Adil Najam
Flying in from London to Islamabad, I bumped into Imran Khan on the plane. There he was, sitting a couple of rows ahead of me, reading The News, with his own picture on its front page (meeting Nawaz Sharif in London). I had not yet seen the paper, nor followed that days events in London (I was flying in from Amsterdam where I had been in meetings all day). We exchanged a few pleasantries, said nice things about what we had been up to since we had last met in Chicago just about a year ago (I had reported in detail on that here).
I must say, I did not fully grasp everything he said until later after I landed in Islamabad and first saw his supporters and TV cameras lined up at the airport, and then every news channel covering his press conference in London, and its political implications. In our short conversation he pretty much covered the exact same points I saw him presenting on TV,with pretty much the same passion. I guess he had come fresh from the press conference. Since all of that is now in the news already, I will not repeat it. The one thing I did ask him about were rumors about his ‘patch up’ with the MQM leading to the lifting of the ban on his entry into Sindh. Readers would remember those rumors surfacing everywhere, including on ATP, a few days ago. He shrugged those away as nonsense and just rumors.
My own sense from this very brief discussion chat was that:
(a) he does seem very serious abut taking on MQM Chief Altaf Hussain,
(b) that he fully realizes the seriousness of what he is doing, and
(c) he seems to be doing this out of personal conviction much more than political opportunism.
I may turn out to be wrong, but my first impression was that the earnestness with which he spoke about what he was doing and why that cannot be easily faked. This, then, seems not to be a story that will fizzle away easily. Not if Imran can help it.
If this is, in fact, so then Pakistan politics will continue to become even more interesting than it already is. ‘Party’ politics may just come back into limelight, but not ways one had expected. If indeed there are to be elections in Pakistan soon then the impact of this tussle could go well beyond defining what happens to just Imran Khan and the MQM.
By the way, as it turned out it was an interesting PIA fight to be on. Interior Minister Aftab Sherpao boarded soon after me. As did Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan (returning, I believe from the WTO meeting in Geneva). They both greeted Imran graciously, and briefly, and then then nearly all of us made the best of the overnight flight by going off to sleep. Of course, I first watched the ‘Tribute to a Legend’ show on Pakistani filmstar Muhammad Ali on the PIA channel.
P.S. In case you wonder, no, I did not speak to either of the Ministers. I do not know either of them, and would not have known what to say anyhow, especially if either of them had seen my own most recent musings on the political happenings in Pakistan.
In late 1980’s ppp student wing PSF as involved in heavy battles with MQM. Najeeb(PSF) leader abducted hundreds of APMSO workers and it was Asif Nawaz who broke a deal between MQM and PPP. I dont support MQM but just banning a political party will not curb violence in country where agencies are no different from robbers. One has to see both sides of story.
King_faisal has raised good points. And, I don’t agree with the observation above that Imran Khan could have become the PM under Mush if he wanted to. This is a blatant misrepresentation of facts. Imran Khan was an ardent supporter of 1999 coup and remained a Mush loyalist until 2002 in the hope that he would gain power under the military umbrella. And, when Mush dumped him for the Chaudrys and other rag tag opportunists, Imran turned against the one man rule.
Records of his public statements are an open statement. Frankly this is hypocritical in the typical Pakistani politicos style.
And, a man who was condemning brown sahebs (and other blah blah) after his conversion to the cause of Islam and desi-ethos (having lived a life of a playboy) our ‘leader’ returned with Jemima Khan! And, he does not have the courage to accept a young girl as his daughter when all evidence points to this fact. This is crass, low-life behaviour. If anyone has doubts, please check that Sita White’s daughter’s guardian is Jemima Khan- at least Jemima had the humanity to take care of this unfortunate girl.
How can I be a party of this enthusiasm about Imran Khan and his heroism. He is at best suited for the Pakistan Cricket Board and doing charity work. His limited abilities will impose another NS on this hapless nation.
Who is paying for the litigation against Altaf Hussain? If it is Imran then his money is needed for SK Hospital and if it is someone else then there should be more transparency.
Great idea to escape the 51 degrees heat in Pakistan for lobbying with UK politicians under the pretext of some non-starter litigation!
I find this drama another chapter in Imran Khan’s hypocritical public persona!
Note: I am not an MQM supporter – that is a curse and needs to be fought at a political level in Karachi and elsewhere in the country not by seeking the support of British MPs.
I would love to think that Imaran Khan’s action will bring fruit and it will change the political process in Pakistan but we have to look back on how it all started. People were killed then Imran was banned from entering Sindh; which in turn forced him to take action. Now both MQM and Imran Khan are blaming each other and I dont see any other end than a compromise later for “Political reasons”. I hope I am wrong.
today imran khan is accusing altaf hussain of being a murderer. in 1996, imran khan blamed ppp government for a bomb blast which killed 7 people at his hospital:
http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia /SAserials/Dawn/1996/09My96.html
“…At a news conference at the newly opened Scotch Corner office of his Tehrik-i-Insaaf, he maintained that since the government itself was involved in the blast it could not conduct an inquiry into the incident…”
today, imran khan is calling for the overthrow of musharraf government and to this end, he is enlisting the help of nawaz sharif. in 2000, imran khan welcomed the supreme court decision which legitimised general musharraf’s coup against nawaz sharif.
after quitting politics in 1929, jinnah left for vilayath where he took to practicing law. he returned in 1934 and 13 years later, he was able to conjure a country out of thin air due to the support of largely jahil and unpurh muslim awam whose zubaan jinnah could barely speak. bhutto joined ayub’s cabinet in 1957 and 10 years later he went on to form the most popular political party in pakistan. note that bhutto’s tenure in ayub’s cabinet was 2 years longer than shaukat aziz’s to date tenure in musharraf government. imran khan has been in the public eye for 36 years last 11 of which in politics. in the next election it will be an achievement for imran khan to win a seat from his home city of lahore.
imran khan’s yateem status in pakistani politics is a testament to political acumen of pakistani awam which is smart enough to see through hypocrisy of a man especially one who lectures on morality and yet cannot acknowledge the existence of his own daughter – a man who calls altaf hussain a murderer while openly hobnobbing with bin laden supporter who have killed 700+ army jawans.
says something that imran khan is the most popular political personality on this website.
sorry for the repetiton..hope it works now…
the correct link to
George Galloway in the house of commons
(for Imran Khan´s cause)
http://tinyurl.com/2zpftp