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Sara Taseer Says Pakistan Punishes Oxford-Educated Prime Ministers
Sara Taseer wrote about six Pakistani prime ministers who had studied at Oxford.
She said these leaders did not receive ordinary, peaceful political endings.
Some were removed from office, some were forced out, and some were killed.
Liaquat Ali Khan and Benazir Bhutto were assassinated.
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed after his government was overthrown by the military.
Imran Khan was removed through a no-confidence vote and later jailed.
Taseer said this pattern helps explain why governments in Pakistan often struggle.
Some Pakistanis disagreed and accused her of valuing British institutions too highly.
Her father, Salman Taseer, was also an Oxford-educated Pakistani politician who was assassinated.
Sara Taseer said six Oxford-educated Pakistani prime ministers faced disrupted or violent political careers.
The six leaders she identified were Liaquat Ali Khan, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Feroz Khan Noon, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Imran Khan.
Liaquat Ali Khan and Benazir Bhutto were assassinated, while Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was executed after a military coup.
Imran Khan was removed by a parliamentary no-confidence vote in April 2022 and has remained jailed for nearly three years, according to the article.
Critics accused Taseer of expressing a colonial mindset and labelled her “dimagi naxal” after her post on X.
- Who
- Sara Taseer discussed six Oxford-educated Pakistani prime ministers, including Imran Khan, and referenced her father Salman Taseer.
- What
- She argued that Pakistan’s Oxford-educated prime ministers faced imprisonment, removal, forced exile, execution or assassination rather than ordinary political careers.
- Where
- The discussion concerns Pakistan, with several incidents occurring in Rawalpindi or Islamabad.
- When
- Taseer made the comments in a post on X; the article does not specify the post’s date.
- Why
- Taseer said the treatment of political leaders contributes to the repeated collapse of governance in Pakistan.
Taseer’s Argument
Critics’ Response
Treatment of Oxford-educated leaders
Taseer’s Argument
Taseer said Pakistan has repeatedly jailed, removed, forced out, executed or assassinated Oxford-educated political leaders.
Critics’ Response
Critics argued that focusing on Oxford affiliations reflects a colonial mindset and an excessive emphasis on British institutions.
Cause of governance problems
Taseer’s Argument
Taseer said the contradiction between elite education and political thuggery, imprisonment and assassination helps explain why governance keeps collapsing.
Critics’ Response
Critics rejected her framing and attacked the cultural assumptions behind her argument, including by calling her “dimagi naxal”.
Key facts
- Leaders identified
- Liaquat Ali Khan, Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy, Feroz Khan Noon, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto and Imran Khan
- Liaquat Ali Khan
- Shot while addressing a public gathering in Rawalpindi on 16 October 1951
- Zulfikar Ali Bhutto
- Executed by hanging on 4 April 1979 after a military coup and murder conviction
- Benazir Bhutto
- Served two non-consecutive terms and was assassinated in Rawalpindi on 27 December 2007
- Imran Khan
- Prime minister from August 2018 to April 2022; removed in a parliamentary no-confidence vote
- Salman Taseer
- Sara Taseer’s father and former Punjab governor; assassinated in Islamabad in January 2011
- Online reaction
- Critics labelled Sara Taseer “dimagi naxal” and accused her of a colonial mindset
Quotes
Sara Taseer
Pakistani writer and daughter of former Punjab governor Salman Taseer
“This is the real colonial mindset of the cult elites: an endless desire to define value of Pakistani through affiliation with British institutions. ‘Dimaaghi naxal’ kahin kay, to quote PTI’s favorite leader Narendra Modi”
theprint.in
“Pakistan has had six Oxford-educated Prime Ministers… Not one allowed an ordinary political fate”
theprint.in
Sources
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