Rethinking Pakistan’s Kashmir Policy

The practical solution is for the Kashmiri`s to decide their future and Pakistan has always maintained that! In fact ur right in ur assumption that the Indian foreign policy in the eyes of world/Indian opinion has made Pakistan out to look the aggressor/inferior.
If I may kindly say so, in fact this is a failure of the Indain people and India -really they very close to being annihilated in a nuclear conflict. Despite ur rhetoric about Indian economy, the fact remains that India has the biggest number of poor people,most corrupt democracy 0n the planet- class disrmimation on a systematic level. On paper Indai is doing better - but can u imagine if Pakistan had the same stability fot the last 60 odd years and no external medling? We wud b light years ahead of India! Pakistan to me has already lost out, I`m afraid India will lose out completely if it keeps this bullheaded stance.
Unfortunately, the majority of Indians are so brainwashed by the media and the government! Anti-Pakistan propoganda buys cheap votes and sells the papers. I am afraid once again its` the innocents who always pay the price!!

The practical solution is for the Kashmiri`s to decide their future and Pakistan has always maintained that! In fact ur right in ur assumption that the Indian foreign policy in the eyes of world/Indian opinion has made Pakistan out to look the aggressor/inferior.
If I may kindly say so, in fact this is a failure of the Indain people and India -really they very close to being annihilated in a nuclear conflict. Despite ur rhetoric about Indian economy, the fact remains that India has the biggest number of poor people,most corrupt democracy 0n the planet- class disrmimation on a systematic level. On paper Indai is doing better - but can u imagine if Pakistan had the same stability fot the last 60 odd years and no external medling? We wud b light years ahead of India! Pakistan to me has already lost out, I`m afraid India will lose out completely if it keeps this bullheaded stance.
Unfortunately, the majority of Indians are so brainwashed by the media and the government! Anti-Pakistan propoganda buys cheap votes and sells the papers. I am afraid once again its` the innocents who always pay the price!!

Correction of spelling mistake:

Remember, after the 1965 war, the East Pakistanis felt that the West Pakistanis cared more about Kashmir then East Pakistan, and their alienation increased. It is NOW time for Pakistan to sort out its own problems. We need to concentrate on our own issues and seek to limit the importance of India in our foreign policy. Our foreign policy is too India-centric as of now.

Aqazi,

The author, Taimur M. Khan, isn`t influenced by any Indian rhetoric. The article is a critique of some of Pakistan`s policies, especially in the recent past. This article is not meant to be a fair assessment of the Kashmir conflict, it is merely looking at where Pakistan is now after years of conflict with India.

If you ask me, Kashmir should have gone to Pakistan back in 1947. But we have not been able to force India to give up Kashmir despite repeated attempts. Now, with the nuclearization of the sub-continent, it is clear that there is no military solution to the Kashmir conflict.

Also, there is genuine sympathy for Pakistan among Kashmir`s Muslims, and it is true that they have been alienated by India. But years of violence have wrecked their lives as well. At the end of the day, everyone wants peace and be able to live with honor. We must understand that more than a 120 million other muslims also live in India outside of Kashmir. What will happen to them if the Kashmiris somehow accede to Pakistan tomorrow?

India has a condemnable human rights record in Kashmir, and i am by no means saying that they have followed the correct policy by repressing the Kashmiris. But after 57 years, look at Pakistan? It is time for us to concentrate on our own people now. The people in Sindh, Northern areas, Baluchistan, etc. We need to work on their development. We need to work on our education system, etc. We need to integrate Azad Kashmir into Pakistan fully and make sure that parties like the JKLF in Azad Kashmir remain weak so that an independent Kashmir is not an option. We must work on our economy.

Remember, after the 1965 war, the East Pakistanis felt that the West Pakistanis cared more about Kashmir then East Pakistan, and their alienation increased. It is not time for Pakistan to sort out its own problems. We need to concentrate on our own issues and seek to limit the importance of India in our foreign policy. Our foreign policy is too India-centric as of now.

We must work with India to find a solution for Kashmir. We cannot force India on Kashmir, and India too cannot force a Kashmir solution by neglecting Pakistan. I am not saying that Pakistan should forget about Kashmir, I am just saying that the Kashmir policy must be changed now, and the military component of the policy (Pakistan`s military support to Kashmiris) must now end. It is time to follow a policy of ``Pakistan First``

-Taimur Khan

It seems to me that the author himself is influenced by Indian rehtoric about Kashmir, just like he claims the world has been. The Indian line that Kashmiris dont want to join Pakistan and that the insurgency is Pakistan supported is fully swallowed by this author to the extent of presenting it as facts.

