Imran Khan leads 100,000 rally against Pakistan's US alliance

[asif86]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...-alliance.html

Imran Khan leads 100,000 rally against Pakistan's US alliance

Cricket legend and opposition politician Imran Khan railed against the government and its alliance with the U.S. before more than 100,000 flag-waving supporters on Sunday, establishing himself as a force in Pakistani politics.


Khan, 58, entered politics 15 years ago when he founded Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or the Movement for Justice Party, but up to now he has struggled to translate his fame into votes.


The rally in the eastern city of Lahore indicated his message may have found new resonance at a time when Pakistanis are fed up with the country's chronic insecurity and economic malaise.


"I have come here to register my hatred against this corrupt system," said 29-year-old Nadeem Iqbal, who attended the rally.


A poll conducted by the U.S.-based Pew Research Center in June found Khan, the captain of Pakistan's 1992 world champion cricket team, to be the most popular political figure in the country.


Khan's rising popularity could be a concern for the U.S., given his harsh criticism of the Pakistani government's co-operation with Washington in the fight against Islamist militants.

He has been especially critical of U.S. drone strikes targeting militants in Pakistan's rugged tribal region along the Afghan border. The latest suspected strike killed six alleged militants on Sunday.

Khan has argued that Pakistan's alliance with the U.S. is the main reason Pakistan is facing a home-grown Taliban insurgency.

"Our leaders owned this war on terror for the sake of dollars," Khan told the crowd assembled around the country's most important national monument, the Minar-e-Pakistan. "Let me curse you. You sold out the blood of innocent people."

Pakistan's state news agency, The Associated Press of Pakistan, estimated the crowd was over 100,000 people.

Mosharraf Zaidi, a Pakistani political analyst, said the rally was significant because Khan's party has not been able to attract such large crowds in the past.

Despite the strong show of support, it's still unclear how much Khan can shake up the political scene in the next national elections in 2013. His support is largely confined to urban areas of Punjab, Pakistan's largest province, where Lahore is the capital.

Pakistan's main opposition party, the Pakistan Muslim League-N, has dominated urban areas of Punjab in the recent past. Many analysts, including Zaidi, expect Khan's party to siphon votes away from the PML-N.
But given Pakistan's electoral system, that may simply benefit the ruling Pakistan People's Party rather than win seats for Khan's party in parliament.

It's also unclear exactly what Khan would do if he did win significant political power. He has been relentless in criticising the government for corruption and for its failure to address the many serious problems facing the country. But he has failed to offer many specifics about how he would fix these problems.

"We don't see top-shelf policy people, top-shelf professionals becoming part of the policy machine at PTI," said Zaidi. "What we see is a lot of rhetoric."

The suspected U.S. missile strike on Sunday targeted a vehicle in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan, said Pakistani intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to talk to the media.

The U.S. refuses to acknowledge the CIA-run drone program in Pakistan, but officials have said privately that the attacks have killed many senior Taliban and al-Qaida commanders.

Pakistani officials often criticise the attacks as violations of the country's sovereignty, but the government is widely believed to support the strikes in private. They are extremely unpopular among ordinary people who believe they mainly kill innocent civilians.

[tor_khan]

^The thing that irritates me about this kind of thing - and in no way do I absolve the Americans from what they are responsible for - is that in Pakistan, like in many parts of the Muslim world, it is far easier to blame the US for all the mistakes than looking at what happens at home.

Pakistan surrendered its sovereignty to the US years ago. It's a difficult one to get out of, but the least people can do is be honest and outline how the state might exist and hold together should they go for a break. I suspect a swift crumbling. For Imran Khan to jump on the bandwagon is most likely courting populism. If he were to lead Pakistan before it crumbles, he'd need a strong ally to do it.

Anyone prepared to invest in Pakistan?

[sanman]

Imran Khan is just some rich playboy who prefers to play at being a politician over being a good family man and father to his children, as he should be doing. He has children with different women through flings here and there, but he doesn't stick around to bring up the children he has sired. He's not a responsible fellow who behaves like a grown man, but is just an overgrown kid. He takes no responsibility for his own actions, decisions, or statements.



