Imran khan, Pakistan’s most popular politician and former cricket captain has been the center of attention ever since the popular rally on Oct 30th , 2011.
Mr. Khan completed his trip to America successfully where he went to raise funds for the elections coming up. Mr Khan has already held three fundraisers in New York, Seattle and San Francisco, collecting more than $600,000 for his election campaign. He expects to raise another $200,000 in Los Angeles on Monday night before flying out to Dubai. (D,IK,30)
On Friday, Mr Khan boarded an American Airlines plane from Toronto to New York to speak at a fundraising dinner in Long Island for the election campaign but was offloaded and interrogated for an hour.
“I was taken off from plane and interrogated by US immigration in Canada on my views on drones,” he said in a twitter message on Friday afternoon. “My stance is known. Drone attacks must stop.”
Later Mr. Khan attended the dinner where he requested the Pakistani-Canadian to support his political party if they want Pakistan to stabilize and to bring change in Pakistan.
The US State Department has said the issue which caused American authorities to offload and interrogate Mr Khan had been solved.
“We are aware that Imran Khan was briefly delayed in Toronto before boarding the next flight to the United States,” a State Department spokesperson told reporters. “The issue was resolved. Mr Khan is welcome in the United States.” (D,IK,30)
US Customs and Border Protection spokesman Joanne Ferreira told reporters there was nothing unusual about Mr Khan’s interrogation.
“Under US immigration laws, applicants for admission bear the burden of proof to establish that they are clearly eligible to enter the United States,” she said
The interrogation done by off boarding Mr. Khan from the flight which made him miss the dinner to be held in New York but Khan was strong in his aims and nothing could shake him at all
“Nothing will change my stance. My stand on drones is very clear. I did not say sorry to them,” Mr Khan later told reporters. (D,IK,30)
A vilification campaign preceded Mr Khan’s arrival in North America, mainly by people of Pakistani origin unhappy with his views.
“Will Hillary Clinton do the honorable thing and bar Imran Khan from entering the US and sullying American soil? Will she put an end to the appeasement of Islamists?” Tariq Fateh, a Pakistani Canadian, wrote in the Toronto Sun newspaper, calling Mr Khan a “hate monger” and a Taliban supporter.
The American Islamic Leadership Coalition from Phoenix, Arizona, wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this week, urging her to revoke the US visa granted to Mr Khan.
“Granting individuals like Khan Access to the US to fund-raise is against the interest of the people of Pakistan and the national security interests of the US,” the group wrote.
Mr. Khan has been successful in generating funds from USA for his election campaign which shows how many people are supporting him to bring change among the people in Pakistan.
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