Following are excerpts
from an interview with Imran Khan, head of
the Pakistani Tehreek-e-Insaf Party, which was posted on the Internet
on June 16, 2011:
Imran Khan:
Who is benefiting from this war? The tiny elite. This sit-in was directed
at the government. It was telling them: "Tell us the truth."
What is the real truth? Have you given them the permission to kill our
own people? Secondly, it was directed towards the Americans – that
the violation of some country's sovereignty is against the United Nations
charter. They are violating their own humanitarian laws. In the United
States, all humanitarian laws are against anyone becoming judge, jury,
and executioner.
[…]
The attack on the naval
headquarters has shaken Pakistan. It has shaken Pakistan because there
is a realization that if we keep on the path we are going, we could
have mutiny in the army. Because this was clearly an inside job. Clearly,
people from within the navy or the airforce were involved in this attack.
I have been warning against
this for a while, because according to all the polls taken in Pakistan,
all the surveys, over 80% of the Pakistanis think that the US is an
enemy. Why do they think that of them as an enemy? Because they think
the US is not fighting a war against terror. It's a war against Islam.
So, if 80% of the population
thinks like that, then if you take it to the army, surely 80% of the
armed personnel would also be thinking like that. That is why it is
very dangerous – because so far, the attacks on General Musharraf
both were from within the army. The attack on the headquarters in Pindi
– that was an inside job. Fifty of our commandos were blown up in
the base – an inside job. There have been a lot of people caught,
within the army, and then whisked away, and they disappeared, because
they were thought to be involved in some sort of subversion or mutiny…
Now if we keep going
on this course which we have taken, it is so dangerous for Pakistan.
It is dangerous for Pakistan because if anything happens within the
army, the country is in real trouble, because that is the only thing
that is holding the country together right now.
Here is the US, and people
in the West, saying that Pakistan could be destabilized, that Pakistan's
nuclear assets could fall into the wrong hands, and yet they are doing
so far in Pakistan, by asking us… pushing us to do more now, sending
our troops, forcing us to go into North Waziristan, is actually destabilizing
the country. All the actions are leading to a scenario where it could
possibly happen – that the country could be so destabilized that the
nuclear weapons could all into the wrong hands.
[…]
May 2nd [the date of
Osama Bin Laden's assassination] took us all by shock. It was the biggest
shock because here was Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan – the number one
shock. Number two – he was not in the tribal areas of the wild areas,
and actually in a city. Number three – we heard that the Pakistan
government, army, or intelligence agencies provided the intelligence.
Yet they didn't finish the job. The Americans came and killed him.
Then, as the facts emerged,
the whole situation got more confused. There were so many lies coming
from everywhere. The Pakistani government and the prime minister lied.
Then they contradicted themselves. First they said that we provided
the intelligence, then they said that we had no knowledge of it, because
there was a public backlash, because obviously, if you provided the
knowledge, hwy didn’t you take him out, or why didn't you capture
him?
Then they backtracked.
First the army chief congratulated the Americans, and so did their president.
Then, all three of them started talking about Pakistan's sovereignty
being violated – 48 hours later. The prime minister of the
president did not make a statement on the issue until a week later.
So here are we Pakistanis hearing about this from President Obama.
So all this just added
up to conspiracy theories, confusion, humiliation, a feeling of loss
of sovereignty. There are so many question marks about Osama Bin Laden:
Was he there? What was he doing there? Who kept him there? How did
he avoid detection? How did the Americans find out? Why didn't the Pakistanis
know about it? And so on.
[…]
The feeling in Pakistan
is that we have a ruling elite that to fill its own pockets, rather
than conducting reforms, which the country badly needs, rather than
spending money on education, on human development, fighting corruption,
setting up institutions, rule of law… What they are doing is taking
a shortcut, taking money from the US, pretending to be this people who
are fighting Islamic radicalism – the word used is "bulwark"
against terrorism and Islamic extremism… They basically want the situation
to continue just so the aid keeps coming, benefiting them, while the
country sinks. They make a lot of money.
So people feel that the
time has come for a change. Say "no" to aid. We do not want
this aid. It is destroying our country. We want to stand on our own
feet, be a sovereign country, and take responsibility for whatever happens
within our borders. We should be… A sovereign, credible, democratic
government should be responsible for all terrorism from its soil. But
it can only do that if it is sovereign. If it is perceived to be a stooge
of America – taking dollars to be a hired gun for the Americans, then
all we are doing is fanning extremism, and this is a never-ending war
which will destroy Pakistan.
[…]
Interviewer: Well,
if your prediction is right, and Tehreek-e-Insaf forms the next government
in Pakistan, will you tell the Americans to get out? Will you tell them
to stop the drone attacks? Will you tell them: We don't want your aid?
Imran Khan:
I think the first thing has to be: No to aid, because as I've said,
aid has destroyed Pakistan.
[…]
A sovereign credible
government will assure the Americans that there will be no terrorism
from the Pakistani side. With Osama gone, why else should the Americans
be staying there? If we give them a guarantee that they do not need
to worry about terrorism from our soil, they should be happy.
[…]
Interviewer: Some
powerful people in powerful places will be horrified by what you have
just said. Are you not fearful for your own security?
Imran Khan: Well,
you've got to go some time, so you might as well go for a good cause.
[…]
