[Reader-list] "The demise of Pakistan is inevitable"

[Rakesh Iyer]

Dear Kshamendra

Pakistan, in a sense is already fractured. We are in a situation now, where
there is no idea about whom India can talk to and trust, and who it can't.
We have Zardari, Gilani and Kayani, the state actors (or those who are
acting, as done in films, for the Pakistani state on the world stage) who
always want to get more funds to actually buy weapon systems against
Pakistan, in the name of fighting terrorism on their western border and
blackmail other nations that their nation won't survive.

At the same time, we have non-state actors, who are directly or indirectly
supported by the state actors, who create problems of different kind and
blasts like Mumbai 26/11 or others. And these non-state actors create
problems for their own people too sometimes, like Peshawar blasts and Lal
Masjid incident.

The triple conundrum of terrorism in India, which we in India have been
suffering from, has one of the problems as the Pakistani state. I don't feel
that the Pakistani common people have any interest in training people to
conduct terror blasts in India, but many sections of the Pakistani elite and
the Pakistani army are involved in this, and we need to seriously look into
this. Through diplomatic pressure or other means, it's time for not only
India, but the entire world to look into this. This world, as it is, is
already suffering from so many problems. We should concentrate on such
problems rather than fighting another problem by creating it.

Hence, the Pakistani state should be told in stricter terms that no
financial aid would be provided to them, and only help through the Red Cross
or the UNICEF or other humanitarian aid would be provided. Equally, it's the
responsibility of all, including the USA, to stop giving such military
equipment, which only fuels further anger against the US in the minds of the
common people and encourages them to join the Taliban. Instead, we should go
for a different strategy and start talking with those who actually don't
want violence. Most of those who are joining Taliban, I don't feel, are
interested in making Islam the supreme religion. Their concern is simply
that innocents are getting killed in such wars, and therefore we need to
separate such people from the hoodlums and the elite among the Taliban who
set useless agendas.

Even if my suggestion is too much, at least the current stream of US action
is not going to help, and it is imperative that we change the course.
Otherwise, Obama would have still gone the same course as Bush did, and 4
years from now, people would realize that Obama never brought the change he
was supposed to.

And if Pakistan actually states that the Taliban will win, then somebody has
to take the courage to call Pakistan's bluff. Because as I see it, the
Taliban and the Pakistani state will continue to co-exist, irrespective of
whatever others want to say about it. The elites in both have set the
agendas, and they won't move away from each other.

Regards

Rakesh