Is Imran Khan endorsing and financing an institution that officially supports the Afghan Taliban?

Is Imran Khan endorsing and financing an institution that officially supports the Afghan Taliban? (ET).

For those as yet unaware of the legend, Darul Uloom Haqqania is a large religious seminary located in Akora Khattak in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P). It was founded in 1947 by Maulana Abdul Haq, a prominent scholar of Hadith who had trained at the Darul Uloom Deoband, the centre of Deobandi Islam in undivided India. It remained, till the start of the Afghan-Soviet war, a somewhat respectable institution that stayed away from politics and controversy.

The students and administration of the seminary even played an important role in ensuring security and safety for the engineers and labour crews of the massive Karakoram Highway project. Following the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979 Maulana Abdul Haq declared fighting the Soviets a compulsory duty for all Muslims.

At this point a heavy emphasis on holy war was incorporated into the teachings of the institution which continues to this day. Darul Uloom Haqqania is currently presided over by Maulana Abdul Haq’s son, Maulana Samiul Haq who is a diehard supporter of the Afghan Taliban. The seminary has some rather illustrious alumni. Among these are:

- Mullah Akhtar Mansoor: Erstwhile leader of the Afghan Taliban who was killed by an American missile strike last month.

- Asim Umar: Shadowy leader of al Qaeda in Pakistan and Afghanistan appointed by no less than al Qaeda leader Ayman al Zawahiri himself.

- Jalaluddin Haqqani: Feared leader of the Haqqani group and one of the most wanted men in the world. - Mullah Omar: Founding father of the Taliban who died in 2014. He attended the Madrasah only briefly but was awarded an ‘honorary degree’ much later due to the seminary’s full confidence in his moral uprightness and scholarly abilities.

Not once has the madrassah distanced itself from any of these individuals and continues, from most reports, to contribute large number of ‘graduates’ to the cadres of the Afghan Taliban and other extremist groups.

As recently as 2013 Maulana Samiul Haq stated in an interview with Reuters that Mullah Omar is “an angel-like human being” and that the Taliban should be allowed to fight for the “freedom of Afghanistan”.

 Now coming to the point of my preamble about the Darul Uloom Haqqania – and this is where things get very interesting. Last Thursday, Provincial Minister Shah Farman informedthe K-P Assembly that Darul Uloom Haqqania has been allocated Rs300 million from the state budget.

The monies will be disbursed over two budgetary years to the seminary. He observed that past governments had never delivered on the promise to provide religious seminaries with funding from the provincial budget which this government was finally delivering on.

What, for the love of God, is going on? What achievements, what contribution to the country is Darul Uloom Haqqania being rewarded for? Is the K-P government actively endorsing and financing an institution that, as yet, officially supports the Afghan Taliban and has had many well know terrorist leaders in its ranks?

This is a very unfortunate, and in all honesty, perilous state of affairs. Terrorism has weakened our nation from within like nothing else in our history. Extremism continues to be on the rise as evidenced by the unrelenting spate of sectarian violence and the targeting of minorities which continues with unperturbed, savage impunity.

Yet here we are, giving Rs300 million to a madrassah with well-known ties to terrorist organisations and widely known to contribute to the rank and file of the Afghan Taliban.

Here’s the thing; we will not be able to make an iota of difference to the scourge of terrorism and other manifestations of extremism till religious seminaries remain beyond the precinct of proper civilian law. This lack of oversight is unacceptable to begin with but takes on a more treacherous dimension when one takes into account the harm done to Pakistan by the extremism that these institutions have helped breed.

Imran Khan defended the grant to Darul Uloom Haqqania in an interview on Wednesday stating that this was going to bring seminaries into the “mainstream” and “keep them away from radicalisation”. 

I am sorry Khan Sahib, without a clear cut agenda or legislation that delineates how Madaris are going to be regulated and prevented from being incubators of radicalisation that is not going to cut it.

By all accounts, attending Darul Uloom Haqqania has led to youth being radicalised and you want us to believe it will keep them away? What manner of denial is this? How distant are you from the reality of Pakistan and this world-renowned seminary of Akora Khattak?

I appeal to K-P Chief Minister Pervez Khattak and Chairman PTI Imran Khan to immediately revoke the allocation of money to Darul Uloom Haqqania. I would further request them to set an example for the rest of the country by bringing every madrassah in K-P under the jurisdiction of the Board of Education.

