Where is the ‘honour and sovereignty’ brigade, of mostly the green bug bitten variety, in the aftermath of the American assault in suburban Abbottabad, one may ask. The green bug gets into the head not because you are patriotic or Muslim, even though which is what attracts the bug to you in the first place. The bug is not green as in the colour green in our flag, but green as in immature. Once bitten, the victims are readily swayed by the mere mention of buzzwords like Pakistan, Islam, ideology, ideological boundaries and frontiers on the one hand, and their nemeses, namely America, western culture, Hindu culture and mindset, Jews and above all, India, on the other.

More severely bitten cases may also include women and religious and ethnic minorities in the latter mentioned list, for those among women and minorities who cry murder here do so at the behest of foreign-funded NGOs and with an intent to bring a bad name to our great nation. They also bring into disrepute our great and speedy justice system, such as that dispenses justice through jirgas.

The emerging firebrand leader of this green bug bitten fellow compatriots’ national honour brigade is none other than the charismatic Imran Khan. But yesterday, he behaved very unlike himself by being so circumspect while giving his reaction to America’s intrusion deep into the heart of Pakistan’s military establishment on Monday morning. All he had to tell the US on the occasion was: ‘Now that you’ve got Osama, leave us alone’. Period.

Is it that simple, Khan Sahab? Why didn’t hyperboles like ‘sovereignty’ and ‘national honour’, which have acquired spell-binding meanings in the Pakistani context of late, come to your tongue this time round? When a drone strikes a tribal area village you hold a sit-in in Peshawar and threaten to block supplies to the Nato forces in Afghanistan, but now that the Americans landed a combat mission on our soil and carried out a full blown military action to get who and what they wanted, you just ask them to leave us alone? What about the multi-million-dollar, our very own, military empire, which either did not have a clue as to what was happening under its nose or else it was in on it?

As a patriotic politician who pays his taxes and is squeaky clean of any corruption charges, why don’t you ask our, and now your very own, minders why should you pay for all their oomph and luxurious lifestyle if they can’t even defend this homeland of ours against foreign intrusions? We know that with you and your backers around, the defence of our ideological boundaries is impenetrable, but can you say the same about this great nation’s geographical boundaries?

These and the like questions have not come to our green bug bitten hero’s mind because he was not prompted to raise such uneasy issues which rub some of us in the right places the wrong way. And, by the way, what was the great Khan doing holding a press conference in Sukkur the next day of the assault and asking the government to tell the truth? What truth and what government was he referring to when he knows who might actually have the answer?

This government, which can’t even tell its right hand from its left, literally, as it struggles to keep both together so it can applaud itself on its dubious achievements, if any at all, is least equipped to face up to the truth, let alone tell it. Get it Mr. Khan, now that you are dealing with the same crowd that breathes down the government’s neck day in and day out. That you may be being primed for premiership for that right time in the future, given you stay on the right side of the greater scheme of things, is little reason to act cocky all the time. You should know by now that this government has no answers to offer of questions that fall outside of their virtual line of control. It is no bull in a china shop, and that’s why it felt free to induct new ministers on a day as relaxed or wired as Monday.

One also knows that if the great Khan thought things through for himself these very busy days, he would have rushed to Quetta where his friends from the JUI and other like-minded outfits which had joined his Peshawar sit-in were marching in the streets to condemn bin Laden’s killing. But there’s an anomaly of sorts here. Despite the fact that Mr. Khan does rub shoulders with all the right people on the right side of politics, he did not even consider the possibility that his newfound friends may actually have known that bin Laden was kept in a safe house in the safest of places in Pakistan. Again, it’s the green bug in the head, you can bet, which won’t let you think straight.

But you can also bet that the same green bug can propel Mr. Khan to power at some point in future, or at least help lend him more muscle power in the next parliament. Power comes piecemeal in this country, and is meant to be retained with blessings from the right quarters. When that rule is defied, you’re either hanged or forced into exile. Should you be allowed to come back in case you’re handed down a lighter sentence in the form of exile, and still you don’t behave, you’re welcome to get killed.

Murtaza Razvi is the Editor, Magazines, at Dawn

The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.