Imran Khan: Who and Why?

    In 1992, Pakistan won its first and only ICC ODI World Cup. Nobody had expected Pakistan to become the victor. It was all due to determination of our captain Imran Khan and his efficient team of cricket players. In a ceremony following the event, then Prime Minister of Pakistan was asked by a journalist, "Won't you like to ask Imran to join your party?" PM Nawaz Sharif jokingly replied, "I really wish he would." Then four years later, Khan founded his own political party, PTI (Pakistan Tehrik e Insaf [Pakistan Movement for Justice]) in Mianwali, Punjab province.

    Nobody took Khan seriously. He was one of the many tanga parties in the country. Then Musharraf toppled Sharif's government (the second one) and established military dictatorship. Khan initially supported his rule but then began to slide in the other direction, specially because he was against the President Musharraf's decision to participate in War on Terror. In 2007, he even went to jail and manhandled by the students of JI, a religious-political party in Pakistan. He boycotted the 2008 general elections.

    Pakistan People's Party emerged as the largest political power in Pakistan after the results of general elections 2008 were announced. Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) came second. Gilani became the Prime Minister with Zardari taking control when Musharraf stepped down to avoid impeachment. That was when all the problems started. Debts, prices and terrorism increased in Pakistan. Tahir ul Qadri, the founder of Minhaj ul Qur'an, organized protests against the government and demanded elctoral reforms in Pakistan. But his struggles were in vain.

    Khan realized that the only possible way out of these problems was the removal of both strong political parties and replace them with a third power. His criticism of PPP and PML(N) attracted crowds of thousands into his gatherings. In 2011, he was seen as one of the leading figures in Pakistani politics. His past successes and his charming personality won PTI several converts. People had seen Khan building Pakistan's first cancer hospiral (something the experts had deemed impossible before) and Namal University. Khan promised change and assured them that his "tsunami" will throw away the corrupt and cancerous elements in Pakistani politics.

    In 2013 general elections, PML(N) stood victorious and Khan's party emerged as the second largest political power. He made his own government in KPK with JI. During the five year tenure of Khattak as CM, PTI introduced health and police reforms in the second most devastated province of the country. During that time, Panama Leaks provided him with a chance to sue Sharif in Supreme Court. PM Nawaz Sharif was disqualified in 2017 and got arrested the year along with his possible successor, daughter Maryam. PTI won 2018 general elections and Khan finally became Pakistan's Prime Minister.

    In Punjab, his CM is Sardar Usman Khan Buzdar. Mahmud Khan has become the Chief Minister of KPK. Ajmal Khan of BAP (Balochistan Awami [Public] Party) was nominated as CM Balochistan. Dr. Arif Alavi recently became the thirteenth President of Pakistan. He is one of the founding members of PTI. Khan installed Engro's ex-CEO Asad Umar as the Finance Minister while PML(N)-nominated Finance Minister Ishaq Dar is a wanted criminal, along with Sharif's sons Hasan and Husayn. Shah Mahmud Qurayshi continued his broken term as the Foreign Minister, an office he held under PPP. Musharraf-era Railway Minister Shaykh Rasheed Ahmad who runs his own one-man party also got his way with Khan. For Minister of Law, Khan selected his ally MQM(P)'s leader Farogh Naseem.

    Now PTI governs three out of four provinces of Pakisran. Sindh has voted in favor of PPP for the third time in a row. PML(N) has been limited to the opposition chambers. Many powerful politicians have lost their seats including JI's Siraj ul Haq, JUI's Fazl ur Rahman, pro-Afghan Mahmud Achakzai, rebel from Maryam's authority Chaudhry Nisar etc. The character of Altaf Husayn, MQM's original founder, has lost its infleunce when he uttered anti-Pakistan remarks in August 2017 from London. Zardari has gone behind the curtains and is using his son Bilawal to control his party. Sharif is luxuriating in jail when his brother and ex-CM Pnjab Shehbaz Sharif is the current leader of the party, still faithful to his brother and a fervent believer in the theory that Sharif had been framed by a mutual conspiracy of army and judiciary.

    Khan is known, like Benazir Bhutto (two times PM) and President General Musharraf, for being capable of impromptu speech without relying on a written lecture. Khan addressed the nation after taking oath as PM and he rambled on for more than an hour about different issues one of which was stunted growth being found in 45% Pakistani children. He later addressed the nation again and requested the overseas Pakistanis to contribute in Chief Justice of Pakistan Damn Fund. One of his top priorities is to divide Punjab into two provinces, a cause for which he pre-received multiple candidates from the Saraiki belt.

    Khan welcomed Iranian, American and Chinese Foreign Ministers in less than a month after taking his oath. He doesn't intend to attend UN General Assembly meeting in September and has decided to stay in Pakistan for a few months to focus on local issues. He has strictly stated that he would take no protocol. He is not using PM House and will sell its extra cars, 30+ of which are bullet-proof. His main concern is to bring back the money people have laundered overseas. His also desires to create a better and more public-friendly local body system. Pakistanis have huge hopes from Imran Khan and his ambitious nature. It has become a trend for him to achieve his goal no matter how much people shake their heads at him.