'Im the dim': How Pakistan PM Imran Khan turned out to be a terrible caricature of the champion cricketer

Many years ago, author Salman Rushdie quipped of cricketer-turned-politician and Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, "Back in the day, when he was a playboy in London, the most common nickname for him was 'Im the Dim.'"

Dim, as in dimwitted, and a little slow in the head.

That sounds very unpleasant, but Imran Khan, facing the heat in Pakistan's politics, appears to be adamant about proving the assessment correct again and again.

Now, on April 3, Imran Khan called for fresh elections after a vote of no confidence against him was blocked in parliament.

Given the sheer number of controversies and mindless statements that Khan has made on a regular basis, there has scarcely been a moment of serenity in the  3.5 years since he came to power.

When you consider Khan's illustrious history as a star cricketer, his current pitiful predicament is incomprehensible.

The chasm between what he promised the people of Pakistan-a 'Naya' or new Pakistan devoid of corruption - and the steps, and people, he chose to fulfil those promises, was larger than anyone could have anticipated.

The religious fundamentalist 'Kaptaan'

In his cricketing days, Khan was a notorious playboy whose constant romances with new women made headlines.

His past indicated that he would at the very least keep an open mind, but in the course of appeasing Pakistan's religious fundamentalists, he utterly lost it.

He transformed his image from a famous cricketer to a politician busy appeasing the Pakistan Army and religious fundamentalists.

As a result of his political shift, Khan went from being a playboy to a staunch conservative.

The man who used to call London's Tramp nightclub his "home place" is now an anti-feminist.

In 2021, he blamed sexual violence against women on "vulgarity" in dressing: "Not every man has will power. If you keep on increasing vulgarity, it will have consequences." He also said in an interview that "If a woman is wearing very few clothes, it will have an impact on the men unless they are robots. It’s common sense."  

Let's put that aside and return to his self-described populist, anti-corruption reformer political persona.

While it is true that Pakistan's economy and society were on life support long before Imran Khan joined power, it is no exaggeration to say that Khan has steadily and needlessly worsened the patient's condition.

His sincerity of intent will be judged by history, but his actions have been extremely harmful and ill-advised.

With the exception of a few misled journalists in Islamabad, his anti-Islamophobia campaign, which he launched from the big stage of the UN General Assembly, found few takers.

At a time when countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar appear less interested in concerns like Palestine and Kashmir, the likely  former prime minister stands out as an anachronism.

In his most recent 'Jalsa,' or rally, he looked almost humorous in his emphasis on his own honesty, reminding listeners of the dictum that those who are honest do not need to remind the world of their honesty at every chance.

On other occasions, particularly during the outcry against France, he did more harm than good by siding with the country's fundamentalist forces.

Of course, the harm was not limited to Khan's reputation in the west, but also to Pakistan's as a whole.

Imran Khan, the self-obsessed

The words "I," "myself," and "myself" were repeated 213 times in Khan's address to the nation last week ahead of Sunday's no-trust vote against him.

That sounded a lot like many of his previous narcissistic remarks.His controversial World Cup victory speech from 1992 is one of them.

He didn't mention the triumph in that address; instead, he talked about his off-field ambitions, the cancer hospital he seeks to develop.

He didn't even acknowledge or thank his teammates after the victory. 

According to some well-informed analysts, "Imran Khan the Prime Minister' was doomed to fail from the start.

His goal was to project himself as the "Kaptaan" of the Islamic world, not to alleviate his country's problems.

His obsession with lofty, implausible goals exacerbated Pakistan's economic woes beyond repair.