Published 14:27 IST, July 25th 2019
Imran Khan throws himself over-the-top reception in Pakistan, wonders if he's won the World Cup
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accorded himself a wildly triumphant welcome on his return to Pakistan after his visit to the US. Arriving in Islamabad on Wednesday night, Khan managed what he couldn't get in the US, where he had been given an almost embarrassingly tepid reception.
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Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan accorded himself a wildly triumphant welcome on his return to Pakistan after his visit to the US. Arriving in Islamabad on Wednesday night, Khan managed what he couldn't get in the US, where he had been given an almost embarrassingly tepid reception.
IMRAN KHAN GETS OVER-THE-TOP RECEPTION
Top leaders from Imran Khan's PTI party were present at the vestibule when Imran Khan deplaned, greeting him with garlands. The Pakistani top establishment in the welcoming party included the Chief Ministers of Pakistan's Punjab Usman Buzdar, Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan, Imran's federal ministers Fawad Chaudhry, the hapless Pervez Khattak, Murad Saeed, as well as senior PTI leaders like Jehangir Khan Tareen. They all stood in line in the narrow gantry, cameras flashing all around them, as Khan, dressed in black, marched forward with his entourage to be received and garlanded.
'AS THOUGH I WON THE WORLD CUP'
A makeshift stage was even erected from which Imran Khan made an address, remarking himself that the return from the official tour made it seem more like he had come back after winning the World Cup - continuing his own broadsides against the Pakistan Cricket team which had a woeful outing at the recent World Cup - no thanks to Imran Khan who had even attempted to play Captain-Prime Minister by tweeting advice to the team before their India match which they ended up losing. While in the US, Imran Khan who had skippered Pakistan to victory in the 1992 World Cup, promised to overhaul his country's Cricket setup.
"Neither I have ever bowed down to anyone, nor will I let my nation to do so. We are to become a self-respected nation," Imran Khan said from the makeshift stage as per Pakistan news media, going on to speak about how the Pakistan Army is also behind him - an accurate assessment given that the influential Pakistan military-ISI deep state is said to have had a big role in him becoming Prime Minister. During his visit to the White House to meet Donald Trump, Imran Khan had to suffer the ignominy of having to be chaperoned by Pak Army chief Bajwa.
'MAKE PAKISTAN GREAT... EVENTUALLY'
"All my struggle is focused to make our country one of the great nations of the world," Imran Khan said, in a week where he has been accused of clamping down on media freedoms & muting his opponents, and has also jailed yet another one of his predecessors - Shahid Khaqan Abbasi - to add to Nawaz Sharif as well as former Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
During the US visit, apart from attempting to profiteer from US President Trump's absurd lie on Kashmir mediation, Imran Khan had faced Baloch protests, had admitted that the Pakistani deep-state knew full well where Osama Bin Laden was hiding before the US neutralised him, that Pakistan is still home to almost 40,000 terrorists and most crucially, conceded that the Pakistan-based JeM was active in India and had carried out the Pulwama terror attack.
INDIANS SEE THROUGH IT:
Netizens had a few takes on Imran Khan's triumphant return.
One person remarked on the sycophancy on show:
Another contrasted the display with India's massive space feat from earlier in the week:
Finally, one spoke about the World Cup winner-esque welcome in the context of Pakistan's debt woes:
14:27 IST, July 25th 2019