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| Pakistan called a ‘client state for sale to highest bidder’ | | | B L KAK
NEW DELHI, SEPT. 21: Pakistan has been described as "a client state for sale to the highest bidder". This description is contained in an article published by the prestigious publication, ‘Wall Street Journal’.
Signifcantly, the article appeared on Tuesday (Sept. 19), prior to Pakistan President, Gen. Parvez Musharraf's arrival in the US. The article is authored by Mansoor Ijaz, whom Wall Street Journal described as "a New York financier with Pakistani ancestry".
Writing under the title 'Musharrafistan', Mansoor Ijaz claims that Islamabad is propped up by US tax dollars to be the frontline ally in the war against terrorism. He is critical of the deal signed by the government with North Waziristan (Pakistan) tribal elders which he calls a “state within a state” and a haven for the “civilised world’s worst enemies”.
Ijaz observes that while Pakistan spends billions on the development of nuclear capabilities, it cannot find enough money to feed Pakistani children, many of whom are destined to become terrorists. Pakistan’s economic potential, he adds, is locked in a feudal past.
He accuses President Musharraf of continuing to court Iranian mullahs in the hopes of building an Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline “that could fund a revival of the Kashmiris’ militant insurgency against India”. He calls Gen Musharraf’s recent trip to Kabul an “exercise in damage control”.
Ijaz writes that Pakistan has lost its identity and calls on Gen Musharraf to “stop being all things to all people” and to step down from power. He counsels him or his successor to end the “hypocritical alliance” with Islamist activists, change the direction of the nuclear programme, build a real economy that integrates Pakistan into the world and construct real peace, not mirages that mask tension. The world needs a strong Pakistan, he adds, that puts its brilliant minds to good use for the betterment of its people. “It is time for President Pervez Musharraf to either deliver on that promise or step aside and let those who can take up the job.”
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