Cricketer turned politician Imran Khan has warned that the Pakistani army's offensive in the tribal areas is pushing the country to the brink of "civil war", in comments published in a newspaper. He also blamed US-Pakistan military attacks in the areas bordering Afghanistan for creating the Pakistan Taliban, in the comments in London's Evening Standard paper on Wednesday.
"It's civil war in the making," said the opposition politician, referring to the decision to send the army into the tribal areas in Pakistan's north-west. "They were like a bull in a china shop, fighting one or two guerrillas with aerial bombing of villages.
"That turned people against the army and a new phenomenon was created: the Pakistan Taliban." For Khan, who leads a marginal force in Pakistani politics Tehrik-e-Insaf (Movement for Justice), the way to deal with militants is through boosting state help for the poor.
"You will have no problem with extremists in Pakistan if you have democracy with a welfare state," he told an audience in London, according to the paper. And the legendary cricketer said he still rejected the notion of a conventional "political career" as he would be forced to compromise. "If someone offered me a political career, I would shoot myself," he said.
"Having to get votes through making compromises, no thank you." "The classic example in England is Tony Blair. How did the people go wrong with him lying all the way? "He sold the idea that there were weapons of mass destruction." Khan is a hero in Pakistan for leading the country to victory in the 1992 cricket World Cup.
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