This was perhaps his last such interaction with anyone prior to his death three months later in 2006. It is difficult to say whether or not he had anticipated that his party under his eldest son Asfandyar Wali Khan would be able to register a historic victory in 2008 general election and form a government in his home province despite its woeful performance in 2002.
It is also difficult to conjure up images to show whether or not he was still confident that his party would be able to make the historic contribution towards the cause of Pakhtun nationalism that he and his father Bacha Khan or the generations of Khudai Khidmatgars religiously espoused after the creation of their province in 1901: change in their province's name from north-west Frontier Province (NWFP) to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) in 2010.
Asfandyar was quick to make a laudatory statement for President Asif Ali Zardari, whose father Hakim Ali Zardari once belonged to ANP, for helping him achieve this great milestone in the history of the country. This unprecedented development characterised by a sentiment based on common cultural characteristics that binds Pakhtun communities of Afghanistan and Pakistan and often produces a separatist outlook, has arguably earned ANP a dominating status over the competing Pakhtun cousins of Balochistan led by the son of the late "Balochistan Gandhi" Samad Khan Achakzai, Mahmood Khan Achakzai of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, in relation to the Pakhtun cause or community's struggle towards its advancement guided by common folk idioms, culture, aspirations and a shared sense of history.
The most difficult statement to make would be about Wali Khan's sense of anticipation with regard to events that took place soon after ANP came into power, particularly those related to mass-scale violence, leading to a very large number of deaths of people, who included party's leaders, particularly Bashir Bilour, and workers, in his home province. Taliban attacks on ANP leaders and workers have grown more daring over time as the specter of violence rises - in the country in general and in KP in particular - hardly two weeks before May 11 general election. Almost every election-related activity carried out by ANP is subject to wanton and brazen attacks. Arguably, the situation has badly deprived it of a badly needed level playing field to take part in the election. Although, the parties that constituted the outgoing coalition government such as PPP and MQM are also target of violence, the vulnerability of ANP is found to be more critical than of any other party. For ANP, security became the most critical issue as soon as it formed government in the then NWFP. Seen from the Pakhtun culture prism, for example, the reputation of Asfandyar Wali suffered a blow after he reportedly left Charsadda in a helicopter hours after an assassination attempt on him in October 2008. He left his town without attending the funeral of one of his guards who was killed in that attack. By the time the tenure of ANP government came to an end it had lost, among others, one of the most charismatic regional politicians senior minister in the KP government Bashir Bilour and the only son of its information minister Mian Iftikhar. Bashir's eldest brother, Ghulam Ahmad Bilour, the former Railways minister, and son Haroon escaped narrowly when an ANP rally was hit by a bomb blast during the ongoing tenure of this interim set-up.
Be that as it may, gauging prospects of any political party is indeed a risky business since election analyses are often expressed in paradox. A large number of analysts have written off the ANP or they are found to be highly dismissive of it mainly owing to its overt pro-US leanings and the corruption charges its leadership faces in the province. Although it showed unprecedented political expediency on the issue of Swat unrest and later expressed its desire to hold talks with the Taliban, the pre-Partition baggage of history and the dynamics of politics that played out as a result of policies conceived, articulated and executed by Bacha Khan during British Raj of India and after Partition by Bacha Khan, Wali Khan and Asfandyar were seen by a larger section of Pukhtun society with a feeling or belief that this family is perhaps guilty of dishonest, disloyal and unpleasant politics.
Its inability to provide people security has mainly led to creation of space for Imran Khan in particular. Since the JUI-F, which was the largest component of erstwhile Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, has been largely considered by many as a party that is no longer influential, effective or robust mainly because of its decade-old incumbency factor and vague and expedient policy responses to the War on Terror and drone strikes, Imran Khan's PTI and Nawaz Sharif's PML-N appear to be in a position to inflict harm on ANP and JUI-F in the election race--more in KP and less in Balochistan. PPP too is expected to find some unexpected tough times. Last but not least, unlike any other community or sub-nation in the country, the Pakhtun community has a far greater sense of ethnic identity which is essentially shaped by its social code "Pakhtunwali". The ANP, therefore, can legitimately link its electoral prospects to its achievement that it registered in the shape of new name of province, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. This historic development on the country's political and administrative landscape has won it endearment or affection of majority of Pakhtun people residing in various parts of Pakistan and across the Durand Line where US troop drawdown has already begun. Some analysts passionately argue that the loss of numerous leaders and workers that it suffered during its incumbency as a result of militant attacks has also positively added to its profile and credentials. One, therefore, must not take a profoundly dim view of prospects of ANP that boasts its secular credentials.
--- This was the seventh part of multi-part series "Election Outlook". The next part of this series "Balochistan: blessed but blighted" will be carried by the newspaper shortly. The writer is newspaper's News Editor. He previously worked for various publications, including Daily Times, Dawn and Khaleej Times, on different positions.
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