Civilian military tussle in pakistan

Civilian military tussle in pakistan

Gain for Pak democracy, not so much for India.

Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif has more or less admitted that terrorists who crossed over from Pakistan to India were responsible for the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks. What does this actually change on the ground? Very little, for India, but potentially a lot, in Pakistan. Except for those who pretend not to know, anyone who knows anything knows that Pak terror groups carried out the attack, and that they were being actively directed from Pakistan. What is new is that someone senior enough in the Pak political establishment to know what was going on in the country has admitted as much. Sharif has also said that the trial in Pakistan of those accused in the attack is being deliberately delayed.

India gets some additional ammunition for its diplomatic efforts to isolate Pakistan on grounds of supporting terror. But Islamabad’s main backer, China, will not be moved. The US will continue to give Pakistan military and civilian aid, as it needs Pakistan’s support in Afghanistan. Russia, Iran and other powers already factor in Pak perfidy. What is new is that Nawaz Sharif has fired a salvo at Pakistan’s armed forces that actually control the reins of power in that country. He has said that no one takes Pakistan’s plaint of being a victim of terror seriously because of the Pak military’s support for terrorists who attack India. By asserting that the military is harming the nation, Sharif has made a bid for civilian assertion. Imran Khan has promptly backed the armed forces. So will the clergy. Sharif was ousted as prime minister and now disqualified for life to hold political office by the judiciary on charges of corruption, but it is widely believed that the military is egging the courts on.

Sharif ’s attack on the armed forces brings out the stark reality that armed forces’ control of the Pak state and its resort to jihadi terror for strategic depth are part of what stunts democracy in that country. Sharif must now find the courage to take on religious extremism as well, and rally the masses against a kleptocratic elite bothered only about its own privilege.