The Daily Clarity

Is Pakistan saying enough is enough?

  When a crowd of over 10,000 Pakistanis take to the streets chanting  “Down with America” and “Jihad is the only solution of America”, the West had better sit up and take notice. These particular demonstrators were venting their anger at the US unmanned air drone attacks and that Pakistan is being used as a logistics staging post for the supply routes for NATO troops in Afghanistan. However, the anger in Pakistan is deep and widespread, this but one example that Pakistan’s acceptance of its lot in the world may well be hardening into resistance. Pakistan must feel as if it is under siege. It is in economic panic, borrowing money from the International Money Fund to shore up its desperately low foreign reserves. Analysts estimate that Pakistan may be less than three months away of running out of cash all together. Pakistan faces pressures from its neighbor, India, in the wake of the Mumbai terror attacks. Yesterday, India openly tested a new Cruise missile vertical configuration, called the Brahmos, in the Bay of Bengal. This a thinly disguised attempt to strut its military strength in front of Pakistan. Pakistan has faced incursions into its air space by Indian fighters, and has summoned the Indian Envoy for an explanation. And, in what is a major slight in the region, India today called off the cricket tour by its national team that was just about to get under way in Pakistan. For two nations obsessed with cricket, this is the equivalent to calling off all diplomatic relations. Pakistan faces pressures at all its borders, in Kashmir in a land contested with India, in the North West Frontiers it faces battles with the Taliban, and in Afghanistan its faces pressures from NATO, the US and the Afghan government itself. Pakistan is under siege from all sides, and the people seem to be saying enough is enough.

Our friends at  Associated Press have the story of the 10,000 strong demonstration, that symbolizes the level of frustration and anger in Pakistan.  “It was one of the largest rallies against the government since it took office in March. Militants have attacked trucks using the critical Khyber Pass route several times in recent weeks. The protesters – backers of Jamaat-e-Islami, a hard-line Islamist party – also decried U.S. missile strikes targeting al-Qaidaand Taliban leaders in Pakistan’s lawless tribal areas along the Afghan border and Pakistani military offensives against Islamic insurgents in the area. Banner-toting demonstrators chanted “Down with America” and “Jihad is the only solution of America” as they marched along a key road in the main northwestern city of Peshawar, led by national party chief Qazi Hussain Ahmed. “If America continues atrocities against Muslims, it will also not be able to live in peace,” Express television quoted Amhed as saying. Sirajul Haq, Jamaat-e-Islami’s provincial chief, threatened to cut off the convoys. “We will no longer let arms and ammunition pass through … and reach the hands of American and NATO forces in Afghanistan,” he told the crowd. “They are using the same against our innocent brothers, sisters and children.”

The US needs to take note of the hardening of public opinion in Pakistan. The US military is already overburdened and to have to stretch to another war front either in Pakistan, or in attempting to police any potential India-Pakistan conflict, will be the proverbial straw that will break the camel’s back. The Pakistan Taliban are also not to be underestimated. They are sophisticated insurgents, and will us PR and a ‘hearts and minds’ campaign among local communities to increase the resistance against US and NATO. It wil be hard for the weak Pakistan civilian government to combat this unrest. The Pakistani military and intelligence services support is also questionable, given their traditional entanglement with Muslim insurgency groups such as the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba. If ever there was a time for a Special Envoy to be dipatched to India by the US government it would be right now. The Special Envoy should also expect to take up residence in Islamabad, as this will not be a short term role. History has shown us before that when the Pakistani populace takes to the streets, serious trouble is often not far behind. The US needs to take action – to use diplomacy, economic incentives and security guarantees – if it wants to prevent bloodshed in one of its supposed allies in the ‘war against terror’. Washington, can you hear the angry voices of 10,000 or are your ears deafened by the whispering of other false priorities?