He has no ability to lift up Pakistan - nobody does - because Pakistan is built on fantasies and castles in the sky. The only reason Pakistan has lasted this far, is because of their embrace of the Americans. Now that Pakistan has been increasingly biting the hand that feeds them, Pakistan has brought America down, to the point where America simply can't continue feeding Pakistan and indulging its every whim uncritically. Pakistan and America are both in a dance of death, dragging each other down and down. Pakistan may prove to be the end of the American empire.

[Karachi]

^ that video is out of context, he was talking about one mqm guy not all muhajirs. Imran khan himself is technically half muhajir, his mom's family migrated from Delhi in 1947

[graveyardofempires]

never seen a pashtun like this,who speaks urdu with punjabi accent.

[Levanaye Zalmaye]

In Pakistan, if you want to get into power, you need people who will run for parliament on your party's ticket. So far, Imran Khan has probably the fewest prominent members of any national party. Remember, in Pakistan's feudal system, the feudal lords in each district, village or town always win their seats so the trick is to get those people to run on your party's ticket. So far, apart from attracting a few people in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, Imran Khan has failed to buy/swindle the real seat-winners from Nawaz Sharif and Zardari.

Secondly, America-bashing and playing on his audience's ignorance will only get Imran Khan so far. Here are some statistics that Pakistanis either don't know or would rather not know:

More than 33% of all Pakistani exports go to the US and her allies. If Pakistan isolates itself from the US, Punjab's textile, rice and cotton industries will collapse within a matter of days.

Every year, Pakistan's budget deficit runs at US$10 billion or more. To keep the country alive, the US has become Pakistan's largest foreign aid donor without whose help, the Pakistani economy will collapse within a matter of weeks.

Pakistan also receives more in the form of USAid than any other country in the world (2011). It receives more than Iraq and Afghanistan put together. In fact, Pakistan also happens to be one of the IMF's largest debtors as well as one of its largest defaulters.

Lastly, after Israel and Egypy, Pakistan is the largest recipient of direct American financial aid.

In fact, what most Pakistanis bank on is some sort of a friendship with China to finish off their dependency on the US. However, given how China has invested hundreds of billions more in Brazil and Africa than it has ever planned to spend in Pakistan, we can easily conclude that the atheist socialists will not stick our their neck for the Islamick republic.


So whether Imran Khan likes it or not, even if he gets into office (and that's a very big "if"), he will not be able to get America off Pakistan's back. The bases will stay, the drones will continue for as long as Pakistan's gives sanctuary to foreign terrorists on its territory and Pakistan will, at least publicly, have to do exactly as the US says. You can't always bite the hand that feeds you.

[PakistaniAtheist]

Pakistan looks out for its interests say whatever you like its not going any where. We have religious extremists problem but it is under control. Pakistan is not in the hands of ethnic nationalists like Afghani leaders who burnt Afghanistan or religious crazy people like Taliban who again burnt their country. Pakistan adopts and transform. Pakistan protects its assets while getting aid as well. I would worry about Afghanistan since it doesnt look good there for the government there the talks are to make peace with haqqanis taliban. With that sort of news all this talk about America on Pakistan back is just foolish dreams of backward people who dont know diplomacy or politics.

[tor_khan]

Why would an atheist care a hoot about defending the short-sightedness of an "Islamic" Republic?

P.S. There is considerable evidence to suggest that there are direct/indirect links between Pakistan and the Taliban.

[Soldat_Amir]

Imran Khan is Pakistans last hope to keep the Pashtun masses Radicalised as Zaid Hamid failed when he was booted out of Peshawer over his remarks of "fighting jihad for Pakistan".

Imran Khan, himself well known to be a Talib by day, and a playboy by night, will use his stardom to once again direct the masses into the wrong direction.

