Imran Khan the politician- discussion

[Energon]

I'm trying to get a better perspective on Imran Khan the politician. Mind you, this thread is not designed to serve as a forum to push forth his agenda or slander him (if this is the direction the thread takes I will promptly request the Mods to shut it down). I would like to hear some objective and well thought out comments/criticisms on his positions.

Granted my research has been a bit limited, but I have as yet to come across a substantial list of his positions. Right now it seems like the ideas he's putting forth are actually a haphazard collage of conflicting impromptu stances taken over the duration of the past few turbulent years of Pakistani politics and his own vacillating personal life.

The only positions of substance I have come across so far are:

1. A greater role for Islam: This seems to be a personal position given his personal rediscovery of Islam in the recent years. I don't know if he wants the state to actively participate in enabling this, and if so in what capacity? The GoP has already declared Islam to be the state's religion for some decades now.

2. Pakistan becoming a "true democracy"- whatever that is, I haven't been able to find his definition of this term.

3. Pakistan to become a welfare state.

4. De-centralizing and liberalization of the Pakistani economy. As you can see this is completely contradictory to stance #3.

5. Stability, corruption free and anti-militancy.

All of this is well and good, but there are no details on how he actually plans to realistically put any of his visions into practice. How does one go about bringing an end to radicalism within a highly Islamist population while simultaneously promoting (state sponsored?) religiosity? Even if his intention is to replace the "bad Islam" with "good Islam" it seems a rather improbable because there is very little supportive evidence regarding large scale programs of this sort; also considering being that he is not a cleric or a religious leader, on what basis is he taking these positions?

Then there are other revolving door ad-hoc alliances (with everyone from Fazullah, Nawaz Sharif, Bhutto to his now bitter ally Musharraf) which has made it very difficult for me to actually determine what camp he's really throwing his weight behind (he is certainly not a political force by himself).

 

[Spring Onion]

Well Energone as you can see all these points the one which is different from other politicians PoV is the corruption free.

and i believe if he ever come to power he will implement that in spirit and letter. same goes for his welfare state comments.

but i do not see he can ever come to power as he is not a politician in the first place. and by this i do not mean that he is not born politician or not from political family but what i mean is that basically he is an emotional man who rely more on emotions than logics. and in politics i dont see any place for emotional decisions.

 

[hoodhood1]

Jana, you are so right in your opinion about IK.
The thing which I don't understand about him is that why does he go to India and give anti Pakistan statements? Then for his charities he tags along Indian actors, as if there are no good Pakistani Actors alive.
He is not a True Pakistani Patriot in short.

 

[Energon]

Well Energone as you can see all these points the one which is different from other politicians PoV is the corruption free.

and i believe if he ever come to power he will implement that in spirit and letter. same goes for his welfare state comments.

but i do not see he can ever come to power as he is not a politician in the first place. and by this i do not mean that he is not born politician or not from political family but what i mean is that basically he is an emotional man who rely more on emotions than logics. and in politics i dont see any place for emotional decisions.

Jana,
I don't there is a single politician out there who is actually a public proponent of corruption; nor has there been one who has successfully won an election of any sort based on his/her endorsement of corruption. Question is, how does Imran set himself apart, and more so, how does he realistically plan to fight corruption?

 

[mujahideen]

Jana, you are so right in your opinion about IK.
The thing which I don't understand about him is that why does he go to India and give anti Pakistan statements? Then for his charities he tags along Indian actors, as if there are no good Pakistani Actors alive.
He is not a True Pakistani Patriot in short.

Well said. It is a shame that after 60 years of nationhood, 3 wars, 4 Army takeovers, one disintegration, numerous Martial Laws and Emergencies our politicians are still bent on destroying Pakistan.

 

[Energon]

Jana, you are so right in your opinion about IK.
The thing which I don't understand about him is that why does he go to India and give anti Pakistan statements? Then for his charities he tags along Indian actors, as if there are no good Pakistani Actors alive.
He is not a True Pakistani Patriot in short.

Define anti-Pakistan.

There is no doubt that he is a dissenter who is highly discontent with the current Pakistani political structure, he is also vociferously opposed to Musharraf and his regime. But that does not necessarily mean that he is "anti-Pakistani."

One of his biggest charity is associated with Oncology; a field in which India is a rising powerhouse (albeit, there are some aspects of concern). This type of research also requires a lot of fund raising. India and Indian celebrities are a very good tool to bring attention to his cause and raise large sums of money. Indian institutions can help a lot by offering spots on clinical trials for patients from his hospitals; while pharma companies can offer complex chemotherapy and other drugs at affordable prices.

