Romancing with the enemy

Imran Khan emerged as a powerful political force after the May, 2013 general elections, riding on a wave of popular discontent with the entrenched style of politics and public wariness with terrorism. His voters included both from the urban and conservative sections of Pakistani society. It was expected that Imran would offer a robust opposition in the parliament and turn things around in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, where his party holds power. But so far, apart from vitriolic rhetoric, Imran has offered little. His statements have alarmingly sounded sympathetic to the militants, who have wreaked havoc in the county for over a decade. He wants Taliban to have a Doha type office, even though it did not work. Many people have construed Imran’s rather obsessive insistence to let Taliban open an office as giving legitimacy to terrorists. Imran has always been fascinated with the tribal regions of the northwest. His romance with the rugged tribal terrain and its fiercely independent people is perhaps understandable. But romancing with the Taliban can have deadly consequences. Even as he offered condolences over the assassination of Israrullah Khan Gandapur, his party’s cabinet member in KPK provincial government, Imran was soft on the Taliban. He believes hidden forces and splinter groups of Taliban are against talks and have therefore embarked on a path of continued confrontation and terrorist attacks. He believes American withdrawal from the region would magically, and instantly, bring peace in this battered region. He traces all roots of terrorism in the country as a reaction to American drone attacks, which is factually inaccurate. Imran has also become impervious to criticism, even the one offered in good faith. Many of his party leaders disagree with him in private but compelled to toe a militant sympathetic line due to the autocratic nature of party leadership. Imran should understand that much of the trenchant criticism heaped at him is not personal but political and ideological. Bringing peace to the country is everyone’s priority but in the process paving the ground for terrorists and giving them legitimacy is not.