From Deutsche Welle (Germany)
At a time when the world was hoping to see a shift in Pakistan’s policies towards Islamism, its military chief Kayani made sure that nobody should be under any illusion. Pakistan and Islam can’t be separated, he said.
The Taliban have proven time and again that they can attack anybody anywhere in Pakistan, with impunity.
They have not only targeted civilians but, over the years, have also killed thousands of Pakistani soldiers. The Pakistani military is still battling with the Islamist militants in northwestern areas close to the Afghan border. The protracted Islamist insurgency has shaken the Islamic republic, whose economy is already in a shambles.
As the country gears up for the next parliamentary elections on May 11, the Taliban have increased their attacks on the members of liberal parties.
Experts are apprehensive whether the elections will take place on time. They might be postponed for an indefinite time – something the Islamists are believed to want.
Yet, the head of the Pakistani military General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani – arguably the most powerful man in Pakistan – told the world that Pakistan was not ready to change its decades-old policy of supporting the religious right.
“Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and Islam can never be taken out of Pakistan,” Kayani said to his cadets at a military training academy in Kakul last month.
Experts say that Kayani’s statement is a reminder to secular Pakistanis and also to the West that his country will not abandon its support to religious groups with which Islamabad seeks to take leverage in Afghanistan and Kashmir.
