If there is any politician in Pakistan, who deserves the sympathy of the world today, the worthy is Imran Khan, the 22nd Prime Minister of the country. He is no ordinary Pakistani. He belongs to a relatively affluent, upper-middle-class family. He did his higher studies at Oxford. One of his ancestors, Haibat Khan Niazi, "was a leading general" of the 16th-century warrior king, Sher Shah Suri, who gave nightmares to the Great Moghuls. Maternally, Khan is a descendant of the Sufi warrior-poet, Pir Roshan, whose lasting contribution is the Pashto alphabet. Pashto is the language spoken by Pashtuns, who live in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Simply put, Imran Khan's pedigree makes him the envy of fellow politicians in the land of the pure, as Pakistan is known ever since it was carved out of British India in 1947 as the home for Muslims. But for reasons that remain still a riddle wrapped in an enigma, the mighty Imran Khan has become an embarrassment to the Pakistani diaspora with his witless remarks.
And at home, his pearls of wisdom have become fodder for the social media vigilantes, who say he is no different from the run-of-the-mill politicians; their verdict is that he too suffers from the foot-in-the-mouth disease. Well, like most politicians of the Indian sub-continent, Imran Khan can blame the media for his latest troubles. Because it is Axios journalist Jonathan Swan's interview for HBO that found Imran Khan expose his foot-in-the-mouth affliction with his remarks on rape, and on his belief that his country as also India need no nuclear weapons if differences over Kashmir are resolved. Asked about the ongoing "rape epidemic" in Pakistan, he, in a matter-of-fact tone, said, "If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the man unless they are robots. It's common sense." Frankly, this was not the first time that Khan was speaking his mind on rape. He did so as recently as mid-April and faced flak. Apparently, he remains unmoved by the outrage he has invited by blaming women for the increasing incidence of rape cases in the country. And the sobriquet — 'rape apologist'.
Follow NewsGram on Instagram to keep yourself updated.
Khan's Pakistan is the only nuclearised Muslim country. The know-how was acquired surreptitiously during the Bhutto era, as the charismatic Socialist was determined not only to match neighbor India but also to gift the "Islamic Bomb" to the world. Clearly, the Imran-speak shows startling ignorance about his grasp over key issues. While India has not yet reacted, the Opposition in his country, notably the Peoples' Party of Pakistan and the Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), have pounced on him, accusing him of working at the behest of the West to undo Pakistan's nuclear program. It was the PPP regimes that had laid the N-foundations; the N-test was conducted by PML-N.
