Ostensibly, the US-Pakistan confrontation has been growing quite rapidly. The relationship between the two countries, waging a joint war on global terror, became fuzzy since the US delivered a ‘tough message’ to Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf, to either crack down on terrorists or they will do the job themselves. But it was not taken lightly by Pakistan, although General Musharraf subsequently came down heavily on mercenaries well-trenched in the country and warned them to leave the country or face dangerous consequences.
Whatever the cause of friction, leading to acrimonious relationship, the US posturing against Pakistan was visualized long ago, even by Musharraf himself, in the wake of American invasion of Iraq. Numbness in the US-Pakistan relationship has been forecast in Washington .After all, the Americans are known for hegemonic tactics. They dump their allies when their support is no more needed or it is on the wane. Ipso facto, it gives a pretext to the US to meddle in the internal affairs of other countries for ‘regime change’.
The US has been adopting double standards while fighting Islamic terrorism. Now Pakistan is facing a bizarre situation, with the US sending a harsh message, directing Pakistan to control Talibans—their joint creation—who have become uncontrollable and unwieldy. They along with Al Qaeda are gearing up for ‘spring offensive’ in Afghanistan against Allied forces.
Mandarins in the White House have come to believe that in case of Musharraf’s assassination, there will be no ‘mass uprising’ in Pakistan, probably because of the fact that fuming Islamic radicals are already up in arms against his soft-pedalling with the U S on the one hand, and the offensive he has launched on mercenaries. But the U S officials know that Musharraf has stoked radicalism, now a dominant force in Pakistan, difficult to be handled by the General, unless harsh measures are taken against them.
There is a move to introduce a Bill in the U S Senate to link future military aid to Pakistan, to the progress made by Islamabad on the crackdown on Al Qaeda and Taliban. This followed reports that terrorists churned out in Pakistan are linked to Iraq. In a swift reaction, Pakistan National Assembly’s standing committee on defence has passed a resolution, threatening to give up cooperation if the U S ‘exhibited an unfriendly attitude’.
As if such tit-for-tat rancour was not enough, a book, titled “Divide Pakistan To Eliminate Terrorism”, authored by an unknown guy, Syed Jamaluddin (evidently sponsored by the CIA), has charged Pakistan with fanning terrorist activities across the globe. “The only way to stop this is to split the country (Pakistan) into half a dozen separate entities, like Sindhudesh, Jinnahpur, Balochistan, and Pakhtunistan”, says the author, believed to be a native of Pakistan, but settled in London since Musharraf seized power in a bloodless coup.
Similar demands were raised in the US when Khalistan movement in Punjab was at its zenith and Kashmir was burning because of full-blown terrorism, sponsored by Pakistan. India was put to shame by several US-based organizations, on the alleged charge of human rights violations. Khalistanis were much in demand then.
Jamaluddin’s book has blamed ISI and Tablighi Jamaat for producing ‘future terrorists’. The charge is in the right direction, but the question is how far the US can stoop low even to think of Musharraf’s assassination and division of Pakistan, to browbeat a sovereign country.
The contents of the book are being aired daily on CNN. These tactics are used to subjugate a friendly nation when it gets off the hook. Now Musharraf has fallen from the grace of George W Bush.
The CIA had similarly predicted the assassination of Indira Gandhi long before the tragedy overtook India. She had been repeatedly warning the nation about attempts to destabilize India, but she was not taken seriously.
India and Pakistan need to come closer instead of attracting the wrath of a superpower, on one issue or the other.
The U S administration is annoyed with Musharraf when the latter struck a ‘peace deal’ with Talibans in areas bordering Afghanistan. As a result, Taliban and Al Qaeda have become active in Afghanistan, killing U S and NATO forces at will. The new scenario since then has aggravated the situation in Afghanistan.
Musharraf should understand that terrorism cannot be ‘segmented’. The militants have to be eliminated wherever they are and in whatever garb. There cannot be good terrorists (Musharraf calls them freedom fighters in Kashmir) or bad terrorists.
Pakistan is dependent on foreign aid. Analysts feel it will go ‘bust’ if the US ‘pulls the plug on it’. According to Selig Harrison, a South Asia scholar at the Centre for International Policy, the total cost of Musharraf’s cooperation in the war on terror has reached a staggering 27.5 billion dollars since 9\11. Economic and military aid to Pakistan has touched 4.5 billion dollars.
Unstable Pakistan or even troubled Pakistan is never in India’s interest. There can be no two opinions.
In fact, Pakistan should forge an economic alliance with India, as has been suggested by the well-wishers of the two nations. It will keep their common enemies at bay. But first Pakistan should shunt out terrorism for ever and rise as a modern nation. Otherwise there can be no genuine peace in Asia.
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