...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is
Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations....
chief Imran Khan
... aka
Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems...
has spoken sense. The exodus from the conflict zone has, understandably, had an air of panic about it. Bannu has been flooded with people, and thousands of families have literally walked miles since transport was either not available or available at too jacked-up a price. So far, according to the Fata Disaster Management Authority, over 400,000 of the internally displaced have been registered, which indicates that the bulk of the population in North Waziristan has already evacuated. Yet that is not every single non-combatant man, woman and child, and while the loss of civilian life in such situations can never be acceptable, the contours of this particular conflict demand that all-out effort be made to ensure there is no collateral damage, for that would foster further disaffection. The army has said that it has laid siege where Death Eaters are present, which means that fighters can be weeded out; given that, there is no reason why a few days should not be allowed for citizens to depart with their preparations in place.
The fact that Pakistain in general fails to see — partly because it, too, has suffered so grievously — is that these people are already victims of a conflict not of their making. Those affected by earlier military operations in other areas, such as Swat, returned to devastated homes and villages, and had to rebuild their lives from scratch. All that can be done, should be done, now, to ensure that the impact of displacement on the North Waziristan IDPs is mitigated as much as possible. This includes financial and food-related assistance but most of all, it requires an attitude of accommodation. The stance taken by Sindh and Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
towards their compatriots is unsavoury, and should change through putting in place mechanisms whereby the provinces' legitimate concerns are addressed while people fleeing conflict face no closed doors.