LONDON, 13 August 2007 — Former Pakistan cricket captain turned politician Imran Khan linked the “war on terror” to the legacy of partition 60 years ago, in an interview published yesterday.
With the anniversary of Pakistan’s formation looming this week, Khan said his country had had a “traumatic birth because the British left in such haste” and so became obsessed with security issues.
It also became a “client state” reliant on the United States, Imran told the Sunday Telegraph newspaper, adding that the “war on terror” was one of the results.
Imran also said that he believed Pakistan was no longer a democracy and said he would not want to serve in a coalition government “because you have to compromise too much.” He said that the turbulence of partition had meant that the Kashmiri question was not resolved and left relations with India in a poor state.
“Another result was that the state became obsessed with its own survival. Security became the first priority,” he said. “And we became a client state, relying on US aid, rather than being non-aligned like India. It left us with the problem of militancy. The mujahedeen on the border with Afghanistan was actually trained by the CIA during the Cold War.
“The legacy of all this is the war on terror, which many in Pakistan see as a war on Islam, that is why there is no shortage of recruits there.”
