The Uncertain Future of Pakistan
A clear anxiety is seen among the Pakistani elites on the fate of their country... Election of Asif Ali Zardari as president instead of adding to the people’s confidence and joy has brought them more grief and uncertainty. A note by Ataollah Mohajerani
A clear anxiety is seen among the Pakistani elites on the fate of their country. Election of Asif Ali Zardari as president instead of adding to the people’s confidence and joy has brought them more grief and uncertainty. Pakistani writers constantly remind Zardari that Benazir Bhuttohad said in her famous will that “democracy is the best revenge.” They invite Zardari to peace and urge him to be all-embracing but the reality is different. Zardari and the Pakistan People’s Party have merged power and management. With the resignation of ministers from the Muslim League (Nawaz Sharif branch), the cabinet too would become uniform.
But a question will be asked: “Will the PPP move at the same tune and overcome the numerous problems and crises of Pakistan, the most important of which being the security crisis?”
The security crisis has assumed a sensitive and dangerous dimension after the attack by US fighters on Waziristan and Bajor regions and firing of missiles on residential areas. The comment given by Head of the Paksitani Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kiani has made the situation more complicated. General Kiani strongly and candidly condemned the US attacks saying the Pakistani army cannot witness such attacks on the Pakistani people and territory. Waziristan and especially Bajor region are faced with migration of people from their homes. Every day people hold demonstrations and shout slogans against the United States. The Secretary General of Islami Jamiat Ulama-i-Islam of Sarhad province, Mualana Gul Naseeb Khan, praised the chief of the army and promised that they would launch nationwide demonstrations.
Why the US has made such a big gamble? The US has such an experience in Indochina. The Vietcongs had established a road and logistic network which connected north of Vietnam to south and up to the borders of Laos and Cambodia. The route has been known as the ‘Ho Chi Minh route’ or ‘Ho Chi Minh trail’ and was regarded as one of the most important achievements of partisan wars of that time. The Vietcongs revived the ancient road networks. Roads that ran from mountain slopes deep into the jungles. The network had its own manpower which provided food and ammunition for the Vietcongs on bicycle or even on foot. The Vietnam war had prolonged and the Americans had lost their patience. Therefore, they embarked on bombing the eastern borders of Cambodia to exterminate this network. The US Air Force carried out 3000 sorties and dropped 108,000 tons of bombs on the people and the areas it thought were safe haven for the Vietcongs. Even to use Cambodia as its backyard, the US removed Sihanouk from power and brought Lon Nol to power. But what did it achieve? Civil war was the souvenir of the US for the Cambodian people. Massacres started.
In a bizarre way, the bombardment of Waziristan is similar to the bombardments of eastern borders of Cambodia. This time, again, the US is helpless and desolate in its fight against the Taliban. The US Defense Secretary Robert Gates openly talked about the failure of US and its allies in Afghanistan.
Another question is whether Zardari would take a clear stance in the face of this US strategy? What would be the outcome of the US attacks? What prospects are in front of Pakistan? To what extent do the Americans know Pakistan that they have launched such a move? If we want to raise questions in the language of Barak Obama and Joe Biden, we must ask: “To what level should the influence and domination of Pakistan’s Taliban and the political and social chaos as well as the unreliability of the army and government in Pakistan reach for the United States to give up?“
Pakistan has four important institutions which shape its identity: The Army, Islam, the Pakistan People’s Party, and the Muslim League Party.
According to Ghulam Akbar, Editor-in-Chief of al-Akhbar newspaper based in Islamabad, Pakistan is a concept that took shape first as a cause in the mentality of Pakistanis - Muslims of the Subcontinent - and then was materialized as a territory and as a country.
Religious and Islamic tendencies and faith in the holy Quran are the essence and the gem of the Pakistani identity… This identity will be materialized with the holy war and the cause of independence. In Urdu language war is the same as Jihad. The first issues of Jang newspaper published in Delhi by Abdulrahman picked the name Jang on the same assumption.
The US army has challenged all these institutions and even did not deem to inform the Pakistani government of the incursion of its ground forces.
No doubt, the US military operation in Waziristan was the last shot fired by George Bush. After the September 11 incident, he announced, “I want Bin Laden, dead or alive!” Now George Bush is leaving the White House and Bin Ladan is still in power and has expanded his domain like the Ho Chi Minh trail. For the expansion of Pakistan’s Taliban nothing is better than this very bombardment of the US and killing of the people. Today, the US launches air raids on Waziristan. Another month Baluchistan would be added to the list…And in one year, Pakistan’s Taliban would be on the verge of taking over the country. If the US could win the war against the Vietcongs, it would also achieve victory in the fight against the Taliban and Bin Laden,
I think the government and the army in Pakistan as well as the political parties have no option but explicitly confront the military strategy of the United States. A small battle against US forces in Waziristan can remove the dark prospect ahead. They should not let George Bush sacrifice the national security of Pakistan for the election campaigns of the Republican Party. If they remain indifferent towards occupation of their country, the army, the government and other parties would not be able to restore their credibility.