The Talibanisation of Pakistan makes for a worried world

In the second killing this year of a senior government official who had spoken out against the country’s stringent anti-blasphemy laws, Pakistan’s minorities minister, the only Christian in the cabinet, was gunned down by suspected Islamist militants in Islamabad. The assassination came as a severe blow to Pakistani liberals, who are increasingly being silenced by Muslim hard-liners willing to use violence against those who do not share their views. Bhatti led a government investigation late last year into the case of a Christian woman sentenced to death on blasphemy charges. Bhatti said at the time that he had determined she was innocent and deserved to be pardoned and Pakistan’s president, Asif Ali Zardari had appointed him to a committee to review the blasphemy statutes.

Bhatti’s death removed one of the few leaders still openly advocating the reform of laws that make insulting Islam a capital crime — a stance that PM Yousaf Raza Gillani and other politicians disowned after the governor of Punjab province, Salman Taseer, was killed in January.

As happened after Taseer’s assassination, the government condemned Bhatti’s killing and said in a statement that “the time has come for the federal government and provincial governments to speak out and to take a strong stand against these murderers to save the very essence of Pakistan.” But the government, led by Zardari’s Pakistan People’s Party, has not championed the views of Taseer and Bhatti.

Zardari and Gilani did not attend Taseer’s funeral. Sherry Rehman, a ruling party lawmaker who had proposed legislation to reform the anti-blasphemy laws, withdrew the bill, saying the party did not support it. The government-employed bodyguard who killed Taseer was showered with petals at his court appearances by lawyers, who a few years back were considered to be the vanguard of a more open Pakistan.

This radicalisation of Pakistani society is complicating American attempts to effectively counter extremists in Afghanistan and now the cancer has spread to Pakistan itself. Though Pakistan remains key to success in defeating the Taliban and eliminating al Qaeda’s activities in the region, the Obama administration has grown impatient with Pakistan for its foot-dragging against the militant sanctuaries in border areas.

The Pakistani military leadership has also rebuffed American plans to move against key militant stronghold in North Waziristan. Radical extremists are exploiting the growing chaos to their advantage as ineffective governance has forced diversion of resources away from the nation’s struggle with Islamic militants.
The US views Pakistan as a dishonest partner, unwilling or unable to stop elements of the Pakistani intelligence service from giving clandestine aid, weapons and money to the Afghan Taliban. The US president, Barack Obama himself has made it clear to author Bob Woodward that “the cancer is in Pakistan.”

For Obama the reason to create a secure, self-governing Afghanistan was to prevent the spread of the ‘cancer’ from Pakistan. Pakistan’s main priority has been to take on its home grown branch of the Taliban, Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP). But the links between TTP and other terrorist organisations are much too evident to ignore. The US has also pressured Pakistan on Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT). Though Pakistani government is holding the commander of the Mumbai attacks, he “continues to direct LeT operations from his detention center.

“But the Pakistani military has other priorities. Its chief, Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has admitted to the US that his focus remains on India. In Woodward’s account, he proudly informed the US national security advisor that “I’m India-centric.”

Despite the tide of religious fanaticism sweeping across Pakistan, most recently exemplified by the assassination of liberal governor of Punjab province and now of the minorities’ minister, the Pakistani security establishment continues to view religious extremist groups as assets that could be exploited to serve strategic interests during and after the endgame in Afghanistan.

Fearing American withdrawal soon, Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, now seems ready to hitch his wagon to Pakistan. He now views Pakistan playing a positive role by helping deny terrorists sanctuary and use its leverage over some elements of the Afghan Taliban.

Facing the collapse of the nation-building project in Afghanistan on the one hand and Pakistan’s rising influence on the other, India’s policy in Afghanistan stands at a crossroads. Growing influence of radicals in Pakistani society further makes Indian position difficult. The biggest foreign policy challenge for New Delhi in the coming months will to contain the spared of radical Islam from Af-Pak.