By Chietigj Bajpaee
Pakistan's election results have challenged the misplaced fear in the international community that Pakistan could fall under the control of Islamic extremists. However, this does not rule out the possibility of Pakistan's descent into an abyss of instability.
| "Pakistain" and "instability" go together, kinda like "cheese" and "crackers" or "ham" and "eggs." |
Islamic extremism in Pakistan is not a grass-roots phenomenon as it has been in many states in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Pakistan's founding fathers, led by Mohammad Ali Jinnah, preceded by the Indian sub-continent's British colonial rulers and India's Mughal rulers, laid the foundation for Pakistan to be led by the rule of law and moderate Islam.
| Yep.. that Mughal Aurangzeb sure was moderate - Sharia, Jirzya, Destruction of temples, forced conversions, pogroms... and Jinnah sure was secular... creating a country based on Islam... Direct Action day, threatening jihad.. sending tribal raiders into Kashmir... |
Nonetheless, successive civilian and military-led governments, the military and intelligence agencies have employed Islamic extremism as a tool of their policies. As such, extremist Islam has emerged as a top-down phenomena.
| They got their own state because India's ideological Muslims were a truculent lot, given to rioting, sectarian violence, and murder. |
As demonstrated by the poor performance of Pakistan's Islamic parties in last week's parliamentary elections, Pakistan is far from ripe for an Iranian-style Islamic revolution.
| We often forget the existence of the sophisticated, intelligent Pakistanis. We're usually reminded when somebody in a turban kills them. |
The six-party Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, which secured over 50 seats in the last Parliament with a strong showing in North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Balochistan, secured less than 10 seats in the National Assembly in this election and lost its lead in tribal provinces to sub-national secular parties such as the Awami National Party and the Balochistan National Party (Awami). |