I am not a big fan of Imran Khan. However, I think the writer was perhaps a bit too critical of him.
KARACHI: This is with reference to Salman Rashid’s article of August 6 titled “Will the real one please stand up?”.
Let me first make it clear that I am not a follower of the PTI and neither was I a big fan of Imran Khan during his cricketing career. However, I think the writer was perhaps a bit too critical of him. I accept that he has always been a bit full of himself and many of his decisions and actions during his captaincy were biased, such as ending the career of Iqbal Qasim or favouring certain players like Abdul Qadir. Also, as a captain, he didn’t seem too open to criticism of his actions and decisions. However, the bottom line is that he delivered the goods — he won Pakistan the World Cup. If Pakistani cricket ever had a leader, it was Imran Khan, and comparing Khan to Alexander is a little unjust because there has only been one Alexander in the history of the world.
In politics, he is the only one who has given something back to the country and that too before stepping into the political arena. As for the point mentioned by the writer that only the scum rise in the sewer of Pakistan politics, that is correct. However, Imran Khan is not in that category since he is not rising above the rest.
Arshad Kamal
Published in The Express Tribune, August 9th, 2011.
