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Musharraf and the Kashmir curse
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
KARACHI - United States pressure has forced
Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf to turn his
policies upside down, the reward for which he believes
is the license to prolong his dictatorial rule and tread
into dangerous waters.
But now opposition
parties - and even some of Musharraf's allies - are
saying that his new policies are laying the foundation
for major trouble, and they are even comparing him to a
beleaguered Yasser Arafat.
The most recent
developments indicate the Musharraf government's earnest
desire to follow the dictates of the US at any cost.
This includes the removal of Brigadier Abdullah, the
chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence's (ISI) Kashmir
desk after the military government reversed its stance
on Kashmir.
While many indigenous Kashmiris do
not accept the Line of Control that divides Indian- and
Pakistani-administered Kashmir, the government has
placed a ban on people crossing the LoC. Military
training camps in Pakistani Kashmir, many of them
started only a few months ago, have been closed and the
government has cut off all supplies to the Kashmiri
fighters. The new man at the ISI Kashmir desk will be
charged with ensuring that all cross-border activity
related to the struggle in Kashmir cease.
This
development apart, the federal Ministry of the Interior
has published advertisements in the papers of the
largest newspaper group in the country (both in its Urdu
and English newspapers) under the headline, "These
people are dangerous religious terrorists". Twenty
photographs of top al-Qaeda operatives were printed,
including those of Osama bin Laden and his sidekick, Dr
Aimen al-Zawahari. The public were urged to pass on any
information on the suspects.
Interestingly, the
government approached all newspapers to print the
advertisement, but only the Jang Group - which puts out
the Daily Jang and The News International - printed the
ads in its Karachi editions. A senior intelligence
agency official said the purpose of placing the
advertisements was to create awareness that the people
listed were not sincere to the true Islamic cause and
were in fact terrorists.
It is widely believed
that this move was prompted by US authorities, as it is
said unlikely that the Musharraf government on its own
would do such a thing that could create a strong
backlash. Even the British authorities have criticized
US moves to operate against al-Qaeda in the Pakistani
tribal belt, saying this would strengthen opposition to
the US and Pakistani authorities.
The government
moves on Kashmir have been deeply criticized by the
religious opposition parties, which are now preparing to
launch a campaign against the Musharraf regime, and they
even have the backing of normally ardent supporters of
Musharraf, such as cricketer-turned politician Imran
Khan, for whom Musharraf once prayed publicly, "May God
give success to him in politics like [he had] in
cricket."
In a recent televised interview, Khan
said that because of his Kashmir policy, Musharraf was
turning himself into the Arafat of South Asia. "Pakistan
backed out of its support of the Taliban under US
pressure. It was the right strategy, otherwise Pakistan
would have been a US target. The US would have used
India like it used the Northern Alliance against the
Taliban and would have carried out air strikes and we
would have been living under slavery. However, on the
Kashmir issue, Musharraf's policies are not prudent."
Khan has in the past issued statements that
reflect his naivety in politics, even though he has a
master's degree in political science from Oxford
University in England. However, his latest statement is
an exception and points out what many believe to be the
reality of the situation.
Sources say militants
have dumped enough ammunition in Indian Kashmir to last
the thousands of militants from the different
organizations that operate there several years. At the
same time, the decisions taken by New Delhi, including
banning the Dukhtaran-i-Millat and arresting Syed Ali
Gillani, a former chief of the All-Party Hurriyat
Conference and leader of the Jamaat-i-Islami (Indian
Kashmir), will further spur militant groups into action,
especially in the lead-up to scheduled elections in the
region in September.
This situation apart, the
Taliban have begun their campaign of organized military
strikes against US and allied troops all over
Afghanistan, using the Pakistani tribal belt, where they
have much support, as a base.
And just as the
Palestinian militants are out of Yasser Arafat's hands,
so are the militants in Pakistan out of Musharraf's, at
least as far as Kashmir is concerned. The crucial
question is whether or not Musharraf will push on with
his latest stance on Kashmir, because if he does, expect
an escalation of strikes in the troubled region.
(©2002 Asia Times Online Co, Ltd. All rights
reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com
for information on our sales and syndication policies.)
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