Imran Khan, Musharraf bag 'Hall of Shame' awards

ISLAMABAD: President Pervez Musharraf and cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan are among the winners of the 'Hall of Shame awards' for 2007 announced by a Pakistani magazine.

Musharraf bagged two Hall of Shame awards "The Pinocchio award for playing with facts" and "The Richard Nixon award for dirtiest political ads".

Khan, whose politics are not taken seriously in Pakistan and at best rated as single column news items in most newspapers, is seen as the voice of Pakistan by many outside the country.

The World Cup winning captain, currently in the US to speak on Pakistan's political future: an alternative perspective", was given the "Paris Hilton award for being the most undeserving media darling" by Newsline magazine.

The "citation" for Khan reads: "He is the leader of a party that is the proud holder of one National Assembly seat (and) gets media coverage inversely proportional to his political influence."

The 'citation' for Musharraf's Pinocchio award reads: "This award was hotly contested between President Musharraf, General Musharraf and the artist formerly known as Pervez Musharraf. Staving off stiff competition from himself, the award goes to Musharraf for this gem of an interview he gave to The New York Times: 'I know what they (Pakistanis) feel about the emergency when all these suicide bombings were taking place. Their view is, 'Why have I done it so late?'"

The other award Musharraf bagged was for an advertisement with the theme "Pakistan First", in which the President said he imposed emergency to protect democracy and lifted emergency to protect democracy!

Former information and broadcasting minister Tariq Azeem was given a special medal for the government's reasons to close down foreign news channels. "At times you watch highly objectionable scenes on foreign news channels such as gay marriages etc, which is unacceptable in our society," he had once said.

"The Judas award for biggest betrayal" went to Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman because he had pledged that members of his party would resign from the North West Frontier Province assembly before the presidential election but they did not.

Any resignation by the members would have prevented Musharraf's re-election in uniform in October last year.

The Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation won "The Nostradamus award for getting it so wrong" for its "Destination Pakistan 2007" campaign an invite to the "most dangerous dangerous country in the world".

The magazine also brought out special posters that were takes on those for Bollywood films to expose the Who's Who of Pakistan.

The poster on cricketer Shoaib Akhtar, who is always in the news for the wrong reasons, is a take on Mukesh Bhatt's "Awarapan". The punchline reads: "Cricket was 'not' his only destination."

The poster for Musharraf is based on a Karan Johar blockbuster, with the President in a very dreamy Shah Rukh Khan pose, saying "Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna".