THEY are a set of doctors far different from the usual. Senior doctors tend to be conventional at the inauguration of their societies or at major functions. But the doctors who have set up the Head and Neck Oncology Society of Pakistan wanted to be very different. They did not choose a top government official or a senior doctor to inaugurate their society, but invited Imran Khan, the newly-elected MNA, and president of Tehriq-i-Insaf as chief guest and Ahmad Rashid, author of widely-read book Taliban and Jihad and an authority on Afghanistan and Central Asia, as the keynote speaker.

It had to be that way as the unconventional president of the Society is Iftikhar Salahuddin, who is a top rate photographer. He and his wife have set up a successful NGO which teaches street children and makes them useful citizens and happy adults.

Imran was invited as chief guest not because of his political significance or cricketing prowess, but because of his contribution to fighting cancer by setting up Shaukat Khanum Hospital in Lahore, which treats 75 per cent of the patients free. But its capacity is limited for want of funds.

He said he had been able to get a large plot of land in Karachi and work on a new hospital will start soon. He spoke of the difficulty in getting doctors from abroad where they are paid far better. But some did come to work for a year or two which they found very useful. But after 9/11, more doctors were coming to serve in his hospital from the US where they were discriminated against. And yet, he has not been able to get enough doctors.

Many in the hall would have loved to hear him speak on our dismal performance at the World Cup, but he chose not to, and confined himself to his hospital and Pakistan-US relations. He spoke of the increasing role of the FBI in Pakistan and the manner the Pakistan intelligence agencies were giving way to FBI in Pakistan.

He said before 9/11 the Pakistan government was supporting the Taliban and letting people from Pakistan go to Afghanistan and join the Taliban. But after 9/11, it allowed the Northern Alliance to take Pakistanis as prisoners of war, and hand over a larger number of them to the Americans who shipped a part of them to their base in Cuba for further interrogation. They were denied basic human rights, and not even meted out the treatment due to prisoners of war who had their rights under the Geneva Convention.

He spoke of how President Bush was under the influence of the Zionists around him and acting in a hostile manner against the Arab and Muslims in general.

Ahmad Rashid spoke of how Pakistan had supported the Taliban first and then abandoned them. Earlier, it had supported some groups of Mujahideen which made the Afghans accuse it as a mini imperialist power in South Asia.

He was extremely critical of the Pakistan government for letting a freedom struggle in Kashmir become a jehadi struggle. As a result, Pakistan lost the moral high ground in Kashmir. He spoke of Pakistan’s lost opportunities. After the end of the Cold War, we should have corrected our policies in Afghanistan and established the right relationship. And after 9/11, we should have established the right relationship with the US and sought its help for the settlement of the Kashmir issue. Instead, Pakistan had allowed India to improve and strengthen its relations with the US and let Pakistan become isolated.

Apart from some senior doctors listening to the two speeches were Senator Nisar Memon, Javed Jabbar and Sardar Sherbaz Mazari. The two speeches were well-appreciated and Ahmad Rashid answered a great many questions. Rashid did not want the army to formulate foreign and domestic policies but let civil society help in the formulation of the foreign policy.

He wanted Pakistan to improve its relations with Afghanistan instead of Afghanistan strengthening its relations with India and Iran at our cost because of our erratic policies. He also wanted Pakistan to find the right basis for relations with India.

He said Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent had not reduced the war threat from India. While the threat of conventional war was there, more and more had to be invested on nuclear weapons.