Imran Khan
Imran Khan HI, PP, RCPE (Hon), ASY, WCY (Urdu: عِمران خان) born Imran Khan Niazi(Urdu: عِمران خان نِیازی) on 25 November 1952,[4] is a Pakistani politician, celebrity, and former cricketer. He played international cricket for two decades in the late twentieth century and, after retiring, entered politics. Besides his political activism, Khan is also aphilanthropist, cricket commentator, Chancellor of the University of Bradford and Founding Chairman of Board of Governors of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre. Through worldwide fundraising, he founded Namal College,Mianwali in 2008.
He was Pakistan's most successful cricket captain,[5] leading his country to victory at the 1992 Cricket World Cup, playing for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992, and serving as its captain intermittently throughout 1982–1992.[6] After retiring from cricket at the end of the 1987 World Cup in 1988, owing to popular demand he was requested to come back by the president of Pakistan Zia ul Haq to lead the team once again. At the age of 39, Khan led his team to Pakistan's first and only World Cup victory in 1992. With 3807 runs and 362 wickets in Test cricket, he is one of eight world cricketers to have achieved an 'All-rounder's Triple' in Test matches.[7] On 14 July 2010, Khan was inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.[8]
In April 1996, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf ("Movement for Justice") political party was established [9] and Khan became its chairman. He represented Mianwali as a member of the National Assembly from November 2002 to October 2007, he was again elected on 11 May 2013, while his party gained 35 seats in the National Assembly.[10][11][12]Global Post mentioned him third in a list of nine world leaders of 2012 and recognized Khan as the face of anti-drone movement in Pakistan.[13] According to Asia Society, Khan was voted as Asia’s Person of the Year 2012.[14] As the Pew Research Center, in 2012 majority of Pakistani respondents offered a favourable opinion of Khan, the survey also revealed Khan's popularity among youth.[15]
Contents
[hide]Personal life
Background
Further information: Family of Imran Khan
Imran Khan was born in Lahore into a family of Pashtun origin, the only son of Ikramullah Khan Niazi, a civil engineer, and his wife Shaukat Khanum.[16] Long settledin Mianwali in northwestern Punjab, the family are of Pashtun ethnicity and belong to the Niazi Shermankhel tribe.[17] A quiet and shy boy in his youth, Khan grew up with his four sisters in relatively affluent (upper middle-class) circumstances[18] and received a privileged education. He was educated at Aitchison College in Lahore. He studied atOxford University, England the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England, where he excelled at cricket, and at Aitchison College, Lahore. In 1972, he enrolled to studyPhilosophy, Politics and Economics at Keble College, Oxford, where he graduated in Politics and in Economics.[19] Khan's mother hailed from the Burki family which had produced several successful cricketers,[16] including such household names as cricketers Javed Burki, Majid Khan[17] and, paternally (from the Niazi tribe then), to Misbah-ul-Haq.[20] Outside cricket, from his mother's side, he's also a descendant of the Sufi warrior-poet and inventor of the Pashto alphabet Pir Roshan, who hailed from his maternal family's ancestralKaniguram town in South Waziristan[21] and a cousin to one of Pakistan's leading English-language columnist, Khaled Ahmed.[22]
On 16 May 1995, Khan married Jemima Goldsmith, in a traditional Pakistani ceremony in Paris. A month later, on 21 June, they were married again in a civil ceremony at the Richmond registry office in England.[23] Jemima was converted to Islam. Khan's later decision to join politics alarmed opposition politicians and intelligence agencies mainly because of Jemima's half Jewish ancestry, this became point of criticism especially by Islamic parties who alleged that he was related to 'Zionists'. The couple has two sons, Sulaiman Isa and Kasim.[24]
