The most prominent Pakistani at Davos is Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf
chief Imran Khan who was the guest speaker at a lunch hosted by defence
analyst Ikram Sehgal, who runs a security company in Pakistan. PHOTO:
FILE
DAVOS: Every country that matters is here,
but where is Pakistan? Pakistanis are found on panels such as “Security
Agenda in 2011” and “The Reality of Terrorism” and even there, our
representation is weak.
The most prominent Pakistani at Davos is
Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan who was the guest speaker at a lunch hosted by defence analyst Ikram Sehgal, who runs a security company in Pakistan.
“The moment Nato leaves Afghanistan, things will settle down. There
will be peace and then we can deal with the terrorists,” Khan tells a
bewildered Western audience, who mostly showed up to get a good look at
their favourite cricket star.
Speaking about Pashtuns, he said it was important to make a
distinction between al Qaeda and the Taliban who are Pashtuns and the
Pashtuns should not be attacked. “You must understand the Pashtun
mentality. If you kill them (with drone attacks) they will take revenge,
so there will be repercussions,” he said. “There are human beings and
then there are Pathans,” he joked.
“The Pashtuns of Pakistan and Afghanistan are not a threat to the West, al Qaeda is,” he said to a sceptical audience.
Khan explained that Salmaan Taseer’s murder had exposed the extreme
polarisation in society. “If the war on terror continues and the US
keeps pressuring Pakistan to flush out Taliban militants, this
polarisation of society will be detrimental,” he said.
Apart from his well-known stance on the war on terror, Khan advocated
that the present government had lost its moral authority and the time
was ripe for change. He warned that if the present “corrupt set up” is
tolerated, there may be a revolution made up of young Pakistanis under
the age of 30.
“After the National Reconciliation Ordinance was promulgated, the
biggest crooks formed the government,” he said, while referring to the
country’s top political leadership. He predicted that in the next
general election, which he believes will be free and fair, all “the old
political faces will be wiped out”.
But Khan also insisted that any form of democracy is better than
dictatorship. “I supported Musharraf in the beginning and I admit that
it was the biggest mistake I have ever made,” he said. Later in the day,
Khan shared panel space with the Indian Union Home Minister P
Chidambaram, who forcefully stated that terrorists must be dealt with
sternly and there should be swift punishment for those found guilty.
Chidambaram maintained the traditional Indian foreign office line
that there are “home-grown modules in India that get support from across
the border.”
On a panel titled “The reality of terrorism”, Chidambaram made it
quite clear that India was not willing to show flexibility on the issue
of terrorism, putting a dampener on the upcoming India-Pakistan
secretary level talks at Thimpu.
Another panellist, Tahirul Qadri called upon the West and India to
recognise the “root causes” of terror and to immediately resolve
outstanding disputes such as Kashmir. However, Chidambaram shot back,
“none of the issues (Kashmir or the territorial dispute between Israel
and Palestine) justify use of terror. This is not the way civilised
societies settle their disputes.”
But Khan insisted that the root cause of terror must be dealt with. “The cancer must be treated and not its symptoms,” he said.
While the security debate dragged on at Davos, it was quite clear
that no one – those asking questions or those answering them – had found
a fresh approach to deal with problems in Pakistan. The same questions
were asked and the familiar rhetoric was repeated.
While back in Pakistan’s semi-autonomous areas, the tribal lashkars
and paramilitary forces battle Taliban militants, it seemed like our
leadership was making no effort to engage powers of the world on
platforms such as the World Economic Forum where perhaps sympathetic
ears would have helped. A Pakistani delegation well-prepared to plead
their case and defend their position regarding the war against militancy
should have been sent. Instead, what the World Economic Forum saw was a
cricketer-turned-politician advocating a view that not necessarily
represents the official line taken by the government of Pakistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 30th, 2011.
6:46 PM
