US-Pakistan relations have never been stable. The US prefers to deal with Pakistani generals thinking they can deliver what Washington demands. The current Pakistan army chief has fallen to new lows in sucking up to Donald Trump, in hopes of continuing to remain in power.
Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan languishes in prison under horrible conditions. Held on bogus charges, he refuses to surrender to the army’s demands. Instead, he has issued a call for countrywide protests climaxing on August 5. Their outcome will determine Pakistan’s future.
The US-Israel war on had set out to achieve three objectives: destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities completely, degrade its missile and air defence systems rendering it defenceless, and pave the way for regime change. The evil duo failed in all three.
Pakistan’s de facto ruler, General Asim Munir, self-appointed Field Marshal, debased himself before Donald Trump for a morsel of mutton. Trump used him to lull Islamic Iran into believing that the US would not attack for another two weeks. Pakistan will pay a heavy price for such treachery.
In typical knee-jerk reaction, India accused Pakistan of orchestrating the Pahalgam terrirst attack in Indian-occupied Kashmir. It downgraded diplomatic relations with Pakistan, closed the Attari-Wahaga border and threatened to abandon the Indus Water Treaty. These are acts of war.
Brutal in nature, the military in Pakistan has now declared the establishment of the “Hard State” to suppress even more harshly the people who dare to question its exercise of unconstitutional powers. People in Balochistan and KP province are rising up against these policies.
Pakistan’s sorry state—politically, economically and socially—can be traced directly to the military’s illegal inteference in every state institution. There is a long sordid history of this and unless the military is made to confine its role to security, Pakistan may not survive.
History seems to be repeating itself. The Bani Saud's execution of the respected Islamic scholar Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr has aroused intense hatred for them and also stoked the already simmering sectarian warfare. Will the Bani Saud survive their latest folly?
