IS I THE BEST MAN OF IMRAN KHAN

cricket now the talk in Pakistan is of
him leading his country again perhaps as
Prime Minister certainly only someone as
revered as Imran could have pulled off
his latest coup in Islamic Pakistan
Imran has taken a foreigner as his bride
a foreigner with a Jewish background who
is half his age
Jemima goldsmith daughter of a British
billionaire has gone to live with Imran
in his home city of Lahore her husband
says his playboy days are over he is
committed now to changing his country
fundamentally
[Music]
[Music]
in some parts of the world he's only a
hero in Pakistan he's a demigod but
[Applause]
Imran Khan doesn't care anymore for the
game that brought him all the adulation
[Applause]
[Music]
at 42 he is reborn as a symbol of Muslim
pride and the brightest political
prospect in a country staggering under
the twin burdens of poverty and
corruption
you know we if I see my country heading
downwards and why should I not talk
about it or say something and make
myself heard and hope that other people
join it in a democracy I mean we all
have the right to say what we think is
right if I have a platform I should
speak out you know this is the essence
of democracy anyone in a position by the
way this is also very much Islam you're
supposed to stand up and say what you
think is right all the same you're
standing up more than most other people
in this country not at all a lot of
people saying the same thing as me you
know what I'm saying attention paid to
them this is what you're saying is that
people do not have the platform which I
have God all the more reason for me to
say it and he has plenty to say Pakistan
he believes should discard what the
British left behind starting with the
legal system and returned to tribal law
his countrymen should wear only
traditional dress as he does and English
should give way to all do
Pakistan's main language in the
country's schools his conviction Springs
he says from a spiritual awakening to
Islam as far as those of us looking on
can judge you've gone from cricketer to
social reformer from man of the world to
Pakistani nationalist
and from playboy to devout Muslim and
husband
that's quite a transformation isn't it
the assumption is that we don't change
when we pray five times a day we always
repeat one thing in the prayers that God
guide me on the right path now you know
if we want to change you know we would
not come on the right path I mean this
is the right path is every day in your
mind is this a genuine spiritual
awakening that he's gone through some of
it must be genuine it's as genuine as a
confused person's spiritual awakening
can be joog Mnemosyne is editor of
Pakistan's Friday Times and a fierce
critic of Imran Khan he stands on a high
pedestal and lectures us about how we
ought to live and how we ought to be
proud of our culture and our roots and
our heritage and we are we are we know
who we are it's he who doesn't know who
he is

an arranged Muslim marriage to a local
girl that was the expectation an
expectation encouraged by Imran himself
in Pakistan but ultimately Imran
selected his own bride and she was
neither Pakistani nor Muslim British
with a Jewish background
Jemima Goldsmith was the daughter of one
of Britain's richest men when she
converted to Islam and married Imran
Khan she turned her back on her old life
just as her husband had done do you see
this marriage as a turning away from the
life that you may have led in other
parts of the world you mean a Playboy
you said you mentioned a headline to me
early what was it love read in the
papers romeo romeo read did you think
you were marrying a romeo wretch well I
hoped I wasn't I think you're a rat tell
me does the word love play a part in
what has brought you together you know I
just say that in our culture you know a
public show of affection and public lead
talking about these things is sort of
not really considered very very common
and I think it's between two people
because you know you've seen Hollywood
people sort of proclaiming love you know
and this huge love affair and two years
later they are divorced it's quite
embarrassing but it's an interesting
difference in your responses Jemima said
yes I hope so and you were reticent to
talk about it it's only because it's
always considered something too mushy to
talk about in public
I mean it's between two people mm-hmm
but there is some of that stuff there
obviously
well there must be something to have got
married to her he's a middle-aged man
who has decided to tie the knot with a
girl half his age who is British and the
the daughter of a Zionist billionaire
and he's telling us what we ought to do
and how we ought to live now if I
married because the other culture was
superior if I married her because I
thought she was white and superior in
English then of course it is a hypocrisy
the fact is that an English girl has
come and live started living in my
culture if there's a reason other than
his fame and his faith that Imran Khan
is seen as a political contender this is
it in less than five years he raised the
Xiao could karna Memorial Cancer
Hospital from the ground a world-class
cancer treatment and research facility
it was built in honor of his mother who
died of cancer in 1985 and it was built
almost entirely on the strength of his
passion for the cause as passion Jemima
is now caught up updated compared to any
laboratory
I haven't seen this before either so
it's a guided tour from you know I've
really really been towards people the
longer they live I guess accumulate more
wisdom do you have any sense of Imran
who is twice your age being away as a
person than you are now yeah I mean I
think he's definitely got a lot to teach
me but and you'll pretend to learn from
him yeah I hope he's prepared to learn
from me a bit too but 21 who knew Imran
speaks a lot about choosing a wife who
has a vision that is compatible with his
vision do you feel that you share his
vision well I hope so and you believe
that even the same things yeah I think
um what instinctively I think he's um
[Music]

