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Imran Khan fumbles with Urdu while taking oath as Pakistan Prime Minister

Hailing from a privileged background, Khan was educated at the prestigious Aitchison College in Lahore, then the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England and the Oxford University in 1975.

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Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan assumed charge as Pakistan's 22nd premier in a ceremony at the Aiwan-e-Sadr (the President House) in Islamabad on Saturday. His takeover marks the end of decades of rotating leadership between the ousted Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), punctuated by periods of military rule.

There were embarrassing moments as President Mamnoon Hussain was administering the oath to Khan, 65. The new Prime Minister, clad in a traditional grey-black sherwani, smiled sheepishly as he fumbled over Urdu words while swearing allegiance to the finality of Prophethood. The Oxford-educated Khan mispronounced 'khatim-un-nabiyeen' (the Last Prophet) even after he was corrected by the President. Seconds later, he made another gaffe, misspeaking 'Roz-e-Qiyaamat' (day of Judgment) as 'Roz-e-Qiyaadat' (day of leadership), completely changing the meaning of the sentence.

An otherwise confident Khan seemed to be a bundle of nerves even while inspecting the guard of honour at the lawns of the Prime Minister's Office (PMO), before walking into his chambers.

Hailing from a privileged background, Khan was educated at the prestigious Aitchison College in Lahore, then the Royal Grammar School Worcester in England and the Oxford University in 1975.

The Opposition leaders didn't attend the swearing-in ceremony. Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and other service chiefs attended the function. Imran Khan's wife Bushra Bibi was seated in the front row. This was also her first public appearance since she married Khan.

Former Indian cricketer Navjot Singh Sidhu, who is now a minister in Punjab; Pakistani cricketers Wasim Akram and Ramiz Raja, and caretaker prime minister Nasir-ul-Mulk also attended the ceremony.

Upon Khan's instructions, the President House had cut down the menu for the occasion from nine dishes to refreshments only, as part of his 'austerity drive'.

Earlier on Friday, Pakistan's National Assembly elected Khan as Prime Minister, more than two decades after the former captain of Pakistan cricket team made a debut in politics. He got 176 votes, while his opponent, PML-N President Shehbaz Sharif, bagged 96 votes.

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