Affronts like these to the intelligence and misery of the people of Pakistan must cease. Religious schools must be regulated and any material preaching hatred against other sects and religions as well as glorifying bloodshed must be banned.

The 2-3 million students attending seminaries must be taught curricula meeting at the very least the national standard for Matriculate and Intermediate graduates. The purpose of education is to produce a capable workforce and the leaders, scientists and visionaries of tomorrow. Pakistan’s Madaris have instead become an assembly line for inadequately educated and unskilled individuals unable to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s future and predisposed to bigotry and violence. Our children deserve better.

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Fresh recruits for Taliban? Imran Khan will lead Tsunami to Waziristan.

Video - Sunni Muslim vs. Sunni Muslim - This is the real Pakistan.

Sunni Muslim vs. Sunni Muslim - This is the real Pakistan from Tarek Fatah on Vimeo.

Video - This is a debate between Sunni Muslim 'scholars' of the Taliban (Deoband) variety versus Sunni Muslim 'scholars' of the more indigenous Punjabi (Barelvi) HT: TarekFatah.

Pakistan - Imran Khan faces ultimate test in governing Taliban stronghold.

Pakistan - Imran Khan faces ultimate test in governing Taliban stronghold.(ET).

ISLAMABAD: In perhaps the most dramatic outcome of Pakistan’s elections, Imran Khan’s party has won power in the northwest, putting to the ultimate test the former cricket star’s anti-US rhetoric and calls for peace talks with the Taliban.

After years of war, displacement and broken promises from religious parties and the secular Awami National Party (ANP), voters on the frontline of the Taliban insurgency rewarded Khan’s untested party with the highest number of seats.

For Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), which previously only held one seat, it was a staggering victory in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) — one of the most troubled parts of the country — and hands Khan an almost poisoned chalice of responsibility.

Early results indicate PTI has secured at least 33 seats in the 99-member KPK provincial assembly, with nearest rival Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam on 15 seats.

Bitterly opposed to US drone strikes and Pakistani offensives against Taliban fighters blamed for killing thousands of people, victory in the northwest propels PTI from the lofty ideals of opposition to the comfortable realities of government.

Many analysts believe Khan will have a rude awakening and will realise very quickly that his policies of appeasement are naive, that it is not just “America’s war” and that the Taliban are not people he can do business with.

“They will wake up to reality very quickly because the stance of the Taliban is such that it is absolutely not reconcilable with any government in KPK or in the federal capital,” said Saifullah Khan Mahsud of the FATA Research Center.

The ANP, which governed KPK for the last five years, was all but wiped out at the polls, sent packing by an electorate fed up with corruption and their inability to bring peace to the war-racked province.

Khan, on the other hand, presented himself as a charismatic leader. He visited repeatedly, talking with and walking among ordinary people. He promised peace and denounced the US drone strikes — it proved a heady combination.

The Taliban, who denounce democracy as un-Islamic, killed more than 150 people during the election campaign, including 24 on polling day itself. Secular parties in the outgoing government suffered by far the heaviest losses.

In a telephone conversation with AFP, Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan said the insurgents would first “wait till political parties form their government in centre and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa” before announcing their policy. But referring to PTI and the Pakistan Muslim League-N, which won the national polls, before the election he also warned that: “If they also come into conflict with Islam, then we will decide to target them.”

That could present PTI with the uncomfortable prospect of having to go back on the policies that got them elected, says Umair Javed, a Pakistani columnist.“Right now Imran is very clear on ending things. That would mean you completely stop sharing intel, you put an end to the transit network for NATO, the (US) drone programme has to end.

“But being in power and having to govern a province is a huge experience for the party and will help in tempering some of their more extreme positions in the war on terror and relationship with the US,” he says.

One crucial aspect will be the relationship between PTI in the province and Nawaz Sharif’s government in the centre. Both leaders voiced similar positions on the war on terror though Sharif is seen as a pragmatist.

But even if a decision is taken to reach out to the Taliban to initiate a peace deal, similar policies of talks have unravelled in recent years.“He wants peace without fighting the war. We could well see another peace deal, and after a few months of Taliban misrule and injustice public opinion would once more sour,” said Shaukat Qadir, a retired brigadier and security analyst.

