Lets Condemn Imran Khan for Maligning the Pakhtun Nation

Fallacies of a Clean Shaven - English Speaking Talib

fatimakhan76999@gmail.com

In a recent article published in the 'The News'on 7th of May titled ' How to clear this mess' , the Chief of Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) has attempted to do a diagnosis and suggest certain prescriptions for dealing with the issues of religious extremism, terrorism and Talibanisation, which threaten to tear apart the Pakistani State. Imran Khan's veiws on the subject are well known and thus do not bring anything new to the table. The article is full of anti-American rheotoric, a line of thought overtly taken by the PTI, JI, JUI and the like for quite sometime, and covertly believed by the Pakistani establishment and the security institutions as well as intelligence agencies. This article does not bring anything new on the table to reslove the issues, however, ironically Imran khan has gone a few notches ahead in confusing the issues further by stereotyping the entire Pakhtun nation as cultural terrorists. In his article, Mr Imran khan suggests that terrorism in the FATA and Malakand Division including Swat is spearheaded by Pakhtuns as an expression of their nationalist feelings aimed at the Americans and the American supported Pakistan army. Talibanisation and religious extremism, in his usual myopic veiw thus doesnot exist while the insurgency, according to him is an expression of the Pakhtun nationalist aspirations and rural Pakhtun culture. His article can be accessed using the following link:-

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=173817

Just this last week, on 29th april, Mr Imran Khan tried to drive the same point home, while taking part in a discussion with Hamid Mir on his programme, " Capital Talk", which also involved an American analyst Mr Brian Douglas. Here Mr Imran Khan on a number of occasions asserted to portray the Talibans as a true reflection of Pakhtun rural culture. Put simply, his point was that the religious extremists are only in AlQaeeda , which are very few in numbers,while the Taliban were neither a threat to Pakistan nor to the society in general. Moreover, that Talibanisation as a routine and normal cultural behaviour of the rural Pakhtuns and their actions as simple reaction to the US and Pakistan Army operations. This is a very dangerous, false and inaccurate diagnosis of the situation which must be vehemently rejected by all Pakhtuns as well as other Pakistanies for the simple reason that it is false and accusative of an entire nation of more than 60 million. Anybody who has had a bit of exposure to the rural Pakhtun culture will certify that there is no similarity in the Pakhtun culture and what characterise the Taliban. The rural Pakhtun culture is a fine balance of liberal and conservative expressions. While there is regular prayers in the mosque by most people, yet the music with Rubab and Sittar at the Hujra goes side by side. The same people when they come out of the mosque will sit till late night in the Hujra to sing and enjoy music- an expression which is immoral and un-Islamic to the Taliban. The weddings are as colourful and full of music as the those in urban Punjab or Sindh if not more. The ladies might not join the gents to watch the music and functions in the same courtyard but would definitely have seperate arrangements or would watch from the rooftops. Many of us are witness to this usuall routine. The local folklore is full of songs about the girls going to the local spring ( Gudar) to fetch water- and they don't have to be accompanied by their fathers, brothers or husbands. The local young are likely to be fond of Rubab, Flute and a gun alike, but his love for religion would be restricted to offering the prayers as regularly as possible behind the local Mullah. Their love for sending girls to school is proved by the fact that in every sizable village of Swat, you could see a yellow double storey school building for the girls , much earlier than there were schools in Punjabi or Sindhi rural areas - though unfortunately most of them have now been destroyed by the Taliban, whom Mr Imran Khan portray as samples of Pakhtun culture. I vividly remember the days back in the early 80s, when we used to walk 2 Km on a hill track to our primary school in rural Swat, while the village girls had a primary school just on the outskirts of the village. And lastly, the world would certify that a Pakhtun would most likely shoot his enemy a dozen times, that being an honourable thing; but beheading humans and slitting throats is completely alien to the Pakhtun culture. So how can Mr Imran describe Talibanisation as an expression of the rural Pakhtun culture.

