Why I Support Imran Khan
By Justice Markandey Katju
Today I had a long talk on WhatsApp with a Pakistani journalist friend, who asked me why I have been supporting former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan through my articles and tweets for quite some time.
I told him that I do not know Imran Khan, I have never met him, am not related to him, am not of his caste/religion/nationality, and do not expect anything from him.
Yet I support him for two reasons :
(1) I regard him, and most Pakistanis regard him, to be basically an honest man, as contrasted to the leaders of the ruling PDM who are regarded as a gang of dacoits, who looted Pakistan and siphoned off huge amounts of money from the country to UK and elsewhere, where they acquired huge assets ( as the Panama Papers scandal and other credible material prove ).
The toshakhana matter, of which Imran Khan is accused, is trivial compared to the gargantuan loot by PDM leaders.
I will support every honest man, whether Indian, Pakistani, British, American or of any country or community, and that is why I support Imran Khan.
(2) Imran Khan is presently bravely leading the democratic forces in Pakistan against the fascism which has been unleashed, and reign of terror which has been imposed, by the Pakistan army and police, abetted by the corrupt PDM leaders, who have arrested, tortured, ‘disappeared’ and even killed a large number of people, including PTI leaders, workers and supporters, mediapersons, and others, on the flimsy pretext that they were involved in the 9th May incident, or instigated/inspired it.
I support democratic forces everywhere in the world which are fighting tyranny, despotism, and fascist oppression.
My friend then started talking of the wrong things Imran Khan had done in the past e.g. giving PTI tickets to dubious ‘electables’ ( such as sugar barons ) in the 2018 parliamentary elections, removing the renowned Princeton economist Atif Mian from the Pakistan Economic Advisory Council just because he was an Ahmadi, etc. He also said that Imran Khan was brought to power in 2018 with the help of the army.
I replied that all that was in the past, and we have to see things as they stand today. I said that today at least 75% Pakistanis support Imran Khan ( as all opinion polls show ), and their number is rising. That is not because 75% Pakistanis have suddenly gone mad, but because they believe that he is honest and genuinely cares for the people’s welfare. He could have lived a comfortable life in England, but love for his country made him come back to Pakistan and enter politics. Most Pakistanis regard him as their only hope, and he is today bravely leading the fight for democracy against fearful odds.
