Since joining an American-led coalition on the war on terror, Musharraf has faced immense pressure - externally and internally. While the United States wants him to wipe out Islamic fundamentalism from Pakistan, his rivals at home and civilians think that he is acting as an American puppet by dancing to Bush’s tunes. Musharraf angered Pakistan’s hardliners and influential clerics when he went on saying that religious extremism must end in his country in all forms.
The three days of fierce fighting that have claimed the lives of 45 Pakistani soldiers and at least 150 pro-Taliban militants is resulting due to disgust of religious extremists towards Musharraf’s pro-western policies.
On the other hand, the pressure on Pakistan to rein in Islamic fundamentalism is immense from the outside world, specially when it is proved that the major bomb blasts across the globe were in someway - directly or indirectly - related to Pakistan. It is a known fact that young Islamic ‘mujahideens’ get their hard-core training in Pakistan’s infamous ‘madras'’.
The irony of the fact is that India throughout considers Pakistan a safe haven for terrorists, fighting Indian security forces in Kashmir, and now that same curse of ‘terrorism’ is haunting the Islamic republic.
Since the commando raid on the sacred Lal Masjid at the heart of the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, to flush out Islamist clerics and students, terror attacks in the country are on a sharp rise.
The hardliners in Pakistan have already pledged to continue with their attacks on the country’s leadership (Musharraf) until and unless Musharraf changes his policy. However, it seems that Pakistani army will always be on the frontline of those attacks.
