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Wajahat Khan / NBC News
Imran Khan, seated at right, prepares to take part in his - and Pakistan's - first ever Google Hangout.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- In a country known for its constant chaos, nobody can make a crowd stop and listen quite like Imran Khan.
Whether commanding a rally of hundreds-of thousands in a Lahore park, a roundtable of experts in an Islamabad hotel or a garden of politicized housewives in a Karachi country club, Pakistan's legendary former cricket captain exudes charisma. Even his unfinished "peace rally" to protest hugely unpopular U.S. drone strikes - which Pakistani officials halted before it reached its destination in South Waziristan - earned him headlines around the world.
Khan, 60, is widely seen as one of the country's most popular politicians as well as its most eligible bachelor. And if opinion polls are to be believed, he will play a key role in the formation of Pakistan's next government.
But Khan is not business as usual for Pakistan.
He commands serious star power despite not belonging to the landed or industrial dynasties that have ruled the country since its birth in 1947. Nor is he part of the country's military, which has governed the Islamic Republic for more than three of its six and half decades. Instead, he shot to fame as a star of cricket, a game that has a near-religious following in Pakistan. On his way, he married - and divorced - glamorous British socialite Jemima Goldsmith.
He does not appear to court the traditional media, although it certainly chases him.
The waiting list for television anchors and reporters hoping to snag a one-on-one with Khan is around two months long. He has written-off Pakistan's rambunctious mainstream and privately owned media as "prone to being corrupt" and "marginal to vested interests."
So what is the secret to Khan's success in projecting his political agenda across Pakistan? In short, it's what he calls the "democratic and incorruptible" forces of Twitter, Facebook and other forms of social media.
Despite security concerns, presidential candidate Imran khan leads an anti-drone rally, including 30 Americans, into Pakistan's badlands. Amna Nawaz reports.
Khan's messages -- which almost always hinge on his apparent anger over the United States' demands on Pakistan -- make him the country's most-followed presence on Facebook and Twitter. He is particularly popular among Pakistan's wired urban youth. But while Khan's popularity online cannot be contested, whether it will translate into victory at the ballot box remains the big question.
'Taliban Khan'
Critics contend that Khan is simply bitter about criticism he's received from established members of the media. In particular, journalists and commentators question the former cricket star's popular but difficult to implement policies -- an end to official corruption within 90 days, cessation of all hostilities with militants, halt to CIA drone attacks and rejection of American aid.
Especially since the assassination attempt on 14-year-old education activist Malala Yousufzai, Khan's refusal to wholeheartedly condemn all militancy and terror has prompted his critics to call him soft on terror.
While Khan's ideas have earned him the teasing but telling moniker "Taliban Khan" from members of the Westernized elite, they have proved wildly popular online.
Pakistan's Generation Y battles to shape country's future
There is the official Facebook page for Khan (with about 487,000 'likes'). Its fans outnumber his party's official page by more than 100,000 members.
The "We Want Imran Khan to be the next Prime Minister of Pakistan" page also has more than 525,000 likes.
Wajahat Khan / NBC News
Badar Khushnood (foreground), a consultant with Google Pakistan, and a small army of Imran Khan's advisors and assistants tweet, shoot and text their way through the Hangout.
Khan also has about 400,000 followers on Twitter -- along with several assistants handling his and attached accounts -- tweeting rants, pictures and quotes from Pakistan's founders around the clock.
If social-media popularity equaled election results, Khan would already have a few terms under his belt. In fact, so pervasive is his online persona that his detractors have branded him a virtual politician.
However, while Khan might be the country's most popular political figure, he is hardly the Islamic Republic's most powerful; he boycotted the last election and his Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) or Movement for Justice party, has no presence in a parliament.
US, Pakistan should 'divorce,' ex-ambassador to Washington says
Wired, but do they vote?
Whether Khan can translate online support into victory at the ballot box is highly contested. (When new elections will actually be held hasn't been decided although many expect them to be held in spring or summer 2013.)
"Imran Khan's base, his core support, is urban, middle class and educated -- precisely the cohort that has access to the Internet and spends time online," Cyril Almeida, who pens one of Pakistan's most-read columns for Dawn newspaper, told NBC News. "Hence, his substantial online support. ... PTI is building a voter base starting from the social media."
Almeida acknowledges that former President Pervez Musharraf -- who led the country from 2001 to 2008 and now lives in exile in London -- also has a substantial online following but "wouldn't win a local councilor seat if he stood for one."