instinctively I would say that on most
occasions I I believe in his judgement
you know you mean my husband is never
wrong no I do my husband he's wrong
quite often but I mean that that what he
believes in instinctively is something
which actually we share you know we I'm
being so hopelessly inarticulate there
was no hope on his fundraising drives
for his hospital and his newly launched
literacy campaign
Imran Khan is seen by the public as a
man who gets things done for the love of
it genuinely I didn't actually realize
how completely
he's wholeheartedly dedicated design to
this project but his enemies in
government seem nothing but a potential
political adversary even though he
denies it I mean if I wanted to join
politics I'm my first offer was way back
six seven years back well when general
zia offered me to join as the interim
government as a as a minister you know I
mean if that was wall this manipulation
was going to be propelled into a
ministership with a flag in front of my
car and sitting in high office I would
have jumped in by now there's at least
one person in this country who does not
accept Imran Khan's assurances that he
has no political aspirations and that's
the Prime Minister of Pakistan Benazir
Bhutto she and her government have done
everything imaginable to erase Imran
Khan from the minds of Pakistanis and
they've gone to some grotesque lengths
to achieve that an ad for Khan's cancer
hospital has been banned from the
nation's TV screens a promotion for the
national airline trumpeting Pakistan's
spectacular 1992 World Cup win has one
stunning omission it makes no mention at
all of the captain who led them to that
glorious victory you know we're blotted
out of television we cannot make an
appearance on TV one producer just
because he let my name go through was
suspended for four days on Lahore
television because in a quiz program he
led by name slip the hospital has not
been shown on Pakistan television ever
since it's been made no one people
haven't seen the hospital
the government clearly believes in Ron
Conn is a political threat as much as
his followers believe that he's a
political hope his denials are not
helped by the fact that at rallies like
this one he talks about restoring
national pride he talks about rejecting
foreign aid and he talks about cleaning
up corruption in fact he talks a lot
like a politician and what worries some
in Pakistan is that the playing field of
politics is far more treacherous than
the gentleman's game he once played
cricketers don't often become social
reformers they don't often become
politicians is it possible that you
might be naive in your thinking in
relation to all of this in doing work in
the fact that you don't seem to want to
admit that you might be able to be
manipulated and all this because of your
status here you see firstly I mean it's
not that I've just recently got any Fame
I mean if I was to be manipulated you
know I was a name here for quite a while
and I've been approached by political
parties for quite some time now if I was
that type why would not have I jumped in
before well it's not uncommon for
aspiring politicians to become involved
in social and community programs to test
the water for their support it's not a
crime to do that might indeed be doing
that I suppose people must look at it
like that yeah test my water okay so
I've tested my water there was a lot of
support I saw a lot of people in the
towns coming out so I've tested it now
surely should I should be jumping in now
because that's what was predicted by the
way they thought it's imminent now and
is about to launch party or something my
objective is that if I am in a position
to help my country I will try and do
that and I feel that in the current
state of affairs the way our political
system is so corrupt I can do a lot more
good to my country outside politics and
that's what I'm trying to do
hello I'm Tara Brown thanks for watching
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