Imran Khan promises a new Pakistan, calls for better relations with India

Imran Khan spoke to the people of Pakistan and the world in a televised speech from his home in Islamabad Thursday. His Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party is on the cusp of victory in the national elections which were held yesterday.

Khan invoked both the founder of Pakistan, "Quaid-e-Azam" or "Great Leader" Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Madina, saying he wanted Pakistan to become the sort of country that existed in seventh-century Madina and that Jinnah had envisioned.

Khan promised wide-ranging reform, saying that no country with an "island of rich people and a sea of poor people" could prosper. He promsied an end to corruption, as well as accountability, first of himself, then of his ministers, and so on.

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And he said that the country's policies that had so far been designed for a tiny, rich elite would henceforth be desiged for the poor. "We will govern Pakistan like no party has ever done before," Imran promised.

And perhaps most importantly for readers in India, he called for "good relations" with the country, better trade ties, and a resolution of the festering Kashmir dispute. Whether any of that, especially the last one, will be possible — considering Khan is thought of as the Pakistan Army's favourite (puppet?) — is a different matter altogether.

But for now, Khan, like most newly-elected leaders, was magnanimous.

He reached out to the people of Pakistan's restive Balochistan province. "I want to commend the people of Balochistan. The type of terrorism and tragedy they have suffered from, and they still came out to vote, I want to commend them on behalf of the entire country," he said.

But in the same breath, he thanked the Army. "Many people have made sacrifices for this election. We want to commend the security forces."

Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Madina
"I want to clarify why I entered politics. Politics could not have given me anything. I wanted Pakistan to become the country that my leader Quaid-i-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah had dreamed of," Khan said, speaking in Urdu.

"I want to share the kind of Pakistan I envision — the type of state that was established in Madina, where widows and the poor were taken care of."

"Today our state is in shambles," Khan said.

"Farmers are not paid for their hard work, 25 million children are out of school, our women continue to die in childbirth because we can't give them basic healthcare, we can't give the people clean drinking water. A country is not recognised by the lifestyle of the rich, but by the lifestyle of the poor. No country that has an island of rich people and a sea of poor people can prosper."

"All our policies will aim to help the less fortunate prosper," Khan said.

"Our institutions will be stronger, everyone will be held accountable. First I will be subjected to accountability, then my ministers and so on."

"I pledge to safeguard the nation's taxes. We will decrease all of our expenses," Khan promised.

"The point is, we have to improve our condition, we have to formulate policies with the business community to increase wealth."

"We will improve tax culture. People will pay taxes because they will see that their taxes are being spent on them. We will help farmers, the business community and help the youth to find jobs and develop their skills. Our money will be spent on human development," he added.

He also said the country needed to lift people out of poverty the way China has done.

And taking a leaf out of the Arvind Kejriwal book, Khan said he would not live in "such a big" PM House, but would find a "small place" for himself. "Our government will decide what we will do with PM House. I would be ashamed to live in such a large house. That house will be converted into a educational institution or something of the sort for the welfare of the people."

He said he had "suffered the worst kind of personal attacks" over the last three years, and that he was unhappy with the way the Indian media had portrayed him, but that "this is all behind me now".

"Our vision is greater than all this," said Imran Khan.