Pakistanis are worried about Taliban takeover

The director of Sanchetna, Hanif Lakdawala, toured Pakistan from February 22 to 25. Excerpts from the account of his visit:

We were travelling by two vehicles, with police vehicles escorting us all the way to Lahore from Wagah. One of my colleagues, who had visited Pakistan earlier, said that the atmosphere was completely different in the country during the presidential elections in August and September last year.

People were optimistic and were looking forward to Pakistan becoming a genuine democracy once again. It was sad to see that people had lost all hope in just one year.

They seemed to have lost faith in themselves and in their political judgements.
In Lahore and then in Islamabad, we met many senior politicians of the country, including former prime ministe r Nawaz Sharif and the current president of Awami National Party, Asfandiyar Wali Khan. We talked about peace between our two countries and other issues of common interest.

We made it clear that we in India were angry with Pakistan over the involvement of its citizens in the Mumbai terror attacks. Nawaz Sharif said he understood our feelings. "I assure you that we will do everything we can to restore our relations to normal," he said.
Sharif added that India should take the initiative to start peace talks with Pakistan. I had the feeling that there was an urgency in his request because, with the Taliban having de facto control over the Swat valley, he is worried about Pakistan's fate. "I am not sure of the future of Pakistan," he said.

When Sharif said he was uncertain about his country's future, he was simply giving voice to a fear that is widespread in the country. The ordinary Pakistani is very worried that the Taliban and their sympathisers could take over the country anytime.

There is, however, some difference of opinion about what kind of army rule Pakistan will have this time. Most people, however, believe that the army is full of Taliban supporters, all of whom are hardcore fanatics.

Swat has militarily strategic location. It is 100 miles from Islamabad but is close to Kashmir too. The people here live in perpetual fear, so much so that even the police are reluctant to go out after 8 in the evening. There is no administration worth the name and the writ of the central government in Islamabad does not run here. The Taliban run the place as education for girls is forbidden here.

I felt that the ordinary Pakistani genuinely yearns for peace with India. Almost all the political leaders we met emphasised this. Moreover, I agree with Pakistanis that whatever happens in Swat would, ultimately, affect peace in Kashmir as well. Being their neighbours, it is in our interest to help democratic elements in Pakistan, before things get out of hand in that country.

The other issue that is agitating ordinary Pakistanis is the reinstatement of former chief justice of Pakistan's supreme court, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhary. A rally has been planned by lawyers on March 11 to demand his re-instatement.

The lawyers had asked Nawaz Sharif, too, to join the March 11 rally. Sharif declined saying that if there was more unrest against Zardari than the army would get an excuse to intervene. Yet, despite his refusal to join the March 11 rally, Sharif may eventually join the lawyers if their agitation turns into a big movement.

Given the current situation in Pakistan, I think it is imperative that we support the democratically elected government of Pakistan. We cannot afford to watch from the sidelines while Pakistan slides into a Taliban-controlled abyss.

During our meeting with Pakistan's Information Minister, Sherry Rehman, we found him very keen that India resume peace talks as early as possible. We could not meet Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari but we met his sister, Faryal Talpur, and some ministers of the central government.

Talpur said that India should not blame Pakistan for the Mumbai terror strikes because her country was itself a victim of terrorism.

We, however, reminded her that the Taliban was created with Pakistan support and that her country was now paying the price for supporting terrorist earlier. We made it clear to her that India had never had any dealings with the Taliban but had been targeted by it time and time again.

We also told her that we knew that anyone fighting terrorism must be supported. But as the Taliban were operating from Pakistani territory, the responsibility of fighting lay mainly with Pakistan.

Pakistani leaders were insistent as we came to the end of our trip that the peace process must be resumed. They seem to want to help in the investigation of the Mumbai terror attacks.

Most Pakistanis we talked to said they were convinced right at the beginning that Kasab was from Pakistan. Even Nawaz Sharif conceded that if the Pakistan government had accepted at the very beginning that Kasab was from Pakistan, much bad blood between the two nations could have been avoided.