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| Who are the actual enemies of Pakistan? | | | Karan Bandesha | 1/23/2012 10:00:56 PM |
| Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Qaid-e-Azam of Pakistan, its founding father and chief proponent of the two Nation theory did not live long enough to see the fructification of his dreams. All for the better for him because he would not have been very pleased with the state of affairs in his beloved Nation and the concrete shape that their vision ultimately took. His dream of a Muslim homeland rooted in a tradition of brotherhood and propelled by modern tools of science and technology has today dissolved into an anarchic wasteland epitomised by infighting and so dependent upon foreign support for survival that it remains nothing more than a puppet in the hands of world powers.
The recent proof of all this is the ‘Memogate’ scandal. The revelation of an appeal made to the US, in the wake of the assassination of Osama bin Laden, to help the civilian government survive a possible military coup has proved to be a world-wide embarrassment for Nation and embroiled the government and the military in a never before face-off. Bin Laden’s assassination has not affected the government alone. It is also a source of great embarrassment for the two most powerful establishments in the country, the Army and the ISI. For ISI, the humiliation arises from the fact that its connivance to provide sanctuary to Bin Laden in the middle of Pakistan for over five years got exposed in a very sudden and drastic manner leaving it with no time for a cover up or damage control. The humiliation for the Army arises from the fact that it was unable to detect and prevent the intrusion of US choppers or their escape with the body and a large quantity of incriminating evidence. The resultant fear is that evidence taken from the house may indict many influential people from the two establishments.
The end result is that Pakistan has gone into a state of flux. Apart from the internal instability, the foreign hand on which it is wholly dependent for its survival is also wavering due to increasing trust deficit. Relations with the US are quite strained. This has forced the leadership to look towards China and it is from this direction that the necessary life support is being sought. The Chinese have not taken very long to understand Pakistan’s predicament and have moved in for the kill. They have promised unstinting support and envisaged a larger role for Pakistan within the regional context. Whereas such a policy in the context of the coolness of relations with the US must have come as much needed succour for Pakistan, it is hardly anything to be overjoyed about.
Countries like China and the US are selfish to the core and seldom think of anything beyond their personal interest and the satisfaction of their goals - be it in world or regional politics. When the US needed a base to contain the rising influence of USSR in South Asia, it made use of Pakistan by providing it with military aid to be used against the Soviet supported regime in Pakistan. Today, when China needs Pakistan to contain the rising influence of India in South as well as East Asia, again Pakistan has become a tool in the hands of another aspiring world power.
The result of the aid provided by the US both overtly and covertly is there for all to see. A state that had once aspired to be a forward looking and propelled by modern scientific thinking is in the grip of fundamentalism that is likely to take it back to the Middle Ages. Democracy and civil governance has become a myth and the common man is bereft of even basic necessities like food shelter and livelihood just because all financial aid is being appropriated by the military. The nation now has a largely frustrated population with a few power hungry individuals controlling the land as well as the money. Doubtless, the support being offered by China will only aggravate this situation, for the Dragon is certainly no friend of the common man in Pakistan.
The question then arises - why has Pakistan ended up in this conundrum like situation out of which there seems no way out? The answer is fairly simple. Instead of concentrating on its own development, Pakistan has constantly remained preoccupied with creating some kind of instability in India. This policy is not likely to change in the near future. India implicated ISI for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks. Extensive evidence was provided to establish ties of the agency with groups like LeT, Hizbul Mujahedeen, JeM, and many others, which it supports to fight in Jammu and Kashmir. India has also established the ISI link in masterminding the July 2006 bombing of Mumbai commuter trains. There is no case in denying the fact that Zia’s policy of bleeding India with a thousand cuts remains firmly in place.
Development in Pakistan is contingent to a change in its mindset from feudal to progressive. This will happen only if the self serving nexus of military and political leadership playing in the hands of some foreign power or the other is dismantled. Things can improve only if the leadership learns to place the masses and their welfare before its own self-aggrandisement. It is time that the people of Pakistan see through the veil of exploitation being carried out by playing with their emotions. They may not look upon India as a friend but they have to realise that it is not India which is responsible for their sorry state of affairs; the responsibility lies on their leadership and the countries that it is engaging with for its own benefit, once this realisation comes about, the way forward will automatically become visible.
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