Imran says he is neither Taliban Khan nor a US stooge

[A.Rafay]

LONDON: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan has stated that Pakistan’s elite liberals are the only pro-war liberals in the world who support George W Bush’s war ideology.

The former cricket hero told ‘The Mail’ on Sunday in a wide-ranging interview that his English-speaking enemies call him “Taliban Khan” for opposing the drone strikes and the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan but: “Never have I once given a statement in support of the Taliban. Never once have I failed to condemn an attack on civilians. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do — pick up a gun and charge against them?”

Khan added: “I get accused by liberals of being an extremist, and by the militants, an American stooge. It’s a very thin line. One slip of the tongue and you can be killed here. There’s that level of fanaticism.”

The paper said Khan has serious chances of making a breakthrough in the next general elections as he has been able to mobilise those sections of the society who never took part in the electoral process.

War and corruption, Khan believes, are irredeemably linked: “We have the lowest tax to GDP ratio in the world — 61 percent of our national MPs pay no tax at all. Keeping Pakistan as a frontline state and prolonging the war allows the elite to rake in the foreign aid.”

Khan said the attendance of thousands of people to his rallies is “the Pakistani version of the Arab Spring.”

“A corrupt status quo has been ruling the Muslim world, but now the majority wants democratic rights. We have women who were educated in English-medium (speaking) schools, and we have boys who have been to the Madrassas (religious schools). Our support comes from across the class divide, and that’s why it’s so exciting.”

The paper said: “In the political salons of Islamabad, opinions differ as to how successful Khan is likely to be. But there is agreement that this time the PTI has a real chance of power, and that even if it doesn’t secure a majority, it will win a significant block of seats.”

Khan said: “For the past three decades, I have watched the country degenerate. Someone as privileged as me has a choice. I can try to do something, or I could do nothing, and in that case, I cannot complain.”

Khan said negotiated settlement with the Taliban is the only way forward to end the war, not only for Pakistan, but for the hapless British soldiers fighting in Helmand. “If you stop the drones, withdraw the army and engage the tribes, they are the ones who will, in time, win the war.”

Khan added: “You know, I played in five world cups, and I never predicted we would win until the last one, against England in 1992. We were 50-1 outsiders. My friends were cancelling their tickets to come to Australia, but I said no, don’t, we’re going to win it. They all made fun of me, and a lot of people still regret that they didn’t take my advice. They could have put money on us when we were 50-1.”

Imran says he is neither Taliban Khan nor a US stooge - thenews.com.pk

 

[batmannow]

he is the most confused politician of pakistan, who dont know what he is?

 

[xyxmt]

bring a microphone to me and i will spit so much wisdom it will scare the sh.it of everyone, all you need a 50 words in your vocabulary and just rearrange them randomly. What you say will not make any sense to sane people but people with lower IQ would be awed by it and that my friend makes you a popular leader...majority (stupid) follow you.

I learned it from Imran

 

[Mercenary]

Imran Khan needs to publish his manifesto.

He is making so many speeches and giving conflicting views on everything.

Let him publish a clear, authoritative and concise document outlining his views on major policies, how he would tackle them, what changes he would implement, etc.

 

[batmannow]

Imran Khan needs to publish his manifesto.

He is making so many speeches and giving conflicting views on everything.

Let him publish a clear, authoritative and concise document outlining his views on major policies, how he would tackle them, what changes he would implement, etc.

With clear statement showing he is against TTp?

 

[Leader]

He always speak the truth from his heart, no conflict in his views, crystal clear visionary leader, ready to lead Pakistan.

may Allah save us from taliban and usa boot lickers

 

[niaz]

There is contradiction in this very interview.

Quote
Khan added: “I get accused by liberals of being an extremist, and by the militants, an American stooge. It’s a very thin line. One slip of the tongue and you can be killed here. There’s that level of fanaticism.”
Unquote.

When Imran Khan agrees that one slip of tongue can result in you being killed; why Imran only condemns the act but not the perpetrators. Surely he does not mean that he will be killed by the liberals?

Non one expects PTI to state that we should not negotiate with Taliban. We don’t expect Imran to pick up a gun and charge against them either. All that is needed is for Imran to condemn TTP by name after they admit responsibility for the acts of terrorism.

IMO Imran Khan is a better person than most of the politicians today. Why he doesn’t stand up and gets counted as someone who abhors terrorism of any kind and in any form without any ifs & buts.

 

[Tayyab1796]

We don't have a choice ..do we ???

 

[Leader]

There is contradiction in this very interview.

Quote
Khan added: “I get accused by liberals of being an extremist, and by the militants, an American stooge. It’s a very thin line. One slip of the tongue and you can be killed here. There’s that level of fanaticism.”
Unquote.

When Imran Khan agrees that one slip of tongue can result in you being killed; why Imran only condemns the act but not the perpetrators. Surely he does not mean that he will be killed by the liberals?

Non one expects PTI to state that we should not negotiate with Taliban. We don’t expect Imran to pick up a gun and charge against them either. All that is needed is for Imran to condemn TTP by name after they admit responsibility for the acts of terrorism.

IMO Imran Khan is a better person than most of the politicians today. Why he doesn’t stand up and gets counted as someone who abhors terrorism of any kind and in any form without any ifs & buts.

you have a point here, but Im sure you cannot separate a crime from the culprit, neither does he do, he condemned TTP by name in Malala incident, he condemned and called for action against LeJ when they accepted responsibility of killing Shias in Balochistan,

as far as regularly mentioning them is concern, he needs a certain imagine to solve the problem and that requires trust from the other group as well, if he makes them believe that he is going to crush them with the iron fist like Musharraf, then the whole Plan would fail from the day one, how can you negotiate with giving the impression that you want to hunt them down? say Rehman malike often says, "if militants give up arms, we are ready to talk" does that make sense to you or anyone? he clearly doesnot want to negotiate, its just for public consumption, but here Imran wants to solve the issue, that is why he gave a 3 point formula to work upon, and for that formula to work he doesnot need to make them our enemy, they are our problem, not our enemy as popular belief was propagated by duffer amreeki crony musharraf... see here is another aspect going on if you call someone your enemy, by word association you want to kill or defeat, but if you call it a problem, you want to solve it... military operation therefore, would be PTI's last resort.

and let me reinforce it to you, it isnt endorsement either, of the perpetrators.. he has a plan and that plan requires tribal support in full swing, tribal area is militant's recruiting ground, therefore, them being on our side can only be through a leader they can trust.