Ahmer Muzammil
It has become fashionable amongst the enlightened moderate crowd in Pakistan to criticize Imran Khan. He is supposedly the right wing nut that if came in power would lock the women in boxes, ban our daughters and our sisters from going to school, organize Friday beheadings in public square and ban all arts & music from the society. His life and the manner in which he has carried himself to this day testify to the contrary but that’s irrelevant. If you think that extremist, unreasonable, rigid mindsets exists just on the right then in the context of Pakistan you would be sadly mistaken.
For a rabid cricket fanatic who grew up in Karachi in late 80’s early 90’s, it’s doubly hard for someone like me to admire Imran and it’s almost a reflex action to despise him because of the rivalry he had with my childhood hero Miandad. We should all strive however to grow out of our teen prejudices and judge matters on merit.
After all the rhetoric here are the facts. Imran succeeded to establish a state of the Art Cancer Research facility in a 3rd world country. 70% of the patients of Shaukat Khanam Hospital don’t pay a penny for a 1st world Cancer treatment that would cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars elsewhere. Till recently he was the biggest donor to Shaukat Khanam, his yearly contributions usually exceeding 10 million rupees a year. There is no other hospital in the world that provides this level of service free of cost to the patients that can’t afford it.
He recently established a private University in a down-trodden, backward and impoverished region of Mianwali. Namal University is accredited by Bradford University in England, which Imran is a Chencellor of. The graduates of Namal University would have access to the same quality education and therefore will be awarded the same diplomas as the graduates of Bradford University in England. It can be safely assumed that 95% of these impoverished Namal graduates could never even dream of a prestigious diploma like the ones they’ll receive from Bradford, if it weren’t for the almost incessant drive of this great man.
Let me clearly state here that I don’t always agree with Imran on politics, although mostly we are on the same page. But I have no doubt that his stances and his point of views are sincere and they are not colored with self-interest. I think he was wrong on swat because ANP masterfully highlighted the dictatorial tendencies of TTP in swat and turned the public opinion on its head. I also don’t think there is anything noble about a culture that prevent women from access to education and their free will is crushed under the garb of ‘tribal customs’. If Quaid-e-azam made a pact with the people of FATA according to the realities on ground back in 1947 then it’s not blasphemy to reevaluate that social contract. Quaid-e-azam was not a messanger of Allah and he made the best possible decisions according to the circumstances around him and there is no harm in revisiting if it’s for the over-all good of Pakistan.
I agree with Imran that bombing alone isn’t the answer when you are dealing with a territory inside your own border but I don’t quite understand who is that we can really talk with in Waziristan?
It’s a rather complex problem we face in pakistan, a mess of gigantic proportions thanks to the policies of armament of civilians by our military establishments of past, and for what? Nothing but the financial gains of some generals and institutional relevance of Army in the society. Better people would have brought these ex generals in courts and held them responsible for this current mess rather than hearing their sermons on democracy and transparency on TV on Mayray mutabiq. But that’s a different discussion for a different time.
We should keep our differences and criticism in perspective and acknowledge positive efforts of our adversaries. Jamatis should not shy away from appreciating the enormous amount of work Mustafa kamal has done in Karachi and with the same token we should realize that these Zardaris, bhuttos, Chaudhry’s, Geelani’s et al have far more money and influence than Imran but they have done far less good (some would argue they have rather done harm) for the common man of Pakistan. The people of Pakistan should remember this little detail while they are in the voting booth.
Please find the video of Namal College ceremony below. This ceremony was covered by Mujahid Barelvi for his proram Doosra Pehlo for Pakistan CNBC.
ATP’s Earlier Post on Namal College here.
Below is the link tocomplete program where Mujahid Brelvi ( the Anchor) is talking to the students/administartive staff at Namal.
I think we can disgree with Imran on a few of his stances but to me his integrity and sincerity is beyond doubt. The are where Nama is built is the home of very famous people ( Nawab kalabagh, Shadi khels who Niazi travel service and many retired and serving memebers of the civil servicesand armed forces) but it was Imran who, after winning his first and so far his only election from that constituency, who decided to build a college in 2002. It was inaugurated in 2008 ( 4 months after his term expired!!!!!!!)Now the college is given the status of univeristy and there is a plan to build a knowledge city.
http://insaf.pk/Media/Videos/tabid/62/articleType/ ArticleView/articleId/2955/Doosra-Pehlu-Namal-Univ ersity-A-Dream-into-Reality.aspx
I think Imran Khan’s charitable contributions are exemplary. The Shaukat Khanum hospital is a wonderful institution, and I’m glad that to see the graduation of students from Namal college. If only Imran Khan would give up his reactionary brand of politics and return to philanthropy full time. He’s good at it, he’s honest, and he’ll achieve tangible success.
With that in mind, this title’s post is misleading. Although the writer briefly touches upon Namal College, he doesn’t mention anything about the college itself. Questions such as the subject taught here, the employment prospects of the graduates, the connection to the local community, among others, are not addressed. In fact, the vast majority of this post is a defense of Imran Khan’s politics, rather than a good faith summary/introduction to Namal College. If you want to defend Imran Khan’s political view, then please do so, but don’t try to confuse the reader by dressing up Imran Khan’s political views in this confusing manner.
Imran Khan is a great man, but an extremly unfortunate one to be a part of a population who thus far has miserably failed to see his greatness and his ambitions. I think the entire pakistani population 100% deserves the treatment they are getting at the hands of the great leaders they elected. I personally do not think Imran Khan has made any ‘mistakes’, and if at all they are mistakes someone ought to convince me they outweigh mass murder, embazzlement of national wealth, being dishonest beyond belief etc etc.
Congratulation and many thanks to Imran Khan for the success of his university. He made a state of the art cancer hospital and I hope one day he is able to cure the cancer Pakistan suffers from.
Imran Khan is silent on Taliban occupation of Pakistani territory, Taliban mistreatment of Pakistani women, Taliban murder of Pakistani civilians, but is very vocal is opposing Pakistani action against criminal Talibans. That is why he is rightfully seen as closet Taliban.
I don’t appreciate Imran Khan’s dual stances on extremely important issues, such as his claiming that he will be first to defend Pakistani military, but he opposes military operations. So what does the military exist for in Taliban Khan’s mind ? For parades ?
I would also dispute the writer’s claim that the ANP “outwitted” the Taliban in Swat. The ANP fully believed its policies of appeasement was the right way, its sheer good luck for Pakistan that the Taliban are utter neanderthals who alienate everyone in Pakistan (except mullahs and Imran Khan).
I share your positive feelings about Imran. He’s a very sincere man with good intentions who is practically helping a lot of very unfortunate Pakistanis and setting a good example of public and social service for others.
But Imran Khan is not alone in being misguided about the Taliban. Though I personally like Imran Khan for all of his philanthropic work that helps many desperately poor and needy Pakistanis, I think he continues to be clueless about what it means to appease the Taliban. If the Taliban do succeed, people like him will be their first victims, given his own background as a westernized person who has engaged in many “non-Islamic” acts in his past.
I continue to have concerns about his judgment and the company he keeps. He needs to understand the consequences of a potential Taliban takeover and balance those against other still imperfect but better alternatives.