Imran Khan admits hating India prior to his tour to the country as a cricketer

Imran Khan admits hating India prior to his tour to the country as a cricketer

Imran Khan, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf chairman, has claimed that his hatred for India was only until he had visited the neighbouring country for a cricket series.

The former captain of the Pakistan cricket team said that he got so much love from the people in India, which made him forget the bloodshed and violence during the partition in 1947.

According to Imran, “I grew up hating India because I grew up in Lahore and there were massacres of 1947, so much bloodshed and anger. But as I started touring India, I got such love and friendship there that all this disappeared.”

He further went onto say, “As time passed, I realised that there’s so much we have in common. We have a similar history, there’s so much in culture that’s so similar compared to Western countries. Above all, there is so much the people of two countries (can)
benefit from if we have a civilised relationship.”

Commenting on the Indian cricket team’s tour to Pakistan back in 2005, Imran said that he had never seen such a friendly series between the rival nations.

However, it was sad for Imran to see the sport suffer after the political ties between India and Pakistan worsen after the Mumbai attacks. He now aims to make things better between the two nations if he gets a chance in politics.

The 58-year-old is currently the most popular leader in Pakistan and many believe he will wipe the next general elections in the country.

However, Imran says that the results are not in his hands. He added that he always believed in hard work and this was what earned him success in the 1992 World Cup when the team was not even considered to play the semi-final stage of the tournament.

The legendary player said that he was in a similar position now, as most of his opponents do not consider him to be successful in politics.

However, Imran does not bother about the negative criticism he faces and said that he will continue working hard for the betterment of Pakistan and leave the result to the Almighty.

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Posted by Waqar Masood on Nov 14 2011. Filed under Latest News, Pakistan. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry