The first 100 days of Imran Khan’s ‘democratic’ government have not given the common man a single thing to cheer about.
There is a very real fear in Pakistan that a celebrity cricketer-turned-PM has been selected to achieve certain targets of the military.
The whispers about the Pakistani military establishment wanting to do away with the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, which made Pakistan a parliamentary republic, are only getting shriller.
Opposition leader and chairman of Pakistan Peoples Party Bilawal Bhutto has more than once declared that there will be no compromise on the rights granted to people under the 18thAmendment. “Don’t you dare!” he had thundered in a speech in the assembly last October.
But those who know Imran Khan well should hardly be surprised by his ways.
Also Read: How Imran Khan’s PTI turned Pakistani conservative men into supporters of liberal women
Imran, the cricketing hero, was wooed by military dictators like Zia-ul-Haq and Pervez Musharraf. Even Nawaz Sharif offered him a position in his government back in the days when he was friends with the military establishment.
Im, however, was never that dim, as the tabloids nicknamed him, to take the crumbs when he could take an entire portion of the cake. He always had big plans and never settled for such offers to join the government of the day. In his desire to climb to the top, he did not mind shaking hands with the establishment.
We kept telling him that the establishment has never loved anyone so much that they would agree to share the cake.
Had that been the case Zulfiqar Bhutto, the original ladla (darling) of the establishment, who was a natural politician and a pro at foreign diplomacy, would not have had only one shot at power and then sent to the gallows.
Even an anti-Ahmediya law could not save the charismatic leader who dreamt of leading the Ummah (or community) far before Imran had even considered politics as a career.
Imran and his followers must snap out of the delusion because many have been loved and ditched before him.
Nawaz Sharif was once the sweetheart too. Let’s remind Imran that Zia-ul-Haq did not even get a natural death despite being one of them.
Also Read: Imran Khan’s existential crisis in Pakistan: To cut or not to cut defence expenditure
I recently read with a wry smile a poorly-written article in the newly disciplined Daily Jang on how Imran Khan should follow in Turkish president Erdogan’s steps.
Who would know better than me that how tempting the absolute power model of Erdogan is to Imran.
There are of course a lot of obvious personality differences between the two men but the missing link is not the fact that the Turkish leader is genuinely a devout observant Muslim while the cricketer PM is a ‘photoshopped’ version.
All those who are trembling at the thought of Imran Khan heading a presidential set up for 10 years forget the most important fact that got Erdogan this far – an unshakeable support base in Istanbul.
While Erdogan brought hope for the slum-dwellers in Istanbul, Imran is the darling of land grabbers and white-collared criminals.
The first 100 days of Imran Khan’s ‘democratic’ government have not given the common man a single thing to cheer about.
The government’s votaries have gone on record stating that parliamentary democracy doesn’t suit Pakistan.
Pro-democracy voices, also referred to as traitors by the establishment, suggest that since the only way to ensure a presidential system is to do away with the 1973 Constitution, the powers that be should also do away with the tag of an Islamic Republic for Pakistan.
Also Read: Pakistani TV, plays and movies can’t get enough of Imran Khan & the dam song
The popular sentiment in provinces like Punjab is that further instability will rile people up. Traders and industrialists in Punjab are saying that they have had enough of tabdeeli (change). Punjab wants to get back to business.
With people in Pakistan already showing signs of frustration with the new government, the question to ask is: how long can an anti-people, pro-establishment government last?
My view is that nothing short of a takeover will give the establishment what they want, which is absolute power. This pretence of a democracy cannot work in Pakistan. The establishment might as well take their masks off.
Even Nawaz Sharif must be wondering if this is how the ‘Pindi boys’ would drag their feet about achieving complete dominance, then Mujhey kyun nikala (Why was I removed)?
Reham Khan is a journalist, child rights activist, and single parent in Pakistan. She authored ‘Reham Khan’, an autobiography.
Again who is the writer? Oh wait its Ma. Reham none other then IK ex. As usual all this seem her usual way of settling a personal score with IK. Nothing concrete just the usual baseless rant. Utterly disappointed in The Print I guess time to unfollow The Print.
This is completely biased, as expected from someone like ms Reham, always bashing IK. No talk of the 22 year struggle of PTI, or IKs charity work, his hospital or Jamal college. Ms Reham’s writing is garbage as always,. Will not be reading in future, you have let yourselves down The Print, please don’t allow someone like ms Reham to ruin your reputation.
