Early Political Career
Imran Anwar became active in student organisations at the University of Engineering and Technology (UET) in Lahore, Pakistan. Anwar served as the Chief Organizer for the Quaid-e-Azam Students Federation (QSF). QSF was the largest independent student organisation at the university. Anwar was among the student leaders who protested and resisted against the military rule of General Zia.
In 1982, during a wave of student protests taking place at UET, Imran Anwar was attacked and arrested by six members of a para-military group of General Zia-ul-Haq's government. Anwar and several other students were severely beaten by the Police, before being taken to a Military Tribunal. Titled 'Summary Military Court 37', and composed of General Zia's military officers with no constitutional judicial standing or background, the group charged the student protesters with the crime of opposing military rule, promoting unrest and protest in the civilian population. Imran, along with other several others, was sentenced and imprisoned in the infamous Kot Lakhpat Prison until their release in the coming days.
Imran Anwar has met with World Leaders such as former Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, former German Chancellor Willy Brandt, former Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Libyan Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi, late Pakistani General Zia-ul-Haq, late Pakistani Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo, late Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the former Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf, former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and many others.
Anwar is a vocal critic of military dictatorships and also speaks out against elected heads of state usurping power. Anwar has appeared on radio and television and has been an outspoken critic of Pakistan's former President & Military General Pervez Musharraf. Anwar has also spoken on issues in the United States such as attempts by the President Bush Administration Officials to curtail personal freedoms and civil rights in the United States. In a 1999 profile interview on CNN with Riz Khan, Anwar had questioned General Musharraf's claim that he would hold elections in 90 days, and alluded to his using the same tactics as former Pakistan leader General Zia.
In his various radio interviews on New York's WWRL 1600AM and writings, Anwar urged the Pakistani public to rise against the Emergency Rule and Martial Law in Pakistan and asked the United States government to block financial support of the military dictatorship in Pakistan. Anwar remains an outspoken critic of the corruption-ridden political structure in Pakistan. He has expressed his support of Pakistani Cricket hero Imran Khan's political movement while expressing concerns over its lack of a clear, well-articulated, strategy or detailed plans.
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