After Islamists defied an order by Pakistan President Gen. Pervez Musharraf to expel foreigners enrolled in the madrasas (religious schools) by Dec 31, questions have been raised on the country's future role in the United States-led âwar on terror'.
Revelations that the madrasas had a link to the Jul.7 bombings in London compelled Musharraf to order expulsion of all foreign students by Dec 31. Three of the four men responsible for the bombings were British citizens of Pakistan descent.
Open defiance of Musharraf's orders has come from the sensitive North West Frontier Province (NWFP) that borders Afghanistan and is ruled by the fundamentalist Muttahida Majils-e-Amal (MMA) party-- which is also a partner in the provincial government in neighbouring, insurgency-hit Balochistan.
The MMA is strongly opposed to Pakistan's role in the war-on-terror in Afghanistan and came to power on a promise to enforce Shariah law in territories under its control and also push for withdrawal of U.S. troops from the region.
Just how the general handles the new situation is being watched by the U.S. and its allies which suspect that the NWFP and Balochistan are being used to harbour internationally-wanted terrorists, including al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.
As the recipient of frontline arms and billions of dollars worth of aid from the United States and deemed Washington's â'closest non-NATO ally'', Pakistan has limited options and must balance many conflicting interests .
According to Rahat Saeed, political analyst and editor of the bi-annual Urdu magazine âIrtaqa', presently, Musharraf's hands are tied because of the exigencies of domestic politics on the one side and questions about his own legitimacy as a man in uniform and in power for six years.
"Musharraf is now on electoral mode: his term of office as president expires in 2007. He is riding a tiger and has to stay in power to ensure that no one does to him what he did to his predecessors, Benazir (Bhutto) and Nawaz Sharif,'' Saeed told IPS in an interview.
â'Article 6 of Pakistan's constitution hangs over Musharraf's head since it prescribes death as punishment for overthrowing a constitutionally elected government-- which he is guilty of when the army overthrew Nawaz Sharief and installed him as chief executive of the country over six years ago. He cannot face being held to account for his actions by succeeding leaders. He has to stay in power and get himself elected as president in 2007 by hook or by crook,'' Saeed said.
Already there are signs that the government would go easy on implementing the deadline rather than confront the MMA and its strident leaders.
On Friday, interior minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao said at least 60 percent of the estimated 1,500 foreign students in the country have left. But most of the remainder are believed to be in the NWFP.
Amanullah Haqqani, religious affairs minister in the NWFP has called for a review of Musharraf's order saying it was prestigious for Pakistan, a major Islamic country in the world, to be hosting foreign students.
Currently, Pakistan is thought to have about 12,000 madrasas that impart religious teaching to boys from impoverished or orthodox backgrounds. But they have also come under suspicion of breeding Islamist militants, following the Sep. 11, 2001 aerial attacks on the U.S.
Analysts blame the phenomenal growth of the madrasa system on liberal funding and support from the U.S. and several Arab countries that were keen on producing mujahideen (holy warriors) capable of vacating the occupation of Afghanistan by the former Soviet Union in the 1980s.
â'While western purposes were served by the defeat of the Soviets, Pakistanis inherited a lot of guns and far too much cash, giving rise to a widespread Kalashnikov and heroin culture which continue to distort politics and administration in the region,'' said Saeed. â'This legacy of the Islamic jihad in Afghanistan in 1980s has not really helped Pakistan.''
â'Pakistan itself has continued to be a theatre of war,'' says Prof. Syed Jafar Ahmed of Karchi University. â'The simple fact is that the Taliban (which ruled Afghanistan until driven out by the war on terror) is a Pakistani phenomenon and a creation of this country's madrasas.''
In Ahmed's view Pakistan has been known throughout its 58 year history as an unstable country. â'The fact that Pakistan continues to be ruled by a general in uniform alone shows it has no stable political system although the Musharraf regime, in a strange way, is strong and faces no serious threat to its survival.''
