Imran’s oldest cabbie friend happy for his success, says no regrets for not being invited on oath day
ISLAMABAD: One of Imran Khan’s oldest friends and his “taxi driver” for many years has said he is proud that his friend is now Prime Minister of Pakistan and he has no regrets that he didn’t get invitation to attend the oath-taking ceremony of his friend, said a report.
Muhammad Akram, famously known as Akram the Black Cab driver in UK’S Pakistani political circles, met Imran in 1986 at the Lord’s when few people knew Imran and the two struck a long-lasting friendship that saw Akram serving as personal cab driver of Imran during his frequent visits to the UK.
Imran would often call Akram prior to his departure from Pakistan for UK and would request him to pick him from Heathrow airport. Akram was always there for his hero and leader and would drop the Pakistan Tehrik-e-insaf (PTI) leader to Annabel Goldmsith’s House in Richmond and to his political and social engagements. That remained a constant sight until Imran got introduced to a new set of friends such as Zuli Bukhari and others who owned lashy Bentleys and limousines.
It’s around 2012 onwards that Zuli took over from Akram and since then Zuli has been picking and dropping the PTI leader throughout his stay in London.
Dozens of rich friends and acquaintances of Imran from London, Middle East, Europe and elsewhere attended the oath-taking ceremony of Imran and almost certainly all these people came to know Imran in the last few years — or a decade — but the one face missing was Akram. Many had hoped that senior PTI leadership will remember to invite him but there was no invitation. “For me it’s more than enough that my friend has reached where he wanted to be. Nobody invited me but that’s ine, I don’t want to be part of photo sessions and publicity and I was proud when I saw Imran Khan taking the oath. That was an emotional moment for me. Most of the people who were in the oath taking ceremony or visit Bani Gala are the ones who are there for their self-projection. I have no complaints from Imran Khan and I never expected anything from him since he is so busy and has thousands of things on his mind.
I always told him that many of his advisers around him are in there for their own objectives and he always listened to me and I still maintain that,” Akram said.
The story of Akram is as fascinating as the story of Imran himself. “I was in Lord’s to watch a match and saw Imran being interviewed by a channel. I stood there to meet him.
His friend told him that he will have to leave for a family commitment. I offered to drop Imran at his Kensington lat. We exchanged number when I dropped him and I picked him up again the next day to take him for practice.”
Imran was playing for the Sussex at that time and would spend most of his time in London for practice. He would take Akram with him for practice at the Lord’s and for extensive exercise in Hyde Park and other places where Akram would assist him in training. “It was Imran Khan’s routine to train in the daytime no matter what and at night he would go out often with his friend Jonathan.”
Akram recalls the euphoria that erupted after Pakistan cricket team won the 92 World Cup and Imran Khan’s decision to set up Shaukat Khanum Cancer Hospital. Imran operated at that time from the Kensington lat and used the same apartment for his charity’s addresses.