It does not behove any political leader in a predominantly Muslim nation to defy the principles laid out by the religion.
If he truly wants to gain the trust of the average voter then he should not consume alcohol or womanize or have children out of wedlock. If he does participate in this sort of activity then he stands to be criticized for it. That’s just the way politics works and I’m sure that he’s aware of that.
Ideally we would want people to focus on the good but realistically speaking they will not.
My take from this thread is that if pti ever become the ruling party, there will an addition to the blasphemy law, enforced through tahaffuz e namoos e imran khan mudazallalhu committee.
Its not only that TLK, but also most of the media will be banned (except PTV which is govt channel) and most of the countries will be bycotted due to anything that IK might hv not liked in last 40 years. The list continues..
Politicians the world over have their personal life and values and choices brought into the political sphere and they are judged on it. As much as one could say that a person’s individual actions and transgressions should not be considered by the electorate - that’s a naive perspective. You are judged by actions because your actions speak to your character and your character speaks to your credibility and your commitment as a leader.
Do I want to be led by someone whose actions/choices/lifestyle I do not believe in - that is debatable, and most likely not - though even for this there are exceptions.
Added to which, when someone claims higher morality - then a fall from grace will be judged and the person found lacking. With respect to IK - only Allah (swt) knows the truth and while the spreading of salacious rumours is contemptible, disparaging others from talking about the truth or considering it in making a decision is both naive and wrong.
The funny thing is that the original tweet did not name Imran Khan or PTI. Not even a hint or innuendo.
But the PTI supporters assumed it was about IK and started attacking immediately.
Even IK himself mentioned (in Shahzaib Khanzada interview) that this contributed to his call for boycott of Jang/GEO.
Sort of, outed himself as the subject of the blind item.
Quite amazing that such a retardedly fake news has garnered such a lengthy debate on this forum. Seemingly, people are more concerned about a politicians personal life (stuff that doesnt impact the public directly) than they are about corruption and abuse of power (stuff that directly affects the public. No wonder Pakistan is where it is.
Defaming someone and spreading false rumours to damage their credibility - this is inexcusable and absolutely the person about whom rumours are being spread to take all necessary steps to hold the wrongdoers accountable. Make an example out of them by suing them.
The second issue is whether or not someone should be judged based on their personal life. No one should be judged on false rumours. But, to say that personal life (that they might conceal or not have repented/apologized for) is not fair grounds - well, that doesn’t work. Politicians are held to both a higher standard and to lower standards.
Let’s use Bill Clinton as an example. Despite lying to the American public about his affair(s) and then being subject to impeachment proceedings, the American public was forgiving of him because he PROVED himself as a politician. Sure, some would argue that his actual accomplishments have been exaggerated, but the truth is tha the U.S. experienced one of its most prosperous times under his administration - again - how much that had to do with Clinton as a leader versus economic cycles is debatable. Perception and propaganda have a lot do with the sentiments of the electorate.
But the point is - personal transgressions of policitians are part of the conversation and it is up to the populace as to whether they will or will not overlook the personal actions of a policitican, and a voter’s willingness to overlook has a lot to do with whether you have an educated, empowered and self-interested electorate.
The self-interested comes from - this leader’s personal values are diametrically opposed to mine, but under his administration, I enjoy a great standard of living, personal/religious freedoms, economic opportunities and freedom from conflict. Kehtay nahin hai, waqt aanay pe ghadda ko bhi baap bana laytein hai.
^ And this goes to my point of an educated electorate. An educated and empowered electorate would think about these issues. But, again - personal transgressions will never not be part of the conversation - but its relevance should be in direct proportion to other more important issues.
The tweet followed a news item in a tabloid paper, which specifically named Imran. Besides, Umer Cheema’s tweet was clearly suggestive. He was just being cheeky.
Which paper? Any links?
How was the tweet suggestive? It did not name or hint towards any person or party.
I was personally not aware of this rumor and when I read the tweet had no idea who it was referring to.
This is the price of doing business one has to pay. No one twisted his arm to become a public figure. Once you are, then public owns you. You have no personal life. It’s true all over the world, not just Pakistan
His flip floppings & hypocritical stands on many issues that have impact on others peoples live. He was willing to handover most of north west of the country to Taliban so they could impose their version of Sharia…under very Taliban Sharia they would have stoned him to death for his philandering past. So his private conduct becomes very much become part of public debates because of who he is and what he does.
That certainly doesnt mean that malicious defamation is fair game. In Pakistan, this behavior is typical of PMLN, who have had a lengthy history of maligning opposition using their personal lives as bait. What they did with Benazir Bhutto, Nusrat Bhutto and Jemima in the 90s , or to Imran over the past few years is no secret. Back in the 90s, PPP could have ripped PMLN to shreds based on Mariam Nawaz’s shenanigans, but kudos to them for not stooping that low. Even the publicly known Kim Barker affair was never scandalized by PMLN opposition.
Even Imran could’ve given Benezir’s image of a Saint a complete 180 degree turn when was asked about his biographers to comment on their Oxford days. He kept his dignified silence on their relationship (even if it wasn’t sexual) yet the same Jiyalas who shout the loudest about his playboy past go all defensive and cry blasphemy when reminded that this is the same playboy their Bibi Shaheed genuinely admired and wanted to marry. PMLN on the other hand are known for launching vulgar and sexually suggestive campaigns against their opponents.
Insinuating about someone’s bedroom life is a very easy way to wind up a sexually repressed society.
As with political affairs causing outrage in the Western society, it does and moreso for the reason that it always involves the unforgivable angle of infidelity. Imran is a free man, I don’t see how him being in a relationship can be classified as crime.
When I thing I’ve noticed is that Pakistani men (the uncle types especially) always seems more obsessed about his bedroom life than the women who grew up having crush on him.
Imran khan used umar cheema as another excuse but the main reason was for rigging and as he himself said in another program, Geo’s insulting of the ISI akin to what india and even what US has done.
Umar cheema was just doing dugga style chawwali so Imran should have just let it go as it didn’t personally accuse imran of anything. Gattar may doobnay ka shauq hai to doobnay do uss cheemay ko!
Sad to say, but even with all the maturity that he should have gained from philanthropy (he has said he got shock of life from who would give money) and being a captain (perhaps not as he had connections in PCB), the guy should have cooled down. I guess hassan nisar is right, even though he meant in a good way, that imran is a crack pathan full of aggression and he would thas thas of all these corrupt politicians. Right now, he is doing thas thas of himself and PTI.
I have some very strong supporters of PTI in the family, but thank god that I was not that delusional to give money and votes to him just based on tsunami. I might give him a vote based on rock and a hard place analogy, but I would never contribute money to PTI. He has to grow up first.