Rumours circulated that the couple's marriage was in crisis, Jemima denied that publishing an advertisement in Pakistani newspapers.[25] On 22 June 2004, it was announced that the Khan had divorced ending the nine-year marriage because it was "difficult for Jemima to adapt to life in Pakistan".[26] The marriage ended.[27] Khan now resides alone in Bani Gala farmhouse.[28] In November 2009, Khan underwent emergency surgery at Lahore's Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital to remove an obstruction in his small intestine.[29]
Cricket career
Khan made a lackluster first-class cricket debut at the age of sixteen in Lahore. By the start of the 1970s, he was playing for his home teams of Lahore A (1969–70), Lahore B (1969–70), Lahore Greens (1970–71) and, eventually, Lahore (1970–71).[30] Khan was part ofUniversity of Oxford's Blues Cricket team during the 1973–1975 seasons.[19] At Worcestershire, where he played county cricket from 1971 to 1976, he was regarded as only an average medium-pace bowler. During this decade, other teams represented by Khan included Dawood Industries (1975–1976) and Pakistan International Airlines (1975–1976 to 1980–1981). From 1983 to 1988, he played forSussex.[7]
Khan made his test cricket debut against England in 1971 in the city of Birmingham. Three years later, he debuted in the One Day International (ODI) match, once again playing against England at Nottingham for the Prudential Trophy. After graduating from Oxford and finishing his tenure at Worcestershire, he returned to Pakistan in 1976 and secured a permanent place on his native national team starting from the 1976–1977 season, during which they faced New Zealand and Australia.[30] Following the Australian series, he toured the West Indies, where he met Tony Greig, who signed him up for Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket.[7] His credentials as one of the fastest bowlers of the world started to become established when he finished third at 139.7 km/h in a fast bowling contest at Perth in 1978, behind Jeff Thomson and Michael Holding, but ahead of Dennis Lillee, Garth Le Roux and Andy Roberts.[7]
As a fast bowler, Khan reached the peak of his powers in 1982. In 9 Tests, he got 62 wickets at 13.29 each, the lowest average of any bowler in Test history with at least 50 wickets in a calendar year.[31] In January 1983, playing against India, he attained a Test bowling rating of 922 points. Although calculated retrospectively (ICC player ratings did not exist at the time), Khan's form and performance during this period ranks third in the ICC's All-Time Test Bowling Rankings.[32]
Khan achieved the all-rounder's triple (securing 3000 runs and 300 wickets) in 75 Tests, the second fastest record behind Ian Botham's 72. He is also established as having the second highest all-time batting average of 61.86 for a Test batsman playing at position 6 of the batting order.[33] He played his last Test match for Pakistan in January 1992, against Sri Lanka at Faisalabad. Khan retired permanently from cricket six months after his last ODI, the historic 1992 World Cup final against England at Melbourne,Australia.[34][not in citation given] He ended his career with 88 Test matches, 126 innings and scored 3807 runs at an average of 37.69, including six centuries and 18 fifties. His highest score was 136 runs. As a bowler, he took 362 wickets in Test cricket, which made him the first Pakistani and world's fourth bowler to do so.[7] In ODIs, he played 175 matches and scored 3709 runs at an average of 33.41. His highest score remains 102 not out. His best ODI bowling is documented at 6 wickets for 14 runs.