I don't think its fair to castigate him for seeking the best opportunities for his charitable organization. If anything he should be commended for looking beyond political rivalries when it comes to matters of human development.

 

[hoodhood1]

If we let go of his charity work, then what he is left with, is a Lunatic, Emotional, Untrustworthy and Unpatriotic Pakistani who goes crying to India, Britain and US to gain moral support from yet some more anti Pakistani public.
Wow! What a Pakistani.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

He is a social conservative, and is a little too enamored with his Tribal roots for my liking. I am skeptical of his ability to tackle militancy, since he is an outspoken critic of the military deployment in FATA (once again, too enamored with the "one million natural guerrilla fighters" - his quote).

He is to be admired for sticking to his positions and values, probably one reason why people view him as incorruptible and a harbinger of change in that sense - though bringing about that sort of change will require a massive reform of State institutions - something he will not be able to accomplish without the support of other politicians, who will likely continue to hail from the traditional power centers of Pakistani society, and therefore be loath to change the status quo. His inflexibility will therefore become a handicap - my reason for believing that he is primarily useful as a figurehead for a party, with the politicking responsibilities with other political leaders who have a sense of how to get things done in Pakistan.

Musharraf has, IMO, been a very good example of that approach. Rebuffed by the PPP, and Imran Khan (offered PM position), he got stuck with the more socially conservative PML-Q, but nevertheless managed to get them to approve the Womens Rights Bill and reform in the Curriculum.


P.S: Listening to his Webcast of his conversation at the Asia Society today?

 

[dabong1]

3. Pakistan to become a welfare state.

4. De-centralizing and liberalization of the Pakistani economy. As you can see this is completely contradictory to stance #3.

The UK has both,a capitalist/liberal economy and a welfare state.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Anyone else who might be interested, follow the link to listen (Credit goes to Energon for discovering this):

Pakistan’s Political Future, with Imran Khan
Today, 8:30 - 10:00 am​

Asia Society

 

[Spring Onion]

NO thank you dear i was invited by someone but i dont consider him worth listening in current position


BTW there is a news today with headline

"Imran and Asma Jehangir (sick) will greet Musharraf with Protest in London"


If that was the solution to all our problems.

Imran is sick minded like those who can not see too far

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Five minutes into it I am already pissed off at what he's saying.

Completely denying that any Taliban existed before the Army went in, and then started killing Civilians. Arguing that Mullah Fazlullah in Swat was leading a "movement for Justice". Nalaik Idiot!

Lal Masjid operation - same old "women and children killed", completely avoids dealing with the actions of the LM Mullah's.

Never mind my earlier comments about him sticking to his principles - he has no problems lying and obfuscating. Playboy Mullah in disguise.

 

[never]

i khan can be summed up by the persian saying that a stupid friend is more harmful than a sly enemy, if he is infact loyal to the state.
i think he has mental problems and asma jhangir is a lesbian.

 

[AgNoStiC MuSliM]

Jana,

"Great Anger in NWFP over Pakistani Army ops. in FATA" - Imran Khan.

Whats your take on the opinion in the NWFP about the FATA situation?

 

[Spring Onion]

Jana,

"Great Anger in NWFP over Pakistani Army ops. in FATA" - Imran Khan.

Whats your take on the opinion in the NWFP about the FATA situation?

Yes the entire NWFP is on streets at moment

NWFP is consists of many areas including FATA.


Now even in cities with educated populton where if there was some good will for real Islamic sentiments now people are more conciouse in even this regard.

Ealier when a student or anyone who knock at doors for collecting Chanda for construction of Mosques people including me would use to donate after getting satisfactory information from the person.

But Now
if anyone comes he is shunned even without listening. and in most of the cases reported to the government and believe when i did so many were caught for collecting money for own usage and were not from any organisation.
In short people have now become more aware of so-called elements using religion for own agenda.

So there is no popular anger in NWFP about FATA operation.
I had direct contacts in FATA and trust me there common people are now helping the government to purge the area of miscreants and Uzbek, Tajik, Mehsud, Al-qaeda terrorists.

Imran is an Idiot who's only passion for FATA or nothern areas is to go for hunting.

And everyone knows that this time he was not even going to be voted to Assembly thats why like JI he opted to boycott the elections.