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Doubters spoil Pakistan's party

Nirupama Subramanian

Some are asking if Islamabad's role in the uncovering of the alleged terror plot in London was as crucial as is being made out.

THE SELF-CONGRATULATORY mood in Islamabad at assisting British and U.S agencies to foil an alleged terror plot is now mixed with scepticism on many fronts: the timing of the discovery; Pakistan's exact role in it; the conspiracy theory that it was used by the Bush administration and the British Government to take the heat off the Lebanon crisis; and as questions are raised about why Pakistan continues to attract people who want to blow up planes, the feeling that the government walked into an image-trap.

Assistance from Pakistani intelligence and law-enforcing agencies helped foil the alleged plot to blow up planes mid-flight from Britain to the U.S., apparently in the nick of time. The Government said Pakistan played a "very important" role in averting disaster.

If there is one phrase in English that Pakistanis have grown to hate it is: "Pakistan has to do more." Everybody has been telling Pakistan to do more — the U.S., India, even Afghanistan. Pakistan has repeatedly said it does more than anyone else in the war against terror and has been cut up that this never got it any marks.

As the world's media began to take note of Pakistan's role in uncovering the plot, at first the glow of satisfaction in Islamabad competed with the illuminations for the August 14 Independence Day celebrations.

"This should silence those, especially in Kabul and New Delhi, who allege every now and then that Islamabad is not doing enough and should `do more,'" said The Dawn.

"A feather in the cap," is how The News described the arrests. A senior journalist in the newspaper was critical of the government for not playing up its role even more and wrote that "in this age of sound-bites, this is indeed a unique opportunity lost by the government, which, if it had shown more confidence, would have ensured that the world headlines [on] Friday morning would be screaming: `Pakistan intelligence agencies help avert disaster.'"

The report said it was decided at the "highest levels" that Pakistan would not reveal its role until after the announcement by the British Government. As a result, the country had lost out on vital mileage.

Reinforcing a stereotype?

But the backslapping is giving way to doubts. In the absence of any further information on the alleged plot, including the seemingly simple matter of exactly how many people were arrested in this country, some are asking if Pakistan's role was as crucial as is being made out. On the other hand, questions are being asked if the claimed assistance has not reinforced the stereotype of Pakistan as a honey pot for extremism, and about the impact this could have for Pakistanis worldwide.

Among the first to sound the alarm was The Nation. "Thursday's thwarting of a terrorist plane bombing attempt by the British intelligence agencies couldn't have been better timed for the US and the U.K. Though Lebanon didn't exactly take a back seat in the news, the lead story of every newspaper and news programme was the intelligence triumph, despite a fresh Israeli offensive," it said in an editorial.

In the light of the latest developments, the newspaper said, the American and British people would now be readier to countenance more infringements of human rights, not only of suspects but their own. It called on the Pakistan government "to ensure that there are no such encroachments on Pakistanis' civil liberties as occurred after 9/11."

The questions Pakistani journalists raised at the weekly Foreign Office briefing on August 15 were also revelatory about the doubts surfacing in the country over the alleged plot uncovered in London last week.

Spokeswoman Tasnim Aslam was asked if Pakistan's assistance had not hurt its image abroad instead of boosting it, with Western media writing that the arrests proved the country remains a hotbed of extremism. Ms. Aslam parried this question with "history": such articles were written by those who did not understand the origins of terrorism in the region, or by those "suffering from amnesia" about the war against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan when thousands of people were brought into the region and indoctrinated in religious extremism.

While it may be easy to dispense history lessons to the international media, it could be more difficult for the government to deal with the conspiracy theories gaining ground.

One questioner raised the possibility that the alleged plot had been discovered to boost the falling ratings of U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and that the duo had "used" Pakistan for this. He asked if it would not increase the discrimination that Pakistanis already face abroad. Another asked what the U.S was doing to help Pakistan deal with terrorism.

The doubts reflect the contradictory pulls and pressures in Pakistan since 9/11 — of wanting to please the West, earn laurels from the international community for its contribution to the war on terror, at the same time, the widely prevalent view that the country is being victimised by an anti-Muslim West — and have cast a shadow over what began as a moment of triumph for Pakistan.

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