Captaincy
At the height of his career, in 1982, the thirty-year-old Khan took over the captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team from Javed Miandad.[35] As a captain, Khan played 48 Test matches, out of which 14 were won by Pakistan, 8 lost and the rest of 26 were drawn. He also played 139 ODIs, winning 77, losing 57 and ending one in a tie.[7]
In the team's second match, Khan led them to their first Test win on English soil for 28 years at Lord's.[36] Khan's first year as captain was the peak of his legacy as a fast bowler as well as an all-rounder. He recorded the best Test bowling of his career while taking 8 wickets for 58 runs against Sri Lanka at Lahore in 1981–1982.[7] He also topped both the bowling and batting averages against England in three Test series in 1982, taking 21 wickets and averaging 56 with the bat. Later the same year, he put up a highly acknowledged performance in a home series against the formidable Indian team by taking 40 wickets in six Tests at an average of 13.95. By the end of this series in 1982–1983, Khan had taken 88 wickets in 13 Test matches over a period of one year as captain.[30]
This same Test series against India, however, also resulted in a stress fracture in his shin that kept him out of cricket for more than two years. An experimental treatment funded by the Pakistani government helped him recover by the end of 1984 and he made a successful comeback to international cricket in the latter part of the 1984–1985 season.[7]
In India in 1987, Khan led Pakistan in its first ever test series win and this was followed by Pakistan's first series victory in England during the same year.[36]During the 1980s, his team also recorded three creditable draws against the West Indies. India and Pakistan co-hosted the 1987 World Cup, but neither ventured beyond the semi-finals. Khan retired from international cricket at the end of the World Cup. In 1988, he was asked to return to the captaincy by thepresident Of Pakistan, General Zia-Ul-Haq, and on 18 January, he announced his decision to rejoin the team.[7] Soon after returning to the captaincy, Khan led Pakistan to another winning tour in the West Indies, which he has recounted as "the last time I really bowled well".[17] He was declared Man of the Series against West Indies in 1988 when he took 23 wickets in 3 tests.[7]
Khan's career-high as a captain and cricketer came when he led Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup. Playing with a brittle batting line-up, Khan promoted himself as a batsman to play in the top order along with Javed Miandad, but his contribution as a bowler was minimal. At the age of 39, Khan took the winning last wicket himself.[30]
Post-retirement
In 1994, Khan had admitted that, during Test matches, he "occasionally scratched the side of the ball and lifted the seam." He had also added, "Only once did I use an object. When Sussex were playing Hampshire in 1981 the ball was not deviating at all. I got the 12th man to bring out a bottle top and it started to move around a lot."[37] In 1996, Khan successfully defended himself in a libel action brought forth by former English captain and all-rounder Ian Botham and batsman Allan Lamb over comments they alleged were made by Khan in two articles about the above-mentioned ball-tampering and another article published in an Indian magazine, India Today. They claimed that, in the latter publication, Khan had called the two cricketers "racist, ill-educated and lacking in class." Khan protested that he had been misquoted, saying that he was defending himself after having admitted that he tampered with a ball in a county match 18 years ago.[38] Khan won the libel case, which the judge labelled a "complete exercise in futility", with a 10–2 majority decision by the jury.[38]
Since retiring, Khan has written opinion pieces on cricket for various British and Asian newspapers, especially regarding the Pakistani national team. His contributions have been published in India's Outlook magazine,[39] the Guardian,[40] the Independent, and theTelegraph. Khan also sometimes appears as a cricket commentator on Asian and British sports networks, including BBC Urdu[41] and the Star TV network.[42] In 2004, when the Indian cricket team toured Pakistan after 14 years, he was a commentator on TEN Sports' special live show, Straight Drive,[43] while he was also a columnist for sify.com for the 2005 India-Pakistan Test series.[44] He has provided analysis for every cricket World Cup since 1992, which includes providing match summaries for the BBC during the 1999 World Cup.[44] He holds as a captain the world record for taking most wickets, best bowling strike rate and best bowling average in test,[45] [46] and best bowling figures (8 wickets for 60 runs) in a test innings,[47] and also most five-wicket hauls (6) in a test innings in wins.[48]
Welfare activities