Ofcousre Pakistan supported the freedom movement in many ways, but to say that its all Pakistan`s fault, while absolving India of everything is not right. The new concept of Independent Kashmir was never an issue, and has been brought in by India to murky the waters. Its sad to see the Pakistani ``intelligentsia`` to worship India as if its heaven on earth. Please... Lets wakeup and smell the coffee. India is not the temple of all things honest as the author puts it. They are maybe a shade better than us economically and otherwise. So lets not lose track of reality here.

Im not endorsing any militancy here. I simply think that its a matter of shame that people start bending facts just because Pakistan govt. might have been full of idiots. Just because the past policies have been dead wrong on a TRULY PRINCIPLED stand, doesnt mean that we walk away from the stand itself!

tmk...you are right about pakistan hurting the most in qualitative and quantitative terms by persisting with its` kashmir policy.And, believe you me, the indians subsidize those lazy, worthless kashmiris to the point where they have defecated on their only revenue source, namely tourism.Any sane pakistani should pray that kashmir doesn`t become their responsibility.Pakistan doesn`t have the resources to feed those arrogant beggars like India.What`s being muslim got to do with all of this??.Nothing .The kashmiri hindu is the same.It`s just `cause his ass is getting beaten up by his muslim `brethren`,that he fawns and pretends that he loves india and indians.We all know that.On the flip side, neither has the covert policy of abetting terrorism benefited pakistan.Infact, pakistan is like one big quarantine ward where all the bad eggs of the islamic world have been rounded up and contained for now, till the world is ready to deal with them.Witness, the fence at the LoC, and the world`s tacit acknowledgement and the american overlords dictating policy and security in Islamabad.Pakistan is mired in thick shit and will soon be flushed out of existence and it won`t be India that will be blamed for it.Pakistan just brought it upon itself.

Sir,

A few weeks ago, I attended a talk here at the University of Pennsylvania in
Philadelphia by Christina Rocca, the Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for
South Asian Affairs. She portrayed a very bright picture of India and was also
quite enthusiastic on how Bangladesh was doing, but was quite cautious when she
mentioned Pakistan, talking about the U.S. vision and hope for Pakistan`s
future.

I asked her about the lack of progress in Pakistan`s Madrassah reforms and what
the Bush administration was doing to `encourage` and help General Musharraf in
this regard. She replied by saying that the administration was keeping track of
the situation and was providing financial suppport to Pakistan for this purpose,
and was also helping in trying to provide for viable alternatives, but realized
that this was a time-consuming project to rectify a system that has long been
failing.

However, it is the responsibility of the Pakistan government to take the lead on
this issue but it seems that it is oblivious to the need for `real`
Madrassah reform. Looking at recent attempts to purge the mainstream Pakistani
education system of some objectional material and the negative reaction to it
(from liberal parties as well), i believe Madrassah reform and indeed
comprehesnive education reform will be a tough job. Led by Zubeida Jalal, who
never tires of informing us that she is ``proud to be a fundamentalist``, the
reform effort does not seem to be making a lot of progress, at least for now.

General Musharraf never tires of proclaiming how Al-Khalid tanks and Ghauris
have secured the future of Pakistan and rendered our defence ``impregnable``.
That may be true in terms of international security theories, but the real
threat lies within, in the vast masses of illiterate citizens who go to
Madrasshas for lack of a better alternative and are indoctrinated with extreme
versions of religion which render them subject to manipulation, such as the
suicide bomber who massacred 15 of his fellow Muslims in Karachi the other day.
Our defence will only become ``impregnable`` when the people of Pakistan are well
educated, have jobs and homes and a good life to look forward to. For this, we
must invest in our education system, for real security comes from a satisfied
population, not from Al-Khalid tanks and Ghauri replicas erected at roundaouts.


Regards,

Taimur Masud Khan
USA

I`m just tired of Kashmir and the Kashmiris.If they don`t want to be a part of India let them go and do whatever they want.Which is precious little ,i might add considering they are in a landlocked land with very few arable surfaces.The only thing they got going for them is tourism and look at the way they have shat on that form of revenue.Not a very bright people,i must emphasize.Anyways, minus Leh and Ladakh and Jammu ``kashmir`` and ``azad kashmir`` cut a rather sorry ,pathetic image in my eyes.They remind me of the kurd region in Iraq, which eventually will be their fate as they have to align with pakistan to survive.And we all know what the greedy pak-punjabi would do--swallow the kashmiri whole or make them all their servants and bugger their children and overtake their land.Maybe that`s what the kashmiris really want...to be dominated by someone.The rest of us in India will go on to create this century`s superpower..we`re doing that anyway.I think its` time India called the kashmiri`s bluff and allow them to make fools of themselves and save a lot of money in the process.

