Pakistan stands on the threshold of a major crisis today. While George Bush may applaud his crony Musharraf, fundamentalists in Pakistan will heighten their attacks on the establishment.
Pakistan is a peculiar case. It is also a lesson for all. No nation can be created on false premises. Pakistan was created for the Muslims of undivided India. What resulted was the usurping of power by the influential classes, reducing refugees to the status of second-class citizens. Since there was no democratic foundation of the new country, it never had democracy going. Whenever the military would allow democracy to return, the usurpers would prove themselves unworthy of governing the country. For example, after the end of the Zia regime, Benazir swept the polls to gain power. But she and her husband plundered the country.
Today Pakistan is in a precarious situation. How can a country survive after taking a U-turn? Musharraf, in a bid to please the US, turned anti-Taliban and anti-Al-Qaeda, almost overnight. The militants are bound to extract their pound of flesh, albeit with the mandatury drops of blood!