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust
Khan focused his efforts solely on social work. By 1991, he had founded the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust, a charity organisation bearing the name of his mother, Mrs. Shaukat Khanum. As the Trust's maiden endeavour, Khan established Pakistan's first and only cancer hospital, constructed using donations and funds exceeding $25 million, raised by Khan from all over the world.[9] [49][50]
Namal Knowledge City
Main article: Namal College
On 27 April 2008, Khan established a technical college in the Mianwali District calledNamal College. It was built by the Mianwali Development Trust (MDT), and is an associate college of the University of Bradford in December 2005.[51][52]
Imran Khan Foundation
Imran Khan Foundation is another welfare work, which aims to assist the needy people all over the Pakistan. It has provided help to flood victims in Pakistan.[53] Buksh Foundation has partnered with Imran Khan Foundation to light up villages in Dera Ghazi Khan, Mianwali and Dera Ismail Khan under the project 'Lighting a Million Lives'. The campaign will establish several Solar Charging Stations in the selected off-grid villages providing and will provide villagers with solar lanterns, which can be regularly charged at the solar-charging stations.[54][55]
Politics
Initial politics (1996-2013)
In 1996, Khan founded a political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).[17][56][57] Khan supported General Pervez Musharraf's military coup in 1999,[58] believing Musharraf would "end corruption, clear out the political mafias".[59] According to Khan, he was Musharraf's choice for prime minister in 2002 but turned down the offer.[60] The 2002 Pakistani general election in October across 272 constituencies, Khan anticipated in the elections and was prepared to form a coalition if his party did not get a majority of the vote.[61] He was elected from Mianwali.[62] He has also served as a part of the Standing Committees on Kashmir and Public Accounts.[63]
On 6 May 2005, Khan was mentioned in Newsweek story about the alleged desecration of the Qur'an in a U.S. military prison at the Guantánamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba.[64] In June 2007, Khan faced political opponent in and out side the parliament.[65]
On 2 October 2007, as part of the All Parties Democratic Movement, Khan joined 85 other MPs to resign from Parliament in protest of the presidential election scheduled for 6 October, which general Musharraf was contesting without resigning as army chief.[11] On 3 November 2007, Khan was put under house arrest, after president Musharraf declared astate of emergency in Pakistan. Later Khan escaped and went into phiding.[66] He eventually came out of hiding on 14 November to join a student protest at the University of the Punjab.[67] At the rally, Khan was captured by students and was mistreated.[68]
On 30 October 2011, Khan addressed more than 100,000 supporters in Lahore, challenging the policies of the government, calling that new change a "tsunami" against the ruling parties,[69] His another successful public gathering of 250,000 supporters was in Karachi on 25 December 2011.[70] Since then Khan has become a real threat to the ruling parties and future political prospect in Pakistan. According to the International Republican Institute's (IRI's) survey, Imran Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) tops the list of popular parties in Pakistan both at the national and provincial level.[71][72]
On 6 October 2012, Khan joined vehicle caravan of protesters from Islamabad to the village of Kotai in Pakistan's South Waziristan region against U.S. drone missile strikes.[73][74]
On 23 March 2013, Khan introduced the "Naya Pakistan Resolution" (New Pakistan) at the start of his election campaign.[75] [76] [77][78]
On 29 April The Observer termed Khan and his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf as the main opposition to the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz.[79] On 30 April 2013, Manzoor Wattoopresident of Pakistan Peoples Party (Punjab) offered Khan the office of prime minister in the possible coalition government which would include the PPP and Khan's PTI, in a move to prevent Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz to make the government, but offer was rejected.[80]
During the 1990s, Khan also served as UNICEF's Special Representative for Sports[81] and promoted health and immunisationprogrammes in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand.[82] While in London, he also works with the Lord's Taverners, a cricket charity.[9]
Khan–Sharif rivalry
Between 2011 and 2013, Khan and Nawaz Sharif began to engage each other in a bitter feud. The rivalry between the two leader grew in late 2011 when Khan addressed his largest crowd at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore.[83] From 26 April 2013, in the run up to the elections, both the PML-N and the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf started to criticize each other.[84][85][86]
