Cup winning captain to Prime Minister: Imran Khan
Winning the World Cup, March 25th,1992, was an iconic day for Pakistan. The national cricket team beat England to win the world cup. Imran Khan was the face of victory. The Pakistani captain Imran Khan’s name was already on the global celebrity list across continents. But almost thirty years later, Imran’s public identity has completely changed. He is now Pakistan’s Prime Minister.
I pledge to my Pakistan nation that I will prove that we can fix our governance system in this country. -Imran Khan
So how did a player became the Prime Minister. Will, he able to bring change in the country? From a young age Imran Khan was exposed to foreign influences. He grew up in Lahore, where he attended British prep schools and eventually went to Oxford University. Khan’s cricketing skills were shaped when he was in England, he started liking western culture. Imran’s athletic career lasted more than two decades after winning the World Cup in 1992. He retired from the game, initially he wasn’t interested in politics. In 1994, he opened the first specialized Cancer Hospital in Pakistan. Around the same time, he started shedding his ladies-man image and re-engage with religion. He married his first wife of three British Heiress Jemima Goldsmith who converted to Islam after they settled in Pakistan. He further distanced himself from his life in the west. In 1996, Imran created his political party “Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf.” He promised to build an Islamic welfare state that would take care of the poor and hold the people in power accountable. He had a strong anti-corruption message and positioned himself as the alternative to Pakistan’s two political dynasties the Sharif’s and the Bhutto’s. These two political dynasties were trading off power and corruption charges for decades. At first, Khan’s party had little success, failing to win a single parliamentary seat in the 1997 elections. But several years later, in 2013, Khan’s party won control of a north-western province bordering Afghanistan. Imran’s anti-corruption agenda has started gaining ground, especially among young Pakistanis. It was working on a national level, he went from being a longshot to a strong political contestant. In the election for Prime Minister, he lost in a wash to wreath of the Sharif dynasty but was now a key political player in Pakistan.
As a cricketer, Imran Khan was a reliable performer but as a politician, he had taken some unexpected turns in 2013. Khan’s party called for a review of Pakistan’s controversial blasphemy law which carries a death penalty for insulting Islam. They said religion was being misused to attain power in the majority Muslim country. Five years later, Imran Khan has been criticized for defending the same law. Khan has also been criticized for his leniency with the Taliban. In 2012, 14-year-old Malala Yousuf Zai was shot in Pakistan by the Taliban for championing education for girls. Imran Khan blames the US for the rise of extremism in the region. He has long been a critic of US military intervention in Afghanistan particularly, the drone strike along the Pakistan border. That resonated with the Pakistani population that sees the US as an enemy. Imran’s strategy of negotiation with the Taliban and a complete elimination of drones earned him the nickname “Taliban Khan.”
Why is Imran known as Taliban Khan- one India
What makes Imran’s tolerance of the Taliban? Maybe Pakistan’s military that seems to hold power. The Military’s power played an important role in 1947, when British India was divided into two countries a Muslim majority Pakistan and Hindu Majority India. As people migrated to the country of their religion, intense violence broke out. The Pakistani military stepped in to settle conflict at the border, becoming a symbol of national identity. The establishment that held a new country together since then the military has controlled all national security and foreign policy. The concern is the war in Afghanistan which benefits them in two ways. One, the US has paid the Pakistani military billions in exchange for routes to the country to continue their fight with the Taliban. Two, That keep them isolated from the rival especially India. We can see the military intervention in Pakistan’s democratic process. Since independence, the military has either ruled the country directly or controlled it indirectly. Pakistan has 22 Prime Minister and none of them has ever completed a full term, they either resigned or terminated or they were assassinated. There were also three successful military coups because of Pakistan’s tense political past the election. In the month leading up to the vote, religious extremist groups try to destabilize the electoral process. In the 2018 election, Imran’s opponent former prime Minister Sharif was convicted of corruption and sentenced to 10 years in jail. Imran Khan went on to win against Bilawal Bhutto and Shahnaz Sharif the new candidates from Pakistan’s political dynasties. On August 18th, 2018, Imran Khan was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. Since the victory, Imran’s word on corruption remains upfront. But his anti-American stance seems to be shifting.
Whether Imran will bring the change he promised is still uncertain. The certainty is that his leadership will be shaped by his relationship with Pakistan’s most powerful authority- the military.
reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imran_Khan
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Imran-Khan
this is an educational article, not meant to hurt anyone.
Originally published at https://weekendblogbydk.blogspot.com on April 9, 2021.
