The paradox of General Musharrafs years in power was that he was a liberal ruler under whom Pakistan became a religious- extremist society. He advocated enlightened moderation but was rebuffed by a people most in need of enlightenment and moderation. Terrorism flourished under him in the shape of new religious attitudes and as a reaction to his largely successful foreign policy that included cooperation with the United States in the war against terrorism and normalization of relations with India after his Kargil blunder in 1999. He was probably the most creative handler of the Kashmir issue since independence but was unable or unwilling to counteract the jihadi organizations intent on undermining his governance. The surge of sectarian violence during his time was in no small measure owed to his use of ambivalence as a tool of policy. It is therefore an irony that violence and terrorism escalated in defiance of his liberal mission statement. This 1)00k records tins phenomenon and examines the mainsprings of General Musharrafs failure as a ruler. It thus also foreshadows and explains the chaos that has engulfed Pakistans resumed democracy after 2008.



The Author:

KHALED AHMED is currently Director, South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA), at Lahore, and is consulting editor at The Friday Times, Lahore. He is the author of two earlier Vanguard publications, Pakistan: Behind the Ideological Mask (2000) and Pakistan: the State in Crisis (2001).