Lahore Jalsa: Imran Khan's Moment!

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
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re: Lahore Jalsa: Imran Khan's Moment!

Shahzaman as well.

I saw the entire speech again - It was great .. to the point & covered the main issues!

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I can’t believe some people are comparing Imran Khan with Altaf Hussain here! Surely the first thing any dignified person needs to do is to be present in the country where he wants to be a leader..:smack:

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I agree. But PPP has always been representing as national party since ZAB, so you can not term as ethinic mentality. It has number of seats in NA and PA in Punjab and in other provinces too. I was comparing ZAB with IK. ZAB being Sindhi was more popular in Punjab than anyother province. It does not mean that he was not popular in Sindh. Most of the ZAB's key advisers were from Punjab where as IK has very limited advisers from Punjab and nil representation in Sindh. Unless he goes to Sindh rural areas and in Baluchistan, listen to grievences of people and has suggest remedial actions there, he will soon be labled as leader of Punjab only which is not good for him.

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**Its sad, but ‘sub acha hay’ is what the government wants to hearhttp://tribune.com.pk/story/285371/intelligence-agencies-at-pti-rally-fight-over-turnout/

Intelligence agencies at PTI rally fight over turnout](Intelligence agencies at PTI rally fight over turnout)

LAHORE:
** **For any political gathering to be successful it is not the speech that counts, but rather the strength, which sends out a message to policymakers.
**
Intelligence and law-enforcement agencies have a whole network of people at every such gathering to ascertain the numbers. What follows is the account of such officials whose names have been withheld at their request.

**“I just got a call from the chief, and he asked me to give him my estimates for the number attending the PTI rally,” says an official of the Special Branch. “When I told him it is around 75,000 he told me to go and find a neutral observer,” he adds and laughs, talking to his counterpart in the Punjab Police’s Operations Department.
**
**In response, the Operations Department official says he has to keep the count low, since his department head knows that a low count will keep the Punjab government happy. “But I got a call from the CM Secretariat, and they are now quoting figures of 60,000 themselves,” adds the police official.
**
**The Special Branch had set up a survey van at the back of the stage where Imran Khan spoke. With an elaborate technological system recording every angle of the rally with CCTVs installed all around the location, and even on top of Minar-e-Pakistan, the screens showed a flood of people.
**
**Biggest public gathering?
**
**A senior photographer of an English daily, while sharing his experience with a young journalist, claimed that the PTI rally was the largest public gathering at Minar-e-Pakistan since former prime minister Benazir Bhutto’s arrival in Pakistan in 1986. People belonging to all walks of life – young and old, rich and poor – were seen at the venue, which was at full capacity.
**
**Drone strike’s victims attend
**
A sizeable number of people came from Khyber-Pakhtukhawa and tribal areas, some of them being direct victims of US drone strikes.

“We have come voluntarily to participate in this meeting because we think Imran Khan has right policies,” PTI president in the Mohmad Agency Sajid Khan told The Express Tribune.
PTI’s tehsil Safi organizer Jam Dad Khan said: “I have lost my two uncles to drone attacks .We are supporting Khan due to his anti-American as well as anti-drone stance.” He added that Imran Khan is gaining popularity in K-P and Fata.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31[SUP]st[/SUP], 2011.

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re: Lahore Jalsa: Imran Khan's Moment!

Among the gems in his speech ... IK mentions and truly gives the vibe of respecting the working classes in Pakistan ... he also praised the media for positive coverage of his campaign ... it seems people want change now ... I agree Lahore have woken up ... rather Pakistan is waking up ...

For anyone who considers him to be a famous no in depth policy person then let them see that conference video he did in the UK ... Ilford ... he knows his audience ... to the Lahoris he uses emotional language and keeps it simple to cater for all ... and for the UK audience he goes in to relative depth and provides more facts catering for that audience ... he is not afraid to mention the external assets achillies heel of the previous leaders who are silent about it because they scratch each other's back about it ... He knows that for a nation to be respected it has to be firm on its principles, wise and pragmatic without selling out.

I wish students and professionals in southern Pakistan stand up and support him too and then the rest will follow ... inshaAllah.

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There is a role that all of us can play ... to settle for nothing less than insaaf ... he is just one man ... but it is the movement that he is leading that should be given attention to ... This way we don't have to rest our hopes on the shoulders of one man ... but if we can get a community of "you" people who stand for the same and work to achieve the same - INSAAF ... then the idea will live on ...

I trust you understand me ... The Pakistanis who support IK now ... should become like him in order to protect him and protect his idea.

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Dude u need to come out of ur favourism and think of Pakistan now…Not just of the party which u have been supporting for years…Its time for a change and Imran Khan will bring it

Mark my words

:jhanda:

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Well i dont why r u against his taliban policy?

Yesterday i saw each and every class of people at the jalsa....From the lower class to the rich upper class even old ladies were there to support them ......Yeah he cannot win it alone ...But lets hope for the best

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:yahoo:

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I stopped supporting him when he started doing bangra road show for Mush in his 2002 referendum. Now he supports Taliban. Not sure what else one needs to know about him before coming to the conclusion that he just another opportunist politician.