2013 elections campaign
On 21 April 2013 Khan launched his final public relations campaign for 2013 elections fromLahore where he addressed thousands of supporters at The Mall, Lahore.[87] [88][89] He announced that he would pull Pakistan out of the U.S.-led war on terror and bring peace in the Pashtun tribal belt.[89] Khan addressed different public meetings in Malakand, Lower Dir District, Upper Dir District and other cities of the Pakistan where he announced that PTI will introduce uniform education system in which the children of rich and poor will have equal opportunities.[90][91][92][93][94][95][96][97] Khan ended his south Punjab campaign by addressing rallies at Bahawalpur, Khanpur, Sadiqabad, Rahim Yar Khan andRajanpur.[98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106] Khan ended campaign by addressing a rally of supporters in Islamabad via a video link while lying on a bed at a hospital in Lahore.[107]According to the last survey before the elections by The Herald 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).[108][108] On 7 May, just four days before the elections, Khan was rushed to Shaukat Khanum hospital in Lahore after he tumbled from a forklift at the edge of a stage and fell headfirst to the ground. He survived.[109][110]Pakistan's 2013 elections were held on 11 May 2013 throughout the country. The elections resulted in a clear majority of Pakistan Muslim League (N).[111][112] Khan's PTI also emerged as the second largest party in Karachi[113][114] Khan's party PTI won 30 directly elected parliamentary seats.[115]
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Government
Main article: Pervez Khattak administration
Khan's party swooped the militancy-hit northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and has formed the provincial government.[116][117] [118] PTI-led Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government presented a balanced, tax-free budget for the fiscal year 2013-14.[119][120]
In Opposition
Khan led Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf became the opposition party in Punjab and Sindh. Khan became the parliamentary leader of his party.[121][122] On 31 July 2013 Khan was issued a contempt of court notice for allegedly criticizing the superior judiciary,[123] and his use of word "shameful" for the judiciary. The notice was discharged after Khan submitted before the court that he criticized the lower judiciary for their actions during the May 2013 General election.[124]
Ideology
Platform
Khan's proclaimed political platform and declarations include: Islamic values, to which he rededicated himself in the 1990s; liberal economics, with the promise of deregulating the economy and creating a welfare state; decreased bureaucracy and the implementation of anti-corruption laws, to create and ensure a clean government; the establishment of an independent judiciary; overhaul of the country's police system; and an anti-militant vision for a democratic Pakistan.[34][42][125] [126] "[127]
Apology towards Bangladesh
Khan publicly demanded a Pakistani apology towards the Bangladeshi people for theatrocities committed in 1971,[128][129] He called the 1971 operation a "blunder"[130] and likened it to today's treatment of Pashtuns in the war on terror.[129] Khan is often mocked as "Taliban Khan" because of his stance against the war in North-West Pakistan. He believes in negotiations with Taliban and the pull out of the Pakistan Army from FATA. He is against US drone strikes and plans to disengage Pakistan from the US-led war on terror. Khan also opposes almost all military operations, including the Siege of Lal Masjid.[131][132][133]
Rally in South Waziristan
In August 2012, the Pakistani Taliban issued death threats if he went ahead with his march to their tribal stronghold along the Afghan border to protest US drone attacks, because he calls himself a "liberal" – a term they associate with a lack of religious belief.[134] [135] On 1 October 2012, prior to his plan to address a rally in South Waziristan, senior commanders ofPakistani Taliban said after a meeting headed by the Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud that they now offered Khan security assistance for the rally because of Khan's opposition to drone attacks in Pakistan, reversing their previous stance.[136]
Criticism
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During the 1970s and 1980s, Khan became known as a socialite for his strict behaviour against Western customs, and is often dismissed as a political lightweight[67] and a celebrity outsider in Pakistan,[35] where national newspapers also refer to him as a "honest politician".[137] Political observers say the crowds he draws are attracted by his cricketing celebrity, and the public has been reported to view him as a figure of entertainment as well as serious political authority.[126]