"Imran is somewhere in between," Almeida said. "His rock star status online is wildly more exaggerated than his real-world support -- though he will win at least some seats come election time."
Thousands rally for Malala, girl shot by Taliban
Others, like Fahd Hussain, a primetime anchor at Waqt TV, which belongs to one of Pakistan's oldest and most conservatively aligned news conglomerates, says the Internet could still generate a Khan "tsunami."
"[The] social media support base of Imran should not be ignored," Hussain said. "It's massive and growing and creates political momentum."
Others question what online popularity will translate into, if anything.
Gibran Peshimam, the political editor of the Express Tribune newspaper, says that while Khan may be a heavyweight on the Internet, he is more of a lightweight offline.
"The percentage of Pakistan's population that has access to the Internet barely breaks the double-digit barrier," he told NBC News. "In any case, the majority percentage of those who have this access to the Internet, and hence social media, is a non-voting sector. The well-to-do generally do not vote in Pakistan. They talk about voting, but barely any of them are even registered to vote."
"Large-scale support on the Internet in Pakistan does translate into numbers, given the youth bulge, but it certainly does not translate into large numbers -- unlike, perhaps, in the U.S.," he added.
Wajahat Khan / NBC News
Dr Awab Alvi is Imran Khan's social media guru. A part-time politico, Alvi is an Ivy-League trained orthodontist by day, and the brains behind the powerful outfit that is Khan's social media machine by night.
Echoes of Obama '08?
The comparison to the United States is a common one in Pakistan, and linked to the Khan camp's obsession with President Barack Obama's 2008 campaign in which social media played a key role in fundraising as well as getting younger Americans out to vote. So-called Khanophiles constantly point to the Obama '08 template as one that can be replicated, with some qualifications and modifications, in the Islamic Republic.
Two such Khanophiles are Awab Alvi and Faisal Javed.
Alvi is a tall, soft-spoken and self-declared geek who signs his emails as BDS, MSc & TED Senior Fellow.
Although Alvi, is a University of Pennsylvania-trained orthodontist who says he does not hold any office in the burgeoning PTI, the 36-year-old's non-stop Twitter feed gives him away as Khan's constantly-connected social media wizard. His user ID, Teeth Maestro, one of the best known in Pakistani cyberspace, hints at both his full-time hospital job in Karachi and his part-time political potency.
His blogs generate as much revenue as a successful small business, and the official site of the PTI that he helps administer often crashes because of the high traffic his online events generate. Alvi says the PTI has a 25-strong social media team featuring "volunteers scattered all over the globe."
More Pakistan coverage from NBC News
Faisal Javed, 31, is a telecom executive by day and a PTI deputy secretary by political leaning. He spends Monday to Friday at the chic Islamabad headquarters of Telenor, leading the Scandinavian cellular giant's advertisement buying and content strategy for Pakistan.
Wajahat Khan / NBC News
Faisal Javed is Imran Khan's deputy information secretary and acted as moderator for the Google Hangout. Javed's full time job is as a telecom executive, but he moonlights as a politico.
But his evenings and weekends are reserved for the PTI. Javed, who opens rallies for Khan, is known nationally as Khan's "stage secretary," introducing him to crowds across the country. His easy confidence and broadcaster's voice make him one of the more prominent young faces of Khan's media-savvy corps.
Behind the scenes at Khan's first Google+ Hangout, the zeal to replicate Obama's PR accomplishments was obvious. As soon as Khan rolled in (along with a small army of assistants, advisers and bodyguards), Alvi and his team adopted a very American, no-nonsense mood that is not typical of Pakistani culture.
They kicked out all people dubbed "non-essentials" and started what seemed like a haphazard pre-battle briefing.
"How many people are watching me?" Khan asked.
"Thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions might be watching," said Alvi and his lieutenants speaking over each other.
Khan: "What does this mean, 'Google Hangout'?"
Alvi/his geeks: "People submitted questions, and then voted in the most questions. In three days, 15,000 questions were submitted and 13,000 questions were crowd-sourced via (text messages)."
Khan: "Is this live?"
Alvi/his geeks: "Yes! Obama has done it too! Ten people from all over the country and the world will interact with you. The questions and questioners have been chosen. All you have to do is answer them."
Americans ignore great risks, travel to Pakistan to protest US drone strike
The audio wouldn't connect for 20 minutes after the Hangout was scheduled, and even as the event went online, some anchors on Pakistan's infamous conspiracy-theory driven national television denounced the event as a "drama" which was "staged" and "not live," much to Alvi and his team's chagrin.
