On Imran Khan and Religion

A young, intelligent lawyer who goes by the name of Jibran Nasir, and who I had the privilege of doing some charity work with a few years ago has decided to stand for elections. He will be contesting two seats - NA-250 and PS-113. Jibran has put up his manifesto on Facebook and I highly recommend reading it.

In a recent TV program, when asked why he did not join PTI, Jibran responded "I did not join PTI because any political party that sells Islam to get votes betrays the ideology of Pakistan." This brought forth a barrage of comments from pro-PTI facebook users who wanted to understand how PTI sells Islam. Here is my attempt to explain how (copied from facebook comments I just posted):

All those trying to understand how Imran Khan is selling religion, I would advise you to note the special efforts made by PTI to appease the extremists. This is most notable by PTI sending it's people to Difa-e-Pakistan Council (DPC) rallies. DPC rallies have been a platform for extremist organisations (including some who have been banned and are now operating under different names). Have a look at the list of parties here listed here: http://www.difaepakistan.com/about-us.html

You will note that PTI is the only recognisable mainstream non-religious political party mentioned on this list. This fact was highlighted by Najam Sethi in his interview with Imran Khan on his show a couple of months ago. Writing later in the Friday Times editorial, Sethi commented: "He (Imran Khan) is opposed to religious extremists and jihadists. But is ready to share the platform from which they spew hatred and violence. His argument that he is engaging with them only to wean them away from their beliefs and practices is a hangover of his continuing respect for and fear of the powerful military establishment that pulls their strings."

The point is that Imran Khan, by appeasing to extremists, is compromising on fundamental principles without which we can never have a progressive Pakistan. It is sad that he is doing this at a time when we need strong voices against the violence and injustice that is happening on our streets every day. It would have been great to have our heroes voice concern about the no.1 issue affecting our country. That they choose to remain silent is very unfortunate for the nation and condemnable.