Man....The general's at it again

The general is at it again.... There's news of Musharraf locking up everything that makes up a civilian run country: the judges, the press, and every liberal minded politicians.

Hey... atleast he's doing or appearing to do his part to lock up those jihadis. Well, he didn't have a choice post 9/11 with the US asking him "are you with us or against us?".

Being an Indian, why would i complain? As long as that country next door is stable and as long as some stupid wanker of a religious zealot doesn't takes over... we should all be fine, fine, fine!!!

Atleast the general's keeping things under control. If you look back at history, there was never a time in pakistan when the army wasn't in charge. Oh yes, there were civilian governments! but the real power, they say, was always with the army and the intelligence services.

There was this report in Foreign Affairs mag lately, that Benajir back in the day when she was a PM had not the faintest idea that the country had a nuclear program. Well... that speaks a lot about the limits that civilian governments have in pakistan.

All that talk recently about benajir's PPP forming a power sharing agreement with Musharraf seems like nonsense now. The suicide bombing that welcomed benazir at the airport throws all kinds of questions. Doesn't the general not want her coming back? Or are there elements in the army and ISI that don't fancy the general any more? Whatever the answers, they are not relevant anymore.

You have someone in control. Maybe, Musharraf's gonna stay for a while and leave some other general in place. As long as the sucker's sane and pragmatic enough, we should all be fine.

I wasn't too surprised to see a Newsweek cover saying that pakistan is the most dangerous place in the world. It is... It's the only place that stands a little shake away from leaving nukes in the hands of some seriously demented minds who have a convoluted agenda for the world at large.

Can someone really invade that country and rid it of all the bad things? That would be next to impossible, considering the big military force there that would fend off an occupier. That leaves constructive engagement as the only alternative.

Anyone engaging that country should keep in mind that pressing for democracy won't help. Ofcourse, There should be demands for a civilian government that represents the larger sections of the society, and also keeps the army happy.

Economic engagement with india allowing some of it's economic might to rub off on pakistan would greatly help. Also, a constructive long term engagement by the US would do wonders and keep the liberal elements of the army committed to keeping those insane wankers of society at bay. India has long been obsessed by the kashmir question, and the US has long pursued a discontinuous policy that keeps it close once and distances it at will.


The best thing for the world would be to engage pakistan, keep it stable, and allow it to prosper economically. That should take care of illiteracy, discontent, and all those incentives for fundamentalism. It won't be easy, but it appears to be the only way.