The epicentre

The epi-centre is defined as the point on earths surface where an earthquake or underground explosion originates. Iam not talking about the earthquake, but the epi-centre of terrorism in today's world; as the Indian Prime minister says about its neighbour, Pakistan.

This country which at the time of independence had all the ingredients to make a powerful state. It had fertile land, rivers, natural& human resources and above all the newly found nationalism as a result one common religion binding the people.

How come in six decades the country has gone from a potential powerful state to the 'rouge state' of the world. What has led Pakistan to being such a failed and lawless state in the world? Iam not a political or strategic analyst to answer that. As many analysts say this could be a contribution of factors including the virulent motives of the army, its blind Anti-India attitude, its proxy war against India and other countries, state or non-state terrorism (don't know what 'non-state actors' means as the present president of that country repeats all the time) or corruption and inefficiency of its rulers.

Madeline Albright, Former US Secretary of state says, Pakistan is an International migraine; "It has nuclear weapons, it has terrorism, extremists, corruption, very poor and it’s in a location that’s really, really important to us".

British prime minister, Gordon Brown says that three-quarters of the most serious terror plots being investigated by UK authorities have links to Pakistan.

Armed tribesmen supported by the army from Pakistan's north-west frontier province invaded Kashmir in October 1947. Since then Pakistan has lost 4 major wars against India. It also lost about half of its original state when Bangladesh was formed in 1971 going against the 'two-nation' theory propounded by the nation's founders that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations by every definition, and therefore Muslims should have an autonomous homeland in the Muslim majority areas of British India. But in reality it was a partition between Hindus/Muslims and Sikhs in the north and eastern India. It didn't affect South India that much as North. The Muslims in the Indian Sub-continent were divided among the 3 countries ie one third each in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh(formerly east Pakistan). It has been the agenda of the Pakistan army that as they cannot win back the state of J&K, the alternative is to have state sponsored terrorism , though they deny this vehemently (as is the case with any statement against Pakistan) even in the presence of solid evidence.

Its interesting to read the cover story in Newsweek recently (July2008) about Pakistan...."The whole world knows that today no other country on earth is arguably more dangerous than Pakistan. It has everything Osama bin Laden could ask for: political instability, a trusted network of radical Islamists, an abundance of angry young anti-Western recruits, secluded training areas, access to state-of-the-art electronic technology, regular air service to the West and security services that don't always do what they're supposed to do. These Islamist fighters now operate relatively freely in cities like Karachi—a process the U.S. and Pakistani governments call "Talibanization."

Wikipedia says; The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been branded frequently as a 'Haven for Terrorism', supporting terrorist organizations and is considered amongst the most dangerous nations in the world.

Pakistan is a "failed state" as Islamabad does not have complete control over its own territories and its land is being used by terrorists to launch attack against other nations.....But is it just Pakistan and its rulers or military to blame?

Everyone knows who first sowed/sown the seeds of hatred in British India by their "Divide and rule" policy. When the partition occurred eventually; why was it done in such a haste leaving about 1 million dead?...Wikipedia says "Partition was accompanied by one of the largest and most rapid population transfers in history, with 17.9 million people leaving their homes. Of these, only 14.5 million arrived, suggesting that 3.4 million went "missing"...

We cannot change history but we have to learn from the lessons it has given us. Isn't US/ former USSR responsible for the state of affairs in Pakistan at the moment in one way or another when they intervened in Afghanistan in the late 70's and early 80's for their own hidden motives... Infact almost every country has a responsibility in some way or other for Pakistan to be in the present state including India.

No one seem to have a solution for how to 'normalise' the state of affairs in Pakistan. India definitely has a role to help Pakistan and the first aspect of this should be in how to increase the confidence and trust among the South-Asian neighbours

However, its up to Pakistan and its authorities to take the initiative and try to reign in the terrorists as early and effectively as they can; other wise it is likely to perish because, as in an earthquake everyone will be affected and has to suffer aftereffects, the greatest damage will be located at the epicenter.....