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| Sunday, January 18, 2004 |
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| Sunday, January 18, 2004 |
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Pakistan at the
Crossroads
The essays written by scholars on various issues—terrorism, dominance of the Army, nuclear capacity of Pakistan etc.—throw light on Pakistan’s policies. The work highlights not only Pakistan’s domestic and foreign relations, but also the factors that make them so volatile. Weaving through the pre-Independence era, the experts try to trace out the reasons for Pakistan’s insecurity as a nation. With the founding father of Pakistan, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, desiring a secular state and the founding party, the All-India Muslim League aiming for an Islamised Pakistan, confusion has been rampant since the formation of the country. This insecurity and confusion within the country has resulted in the army taking control. To remain in power, the army needs a punching bag and India provides just that. Whenever there is an internal crisis or the masses are disgusted with the system, the attention is deflected towards India—by either going to war or increasing the skirmishes at the border, or by stepping up the propaganda. It is amazing to know the benefit that Pakistan got by becoming a frontline state. A confused foreign policy has led Dr Latif Naik to quote late Patras Bokhari, who said: "Pakistan has no foreign policy, only foreign relations and those too illicit." S.K. Datta traces Pakistan’s transformation to an Islamised society. The difference between being religious and being fanatic is brought about by an interesting conversation between B.K. Nehru, a distinguished Indian bureaucrat, and Mohammed Ali, Cabinet Secretary of Pakistan at the time of Partition. Irrespective of who is in power in Pakistan, one has to keep the obsession with religion alive to wage a war with India. Being a country with diverse population, it needs a common thread to bind it and that means having a common religion and a common enemy. India fulfils the second need. Besides the army, it is the United States of America with its continuous interference that has added problems to a country already groping in the dark. The Pakistan economy, Challenges and Opportunities written by Prof I.N. Mukherji examines the external loans taken by Pakistan, its exports, imports and balance of trade. The loan factor has reached a crisis point. The economy of the country is in a bad state because the attention of the authorities is elsewhere: it may be involved with the nuclear programme or recruiting prospective "martyrs" for the "Holy War". The essay Road to Chagai, besides providing the readers with interesting information on the evolvement of Pakistan’s nuclear programme also scrutinises America’s strategy in controlling the policies of Pakistan. Called the "most dangerous place on the Earth", Pakistan gets away with all types of human violation because of America’s hypocritical policies. Lieut-Gen Y.M. Bammi studies the crucial role of the army in Pakistan, its evolution and the likely military strategy Pakistan is going to pursue from 2002 to 2010. With the Kargil debacle recently behind it, the Pakistan army has realized that it is easier to tire the Indian army by continuing the proxy war, so India will have to be on alert to protect its sovereignty. Vice-Admiral R.B. Suri writes of Pakistan initially adopting a territorial approach (thus, the Pakistan navy at that time being pushed into the background). Encouraging terrorism and proxy wars has become an important agenda for Pakistan. The nexus between the peddlers of arms, drugs money and religion has corroded Pakistani society. If terrorists and their acts are not curtailed, there is a possibility of them taking over the country. With the nuclear arsenal and the vast cache of arms at their disposal, they can spell doom for the entire world. Oblivious to all the warnings, Pakistan is going ahead with its programme of sponsoring terrorism. S.K. Datta rightly says that: "The ultimate battle will be between the Punjabisation of Pakistan and the Talibanisation of Pakistan." The book highlights the senseless killings of the innocent and the redundant line of thought pursued by politicians at the helm of affairs in Pakistan. Irrational policies are justified to fill up their coffers. This edited work leaves us with the knowledge of where we are heading. It is imperative to have such discussions for clarifying the notions of peace, state terrorism, war, equality among nations and justice. |
"THE
marvel of all history is the patience with which men and women submit to
burdens unnecessarily laid upon them by governments." The Forum for
Strategic and Security Studies has in this work tried to probe the
relations between India and Pakistan. Along with this, it has tried to
create awareness among the people of the subcontinent about the
intentions of Pakistan.