Pakistan's Best and Brightest

It is anything but reassuring that the one Muslim country in the world (for the time being) in possession of nuclear armaments is a political, social, religious basketcase.  Pakistan is beset by terrorist groups, home-grown and imported, but mostly from within.  Saudi Arabia has something to answer for there, with its traditional oil-money funding of fanatically ferocious madrassas teaching young Pakistani boys and men the splendours of jihad and martyrdom.

Jihadi training camps throughout the country, and the rise of the Pakistani Taliban have resulted in a country torn by extremists intent on solidifying their hold on the mountainous tribal regions, spreading their brand of extremism to urban areas, giving safe haven to al-Qaeda and to Afghan Taliban, battling their own insurgency for supremacy and spreading Sharia law throughout both countries. 

Conflict between the Pakistan military and the secret service, both of which gave initial impetus to the Afghan Taliban, now battling their own Taliban has torn the country apart.  The urban and the tribal mountainous regions are worlds apart; one aspiring to Muslim-style democracy, the other reaching back to pure Islamism. 

When it suited the government's purpose to encourage jihadists to attack India, over ownership of  Kashmir, that covert activity took place.  Unleashing a monster heralds future problems impossible to rectify as simply as the original plan seemed to indicate.  The International Committee of the Red Cross has been forced to halt most of its aid programs in Pakistan as a result of deteriorating security.

Taliban insurgents beheaded a British staff doctor in the spring, and matters have gone from bad to worse since then.  "All relief and protection activities are being stopped.  All projects of rehabilitation, economic projects, have been terminated", announced head of ICRC operations in South Asia.  Focus would remain on treating patients wounded in fighting through the reopening of a surgical field hospital in Peshawar.

Violence is so all-encompassing, international observers have every reason to feel wary about unfortunate and fearsome possibilities.  Such as jihadists swarming onto military bases where nuclear installations are located.  Attacks on military bases and police stations are common enough.  The Pakistan administration claims it has sufficient safeguards to ensure that their nuclear installations remain safe.

The nightmare scenario of a country that denied knowledge of Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda residing within its borders held in esteem and safety with the connivance of the military and the Taliban reflects a Muslim country in ownership of nuclear weapons, claiming to safeguard them from acquisition by terrorists.  This is a country whose top nuclear scientist, Abdul Qadeer Khan, took it upon himself to transfer nuclear plans to Iran, Libya and North Korea.

The Pakistan public loves A.Q. Khan, the originator of their own successful nuclear program, enabling the country to produce nuclear warheads in a geographic tinderbox.  That A.Q. Khan proudly proliferated nuclear capability to aggressively terrorist countries of the world speaks clearly enough to his values as a scientist and above all, as a Muslim, Pakistani scientist.

Yet here he is, railing against corruption in his country, founding a new political party, the Movement for Protection of Pakistan, to encourage the enterprising, nationalist youth of Pakistan to identify "incompetent politicians", and work politically to enlist and vote into power scientists, engineers, teachers and retired bureaucrats, who ostensibly, could be trusted to work in the best interests of their country.

An adviser to Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf whose ruling party A.Q. Khan has criticized as corrupt, has contempt for his allegations: "I am surprised over his allegations against the top political leadership of Pakistan, and I want to remind Dr. Qadeer that at least no politician has sold uranium or nuclear technology to other countries", said Fawad Chaudhry.