Karachi, January 02: Former cricketer Imran Khan’s December 25, 2011 rally at Bagh-e-Qaid, Karachi which was attended by some 1,00,000 people, a bigger crowd than any political rally in the last two decades. Ajai Shukla reports.
Even sceptics of Imran Khan Niazi admit that the former playboy cricketer is now a serious contender for becoming Pakistan’s next prime minister in the 2013 elections, if not sooner.
The massive turnout at his Christmas Day rally at Karachi highlights not just deep-rooted, Anna-style, public outrage at corruption, but also seething anger at Islamabad’s spinelessness in the face of repeated violations of Pakistan’s sovereignty by America.
Sensing political change, malcontents like former foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi of the Pakistan People’s Party; and Javed Hashmi of the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz, have already joined Imran’s Tehreek-e-Insaaf (Movement for Justice). Others, including Musharraf’s former information minister Sheikh Rashid — always a reliable political bellwether — are looking to follow suit.
——Agencies