Pakistan: Their insolence

Whatever constructs his apologists may put, the real truth is too obvious to hide. Imran Khan's Waziristan odyssey is all politics. Had it been humanitarianism, he would have shown it too, say, in taking note of the almost abandoned IDPs of the tribal areas, going through such gruelling times in Jalozai camp. He has not. They stand in such a dire need of a human touch, of which he too has left them unquenched. Not even has he ever bothered to see the IDPs of Waziristan living doleful lives in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan and console with them. But why to call his foul when the political eminences across the spectrum are not in any manner inhibited in burnishing their petty politics on the grief of the aggrieved? How many times has one heard both the rightists and the liberals crying over the unenviable plight of our pitiable tribal compatriots displaced due to the military operations in the tribal areas and living miserable lives in refugee camps, with their kith and kin or in rented accommodations? But has one ever seen the Munawwars, Nawazs, Qazis and Asfandyars of this world visiting them and sympathising with them? Not even once. Isn't it? But it is the insolence of those whose bounden duty it is to care for the people that is baffling, galling and deafening, to say the least. Never ever the IDPs have figured on their daily engagement cards. Never ever have the refugee camps made to their travel itineraries. President Asif Zardari has been warming the presidential chair now for almost four years. But not once has he paid a visit to even the Jalozai camp. Yousuf Raza Gilani said adieu to his over four-year-long prime ministerial stint without having a truck with the IDPs of the tribal areas even once. And one doubts if these wretched people are in the thoughts of incumbent prime minister Raja Parvez Ashraf either. Their impudence comes out so jarringly from the short shrift they have given to our brave soldiers fighting the militants and terrorists in the tribal areas and laying down their precious lives for their compatriots to live in peace and security. In neighbouring Afghanistan, the political leaders of the occupation armies are frequent visitors to them. They come calling on them in the very insurgency-infested areas they are deployed in and spend time with them, dine with them and have warm chit-chat with them. President Barack Obama has done it more than once. His predecessor George W. Bush did it several times. Gordon Brown, Britain's prime minister, keeps constantly the British army in Afghanistan on his travel itinerary and has visited it many a time in Helmand where it is deployed. Even a woman prime minister, Julia Gillard of Australia, has visited her country's military contingent. And she too didn't call them to Kabul to meet, but went straight to their station in Uruzgan province where they are deployed. These visits have never been risk-free. The bases of the foreign troops have at times come under insurgent attacks during their VIP's visits. Yet that has not deterred their political leaders from visiting them. They keep coming calling. They brave the dangers to their lives but make it a point to be with their troops not infrequently for the morale-boosting that their visits palpably provide tremendously actually. But this truism is yet to come home to our ruling political top echelons. Zardari has never visited our troops. Gilani too did not. Time will tell if Raja would ever do it. But not even any of our defence ministers, both incumbent and outgoing, has bothered to do it. VIP visits are undertaken with lot of security measures in place to ensure the visitor's safety maximally. If the military top command can undertake visits to their troops in the insurgency-infested areas, certainly the political rulers could do it as well. Should one, then, hope that at long last President Zardari would overcome his inhibitions and make a trip to South Waziristan to be with our brave soldiers for a few hours? And would thereafter Prime Minister Raja take the cue and make way to the region to the same end? If nothing else, will defence minister Syed Naveed Qamar muster up the courage and make this immensely morale-boosting gesture? Or, are we just hallucinating and asking for moon? After all, neither the president nor the prime minister, not even the defence minister, visited even the Salala post after it was attacked thuggishly by the US-led NATO forces and over two dozens of our soldiers were massacred with hellfire.