IK: It is not a question of the missing link. If I had contested the February 18, 2008 elections, the PTI would have done well. Star power doesn't mean we should be given vote and power. I disagree with this. There is no shortcut, must go through the process. My party is the only party which has avoided short cut, despite having opportunity to bypass the grinding routes. We decided to stay out, take a longer course, the difficult road. This is the only way to groom a party, which will be a genuine democratic force when it does come to power. That will be the party for change. I don't think that it is about converting star power into votes. It is a question of doing something for missing persons, delivering a credible message and ideology. I don't want my cricketing star power to fetch votes for me.
Q: At the stroke of midnight on 8th November, you were seized by unbearable pain in your stomach. Sudden eruption of the health problem might have made you aware of the fact that even somebody like you who is a fitness fanatic has limited time on hands to bring about changes you so sincerely aspire. Has it compelled you to create a timeline to achieve your stated targets?
IK: (Smiles) No, not at all. It has not dampened or deterred me at all. I take this as a part of life. Not for one second did it make me feel scary to alter my future plan, nothing like that. I practise patience when needed. I treat it as a part of struggle. Life has meaning, to me, only in struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of God. When time for operation on blockage in the small intestine came, I didn't feel fragile. My operation has done nothing of sort to hurry me up. Anyone who believes in God, believes that life and death is in Allah's hands. It is a challenging. It was not scaring at all. It might be painful for a little while, you know, whenever there is a pain, it always allow for soul searching. But comparing to amount of pain I have undergone in my life, it was nothing.
FH: Even your well wishers argue you are not political enough, that somehow your opponents are craftier, more savvy than you with the ways of the politics than you are?
IK: Craftiness or strength in politics doesn't always come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength. There is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it is better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you are fighting for. I know my battles; I am fully aware of my dreams. Any fool can criticise, condemn and complain, and most fools do. If you are not criticised, you may not be doing much. Never criticise me unless you have walked a mile in my moccasins. My critics have the habit of inventing flaws in my political ideologies.
FH: You are portrayed as pro-Taleban. By branding you so, your opponent label you as anti-terrorist, so anti-Pakistan. Taleban brand is stamped on you. You are being portrayed as a naive politico who doesn't understand the phenomenon of terrorism?
IK: As for such innuendoes like Taleban brand is stamped, I pity the understanding of my opponents and political adversaries. It doesn't make any difference whatever opponents think. My vision is clear, I want to see a sovereign Pakistan. What I was saying five years ago has come true. The government is fighting American war for a fistful of dollars. I was always anxious for my soldiers and dying civilians and I also didn't expect anything better than opposition, abhorrence and mortal persecution from the ruling elite. I said we are making it a country like Algeria. Everything I said in the past five years has turned right. Unfortunately, a small lobby benefiting from American dollars creates misinformation. We are earning blood money. If my party comes to power, I will make sure these people are punished so that nobody ever repeats these offences. The military operations produce militants.
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