The apparent victory of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Imran Khan, as the new Prime Minister of Pakistan is being hailed by the “left-liberals” in India as a victory against the “Right”, since he beat the alliance of Lashkar-e-Toiba chief and 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed who was backing about 200 candidates under the banner Allah-O-Akbar Tehreek (AAT). In fact, he had expressed how he and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are similar.
5 years ago at the @htTweets conclave, @ImranKhanPTI expressed a bonding with @ArvindKejriwal : told me, ‘we are both ‘outsiders’ challenging the corrupt establishment’ #ImranKhan
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) July 26, 2018
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had also shared how he and Khan are challenging the status quo in their respective countries.
Met Imran Khan and we shared our experiences in politics. Both challenging status quo in respective countries pic.twitter.com/XsFuT8AYjD
— Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) March 20, 2016
Of course, as an exemplary cricketer, how hard could it be for him to run a country, as volatile as Pakistan.
So finally, Imran Khan as Prime Minister? Have admired him enormously as a cricketer and as a cricket captain. Will be interesting to see how he leads a nation.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 26, 2018
Pakistani journalist Mehr Tarar, who was accused by Congress MP Shashi Tharoor’s wife Sunanda Pushkar of stalking her husband, too joined in the chorus of welcoming Imran Khan as the new Prime Minister.
From 1997 when he didn’t even win his own seat to 2018 where he seems to be leading on all seats he contested on, Imran Khan has come a long way.
What a magnificent day this is for a man who has had so many defeats in the last 22 years, a lesser man would have given up ages ago.
— Mehr Tarar (@MehrTarar) July 26, 2018
Imran Khan’s PTI bagging 111 seats at this point of vote-counting is a humbling and a very simple endorsement of sentiments and support of millions of us who have believed in his leadership for years.
— Mehr Tarar (@MehrTarar) July 25, 2018
Nehru fangirl, too, joined in, getting excited at the prospect of ‘glamour’ in the neighbourhood.
And @ImranKhanPTI #ImranKhan is Pakistan’s prime Minister. Wah wah! Army in charge and all, but the western neighbour just got rather glamorous. Zealot parties routed too.
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) July 26, 2018
Too bad she didn’t find India’s Imran Khan equivalent ‘glamorous’ enough when Kejriwal won Delhi elections in 2015.
Incredible! Delhi feels like one big happy family this morning. Strangers smiling at each other, morning walkers hugging. Hope it lasts 🙂
— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) February 11, 2015
Jokes apart, what exactly does having Imran Khan, the politician, not the ‘legendary cricketer’, as the Prime Minister next door mean?
Founding PTI in 1996, in last few years, Imran Khan has shown his soft stand towards terrorism and terrorists in Pakistan. In June 2013, when a US drone strike killed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan’s deputy chief Waliur Rehman Mehsud, Khan stirred controversy by referring to him as ‘pro-peace’.
The drone attack that killed pro peace Waliurrehman led to r soldiers being killed/injured in revenge attacks! This is totally unacceptable.
— Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) June 8, 2013
Rahman carried a bounty of USD 5 million on his head and was accused of organising attacks against the US and Nato forces in Afghanistan. He was also wanted in connection with a suicide attack on an American base in Afghanistan in 2009 that killed seven CIA agents.
Later, he even suggested that Pakistani Taliban should be allowed to ‘open an office’ in Pakistan to facilitate peace talks. That’s not all. Imran Khan was also Taliban’s pick as peace talk mediator with Nawaz Sharif government.
In 2012 he had even said that Taliban’s ‘holy war’ in Afghanistan is justified by Islamic law while visiting the hospital where Malala Yusufzai was treated a week prior. Malala, then a schoolgirl, was shot in the head by the Taliban in Swat valley of Pakistan in October 2012 for writing against the atrocities of Taliban in Swat Valley of Pakistan.
Imran Khan has proved time and again that he is a terrorist sympathiser.
Waseem Badami: Do you consider Osama Bin Laden a terrorist?@ImranKhanPTI: I do not want to comment on this. pic.twitter.com/Di7dCv4dY7
— Khushal Khan (@Khushal_Khattak) May 24, 2016
In the above-undated video, a Pakistani journalist Waseem Badami is asking Khan what his views on Osama Bin Laden, former Al Qaeda chief who was killed by the US in Pakistan’s Abbottabad. First Imran Khan says one who is terrorist for one is a freedom fighter for other. To justify Osama’s terror activities, he cites the example of George Washington and says, for the British, he was a terrorist while a freedom fighter for Americans. When further probed what does he think about Osama, Imran Khan said he would not like to comment on that.
Khan has also embraced extreme religious views and promised to uphold the strict blasphemy laws in Pakistan which mandates the death penalty for any “imputation, insinuation or innuendo” against the prophet Muhammad. In fact, his manifesto also states that he wants to make Pakistan an Islamic welfare state.
Khan’s views on feminism are also every “left-liberal’s” nightmare. He has said he disagrees with the Western ‘feminist movement’ and that the movement has contributed to ‘degrading’ motherhood. Not just that, Khan has also been accused of sexual harassment by PTI worker for ‘highly indecent’ conduct and ‘sending objectionable’ messages.
His former wife Reham Khan, too, has levelled accusations of sexual harassment against Khan in her autobiography. As per reports, there are instances of rampant sexual coercion and use of sexual favours within the ranks of PTI, including some directly related to Imran Khan. His former wife Reham Khan has called out Imran Khan on multiple occasions and called him ‘fake’ and a ‘hypocrite who would do anything to get power’.
Even as the Pakistan election are still to be declared, Imran Khan’s PTI seems to be emerging as a major party, winning 28 out of the 40 seats where results are declared. Meanwhile, the Indian liberals are elated at the prospect of having an Islamist, anti-feminist, terror-sympathiser Prime Minister for the neighbour.
Judging by the views held by Imran Khan, at best, he can be termed as ‘clean-shaved Taliban’. It is intriguing that the “liberals” in India have taken such a liking towards Taliban Khan, all the while preaching about how India could turn into “Hindu Taliban”. It is therefore evident that the “liberals” don’t hate Taliban, they just hate Hindus.
