Keep an Eye on Pakistan

While we spent our collective week fretting about the APEC fence, the danger posed by anarchist hippy protesters (and j-walking accountants) and the nerve of those Chaser Boys – the relative stability of the subcontinent looked increasingly shaky. General Pervez Musharraf has ruled Pakistan for nearly 8 years as both military commander and President after taking power in 1999 in a bloodless coup d'état. Recently though, his people are crying out for a return to democratic rule and for Musharraf to go - throwing the future of the nations 160 million Muslims into question.

Pakistan was ‘created’ in 1947, following a British plan to partition their colonies in the subcontinent along religious lines. Majority Hindu regions become modern day India, while corresponding Muslim areas comprised East and West Pakistan (with East Pakistan subsequently succeeding to become Bangladesh). Soon after the partition, the British abandoned the region and years of rioting and blood letting followed. Civil war, corrupt governance and tensions over disputed territories (particularly Kashmir) have meant that Pakistan’s 60 years of sovereignty have been filled with violence. In this context, you can appreciate the relative calm (death remains a part of everyday life) that Musharraf’s military rule has brought – even though it has come at the cost of true democracy and many civil liberties. He is such a polarising figure that he has endured at least 3 assassination attempts since 2003.

Let me assure you at this point, that this is not a useless history lesson. The politics of such a populous Muslim nation and their role in the wider world couldn’t be more important. It’s the kind of thing that should be played on the evening news in preference to Hollywood gossip and petty local political. Currently, Pakistan is classified as an ally of the US, and has at least given the pretence of battling Al-Qaeda – while objectively they have drifted away from democratic ideals that had started to take hold prior to the coup.

In the coming months, Pakistani’s will come to a very important fork in the road, Musharraf is almost guaranteed to go – but who will he be replaced by? Down one path Pakistan can return to Democracy and demonstrate that Islam and this form of governance are not incompatible. The Army will be separated again from the Government and faith in the judicial system and free press restored (these have been eroding fast of late). Alternatively, military rule will continue, and more and more rights slowly stripped away. Extremism that flourishes in the border regions of the nation could take wider hold and 'The West' could lose an invaluable ally. Whatever the case, Australian’s should care very much about that outcome.