Why Is Imran Doing This?

[Dhondy]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7101859.stm What drives him, knowing that he can never win power, that he is putting his life, possibly his sons' lives in danger? We know it's not money that motivates him, for he could have made plenty if he had that inclination. Power? But what power? He is an one man party, and he knows he is doomed to political obscurity for ever. Is he the greatest leader that Pakistan never had- selfless, fearless, devil-may-care, a bit like he played his cricket? Or is he just an idiot for choosing a life of conflict and uncertainty to a cushy existence somewhere in suburban London?

[coffee_rules]

6 years from being called a SaTiya...that's why.

[Bongosamaj]

Dhondy- Imran has cult following in many sections of the Pakistani crowd. Quite literally, he is the Pele of Pakistan. He also has some extremely rich and influential friends, both in Pakistan and in the world scene ( Can't tell me being married to a billionairess Jew isnt gonna win you a lotta powerful and influential friends). Yes, he is a one-man party, but then again, Pakistan has more or less been a one-man country. And ultimately, power of the most concentrated variety is political power. We know/should realize that even a Tendulkar pales in comparison to Lalloo or Advani in power. And Imran can't really be faulted in thinking that he has an outside shot of becomming the Don of Pakistan- others have before him and people like Nawaz Sharif, Benazir Bhutto had a lot less individual star-power like Imran has. It is unlikely, but if power was my goal and i was in Imran's shoes, i'd do the same probably.

[Bumper]

Dieting to keep his cholestrol in check perhaps ? Seriously, this guy comes across as very highly driven. When most fellow cricketers around him are selling their half baked cricket brains, to ESPN, CNN IBN & the PCB, Imran has taken the hard route to reform his country. I wish he had shown a bit of this honesty as a bowler:haha:

[Dhondy]

I dunno. I am just full of admiration for the guy. Always walked the talk, did what he believed in. My boyhood hero. Funny, never regretted that.

[Guest dada_rocks]

He might have been a ball-scatching ( pun not nintended ) thug as a bowler but comes as an angel in murky waters of pakistani politics..

[Lurker]

What drives him, knowing that he can never win power, that he is putting his life, possibly his sons' lives in danger?

Because it is the right thing to do. For now he seems to be the only political leader on the streets. Indeed a prudent question to be asked at this time of Emergency is whereas the lawyers have been protesting vehemently where are the politicians?? Imran seems to be the only one making noise. xxx

[Bongosamaj]

Because it is the right thing to do.

Dunno about that Lurks. personally, i see it as Imran's bid for more power. I am definitely pro-Musharraf simply because he is quite literally the best option for Pakistan and the world. It is easy to get caught up in the 'democracy vs dictatorship, how can you not want democracy' debate but from where i stand, its purely cosmetic. For starters, democracy is something that has to be cultivated over time and requires transparency in the process. Now, you are going to say that Indian democracy is very corrupt and that is true- but our Elections Commission is unimpeachable in its integrity and that has essentially held India together. Indian democracy came after six decades of movement towards democracy started by Dadabhai Naoroji. Pakistan for example, lacks the core concept of democracy and their constitution itself reflects it when they hold to the Sharia law. How can a law that is set in stone and not subject to revision be democratic ? It can't, for democratic by the very definition implies that people make up the law as they go along. Pakistan in its 60 years of independence also doesn't have a strong history of democracy- most of its independent time has been spent as a military dictatorship. And there are other examples too- Nigeria for one- where democracy is essentially ruining the country because mafia Dons have gotten themselves into power & are getting insanely rich off of Nigeria's oil while literally zero benifits come to the people. For two, Musharraf has been a benevolent progressive dictator of sorts for Pakistan- he made far more progress to curb in social evils like honor killings in his seven years than all the Pakistani leadership of the last 50 years put together.He has also taken a stance against religious extremism as the Red mosque incident shows. Granted, the guy is no saint and there is much progress to be done there but atleast Mushy is moving in the right direction regarding Pakistan. For three, democracy option in Pakistan at this stage is frightening to say the least- not just for India but for the whole world. I dunno if you've followed Pakistan's state-level and municipal level elections but the trend is disturbing. Apart from Musharraf's 'army party', the next big star on Pakistan's political scene is MQM - a party that has total backing of the terrorists and in turn gives them total backing. So in other words, democracy in Pakistan at this juncture throws up a distinct likelyhood of a fundamentalist Islamist party comming to power. How does that help any of us ?

