Whither Pakistan? It is badly caught in a trap of its own vicious policies and postures. Its extremist groups, patronized and nurtured by the ISI and sections of the military establishment, have grown so big that they are threating the very democratic existence of Pakistan. The civilian authority in Islamabad appears to be helpless as a large number of people have become victims of suicide bomb attacks and reckless firing by the extremists.
Blurb: Regrettably, what is not being realized by Islamabad’s ‘democratic rulers’ is the threat posed by Islamist militants to their very survival and existence. They could be gobbled up unless they act fast. In fact, the explosive situation in Pakistan could go out of their control if they don’t arrest the current drift. The entire setting today is certainly not in the interest of liberal forces in Pakistan in the face of possibility of military-militant coup.
Why do not the army authorities act decisively against these Taliban collaborators? Are they deliberately trying to create a civil-war type situation in Pakistan as a justification for a coup? Such a possibility cannot be ruled out as the Pakistan government is presently locked in another grim battle of survival vis-à-vis the Supreme Court on longstanding charges of corruption against President Zardari. There is apparently a method in these acts of madness. It suits the army to show the civilian rulers in bad light.
This is very unfortunate at a time when India wants Pakistan to act against the masterminds and operators of 26/11 Mumbai attacks firmly and ruthlessly. We understand Islamabad’s half-hearted response to India in such vital matters.
These are indeed bad signs for improved Indo-Pak ties. In fact, New Delhi should keep up its pressures without being unduly optimistic about a new beginning in relationship with Islamabad.
Meanwhile India’s External Affairs Minister S M Krishna was quite categorical in his assertion during his recent Tokyo meeting with his Pakistani counterpart Hina Rabbani Khar that “normalization of relations between the two countries could only be possible in an atmosphere free of terror, and hence the need for creation of the right atmosphere.”
Ms Khar is a decent person. She is both courteous and charming, but she could not have given any specific commitment on the business of terrorism on behalf of her government. She has her own limitations which we understand in Pakistan’s larger domestic realities. Still, it will be gratifying if she could make the authorities back home understand the Indian viewpoint on the basis of fresh disclosures made by 26/11 handler Zaibuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal about the involvement of “state actors” in the 2008 Mumbai attack and its mastermind Hafiz Saeed.
Looking at the ongoing terrorism-oriented mindset, I doubt if Krishna’s words would carry any conviction with the Islamabad authorities. They continue to be in the denial mould on every terror-related evidence provided by New Delhi.
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