Communicating Arts - Main Web SiteWhen it comes to putting it all together, I may trust Pakistan's Daily Times more than myself for filling the gaps and smoothing the edges. Much in tomorrow's editorial (only on the web may one get away with that construction), especially the alphabet soup that denotes the names of political parties, wings its way beyond my comprehension, but I find it fine reading nonetheless.
The wrap especially interests me: "The sad fact that the Musharraf establishment has failed to stem the tide of Talibanisation will imperil the onward journey of democracy. All the challenges that could not be met for lack of political support will have to be abandoned or postponed, thus discrediting the authority of President Musharraf and finally damaging the national economy."
My impression of the Lal Masjid episode and the run-up to it was that of the leadership exercising extraordinary patience in watching where the student's initiatives were going to go in the interest of delivering as true an Islamic program to Pakistan as possible within the conventions associated with both tolerant Democratic government and frankly indulgent fathering of a sort: brave as they may have been and martyred as they were, the students, however led and by whoever, were nonetheless just young students and seem to have been treated as such until taking up arms, AK-47's, first against law enforcement and then the military.
Another element in that thought raises other questions: " . . . for lack of political support." [1]
What does that mean, really?
American presidents, popularly elected, seldom have the majority support of the country in their day-to-day administration of the country. We're a tough crowd and generally unhappy, albeit each over different issues.
One might ask the Pakistani on the street: would you have been happier if the student mission in the Red Mosque had succeeded in taking over a square mile of Islamabad and installed Sharia under the guidance of the Taliban?
From the other side, how much government intrusion and "guidance" would have been or would now be tolerated in the clerical community?
As hosts to Islamic communities, the western governments have more questions, and similar ones, on their plates than answers as regards providing a secure environment for religious faith and expression while being careful not to compromise their own open and democratic societies nor leave themselves defenseless in the face of potential violent political action.
Wherever Lebanon has gone and Iraq and Somalia reside, Pakistan seems not to have gone there, and, in fact, seems to want to organize itself with much, much less trauma.
Perhaps it has been put together even better than it knows.
1. "Editorial: Fallout of Naraz Sharif's second exile." Daily Times. September 11, 2007.
Correspondence and Permissions: James S. Oppenheim
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