``..... India being the status quo power in Kashmir has neither any reason nor any need to cross the LoC and touch off a military showdown with Pakistan. The thinking in New Delhi seems to be that, with the help of training and equipment being provided, its forces will be able to deal with what it calls ``cross-borer terrorism`` without any escalation.

Another factor weighing with New Delhi is the international respect that the LoC has gained after Kargil. Since the international community is strongly opposed to any change in borders by force, India would not like to forfeit the goodwill it has come to acquire. .....``

Letter to Daily Times:

Pak-Israel relations

Sir: It is great news that the Israeli Agriculture Minister, Yisrael Katz, is planning to visit Pakistan. Israel is a reality that Pakistan must accept, and I am glad that the Pakistan government has finally realised that Israel is too important a country to be ignored any longer.

Pakistan can benefit greatly by forging ties with Israel, in particular in the economic and scientific sectors. Improving its relations with Pakistan is also important for the government of Israel since Pakistan is the world’s second largest Muslim country and it would help Israel if it could establish relation with Pakistan.

The government of Pakistan must start preparing its people for the recognition of Israel (which hopefully will be soon). The people of Pakistan must be convinced that friendship with Israel is in Pakistan’s best interests and that this will not affect our stand on a state for the Palestinians. At the same time, Pakistan must tread this path carefully, not antagonising important Arab countries like Saudi Arabia. Pakistan will also have to take into account Iran’s reaction to this development.

With skilful diplomacy, Pakistan can retain the friendship of Arab countries (including the Palestinian Authority) while forging ties with Israel.
TAIMUR MASUD KHAN
USA

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In my humble opinion:
The Kashmir policy swallowed by Pakistan namely ``Self determination for the Kashmiris``, is an overdose of undigestable fodder, just like the insertion of Taliban in Afghanistan for geo-stratagic depth. Pakistan is therefore suffering with a HUGE and very old constipation. The world powers (mainly US) have made their diagnosis and have administered ``Anti Proliferation Jamaalgota`` to remove the mental block! Afgahnistan is out of the Pakistani system, Kashmir is not far behind. A deep breath followed by a strong push ...will relieve Pakistan of the said ``mental obstruction``, clear thinking will automatically follow.
In case the APJ does not do the trick, a little squeezing will be requiered -international sanctions. Hope you all remember the taste of this bitter medicine, when Bill Clinton refused to Shake hands with the Rogue General, who is now parading himself as the saviour of Pakistan.
By the way -there is no point resisting the enema (US Troops in Pakistan) that will shortly be given to you (middle of March?) to flush out Osama and his buddies.
Blame Mushrraf if you do not enjoy the experience -according to general, it is going to be a warm, fuzzy, and very relaxing.

A good editrial in Daily Times, 02/07/04:

EDITORIAL: Lessons of l’affaire proliferation

The nuclear proliferation episode needed to be put to rest as quickly as possible in the national interest and General Pervez Musharraf has mercifully taken the right steps to do just that. This is what we consistently said while this sorry episode was unfolding and this is what we hope will result following Dr A Q Khan’s confessional statement and acceptance of his clemency petition.

General Musharraf was right when he said that the episode endangered Pakistan — on the basis of these charges, Pakistan could potentially face serious consequences at the hands of the United Nations Security Council. He is also right to have chided some retired military generals for shooting off their mouths on sensitive issues that impinge on the country’s national security. He will also be hailed for not allowing any intrusive inspections or rollback of Pakistan’s nuclear programme at the behest of outside agencies or countries. And we appreciate his dilemma when he says that he has done whatever he could to find a middle way and ‘shield’ Dr Khan. But it is difficult not to question some of his other assertions and assumptions or to draw the same conclusions as he has done in other aspects of the matter.

