Pakistan, due to its geographic location, recent history of Islamic Extremism, terrorism and continuing bloodshed of the minorities (especially Shias, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs), is crucial to regional and global security.
A state which was founded with a bold promise to provide “adequate, effective and mandatory safeguards in its Constitution for the protection of their religious, cultural, economic, political and administrative and other rights”, has been performing completely contrary to the Lahore resolution of March 23, 1940, by the Muslim League which called for the creation of a homeland for Muslims.
At the time of the Partition, Hindus and Sikhs were 10.4% of the population, while Christians were a minuscule 0.5%. Over the last 69 years, due to its ethnic cleansing policies, Pakistan has today 0.6% Hindus and Sikhs, and though the Christians have survived in numbers, they are bearing the brunt of frequent bloodshed from the intolerant faction of the society, condoned if not outrightly aided and abetted by the Pakistan Army.
Pakistan has surrendered itself to the idea that it can support militant outfits operating outside its borders, especially in the Indian state of Jammu & Kashmir, while deploring them at home. This deceitful state policy has turned Pakistan into a shadow country, ruled over by murky powers who speak in tongues, waging ghost wars. It is this deceit that is responsible for the cycle of butchery.
(These are not my words)
It is written by Fatima Bhutto, author of “The Shadow of the Crescent Moon”, and published in Financial Times of March 29, 2016.
The long running dispute over Kashmir has diverted the lion's share of the budget to the Army, leaving so little for schools that Pakistan now has one of the world's lowest levels of educational attainment, so said the leading article in The Times of March 29, 2016.
Terrorism has plagued Pakistan increasingly more over the past 20-odd years. What began as Islamist movements in the forefront of the campaign to wage a proxy war against India, backed and financed by Pakistan's shadowy ISI security operatives, have split into more than a dozen militant groups, all competing to attack government buildings, target religious minorities (including Shia Muslims), export terrorism to the Indian mainland... writes The Times of London in its editorial.
The recent revelations, by David Coleman Headley (alias Daood Sayed Gilani) to the special court in Mumbai through a video link from his jail in the US, are very serious indeed. He has openly and unequivocally admitted that the 26/11 attack on Mumbai was not only planned with total involvement of ISI in Pakistan but the then Pakistan Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, had even visited David Headley at his home after the ghastly attack.
