Pakistan: What next

Are we afraid of Pakistan?
Are we scared out of our skin that Pakistan will invade North India, bomb Bombay, nuke Delhi and we won't do anything?
Are we frightened that our neighbour will suddenly occupy all of Kashmir and Jammu and we'll lose our head?
Do they think they are not at all involved in the militancy taking place on our land?
Do the US, UK, China, Japan, Germany, all of them think we should not take any action but cry and crib and do nothing else?

My ulterior, ideal motives for Pak are one which are controversial and date to a time when Mohammad Ali Jinnah was still 'uncorrupted'(a post on that coming soon), but still, when a classmate throws chalk on you all day from the next bench do you just complain to the teacher(who ignores you) every time or should you walk up and give a tight slap on the face? As of this post, our leaders are pledging, to talk this out, which is a very patient thing to do, and Pakistan knows that.

Pakistan is coming to crossroads on the pages of history. A widower of a great leader is head of state; the military has a new commander; the intelligence agency is still thriving and notorious; an unstable government teeters on edge; skirmishes on the western front are bothering; a foreign power conducts strikes without permission(US); the country is being forced to act against the very idealogy it once embraced.

Afghanistan is a peculiar problem. Fanatics, who find favour with tribes in the North West(Pashtuns), are traditionally welcomed in Pakistan. But with the US involvement and identification of certain groups as being terrorists, a crackdown ensued but it did not have the intended effect: they have survived underground because they are supported by the public who are more than willing.

The President Elect of the US, Barack Obama has made very clear - if Pakistan does not act on militants on its soil, the US will not hesitate to carry out the attacks. This means if the US informs Pakistan of a focal point for whoever it is searching for and Pakistan does not want to strike - for whatever reason, be it religious or sympathy or whatever - the US will do so.

All intelligence point to Pakistan as being the last refuges of the extremists - so if the US does act without permission, it will be in an interesting spot: it is on the one hand acting like a bully but still protecting its interests. Afghanistan is to get an influx of soldiers from Iraq, so an escalation of tensions is forthcoming.

Frankly Pakistan was created as an Islamic state: so to act against extremists or 'terrorists' on its soil, willingly, will be playing with fire - none too obvious than the storming of the Red Mosque. And I speculate that it is the Army which is in real control on affairs, including the ISI, which shouldn't be too surprising, given the history, so whatever the political government orders are likely to fall on deaf ears. So, overall, can an Islamic country act against Islamic terrorists aginst public goodwill without falling into anarchy, or sufficiently control its affairs?

The most recent bravado attacks on Bombay were an attempt to disrupt goings on - which happened for only one day. These terrorists arrived by boat; definitely they came from Pakistan, US intelligence along with Indian intelligence saying they have proof that Lashkar-e-Taiba did it will help from the ISI - but my question is - why? Why would the ISI help a terrorist organisation in attacking India? Maybe the LeT got training from the ISI long before they had plans to attack Bombay or the ISI changed plans. Or maybe the ISI wants to support groups so that Kashmir still burns.

Obama, in my opinion, has a hazy policy on Kashmir: he said in an interview, 'we should solve the Kashmir problem so that Pakistan can focus more on Afghanistan'. The problem is that though there is no direct link they are similar in thought: support of extremism. 'Solving' the Kashmir problem will take more than a stroke of hand, and even if it is, that does not stop across the border attacks or support to home-grown zealots.

My point is this: Pakistan is being pushed into a tight corner. In the name of 'War on Terror' and a new President in the US who no longer believes in dictatorship(pun intended) Pakistan has to crackdown on all form of extremism nestled within its borders. If Afghanistan is swabbed clean, all the dirt will be in Pakistan, which is where the problem lies. How will the top brass respond? How will the people of Pakistan respond?

Many diplomats are touting Iran, Pakistan and India to be the US' major foreign policy headaches in the coming year. How things sort out, and how Pakistan evolves, is to be seen. I only hope the intellectual crowd in Pakistan be more involved and peace be upon all of us. Enough with the extremism.