Pakistani troops have been fighting for years, but it was only in 2009 that the country largely united for the first time behind an operation against the Taliban in Swat after a video emerged in 2009 showing the flogging of a 17-year-old girl.

But much will likely depend on Pakistan’s powerful military. Army chief, General Ashfaq Kayani, has been a strong US ally but junior ranks are increasingly fed up with the bloody war and opposed to American intervention.

“It is a very tricky situation because on the one hand the army chief mentioned recently that political forces and the military should be on the same page and there is no compromise with those forces which they are fighting,” says retired general Talat Masood.Read the full story here.

Video - Secret Pakistan : Documentary by BBC Part 1.

"Secret Pakistan" by BBC showing involvement of ISI and Pakistan Army in helping taliban. Some MIGHT/MIGHT NOT agree with it. It's their personal matter.

Pakistan - Major Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami boycotts vote in Karachi, alleges rigging.

Pakistan - Major Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami boycotts vote in Karachi, alleges rigging.(ET).

KARACHI: A major Islamist party on Saturday announced it would boycott Pakistan’s elections in the country’s financial hub Karachi and another city, accusing a rival party of rigging and violence.

Jammat-e-Islami (JI) is thought to be the third largest party in the city after the secular Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which were coalition partners in the outgoing government.

“These are false elections, armed workers of the MQM are terrorising people and rigging the elections,” Muhammad Hussain Mehanti, a JI party leader announced at a press conference.

“MQM workers are openly displaying arms and torturing people, they are harassing people, how it is possible to conduct fair and free elections in such an atmosphere?” Mehnati said.

Cricket star Imran Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) also accused the MQM of major rigging in the city.

JI withdrew all of its 29 candidates who were contesting for national and provincial seats, as well as withdrawing from the city of Hyderabad in Sindh. The party did not take part in the last elections in 2008.

Responding to the boycott, Haider Abbas Rizvi, a senior MQM leader, said: “By boycotting the elections, (JI) deprived the people of Karachi and Hyderabad of democratically defeating it through ballot.”

The election commission also raised concerns about threats to its staff in the port city, which it says has prevented them from performing their duties.

“In other instances, attempts have been made to hijack the vehicles transporting voting material from the returning officers to the polling stations. This has caused serious delays in polling,” it said in a statement.

The independent Free and Fair Election Network tweeted from its account that three of its observers had been beaten up by MQM workers in a district of Karachi.

Arif Alvi, a senior PTI leader, also charged that “extensive rigging” had taken place, claiming that thousands of its supporters had been prevented from voting.

JI also complained of a delayed start in voting in many parts of Karachi, which last year saw record violence linked to ethnic and political tensions.Read the full story here.

Election Day bombings sweep Pakistan: Over 20 killed, almost 200 injured (LIVE UPDATES).

Election Day bombings sweep Pakistan: Over 20 killed, almost 200 injured (LIVE UPDATES).Violence was reported across Pakistan as millions vote in landmark elections, the first peaceful turnover of power in the country’s 66-year history. The Taliban has vowed further attacks amid a string of blasts and shootings rocking the country.

12:41 GMT: A polling station outside the Islamia School in Nawabshah, Sindh Province, was set ablaze by unidentified men, Dawn.com reported.

12:32 GMT: Gunshots were heard in the city of Nawabshah, south-eastern Pakistan, local media reported.

11:44 GMT: A total of 25 people have been killed and 198 injured across Pakistan in Election Day violence, Dawn.com reported. Most of the victims are from the city of Karachi.

11:33 GMT: Clashes and grenade attacks between two rival groups left four people dead and 23 injured in the Balochistan towns of Chaman and Kuchlak in the north-west of Baluchistan Province, local media quoted police as saying.

11:12 GMT: Clashes between rivaling supporters have temporarily suspended voting in Naushahro Feroze’s NA 212 constituency, local media stated. Polling was also put on hold at a high school in Nawabshah 214 constituency, after a man was discovered allegedly stamping ballot papers at a women's booth.

10:32 GMT: Another National Assembly candidate was kidnapped in Karachi, Geo News reported.Read the live updated story here.

Imran Khan gains in Pakistan, a survey showed 24.98 percent to vote for his party, haggling over government expected.