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“Courtesy Saqib Idrees Taj: 1200 ft x 1200 ft= 1440,000 sq.ft/4 sq.ft= 360,000 persons can be accommodated inside Minar-e-Pakistan, excluding spaces a,b,c,x,y and z which means people are even more than 400,000. Thousands were standing on roads as there was no space inside Minar-e-Pakistan ground”](Facebook)Facebook

Check the picture out. Not that the count matters anymore. From what I have been reading here & there some people are estimating the crowd number to be at 500,000.

Either way PTI is here with a big bang now (the break they needed) & no matter what anyone says Tehreek e Insaf (revolution for justice) can only bring Pakistan back to what it was originally made for. I can’t wait for the moment when “hara” passport will hold a lot of value anywhere in the world & when people will start going to Pakistan to find jobs.

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:shoaby:

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Could not agree with you more.
When I read on websites that "IK is that last hope", I always feel like replying that he is NOT!
True, he was last hope 10 year ago, but now he has created a generation who believe in values, who want to do the things which we
were told to be good in primary school, and they believe those things can make them successful.

I mean that whole generation is our last hope.

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:lifey: I know man… I know..

PS: :yahoo:

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I know it too :wink: :lifey:

PTI :jhanda:

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re: Lahore Jalsa: Imran Khan's Moment!

Peace Shamraz Khan

So who do you support now?

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An article for both sides.. supporters and skeptics

Why is it wrong to praise Imran Khan?

===========================

As a nation we may cry for change but looking at our behaviour, we don’t really seem to actually want it. We are so deeply embedded in our comfort zone ruled by dynasties and corrupt politicians that when someone different comes along, we can’t wait to mock them on our Facebook statuses and pinpoint the first thing we see wrong in them.

Those topping the Imran Khan hate-list couldn’t stop typing their sarcasm last night about how he held a concert at his Lahore rally. Yeah. He did. Altaf does it. Shahbaz does it. Zardari may hope to one day do it but none of them have so far managed to get crowds singing with them. Imran Khan did – and not while he blared his version of Jalib or a parody of Parday may rehnay do… instead he managed to get onboard people who can actually help him create some kind of unity amongst the crowds – how can that go against him?

How do you even ridicule such an energetic crowd of thousands when compared to the bored and jaded crowd sitting at other political rallies clutching photographs of leaders who aren’t even in front of them?

Imran Khan did not indulge in the usual blame-game we are normally spectators to when it comes to political rallies. Do we really enjoy the tradition of dwelling over the past and discrediting opponents so much that we can’t take a minute to enjoy the fact that for a change we didn’t have to listen to a lecture about who all were responsible for Pakistan’s failures?

So his charisma and cricket career adds to his appeal – good for him. **Would we prefer if he had a criminal past or was a part of the feudal elite? For once, we have someone who is not relying on his family lineage or taking pride in the fact that he spent an X number of years in prison. **It may not be enough to make him a great candidate for premiership but it is enough for some to be proud of him – let those people have this moment.

The minorities and women also have a right to welcome this moment as Khan promised to protect their rights, which is as crucial as the other point he mentioned: Balochistan. Bringing Balochistan into mainstream politics may not be the easiest task he takes up, but given he gets the chance to do that and then succeed – well that’s what you call a victory.

His policies may be all over the place… or not even in place yet but** Imran Khan has managed to do something none of the other leaders have so far – wake people up. **Forget the rural voters who are promised a plate of biryani for their vote. I am talking about people such as your siblings, your neighbours and co-workers. He has managed to wake them up, register themselves and get excited to vote for the very first time. How far Imran Khan manages to go, who knows, but making even quarter of this nation optimistic about the future is a very big achievement already.

More than ever before, we see parallels being drawn here with what Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto created decades ago. The dreams, the hopes and the energy. The youth that Imran Khan has woken up may be as naïve as the rural men who ZAB had woken up once but then again dreamers are always naïve.

Where Imran Khan must differ from ZAB is by learning how to accommodate and facilitate a difference of opinions. He must realise that India is not the enemy and living by the hate rhetoric will not get us very far.

Speaking very clearly on foreign policy, Khan stated that his party does indeed want relations and friendship with the US – BUT, on the basis of equality. He doesn’t want to be America’s puppet – how is that a bad thing? We won’t get dollars, true, but we may manage to get some respect. He doesn’t want to fight America’s war – what’s wrong with that? Last time I checked, we were pretty desperate to claim our sovereignty, which is impossible when our government itself allows the US to drop its missiles inside our territory. But then if that doesn’t happen – who will fight the monsters we created that are blowing people up? Imran Khan thinks dialogue is the solution – so you don’t agree, sure. But it’s not as if military action has so far achieved too many results either – if anything it is breeding terrorism – but then again, everyone has an expert opinion these days on how to get rid of militancy, if anything Khan is entitled to his – especially when he has the courage to say all this without an entourage of feudal guards around him or a bullet-proof podium to protect him.

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Accept it .... this last jalsa was Imran's moment. Lets see if he is able to capitalize on it or not.

PS: and I am not an IK supporter....

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^ will you be willing to change your view if he keeps the momentum as well as his approach?

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I just have a question for those who don't support him.

So out of the multiple times tried, tested, sacked, hated parties (PML-N, Q, ANP, PPP, MQM) who would you vote for in the 2013 elections?