The photo to the left shows stormy clouds gathering over Islamabad on December 16, 2008.
Today, which is just six days later from when this photo was taken, I believe there is another storm brewing in Islamabad on its political and foreign relations front. Not withstanding the conspiracy theories still circling around in Pakistan, there is growing consensus in the rest of the world that Pak-based elements were behind Mumbai attacks. Gordon Brown served a notice to Pakistan during his visit and it seems that the U.S. agrees. Moreover the steps Pakistan has taken so far haven’t been very convincing. India has called a meeting of its envoys throughout the world to discuss next steps. The last time such a meeting was called was before the 1971 war. This has led the U.S to send Adm. Mullen back to Pakistan for a second time in as many weeks. Meanwhile Pakistan high commission in India has confirmed that it has received a letter from Ajmal Kasab.
Here is an article from Dawn and the Washington Post Editorial on this very issue:
(i) The daily Dawn
(ii) The Washington Post
The last time Pakistan was so isolated diplomatically against India was during the aftermath of Kargil.
In another development Pakistan Airforce suspended commercial flights in major Pakistani cities today and did a low altitude fly-by as part of their increased vigil.
One can only hope that our leaders especially the security establishment can comprehend the gravity of the situation and take steps in the right direction.
Photo Credits: Title photo is courtesy of Abid Zia at Associated Press of Pakistan.
Here is another interesting article.
http://counterpunch.org/prashad12232008.html
Meengla, your link is not working for me.
@Nihari,
Thank you for the link toward the Outlookindia.com article. I have the TinyURL version of it:
http://tinyurl.com/7mv99z
I don’t know what you meant by the above link. If it was to show any sympathy toward these so-called jihadi organizations then, I am afraid, I don’t agree.
Here is a video where a seasoned Pakhtoon politician (Abdul Rahim Mandokhel of PKMAP) of Pakistan not only acknowledges the presence of indigenous militants in Pakistan but also calls for taking care of the problem.
http://tinyurl.com/74bknv
@meengla
Another interesting one
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20081 229&fname=Pakistan+(F)&sid=1
saw you on Dawn TV and your analysis was excellent. The approach should be to fight terrorism for our own reasons as you say, not because of anyone else.