PROFILE - Imran Khan of Pakistan: Tried, but not tired

By Aamir Latif and Islamuddin Sajid

ISLAMABAD / KARACHI, Pakistan (AA) – With his arrest triggering violent protests across the South Asian country, Imran Khan has joined the club of former prime ministers of Pakistan who were removed from power, arrested and imprisoned.

Former Prime Ministers Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and Shahid Khaqan Abbasi were among those who spent some part of their life in prison while Zulfikar Bhutto was executed after being deposed from power in 1977 by the then army chief Zia-ul-Haq.

Khan, 71, was removed from the prime minister’s office after a no-confidence motion against him succeeded in the parliament in April 2022.

The cricketer-turned-politician took charge as the country's 19th prime minister in August 2018 after his center-right Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party won the elections.

Born in 1952 in the northeastern city of Lahore, he won the only One-Day International (ODI) cricket World Cup for Pakistan in 1992, which helped him emerge as a hero of the young generation of Pakistan.

- Khan arrested in corruption case

Khan was arrested on Tuesday and taken into custody by the country's paramilitary troops, Rangers, from the Islamabad High Court where he was attending the hearing of his bail application as, according to Khan, the government has filed over 120 cases against him during the last one year.

He was arrested by the country's anti-corruption agency, the National Accountability Bureau, in connection with alleged corruption involving the Al Qadir University Trust.

It is alleged that the cricketer-turned-politician and his wife Bushra Bibi received billions of rupees and a large piece of costly land to build the educational institution in return for releasing an amount of £190 million ($239 million) to a property tycoon in 2020.

The amount was identified and returned to the country by the UK's National Crime Agency, following a settlement with real estate tycoon Malik Riaz in 2019.

The National Accountability Bureau, Pakistan's anti-corruption body, alleges that Khan’s PTI government struck a deal with Riaz that caused a loss of more than $239 million to the national exchequer, in a quid pro quo arrangement with the businessman.

Khan and his party leaders, however, deny the allegations.

- Cricket life

Latest surveys and by-elections suggest that a large number of Pakistanis still see him as a savior of the common man in the roles of a cricketer, philanthropist, and politician.

Khan grew up in an upper-middle-class family in Lahore's Zaman Park neighborhood and is one of the few Pakistani politicians with an impressive educational background in addition to his top-notch cricket career.

When he began playing first-class cricket at the age of 16, he was still a student at Aitchison College, the alma mater of several top bureaucrats and politicians.

When he turned 18, he was sent to the Royal Grammar School in High Wycombe, England, and later to Oxford University to study political science, philosophy, and economics.

During his stay in England, he began playing county cricket, apart from representing Pakistan in international cricket.

He starred in five World Cups in 1975, 1979, 1983, 1987 and 1992.

- Philanthropy

After retirement from cricket in 1992, he dedicated his life to philanthropy.

Khan set out on a journey to raise funds for the country's first cutting-edge cancer hospital, which he named after his mother, Shaukat Khanum, who had died of cancer in Lahore.

He also established the Namal Institute, a private academic institution in his home constituency Mianwali, in 2008, with the support of the local community and generous donors.

- Political career

Khan entered politics four years after receiving a warm welcome across the country upon his arrival after winning the cricket World Cup in 1992.

He founded the PTI in 1996, but it was not until 2011 that his message resonated with the public. He held a mammoth public rally in Lahore that stunned political commentators and rang alarm bells for other political parties.

In the 2013 elections, Khan appeared to have an impressive appeal to the youth, who account for around 60% of the country's total population.

He gave a tough time to two mainstream political parties – the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the Pakistan People’s Party – which had alternately ruled the country before he rose to power.

His party emerged as the largest party in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province and formed a coalition government with a religiopolitical party, Jamaat-e-Islami, in 2013.

In the July 2018 elections, his party won the most seats and formed governments in the center, and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces.

- Personal life

Khan married thrice, and two of the marriages ended in divorce.

In 1995, he married English socialite Jemima Goldsmith, and they have two sons, Sulaiman Khan and Qasim Khan. They divorced in 2004.

Eleven years later, he married news anchor Reham Khan, a relationship that lasted only 10 months.

In recent years, Khan tilted toward Sufism, making frequent visits to shrines and faith healers to seek blessings for his political journey.

And this led him to marry Bushra Manika in 2018.