ISLAMABAD: British-French journalist and author Ben Judah, in an interview published in The Sunday Times Magazine on Sunday, compared Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan with US President Donald Trump on a number of issues.
Imran loathes Trump but it is ‘hard not to compare the two’, the journalist wrote, adding: “Khan, like Trump, emerged from the moneyed elite, riding high on a personality cult, purporting to be the voice of every forgotten man, railing against effete liberals and the corruption and nepotism of the political class. And just like Trump, this ageing, hair-obsessed star is accused of sexual harassment.”
During the interview, Imran in response to a question regarding Gulalai, a National Assembly (NA) member who quit the PTI in early August after levelling allegations of harassment against the party chief, said that she was paid to accuse him of harassment and sending her ‘inappropriate messages’ which were never found.
“She has been paid for that,” Imran told Ben.
“You see what I have to put up with?” said Khan, lamenting that his enemies were smearing him with ‘fake news’ – one of the similarities the journalist used to compare the PTI chairman to the US president.
Despite the journalist drawing similarities between the PTI chairman and US president, Imran during the interview raised questions over Pakistan’s support in the US-led ‘war on terror’ and criticised drone strikes on Pakistani soil that Trump has continued after taking over the US presidency.
“American drone strikes in Pakistan must stop. It’s butchery, and the true horror of it is hidden from the West,” he said.
The article also labelled Imran the kind of politician the Taliban ‘would like to see installed as the country’s next leader’.