Imran Khan gains in Pakistan, a survey showed 24.98 percent to vote for his party, haggling over government expected.(ET).ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan cricket star Imran Khan’s party was enjoying a late surge of support on Friday, the eve of a landmark election, raising the prospect of a fragmented parliament that could lead to weeks of haggling to form a coalition government.

The failure of other parties to capture a commanding lead raises the risk a weak government will emerge, clouding optimism over the first transition between civilian governments in a country that has been ruled by the military for more than half its history.

In a sign of Imran’s popularity, 35,000 supporters turned up on Thursday at a rally in Islamabad that he didn’t even attend.

The 60-year-old is in hospital after suffering injuries in a fall from a mechanical lift at a rally this week, which may also win him sympathy votes.

“While Imran was initially handicapped by the lack of party organisation and the absence of a formal presence at the provincial level, he managed to overcome these challenges by establishing a network of volunteers who have campaigned frenetically and held massive public rallies in recent weeks,” said Shamila Chaudhary, senior editor at Eurasia Group.

Imran, Pakistan’s most well-known sportsmen who led a playboy lifestyle in his younger days, has emerged as a tough challenger to dynastic politicians who have relied heavily on a patronage system to win votes and are often accused of corruption.

Campaigning officially ended at midnight on Thursday.Election-related violence that has killed more than 110 people continued on the eve of the vote.

Five people were killed in bomb attacks on party offices on Friday, one in Quetta, capital of the southwestern province of Balochistan, and the other in the northwestern city of Peshawar.

The al Qaeda-linked Pakistan Taliban, which regards the elections as un-Islamic, are responsible for the attacks that have made this the country’s bloodiest election yet, and on Thursday they revealed plans for suicide bombings on polling day.
Imran, who appeals mostly to young, urban voters, has won support by calling for an end to corruption, a new political landscape and a halt to US drone strikes on Pakistani soil.

Early opinion polls had put the share of votes for Khan’s Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party as low as single figures. However, a survey released on Wednesday showed 24.98 percent of voters nationally planned to vote for his party, just a whisker behind former prime minister Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N).Read the full story here.

Pakistan - Imran Khan: "Religious parties directly involved in terrorism, religious parties have killed and are killing the innocent people."

Pakistan - Imran Khan: "Religious parties directly involved in terrorism, religious parties have killed and are killing the innocent people."(ET).

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan during his political gatherings in Buner, Charssada, Nowshera, Mardan and Swabi has promised to set up an Islamic welfare state and block the Americans drone attacks after coming into power here on Saturday.

Imran heaped scorn at the likes of Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman in his speech before a huge gathering in Nowshera. He accused Fazl of exploiting religion for his personal interests and supporting terrorists in the country.

For years, Fazlur Rehman remained silent on the American drone attacks on the tribal belt of the country, according to the PTI leader.

“All the religious parties are directly involved in terrorism,” Imran said.

“The religious parties have killed and are killing the innocent people,” he claimed.

Calling out his name, Imran said, “Maulana sahib, quit your double standard policy now and don’t use Islam for your personal interests.”

Imran made it clear that he believes in the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and added that those who support the Qadianis are neither Muslims nor can they be protected under the set-up of an Islamic state.

In Swabi, Imran Khan told the gathering about how the former government had deceived the common people and had gone about making clandestine deals with foreign countries while compromising the country’s’ sovereignty. He said that even the Americans had gotten wind of the double standard policies pursued by the outgoing government.

Politicians came in for a bout of severe tongue lashing during his political campaign.He strongly criticised Nawaz Sharif and Asfandyar Wali accusing them of looting the country during the past five years.Hmmmm....Wow a Pakistani politician who speaks the truth about 'Religion and Terrorism'....... Fascinating. Read the full story here.

"A man with a vision" - PTI will hold the biggest ever protest in Pakistan: Imran Khan.