A small Twitter/Facebook skirmish between the Khan camp and his detractors later ensued, where both sides argued over the "reality" of the Hangout. The online battle lasted about a week.
Imran Khan, the man who wants to be the next prime minister of Pakistan says the "war on terror is creating militants." Khan also referred to Pakistan's army as a "hired gun" and said it must stop fighting the Taliban in Pakistan. ITN's Mark Austin reports.
But overall the Hangout event went pretty much as planned. Khan waxed eloquent about the economy, militancy, America, education and Pakistan's several other existential crises. He promised to raze the walls of governors' mansions, pledged to make them public libraries and explained progressive taxation to a female college student.
In what was perhaps the most important sign of success, the event caused #HangoutwithIK to trend on Twitter. But what really made political history in Pakistan was that the national conversation of the country was fully online and not broadcast on television and radio for the first time.
In Pakistan's largest city, 'Old Glory' is flammable and profitable
Later, Javed unwound with a Marlboro.
"You know why he did it? You know how he handled all those questions? Because he's neat and clean and has nothing to hide," he said.
What of the rural heartland?
Still, even if Khan's PTI wins seats in parliament on the back of his social-media campaign, he is still a long way from power, some analysts say.
"The next step, to premiership, goes through the dusty, deceitful and a whole-lot-less-plugged-in territory of Pakistan's rural heartland," political editor Peshimam says.
Most of Pakistan's civilian power players have traditionally relied on the country's teeming rural areas for their support-bases.
Asif Ali Zardari's Pakistan People's Party, which leads the current coalition government, is entrenched in rural Sindh -- the country's second-most populous province. Nawaz Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League (N) has always relied on, and thus come to dominate, the lush swathes of central and northern Punjab.
Aid workers become targets in Pakistan
While Khan is pushing hard to topple the de facto but unofficial two-party system by becoming a third force via social media, Pakistan remains a poor and rural-majority country where just 20 million of its 180-million people are connected to the Internet.
Wajahat Khan / NBC News
Members of Imran Khan's press corps at work.
"Several polls show that as a leader Imran Khan is very popular," says Raza Rumi, director of policy and programs at Islamabad-based think tank The Jinnah Institute. "(But) there are methodological problems with such surveys and often their urban bias has also been called into question.
"Khan will emerge as a political player in the next parliament but it would be premature to say what would be the strength of his party," Rumi added. "His huge presence on social media is linked to a substantial following, especially in the young segment of population. There is a strong relationship here. But to assume that Facebook or Twitter rankings will result in electoral gains across Pakistan would be wrong."
But Khanophiles like Javed, the telecom executive, aren't discouraged by such such sober assessments.
"We can't ignore this medium. There are two million of us [supporting PTI on social media]. And those two million have millions of friends and family members," he said during preparations for the Google+ Hangout session.
A group of 32 American anti-drone activists will join a march to Pakistan's tribal areas, where U.S. strikes have killed thousands of people over the last eight years. NBC News Amna Nawaz spoke to some of them.
"And while you may be right again that those two million are largely in the cities, they are a degree or two away from spreading our message to the towns and villages. And that's good enough for me."
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Leave a Comment:
"Stop fighting and start talking" says Kahn. Kahn is either laughably naive, or dangerously duplicitous. The Taliban have no interest in negotiations. They will order assassinations of unarmed 14 year old girls seeking nothing more than an education. Then they attempt to justify it as a coecive example to other 14 year old girls. Negotiations are an enabler for the Taliban, not a restraint. They'v made it clear that dominion is their only goal, and anybody they see as standing n their way or criticizing their doctrine, even 14 year old girls, are targets for armed assassinations and fatwas.
Kahn falsly claims that the drone attacks are the causation of anti-American hatred, but that's not true. They have hated Americans for decades. Did they hate the Bamiyan Buddhist statues because they were conducting drone attacks? They hate because they have Islamic contempt for the unbelieving infidel inspired by explicite verses and imperatives in their holy books. Kahn does not even know his own culture. The Hatred is not due to drones, it is religious contempt.
The Pakistan government did the right thing by stopping his ill fated trip to the "tribal" regions.
The people in the group called code pink are strangely naive or duplicitous as well. I place the assassination attempt on Malala and the open threat on her father in their midst. Peace with thugs is what they want? Let them protest the sanctioned assassination of a 14 year old girl instead.
