Few people like Imran Khan, former captain of the Pakistani cricket team and Tehreek-e-Insaf chief, have been born in this world. He stepped into the cricket ground and began his career as a moderate batsman. He played for a long time, but was unable to prove himself as a big batsman. Although Imran made his debut in international cricket in 1971, he was recognized as a cricketer in the 1976-77 series in Australia when he took 12 wickets and helped Pakistan achieve the victory under the captaincy of Mushtaq Muhammad.
In addition to Pakistan's success in this match, the world was introduced to a great future player. His batting also improved with time and was later included in the list of leading all-round cricketers in the world. Thousands of people across the globe became fans of Imran. He was able to win the 1992 World Cup for Pakistan under his captaincy. This was the pinnacle of his glory.
Launching Hospital for Poor
A new Imran was born after the success in the World Cup. He had seen his mother suffer from the fatal cancer disease. Imran was unable to save the life of his mother in spite of the fact that he deeply loved her. He pledged to himself at that time that he will make a hospital for cancer patients. The objective of this hospital was to serve the poor people, so that they can afford expensive health care facilities locally as they are unable to afford health care facilities abroad. Now, the rich and the poor are provided health care facilities in a uniform way, but the only difference is that the rich pay for the health services, while the poor do not pay anything.
Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital is a grand example of the ambitions of Imran. He worked day and night for the construction of the hospital. He was able to get the donations from all parts of the globe. Cricketers and artists (which included a significant majority of Indian artists) became part of his fund-raising campaign. Even, Lady Diana came to Pakistan on his invitation. The people living in Pakistan also did not disappoint their local hero. He was able to cash the status he had achieved throughout his cricket career in an effective way.
Charismatic Character
Imran had a charismatic character. The youth were mad after him. His fans were not restricted to Pakistan instead he had fans across the global. I remember that he was forced out of cricket for two years because of injury. On his return to cricket, an Australian daily published a headline on the first page stating: "He has returned to international cricket." No daily felt the need to mention the name of Imran in the daily headlines. The reason behind this was that Imran was as popular in Australia as he was in Pakistan. It was being said that during those days, Imran was the most popular cricketer in Australia after Don Bradman and Richie Benaud.
Thousands of young people in Pakistan opted to play cricket after watching Imran and they wanted to emulate their hero in the cricket field. Numerous talented cricketers came to the Pakistani team after him but no one was able to become someone like Imran. Many people would remember this very correctly that Pakistan had lost the semifinal of the 1988 World Cup to Australia in Lahore under the captaincy of Imran. The people were dejected after this defeat, but there was no protest. The cricket fans/viewers had their faith in their captain and they were aware that the team was defeated after a good fight. In addition, people may well remember that the house of the captain in the 1999 World Cup Cricket Championship was pelted with stones after the cricket team was defeated in the final at Lord's. It was the faith in Imran that people who were happy on the victory of the team were also able to bear any defeats.
Fund-Raising Campaign
The response retired cricketer Imran received after he began the fund-raising campaign for the construction of his hospital was not unexpected, but this proved to be the turning point in the life of the former captain. Imran decided to try his luck in the field of politics and jumped into the ground. A good captain makes his plan according to the conditions of the pitch.
The captain, who had a good understanding of the pitches in cricket, was unable to understand the "new pitch" after he stepped into the field of politics. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) bowled the "yorker" through the Sita White scandal and Imran, including his "complete team" was clean bowled. The beginning to his political career was nothing less than a dreadful dream. He had almost left politics after some of his close associates decided to relaunch him in politics. He entered into politics with new pride and honor, but he is still searching for success in this field.
Political Mistakes
Imran is sincere, hardworking, honest, inflexible, and possesses numerous other good characteristics, but there is a little problem with him as he knows politics as much as a politician is aware of cricket. A well-wisher of Imran after observing that his party will be unable to achieve any success in the coming elections suggested that Imran should boycott those elections. Imran did not pay any heed to this suggestion and the outcome of the elections was the same as feared by everyone.
The support of the referendum of General Pervez Musharraf is his second biggest mistake. I believe that his third biggest mistake was the boycott of the 2008 general elections. He should have fought the elections.
He had already committed a mistake in the past by not accepting the offer of seat adjustments given by Nawaz Sharif. His way of politics is very interesting as he boycotts general elections but does not feel any hindrance in taking part in by-elections. The outcome is the same on both occasions, i.e., his nominate candidates cannot win the general elections or the by-elections. Although, he is a believer that good things will finally come his way in politics.
The cancer hospital is a big achievement. The university in Mianwali is also a great accomplishment. If Imran would not have decided to come into politics and would have stayed in the health and education sector, he would have brought about a revolution in these areas. He possesses the capability to bring funds from abroad and he can even collect a lot of money if he does an appeal for funds at a local level. A big hero would have got the support of the entire country, but politics is a different sort of game. The people in politics have to even lose their "dignity and respect." The norm of mudslinging is already very common in our political culture. A decent candidate is made the target of such accusations that a person gets ashamed after listening to such statements. There is more disgrace than fame in politics. I think Imran would remember the PML-N's accusation campaign.
Inspirational and Positive Attitude
In the past, Imran oscillated between very close and very far from the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) and PML-N. Later, he began opposition to both these parties. Afterward, he again became very close to Nawaz Sharif and decided to boycott the elections with the PML-N and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI). The state of his emotions was such that he tore the order of the Election Commission in the public. Nawaz Sharif decided to contest the elections initially after the request of Benazir Bhutto and later on the demand of Nawaz Sharif. Although Imran fully supported the JI and decided to stay away from parliament. Imran continuously accused Nawaz Sharif of betrayal and became increasingly close to the JI.
Certainly, Imran Khan would not agree to this observation. He commonly appears on the television shows. He supports the idea of having dialogue with the Taliban. He demands the midterm elections to take place.
Imran as a cricketer, and a leader in particular, was one my favorites and I hope that Imran as a politician may also become one of my favorite politicians because of his inspirational and positive attitude that will help develop good relations with Pakistan, which often does not want to restore peace between the two countries in true sense of the term. But how is this possible? I am not aware of this thing. Probably Imran is aware of this?
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