In an uncivilized turn of events, the chief of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, Imran Khan was manhandled at the Punjab University Campus today. He was later arrested by the police. A group of students kept him detained on the campus and later turned him over to the police. According to Dawn’s Report:
Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chairman Imran Khan was arrested from outside the Punjab University’s new campus on Wednesday after he had been manhandled and detained in the campus allegedly by activists of the Islami Jamiat Talaba. Imran Khan had gone to the university at the invitation of a joint action committee of students.
The visit had been approved by Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of Jamaat-i-Islami, to which the IJT is affiliated. On his arrival at the campus, the PTI chief was confronted reportedly by a group of IJT activists who kicked him around and punched him. They took him to a room in the Centre for High Energy Physics and detained him there for about 45 minutes.
This is an interesting (and sad) turn of events. Imran Khan’s party and the mother party of IJT are both partners in APDM. Imran and Qazi have been seen together in many media photo shoots for the past year or so. Will today’s action by IJT guys will cause long term bad-blood between the two parties? It is left to be seen.
We strongly believe that inspite of political differences, no person deserves physical bashing and humiliation as was met out to Imran. Political differences should never be taken to such extreme where people use force to get their point across. It is wrong. Shame on those who manhandled him. I was recently reading an article on political bashing in the Wall Street Journal. It had a punch line which just kept resonating with me. It read:
Our politics suffer when passions overcome reason and vitriol becomes virtue.
Details on Imran’s manhandling can be read here, here, here and here.
Pls read from the following link,another perspective
http://www.kashifhafeez.com/mazameen_large.php?pat h=2007-11-19&img=kh_articles/large/2007-11-19.gif
Regards
Atelier (whoever you are), You got to be kidding here. Who paid you to write this up? Watch the link below if you want to know the support that this guy garners among the Pakistani youth. And this also disproves everything you said about PU. PU loves Imran and here is the proof.
http://tinyurl.com/39hhrs
If Imran was a political opportunist, he would have been the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Political opportunism is the name of the circus that Pakistani politics is all about. What Imran stands for is called “not compromising on principles”, and if you don’t know what that means, I sympathize with you.
“Mr” Altaf Husain and his “political fortress”. Do you have any idea why Altaf Husain hasn’t set foot in Pakistan since the early 90’s? Do you know what the politics of MQM is about. Do you know how much blood he and his goons have on their hands, and if Imran raises his voice against it, then that is a “crime”. How? If you are a Pakistani, I am ashamed, if not, then I want to know who you represent.
Imran’s struggle is to change the course of this country. If the job was that easy, we wouldn’t be talking about it. It may take 20/30 years, maybe more. This is not about running for an office, and winning an election. As Imran said
“It’s not a defeat that destroys you, it’s being demoralised by defeat that destroys you.” It’s a long struggle and the struggle will go on.
Dear Editor,
What utter twaddle by Britain ’s favorite Pakistani Playboy in “Imran Khan’s message to UK : ‘My life is in danger” dated Nov 15, 2007 in The Independent of UK.
This Enfant terrible Khan needs a lot of growing up to be taken seriously by the voting masses in Pakistan . Imran’s perpetual fixation with Pervez Musharraf and lately with Altaf Hussein is like a malignant obsession that is sucking away all the sanity and energy of a sportsman and turning him into a bitter, fire throwing loser of a politician.
For every ailment that inflicts Pakistan today Imran believes in blaming Pervez Musharraf and ready to lynch him & for every political beating that he suffers the blame has to be taken by Mr. Altaf Hussein. Mr. Khan is conveniently forgetting the democratically elected stalwarts from PML (N) & PPP and their shameful performance that he in past has critiqued in most unflattering terms and who also happen to be his new found best friends. By no account one can defend the many mistakes committed by Pervez Musharraf or the emergency imposed, but to be opportunist like Mr. Khan and castigate the Pakistan President for every evil that prevails is at best vinductive, malicious and stupid.
Emerging triumphantly after 11 days in hiding post emergency he marches to Punjab University campus expecting to be garlanded and feted as a champion of democracy and liberty. Punjab University the alma mater of many a true brave, luminary, academics and real sons of Punjab was not ready for this nonsense from ET (Enfant terrible) Khan and gave him the most unwelcoming and humiliating reception to remember. The students of IJT (student wing of Jamat-e-Islami) who a day earlier had forewarned him of serious consequences if he dares to destroy the sanctity and peace of campus turned up in hordes, drove him out and handed him over to the police. Sad, indeed very sad but is this not the Imran who was cozying up with the Mullahs and becoming their favorite born again Muslim, Too bad he got suckered by his friends the Mullahs. Imran was forgetting that by entering the Punjab University campus he was encroaching on the holy citadel of student power under the Jamat-e-Islami and under no condition they would have compromised their grip on the institution to a politically ambitious blue eyed Paki playboy. The politically strong vote banks of PPP, PML (Q&N) and MQM are like political fortresses that Imran Khan can only dream of; whatever little hopes that he carried vis-à-vis Punjab and NWFP are all jeopardized after the humiliating campus reception. The best part of it all is that both Pervez Musharraf and Altaf Hussein were nowhere near and yet it happened to Mr. Khan.
Mr. Khan is acting like a sore loser; the well orchestrated legal tirade and media offensive against his political opponents are becoming farcical and even his friends in the British press and well-wishers seem to be realizing its folly and futility. It seems like that it has not dawned on him what the British Government has assiduously come to understand and maturely decided to let the courts take their course as well as to ignore such baseless and malevolent overtures from the politically adventurous Mr. Khan who on suffering political humiliations at home is now hell-bent on settling scores on the British turf.
Instead of such diversionary and cheap tactics Mr. Khan needs to be politically mature, act responsibly and fight it out like a confident candidate in the political filed where the masses will decide who is befitting of their trust. Let us not forget that Imran in past has played on a very weak political pitch and that only a helping hand from a benevolent establishment fixed the match to his advantage resulting in the lone seat that his party enjoys.
This Enfant Terrrible Khan really needs some growing up to do.
Atelier
Tehreek-i-insaaf is asking for financial support to help pay for the costs of organizing the movement against the dictator. You can make payments using paypal or by check. If you believe in what Imran stands for, this is the time to show your support.
Link below.
http://tinyurl.com/34lrfv
Imran’s Release on Sky News
http://tinyurl.com/2nx3oh
Abbas Athar on Jamaat Islami and IJT; http://www.express.com.pk/epaper/Article.aspx?news ID=1100303230&Date=20071122&Issue=NP_LHE
Anyone who wants to see the real faces of Jamaat Islami and IJT should read Abbas Athar’s columns these days.
“It’s not a defeat that destroys you, it’s being demoralised by defeat that destroys you.” Imran Khan
Imran Khan released from prison
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/710597 3.stm