Most of these Pakis are direct or indirect supporters of Islamic radicals and terrorists.
This multi-faced one-way traffic Taliban Khan is one example. He and likes of him are protesting drone attacks. What about Paki terrorist attacks all over the world?
Pakistan deserves to be declared a terrorist nation.
In Afghanistan, Pakis have backstabbed the US and NATO forces big time. Half of NATO forces deaths are due to ungrateful and backstabbing Pakis.
When the NATO forces were entering Kandahar in 2001, Pakis airlifted key al-Qaida, Taliban, ISI and others militants by back door from Kandahar.
This includes Mullah Omar, Osama and many including Paki Haqqani militant network leaders.
Hope people remember about Pakis sheltering Osama.
These Paki Islamic religious Nazis don't bother about their people and they are into reckless killing games in the name of jihad.
Drone attacks are not enough. To reduce NATO forces losses, carpet bomb Paki militant areas just like 1991 Iraqi war.
Or else just give up on Afghanistan and Pakistan and get out of both the places.
I just have to do it....... "KHAN!!!!!!!!" (think Star Trek)
Another fine article to whet the appetites of people who fancy themselves informed about the world stage, but too lazy to research their candidates for City Council.
@Charles The Hammerhead
His name is KHAN not Kahn( which is a Jewish name.)
What this article doesn not report on Imran Khan. He promised to make Pakistan the champions on cricket- he did. He promised to build a hospital for poor- he did. He is not corrupted (like Zardari-Bhutto-Zia et al who get their votes based on the feudal system). It is not only the wired,urbanized,educated people- he has got a real following of the masses who want a future- non-violent future- a future based on law-not feudal tidbits.He has been at this for 15 years-not a sudden person arriving at the scene.
Non-violent future is a joke in an Islamic nation!
Pakistan, a pure Islamic nation, is one of the most corrupt nation. It is full of backstabbers and ungrateful people.
Look at the Gen Mush, Bhutto, Zardaris and co. Most have Britain as second home. Still they hate US, West and Christianity most!
Whatever Pakis touch are ruined beyond repair. In cricket, Pakis have champions in match-fixing!
Pakis have nukes and almost civil war like environment all over.
The Islamic radicals and terrorist they have invented and supported have started hitting Pakistan most!
Pakistan = Land of the Pure
I suppose if you are not 99% Muslim, your land is impure.
"Unbelievers" are less than 1% in Pakistan and shrinking.
Good Job, Pakistan on the (ethnic) cleansing!
Last week’s vice presidential debate offered diversity by having a woman conduct the moderating.
But she may be characterized as the most President Barack Obama-leaning liberal. Though neutral in her foreign affairs, it’s irrefutable that Martha Raddatz’ domestic policy questions favored anti-Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee, and pro-Obama sentiments.
Raddatz’ former husband — the first of three — is Julius Genachowski, a law school peer of Obama and the current chairman of the FCC, a position appointed by Obama.
The Obamas also attended Raddatz and Genachowski’s wedding. Such close relationships should certainly disqualify a moderator.
It is hard to say the liberal tendencies of the past two moderators have played much part in the outcomes of the debates: the first presidential debate has been solidified as a Romney victory, and the vice presidential debate has been attributed as a job well done by both candidates.
But Vice President Joe Biden’s success is mostly being attributed to his demeanor, which Raddatz catered to, while Raddatz cut off Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan frequently as he made sound points.
This topic of discourse will continue with the last two debates, as the next moderators are by no means a relief to the Romney-Ryan efforts. Candy Crowley and Bob Schieffer are no less liberal-minded.
Crowley, a CNN correspondent and anchor, has an impressive tenure as journalist and is considered to be the most fair-minded of the moderators. However, her record insists on a lack of discipline in her objectivity.
I hope Kahn would get his wish. Starting with no more American aid. The whole mid east should get no more American aid.
Amen to that!
I agree, not one penny should be sent to any country in the Middle East. They have bled the American tax payer for the last 60 years and it's time they either swim or if they sink, then rebuild with their own monies. All those tribal leaders are rich.
Where have they gotten all their wealth. 1 Example: From our ignorant government leaders that payed them millions to not grow poppies then they turned around spit in the face of the American taxpayer and are growing more dope now than ever before.
Like if paying them would stop them. When are our ignorant leaders going to come to grips with the facts. We CANNOT buy them off with money. It is good money thrown after bad, and tribal leaders who support the Taliban are laughing all the way to the bank.
