Opinion - Editorials   

Forced by circumstances

It would be twisting the truth if Pakistan’s President Pervez Musharraf were to claim that he acted decisively to end the half-year-long confrontation with religious extremists and armed desperadoes holed up in Islamabad’s Lal Masjid and its two madrassas. While the denizens of the mosque-seminary complex offered plenty of provocation over that period, General Musharraf’s regime vacillated as no government setting store by the rule of law should. Even the final showdown happened only because of the force of circumstances. It is unlikely that the government would have cordoned off Lal Masjid and its environs had the extremists not kidnapped six Chinese nationals in late June. Security forces might not have initiated any action had they not been attacked by the madrassa students. The whole episode might have ended in a political victory of sorts for the militants had they accepted the dubious compromises proffered by official negotiators. The questions raised in the course of the siege and by the storming of the complex — which was eerily reminiscent, at least in a few respects, of ‘Operation Blue Star” at Amritsar in June 1984 — are likely to haunt the Musharraf regime for some time. How were the extremists able to stockpile arms in buildings located within a stone’s throw of the capital’s high security area? Who were the foreign militants whose safe passage Abdul Rashid Ghazi sought unsuccessfully to negotiate? How did they make their way into this madhouse of religious fanaticism and extremism? Did the intelligence agencies not know about their presence and, if not, why not? Why did the government not act sooner?

On the face of it, the bloody denouement might not help the Pakistan President retrieve lost political ground. However, there are some positive trends General Musharraf can build upon to restore some credibility within and outside the country. Contrary to expectations, the protests against the storming of the mosque were few and mostly confined to the conservative bastions of the North West Frontier Province. Surprisingly, the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal — the coalition of religious parties that has a significant parliamentary presence and controls two provinces — has not voiced any criticism. The situation might change if the casualty figures turn out to be unconscionably high and the dead and injured include women and children. For now, Pakistan’s moderate majority appears to be relieved that the government finally took on a lunatic fringe terrorising the national capital. This majority will be satisfied only if General Musharraf can demonstrate that he is serious about following through on his promise to promote “enlightened moderation.”

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Forced by circumstances
Affordable housing for all
Pyrrhic victory for EU at Brussels summit
Canada flexes muscles in scramble for the Arctic
Corrections and clarifications
Operation Silence
Education & conscience
History makes sense

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu