Frontline Pakistan : The Struggle With Militant Islam - Arz-e-Pak

1 Frontline Pakistan
government seemed directionless, leading Pakistan onto dangerous
ground. The jihadist efforts were greeted with heartfelt gratitude by
survivors and local officials alike. In an unprecedented gesture, Azad
Kashmir’s Prime Minister, Sardar Sikandar Hayat, received the Jamaatud
Da’awa chief, Hafiz Mohammed Saeed, at his official residence in
Muzaffarabad and thanked him on behalf of his government. The same
day, the Azad Kashmir President, Lt.-General (retd) Sardar Mohammad
Anwer Khan, visited the group’s camp in the city. 7
Their new-found prestige had indeed bolstered the influence of
the radical Islamists and that was quite evident during the nationwide
protests in the second week of February 2006 against the publication
of cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed by a Danish newspaper. One
of the 12 drawings, which were reprinted in several other European
countries, showed the Prophet wearing a bomb-shaped turban with a
lit fuse. Islamic tradition bars any depiction of the Prophet Mohammed,
favourable or otherwise, to prevent idolatry. As in other Muslim
countries, the Danish cartoons fuelled anti-western sentiments in
Pakistan too. The Islamists took full advantage and turned the protests
into a violent anti-government agitation.
Among those in the forefront were the jihadist outfits. Hundreds
and thousands of people took to the streets across Pakistan on the call
of an alliance of Sunni Muslim organizations formed in the wake of the
caricatures. Chanting ‘Death to America’ and ‘Death to Musharraf’, the
protests turned violent, burning down western financial institutions
and food chains like KFC and McDonalds. 8 The furore over the Danish
cartoons had exposed the fissures that had widened over the preceding
years. For the first time since Musharraf had seized power in October
1999, there were frequent and violent protests in the country, drawing
out thousands of people.
Musharraf and his army’s unwillingness to cede power, and the lack
of democratic progress, were the main reasons why no headway was
made in countering Islamic extremism. The Musharraf government had
failed to build independent state and political institutions, or establish
free and fair elections, thereby providing a conducive environment
for extremism to flourish. Any steps Musharraf took to introduce a
modicum of democracy were countered by measures to increase
his or the military’s power. He also beefed up the military’s already
substantial powers by creating a National Security Council that he and
the military dominated.
Musharraf’s military-led government has been widely credited