ALL foreign aid should be stopped Today.
We could save a couple of billion are year just taking care of US first. What a concept! Anyone think that Congress has heard that we should help our OWN people FIRST. Take care of business at home First.
Like take care of our children, elderly, homeless, hungry, education, cut taxes, stop supporting socialist programs that make people dependent on the government instead of getting a job and paying taxes into the system instead of feeding off of it.
Steven, not sure what all you're commenting about. You started off with comments about the story, but then the rant kind of took off on a tangent.
Personally, I hope this guy does something worthwhile before the Taliban take him out. More power to him, and leave us alone.
The voting statistics in the story DID kind of strike me as funny - they have the same @!$%#ty turnout of voters as we do.
I agree with your post. British invented Pakistan and the US has kept it alive on map till now.
Despite this, more than 70 percent Pakis hate US and West. What does it say?
Same thing applies to Saudi Arabia too.
Still Saudis and Pakis were main culprits in 9/11.
Since the birth of Pakistan, too many Khans and Malalas were given publicity to give false hopes!
Things have been only going from bad to worse.
Not sure even the Taliban would take out Imran Khan. He owes his fame to his past greatness in cricket as one of the world's best all-rounders in the 80's, along with Kapil Dev, Ian Botham and I'll add Richard Hadlee to that short list (yes there ARE Yanks who follow cricket...about 12 of us in all), and is a national hero in Pakistan along the lines of a Michael Jordan here. Murdering him would absolutely NOT help the Taliban's image in Pakistan...he is adored there.
I agree with Steven100's initial comment about sending billions of dollars in foreign aid to Pakistan: All America has received in return is contempt and recalcitrance from whoever is in power. Think of a second-rate punk like Karzai in Afghanistan and multiply it. I'd yank every dollar from what we send to Pakistan and then VERY PUBLICLY give that same money to India. Same thing with Arab countries and Israel. There is nothing to gain from rewarding people who are your enemies.
Khan, learn to sing, dance and juggle camel spiders. A real crowd pleaser.
and let each in the Paki crowd have plenty Islamic heroin dosages! They should have the Saudi seventh century desert dresses for their dances!
Of course, keep girls and women away from the crowd or else the mad sexual maniacs will jump on them like their Mohammad!
he can wear his pajamas and tweet to the taliban to start being nice and im sure they will listen because islam is a peaceful religion he can use his i pad to contact the taliban to be nice or they will be put in time out cut off the american aid and lets see what happens my guess is the taliban will become stronger and kick the paki armies ass then the crap will really hit the fan
When they kick their ass, Pakis should not be permitted into any non-Muslim nation. They will try to sneak in using their love and peaces dances!
Pakistan's 'elite' media & dynastic politics have ignored the worst governance in the history of the nation. Government of Zardari PPP and its coalition partner MQM, an ethnic party have turned Karachi into the killing field.Target killing is a routine, coercion , extortion is the motus apprendi of thuggish party MQM. Imran Khan is the only politician who is trying to expose these dynastic & autocratic feudals.They don't like someone rocking the boat.
He is against and hates // Facebook, Twitter, internet, etc. etc.
But he uses them ???
Osama Bin Laden hated the West and all it's inventions like: Democracy, Women's Rights, Pop-Culture, Voting, Separation of Church & State, etc.
But being a pragmatist, he still used cell phones, AK-47s, plastic explosives, and ... Jet Airplanes.
So to all of you Muslim Apologists, what do you think the the # of Americans OBL aiming for on 911 ?
A: The total holding capacity of the WTC would have been 40,000-50,000 on a busy day
Nothing short of Massive Murder of Civilians, thankfully he didn't get his original body count.
You confuse gracious with apologetic. It is simply a matter of good taste to be gracious, but those whose first language was point and grunt think gracious is an apology. Great Nations have a responsibility to be gracious and trepid in our dealing with lesser nations, simply put we sit on the fry button. By the way our delivery system does not rely on public transportation.
I find it laughable that you assert that Imran Khan 'hates' facebook, the internet et al - or that indeed asserting that his supporters sympathize with the likes of the mass-murderer Osama bin Laden. It is as ludicrous as suggesting that all Americans are Right-wing Christian Evangelists, or admire Terry Jones.
