Political Shift Seen in Rally in PakistanBy SALMAN MASOOD, New York Times, October 31, 2011
Mr. Khan assailed the leaders of both parties — President Asif Ali Zardari and Nawaz Sharif — as creatures of the status quo, and he has been a loud and frequent critic of Pakistan’s alliance with the United States, saying it was motivated by money.
The size of the crowd that Mr. Khan drew in Lahore, the provincial capital of Punjab and a traditional stronghold of the Muslim League-N, surprised his opponents and made an impression on political analysts.
Mr. Khan, 58, has languished on the political sidelines for years, and his political party, Tehreek-e-Insaf, or Justice Party, has no seats in the current Parliament. But his popularity has soared recently as voters, especially younger ones, have grown disillusioned with the establishment parties. A survey conducted by an American polling organization, the Pew Research Center, found in June that Mr. Khan had become the most popular political figure in the country.
After the crowd gave him a rousing welcome at the rally on Sunday evening, Mr. Khan threw out challenges to both Mr. Zardari and Mr. Sharif on the question of personal integrity, urging them both to disclose their assets or face civil disobedience.
“This is not a flood, this is a tsunami,” Mr. Khan said of the crowd thronging the Minaar-e-Pakistan ground in Lahore to hear him. “Anyone up against it will be swept away.”
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