Reham is not a single parent in Pakistan, she lives in the uk and is the most hated person in pakistan because of her filthy autobiography which has set new lows of an individual. She will never go to Pakistan because of the hatred people have of her, since she betrayed Pakistan and continues to write against Pakistan on twitter, where she receives a daily dose of verbal abuse. Shame on The Print for asking such a vile person to contribute to their columns. Will not be reading in future if Reham’s hate filled writing (if you can call it it writing) is included.
“Who would know better than me, how tempting a model of president Eragon is to IK”
I’ll tell you who ? His current wife – Bushra Imran, and also Jemima, who he has regular contact with, who both still love and respect him, unlike you, he has no contact with you – you are always playing the “I’m his ex wife, that means i know him better than anyone else” card. Get over it, he was only with you for like 9 months and that was like 5 years ago !!!!!!!! The man has evolved so much already, YOU DO NOT KNOW IK THE PM, you knew IK the PTI leader, and that too 5 years back. You gav him 9 months of hell, he described you as “the biggest mistake of his life” and that being married to Ms Reham was like the film “Nightmare on Elm Street”. ONLY BUSHRA INRAN KNIWS PM IK, NOT YOU !
I am really disappointed in “The Print” for allowing somebody like Ms Reham to use its space to bash her ex-husband. Firstly This article is poorly written. Some of the sentence structures are not even correct. Secondly, Ms Reham, seems to write about IK as if she had been married to him since the 1980s. The fact is, she only knew him for several months and then he has no contact with her whatsoever, unlike Jemima who is the mother IK children and he has regular contact with her. There is no mention of IKs social work or charity work, The cancer hospital (a massive achievement), Namal college (another huge achievement), no talk of IK shunning the luxuries of living in the PM house. IK, in my eyes, is a far greater man than president Eragon of Turkey, no disrespect intended, because IK has achieved more for Pakistan than any other individual, be that in cricket – the Nehru cup 1989, numerous sharjah wins, taking on the mighty windies, and never losing to them, the first cricketer to introduce neutral umpires in 1986, first ever test victoys in England and India, and of course the World Cup 1992, introducing and nurturing legends like Wasim Akram, Waqar, Inzamam etc, and let’s not forget that he was the best fast bowler, if not the fastest in the 1970s and 80s and of course crickets first ever pin up, sex symbol. It has taken IK 22 years of struggle to become PM, how dare Ms Reham not speak about the 22 years of hard work – IK was not born into a political family like Bilawal, who died sent even know the meaning of the word struggle. This is why IK is far superior to president Eragon, IK ruled world cricket, made cancer hospitals, was fair in dealing with cricket players and made educational institutes, IK is loved the world over. IK has made substantial changes and most people are more than happy with how things are going. The only people who are not happy are e Ines who are corrupt and thieves. In future please do not let Reham use your platform to bash IK because he divorced her and she can’t stand the fact the she could have been the First Lady, and subsequently reduced herself to an international joke with her autobiography (full of lies about IK). A plea to “The Print”, don’t become a joke like Ms Reham and in further no more articles from Ms Reham. Thank you.
A great write up indeed. Military establishment could overthrow Nawaz but would have difficulty in maintaining law and order in Punjab. The strategy they have come up with is to cause a 1977 situation where civilians fight each other and military to go and grab power in the amidst chaos. Khan govt will be gone and Junta will rise to annual the constitution of 1973 – new presidential form of govt will be implemented.
The army has harmed both Pakistan’s democracy and its progress. That is a fact of life which the elected Prime Minister cannot change, must accept and work around. If having a “ strong government “ fixed things, brought discipline, probity and prosperity, the army has been physically in the cockpit for roughly half of Pakistan’s existence, with its record no better than that of the civilian governments, which have certain attributes seen in other South Asian countries as well. 2. The hope for the people of Pakistan – with India an incidental beneficiary – is that Pakistan’s grim economic situation will lead to some basic changes in its approach to governance and management of the economy, with the army supporting such decisions. Better relations and more trade with India would be one such step forward. Personally I would be very happy to see PM Imran Khan succeed.
The question is really for the news platform who provides Opportunity to people like Reham to show personal frustration.
@reham, seriously you should talk about yourself and take it easy… 🙂 . your writings just shows a personal revenge, nothing else.
I am not fully satisfied by IK’s performance , and I would definitely read and appreciate a good criticism. i.e. something written with actual knowledge , rather than personal wrath.
if you wanna write against IK, then please concentrate a little more on facts. read and gain some knowledge and add credibility to your essays.
Article like this is really not gonna do any good to your personal fears.