Sitting on the edge of his seat, with a forceful vigour, United States President Donald Trump welcomed Imran Khan. “It’s my great honour to have the very popular and, by the way, great athlete — one of the greatest — but very popular Prime Minister of Pakistan.”
It was in this moment at the Oval Office Monday that time stood still for Pakistanis. They fell in love with Trump, the man they once considered the enemy of Islam and the root of all evil. The man who will now make Kashmir part of Pakistan; the man who could, if he wanted to, “wipe Afghanistan off the face of the Earth” in 10 days. That’s two neighbours dealt with one stone.
And the US once thought it could “bomb Pakistan to stone age”.
During his election campaign in 2016, Trump had promised he would “take two minutes” to have Dr Shakil Afridi, the surgeon who had reportedly helped the US find Osama bin Laden, freed from Pakistani jail. “I would tell them, ‘Let him out,’ and I’m sure they would let him out… because we give a lot of aid to Pakistan. We give a lot of money to Pakistan.”
But when he was asked about Afridi Monday, Trump was clueless at first. “Freedom of the press?” he asked, believing Afridi to be a journalist. He later referred to him as a hostage in North Korea – something like how the POTUS thought “the so-called ‘mastermind’ of the Mumbai Terror attacks” was arrested in Pakistan after “a 10-year search”.
That’s how Trump makes Naya Pakistan great, again. We are not complaining.
It is kosher for Imran Khan to let Afridi go in exchange for Aafia Siddiqui. Had Nawaz Sharif or Asif Ali Zardari tried to strike such a deal, all hell would have broken loose with Imran Khan casting the first stone calling the leaders “American stooges”.
Also read: Trump welcomes Imran Khan and makes his peace with Pakistan’s deception
Imran’s bitter pill
“It was one of the most pleasant surprises. The hospitality, straightforward, the charming way he [Trump] treated us – we were all blown over. We loved the meeting with the president,” Khan said Tuesday when he addressed the United States Institute for Peace.
Just like common Pakistanis turned soft towards Trump and the US after Monday’s meeting, Imran Khan too began to establish that he has had a change of heart – now that he has swallowed the bitter pill.
“Well, I’ve been looking forward to this meeting since I assumed office as Prime Minister of Pakistan,” an overwhelmed Khan had said Monday, before his bilateral meeting with Trump. Really? Because during his ‘selection’ days, Imran Khan was telling us that he dreads meeting Trump but will “swallow the bitter pill and meet him”.
Who wouldn’t swallow a bitter pill when rewards are higher and stakes of losing even greater? In fact, with the economic turmoil in the country, even popping a bottle of bitter pills should be legit.
Trump and Imran Khan’s rocky past are well-documented on Twitter. Besides a spat between them, there have been outbursts of Trump against Pakistan over the last two years.
In August 2017, announcing his strategy in Afghanistan, Trump said, “We have been paying Pakistan billions and billions of dollars; at the same time they are housing the very terrorists that we are fighting…”
Also read: Money, honour, hope – Why Donald Trump’s US & Imran Khan’s Pakistan are having an open spat
Trump’s 2018 New Year message wasn’t subtle either. He tweeted about Pakistan’s “lies & deceit” in return for “33 billion dollars in aid over the last 15 years”.“No more!” the US President declared.
Then in an interview in November last year, he said, “they (Pakistan) don’t do a damn thing for us”. This time, Imran Khan responded – and went straight after “Mr Trump”.
Like Trump, like Khan
Pakistan’s nuclear physicist-activist Pervez Hoodbhoy had written way back in 2015, before the two leaders came to power, that Trump and Khan are “made of the same stuff but packaged differently,” because in their run-up to the top seats, both “thrilled racial and religious extremists.”
Can two Trumps really be friends? The answer is not as complicated right now, because only one of them has real power.
Among various other commonalties, both Trump and Khan believe they are victims of free press. While Trump does have a vibrant media to face, Imran Khan lied through his teeth when he said, “To say that there are curbs on Pakistani press is a joke.” Channels critical of the government disappear every now and then, self-censorship is rampant, interviews of opposition leaders go off air, the ruling party uses social media to threaten journalists with treason charges – and all of this is a “joke” for the prime minister.
Ironically, in front of the United States Institute of Peace, Imran Khan cried how he was the biggest victim of Pakistan’s free press because a journalist had talked about his divorce on a news programme. How can Khan blame the journalists for speaking about his personal life when he himself in the past has announced his proposal to Bushra on the PTI’s letterhead?
Also read: A very happy Pakistan PM Imran Khan must remember Trump’s affections are as fickle as his
By whitewashing violations at home – human rights activist Gulalai Ismail has been accused of inciting rebellion while Pashtun MNAs Mohsin Dawar and Ali Wazir have been arrested in connection with an attack on a checkpost – Imran Khan can’t absolve himself of the blame for such actions.
If he agrees to be the handsome face of this fascist regime, he also needs to be answerable for the actions that are taken in the name of national interest.
Persecution of marginalised groups in Imran Khan’s Naya Pakistan resonates with Trump’s Make America Great Again. But who cares about all that. What matters for now is that Khan is Trump’s yaar — or shall we say a friend with all the benefits?
The author is a freelance journalist from Pakistan. Her Twitter handle is @nailainayat. Views are personal.
Madam G, yes we have been told that Kashmir bani ga Pakistan and that’s what Kashmiri want. You did not mention what is happening with them. Please do not write half story with conclusion. One more thing, at the end of the article it is mentioned that you are a freelance journalist from Pakistan
, please make it correct. Thank you.
Kashmiris don’t want to be a part of Pakistan… Also Pakistan was given to Jinnah as a consolation prize… Enjoy it while it still exists
Ms. NAILA INAYAT as are we pakistani we feel your pain. Be pations. We know very well what is the purpose of this useless article. But realty is realty and PAK and PM IMRAIN KHAN is a realty which is very difficult to sallwow the journalist like you.
US preparing to attack Iran and want to use Pakistan again on payment basis. Pakistan generals also know it and want to fully encash/exploit the situation.
Love or lust, the first date went well.