‘A leader who tried to give direction to Pakistan’: Sharad Pawar on Imran Khan

[INDIAPOSITIVE]

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday spoke about events unfolding across the world, including in India’s neighbourhood, as he described former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan as 'a leader who tried to give a direction to his country.’

“A different kind of situation is prevailing in the world today. A powerful country like Russia is attacking a small country like Ukraine, youngsters in Sri Lanka are on the road, fighting, and the leaders of that country have gone underground,” Pawar said in Pune’s Kondhwa, addressing an ‘Eid Milan’ ceremony.

The 81-year-old leader then spoke about Imran Khan, without naming the latter. “In neighbouring Pakistan, where you and I have brothers, a leader took reins of the prime minister’s post. An attempt was made to show a direction to that country, but he was ousted from power and a different picture is seen there now,” he said.


Imran, 69, a legendary former cricketer under whose captaincy Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992, was, last month, ousted by the opposition as the premier of the nuclear-armed nation. Throughout his premiership, which he assumed in August 2018, Khan was subjected to taunts of being a ‘puppet’ of the powerful army, and a ‘selected prime minister.’ He was succeeded by the incumbent Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of former PM Nawaz Sharif.

Pawar, meanwhile, further said that as a Union Minister and cricket administrator, he visited Pakistan many times. “Be it Lahore, Karachi, wherever we went, warm welcome was accorded to us. Once, we were in Karachi with our team for a match. A day later, players expressed their desire to see the places around them. We went to a restaurant for breakfast and when we tried to pay the bill, the restaurant owner refused. He said that we were his guests,” the former Maharashtra chief minister recalled.

‘A leader who tried to give direction to Pakistan’: Sharad Pawar on Imran Khan

Common Pakistanis are not India's enemy, Pawar also said, recalling his visits to the neighbouring country, as a Union minister and cricket administrator.

www.hindustantimes.com

 

[Wood]

Now Indians are supporting Imran Khan. Will this make Imran suspicious?

 

[313ghazi]

Now Indians are supporting Imran Khan. Will this make Imran suspicious?

People have woken up. They don't trust the people who used to set the narrative.

 

[Wood]

People have woken up. They don't trust the people who used to set the narrative.

I think that you mean the establishment? Establishment can just wait out Imran Khan

 

[WotTen]

Throughout his premiership, which he assumed in August 2018, Khan was subjected to taunts of being a ‘puppet’ of the powerful army, and a ‘selected prime minister.’

Getting attacked by Indian media is confirmation that a leader is good for Pakistan.

Indian media loves the members of the imported government.

 

[Mugen]

Now Indians are supporting Imran Khan. Will this make Imran suspicious?

Not in the least bit, you do you, and we will decide what we want.

 

[313ghazi]

I think that you mean the establishment? Establishment can just wait out Imran Khan

They can, but they can't out wait us. For the last 20 something years of my life, basically since I've had any awareness of Pakistani politics, it was a mantra taught to me by society that the politicians are crooked and the armed forces are the only competent professional institution in the country. Uncorruptable, patriotic, loyal, efficient. Any BS they sold, I bought.

Slowly I've come to realise that it's simply not true. Most of our political class is corrupt, that is true - but they're also a product of a wider morally and ethically corrupt society. We're in a chicken/egg situation - who was rotten first, the leaders or the people?

Also i've come to learn, that the armed forces, aren't as squeaky clean as they claim to be. A history of regime changes, political inteference for decades, betrayal of our people. Plenty of people recall on this forum Zardari telling the US they were free to carry out drone strikes as long as they let him publicly oppose them. Few seem to remember Pervez Musharraf claiming PAA carried out airstrikes against militants to cover up for US drone strikes. His NRO destroyed his reputation in my eyes. For a while I thought it was just Musharraf, but unfortunately today, we have Bajwa overlooking NRO2.

You think the tens of millions like me are going to let our kids grow up believing the same BS we did?

 

[Wood]

They can, but they can't out wait us. For the last 20 something years of my life, basically since I've had any awareness of Pakistani politics, it was a mantra taught to me by society that the politicians are crooked and the armed forces are the only competent professional institution in the country. Uncorruptable, patriotic, loyal, efficient. Any BS they sold, I bought.

Slowly I've come to realise that it's simply not true. Most of our political class is corrupt, that is true - but they're also a product of a wider morally and ethically corrupt society. We're in a chicken/egg situation - who was rotten first, the leaders or the people?

Also i've come to learn, that the armed forces, aren't as squeaky clean as they claim to be. A history of regime changes, political inteference for decades, betrayal of our people. Plenty of people recall on this forum Zardari telling the US they were free to carry out drone strikes as long as they let him publicly oppose them. Few seem to remember Pervez Musharraf claiming PAA carried out airstrikes against militants to cover up for US drone strikes. His NRO destroyed his reputation in my eyes. For a while I thought it was just Musharraf, but unfortunately today, we have Bajwa overlooking NRO2.

