Beyond Pahalgam : Can Pakistan Afford Another Zia ul Haq and Further Radicalisation Of Society
Rajiv Upadhyay 
Pahalgam had its predictable fall out in Pakistan . The Pakistani nation and the Society has been forced to close its ranks stand behind its usurper Army under General Munir . Even the otherwise insignificant civilian leaders like PM Shahbaz Sharif , Imran Khan , Bilawal Bhutto are all supporting Pakistan as much out of fear as out of nationalistic pride .
The sole gainer is the utterly unpopular and incompetent General Asif Munir , whose now notorious speech to overseas Pakistanis re igniting the hate of 1947 on Hindu Muslim divide was as ill timed as factually incorrect . This brinkmanship is the hall mark of ambitious Army chiefs wanting not only extension but beyond by ruling Pakistan fully as a dictator.
He is wanting to become another Zia ul Haq by misusing Islam and further radicalising the already heavily radicalised Pakistani society .
If he is successful in preventing unacceptable punishment of Pakistan by India or equalising the damage on both the countries, it will only usher the most tragic age in not only Pakistan but also have far reaching global consequences .
Like Zia he will possibly begin his rule by hanging Imran Khan to teach Pakistani politicians a lesson of eternal subservience to army . Pakistan may not be able to produce another Imran Khan for a long time . When in power he was not a great democrat , administrator or visionary but better and more sensible than men in Khakis. Yet he has now become a symbol of hope, by his courage and defiance, for the new generation of young Pakistanis wanting a change from old style leaders of Bhutto or Sharif clan . He is willing to die and Gen Munir will grant him this chance to become another Bhutto .But his death will be a disaster for Pakistan like death of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto . Bhutto’s death ushered Zia ul Haq as a dictator of Pakistan for a decade with all its bad social fall outs . Imran’s death will usher Gen Munir as a even more radicalised Islamist ruler .
What will be the consequences of further radicalisation of Pakistani nation and society ?
General Munir will have to beat Zia’s legacy by out doing Zia .
Firstly radical Islamisation will produce more leaders like Khadim Rizvi of Tehrik e Labaik who openly advocated nuclear bombing of France for Prophet’s cartoons . It will usher another wave of killings like Priyantha Kumara Diyawadana was a 49-year-old Sri Lankan man who was lynched by a mob on 3 December 2021 in Sialkot, Punjab, Pakistan over allegations of blasphemy just because he cleaned a wall by removing posters . 
Lynching and death of Mashal Khan ,a student, by mob in university in 2017 or killing of governor Salman Taseer will become a new ‘ Normal ‘ in radicalised society .
But beyond individual killings , marginalisation of liberals will usher a new extremist state seeking revenge of Partition from India and Ghazwa e Hind in Lal Topi’s style will become the rallying 
points . Dictatorships suit corrupts and privileged section who will further prosper by sycophancy and expensive gifts at the cost of common men .
Pakistani economy will suffer and the nation will continue its march to poverty and economic inequality .
But radicalisation will will produce an International Frankenstein in Pakistan much worse than helpless weak Palestine HAMAS or Hezbollah . A radical ,nuclear and militarily Pakistan will become an icon for Islamists globally and a leader of youth in Somalia , Lebanon , Palestine , Houthies etc . T urkey is mistaken in its hope of becoming leader of Islamic world . As oil becomes less important and incomes reduce in OIC countries , Pakistan with rabble rousing leaders supported by Chinese will be the beacons of Islamists globally .
Americans or Chinese who are downplaying Pahalgam or Mumbai for selfish considerations today, will not be able to control the Zinn when it is out of the bottle . America in its zeal to control Russia permitted nuclearisation of Pakistan under Regan and subsequent regimes . Today it is struggling to keep its influence in Pakistan who is now becoming a Chinese client state. As America declines further Pakistan will go out of its orbit completely.
So while Ukraine and Tariffs may look more important today but a Bismark or Churchill would have foreseen the danger General Munir is to Pakistan and the whole world .