Musharraf, said Ahmed, enjoys the full support of the coalition fighting the war on terror because his cooperation is considered vital for its Afghanistan policy. But the academic added that Pakistani cooperation contrasts against the background of â'widespread terrorist politics inside Pakistan''. Musharraf and his army have created a political system whereby politicians with flexible consciences have ousted and marginalised popular political leaders like Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan People's Party and Nawaz Sharif, leader of a faction of his Pakistan Muslim League. Musharraf refuses to let these politicians return home from exile.
Ahmed said the system has been â'accepted by the U.S.-led coalition as adequately democratic -- because it has all the institutions and trappings of a democracy and a reasonably free press, though it exercises self-censorship because of unexplained violence against outspoken journalists''.
â'The system's design is such that it ensures Musharraf's survival as president while he can also continue as army chief. Polls are held, although few Pakistanis outside the portals of power accept them as free because of interference from military intelligence,'' Ahmed said.
A combination of circumstances--strategic location at the tri-junction of Gulf region, South Asia and Central Asia, high standing in the Muslim world, a large army and a nuclear arsenal make Pakistan important enough for the West overlook the Musharraf regime's imperfections.
But the refusal of the NWFP to expel foreign students from its madrasas is a sign that things are spinning out of control in that province--as also in neighbouring Balochistan where the army has had to resort to using helicopter gunships in recent weeks to quell spiralling insurgency.
"Pakistan's two western provinces, Balochistan and NWFP, constitute an important theatre in the war-against-terror not only for proximity to Afghanistan but also because of the presence in them of Taliban and al-Qaeda militants in unknown numbers,'' said Saeed.
â'If the intensity of the insurgencies in these two provinces increases, it may become necessary to call in foreign forces and that would bring in new factors into play with unpredictable consequences,'' Saeed said.
Posted by: john ||
01/01/2006 09:04 ||
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#1
Let the Pak terror entity implode. Balochis, Sindhis, Waziris and others want the break up of that jihad center.
Everytime I write the following, some bozos reply with hollow denials, however, here goes: under the Pak' constitution's federal-provincial redistribution, over 20% of federal funds (12.9% to NWFP; 9.8% to Balochistan)- including US aid - trickles down to the sub-terror entities of Balochistan and NorthWest Frontier Province. Those proto-Taliban/al-Qaeda entities are frontier provinces which aid terrorism in Afghanistan. Ergo: US money is being used to slaughter US soldiers. Idiotarian thinking: Bush wouldn't do that, therefore it doesn't happen.
Other than a mere handful of meaningless arrests of spent al-Qaeda operatives, US relations with Pak have been a disaster. That filthy rat-hole posing as a country, would have perished by early 2002, if Bush had not handed foreign policy counsel to the Islamic Society of North America, and the other US Islamofascist groups which receive State Dept consultation fees to this day.
If you understood how the US Govt works, you would recognize that Bush is not the Emperor and, thus, not the sole enabler of all that generates your bile and rains on your ankle-biter's parade - some is his doing and some belongs on other plates. It's that whole Constitution thing.
But take no notice - that aggravating hangnail and your penchant for shitting on the carpet and then blaming someone else for the urges that drive you, for instance, are surely Dubya's fault. Rave on.
That's okay, rest easy in your fevered swamp - we've seen it before. Ignore everything which has gone right, the accomplishments that have saved millions of lives, that clarify the bona-fides of the various actors in the WoT - and clearly identify those who must be removed, that have given the poor sods born in the ME their first and probably last chance to prove they are worthy of joining mankind... Essentially anything which has transpired in the last 5 years which pleases you and actually is from Bush's sole efforts - assuming you're not a total moron, which may be amiss... Like the economy, for instance? Against the tides of stupidity, that's one you can lay at Bush's feet. Sucks, eh? Sure sucks to be Taleban or Saddam or Uday or Qusay or any of a rather large number of others who've bought the farm or found themselves in irons and swilling giggle juice. Were it not for Bush, had we had Prez Gore and / or Prez Kerry - woohoo! What a Wonderful World it would be, eh? But ignore those things. Not pertinent to a BDS case on full boil.
Hey, no problem. Everyone needs a demon, it seems, and focus can be a good thing. Blather on, stew mightily, boil in BDS puss. If you were King, then all would be right with the world, I'm sure. Yep.
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