How Imran Khan became the man set to 'lead Pakistan into the future'

In the 1990s, when Pakistani journalists were still permitted to come to India, one of Pakistan’s most respected political commentators and a truly decent human being, the late M B Naqvi, was approached by an Indian news magazine to write a profile of Imran Khan. The context? Khan was Pakistan’s hottest property, one of its most colourful personalities, and Indians were riveted by the charmed life he seemed to lead – a cancer hospital in his mother’s name, institutions of learning and the first forays into politics, but with a seemingly liberal and often confused agenda.

“Imran Khan,” asked the gentle Naqvi: “You want a profile of Imran Khan?” Incredulously, he added: “But he’s a duffer.”

That was then and this is now. Khan has undergone a comprehensive metamorphosis, burying most of his socialite past and emerging as the man who will take Pakistan into the future.

Let us be clear. Whatever his promises on ‘naya Pakistan’ Khan still has to answer questions at the Election Commission of Pakistan on a petition last year by Akbar S Babar, a former party colleague who fell out with him. Babar alleged that nearly $3 million in illegal foreign funds were collected through two offshore companies, registered with Imran Khan’s signature, and that money was sent through illegal ‘hundi’ channels from West Asia to accounts of party functionaries. On the face of it, it sounds like a hawala operation.

Indian kids, sex, debauchery: Five things from Reham Khan's book on Imran

Reham Khan's much-awaited book has been finally released on Amazon, and it revolves around her journey as a journalist, her marriage with cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan Exposed and the political atmosphere in Pakistan. Reham, whose marriage with Imran Khan in 2015 ended after 10 months, writes about what she describes as the Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman's sexual encounters and cocaine addiction.

She claims her former husband is not 'sadiq and amin' (honest and righteous) in line with Constitutional provisions, as he hid his third marriage for two months.

Reham has remained at the centre of controversy after the manuscript of her book was leaked online, irking several PTI leaders who took to Twitter to accuse her of being part of an "agenda" ahead of the July 25 general elections.

Earlier, Imran Khan filed a petition to stop Reham's autobiography from being published in the country, following which a stay order was issued on the book launch. There has been no reaction yet from Imran Khan.