The visit and after

Pakistan is in the grip of horrendous problems â€" internal and external. The situation demands leadership of the highest order as also a strong and stable government. The expectations raised by the results of February elections have not been met. The two leading political parties did join forces. The coalition, however, could not endure. It is practically moribund.

Columns and cartoons aptly ask: Is there a federal government? Who takes the decisions? Why has there been no change in policies? Why are important jobs still held by men handpicked by the previous regime? Why is their failure to control prices and remedy shortages? Why is Pakistan under unrelenting pressure from outside? Why is Talibanisation spreading in Pakistan? Is the country heading towards the right direction? Do the peoples’ representatives discuss and debate national issues? Why don’t they assert themselves and call for the Assembly to meet? Why is a democratic party like PPP avoiding the parliament when weighty issues are hanging fire?

A tell tale see-saw was witnessed soon after the prime minister’s special plane took off. The Inter Services Intelligence Agency (ISI) was hurriedly placed under the unelected Interior advisor only to be reverted back to where it belonged. The “faux pas� is an interesting case which should be probed to identify the culprits and to find out why and what happened. One explanation is that it was to please Americans, Indians and Mr Karzai. All three dislike ISI.

Karzai conveniently nails it down for all the trouble that off and on erupts in Kabul (because of his own incompetence). Americans say it is mixed up with the militants. Indians accuse it whenever any and every bomb blasts takes place in India. They do it within minutes of the incident.

The knee jerks them to declare that the Pakistani intelligence had a hand in it. Their accusations are invariably picked up by USA and the western press even though no evidence is adduced. Pakistan is thrown back on the back foot. (This is in sharp contrast to Pakistan’s mild references to the Indian RAW when it suspects the Indian agencies’ involvement in terroristic incidents in Pakistan. Even when it has good evidence of such involvement, it lets the opportunity slip away without making any issue of it.)