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| Abdul Rashid Ghazi: The deputy chief cleric at the Lal Majid spoke during an interview in Islamabad February 9. Pakistani security forces killed
Ghazi Tuesday during an assault on his mosque complex. Mian Khursheed/Reuters/file |
Pakistani leader's bold move
Musharraf's risky raid on the extremist Red Mosque may pay political dividends.
from the July 11, 2007 edition
Page 3 of 3
The government has dropped hints that this could be just the beginning as it attempts to at last come to grips with terrorism blooming beyond the Afghan border. Last week, The New York Times cited an Interior Ministry report presented to Musharraf that stated: "There is a general policy of appeasement towards the Taliban, which has further emboldened them."
Critics say that Pakistan has long turned a blind eye to Islamist movements in the country, believing that it can only keep the West interested in the region – and money flowing in – if it appears unstable.
Some believe the assault on the Red Mosque shows a turnabout, with the government acknowledging that extremism has gotten out of hand. "There is a realization that monsters develop ideas of their own," says Najmuddin Shaikh, a former foreign secretary of Pakistan.
Others suggest that there could be more pragmatic motivations, like self-preservation. "It is to [Musharraf's] advantage to be viewed as taking a stand against extremism," says Seth Jones, a terrorism expert at Rand Corp., a research group in Washington. "There may be a political intent in doing this."
Yet the need for continued action is pressing, say Dr. Jones and others. Since Muslim extremists were rousted from Afghanistan in 2001, Pakistan's border areas – once loosely governed by a patchwork of tribes – have become a breeding-ground for global terrorism.
"[Intelligence agencies] and the Army are not able to control militants in that area," says Jones. "It is no longer a tribal area; it is a religious extremist area."
There are signs that tribal leaders are trying to fight back. Last week, tribesmen living in restive North Waziristan revolted against a local Taliban commander, Maulana Alim Khan, and killed his six fighters when they tried to kidnap an Army officer. But for the moment, the momentum is in the opposite direction.
Indeed, news of the mosque raid prompted violent protests in such remote regions. Militants and students from madrassahs burned and looted the offices of the French Red Cross and Care International in one district of Northwest Frontier Province on Tuesday. Army and paramilitary troops had to be called to stabilize the situation.
In Peshawar, there are those with their doubts about the government's intentions, too. "Musharraf is doing all this to please the Americans," says Muhammad Arshad, a graduate from a religious seminary. "He is killing fellow Muslims to earn dollars."
But most seem to feel that the leaders of the mosque had refused reasonable negotiations and that the government's actions, though unfortunate, were necessary.
Says Nasima Jahan on her way to work: "When the talks failed, and the clerics showed no flexibility, there was no other option for the government but to act."
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