HUBRIS OR EXTREME NAIVETE? IMRAN KHAN"S WAZIRISTAN PEACE MARCH

Imran Khan should have quietly retired to focus on charity work after his career of playing cricket. The man is so far removed from his Waziristan roots (on his mother's, a Burki, side) that he doesn't have a clue about Pushtunwali and what it entails. If he did he wouldn't dream of arrogantly announcing to the public that he would lead a "Peace March" to Waziristan to protest the "evil drone strikes."

What makes his actions even more egregious is that he is taking gullible Westerners (mostly female) along for his suicidal ride. I doubt the Paks will let him proceed...more showmanship at the expense of the Waziristanis who have been pawns in a dangerous game hosted by the Pak Army.  

Imran Khan has the right to claim to be a Pushtun by ancestry (the Burkis even today mostly marry within the tribe or tribes they are closely aligned with), but culturally and due to his life in Lahore (Punjab) he thinks more like a Punjabi than a Pushtun. The proof is clear in this Quixotic like endeavor (to go to Waziristan).

First rule of Pushtunwali is that every man worth his salt must defend his zar, zan and zamin. Yes, IK's mother has roots in SWA but not his father. And, his first and crucial error was that he didn't--behind the scenes-- confer with the maliks and spin ghiris (white beards) to try to get them to put forth an invite to their zamin. Placing the cart before the horse, he declared to the world his hairbrained Waziristan trip as though it was his God given right!!

This not only goes against the grain of Pushtunwali traditions; worse it is akin to a slap in the face for all tribes in the area.

You just don't invite yourself to tea in the Tribal Belt. And, the only time you consider such an uninvited "trip" is if you are a desperate fugitive seeking panah by invoking "nanawatai." That too carries a heavy load.

Second, only after the TTP responded that they would kill the liberal" -i.e. IK-- should he dare enter their motherland, did IK seek the approval of the spin giris and maliks.

Third, and worst of all, he invited westerners (i.e. kufar) from liberal (read: non-believing) groups who comprise mostly of women!!!

Imran Khan is a dangerously naive man being used by the powers that be in Pakistan who are leveraging his rather large ego for their own ends.  If he isn't careful his demise will sadly be at the hands of his own Pushtun kin who perceive him as "compromised."

Some recent quotes from the papers (take heed):
“Imran Khan’s decision to hold the peace rally was merely a sentimental move,” KP Governor Barrister Masood Kausar said adding: “Imran is an ignorant man and likes to live in his dreams but the government is fully cognisant of its responsibilities and cannot allow any adventurism in the tribal areas where the situation is already fragile.”

Waziristan is a complex place these days...one where the Pakistan Army played havoc with the populace, which has yet to recover and remains (to a large extent) displaced from their motherland. IK is perceived to be close to the Army. Enough said.

I don't wish the man ill...but one does condemn him for his arrogance and naivete that will get people killed if he isn't more cognizant of the cultural and social land mines that await his motley group.

It would have made far more (logical) sense to lead a "peace parade" to the Islamabad's diplomatic enclave and deliver a letter of protest to the US Ambassador outside the Embassy. Mission Accomplished. But this man's stupid, and rather large, ego and propensity for the limelight will get many innocents on either side killed.

Hope I'm proven wrong in 48 hours and that the melmastia post facto offered by some maliks and spin giris will trump the feelings of the militants. But this was a foolish, unnecessarily reckless/childish endeavor by a man who wants to be "king" in a region which holds him in suspicious regard because he refuses to condemn the Pakistani Army who forced a majority of the Mahsud and Burki populace from their motherland in 2009 while protecting their proxies in NWA and elsewhere. Its all a dirty business and the people are the ultimate victims who IK pretends to care about.