans only publishing propaganda…come center…Recommend
But are Zardari and Nawaz Sharif not thieves?? Please prove me wrong Mr Hasan AskariRecommend
Is every leader not a thief? Are the people still okay with the PPP’s Pakistan? Are the people willing to give PMLN another chance?
They claim that PTI is inexperienced, it has no history of leading a nation. To them I ask; what ‘leading’ have they done?
To those who claim Imran Khan supports Taliban, I ask them if they know he STILL says to bring in police and intelligence officers to Waziristan along with politicians to be able to negotiate a peace treaty instead of killing randoms from a mile high in a drone.
Still people have their doubts about his views on the Taliban, to them I ask if the current policy is working?
The Pakistani leaders have invariably been corrupt and wasters of our tax money and that is his main goal–for if the corruption is gone, the tax money will be diverted to where it is needed; health and education. Recommend
PTI will sweep…InshaALLAH!!
It’s Indeed a better choice available than all the other politicians…Recommend
Calling every leader in recent years a thief is not incorrect if it is true. This article, I am afraid, is very anti-imran. It is people like these (the author) who are basically holding our country back and keeping it in the hell hole that it is now. Thank God we have 10 intelligent people for each one of such idiots.Recommend
back the honest!Recommend
“People in Pakistan cast their votes with a lot of considerations, and Imran’s problem is that he is calling every leader a thief,” he said.
That’s because they ARE all thiefs! What else do you expect an honest man to call them?Recommend
Dawn and Express tribune… both are spreading negative propaganda against Imran Khan, as you see in their previous articles. He is the only ray of hope in this era of Pakistan…. Recommend
Come on guys, every person must have freedom of speech. Let wrong people talk, every one knowns the defination of black and white. So use your mind rather than Imotions. Ps: just remember to vote to the rite person for Pakistan and for ur coming furture. Pakistan Zindabad.Recommend
I salute the filmmakers for making a film on one of the best Pakistani personality that people in Pakistan today can look up to with pride and honor. His worldwide appeal will help this film be seen all over, unlike another movie of another political group (read Benazir)! What’s even more surprising is to see Express finally acknowledging the success of Imran Khan as mentioned in the article… “Years later, he is just as famous after transforming into a successful politician and social activist.” This movie will turn the tide over and lead people to rethink Imran Khan as a viable alternative to Zardari and Nawaz! WELL DONE to the filmmakers..my prayers are with them!!!Recommend
Whatever “PEW” is, I am sure their data collectors haven’t asked anyone from the more than 70% poor people living outside the cities. Political advertising in Pakistan is a luxury only the well fed can afford. Imran Khan or no Imran Khan Pakistan is going to stay the way it is unless state and religion are dealt seperately
Recommend
Imran khan is a great leader after Quaid-e-AzamRecommend