Pakistan’s doubtful loyalties

The capitulation of nuclear-armed Pakistan to the demands of Islamic extremists laying siege to the capital, Islamabad, raises serious concerns about the country’s supposed role as a key Western ally. The open collusion of the Pakistani army with the religious fanatics who forced the cabinet of Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi into abject submission over draconian blasphemy laws is deeply disturbing. The army is the ultimate guardian of Pakistan’s 120 to 130 nuclear warheads, coveted by terrorist groups.

Extremists of the hardline Tehreek-i-Labaik Ya Rasool Allah party demanded the sacking of law minister Zahid Hamid over a proposed amendment to the oath of allegiance taken by MPs. They interpreted it as watering down the role of the prophet Mohammed that would allow minority non-Muslims to fully enter politics. For three weeks, Mr Abbasi’s government held out against the extremists, who blockaded the main highway linking Islamabad and Rawalpindi, bringing both cities to a standstill. When the government asked the army to help end the blockade, a major-general instead did a deal with the extremist leaders that resulted in the legislation being withdrawn and Mr Hamid’s sacking.

Pakistan’s leading newspaper, The News, editorialised that the debacle “reinforces every fear we — and the rest of the world — had about the Pakistani state and its resolve to fight against extremism”. The cave-in followed last week’s incomprehensible release by a Pakistani court of the alleged mastermind of the 2008 terrorist attack on Mumbai, Hafiz Saeed, despite a $US10 million American bounty on his head. Mr Saeed’s release contrasts with Pakistan’s cruel incarceration of Shakil Afridi, the “hero” physician who helped the CIA confirm the presence of Osama bin Laden in the garrison town of Abbottabad in 2011. Despite persistent efforts by the Obama and Trump administrations to gain his release, the Pakistanis have refused.

Pakistan’s leaders, military and civilian, never tire of protesting their fealty to the war against Islamist terrorism, especially when they have their hands outstretched asking for more Western aid. However their actions raise important questions about that loyalty, in a country with one of the world’s largest nuclear arsenals.