Don't be absurd - this 'hatred' for the West isn't an ideological confrontation against principles such as democracy, women's rights (as aptly demonstrated in the widespread revulsion shown against the attempted assassination of Malala Yousufzai) as some people in the US (and the religious right-wing in Pakistan) assert. People admire the social and technological progress that has transpired in the West over the last 400 years. The fundamental issue is foreign policy; political interference and tolerating Israel's persecution of the Palestinians. Islamic extremists are great spin doctors and motivate millions of largely illiterate youth to retaliate - and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq make great propaganda material for extremists and Islamophobes alike, as beautifully articulated in some of the shockingly ignorant comments about Pakistan's people, culture and religion.
Don't be absurd - this 'hatred' for the West isn't an ideological confrontation against principles such as democracy, women's rights (as aptly demonstrated in the widespread revulsion shown against the attempted assassination of Malala Yousufzai) as some people in the US (and the religious right-wing in Pakistan) assert. People admire the social and technological progress that has transpired in the West over the last 400 years. The fundamental issue is foreign policy; political interference and tolerating Israel's persecution of the Palestinians. Islamic extremists are great spin doctors and motivate millions of largely illiterate youth to retaliate - and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq make great propaganda material for extremists and Islamophobes alike, as beautifully articulated in some of the shockingly ignorant comments about Pakistan's people, culture and religion.
As long as Pakistan considers India as their #1 enemy and concentrate all their forces and efforts on the Indian border, they will be unable to comprehend the Taliban danger, redirect their resources and and fight the Taliban.
In Pakistan, first it was massive genocides of minorities from 48-50 as soon as Pakistan was formed in 47.
Percentages of Hindus and Sikhs were reduced from about 24 percent less than three years by rapings, stealing, lootings, terrorizing and killing on a massive scale.
Now the Paki Islamic religious madness has not ended there.
They are after Ahmedias, Sufis (fake love and dance Islamic soap opera people), Shiites and Baloochs and other minority sects.
Shiites form eighteen percent.
While praying their mosques are blown to pieces on Fridays and even hospitals are bombed to kill those injured.
Pakistan is the classical example of Islamic religious madness becoming worse than Nazi madness!
All over the world, most of Pakis have come with their Islamic baggage and have become Trojan horses in non-Muslim nations.
Before 1991, travel was a breeze in the US. With more of Paki Muslims and mosques, now travels are most torturous.
I hope you are able to make the distinction between Pakistanis who support religious extremism and those who don't. "'Pakis' kills Ahmedis, Shias, Sufis, Non-Muslims et al." True, that's pretty shameful. But aren't the victims equally Pakistani?
Or does being Pakistani=Relgious nutjob in your book.
Dude from Pakistan: We want all Pakis in non-Muslim nations to be out of our nations. Pakis have become curses and liabilities to our societies and nations. Most of them are Trojan horses for Islamic radicals and terrorists, who want Islamic rules.
Most of the Pakis have become Islamic religious Nazis.
When Hindus went through genocides, Ahmedias, Sufis, Shiites just looked the other way! They were Pakis too.
Later when the Islamic religious madness affected Ahmedias, then they felt the pain. Their Islamic ass hole leader ran away to India.
When it starts hurting Pakis on the basis of sects/tribes, then they feel the pain. Still, Islamic hell hole is such a dirtiest swamp that they won't understand what is going on!
It applies to you too.
That can be countered quite easily. Since you paint the Hindus of India as victims of Muslim aggression (which I agree with), the converse is equally true. People of all faiths have killed each other.
Islamic extremism is undoubtedly agree, backward and reactionary. And yes, absolutely - the 'moderate Muslims' lack the courage and the foresight to condemn the Nazi-like oppression of minorities - it is spreading like cancer.
But it is quite ridiculous of you to assert that all Pakistanis actually agree or condone these practices. Perhaps a little less hatred would do well for you.
A personal attack is unwarranted. I have no sympathy for the likes of Al-Qaeda, the Taliban, Shiv Sena or White Supremacists (et al). They're all the same and one extreme doesn't justify another.
He looks exactly like the ex-dictator of Libya, Gaddafi. Hopefully he is smarter than him.
That is the most stupid thing to say, imran is one of the most good looking men in the 80s and 90s, and his personality and charisma shines through since his cricketing years even at 60 he still looks very fit and handsome, and only people who do not known about his life will belittle him this way. He is the only sporting legend who even after retirement achived great heights, an honest man, and no one will forget his great achivements of building a state of the art cancer hospital for the poor, and the namal college free for promising students who cant afford to study in private colleges, hes also vice chancellor of bradford and the only politician who , keeps his promise and is not corrupt. Forget his shortcomings, hes achieved far greater than any man or politician can in history.
