Imran Khan's peace march... By Wali
09 October, 2012
I do not understand what Imran Khan's peace march was supposed to achieve. None of the areas he marched through have been major targets of drone attacks; these areas comprise perhaps less than 10 percent of the area of South Waziristan and, moreover, these areas have been under the control of the army since October 2009. It is the rest of South Waziristan (with the exception of Wana) that is under the control of the Taliban. Therefore, many of the Mahmud tribesmen from the area being visited by Imran Khan are languishing as IDPs in the settled districts. The tribesmen who have to visit these areas have to go through the cumbersome process of getting permission from the army first, which can be more difficult than trying to obtain a US visa. Imran Khan did not propose going to those areas of South Waziristan that have been targeted by drone attacks before October 2009.These areas are now under the complete control of the Taliban. Imran Khan did not propose going to North Waziristan (as originally planned), which is, at present, a place frequented by drone strikes, where the people are just waiting for the day when they will also be made IDPs. Given these facts, can anyone tell me what the real purpose behind Imran Khan's march was except staging a political drama by playing on anti-American sentiment to gain votes in the coming elections? HAZRAT WALI KAKAR
Lahore
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