On a tour in the United States last week, former cricket superstar, Imran Khan, came out heavily against Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf and the U.S. policies on Pakistan. The leader of the Tehreek-e-Insaaf party met several senators and congressmen and gave talks in Washington, D.C., and New York.

Khan did not mince words when he repeatedly criticized the Bush administration’s policy on Pakistan and stated that instead of giving support to the country of 160 million people as a whole, it continued with its billion-dollar aid to Musharraf (in the name of Pakistan), which spelt disaster for both countries.

During his visit to the Amnesty International headquarters in Washington, D.C., Khan said he would “try and convince politicians in Washington that the policy they have adopted is a disaster for Pakistan and it is a disaster for America.”

Despite not being on an official visit (he was invited at the behest of a group of Pakistani Americans), Khan had several meetings with key lawmakers. He was hosted by [Senate Majority Leader] Harry Reid at an event during which Senators Joe Biden (D-DE), Tom Harkin (D-IA), John Kerry (D-MA), Robert Casey (D-PA), Patty Murray (D-WA), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) were present.

He also met Congressmen Peter Welch (D-VT) and Christopher Shays (R-CT), among others, and was hosted by Congressman Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX), where Congresswoman Shelley Berkeley (D-NV) and Congressman William Pascrell (D-NJ) were present.

At the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the Asia Society, Khan said he came to know of the $10 billion aid by the United States to Pakistan after reading a report in The New York Times.

“The Parliament was always bypassed, and whatever the military establishment wanted to discuss, only those issues could be discussed in Parliament,” he said of the state in his country.

He said that the United States’ primary concern is the war on terror and the spread of terrorism, especially along the tribal belt of Pakistan. Now, Pakistan’s main concern is also terrorism, but it was not after 9/11, he said.

“The way terrorism is spreading today, we Pakistanis for the first time are feeling that it could actually threaten our very existence. Just last year, there have been almost 67 suicide [bomber] attacks,” he said. “There is a great sense of insecurity in the country and there is a great sense of uncertainty. There is a feeling, for the first time, that no one knows where we are headed.”

He said the U.S. administration backing of one man, Musharraf, was similar to what happened in Iran at the time of the Shah.

“The chances are that we would gave a Kenya-type situation, where people are not going to accept their election results,” he said, referring to the ongoing turmoil in Pakistan. “The country will sink into a deeper crisis.”

Asked what was the best way to win the war against terror, Khan quoted Mao. “I feel that you can only win the war on terror if the terrorist is a fish out of water than a fish in water.”

He said the people for whom the terrorists are operating should also be considered terrorists.

“That’s when you’re winning the war on terror, if the terrorist becomes a mujahideen or hero or martyr, then I am afraid, you’re losing the war on terror. In other words, war of the hearts and minds also has to be won,” he said.

Khan said Pakistan should not be seen as being a Muslim country, as in most Muslim countries around the world, democracy is not a choice.

“We should be compared to India because we basically have the same history and culture – the people are the same. We actually compare ourselves with India. And we, in Pakistan, think if India could have a democratic process, if they can have 450 million people going to the polls and have free and fair elections, so can we,” he said. “The people in Pakistan always had a greater political awareness than people in other Muslim countries.”

Khan said he was a “great believer in democracy” and that the United States should not support the Pakistan army directly.

“These are all sorts of tried-and-failed policies, which the United States had done in the past and all over the world. I feel it should be a people-to-people relationship. There is no reason why the United States should earn animosity of the people of any country, and especially, the 160 million people (of Pakistan),” he said.

He said the United States, instead of backing any politician in Pakistan, the way it backed the late Benazir Bhutto, should just back the democratic process in the country.