In These New Times

Guardian

25th December, 2011

More than 100,000 people have rallied in support of the Pakistani cricket legend and opposition politician Imran Khan in the country’s biggest city, Karachi, further cementing his status as a rising force in politics.

His message of cracking down on corruption and standing up to the US has found fresh resonance at a time when Pakistanis are fed up with the country’s chronic insecurity and economic malaise.

Khan, 59, entered politics 15 years ago when he founded PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf, or the Movement for Justice party, but has struggled to translate his fame into votes. His political fortunes shifted in October when he drew more than 100,000 people to a rally in the eastern city of Lahore.

Since then, Khan has attracted many politicians to his party, including several prominent figures.

“I came to support an honest politician who quit his lavish life for the betterment of downtrodden people,” said 29-year-old Afghan Waqar at the rally, standing among a sea of people enthusiastically waving the green, red and white flag of Khan’s party.

Waqar said it was the first rally she had ever attended, a sign of Khan’s ability to attract potential new voters who have all but given up on Pakistan’s political system, which is widely viewed as corrupt and not responsive to the needs of average Pakistanis.

Javed Odho, a senior police officer, estimated there were 100,000 to 150,000 people in the crowd. The event was held outside Khan’s traditional support base in Punjab province, where Lahore is the capital. Karachi is the capital of Sindh province.

Khan has been especially popular with the country’s urban middle-class youth, and many of the people at the rally were young Pakistanis wearing western clothes.

Two prominent politicians who have joined Khan’s party in recent months include the former foreign minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi, who had a falling out with the ruling Pakistan People’s party (PPP), and Javed Hashmi, who was a key member of the main opposition party, Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N).

Khan’s rising popularity could be a concern for the US, given his harsh criticism of the Pakistani government’s co-operation with Washington in the fight against Islamist militants.

He has been especially critical of US drone strikes targeting militants in Pakistan and has argued that the country’s alliance with Washington is the main reason Pakistan is facing a homegrown Taliban insurgency.

Despite Khan’s rising popularity, it is unclear how much he can shake up the political scene in the next national elections in 2013. Both the PPP and the PML-N have strongly entrenched bases of support that will be difficult to challenge.

It is also unclear exactly what Khan would do if he did win significant political power. He has yet to offer many specifics about how he would fix problems such as corruption.