Will Musharraf keep his word?
Soon we’ll see if Musharraf is a man of his word
The President of Pakistan has promised true democracy
The nightmare scenario for the West is Islamic revolution, particularly the idea that someone like Mullah Omar could get their hands on the button of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb. Almost all al-Qa’eda attacks over the last few years, including the 7/7 bombings in London, have involved Pakistani connections. The last few years have seen the Islamists growing in number and influence in Pakistan, particularly in universities. This was brought home late last year when the Red Mosque in the very heart of the capital was taken over by Taleban sympathisers. The occupation was only ended after a bloody army assault that left more than 100 dead and triggered a wave of Islamist violence including suicide bombings and attacks on military targets.
But an Islamist takeover is unlikely. Although Pakistan’s electoral system means the fundamentalist alliance Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) controls two of the country’s four provinces, their share of the vote in the last elections in 2002 was only 11 per cent. The vast majority of Pakistanis are moderates and eager to rid their country of extremism.
The big question is what the army thinks of Musharraf’s latest move. Key generals may owe their positions to him, but there is widespread disgruntlement over Pakistan’s role in the war on terror. Tribal militants and al-Qa’eda fighters in the border regions of Waziristan have engaged in bloody battles with the 80,000 government soldiers sent to fight them and the Pakistan army has lost more than 800 men, more than any of the coalition fighting in Afghanistan. At the moment 2,500 police and soldiers are struggling to quell a revolt led by an extremist Islamist DJ in Swat, a mountain valley once favoured as a holiday destination.
With or without Musharraf, it is hard to see the army withdrawing from politics. His rule has seen the military’s tentacles spread throughout both the public and private sector. Retired generals serve as governors of provinces, chancellors of universities and run quangos like the post office. The army is involved in a number of money-making activities from real estate and banking to manufacturing and insurance.
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sumant rawat
November 14th, 2007 3:53amI agree with the previous comment but have a slightly different take.Pakistan has a divide that its populace brushes under the rug and those unfamiliar with the subcontinent cannot see.It is the divide between the inherently tribal,xenophobic and medieval Pashtun mindset and the more liberal mindset with roots in the pagan culture of the subcontinent.The most obvious sign is that 60 years after independence the areas that are predominantly Pashtun are the 'Northwest Frontier Province and Federally Administered Tribal Area' not Pakhtunistan.Among the many reasons for the failure of democracy to take root is the cultural divide between the Pashtuns and non Pashtuns.The Taliban is merely a name the Pashtuns have adopted to militantly pursue what they have since the days Ahmad Shah Abdali an escape from the relentless change imposed by the outside world.
Geoff
November 18th, 2007 2:56pmMusharraf is Pakistans only hope. Bhutto et al will destroy any hope of democracy in their rush for money and islamic control. Most Pakistanis are quietly staying out of this and getting on with their lives - much improved since the military took charge. All of the politicians and media in the UK exercising their adolescent student views of what democracy can be in those kind of countries need to wake up before they hand the nuclear bombs over to the Pashtuns.
Jay Wilson
November 30th, 2007 8:41amI have to wonder where Christina Lamb gets her 'inside' information and suspect that it is from the Bhutto camp. Of course she neglects to mention that the former Supreme Court handed the Red Mosque right back to the family of its former extremist mullahs. Geoff and Sumant have some useful things to say in the other comments.