In fact, Mr Imran khan is the new face of Taliban. For decades the ISI and Pakistani establishment has been making use of the bearded mullahs of JI, LeT, Dawwa, Hizb, Jaish etc to recriuit youth for use as proxies in their war in Afghanistan and Kashmir. That strategic asset in the old shape is no more tenable due to the current despise of the international community of the stereotype Mujahid.Thus the new tactic is to market the Talib or Mujahid as a clean-shaved English speaking idol, the likes of Hamid Guls, Imran Khans, Shirin Mazaris, Ahmed Qureshi and company to continue the proxie war. The aim is the same- to retain the strtegic assets of religious extremists under the guise of modern religiousity.He is a hypocite to the core and is as condemnable as the Taliban and their other supporters like JI, JUI and the various forms of Lashkars and Jaishes.
Just consider the height of his hypocracy - "There are many groups operating in the country under the label of "Taliban". Apart from the small core of religious extremists, the bulk of the fighting men are Pushtun nationalists." This is hypocricity...pur and simple. Mr Imran simply wants to shield the extremists, fundamentalists and terrorists by painting the drastardly Taliban as Pakhtun nationalists and the Talibanisation phenomena as a movement in the nationalist cause of the Pashtuns. This blind Talib simply ignores the fact that the biggest victims of Talibans as well as the Pak army, US, NATO etc are Pakhtuns themselves.Hundreds are being killed on daily basis by all sides, yet he calls it Pakhtun nationalism. He even ignores that for decades the nationalist feelings of the Pakhtuns have been expressed by the ANP and PMAP, whose leaders and members have been at the top of the hit list of the Taliban.He conveniently ignores the links that the AlQaeeda has developed with the Taliban and other terrorist Jihadi organisations.
What is more, this biggest hypocrite was at the forefront of the movement for restoration of the same judiciary in the Punjab to get political milage,which he now cites as the reason for the insurgency. While he protests for the rule of law and justice in Punjab..he advoctaes "Penchayats and village juries in Swat and Malakand...", as he writes in his article:-

"First and foremost we have to give our people access to justice at the grassroots level - that is, revive the village jury/Panchayat system"

Now what do you call such a person.......obviously a hypocrite to the core. Mr Imran, himself a Pakhtun by blood but brought up in Lahore, is a disgrace to all intelligent Pakistanies but specially the Pashtuns....While the entire world knows and has no doubt that ISI and even CIA has had close strategic links to the Taliban till ver recently..even the army admits now that it has had links with the Haqani and Mullah Nazir groups in FATA, and ignore their operations across the Durand line.Saner wlements in Pakistani establishment and Army as well as political parties admit it and repent it.Yet the Clean shaved Talib Mr Imran Khan simply ignores to make a mention of this fact. He convenietntly forgets that none of the Taliban leadership has been targeted so far by the army or even the US/NATO , for example Fazlullah in Swat when who could have been arrested by a single SHO was allowed to gain strength and supported by the intelligence agencies.
Imran Khan's assertion that Talibanisation is essentially a Pashtun rual cultural and nationalist expression should be condemed in the strongest possible words by all Pakhtuns. He should be taken to court by the Pashtun nationalists for branding the whole Pakhtun nation as terrorists - at least in the eyes of the world at large. This flumsy blame to confuse the issue of religious extremism, fundamentalism and terrorism by linking it with Pashtun nationalism is an agenda being pursued intentionally for some time now. Mr Imran must be reminded that most of the religious extremist iideologies originates in the Punjab - in place like Muredke, Mansura, Jhang and there are countless Punjabi Talibans, Uzbeks, Chechens, Arabs and others among the Talibans. The Pakhtun culture has been a liberal culture in which the Talib and Mullah has had only a marginal role. His assertion proves that he hasn't got a clue of the Pakhtun culture..If he has an iota of intelligence he should go and visit a Pakhtun village Hujra and mosque to see what is the role of Mullah and Talib in Pakhtun society. Here is the link to his talk with Hamid Mir in 'Capital Talk'

http://thecurrentaffairs.com/index.php/capital-talk-29th-april-2009-imran-khan/