Pakistan’s Janus –Faced
War on terror.
Pakistan is fighting a very “serious” war against Islamic terrorism but even the USA accepts that the war of its most natural ally is much sound and fury yielding little results on ground. President Musharraf is grappling with
domestic religious extremism admist growing concern about Afghan
militants getting support from rouge elements of Pakistani army and thus his
government has shown reluctance to curb its former allies-Taliban. Instead it has been closing ranks on foreign AlQaeda members and ignoring those with closer links home.
The international Crisis Group, a Brussels based NGO, reported that post 9/11 hundreds of militants were detained only to be released later, militants groups reformed under new names and madrassas never registered despite government ordinance. According to retired US diplomat Dennis Kux on one hand Pakistan is a firm ally in war
terror but on the other also wants to keep its options on Taliban open.
However it must also be viewed that Musharraf’s government has marginalised secular political
parties and is largely dependent on Islamic parties for continuation in office. Pakistani public is growing hostile towards USA after Iraqi invasion and recent spurt in civilian violence in Afghanistan. With the strong Indian position on Kashmir he has nothing positive to show on domestic front.
Musharraf’s critics are looking for substantial action and not rhetoric. It appears that coming days are going to be difficult with Pakistan walking a tight rope to balance domestic and international concerns without offending any of the parties and still emerge out to be a winner.
More reviews about the Hindustan Times