Lal Masjid: Musharraf's Bluestar

The tragic episode of Lal Masjid has injected a new ugliness into what seems to be emerging as a bitter conflict between Islamic militants and security forces. The army action was warranted but the timing and the handling of the affair simply showed the extent radical elements have gained in Pakistan. For India, the wave of violence sweeping its western neighbor is a grim reminder of how dangerous a place Pakistan has become.

Indeed, the ferocity and nature of the attacks on security forces carry echoes from Iraq. I am often aghast at the extremist views that have been pitchforked into these ventures. The Lal Masjid incident is a perilous indication that Talibanic viewpoints/ideology is spreading its venomous tentacles far and wide. Just as the Ghazi brothers declared independence from the state for their Lal Masjid complex six months ago, their spiritual brethren in Waziristan want to impose their own harsh laws dating back to 800 AD.

Pakistan is witnessing an unabated terrorism cycle—having experienced a suicide bombing or a bomb blast each day since the July 10 military operation against the mosque. To the outrage of many people, those who died in the Red Mosque operation are now being proclaimed as 'shaheed' or martyrs. Gen.Mush's government is responsible for this mess. Delay in effectively tackling the defiant stance of the Red Mosque not only complicated the crisis, but gave ample opportunity to Ghazi to entrench his forces militarily, start an effective media campaign and draw sympathy from segments of society by claiming that he and his comrades were merely asking for the enforcement of religious laws in the country. The 'bravery' of 'god's soldiers' stood exposed in the buff when one of the brothers was caught fleeing in a burqa :).

If developments in the last two weeks are any indicator, Pakistan is increasingly becoming an ungovernable state. Divisions within society about the direction of the state are becoming intense and if this confusion and cycle of violence continues, the very state of Pakistan might become unviable unleashing a potential (nuclear) nightmare in the sub-continent.

Lal Masjid Standoff: Impending Peril

The Dawn's (The famous Pakistani newspaper founded by Jinnah) headline made for disturbing reading. The admission/announcement by Gen.Mush that JeM (Jaish-e-Mohammed) suicide Bombers were holed up inside the famous Red Mosque of Islamabad implies that the Lal Masjid (see pic.) Stand off has reached new heights with potentially disastrous consequences. In my opinion Pakistan's rulers and politicians are unaware of the extent of damage this standoff can cause.

Sadly with wimpishness having been made a national artform in Pakistan, the government of pakistan has been unable to offer a coherent response mired as it is in the CJP controversy. It is another example of the Musharraf government’s inability to contain the pro-Taliban and pro-al-Qaeda Islamist movements inside Pakistan. While ceding real estate to the Taliban-al-Qaeda alliance through the various ‘peace accords’ that handed terrorists the control of South Waziristan, North Waziristan and Bajour agencies is troubling in its own right, this latest set of concessions is more troubling still.

First, it occurs not in the wild tribal areas that the Pakistani government exerts little control over. Rather, this latest concession takes place right in downtown Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital city.
Second, it cedes not territory but ideological ideals to violent Islamists aligned with the Taliban and al-Qaeda. Ideological ground is exponentially more difficult to regain once ceded than real estate.

If this doesn't get the government of pakistan running, I don't know what will. Musharaff will do well to remember the following latin quote.

Felix qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas (Fortunate is he who has been able to learn the causes of things)

This standoff might well become the causus belli for an internal strife that will ending ripping pakistan..

Musharraf's visit...and Kashmir

Pakistani president Musharraf's visit has been hailed as a landmark one in the chequered history of the subcontinent. Why is that the pakistanis are so besotted with kashmir?. Apart from the usual islamic identity and the story about pakistan being incomplete without kashmir, a very interesting question is ' why does pakistan emphasize kashmir so much?

Hmmm.. tough question to answer and writing on kashmir is always a dicey venture. Pakistan essentially emphasizes Kashmir as a muslim and human rights issue to demonstrate to itself and the world at large that the 1947 split with India was right. That precept would be challenged if there was peace with india. This feeling is not going to stop until pakistan stops looking to India for self-justification. It has failed spectacularly on almost on all other fronts at self-definition. Islam was thought to be a solution for identity, but the point is such a solution is hardly viable if sunnis and shias continue to be at each other's throats as they frequently are.

Nor can pakistan define itself through a sense of history, because india assumed the history of the subcontinent during partition. From it's birth it has no past except the one which has belonged to india. Save for the army it has no other institutions to boast of, which would have been helpful to plan the nation's future. India which is the reason behind the birth of pakistan remains a terrible burden. Pakistan understandably is desperate to find another reason to live, and the search goes forlornly on. Pakistan also is wary about attempts to discredit whatever is left of the 2-nation theory, which suffered a mortal blow in 1971. Hence it pursues conflict with india.
It is more to do with the survival and identity of the nation more than anything else. pakistan has lost because ,due to it's vast military expenditure it has all but bankrupted itself. Passions over kashmir have blinded pakistan to the insanity of what it has done and the damage it has suffered in the process. Democracy remains a mirage and after 57 years the nation still is clueless about it's identity,notwithstanding frequent pakistani bluster regarding who they are. It has all the markings of a failing state.
This in a nutshell would explain why those folks across the border are so besotted with the vale.