Interview by Raza Latif

Who doesn't know Imran Khan? He is one of the greatest cricketers in the world, the man responsible for building and nurturing the first dedicated cancer hospital in Pakistan, and the leader of Tehreek-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice) - a political party dedicated to restoring "true democracy" in Pakistan. An Oxford graduate, Imran has been a success at almost everything he has set his sights on.

The Saturday Post was fortunate to get an audience with Imran on his recent visit to the US. Our special correspondent, Raza Latif, a director of the Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs of North America's DC chapter, interviewed Imran on a variety of subjects from cricket to politics, exclusively for The Saturday Post.

Starting from early days, your cricketing debut was not too impressive. How did you get from that point to where you became one of the world’s most renowned cricketers?

I succeeded because there were two things I had. One was total self belief; I always thought that I will make it. This was from the age of 9 onwards, by the way. I always thought that it was not “if” I will play for Pakistan, it was a question of when. So even after the debacle, being the butt of all the jokes at the end of the tour, I always knew that I would make it. Second thing is that I thought a lot about my own game. First time on this tour I watched other players and other cricketers. I analyzed myself all the time on how to get better. I analyzed my mistakes and my limitations on the tour and I corrected them. I spent the next 3 years correcting what I thought had gone wrong and worked hard at that. So that was the second thing. From the failure I learnt, analyzed my mistakes and worked hard to correct them. So two things, never lost confidence in myself and secondly, worked to analyze my mistakes and work hard to eliminate them. 

We are definitely looking for oncologists. I really want to convey this through The Saturday Post that even if they can come for 6 months or 10 months, we will welcome them.

I am now more or less completely involved in politics. The hospital, thanks to the Almighty, is now an institution where it now stands on its own feet. People now give money to the cancer hospital and not to Imran Khan, because it is like a blue-chip credible institution in Pakistan. There was a survey done of all the NGOs and Shaukat Khanum excelled compared to all the NGOs in Pakistan. Because of its credibility it attracts funds automatically. Most of all, people who go to the hospital then become its donors. So it doesn’t need so much of my time and therefore I can concentrate on politics. Of course I have the other project which is NAML College, which is a technical college.

What do you think is a realistic goal for Tehreek-i-Insaf in the current political landscape given its size and the number of seats it has in the parliament?

Remember one thing in politics: A large party does not always stay big and a small party doesn’t always stay small. You know, initially BJP had 3 seats and the next time it formed a government (in India). Quaid-e-Azam had one seat in 1940 in the whole of Punjab and in 1946 he swept the election. In politics it is an idea which catches fire, an idea whose time has come. In my opinion, Insaf (justice) is the idea whose time is coming very rapidly in Pakistan because in the charter of democracy signed by the two ex Prime Ministers of Pakistan the most important thing that they have said is that they want an independent judicial system. That is one of the main things for which Tehreek-i-Insaf came into being. The thing is that you cannot have justice until the judiciary is independent. Now that idea is catching fire. People are realizing that we (Tehreek-i-Insaf) started the idea of corruption and accountability and now everyone is accepting our idea of independent institutions, mainly the judiciary. So, I think that Tehreek-i-Insaf is gaining very quickly in Pakistan.

Do you think that this one will be more of a fair and open election?

No! Under Musharraf it will be a completely rigged election. No one has faith in this election. Just going by the last elections held under him, they were the most rigged elections in Pakistan’s history. I think the whole opposition will be out in the streets refusing to fight elections until General Musharraf is removed from office and a caretaker government comes in to play.

So that is the plan (remove General Musharraf from office)?

That’s what the whole opposition is discussing right now. Even if they (the rest of the opposition) don’t, Tehreek-i-Insaf, Jamaat-i-Islami and some national parties who have said that they will join us, will. If there is a joint opposition action we will wait for that; if they refuse then by September we will at least start a national movement.

What do you think about the resurgence of religion in the current mainstream? Don’t you think religion has become more prevalent in the past 15 to 20 years?

Are you talking about people turning to Islam or are you talking about politics?

I am talking generally about societies both here in the west and in the east becoming more and more conservative and reverting more towards religion than they did traditionally?

I see one phenomenon ever since George Bush’s war on terror; what it has done is that it has made Muslims realize that you don’t have to be liberal, moderate, extremist or fundamentalist. If you are a Muslim you are in trouble at the moment because it is such a vicious campaign in which 1.3 billion people of the world are almost put in the same boat. So there is a reaction to that and as a result automatically people have started closing ranks and you can see a sort of a movement going amongst Muslims. Then there is obviously a sense of injustice in the world.

Another example of this change in Pakistan is that during Zia’s time the government was very conservative and the people were not, and now the government is putting on a very liberal face whereas the people in general are becoming more and more conservative...

Zia’s Islamization was as much of a fraud as the so called enlightened moderation of Musharraf. Both are only meant for them to stay in power. There is nothing genuine about it. If you want a truly liberal society, it does not come about by making these stupid statements about enlightened moderation. It comes by opening up the society to a genuine democracy, debate, free speech where you allow people’s representatives to make policy and where there is accountability of leadership. This is what democratic regimes do. This sort of pseudo nonsense about moderation and opening up the media is all nonsense.

