NewsSunday, March 09, 2008
Pakistanis unhappy with conduct of war on terror: analyst
* Ayesha Siddiqa says country’s economy had not done well under military rule
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: Military analyst Dr Ayesha Siddiqa has said that one of the main reasons why opposition parties won was that Pakistanis were unhappy with the way the Musharraf government was fighting the war on terror. She said the US government was concerned as to the extent to which the incoming government in Pakistan would cooperate with Washington. She said that behind US support for certain elements of the Pakistani society, lay the specious perception of modernity. She noted that whenever the Western media spoke of Pakistani politicians, they inevitably look for their Western educational credentials. Similarly, the West considers army generals ‘modern’. She accused the US of strengthening the Pakistani military rather than the forces of democracy. Dr Siddiqa was speaking at a meeting held at Stanford University in California. She said the military in Pakistan today was a giant, which had strong political and economic control, plus a dominant social presence. Debunking an argument:She debunked the argument that the Pakistani economy had always done better under military rule. The price the country has had to pay at the end of every stint of such rule has been heavy. She asserted that real stability in Pakistan would come from the country’s ordinary people and the latest elections had shown that these “illiterate” people were quite capable of making intelligent decisions. She said democracy should be given a chance, even when financial scandals surface. She said the army should not misunderstand public criticism. “It should understand that it is not made out of spite. The army is an institution of the state of Pakistan. It should be owned by us. We should feel pride in it.”
Courtesy Daily Times