General Musharraf’s attitude towards the civilians in general, and the press and its functions in particular, is becoming increasingly haughty and condescending. His assertion that the media should not have printed foreign articles “damaging to Pakistan” is stretching the point too far. The press in Pakistan, by and large, including this newspaper, exercised much restraint on the story for as long as possible. But this position could not be maintained after the entire western press went after the news, with most stories being datelined Islamabad. Also, there is no tradition anywhere in the free world of silencing the press on a particular issue. For instance, the Bush government cannot ask newspapers in the United States to refrain from publishing stories of its failing in Iraq because in its perception it is against the American national interest. If a government policy goes bad, heads should roll in government and the press cannot be faulted for pointing this out. Equally, General Musharraf’s reference to the Iranian, Libyan and the North Korean press would have extracted a laugh if the matter under discussion were not so serious. Is there a free press in Libya and North Korea? Even in Iran, we know what price journalists have to pay to tell the whole truth. Surely, Mr Musharraf cannot boast of a free press in Pakistan and then demand in the same breath that the Pakistani press should put a voluntary lid on information that the whole world is free to read! If something is known outside Pakistan it is futile to ask or expect the Pakistani media to black it out. The “national interest” does not come into this equation at all.

General Musharraf needs to trace the problem back to the absence of a policymaking process, not the press, in this matter. He came close to it when he dubbed, correctly, some former generals as “pseudo-military philosophers”. May we remind General Musharraf that these gentlemen ran the destiny of this country and a host of specific strategic policies in the “national interest” for a very long time and are born, conditioned and begotten of the same tradition and acculturation as the present top brass in whose ranks General Musharraf must also be counted. May we also remind General Musharraf that he too is no stranger to the Pakistani tradition of formulating unstructured policies and then trying to cover tracks?

We appreciate the efforts General Musharraf has made to put the lid on this cauldron but we expect him to heed the logic of this situation instead of shooting in the wrong direction. Dr Khan said he proliferated in ‘good faith’ but that he erred in his judgement. When policymaking processes are shunned and individuals come to define ‘national interest’ the chances of such errors of judgement tend to become much greater. That is the first and foremost lesson of this episode. The other is that states must not be run on the basis of misplaced ideological zeal because zealotry is the antithesis of cool, calculated and objective assessment. The third, related lesson is that states must not punch above their weight. The fourth lesson is that transparency and accountability always pay off in the end. The fifth lesson is that no one can be allowed to become bigger than state institutions. The sixth lesson is that army chiefs need to understand the limitations of the army itself and how much and to what extent the army is to be allowed to define the national interest.

The press is easy to browbeat, especially when journalists are sitting in a press conference and have been bombarded with allegations of acting against the national interest. So if some people did not take on General Musharraf when he was a little hot under his military collar, they can hardly be blamed. Discretion was obviously the better part of valour that day.

The pressures for change, as General Musharraf knows, are likely to come from outside. Must we always effect changes because of external pressures? Is it possible that we might begin to take indigenous voices seriously rather than trying to silence them? These are the real issues. It’s the message that should be tackled, not the messenger. *

Letter to Daily Times, 02/07/04:

Damage control

Sir: The recent disclosures about A.Q Khan’s nuclear proliferation have created a serious situation. Pakistan will be under severe pressure in the coming weeks and months. The demands will range from permitting international inspections to perhaps a rollback of the nuclear programme. But Pakistan has simply invested too much in the programme to abandon it at this juncture.

President Pervez Musharraf should be cognisant of the international community’s scepticism of Pakistan’s official position regarding this issue. Keeping in mind the seriousness of the charges, President Musharraf and the army must conceive of a comprehensive plan to mollify the concerns of the international community and convince them of the security of Pakistan’s nuclear assets. This is both in the interest of the army as well as Pakistan.

More worrying is the reaction in Pakistan, where a majority thinks the entire episode is some sort of a cover-up by the Pakistan Army to hide its own involvement in the affair. This growing schism between the Pakistan Army and the people does not bode well for the future and can have dire consequences if nothing is done to arrest this trend.

It is in Pakistan’s interest to end this issue as soon as possible. However, a story such as this will not end easily and events like AQ Khan’s controversial pardon and confession will only lead to more speculation. President Musharraf would do well to be a bit more forthcoming about the role of security agency officials who worked at KRL.

In the end, while it is important to reassure the international community, it is even more important to win over the trust of the people of Pakistan.
TAIMUR MASUD KHAN
USA

Opinion in Daily Times, 02/07/04:

Op-ed: All’s well that ends well —Shaukat Qadir

Just as it seemed that Pakistan was involved in an inescapable nuclear imbroglio, we have managed to come out of it almost unscathed. The entire country was accusing the government of Pakistan, and in particular General Pervez Musharraf, of having succumbed to US pressure by interrogating the true icons of the country — our nuclear scientists — who had, given us God’s most sacred gift, the bomb; and of having sold out to the US, with plans to roll back our nuclear programme.