[Lurker]

So in other words' date=' democracy in Pakistan at this juncture throws up a distinct likelyhood of a fundamentalist Islamist party comming to power. How does that help any of us ?[/quote'] Well Bongo the only party that was supporting Musharraf all along was the fundamentalist Mullah brigade. Bhutto's PPP and Nawaz Sharif's ML(two major parties of Pakistan) were never supporting it. Plus of course Imran has been quite vocal about Musharraf. So that essentially should answer your question about fundamentalist Islamist party coming to power, by and large they already were. Your assertion about democracy, or lack thereof, in Pakistan is correct. However it is prudent to realize that the reason Pakistan does not have a successful democratic set-up is because of the Military junta that has ruled for over 80-90% of the period. Sure the political leaders have been corrupt et all but how are you ever going to have a set of checks and balances if there is no rule of law? Another point to note is all such Military Dictatorship have a very strong support from China. All Pakistanis go crazy about what US is doing(or not doing) but they fail to realize that one country that has always stood by Pakistani leadership no matter what is China. And they are more at ease dealing with military than a democratic set-up. Conversly India is more at home dealing with Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif. Indeed the worst days of Indo-Pak relations(except post 911 world) has been under Zia and Musharraf. xxx

[Guest dada_rocks]

This article throws some light on history of democracy and USa meddling in Pakistan.. http://outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20071119&fname=naim&sid=1 Even 10% of the time when civilian govt was in driver's seat they kept looking over their shouldeds for the impending military coup and how to thwart it. Nawaz Sharif kept changing his army chief for only this reason .. he picked apprently a Mohajir with no blue-blood backing from punjab a safe bet but ltill it didn't help him.

[Guest dada_rocks]

BNRJ0PHcItI&session=f9ReeyPmmlxJQNDYozMkyZYPR8kduxL7jtEHe4ZAtNDfklGNvw-7kU0pHevU1f7FyeFJv0yArC_vjbn6e5jNZvCOALKe7U_LL3HBHc9xnVLz8OOho3__vLQfGH85LJeNcxVyC4AH9YESRpf7t_8Wh0E52zIfavBT1jzbzsUp7WWH6uQmKZSc5LeqtRZXK19fDDVAvaADNgKy-W_z6n6huqG6UxnP4ourPPp3ax0FyPeimzP7zX1QKfru5o21Jgha See what an honest leader working tirelessly can do..

[King]

It's so ridiculous how a political leader's dumped without a bail or anything. I can't see how people of Pakistan take such serious matters lying down. Is there any kind of law in that part of the world at all? I don't know what drives Imran but he's fighting a lost battle here. Despite Imran's ability to mobilize a section of society he's pretty much toothless. A single man cannot make difference in a country such as Pakistan, the responsibility should lie with the entire population of Pakistan to fight this dictator. I quite don't see that happening in the near future and for that I pity the Pakistanis.

[Guest dada_rocks]

Poor Imran khan he is stuck in a country of imbeciles.. While he is trying his best to illegitimize miitary intereference by boycottiong the election while the rest are in deal with mushy and have jumped the electoral fray. Imran mian leave that basket case called pakistani politics, u are too clean to survive there.

[kablooee87]

The Jamiat incident must have gained him a lot of supporters. Personally, I have a lot of respect for the guy simply because he put his reputation on the line in order to do work that he feels needs to be done. He could've sat pretty and run his cancer hospital and start up that university but he didn't. Even if I hated the guy, he would still have my respect for that.

[Guest dada_rocks]

Kaboolee those supporters will go ahead and vote for either BB or ex-takla.. I don't understand why pakistani politicians can't get the simple point of Imran Khan.. bickering among politicos can wait for the seat first and foremost things is bailing this cat called army for good from siayasat lane.. For this they need to collectively boycot the election. I get the respect part I never endorsed his brand of by hook or crook victory in cricket field butrespect his tireless job in face of hopelessness in pakistani politics.. Seems Either pakistani janta is too dimwit or there is some sisniter part to the Imran's party which I am not able to see.. In india on the basis of corruption charge we catapulted a V P Singh to PM's post, it's different matetr that he went ahead and screwed the politics of india for good .. Why can't pakistani public see Imran is the saviour forget Gujjar Jaat, Buut Chaudhary Wadera yada yada affinity vote for this guy doesn't matter who is the candidate as long as he/she is on Tehreek-e-insaaf ticket he sud get the vote.

[kablooee87]

Kaboolee those supporters will go ahead and vote for either BB or ex-takla.. I don't understand why pakistani politicians can't get the simple point of Imran Khan.. bickering among politicos can wait for the seat first and foremost things is bailing this cat called army for good from siayasat lane.. For this they need to collectively boycot the election. I get the respect part I never endorsed his brand of by hook or crook victory in cricket field butrespect his tireless job in face of hopelessness in pakistani politics.. Seems Either pakistani janta is too dimwit or there is some sisniter part to the Imran's party which I am not able to see.. In india on the basis of corruption charge we catapulted a V P Singh to PM's post, it's different matetr that he went ahead and screwed the politics of india for good .. Why can't pakistani public see Imran is the saviour forget Gujjar Jaat, Buut Chaudhary Wadera yada yada affinity vote for this guy doesn't matter who is the candidate as long as he/she is on Tehreek-e-insaaf ticket he sud get the vote.

nobody is Pak politics is looking out for anybody but themselves. Benaziris pro Musharraf if she can cut a deal, and she's the champion of democracy if she can't (btw, how ridiculous is it that they can just cut deals to decide who leads the country, it's the most demoralizing thing I've ever experienced with Pak). The MMA are ultimately "against military dictatorship" now, pretending like they weren't in bed with Zia when he was in power. As far as boycotting the vote goes, it's the same story. They're all too selfish and short sighted to be able to abstain. It just won't happen.

[Guest dada_rocks]

It's totally hopeless scenario I guess.. I say culprit is lack of land reform.