What a dumb comment ! Man graduated from Oxford University (UK), he is well known philanthropist, set up a cancer hospital in his country, Pakistan . Hospital provides free care to poors, has most modern equipment. To equate him with Gaddafi is an insult to intelligence & common sense.
Yes social media can propel hime into office. We are living proof of what social media can do. He got the idea from the obama run. Nothing to stand on. ANd no, it is not laughable. It is purely terrorizing.
Should he survive I wish him well. The challenges he faces in Pakistan are similar to those faced by many in our southern states, oppression by the few; the religious fanatic, the police and the wealthy elite.
I am surprised at the naïveness of folks commenting here… Pakistan was involved in 9/11? Not a single Pakistani was part of hijackers they were all Saudis (I guess you get your facts from the same place Romney gets his). For 10 years in the 90s till 9/11 happened Pakistan was under sanctions and NO American aid was provided. Pakistan still survived, in fact the economy was doing so well that during Musharraf's era Pakistan was one of the emerging economies with no IMF loans and doing quite well. 9/11 came and we needed Pakistan so we made them our friends again… In the first few years of the WOT alone Pakistan captured or killed hundreds of Al-Qaida leadership including Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and Al Libby (who are in our custody now). Someone lumped up Bulachis as a religious minorities… No they are a nation on their own (they are from the largest province of Pakistan- Baluchistan) I would say somewhat similar to Texans here in the United States.
Pakistan is in crises and Imran Khan is seen as a ray of hope by most Pakistanis. He is Western educated (that is if we consider Cambridge as a Western education institute) and he has successfully done many philanthropic work in Pakistan like building one of the most advance cancer hospital in Asia. He has built a University and has been in politics for the last 15 years or so. He has done all this on his own without being a feudal lord or Military General' family… I do not think we have any right to tell Pakistan or any other country how to run it… Let the Pakistanis elect who so ever they want to lead them into a better fut
I feel most of the comments posted here that are negative about imran khan belongs to americans, who know little about him. For the people who remember imran khan especially during his cricketing years, remember him as the most handsome dashing cricket player, who made it , as one of the famous legends of cricket and winning for pakistan its one and only world cup cricket at melbourne. Imran , the only sports man who even after retirement, did so much for his people.His greatest achievement is the building of the state of the art cancer hospital, at lahore in pakistan free of cost for the poor, and the well known namal college, that enabled many poor students realise their dreams of a successful career and academic achievement. He is also vice chancellor of bradford university in uk and for a single man to have achieved this much even after retirement speaks volumes of his charisma and at 60 imran still looks fit and hqndsome and ready to achieve much more , Forget about his shortcomings everyone arent made angels, fact is hes one of the most successful charismatic leader, whose towering personality is well remembered by so many fans and people around the world. Im not pakistani or muslim, but i feel Imran Khan should be given a chance to be prime minister cause as hes the only politician, who keeps his promise and , true to his words.
I feel most of the comments posted here that are negative about imran khan belongs to americans, who know little about him. For the people who remember imran khan especially during his cricketing years, remember him as the most handsome dashing cricket player, who made it , as one of the famous legends of cricket and winning for pakistan its one and only world cup cricket at melbourne. Imran , the only sports man who even after retirement, did so much for his people.His greatest achievement is the building of the state of the art cancer hospital, at lahore in pakistan free of cost for the poor, and the well known namal college, that enabled many poor students realise their dreams of a successful career and academic achievement. He is also vice chancellor of bradford university in uk and for a single man to have achieved this much even after retirement speaks volumes of his charisma and at 60 imran still looks fit and hqndsome and ready to achieve much more , Forget about his shortcomings everyone arent made angels, fact is hes one of the most successful charismatic leader, whose towering personality is well remembered by so many fans and people around the world. Im not pakistani or muslim, but i feel Imran Khan should be given a chance to be prime minister cause as hes the only politician, who keeps his promise and , true to his words.
This guy has "future Seal Team 6 target" written all over him.
Can this part of the world produce nothing but buffoons?
Send the drone his way right now.
