Imran Khan on government in Pakistan, and dealing with the Taliban

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Imran Khan on government in Pakistan, and dealing with the Taliban

14 Jan 2009

Speakers: Imran Khan

Imran Khan discusses the the role of the government in Pakistan, fair play and 'sledging' in sport, and how best to deal with the Taliban in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He begins by discussing his work founding the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre in Lahore, which, despite his illustrious cricketing career, he considers to be his greatest achievement. The hospital relies entirely on charitable donations, and Khan explains that Pakistanis donate the most money to charity (relative to income) in the world. However, Khan suggests that it is the government's job to provide healthcare and education to its citizens, and this is something that the current Pakistani government, which he considers to be 'corrupt and incompetent', is not doing.

Turning to his playing career, Khan explains that the most important lesson he learnt from cricket was never to give up, to fight for every ball. He identifies Vivian Richards as the greatest batsman he ever played against, and Malcom Marshall, Michael Holding, and Dennis Lillee as the greatest bowlers.

Looking again at Pakistan, Khan explains how there were no Taliban in Pakistan until 2004, when military operations and drone attacks began. He considers that the best way of dealing with the Taliban in Pakistan is to stop the bombing of civilians, which only serves to encourage Taliban recruitment.