With tensions between India and Pakistan running at an all time high following the horrible attacks in Mumbai, the peace loving international community is left with no choice but to look at the protagonists that are running a chaotic and volatile country like Pakistan. At the outset the world might have rejoiced the return of a democratically elected government headed by the late Benazir Bhutto’s husband Asif Ali Zardari yet as the young government takes time to settle down, military and political struggles within the nuclear-armed Islamic country are coming back to haunt the world big time.

President Zardari is a confused man trying to understand the complexities of everyday Pakistani politics and now within four months of him being elected as the President of his country, the controversial figure is having to deal with an angry India that demands Islamabad’s prompt and constructive actions against the perpetrators of the Mumbai carnage. Since 26/11, the statements provided by President Zardari until today have been conflicting and devoid of genuine statesmanship.

One day the President is speaking of unconditional joint cooperation with New Delhi in line with the demands of Washington and London for Islamabad to act fast but the very next day he is asking India for evidence when the whole world has concluded that the coordinated Mumbai attack plans originated from deep inside Pakistani soil. This is a proof that the President’s public activities are being dictated by a different power that actually controls Pakistan.

When we talk of the existence of a parallel power in the Pakistani political setup, the name of the ISI immediately strikes our minds. Infact the reality is, there are various sub divisions within the dreaded Pakistani intelligence that are vying for the control of the country. As an Indian I hate to say this but it could be admitted that Pakistan and the international community was better off with the presence of General Parvez Musharraf at the helm of the Pakistani leadership.

Parvez Musharraf might be the architect of the Kargil war yet his support of the American ‘War on terror’ post 9/11 made him an ‘infidel’ in the eyes of the Islamic radicals, sections of the powerful army and not to forget the Inter-Services Intelligence(ISI).

With the fall of the Taliban in 2001 and the subsequent arrests and killings of pro-Al Qaeda and Taliban sympathizers under the supervision of General Musharraf, the former President brought upon him the wrath of the ISI and sections of the army that lost a genuine source of Islamic Jihadists and militants to carry on the war with the Indian authorities in Indian-administered Kashmir. Furthermore the peace process between India and Pakistan has considerably choked the Kashmiri militancy during Musharraf’s reign.

Benazir Bhutto’s assassination might be the handiwork of the Al Qaeda yet the role of the ISI in the murder was highly suspicious. Musharraf resigned as the country’s leader under immense domestic and international pressure immediately after Mrs.Bhutto’s death. In a way, the installation of a civilian government has given the ISI and the Pakistani army to stir up tensions with India that could create a power vacuum within the country plunging it into further chaos and anarchy.

The government by the way has no other choice but to go on the offensive against India. Zardari and his aides know that to keep the hawks and the Islamic hardliners out of their way, a stern stance in the face of growing Indian threats is the only option available to appease the Pakistani public and the media which has already dubbed the government a puppet of foreign powers.
The ISI, which consists of hardliner religious zealots, has a huge involvement in this whole ongoing Indo-Pak saga.