As promised, let me present a case against The Messiah, err I mean Imran Khan. I warn you, this will be a long read. I also fully expect this thread to blow up in outrage over my remarks and for me to be labeled as a tool for corrupt politicians like Zardari/Nawaz/Altaf. So be it. I’m going to start with listing a few things I like about Imran. First and foremost, he’s my favorite cricket player of all-time and the reason I started watching the sport. That’s not really relevant to this thread though (but I do wonder how many of his supporters mix their feelings for the cricket player with the politician). I believe Imran is probably the least corrupt of all Pakistani politicians. I don’t think he can ever be bought, which is an admirable thing. I also greatly admire his efforts in building the cancer hospital for the poor, which is probably his life’s greatest achievement. See there? I can see the good in him. Unfortunately, I also see the bad.
Imran’s a hypocrite:
This supposed champion of democracy and people’s power actually has a terrible record in supporting democracy itself. He had a very friendly relationship with arguably the worst dictator in Pakistan’s history, Zia Ul Haq. But that was prior to his entry into politics and one can argue he was merely indulging the head of state. However, nothing can justify this democratic champion’s support of General Musharraf in 1999. That’s right folks; Imran supported the military coup that overthrew Nawaz Sharif. Now there is no doubt that Sharif was corrupt and incompetent, and was pushing Pakistan to tilt even more towards a religious hard line. Be that as it may, he was the democratically elected Prime Minister of the country. If Imran didn’t like his policies (and 90% of the country didn’t), he should’ve led a campaign to defeat him at the polls.
Instead, he supported the military in toppling democracy. If a politician in any other country where democracy is practiced had done the same thing as Imran, his legitimacy to govern would forever be tarnished. In Pakistan, Imran is treated like the savior of democracy, and today every other sentence from Imran’s mouth is about the will of the people and practicing democratic principles! Also, after consistently accusing Altaf Hussain of murder and even filing a case against him, he has since
softened his stance. Why even consider aligning yourself with “murderers” Mr. Khan? Inconsistent much?
Imran also loves to attack the character of his political rivals. He advocates personal responsibility and doing the right thing. Of course what Imran forgets to mention is none of that actually applies to him.
The Sita White affair is proof of that. Imran conceived an illegitimate child with Sita White, Tyrian, and then denied being the father. He lost a paternity suit in 1997. To me, it is absolutely disgusting that he would run away from his responsibility like that. We all make mistakes and I don’t fault Imran for conceiving a child when he didn’t intend to. I do, however, fault him for abandoning said child and refusing to own up to his mistake. What moral standing does Imran have to criticize Zardari, Nawaz, or any other politician’s characters when he himself is no paradigm of virtue? Oh by the way, if anyone has the gall to attack him on the Sita White issue, Imran is not above responding with
a racist joke (listen from 2:20 onwards). For those that don’t understand Urdu, Imran responds to a dark-skinned politician’s claim that Tyrian looks like him (Imran) by saying that if he went to Africa, he’s sure to find lots of children that look like the (dark-skinned) politician. Class personified!
Imran’s soft on extremism:
Imran has consistently been soft on extremist parties in Pakistan, as well as the Taliban. IMO, he only offers lip service about Taliban being evil terrorists. All I ask is that Imran only protest half as much against the act of terrorism that the Taliban commit as he does against the United States. Hey Imran, how about staging a dharna against the Taliban? Just once? Instead, he is
willing to pick a gun and join them against the US! Let that sink in for a second. He is willing to join the same guys who routinely blow up innocent children, bomb schools and hospitals, and behead anyone who doesn’t wear a beard. He surrounds himself with
extremists like Ejaz Chaudhry and Hamid Gul. He also formed an alliance in the past with one of the most hard-line extremist parties in Pakistan, the Jamat e Islami (until things turned sour later politically and they parted ways). Imran’s solution to ending terrorism is for America to withdraw from the subcontinent and to have “peace talks” with the Taliban. He ignores the fact that the Taliban took advantage of previous peace deals offered to them by Pakistan to regroup and plan even more attacks. And of course the Taliban will leave Pakistan alone if Pakistan leaves them alone. That’s what they want! To be left alone to commit atrocities without anyone stopping them. What Imran needs to understand is that the Taliban are butchers and monsters. We shouldn’t be making peace deals with them, we should be eradicating them.
