In a recently aired discussion with veteran journalist Mr. Arif Nizami, ex cricketer turned politician Mr. Imran Khan defended himself as a leftist. He expressed his desire to establish a welfare state with a more socialist view concerning the economy. He spoke passionately about the anti-imperialism agenda he wishes to follow – once again appealing to the audience that he is indeed left liberal. Mr. Khan’s wonderful Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital was mentioned to show what a good philanthropist the good cricketer is. A few days after the interview, Mr. Khan organized his biggest rally to date. While different agencies and papers are reporting conflicting numbers, there is no denying that people turned up for it en masse.
Mr. Khan appears to have learnt the game of politics at last. Alliances have been forged; a few big names have joined the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf. The party was until recently described as a “one man show” by many politicians. There are many rumors of the Inter Services Intelligence Agency backing him as they see him as a better rightist alternative to ex premier Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif; a man who has interfered with the military before and even now calls for curbing its power.
While his ambitions seem honorable, there are many issues he seems to be silent on. He talks about empowering women, talks about how his vote base is many educated urbanites and the “youth”. He does not talk about his affiliation with the religious parties or what his strategy is to stop extremism. Mr. Khan seems to believe that the only thing plaguing Pakistan is corruption, not religious extremism, not xenophobia, and certainly not the rights of minorities. He goes on about “daughter of the nation” Aafia Siddiqui but has not done a single thing to help out Asia Bibi, the Christian women on death row over blasphemy charges. Contradictions seem to emerge in his party philosophy. He told the Daily Telegraph while sitting in London that his party was in favor of changing the dictator created blasphemy law that was never blessed by a parliament. His political workers attended a pro Qadri rally (the murderer of the late Punjab Governor Taseer) and announced that if the PTI came to power, they would never let the blasphemy law be amended. He insists that the war on terror is an alien war brought to the country by the Americans. What he does not take into account are the conditions of Pakistan where radical extremism is escalating at an alarming rate. Even if Pakistan abandons its partnership with the US, terror will continue, groups who believe that their version of Islam should be imposed in Pakistan will continue to attack the Pakistan government and the people.
Mr. Khan keeps talking about “Sharia law” and how he plans on introducing it in Pakistan. Clearly, he is not the leftist he claims to be. Whose Sharia law Mr. Khan? General Zia’s? The Sip-e-Sahaba’s? Sharia can be interpreted in many different ways and with his alliances with the far right leaning religious parties of Pakistan, the Sharia he will impose could be quite harsh. Will his Sharia go as far as stopping all male female interaction if the pair in question are not related as is the case with many types of Sharia law? Perhaps Mr. Khan believes that by imposing the same brand of Sharia that the Taliban want in Pakistan he will be able to convince them not to attack the government of Pakistan and its citizens. These are all questions we need to think about before we decide to go out and vote for him. Voting is a freedom, by voting in a man who wants to establish Sharia, will we be giving up our own freedoms? Yes Mr. Khan has now become a force to be reckoned with and yes, Mr. Khan does has the power to change a lot. The question we must ask ourselves is, are the changes he wants to introduce a good idea?
http://youtu.be/jIRgiYs8LK4