Declan Walsh in The Guardian newspaper in England in 2005 described Khan as an "honest politician," observing that, "Khan's ideas and affiliations since entering politics in 1996 have swerved and skidded like a rickshaw in a rainshower… He preaches democracy one day but gives a vote to reactionary mullahs the next."[59] The charge constantly raised against Khan is that of hypocrisy and opportunism, including what has been called his life's "playboy to puritan U-turn."[35] Political commentator Najam Sethi, stated that, "A lot of the Imran Khan story is about backtracking on a lot of things he said earlier, which is why this doesn't inspire people.".[35] He is also accused of having links with Pakistan's 'establishment'.[138]
In 2008, as part of the Hall of Shame awards for 2007, Pakistan's Newsline magazine gave Khan the "Paris Hilton award for being the most undeserving media darling." The 'citation' for Khan read: "He is the leader of a party that is the proud holder of one National Assembly seat (and) gets media coverage inversely proportional to his political influence." The Guardian has described the coverage garnered by Khan's post-retirement activities in England, where he made his name as a cricket star and a night-club regular, as "terrible tosh, with danger attached. It turns a great (and greatly miserable) Third World nation into a gossip-column annexe. We may all choke on such frivolity".[139] On 4 March Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman, issued a Fatwa against Imran Khan, saying that voting for the him or his party is ‘haram’ alleging him as Ahmadi agent and Zionist lobbyist.[140]
In popular culture
Main article: Kaptaan
In 2010, a Pakistani production house announced to produce a film based on Khan's life named as Kaptaan: The Making of a Legend(Urdu: کپتان افسانوی کردار کی تشکیل). The title is Urdu for 'Captain' indicating his captaincy of the Pakistan cricket team which led them to victory in the 1992 cricket world cup. It follows the events that have shaped up his life. From being ridiculed in Cricket to being labeled as a playboy. From the tragic death of his mother, to his efforts and endeavors in building the first cancer hospital in Pakistan. From being the first Chancellor of the University of Bradford, to the building of Namal University.[141][142][143]
Awards and honours
Main article: List of awards and honors received by Imran Khan
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- Khan is featured in the University of Oxford's Hall of Fame and has been an honorary fellow of Oxford's Keble College.[81]
- In 1976 as well as 1980, Khan was awarded The Cricket Society Wetherall Award for being the leading all-rounder in English first-class cricket.
- In 1983, he was also named Wisden Cricketer of the Year
- In 1983, he received the president’s Pride of Performance Award
- In 1985, Sussex Cricket Society Player of the Year
- In 1990, Indian Cricket Cricketer of the Year[30]
- In 1992, Khan was given Pakistan's civil award, the Hilal-i-Imtiaz
- On 8 July 2004, Khan was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2004 Asian Jewel Awards in London, for "acting as a figurehead for many international charities and working passionately and extensively in fund-raising activities."[144]
- On 7 December 2005, Khan was appointed the fifth Chancellor of the University of Bradford, where he is also a patron of the Born in Bradford research project.
- On 13 December 2007, Khan received the Humanitarian Award at the Asian Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur for his efforts in setting up the first cancer hospital in Pakistan.[145]
- On 5 July 2008, he was one of several veteran Asian cricketers presented special silver jubilee awards at the inaugural Asian Cricket Council (ACC) award ceremony in Karachi.[146]
- In 2009, at International Cricket Council's centennial year celebration, Khan was one of fifty-five cricketers inducted into the ICC Hall of Fame.[147]
- In 2011 he was given the Jinnah Award.
- On 28 July 2012, Imran Khan was awarded an honorary fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in recognition of his services for cancer treatment in Pakistan, through the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre.[148]
- In 2012 according to Pew Research Center, seven out of ten Pakistani respondents offered a favourable opinion about Khan. The survey also revealed that Khan enjoys incomparable popularity among youth.[15]
- He was the Asia Society's Person of the Year 2012.
- In December 2012, GlobalPost ranked him third in a list of the top nine world leaders who influenced the world the most in 2012, behind Christine Lagarde and Barack Obama while more influential than Hillary Clinton, Kim Jong Un and Aung San Suu Kyi.[13]