- Title: Profile of Pakistani cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan
- Date: 17th July 2018
- Summary: LAHORE, PAKISTAN (FILE - MARCH 23, 2013) (REUTERS) SUPPORTERS OF PTI PARTY GATHERING AT LANDMARK MONUMENT MINAR-E-PAKISTAN
- Embargoed: 31st July 2018 07:36
- Keywords: Imran Khan politics Pakistan cricket profile Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party PTI
- Location: KARACHI, ISLAMABAD, LAHORE, ABBOTTABAD AND PESHAWAR, IN AIR, KASUR, PAKISTAN / RICHMOND, LONDON, UK
- City: KARACHI, ISLAMABAD, LAHORE, ABBOTTABAD AND PESHAWAR, IN AIR, KASUR, PAKISTAN / RICHMOND, LONDON, UK
- Country: Pakistan
- Topics: Government/Politics
- Reuters ID: LVA0048PB1PVP
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: PART VIDEO QUALITY AS INCOMING
Imran Khan Niazi was born on 5 October 1952 in Lahore, Pakistan and was a well-known champion cricketer turned politician in his home country.
Khan played international cricket for 20 years -- between 1971 and 1992 -- and most famously led Pakistan to their one and only Cricket World Cup win in 1992 as captain, before turning to politics.
Khan was educated in the UK, attending Worcester College at the University of Oxford, where he developed his interest in cricket. After retiring from the sport in 1992, Khan -- well-known then as a playboy -- married British socialite Jemima Goldsmith in 1995. The bride was the daughter of billionaire financier James Goldsmith.
In 1996, Khan founded the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party (PTI) and became the party's national leader. He ran unsuccessfully for the 1997 general election.
During the military coup by general Pervez Musharraf in 1999, Khan supported Musharraf. Later, Khan changed his mind about Musharraf after the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan called the 2002 referendum "blatantly rigged". Still, Khan was elected to office in 2002 after contesting the seat for Mianwali district. He served as an opposition member of parliament for Mianwali until 2007.
As Khan vocally opposed Musharraf's imposition of emergency rule in 2007, he was arrested by the police in November. He was handed over to local authorities and released days later.
Khan decided to boycott the 2008 general election saying they were not being held in a neutral manner, leaving him and his party on the sidelines once again.
During the 2013 election, Khan staged huge rallies across Pakistan, where hundreds of thousands of supporters of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party clamoured to hear his message of change and ideology of a "new Pakistan". In a well-documented and televised incident, Khan fell off a makeshift lift with other party members and was treated for back injuries.
The general election in 2013 handed a landslide victory to Nawaz Sharif and his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) party. But Khan's opposition campaign electrified many, pushing his PTI from a marginal party to the country's third-largest. Khan was again elected to parliament in the election.
In 2014, Khan alleged that elections the year before were rigged in favour of the Pakistan Muslim League. Khan led a rally of supporters promising Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's resignation and investigation into alleged electoral fraud. Influential Canadian-Pakistani cleric and scholar Muhammad Tahir-ul-Qadri became a de-facto ally of Khan, also calling for the Sharif's resignation.
Sharif stepped down in July 2017 after a court disqualified him from office. Khan called the ruling a win for democracy, but also derided Sharif's choice of his brother Shahbaz Sharif to eventually succeed him, comparing the country's tradition of political dynasties to "a form of monarchy".
Khan is running in the 2018 general elections and has said that as prime minister, he would drive an anti-corruption and anti-poverty campaign.
In his personal life, Imran Khan was married to Jemima Khan between 1995 and 2004. They have two sons from the marriage, Sulaiman Isa Khan in 1996 and Kasim Khan in 1999. In 2015, Imran Khan married former BBC weather presenter Reham Khan. The union lasted for nine months before the couple decided to go their separate ways. Khan married for the third time in 2018 to Bushra Wattoo -- a woman local media called a "faith healer".
Outside of politics, Khan was also active in philanthropy. He established a cancer hospital to help the poor, in honour of his mother who died of cancer, served as UNICEF Special Representative for Sports and also founded a technical college in the Mianwali district. - Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
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