| While each and every recommendation in this thing makes sense, I can't see any of it happening — none, zero, zip, nada, zilch. It simply goes against the grain of the way Pakland's evolved from the day it received independence. A much more useful set of recommendations would to to dispatch hunter-killer teams to bump off Qazi, Sami, Fazl, Hamid Gul, and Hafiz Saeed, and from there to go after the next level of terror down, starting with Syed Salahuddin, Liaquat Baloch and probably half the Pak corps commanders. ICG is proposing political solutions to what are in fact military problems: Pakland is home to a hard core of terrorism's leading lights. Not until they are removed from the scene will there be the slightest chance of reforming a country where the definition of success is based on jihad. |
 A report issued on Monday sees Sectarian conflict in Pakistan as having reached alarming proportions as a direct consequence of Islamisation and the policy of marginalising democratic forces.
| I hate to say I told you so, but that's exactly what we did... |
The report issued by the International Crisis Group (ICG) finds that co-option and patronage of religious parties by successive military governments have brought Pakistan to a point where religious extremism threatens to erode the foundations of the state and society.
| Religious extremism is attempting to become the foundation of Pak society. Nothing less is acceptable to Qazi, Fazl, Sami, Hamid Gul, and Hafiz Saeed. It shows in virtually every pronouncement of the MMA. It shows in the fact that respected Pakistani politicians would be candidates for canvas jackets in most other countries, to include Afghanistan. |
The frequency and viciousness of sectarian terrorism continues to increase while the world showers praise on President Pervez Musharraf. The report says, "Instead of empowering liberal, democratic voices, the government has co-opted the religious right and continues to rely on it to counter civilian opposition. By depriving democratic forces of an even playing field and continuing to ignore the need for state policies that would encourage and indeed reflect the country's religious diversity, the government has allowed religious extremist organisations and jihadi groups, and madrasas that provide them an endless stream of recruits, to flourish. It has failed to protect a vulnerable judiciary and equip its law-enforcement agencies with the tools they need to eliminate sectarian terrorism.
| The military-religious alliance has been a feature of Pak politix for too many years. But at this stage they really are stuck between a rock and a hard place, with the military unable to toss the turbans without themselves being tossed by a more liberal regime. And there's no guarantee whatsoever that a civilian regime would be more liberal — it's entirely likely, given the past three years' experience, that the fundos would end up being the ones to take power. The corruption that's been a characteristic of the civilian regimes doesn't help matters, either... |
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