Playing with fire, again | TNS - The News on Sunday
While offering denials of any change in the country’s policy on Syria, the official spokespersons have succeeded in confirming that a change — and a dangerous one — has, indeed, taken place.
The debate on this question in political circles and the media began with the release of a joint statement at the conclusion of the Saudi crown prince’s overly-publicised visit. All knowledgeable observers were taken by surprise by the call for immediate replacement of the Syrian government with an international authority.
Two points were generally noted. First, Pakistan had never before supported the move for a regime change in Damascus. The decision to take the plunge meant only one thing for all observers except for the purblind or anyone determined not to see facts — that Pakistan had radically changed its policy on Syria. Secondly, since the new policy was presented in a Pakistan-Saudi joint statement, it was reasonable to deduce that the issue must have been raised by the Saudi crown prince and Pakistan had, wittingly or unwittingly, agreed.
The fervour with which the statement was defended by the establishment’s paid apologists, and the anger with which the critics were rebuked, reflected on the authorities’ discomfiture at having been found out. This also confirmed that the departure from the previous policy was a deliberate act.
Since this is a matter that will have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan, the government should welcome a thorough and open debate.
The repercussions of the new foreign policy alignment on the home front are likely to be no less serious. In fact, the complications within Pakistan are more easily discernible than the dangers in the external field. One does not wish to sound like an alarmist but it would be dangerous to ignore some of the possible results of the shift in foreign policy.
The proponents of the latest version of fundamentalism may see in the changed situation greater possibilities of spreading their cult of intolerance and violence. They have already destroyed the relationship of mutual respect among the various schools of
fiqh by not only declaring members of Muslim sects, other than their own, liable to death but also by displaying their capacity to execute the sentence. The threat of a spurt in sectarian bloodshed is too great to be overlooked.
That women, minority communities, and rights-based civil society organisations could come under greater pressure is obvious. That perhaps does not worry the people at the helm of affairs. What should cause them serious anxiety is the possibility that the extremists who will derive added strength from the foreign policy shift may not spare them either.
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