Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Pakistan Is Partitioned By Its National Assembly

chowk.com
Syed Hussaini
A new Afghanistan is created
People of Pakistan! As reported by the Geo TV website, your “National Assembly has passed the resolution in support of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation 2009 for Malakand Division.” The President of Pakistan has signed it.

That means that the Malakand Division would now be governed by Taliban law, not by the Law of Pakistan.

It is the first time in the history of mankind that a national legislature has conceded, without being under coercion, the state's writ over a part of the country.

Practically, Pakistan had already surrendered its writ over Swat, the NWFP and the FATA. Balochistan has exploded over the killing of three political leaders near Turbat. If we look at the map, the entire western part of Pakistan, from the north to the south, is effectively a separate entity. A vertical de facto partition of Pakistan had already taken place.

With the National Assembly of Pakistan passing this resolution, the de facto partition is now de jure, legal. It appears to be limited to the Malakand Division. However, it is a legal precedent to include other divisions at later dates. Bit by bit, the whole de facto partition of Pakistan would be de jure.

It is more than a Greek tragedy. The elected representatives of the people of Pakistan partitioning the country without a referendum to know if their constituents had really wanted to partition their homeland. It is the ultimate treachery. The betrayal of the nation by its elected representatives.

The National Assembly of Pakistan did not even bother to debate over this monumental issue.

Starting from the south, we now have Sindh, Punjab and Islamabad as the east wing of Pakistan. In the west, we have Balochistan, the FATA, the NWFP and the Northern Areas forming the west wing of Pakistan.

Effectively, we have two countries, now. Before we know it, two different names would be popping up in the press to distinguish them from each other.

Monday, April 13, 2009, is a black day in the history of Pakistan. What makes it worse is that the people of Pakistan do not appear to know it.

It appears, awareness comes to those only, who seek it.

The Taliban once ruled Afghanistan. They ruled it in a way that it brought in the wrath of the United States. The Taliban were defeated and ran for their lives. They sought refuge in Pakistan and made themselves the rulers of a substantial part of their refuge.

The Americans had been telling Islamabad to take out the Taliban in Pakistan. Instead, Islamabad has carved out a separate domain for the Taliban. Islamabad has created a new Afghanistan for the Taliban.

If it comes to that, the U.S. would not be opening a third front, either. For the Americans, it would just be an extension of an existing front to deal militarily with the Taliban on their new turf; rolling in from one Afghanistan to another.

The danger looms larger than ever because the Pakistanis are being self-destructive.

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