I find some of the comments here quite laughable. Particularly the assertion that Imran Khan, for instance, 'hates' the West and the comparison with the mass-murderer Osama bin Laden with respect to an apparent revulsion to democracy, women's rights and other so-called 'Western' principles that are apparently alien to us backward, cave-dwelling, hateful Muslims. The technological and scientific advances of the Islamic world (or the region that encompasses Iran, Syria, Iraq, Jordan as well as parts of Pakistan are recorded in history books, important medical works and works on philosophy. Contemporary Islamic education is abysmal, 500-1000 years ago it was world-leading. It's abysmal because we've been pretty bad at adapting to change, but equally because we've lost considerable power (a major factor in reactionary 'Islamism' and violent fringe groups such as Al-Qaeda et al).
Imran Khan isn't anti-West (ideologically speaking), he was educated at Oxford and married into Britain's 'elite'. He probably wasn't particularly religious either for most of his life. The man is a legend in Pakistan because of his status in cricket (a sport most Americans haven't come across, fair enough) but he is respected largely because of his philanthropic work, his charity built a free cancer-treatment hospital in Lahore and a University in the Pakistani tribal areas. His anti-corruption stance (the current politicians are reviled in Pakistan) and his reputation for honesty and integrity - traits that (ironically) are looked up to in Pakistan.
If you bother checking out the PTI's manifesto, there are many ideas that are 'modern' and 'progressive' such as free education for women, an 'education emergency', improved healthcare, creating more jobs, bolstering the economy, decreasing the need for foreign aid through financial reforms (which always comes with strings attached), strengthening the judiciary and rule of law, etc.
It appears there is a fundamental miscommunication that is easily exploited by extremists and right-wingers in both countries - Lay Americans perceive anti-Westernism in the region as being opposed to western principles, when in Pakistan and the Muslim world, it is the violence and interference by America (such as the drones) that cause revulsion. Extremists in Pakistan and the Muslim world spin this to raise support and a vicious cycle ensues, more people die, more extremists emerge and people who would otherwise live normal lives are caught in all of this. The Taliban footsoldier perceives America to be behind the drone strike/raid that killed his family (accidentally, of course) and has no clue what Times Square is, or what the fundamentals of democracy are. I'm not a Taliban apologist, I'm playing devil's advocate here - I fully appreciate the counter-argument to this.
The US must change its strategy towards Pakistan and the Muslim world if it wants an end to extremism. It is this foreign policy that emboldens terrorists and extremists and provides ammunition for their propaganda. Equally, I suppose, the barbarism of the Taliban or the threat of terrorism emanating from the region justifies a military presence - but the current strategy is failing. There are Pakistanis, just as I'm sure there are Americans who want the fighting to stop. We're honestly a little sick of dying and getting blown up by terrorists and drones, just as I'm sure you're sick of seeing young Americans dying in far-off Afghanistan.
Your post is laughable and contradictory to realities.
Of course, some Pakis can dream on from their seventh century deserts and caves!
Who cares for Pakis any way?
Can you please enlighten me, Jonathan. I'm quite intrigued how my post is laughable and contradictory.
Social media might get this guy into some position of power, but he is already demonstrating a heavily biased anti-American platform. If he doesn't bend to the wishes of the Pakistani military -- and the Taliban -- he may get elected, but he won't live long afterwards. Pakistan always seems to be able to eliminate the opposition during the campaign trail, too. Pakistan is simply a den of thieves, and Kahn is trying to get his membership upgraded.
I don't know for sure, but an acme rocket tied to his back certainly would propel him pretty far.
Sure it can, it works real good here in the US.
Pakis have too many incurable Islamic radical and killer instinct mental patients. Just nuke the worst areas and wipe out those areas from earth!
The chaos and fanaticism that is plaguing parts of Pakistan remind me exactly of the evangelical fervour and psychotic mind-terrorism of the redneck, white trash, bulging belt of middle America. It is completely fair to say that about 35 - 40% of America is full of slimy, dangerous, racist, arrogant, ignorant, dumb, cruel and aggressive evangelical, religious fanatics who would probably resort to violence against anybody they deemed unworthy in their twisted minds. They are exactly like the Taliban. It is amazing how similar the disgusting, conservative belt of middle Americans is to the deplorable Taliban. They should both be exiled in the Nevada desert.
Imran Khan has always been a wealthy playboy.Hence his glamor among the young crowd.But he will never amount to anything in Pakistani politics,which favors hardline Islamists of one kind or other that hate the neighboring India and Indians.Imran does not seem to hate anybody much.
I cannot help but muse that this is the unfortunate face of modern democracy. The election of athletes, actors, stand-up comedians, clergy, politicians and other various forms of entertainers and charlatans to public office. Why doesn't the entire planet just vote for Mickey Mouse and be done with it?