Imran Khan: Pakistan’s cricket-playing revolutionary – by David Ignatius
Pakistan must make a settlement with the Taliban and decouple itself from America's wars in Afghanistan and the tribal areas - says Imran Khan.
Pakistani politics these days is something of a feudal system, dominated by a tired collection of old-line parties and politicians — with one notable exception: He’s a charismatic former cricket star named Imran Khan, who talks like a Pakistani Robbespierre.
“Pakistan is like France before the revolution,” he says. “We are at a historical crossroads. We can’t go on this way anymore.”
Drawing Room Revolutionary
Khan makes a lordly revolutionary, presiding over a hilltop estate that overlooks Islamabad. He’s still movie-star handsome at 57, and he discusses politics with the fervor of a man who, in addition to being the top cricketer of his generation, took a degree at Oxford in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.
PTI: High-Visibility Flop in Pakistani Politics
Khan formed his political party, the Movement for Justice (Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf PTI), in 1996, four years after he retired from cricket. Despite his celebrity, the party has been regarded by Pakistani analysts as a high-visibility flop, doing poorly in elections and gaining just one parliamentary seat.
Truce with the Taliban Terrorists
Khan’s radicalism is least convincing when it comes to security issues. He argues that Pakistan must make a settlement with the Taliban and decouple itself from America’s wars in Afghanistan and the tribal areas. When I ask whether this future Pakistan might not be at the mercy of Muslim radicals, as Iran was after its revolution in 1979, Khan insists that the extremists will retreat if they no longer can fulminate against America and its Pakistani “agents.”
Bribe the Military
The cricketer, known for his lightning fast bowling, would certainly topple some wickets if his movement gained momentum. Asked how the Pakistani military would respond to his plans for truce with a terrorist enemy, Khan retorts that what the military needs most is someone who can pay their bills: “I’m the only one who can collect taxes.”
Bleak Future
Khan has been an ephemeral player in Pakistani politics for more than a decade, and he’s unlikely to make a breakthrough now.
Source: Adapted from Washington Post
If only the ‘youth’ and drawing room based chattering class could realize!
Pakistan’s cricket-playing revolutionary – by David Ignatius
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The “Alleged Revolutionary” supporting a Martial Law
Imran Khan hailed PCOed Judiciary!
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/08/imran-khan-hailed-pcoed-judiciary.html
Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaaf chief Imran Khan has hailed the SC verdict on the Oct 12 change and said that it will provide the present government with an element of legitimacy. Mr Khan said the government should start the implementation of the seven-point agenda. He said it should give priority to the accountability process. It should declare casting of vote mandatory for every voter and undertake other needed electoral reforms to discourage the election of corrupt elements for parliamentary slots. He said the government should also set a limit for election expenditure.
In a Press statement issued on Friday, he said after the announcement of the SC verdict the government would no longer be able to give lame excuses to the people who were waiting for positive results. He said the government should have got a vote of public confidence directly through a referendum soon after the takeover. But now the regime should fulfil its promises without any delay and work in accordance with public expectations as it has been provided a period of three years for this purpose by the Supreme Court of Pakistan. Reference: PML accepts SC verdict: Shujaat Reporter
13 May 2000 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2000/may13.html#pmla
On PCO Judiciary I will just quote Daily Newspapers. One of the wonders of Internet is this that the History can no more be kept hidden.
1 – Five judges elevated to SC Bureau Report [Daily Dawn Feb 2000]
ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: The government elevated five judges to the Supreme Court on Wednesday. According to a notification, the president has appointed Justice Rashid Aziz, Chief Justice, Lahore High Court; Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, Chief Justice Sindh High Court; Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, Chief Justice, Balochistan High Court; Qazi Farooq, former chief justice of Peshawar High Court; and Justice Rana Bhagwan Das, judge, Sindh High Court, judges of the Supreme Court. After the elevation of Justice Rashid Aziz Khan to the SC, Justice Mohammad Allah Nawaz has been appointed Chief Justice of Lahore High Court. Justice Deedar Hussain Shah has been appointed Chief Justice of Sindh High Court and Justice Javed Iqbal Chief Justice of Balochistan High Court. After these appointments, the number of SC judges has risen to 12, leaving five posts vacant. Reference: Five judges elevated to SC Bureau Report http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2000/05feb00.html#five
2 – Chaudhry Iftikhar named new CJ [Daily Dawn 2005]
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, May 7: President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday appointed Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, the senior most judge of the Supreme Court, as the next chief justice. He will assume the office on June 30 after retirement of the incumbent Chief Justice, Justice Nazim Hussain Siddiqui, on June 29. “The notification has ended speculations of appointment of a junior judge as chief justice in violation of the seniority principle settled under the 1996 Judges case,” commented a senior Supreme Court lawyer on condition of anonymity.
Justice Chaudhry will reach the superannuation age of 65 years in 2012, which will make him one of the longest serving chief justices in the judicial history of Pakistan. He will serve as chief justice for over seven years. Earlier Justice A. R. Cornelius and Justice Mohammad Haleem served as chief justice for eight years from 1960 to 68 and 1981 to 89, respectively. Justice Chaudhry was elevated as a judge of the apex court on February 4, 2000. He has performed as acting chief justice from January 17 to 29, 2005. He holds the degree of LLB and started practice as an advocate in 1974. Later he was enrolled as an advocate of high court in 1976 and as an advocate of Supreme Court in 1985.