So you think that media in Pakistan is not open and unregulated?

Well, PTV is not. Regarding the other outlets, what Musharraf is doing is running in front of a procession and calling it a march because the media had already got out of his hands. There were satellite channels which were beaming in so he had no choice. So he had to allow them. But look at PTV. PTV does not allow any debate. Opposition is not allowed on PTV. The newspapers were independent anyways but they are trying to control them and they are doing everything to control them. Journalists have been beaten up. The government ads have been stopped. So they are still trying to manipulate it. It’s just that he can’t control it.

If you take General Musharraf out of the picture, isn’t it a good thing that the media is now generally more open?

So should PTV also be unregulated and that’s just one step. The other is that you cannot have dummy assemblies, dummy prime minister, dummy judiciary and call yourself an enlightened moderate. Zia’s Islamization was exactly like this enlightened moderation of Musharraf because all that he was trying to do was to cash in on the Iranian revolution which was part of this wave of Islamic nationalism. This was a reaction to the secular 60s where post-colonial countries had adopted the ways of the colonials which had actually failed in most of the Muslim world and Zia cashed in on it.

Tell us, what is going on in Balochistan?

Balochistan is a disaster which is unfolding by the day. An equally big disaster is Waziristan. In fact, Waziristan is a bigger disaster. The only difference is that Waziristan is Pakistan committing suicide on American orders and all you have to read is Michael Schuer’s article in Washington Times where he is warning the American government to not push Musharraf to the point where he goes so much against his national interest that he is toppled. One of the things that he talks about is what is happening in Waziristan, because in Wazistan there is a total rebellion against the Pakistan Army now. So it’s caught in a quagmire where Pakistani soldiers are dying every day. There is censorship where they don’t let us know how many soldiers have died and how many billions of rupees are being spent. So that’s one big disaster. The other one, Balochistan, is no less serious than the East Pakistan debacle. Look at the statements from Sanaullah Baloch; Mujeeb-ur-Rahman at this stage of the East Pakistan crisis was not making such strident statements against Pakistan as Sanaullah Baloch is doing. The more the army goes in to Balochistan the worse it is getting. I have been to Balochistan and I can tell you that it’s not a question of three sardars, it is across the board. There is a resentment and a feeling that they are being run like a colony by Pakistan.

What is the state of the earthquake victims? Are there still any issues that need to be addressed?

There is a problem there because the government is supposed to have collected 6 billion dollars and they have only allocated 50 billion rupees for the earthquake-effected area. So where is the rest of the money going? That’s a big question.

There is a lot going on in the world in terms of violence and war. How do you see all this being resolved? What will it take?

Basically what is happening in Pakistan is that there is lack of justice. There is a powerful ruling elite which is exploiting the country and it is above the law. As a result there is no rule of law. So that’s why in Pakistan we are going downhill. That’s why the Foreign Policy Journal states that Pakistan is going to be a failed state at number 9 and so did a think tank say that Pakistan will disintegrate. So Pakistan’s remedy is genuine democracy with independent institutions. There is no way around it. We are at a crossroads and we have to fight for democracy. That’s the only solution. Even if it’s a bad democracy there is a chance of it evolving. Like in India, they struggled with their democratic system for 40 years and finally it took off. The problem of the world is also injustice. You actually do need an international criminal court. You need a more empowered democratic United Nations. So that someone like George Bush and Tony Blair is not allowed to do what they have been doing. So that Israel is not allowed to do what it’s been doing against the Palestinians. There should be a world body. US can become a strong power for good if it backs these institutions, i.e. the international criminal court and the UN

What are your views about the Pakistanis living in the US? What are your perceptions about this community?

One of Pakistan’s greatest assets are the overseas Pakistanis because they are learning skills in very competitive environments and some people have made money where they have successful businesses. And in my opinion the overseas Pakistanis are the real hope for Pakistan if we can attract funds and skills from overseas Pakistanis and that would happen when you get the system right in Pakistan. This is what would propel Pakistan into the future. This is a very big asset of Pakistan but it is totally ineffective if you have a corrupt system in Pakistan because that serves as a deterrent to them from bringing their skills and capital.

Besides capital and skills, what can overseas Pakistanis do for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan?

This is the unfortunate thing. I find that the most powerful Pakistani-American community is the doctors but these people always ally themselves with anyone who is in power. It puzzles me that just for a little bit of protocol they tow the line of whoever is in power. They will all go and applaud Musharraf so that they can get good protocol. And it surprises me why they do that as here in the US they get to reap the fruits of democracy and yet they will go there and will be quite happy with an audience with Musharraf and back a dictator there. That puzzles me some times.

Last question, what gets you out of bed every morning? What is it that drives you these days?

I have never not had a passion in my life. It’s never been in my life that I don’t have goals. I can’t understand people who do not have goals in life. I have very clear goals, I know where I am heading. I am actually very content with my life. I have complete inner peace. I am happy with my existence. There is no confusion or contradiction. There is now only one goal and that is Pakistan and to fight for democracy in Pakistan. Not the pseudo-democracy that we have had but democracy that means independent election commission and independent judiciary. Elections do not bring democracy. It has to be backed by an independent election commission and judiciary.