| Benazir Bhutto’s Legacy | | Print | |
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Page 2 of 2 Thus, Pakistan will remain a militarized, dictatorial society and such a status quo is inherently incapable of responding to the aspirations of the overwhelming majority of its people, increasingly impoverished and discontented. The fundamentalist upsurge that the military leadership and its occasional civilian ancillary did so much to incite, with cynical American encouragement, is more a symptom of Pakistan’s malaise than a likely solution to it. Their usefulness to the Western game plan waned in the aftermath of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan and became even less relevant with the downfall of communism in 1989. After 9/11, the US came to regard Muslim militancy as a veritable menace and obligated the Pakistani military establishment, though it was thoroughly enmeshed with Afghan terror, to participate in its destruction. Pakistan’s military establishment, which usually does US bidding with alacrity, had been sufficiently transformed by the Islamic upsurge during the anti-Soviet campaign in Afghanistan to subsequently find the task of restoring the preceding status quo ante problematic. It may scream democracy in J&K, while doing everything to subvert elections in it when they occur, but cannot accept or indeed establish democracy inside Pakistan to deflect Islamized revolt. The future for Pakistan remains bleak, but the drama that is yet to unfold within harbors serious problems for India and possibly the West, including the US. There is a significant possibility that small groups of terrorists will plot to inflict serious harm on the West and its citizens, for real and imagined grievances. Some of the likely acts of terror could turn out to be catastrophic because the technology exists to undertake them. The Pakistani military is loath to allow such actions against its erstwhile Western allies, a possibility for which it evidently had made insufficient allowance. The bitter experiences of events since 2001 have also further radicalized elements within the Pakistani military establishment, which now subscribe to the goals of Muslim radicals (who regard Pakistan as their operational headquarters) of harming the West. But the principal components of the Pakistani military establishment will wish to use the institutionalized societal religious ferment found within the country against India. In part such an outcome will be a necessity because Muslim militancy may otherwise turn inwards against domestic privilege or definitively seek out Western targets, which will provide continued legitimacy for an undemocratic military dictatorship. ____________________ GAUTAM SEN taught at the London School of Economics & Political Science for more than two decades. He is now a full-time writer and his co-authored book on international political economy is scheduled to appear later this year. |