Imran Khan himself, a person who has relations with the Pakistani Army through family, who has a two faced approach to politics, and a complete hypocrite.

He on one hand, declares Taliban Sharia upon Afghans, where Music would be banned and cultural lifestyles altered, while he on the other hand uses well known western dressed singers from Punjab to sing at his events.

He on the other hand, states Haqqani faction of Taliban is the ticket to peace in Afghanistan, while on the other hand, his children study in secular western educational insitutions, while Haqqani uses children to blow themselves up through Jihadi Insitiutions all over the tribal belt.

He speaks for ISI, its simple as that.

[PakistaniAtheist]

Why would an atheist care a hoot about defending the short-sightedness of an "Islamic" Republic?

P.S. There is considerable evidence to suggest that there are direct/indirect links between Pakistan and the Taliban.

Hi I think you misunderstand Pakistan maybe because you are a simple Pathan. Islam is part of our culture heritage identity. Pakistan is Islamic but that doesnt mean we follow everything blindly like you Afghanis who take everything literally. You want to wage jihaad against kaffirs you dont want to make nonmuslim friends you dont want nonmuslims aid you dont want anything to do with them but you are very quick to take aid from Pakistanis which is second hand kaffir aid. Something I never understood. As atheist I understand importance of islam role in Pakistani lives but we Pakistanis dont come that in the way of our national interets. Imran Khan is a secular not an Islamist. He drinks and was married to Jewish women and is big time playboy but he understand the role of Islam in Pakistani soceity. Afghani and Pathan nationalists just like their fundamentalist crazy religious Pathan brothers are stubborn. They come out hating Islam to the point as they are very racist. They lack internal cultural diplomacy of things. When their own brothers try to blow them kill them for their own stupidity they blame Pakistan Pakistanis for it. Same way when Pathan mullas sacrifice their own people country nation for Arabic global political jihaad over one Arabic guy they point to Pakistan and Pakistans saying why we dont do such stupid thing? Because that would be stupid to thing to do.

Please dont blame Pakistan for your simple minded stupidity lack of diplomacy. Thank Pakistan that America is not bombing Pathans in Khayber Paktunkha. Pakistan protects you from total Western invasion using politics while you get to save your twisted sense of jihaadi islamic pride too.

[Zmarak]

Hi I think you misunderstand Pakistan maybe because you are a simple Pathan. Islam is part of our culture heritage identity. Pakistan is Islamic but that doesnt mean we follow everything blindly like you Afghanis who take everything literally. You want to wage jihaad against kaffirs you dont want to make nonmuslim friends you dont want nonmuslims aid you dont want anything to do with them but you are very quick to take aid from Pakistanis which is second hand kaffir aid. Something I never understood. As atheist I understand importance of islam role in Pakistani lives but we Pakistanis dont come that in the way of our national interets. Imran Khan is a secular not an Islamist. He drinks and was married to Jewish women and is big time playboy but he understand the role of Islam in Pakistani soceity. Afghani and Pathan nationalists just like their fundamentalist crazy religious Pathan brothers are stubborn. They come out hating Islam to the point as they are very racist. They lack internal cultural diplomacy of things. When their own brothers try to blow them kill them for their own stupidity they blame Pakistan Pakistanis for it. Same way when Pathan mullas sacrifice their own people country nation for Arabic global political jihaad over one Arabic guy they point to Pakistan and Pakistans saying why we dont do such stupid thing? Because that would be stupid to thing to do.

Please dont blame Pakistan for your simple minded stupidity lack of diplomacy. Thank Pakistan that America is not bombing Pathans in Khayber Paktunkha. Pakistan protects you from total Western invasion using politics while you get to save your twisted sense of jihaadi islamic pride too.

Insulting administrators of any forum is asking for trouble ("simple Pathan") but I'm more interested to hear why you are calling us Pathans?

[Wali]

Well politicians will be politicians, they can play that game really well, all we have to do is look around the world. Imran is just another politicians trying to make a name for himself just to assert more power, influence and money. He's playing the masses at will.