"A man with a vision" - PTI will hold the biggest ever protest in Pakistan: Imran Khan.(Tribune).ISLAMABAD: While the people and the media of Pakistan have not gotten over Tahirul Qadri’s long march, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) chief Imran Khan announced on Friday that his party will hold the “biggest ever” protest which will “trump all other protests people have seen in the past.”
Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, Khan said that he had kept his party members on standby for the protest, which is why, he said, he had earlier announced a 7-point agenda.
“Being a political party, we hold the right to lodge protests. About two million people in the United Kingdom took to the streets in order to protest the Iraq killings,” said Khan.
He said that there was a lot of pressure on him from his party members to join Minhajul Quran International chief Qadri’s long march, however, he said that he told his followers to wait for the “right time”.
Khan said that he will lead the protest “only to get free and fair elections conducted in the country.”
Responding to a question, the PTI chief said that there was “no question” of boycotting the elections, because “the upcoming elections are the most important throughout Pakistan’s electoral history.”
While talking about a caretaker setup to be put in place, Khan said that all political parties should sit together to deliberate upon the issue and that the caretaker prime minister should be the one agreed upon by all the parties.
However, he said that so far, no one had approached his party to discuss the caretaker setup.Hmmmmm......"He said that there was a lot of pressure on him from his party members to join Minhajul Quran International chief Qadri’s long march, however, he said that he told his followers to wait for the “right time".......A dangerous intelligent man.Read the full story here.

Pakistan’s army lurks behind cleric.

Pakistan’s army lurks behind cleric.(TS).

"We should be worried about the potential destabilization of a country with 200 nuclear-tipped missiles."

A Canadian cleric, who has twice played a part in backing military juntas in nuclear-armed Pakistan, is back in that country. And once more, he appears to be facilitating a military takeover in Islamabad.
Tahir-ul-Qadri is better known for his role in the creation of the infamous “Anti-Blasphemy Law” of Pakistan, that has brought untold misery to religious minorities and agnostics.
In the 1980s, Qadri backed the military junta of the Islamist General Zia who had overthrown former prime minister Z.A. Bhutto. In 1999, he backed the administration of General Pervez Musharraf, which had staged a coup against former prime minister Nawaz Shariff.
By the time democracy was restored in Pakistan, Qadri had emigrated to Canada, where he went into political hibernation until he became eligible for a Canadian passport.

With that in hand, Qadri left Canada to manage his worldwide network of devotees, who believe the Prophet Muhammad has appeared in Qadri’s dreams and gives him instructions.

In September, Qadri landed in hot water in Denmark, where Integration Minister Karen Haekkerup pulled out of a conference when she discovered Qadri was one of the speakers, saying he had helped fashion Pakistan’s anti-blasphemy law.
A Muslim member of the Danish parliament, Naser Khedar, wrote: “… thanks to Tahir-ul-Qadri the horrible blasphemy laws were adopted and are still in force — laws that have resulted in the death of many Christians — and Muslims.”
Qadri denied he had anything to do with Pakistan’s blasphemy law. He told an audience it “is not applicable on Jews or Christians and minorities. It is just to deal with Muslims.” He also denied the allegations by Haekkerup and Khedar, claiming, “The way he (Gen Zia) was formulating the blasphemy law, I was totally against it.” However, within days, a new video emerged showing Qadri saying the exact opposite. He was shown boasting in Urdu before an audience that he alone was responsible for crafting the blasphemy law.
On the tape, he says in Urdu: “Let me put it on the record, it was me and only me who is responsible for that law … No one else has made any contribution in making this law.” As for his claim made in English on Danish TV that the blasphemy law is inapplicable to non-Muslims, the leaked video showed him making this claim in Urdu:
“Whosoever insults Prophet Muhammad and commits blasphemy, whether he is Muslim or Kaafir (infidel non-Muslim), man or woman, he or she should be murdered and kicked like a dog into hellfire, even if they repent ...” Now Qadri, travelling as a Canadian, has come back to haunt Pakistan by besieging the parliament in Islamabad with about 50,000 of his devotees.Read the Full story here.

Related:  Pakistan - Imran Khan: "I will order air force to shoot down drones."

Pakistan - Cleric Dr Qadri invites Imran Khan to join his sit-in

Pakistan - Cleric Dr Qadri invites Imran Khan to join his sit-in.(ET).

ISLAMABAD: “If the change does not come now, it will not come after the election either,” says Dr Tahirul Qadri, the Minhajul Quran International chief who, along with tens of thousands of his supporters is staging a sit-in outside Parliament House.