You think the tens of millions like me are going to let our kids grow up believing the same BS we did?

Here is my mainstream Indian view:

Pakistanis have always held establishment above and beyond the political class on the dominance hierarchy. This is because right from first year of the country, Pakistan has been wary of fighting a bigger enemy. India has unwittingly had a BIG influence Pakistan's collective psyche. For most of India's population, conflict with Pakistan is something that happens in a remote region. Sure it has created some local political tensions every now and then, but not by a big margin. For Pakistanis however, the conflict area is close to the population center. This has given people who guarantee security for Pakistan a disproportionate amount of respect. Things may look different now because of Imran's rise in popularity. But as long as India - Pakistan conflict keeps simmering, the Army can rise to prominence above all in just a matter of days.

I attribute even Imran's success (via anti-American rhetoric) partially to Pakistan's position against India. The conservatives in Pakistan are not disposed to Anti Americanism just because of drone strikes in KPK. A good chunk of the sentiment is likely due to the natural alliance that India and US have gravitated to. This has made US an untrustworthy partner to Pakistan. Similarly, India's conflict with China has also made China a big favorite in Pakistan.

The security situation with India will always continue to play a big role in Pakistan.

 

[RAMPAGE]

S

They can, but they can't out wait us. For the last 20 something years of my life, basically since I've had any awareness of Pakistani politics, it was a mantra taught to me by society that the politicians are crooked and the armed forces are the only competent professional institution in the country. Uncorruptable, patriotic, loyal, efficient. Any BS they sold, I bought.

Slowly I've come to realise that it's simply not true. Most of our political class is corrupt, that is true - but they're also a product of a wider morally and ethically corrupt society. We're in a chicken/egg situation - who was rotten first, the leaders or the people?

Also i've come to learn, that the armed forces, aren't as squeaky clean as they claim to be. A history of regime changes, political inteference for decades, betrayal of our people. Plenty of people recall on this forum Zardari telling the US they were free to carry out drone strikes as long as they let him publicly oppose them. Few seem to remember Pervez Musharraf claiming PAA carried out airstrikes against militants to cover up for US drone strikes. His NRO destroyed his reputation in my eyes. For a while I thought it was just Musharraf, but unfortunately today, we have Bajwa overlooking NRO2.

You think the tens of millions like me are going to let our kids grow up believing the same BS we did?

Still buying bullshit, mate. You've developed a taste for it.

 

[Paitoo]

Now Indians are supporting Imran Khan. Will this make Imran suspicious?

Sharad Pawar is in opposition. He must have found out about Nawaz-Modi bhai bhai scheme

 

[SEOminati]

Getting attacked by Indian media is confirmation that a leader is good for Pakistan.

Indian media loves the members of the imported government.

Who wouldn't love a compromised enemy?

 

[Pakistansdefender]

Now Indians are supporting Imran Khan. Will this make Imran suspicious?

He was the opposition.
They are very happy with imran khan bashing modi.

 

[Wood]

He was the opposition.
They are very happy with imran khan bashing modi.

Getting bashed by Pakistan is actually a good certificate for success in India. Imran may just be helping Modi

 

[RescueRanger]

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Thursday spoke about events unfolding across the world, including in India’s neighbourhood, as he described former Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan as 'a leader who tried to give a direction to his country.’

“A different kind of situation is prevailing in the world today. A powerful country like Russia is attacking a small country like Ukraine, youngsters in Sri Lanka are on the road, fighting, and the leaders of that country have gone underground,” Pawar said in Pune’s Kondhwa, addressing an ‘Eid Milan’ ceremony.

The 81-year-old leader then spoke about Imran Khan, without naming the latter. “In neighbouring Pakistan, where you and I have brothers, a leader took reins of the prime minister’s post. An attempt was made to show a direction to that country, but he was ousted from power and a different picture is seen there now,” he said.


Imran, 69, a legendary former cricketer under whose captaincy Pakistan won the World Cup in 1992, was, last month, ousted by the opposition as the premier of the nuclear-armed nation. Throughout his premiership, which he assumed in August 2018, Khan was subjected to taunts of being a ‘puppet’ of the powerful army, and a ‘selected prime minister.’ He was succeeded by the incumbent Shehbaz Sharif, the younger brother of former PM Nawaz Sharif.

Pawar, meanwhile, further said that as a Union Minister and cricket administrator, he visited Pakistan many times. “Be it Lahore, Karachi, wherever we went, warm welcome was accorded to us. Once, we were in Karachi with our team for a match. A day later, players expressed their desire to see the places around them. We went to a restaurant for breakfast and when we tried to pay the bill, the restaurant owner refused. He said that we were his guests,” the former Maharashtra chief minister recalled.

‘A leader who tried to give direction to Pakistan’: Sharad Pawar on Imran Khan

Common Pakistanis are not India's enemy, Pawar also said, recalling his visits to the neighbouring country, as a Union minister and cricket administrator.

www.hindustantimes.com

 

[Wood]

View attachment 843762

In what way do you think that this is bait?