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Pakistan at 60: caught between military rule and radical Islam

ISLAMABAD: As Pakistan marks its 60th anniversary, the country finds itself chafing under military rule with its identity and very existence threatened by a rising tide of Islamic extremism.

Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network and its Taliban allies plot insurrection and global terror from bases in Pakistan’s northern tribal zones, and military ruler Pervez Musharraf is under intense to strike hard against them. But security experts say the threat of radical Islamic terrorism is the product of military rule – and only a return to democracy can help bring it to an end. “The country is fighting two last battles which will decide the soul of Pakistan – first is the fight against extremism and second is the rise of a people’s movement for genuine democratic rule,” political writer Najam Sethi told AFP.

“The establishment of civilian supremacy is the one at the heart of the country’s soul while the fight against extremism is an international concern which we have to address.”

For 10 years, Pakistan along with the US and Arab countries backed a fierce guerrilla war, funneling funds and arms worth billions of dollars to radical Islamic groups fighting the Soviets. Thousands of fighters from the Middle East arrived in Pakistan’s northwest cities. The US CIA and the ISI of Pakistan joined hands to train these men. The latest US weaponry was dumped in Pakistan. Islamic schools were set up to recruit young men to fight as volunteers in Afghanistan. Books highlighting the virtues of jihad against infidels were printed and distributed in the markets of the Hindu Kush tribal regions.

The 1989 Soviet defeat in Afghanistan and the abrupt US withdrawal from the region opened a new phase of jihadi culture leading to the rise of the Taliban movement from the refugee camps spread throughout Pakistan and the creation of Al Qaeda.

Political analyst Shafqat Mahmood said that in the six years since the Taliban were ousted from power in November 2001, Pakistan had become a pivotal US ally but that its problems had only multiplied. “Any strategy to fight extremism and terrorism would have to be multi-pronged,” he said, referring to the unrest in tribal areas.

“Some tactics would be short term, especially military ones, but the real strategy has to cover years, even decades,” he said.

Hasan Askari, former head of the Political Science Department of the Punjab University, believes Pakistan can no longer be described as a moderate and tolerant society.

“Pakistani society has been brutalised by religious extremism and intolerance preached and practised by hardline Islamic groups. This has also adversely affected the search for knowledge and the quest for objective inquiry, thereby making it difficult for the people to realise their potential.”

Commentators said the lack of consistent democracy has not only allowed extremism to flourish, but has stunted the development of Pakistan.

However Askari says he has hope in Pakistan’s silent majority.

Analyst Sethi said the upcoming general elections, slated for early next year, and Musharraf’s own election later this year could decide the direction the country would go.

“If we do not establish people’s supremacy we will go the path of Algeria and succumb to the religious forces. We will become inward looking, parochial, anarchist, divided, fissured and plagued by sectarianism,” Sethi said. afp

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