In an exclusive interview with Express News, Dr Qadri also invited Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Chairman Imran Khan to join his dharna.
He said that the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaaf was like his party as they also wanted change. “I invite Imran Khan to join long march so the forces wanting change can unite.”
Dr Qadri further said that the Supreme Court verdict had justified his movement, adding that the rulers would have to surrender in a day or two.
He was referring to the court’s order calling for the arrest of all accused in the rental power plants case, including Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf.
The cleric said that if it were any country other than Pakistan, the prime minister would have resigned even before the court’s decision.
He further said that his struggle was against “fraud democracy”. “People of our nation have been slaughtered as if they were goats or sheep,” he said.
Talking about his ongoing sit-in outside Parliament, the Minhaj-ul-Quran International chief said that his workers were fired upon when they tried to remove containers from the roads and called for those responsible to be arrested.
“When our long march is peaceful, why they are erecting barriers?” he asked. Dr Qadri further said the people who had come to support his mission had come with their free will.Hmmmm....Qadri seems to have found his 'wicket'.Read the full story here.

Related: Pakistan - Imran Khan: "I will order air force to shoot down drones."

"Pakistani Spring" - Protesters demand "Change the System!" Will we see an Islamist Nuclear Power threatening the US?

Imran Khan

"Pakistani Spring" - Protesters demand "Change the System!" Will we see an Islamist Nuclear Power threatening the US?(Spiegel).A self-proclaimed revolutionary is attracting mass protests, while the highest court has ordered the prime minister's arrest and the military waits in the wings. Pakistan is in the grips of a major political upheaval.
The contrast between the images couldn't be any more striking. In Islamabad, people could be seen celebrating in front of the parliament building. Men patted each other on the shoulder and hopped around in circles. Women waved green flags emblazoned with the white crescent symbol and sang. "Nizam Badlo!" they call out repeatedly. "Change the System!"
They had convened to celebrate Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri, a government critic and their self-proclaimed revolutionary leader, and the decision made by the country's Supreme Court to allow the arrest of Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf on suspicion of corruption and nepotism.
But television stations also broadcasted images from many other parts of the country, where instead of celebrations one could see angry crowds protesting Ashraf's arrest. Some are rioting, and in Karachi people could be seen firing their guns into the air. Others are cursing Tahir-ul-Qadri, who they accuse of not having any respect for the government or the Pakistani people, who voted for the current leaders democratically during elections in spring 2008.
Pakistan currently finds itself in a state of crisis. The nuclear power is facing a test that it doesn't appear capable of withstanding. In any case, the country will be facing a national election this spring, by May at the latest.Hmmmm....."You harvest what you sow."Read the full story here.

Related: India - Second ceasefire violation by Pakistan in one hour
New Delhi: Another round of firing by Pakistani troops has been reported near the Line of Control (LoC), the second within an hour this evening. The fresh round of firing happened in the Krishnaghati sector in Jammu and Kashmir, making it the fifth ceasefire violation by Pakistani troops since a brigadier-level flag meeting took place between both sides yesterday.    

Imran Khan on defeating “Jihad Syndrome”, drones and Syria.

Imran Khan on defeating “Jihad Syndrome”, drones and Syria.(AA).Long after his cricket heydays, 60-year-old Imran Khan is once again inspiring young Pakistanis on an unprecedented scale.
With just a few months left until the upcoming general elections, many in Pakistan are now hoping Khan leads their country into stability and prosperity, just like the former cricket captain led the national team into winning the World Cup in 1992.
Khan is the founder and chairman of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) - also known as the “Movement for Justice” - which now boasts 7 million members.
According to various opinion polls, including that of the U.S.-based Pew Global, he is the “most popular politician in Pakistan today.”
In an interview with Al Arabiya News Channel, Khan described the PTI as the “only party that could bring change” to his country.
“People are sick of the old political leadership, who have all been in power in the last five years and have led Pakistan to destruction,” he added.
However, even the most sceptical of critics were surprised to listen to former President General Pervez Musharaf propose an electoral alliance with Khan last month.“There is more terrorism and extremism in Pakistan than ever in our history thanks to him (Musharaf),” he said.
As such, Khan has declined the offer and described it as “political suicide.”
He gives three reasons as to why he would never ally himself with Musharaf; firstly, because of what he described as immunity guarantees that the former president brokered to bring in his successor Asif Zardari - the current President of Pakistan.
Second, Khan says Musharaf is responsible for the killing of Nawab Akbar (the head of the Bugti tribe of Baloch) in Baluchistan and the Baluchistan insurgencies which came after that.
Finally, Khan argues it was wrong for Musharaf to send Pakistan’s troops under American pressure to fight internally, a conflict which left 50,000 Pakistanis dead.
As far as his plans go following an election win, Khan said the first thing he would do is disengage Pakistan from the American war on terrorism; adding that such disengagement would make the “Jihad syndrome” go away.
Khan is known to be an outspoken critic of American drone attacks in Pakistan; describing them as a “violation of all humanitarian laws,” particularly as they don’t distinguish between criminal and suspect as they are operated from thousands of miles away. 
He also believes they are a violation to Pakistan’s sovereignty.
Khan believes that while Obama and Biden had their heart in the right place; they are surrounded by generals and military advisors, who he believes didn’t give them correct guidance.
“They are losing the war, because they are losing the hearts and minds of the people,” he said, adding that today there is more anti-Americanism and more hatred due to the Obama administration’s handling of the situation.
After tens of thousands of people were killed, with no end to the war as of yet, Khan stresses that it is time the U.S. had friends, not lackeys.“We will be friend of the U.S. but we’re not going to be slaves of the U.S.,” he said.Hmmmmm......'CHANGE".Read the full story here.