In 1989, Justice Chaudhry was appointed as advocate-general of Balochistan and elevated to the post of additional judge in the Balochistan High Court in 1990. He also served as banking judge, judge of Special Court for Speedy Trials and Customs Appellate Courts as well as company judge. He served as the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court from April 22, 1999 to February 4, 2000. He was elected the president of the High Court Bar Association, Quetta, and twice a member of the Bar Council. He was appointed as the chairman of the Balochistan Local Council Election Authority in 1992 and for a second term in 1998.
Justice Chaudhry also worked as the chairman of the Provincial Review Board for Balochistan and was appointed twice as the chairman of the Pakistan Red Crescent Society, Balochistan. Presently he is functioning as the chairman of the Enrolment Committee of the Pakistan Bar Council and Supreme Court Buildings Committee. Reference: Caudhry Iftikhar named new CJ By Our Staff Reporter May 8, 2005 Sunday Rabi-ul-Awwal 28, 1426 http://www.dawn.com/2005/05/08/top4.htm
PAKISTAN: International Commission of Jurists http://www.icj.org/IMG/pdf/pakistan.pdf
The independence of the judiciary was largely undermined by the order by General Musharraf in January 2000 that Pakistani judges take a fresh oath of loyalty to his administration. In May 2000, the Supreme Court, reconstituted after the dismissal of six judges who refused the oath, upheld General Musharraf’s military coup of 1999, under the doctrine of state necessity. Pakistan is a constitutional republic. On 15 October 1999, the Government promulgated the Provisional Constitution Order, (PCO), No.1 of 1999, overriding the 1973 Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, previously suspended following the 12 October 1999 military coup led by General Pervez Musharraf. The PCO provided for the suspension of the National Assembly, the Provincial Assemblies and the Senate and mandated General Musharraf to serve as the new Chief Executive.
On 20 June 2001, General Musharraf became President of Pakistan after dismissing the incumbent President, Muhammad Rafiq Tarar. On 12 May 2000, the Supreme Court validated the October 1999 coup under the doctrine of state necessity. However, the Court ordered that the Government hold national and provincial elections by 12 October 2002. In response, President Musharraf presented a four-phase programme aimed at returning the country to democratic rule, with local elections to be held from December 2000 until August 2001. Subsequently, a series of local elections were held in December 2000, March 2001, May 2001 and July-August 2001. However, political parties were prohibited from participating in the contests and party leaders were disqualified from holding political office.
Imran Khan’s Support: Then Musharraf Now Taliban!
http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/12/imran-khans-support-then-musharraf-now.html
Imran says he got positive response from Taliban Friday, December 11, 2009 By Ansar Abbasi –
I hope Imran Khan, Jang Group of Newspapers, and Ansar Abbasi would also accept Taliban way of dealing with sportsmen:
KARACHI, JULY 18: The Pakistan Football Federation said on Tuesday that it would not condemn an incident in neighbouring Afghanistan last week in which members of the Taliban militia shaved off heads of Pakistani soccer players for wearing “un-Islamic dress” during a friendly football match with Afghans at Kandahar. The bizarre incident occurred when the Taliban raided the third match between the players from Pakistan and their Afghan competitors in the religious capital of Afghanistan, Kandahar, and accused the Pakistani players of “spreading obscenity and inciting passions” by wearing shorts. Reference: PFF refuse to condemn tonsures Wednesday, July 19, 2000 Indian Express
I wonder is Imran Khan agreed with this as well?
A delegation of the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Sunday called on the party chairman, Imran Khan, here to condole with him on the death of Major General Bilal Omar, who was the PTI chief’s close relative. The general fell victim to a terrorist attack at a mosque in Parade Lane in Rawalpindi the other day along with several others. REFERENCE: PTI condoles with Imran Khan Tuesday, December 08, 2009 Our correspondent Islamabad
IMRAN KHAN DOESNOT CONDEMN TERRORISM RATHER HE CONDEMNS THOSE WHO ARE HIT BY TERRORISM!
I’m sorry to say this, but the bombing of Benazir Bhutto’s cavalcade as she paraded through Karachi on Thursday night was a tragedy almost waiting to happen. You could argue it was inevitable. Everyone here knew there was going to be a huge crowd turning up to see her return after eight years in self-imposed exile. Everyone also knows that there has been a spate of suicide bombings in Pakistan lately, especially in the frontier region where I am campaigning at the moment. How was it ever going to be possible to monitor such a large crowd and guarantee that no suicide bombers would infiltrate it? This may sound equally harsh, but she has only herself to blame. By making a deal with Musharraf’s government — a deal brokered by the British as well as the Americans, by the way — she was hoping to get herself off the corruption charges that have been levelled against her. What she hadn’t taken into account was Musharraf’s unpopularity. He is regarded in Pakistan as an American stooge. And the US war on terror, which he supports, is now perceived as a war against Islam. That is why there is no shortage of recruits for the fundamentalist cause here. By siding with him, Benazir was making herself a target for assassination. The sad thing is, she didn’t need to do it. Musharraf was sinking and isolated. He was on the point of declaring a state of emergency. Just when it looked as if he had no lifelines left, Benazir came back and bailed him out. Worse, by publicly siding with a dictator, she has deliberately sabotaged the democratic process. We have an election coming up in January. As leader of the Justice Party, I am running in it but it will be a free and fair election if Musharraf is still in charge. He has dismantled state institutions, such as an independent judiciary and an election commission, and has introduced a controlled assembly, a controlled prime minister and a controlled media. The polls show he can only win this next election if he massively rigs it. That is what he did in 2002, as confirmed by the EU monitoring team. REFERENCE: Benazir Bhutto has only herself to blame By Imran Khan Published: 12:01AM BST 21 Oct 2007