The opposition was all set to take the battle to the streets. Perhaps, on this issue, they might even have found popular support. Almost all segments of society were unanimous in their condemnation of intended punitive actions against those guilty of proliferation. The odd voice of sanity attempting to explain that those guilty of proliferation had, in fact, endangered our nuclear programme did so at its own peril.

There was AQ Khan threatening disclosure of all and sundry, bandying about names of ex-COAS and promising dire consequences. Rumours were rife about his having smuggled out a videocassette with his daughter. She would have made this video, which was said to contain his version of the truth, available to the international media to the great embarrassment of the military establishment of Pakistan. Discussions on TV channels were heated and charged with emotion in support of the poor scientists who were going to be made scapegoats for an activity that could never have taken place without the army’s approval, since they were the real custodians. Every imaginable conspiracy theory was running rife in the streets of Islamabad/Rawalpindi, as they must certainly have been in every corner of the country.

Suddenly everything is at peace again. The greatest icon of the country; Dr AQ Khan himself has come forth. Not only has he confessed, but has stated that he alone was responsible for this act, that all his subordinates had acted on his instructions, that there was no approval from any ex COAS for the proliferation. The trail began and ended with him. He has gone further and publicly addressed the nation, accepting that his acts were errors, against the law and the greater national interests, apologising for embarrassing the government and the nation, and petitioning the president for mercy.

He has even appealed to the people and the politicians to not embarrass him by politicising the issue. Shakespeare himself could not have turned a tragedy into a comedy more effectively. Whoever the author/architect of this drama, he deserves accolades; I did comment in one of my earlier articles that the failures of the intelligence agencies are often quoted, while their successes go unnoticed. Well here is one worthy of attention and praise. It has saved not just the government but also the entire nation of embarrassment.

There is little doubt that after General Ziaul Haq took over, the country’s nuclear programme was firmly under the military’s control. We actually successfully cold-tested our device, I believe, in 1985. Therefore proliferation could only have occurred between then and till as recently as anyone would like to think. Two of the men who held the post of army chief during this period are dead, which leaves four alive including General Pervez Musharraf.

It is also my view that the US would have been much happier if the entire matter had been quietly dealt with, so long as effective safeguards were emplaced to prevent future proliferation. However, Iran and Libya’s disclosures to the IAEA forced the government’s hand into initiating the ‘debriefing’. Otherwise the entire affair would probably have been swept under the carpet with the tacit approval of the US.

However, once the disclosures became public, Musharraf and the government had no option but to pursue the matter in accordance with national and international laws. In the absence of the ‘confession’ of AQ Khan, prosecution would have been an ugly affair. It could not have been possible for the trial to be held in camera and in full view of the public. This would have weakened the present government internally and externally.

But AQ Khan’s decision has obviated the necessity for a trial, where perhaps other names might have cropped up. His unequivocal acceptance of responsibility and appeal for mercy provided a way out for the Musharraf government. Now all those involved can be administered a slap on their wrists, perhaps sent to jail for a short period (of course the time spent there will be relatively luxurious) and there is no need to look any further than AQ Khan.

Personally, I believe that if proliferation actually took place, once that period, or periods, has been established, the COAS of the time, is at least guilty of negligence — the assets were under his personal safe custody. Consequently, he is at the very least culpable for negligence. It is again my personal view that were the regime to pursue this course and take it to its logical conclusion, Musharraf would indeed be the stronger for it. AQ Khan’s statement has taken out most of the wind from the sails of those threatening opposition. In my opinion, he has only now become a national hero. Musharraf could render the opposition totally toothless by allowing the responsibility to fall where it logically should.

The author is a retired brigadier. He is also the ex-founder Vice President of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI)

Daily Times, opinion, 02/07/04:

Op-ed: The nuclear controversy and damage control —Abbas Rashid

This is not a time for point scoring and the issue has to be seen in a national context. But, aside from the demand for across-the-board accountability extending to the military, this may be a good time for the president to rethink his decision to exclude the mainstream parties from office and power

The last few weeks have seen some dramatic and unsetttling developments regarding Pakistan and the proliferation issue. In particular, there was the confession read out on the state media by Dr A Q Khan, a man widely regarded as the father of Pakistan’s A-bomb and held therefore in great esteem within the country. This was preceded by his televised meeting with President Pervez Musharraf, in which Mr Khan appeared as a supplicant to the grim-looking president.

