There was an unlikely visitor at a candle light vigil organised at Karachi Press Club by Geo TV, Wajihuddin Khan, President Pervez Musharraf's look-alike.
ISLAMABAD: There was an unlikely visitor at a candle light vigil organised at Karachi Press Club by Geo TV, Wajihuddin Khan, President Pervez Musharraf's look-alike, who says his job as a television comedian has been endangered by the emergency.
Khan, who hosts the popular 'Hum Sab Umeed Sai Hain' show for Geo, joined the protesting journalists last night, saying, "Meri naukri khatre main hain (My job is in danger)."
'Hum Sab' is a political satire in which Khan mimics the President, appearing in military fatigues while indulging in all sorts of capers.
"The day the President imposed emergency, we managed to pull off a show on emergency and the political situation in the country. Because the TV channels had been blacked out, not many could watch it. But those who did loved it," Khan said.
"We showed that everyone loves Musharraf and they are all backing his decision (to impose emergency). The opposition parties, who are opposing the emergency, clash with the police and eventually land in a hospital where General Musharraf orders that everyone be operated upon."
Khan, a government employee, was discovered by a Geo producer when he was strolling with his wife and six children in Karachi's Alladin Park. He said 'that was the most important day of my life'.
The TV celebrity, who gets hounded for autographs and gets calls from people who think he is the 'President', chuckled, "I get hounded by people on the street thinking I am the President. They ask for my number and actually call me up."
The government has not quite been able to ignore him either. "I got invited to Parliament House to celebrate Musharraf's election as President. Every one there took pictures with me."
Khan, who claims Musharraf is a fan of his show, said, "We don't just have the looks, we both also hail from Delhi." Musharraf was born in the old quarters of the Indian capital and his family moved to Pakistan after India's partition in 1947.
But all is not hunky-dory with the Musharraf's look-alike. "I often get calls from people threatening to kill me because they think I really am the President. The (security) agencies also keep an eye on me."
This 'President' has 'eliminated' terrorism by punching and kicking armed extremists and sung qawwalis to entertain countrymen on his show. Since the imposition of emergency, many clips from Khan's show have been posted on Youtube.
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