NEW JERSEY, FEB 19 -
I have no hesitation in
saying that the cartoon controversy has strengthened
Musharraf's position at home and improved his image abroad
even though it continues to evoke all kinds of analytical
spin from the most rationale to the bizarre.
The Mullahs think it's time to raise their age-old
Naara (slogan) "Eik
Dhakka Aur Do" and
make it resonate in the corridors of power, but my
friends...wait...take it easy.
He just identified with you - your sentiments.
Give him a break.
The opposition in general and the anti-liberal forces in
particular may have found government's response muted, luke
warm, - even 'criminally silencing', but stoic Musharraf,
like the 'clean shaved guy in the Gilette ad' was
predictably trigger quick in saying that the controversy
over editorial cartoons of prophet Muhammad was uniting the
moderate and radical Muslims.
"The pictures offended all
Muslims, from the most moderate to the most radical," he
said, describing the Danish newspapers' campaign as both
pathetic and ridiculous.
It's been a long time since such a vantage delivery
has been made by a Pakistani leader to the West.
As if this was not enough, he grabbed the opportunity he was
looking for to differentiate between extremism and terrorism
as being complex issues that needed to be tackled
delicately. “We can curb terrorism with the use of force,
but not extremism."
Vow! A Sixer. A home run as an American would say.
Now how close could he get to aligning himself with the
religious right at home, and still be a member of the West's
" outbacksteakhouse". There lies in these utterances the
essence of his "enlightened moderation" concept. It's worth
more than $50,000 and Kissinger's signature on it.
Musharraf has made Mahathir definitely look less
intellectual on this take even though he never went to a
graduate school - the army war college at the best. At the
end of the day, while the former remains steadfast with his
Western allies, Mahathir has become history, but his
occasional outpourings against the West seem to resound
every time there is a semblance of clash of civilization any
where, or should I say, clash of interests between the third
world and the West any time.
Analysts say the cartoon protests have become a
political challenge to Gen Musharraf and his pro-American
policies - and they could continue.
I doubt. Musharraf just "joined them to fight them". His
instincts for survival made him do that. The nation may not
have any reason to come out on the streets and challenge
him, for after all he has sided with them, and articulated their
sentiments. He also did what Muttahida did a month back.
They sabotaged MMA's protest after Bajaur air strike
that killed 18 tribesmen, by joining and then leading,
controlling the
protests, remember?
The net result was an unhappy camper named MMA.
The February 14 riots in Lahore, bloody and nasty as they
were, introduced a new element to the history of protest
movements – looting by young men in jeans and loose shirts
of the kind that can be seen doing wheelies on the streets
of Lahore on Sundays, said the Daily Times.
Although the mob which ransacked and plundered shops on The
Mall included the stereotype religious parties’ bearded
activists in turbans or scarves, the vanguards of vandalism
were young men aged between 17 and 25 with canes, added
Daily Times.
Said Pakistan People’s Party leader Aitzaz Ahsan, “Religious
workers have gone through a change as well — they wear jeans
now.”
What's wrong with that? Don't the religious born agains,
Christian right and the Catholic youth world over wear
jeans, beads, drink, dance and pray too and still maintain a
fundamental approach towards Jesus, God and the Bible?
Does that mean practicing Muslims and the Pakistani youth
should not be wearing jeans and shirts but only Pajamas,
Robes and beards - exactly what the media want them to look
like?
Beards, robes, hijabs and bandanas do not define a Muslim or
a jihadi. While the former is a way of life - the latter is
a state of mind, artificially manufactured for psychological
warfare, sometimes by the extremists, at one time by
the West.
Keep on going my friend. A commando does not blink! |