Mr Khan’s case was referred by the National Command Authority to the Cabinet, which recommended a presidential pardon. During a press conference on Thursday the president announced that he had decided to accept the recommendation and pardon Dr Khan.

The ball had been set rolling a few weeks earlier when towards the end of last year Mr Mohamed El Baradei, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), sent a letter seeking information from Pakistan in the context of a nuclear proliferation trail that had been picked up as a result of IAEA’s scrutiny of Iran’s nuclear programme. Obviously the evidence presented to the government left it with few options other than seriously investigating possible proliferation channels leading out from Pakistan’s nuclear programme. Some of Pakistan’s top nuclear scientists associated with the Kahuta Research Laboratories (KRL) including Dr A Q Khan were investigated and the sequence led up to Dr Khan’s mea culpa on state media.

The well-choreographed exercise obviously sought a closure to what is an extremely difficult issue for the government. In his statement, Dr Khan while emphasising that he acted in ‘good faith’ took full responsibility for whatever proliferation took place under his charge. In doing so he absolved others, particularly the military, of any complicity. The presidential pardon that many see as a quid pro quo means that he will not be called to account and there will be no potentially embarrassing trial with other names being named.

For its part the US has made it clear that it will, for the moment, continue to accept the way in which the president has proceeded to handle this issue. US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage in a statement Wednesday said that President Musharraf ‘is the right man at the right time in the leadership of Pakistan.’ A State department spokesman elaborated that “...the process of investigation that has been undertaken by the Pakistani government does, indeed, demonstrate that President Musharraf and the government of Pakistan take seriously their commitment, their assurances, that they were not going to allow their technology to be used to help other nations that might be trying to develop weapons of mass destruction...”

On the face of it there appears no major pressure from the US for now to expand the arena of investigations, formally, to include others that may have been involved in proliferation-related activity. In a way then the circle could be deemed closed. But not quite, as is made clear by the IAEA head, Al Baradei’s statement on Thursday: “... Dr Khan is the tip of the iceberg for us.”.Mr Baradei added, “...he [Dr Khan] was not working alone” and that “we need to follow this through — we need to know who was producing centrifuges.”

This probably is a reference to individuals or facilities in Europe and elsewhere that are part of the nuclear underworld. We don’t know, therefore, what evidence may be unearthed as a part of these investigations and whether any of it could be linked back to Pakistan and to whom. But, clearly Pakistan will have to proceed with caution. It may not find it a simple task to move away from under this uncomfortable spotlight in the months to come.

Notwithstanding the show of support by the Bush administration — China has also been quick to signal its support — for the way in which the government has handled the issue, Pakistan has come to be viewed in a certain context with regard to proliferation activities. Consider the February 5, editorial in the influential Washington Post titled ‘Pakistan’s nuclear crimes.’

Arguing that the US or the UN must have the means of ensuring Pakistan’s compliance to its commitment to stop proliferation it says “...the administration must face up to the reality that Pakistan’s military leadership has done more to threaten US and global security with weapons of mass destruction than either al Qaeda or Saddam Hussain.” One may certainly point out that US policies contributed greatly to building up both but the issue at hand is different. For Pakistan, such perceptions represent a serious threat that must be diffused.

The government now faces a dilemma: in order to safeguard the core nuclear programme under these circumstances it must yield to international pressure on some issues, particularly with regard to proliferation which just about heads the list of global nuclear concerns. President Musharraf sought to underline this by saying that Dr A Q Khan was a hero to him as well but where Pakistan’s interests were at stake, the latter came first.

Similarly, while flatly rejecting UN inspections, the president was quick to add that Pakistan was entirely willing to share relevant information with the IAEA. In the months to come, in order to deflect the pressure on the core programme, the government may well need to consider signing the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). The problem is that measures such as action against the scientists, cooperation with the IAEA or a possible signing of the CTBT would be seen as a roll-back of the nuclear programme under US pressure rather than an effort to preserve what is essential to it. The MMA with its strike call on Friday on this issue is leading the drive to portray the government’s actions as a roll back. The mainstream parties will also see this as an issue on which the government is vulnerable.

In his press conference President Musharraf alluded to the gravity of the situation and sought a sober and clear-headed response from all quarters. Indeed, this is not a time for point scoring and the issue has to be seen in a national context. But, aside from the demand for across-the-board accountability extending to the military, this may be a good time for the president to rethink his decision to exclude the mainstream parties from office and power. Their cooperation and support will be needed more than ever before to get through the difficult times ahead.

Abbas Rashid is a freelance journalist and political analyst whose career has included editorial positions in various Pakistani newspapers