Gulalai’s allegations triggers ire of tribal elders

—Criticised for her disingenuous remarks about Waziristan

ISLAMABAD: Ayesha Gulalai, MNA and former member of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), made some scathing remarks and allegations against her party’s Chairman Imran Khan, by repeatedly referring to Waziristan, which has sent shock waves among the tribal belt.

The people from Waziristan condemned Gulalai’s press conference and categorically distanced themselves from her as she had nothing to do with Waziristan. They are seriously thinking to file a petition against her for misusing Waziristan’s identity, despite the fact that she is a resident of Bannu.

They were of the view that she brought a bad name to the region as well as its people.

Gulalai and her family falsely claimed that they belonged to Shakkai, a tehsil of South Waziristan Agency (SWA), when in fact she hails from Domil area of district Bannu.

Maria Toorpakai Wazir, her sister and Pakistan’s top squash player, also used Waziristan for her personal benefit in the past, who wrote to Canada’s Jonathan Power, seeking his help on the excuse of potent threats from Taliban, though she had never been to the area.

Talking to Pakistan Today, Bashir Ahmed, a dweller from Shakkai, said that women in Waziristan did not wear skirts like her sister Marya Turpakai.

He said that Gulalai wrongly claimed of being a resident of Shakkai and has always used the unrest in Waziristan for her vested interests.

“She got messages in 2013, but she is spinning the beans now after waiting for four long years, which indicates that she is being used as a pawn against Imran Khan when he is at the peak of his popularity,” he added.

Rehmat Mehsud, a senior journalist from SWA, said, “During more than a decade of my journalistic experience, the hurriedly arranged press conference by Ayesha Gulalai was the most painful, pathetic and agonising one for me.”

“Flanked by her father, Ayesha’s scathing remarks against Imran Khan […] sent shock waves among tribal people,” he added.

He has said that he did not wish to go deeper into details regarding her tone and tenor during the press conference, however, the timing and naming PML-N as the saviour of women rights was very suspicious and denounced by many.

Rehmat said that the tragic aspect of the whole episode was that she was repeatedly using words like Waziristan, Pathan etc to make up for the lack of a convincing argument.

Ijaz, another resident of Shakkai, said, “It is scripted and a well-orchestrated gambit of Imran Khan’s opponents, who launched an all-out offence against him to malign him,” he added.

The timing of her allegations is of paramount importance, as what she did it was the replica of Javed Hashmi, who left the PTI when the party’s sit-in was at its peak.

“It is quite unfortunate she had done all these for cheap popularity at the cost of her honour,” he added.

Others also questioned Gulalai’s integrity and criticised her for referring to the culture of Waziristan as a crutch.

PTI central leader Zartaj Gul Wazir‏ said in his tweet: “You (Imran Khan) are a leader of high character, believe in merit, I owe you my whole political life. Blackmailer opportunist will leave. But you will stand tall.”

People of the Waziristan are all-set to hold rallies in Islamabad and Peshawar against Gulalai.