Pakistan - Imran Khan: "I will order air force to shoot down drones."

Pakistan - Imran Khan: "I will order air force to shoot down drones."(Telegraph). The former cricket captain is to lead peace activists into the country’s lawless tribal belt on Saturday to publicise the human toll of the CIA’s covert programme of missile strikes. He has emerged as a serious contender for power after a decade and a half in the political wilderness since retiring from cricket and is now one of the country’s most outspoken critics of America’s use of unmanned aircraft. In an interview with BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said the attacks were pushing young men in the arms of Taliban recruiters. “It is totally counterproductive,” he said. “The [idea] that it is only killing al-Qaeda is a myth,” he said. “The people will tell you that the vast majority of people killed are either innocent civilians or some sort of low-level militants.” And he accused the government of Pakistan of condemning the attacks in public, while privately giving American commanders the go-ahead to launch strikes in the country’s tribal belt. “This government is completely complicit in it,” he said.Read the full story here.

Author Salman Rushdie calls Pakistan’s Imran Khan a “dictator in waiting”

Author Salman Rushdie calls Pakistan’s Imran Khan a “dictator in waiting”.(BM).
New Delhi (dpa) – British author Salman Rushdie lashed out at Pakistani cricket captain-turned-politician Imran Khan, describing him as a “dictator in waiting,” media reports said Sunday.
Rushdie was speaking at a conference in New Delhi from which Khan, founder of the popular Pakistan Movement for Justice (PTI) party withdrew, saying “he did not dream of being seen with Rushdie for the immeasurable hurt he has caused to Muslims.”
Rushdie attacked Khan for skipping the India Today Conclave, organized by the India Today news magazine, and said the neophyte politician was not a liberal.“I’m not sure Imran Khan has liberal points of view and I think if he ever gets in the seat, we might see the consequences,” he said.
“He has made deals with both the army and the mullahs. I think that’s pretty clear, in order to be where he is,” he said in comments broadcast on CNN-IBN network.Pakistani observers speculated that Khan, known for his close links to religious parties, decided to stay away from the event for fear of backlash from conservative circles in Pakistan.Rushdie denied causing harm to Muslims through his writing.“Fanatics cause biggest harm to Islam. Immeasurable harm has been caused to Muslims by terrorists,” he said.Rushdie’s 1988 novel, The Satanic Verses, created a storm in the Muslim world and Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini issued a death edict, forcing the writer to spend the next 10 years in hiding.The book is banned in Pakistan and India. Two months ago, Rushdie withdrew from the Jaipur literary festival after threats by Muslim groups.
Rushdie also criticized the Indian government and some of its political leaders of “cowardice” over their failure to defend the freedom of expression amid protests by Muslim and Hindu radicals.
“In India, religious fanaticism and political opportunism and, I have to say, public apathy is damaging the freedom on what all freedoms depend, freedom of expression,” he said.
“Freedom is not absolute, if you don’t defend it, you will lose it.”Hmmmm....Love the following comment on this story in 'Pakistantoday':"We are moderate Muslims...Imran Khan is face of Moderate Islam...we hate Rushdie...Taslima and Rushdie should be tried for blasphemy..."........if you had any doubts this was 'Moderate Islam'.Read the full story here.