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A lion-hunter among Imran’s forefathers

 “The News” report written by Ziaullah Niazi

 With the elections 2013 in Punjab almost a draw between the PTI and PML-N and with fiery speeches being delivered by the leaders against each other from both sides, an incident related to one of Imran Khan’s forefathers have suddenly become relevant.

 Khan is being titled as the lion-hunter because the PML-N’s election symbol is Lion which he vows to hunt down with his rather unusual weapon – Cricket Bat. Lion-hunting, incidentally, is in Khan’s blood as it turns out his one of his forefathers had really fought and killed a man-eater lion some eight decades ago. In the 70s, whenever Imran visited his hometown, Mianwali, for hunting, he used to see his grandfather, Khan Baig Khan.

 This incident happened during the British regime when Khan Baig Khan, the brother of Imran’s grandmother, Shakaraan Begum, was a police officer. He was posted at a police station in the mountainous Soon Sakaysar Valley of Khushab district. Some villagers of the valley approached him and told that a jackal used to killed their cattle every night. Khan Baig Khan got concerned at the plight of the villagers over the issue and decided to get rid of the animal once and for all. He, accompanied by two foot-constables, visited the area. At midnight, when the beast appeared, it was a lion not jackal. On seeing the lion, one of the foot constables ran away while the second one fainted with fear. The police officer courageously scuffled with the lion and put one hand in its mouth and stabbed it from the other hand. During the fight the lion was killed, while the police officer received serious injuries on his head and other parts of the body. When the villagers came to know that the lion was killed by the police officers, they rushed to the spot. The injured police officer on a charpoy and rushed him to a nearby hospital where he recovered after a few months.

 

Now as the election 2013 in Punjab is approaching and the tussle between the PTI and PML-N is gaining momentum with fiery speeches from both parties, the incident of killing of lion has got relevance. Though both the PML-N and PTI have launched aggressive election campaign but it is yet to be seen that who will survive- the Lion (Nawaz Sharif) or Lion-Hunter (Imran Khan) on the Election Day.

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