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Christina Rocca discusses Pakistan with Mishal Husain.
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Read the transcript.
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What's next for Pakistan?
World attention has been increasingly focused on Pakistan because of its crucial role in the war on global terrorism. Its current president, General Pervez Musharraf, who came to power in a bloodless coup in 1999, held elections in 2002, and although his party retained control of the national legislature, a coalition of religious parties made unexpected gains, especially in the two provinces bordering Afghanistan. Find out why the fundamentalist parties were able to succeed in the recent elections and what this bodes for the nation as a whole in this week's briefing. For background on Pakistan's political history explore the timeline. Learn more about the regional and ethnic diversity of Pakistan through the interactive map. Then see if you agree with the opinions expressed in the debate on Islam and democracy.
Is Pakistan Likely to Become a Taliban State?
By Anwar Iqbal
June 26, 2003
Some fear that Pakistan is likely to become a Taliban-style state, run by hard-line mullahs, where rifle-toting bearded men will dominate the streets and women will be forced to don burqas.
The fear stems from the surprise gains of a six-party religious alliance called the United Action Council in the general elections held in October 2002. The alliance, better known by its Urdu acronym MMA, itself was a surprise because it included religious parties that had never previously been united.
What brought the religious parties together was the war in Afghanistan, with which Pakistan shares a long and porous border. The conflict had a major impact on both religious and secular forces in Pakistan.
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| 1973 |
Pakistan's first constitution ratified.
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| 1977 |
General Zia ul-Haq overthrows the democratically elected government of President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
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| 1979 |
Soviet Union invades Afghanistan.
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| 1998 |
Pakistan conducts nuclear tests in the wake of similar tests carried out by India.
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| 1999 |
Pakistan returns to military rule after General Pervez Musharraf overthrows the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in a bloodless coup.
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| 2001 |
President Musharraf's government supports the U.S.-led campaign against Afghanistan and global terrorism.
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The 1,000-mile-long stretch of land that divides the two countries includes the tribal belt, where many believe Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and his close aides are hiding. The fiercely independent Pathan tribes inhabit the region and pay little attention to the border set by the British in the early 20th century. Cross-border marriages are common, as are shared commercial interests and religious and tribal bonds.
Afghanistan's former Taliban leaders were also Pathan, so when in the wake of 9/11 the United States began sending troops to Afghanistan, where bin Laden was living at the time, Pathan tribes in Pakistan sent thousands of volunteers to help the Taliban. When U.S. forces defeated the Taliban, who defied an ultimatum to turn over bin Laden as a measure to avoid war, in December 2001, the Pathan volunteers from Pakistan were trapped in Afghanistan. Many ended up killed and others were jailed.
When the federal government in Islamabad dumped its Taliban allies and joined the U.S.-led war against terror, many in the Pathan heartland saw this as an act of betrayal and treason. They were also unhappy with the liberal elements in Pakistani society -- both Pathans and non-Pathans -- who supported the United States. The Pathan nationalist parties, who had dominated all previous elections in their heartland, also isolated themselves by opposing the Taliban.
So in October 2002, when Pakistan held its first general elections three years after the military coup that brought army chief General Pervez Musharraf to power, Pathans decided to show their rejection of Islamabad's policies by voting for the religious forces opposed to increasing U.S. influence in the nation. Religious parties also benefited from the absence of the country's two main opposition party leaders -- Nawaz Sharif of the Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Benazir Bhutto of the Pakistan People's Party -- who are both living in exile and prevented from participating in the elections by President Musharraf.
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Pakistanis protesting the U.S.-led war against Iraq (Reuters/Mian Khursheed).
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