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| India-Pakistan | |
| The 'Long March' | |
| 2008-06-14 | |
By Shamshad Ahmad
Quaid-i-Azam did not live long to personally steer Pakistan to be what he thought and aspired will be "one of the greatest nations of the world." With his early demise, Pakistan was orphaned in its very infancy and lost the promise of a healthy youth with acute systemic deficiencies and normative perversities restricting its orderly natural growth. After the Quaid, it was left without any sense of direction and in a state of political bankruptcy and moral aridity. We have encountered unbroken series of challenges and experienced wars and territorial setbacks. We have lost half the country, and even today, we continue to live in an environment of fear and uncertainty about our future. Above all, the post- 9/11 scenario has placed Pakistan high on the global radar screen in a very negative image as the "hotbed" of religious extremism and terrorism, and a country afflicted with an incorrigible culture of violence and militancy." Pakistan is going through one of the most serious crises of its independent statehood. It is being weakened methodically through its ubiquitous engagement on multiple external as well as domestic fronts. Use of military power within a state and against its own people has never been an acceptable norm. Pakistan is the only Muslim country with an on-going military operation against its own people. In the aftermath of 9/11, Pakistan is once again a frontline state, and a pivotal partner of the United States in its War on Terror. As a battleground of this war, Pakistan could not escape the fall out of the crisis in the form of a heavy toll on its already volatile socio-economic environment as a result of protracted violence, instability, displacement, trade and production slowdown, export stagnation, investor hesitation, and concomitant law and order situation. A proxy war is being fought on our soil. We have brought the anti-Taliban war into Pakistan which puts our armed forces on the wrong side of the people. Our sovereignty is being violated with impunity. Our freedom of action in our own interest is being questioned and undermined. We are accepting the responsibility for crimes we have not committed. The US, in particular, sees Pakistan as the "ground zero" and a pivotal linchpin in its fight against terrorism. From being a major power in South Asia always equated with India, Pakistan today is bracketed with Afghanistan in terms of its outlook, role, needs and problems. This is an unenviable distinction which circumscribes our role both within and beyond our region. Our problems are further complicated by the complex regional configuration with Americans sitting in Afghanistan, the Indo-US nexus, India's strategic ascendancy in the region and its unprecedented influence in Afghanistan with serious nuisance potential against Pakistan. Our borders on all sides are no longer peaceful. Domestically, the "suicide bombings" have made Pakistan the worst killing ground of Muslims at the hands of their Muslim "brethren." There is nothing Islamic in this culture of senseless militancy and violence. Questions now also abound about the very future of Pakistan. Our federal structure is crumbling once again. There is a strong underlying resentment in Balochistan (and in other provinces too) against inequitable distribution of power and resources, exploitation of the province's natural wealth and unabashed use of military force. Quaid-i-Azam had a special place in his heart for Balochistan. He pledged to the people of Balochistan equal position and political status within the polity of Pakistan. Despite its abundance in the wealth of natural resources, Balochistan remains the most backward province of the country. A deep-rooted sense of deprivation and frustration has made its people highly suspicious of the policy-makers in Islamabad. Our leaders, however, have had different priorities. The current atmosphere is so murky that even genuine development projects initiated by the federal government are suspected and resisted only because there are un-addressed questions in terms of their actual utility and benefit to the people of Balochistan. It is time we redressed these grievances through constitutional and political means. | |
| Posted by:john frum |
| #2 Nothing an enhanced radiation weapon wouldn't solve. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-06-14 08:51 |
| #1 They are most revealing not when they spout the "Holy word of the Prophet" with foam on they lips, but when they try to reason with us in our own terms. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2008-06-14 08:47 |