I am sure many of ATP readers will be surprised to see this photograph in which former President Musharraf is saluting his most vocal critic Imran Khan.
Before you jump onto conclusions, let me tell you that this photograph is said to be taken during a fund raising event doe the Shaukat Khannum Memorial Hospital sometime in 2000-01. It was the time when Imran Khan’s PTI supported Musharraf and he was a reportedly hot favorite candidate for Prime Ministership.
Do you think the photograph is real? Imran Khan actually mentioned this one in many of his speeches in US recently. Watch the part of his speech after 4 minutes and 50 seconds in a video here. And if it is, what does it tell us about Gen. Musharraf. Or about Imran Khan.
Again, very prescient analysis Umar.
@ Naz and Mehreen,
How do you feel about him walking out on the Women Protection Bill and refusing to support perhaps the only positive legislation during the time he was in Parliament?
I, too, will back ANYONE willing to bring the radical change in Pakistan. He has his faults but the problem is that Imran Khan seems the only one who can possibly bring change in Pakistan. I personally admire him for change and justice he talks about and I find him 100 times better than most crooks we have around us. He is honest and delivers what he promises. However, I do not think his party is organized and well structured yet and he needs to work on that. His relationship with right wing parties is also not clear as one hand he is close to JI and yet their student wing IJT bitterly oppose him. I must also admit that I would like to see Khan distancing himself from Jamat Islami elements if he wants to achieve anything real. He is running a membership campaign which is a step in right direction. Good Luck to him.
On a side note, I have been reading various discussions on this forum since last week. Generally speaking, the problem with people engaged in a discussion on most Pakistani forums is that when they are out of valid arguments, they start getting personal (labeling and calling names). Even the highly educated and supposedly sensible people demonstrate this quality which is unfortunate really.
Thanks for sharing this.
Ahsn, you have explained the roots of the word Morality but you have not understood Imran’s point. In the early civilisations, civility or morality only began to take root in it’s modern state when religion was introduced to civil societies.
This is not to say all moral behaviour has been defined by religion, yet there is a heavy influence of it. The ten commandents are synomous with majority faith’s and also form the frame of reference for most people when explaining right and wrong.
You have quite correctly pointed out the composition of the Elite and also the problem for Pakistan. Until, we have a large socialist movement to remove this tyrannical/corrupt elite….and re-distribute the land from the feudals – only then will change come to Pakistan. I’m not sure Imran is the man to lead such a radical movement…..however, i’d back anyone willing to do it!
Imran Khan presented in the picture and the man to whom the present comments are posted is the man of the past. His present and real identity is made clear by himself in an interview:
http://www.livingislam.org/o/wcm_e.html
Based on this interview my comment is:
In a this interview Mr. Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi traces his family origin, to explain to what slave generation he belongs and what is his family status in Pakistani population. He puts himself in an Elite group. It is true that we have in Pakistan a group of Elites which has been (1) governing and (2) running the State and the affaires of the State since 1947. The rest of the population is composed of ordinary people and this majority group is kept out of the control of the state and state affairs.
In the first group of Elites are basically the politicians of established feudal or very rich business families. As an aberration to this classification, the Army generals of Pakistan have also imposed themselves in this ruling group. The family of Mr. Imran Khan (IK) does not belong to this group but it belongs to the second group which is basically composed of civil servants. The characteristic of this group is very well detailed by Mr. Khan. This group has a real slave mentality. It does every thing to please the superior governing group.
Mr. Khan went to Elite schools and even to the University of Oxford where he did his B.A. in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics). He was a good student as well as an excellent cricketer during his days at Oxford. However, he only managed a
@Umair
Why cant you just accept Imran Khan as true leader and his party as a genuine party rather than projecting your heavily biased and strange view of politics in Pakistan.