Pakistan is once again at the crossroads. Everybody and especially Americans seems to be confused as they do not know how to react - whether they should pat Musharraf’s back for his crackdown on Taliban rebels or reprimand him for the recent resurgence of Taliban forces in Pakistan’s tribal area near Afghanistan border.
Pakistan’s security forces stormed the Lal Masjid (Red Mosque) on Tuesday by killing all the militants in a fierce encounter therefore ending the long siege by the rebels. According to some reports nearly 100 people died in the operation, majority of them were militants. After this incident a wave of suicide bombings on Pakistan’s Army followed, which claimed nearly 150 lives. The Talibans walked out of the peace agreement with the government under which they had agreed not to wage any cross-border attacks on the US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, saying that Mushaaraf’s promise that Pakistan army won’t attack them was false, so they no more bided by the agreement.

Now the probable scenario might be the continuation of existing state of affairs - with Musharraf losing political standing despite having powers and Americans holding Musharraf as a steadfast ally against terrorism. Al Qaeda and Islamists will continue to build their stronghold and be a problem and Talibans will continue to infiltrate the borders with Afganistan.

Another possibility may be a civil war between the Jihadists and the government. Al-qaeda and Taliban groups might siege power and then all hell will break lose. Militants possessing atomic bomb would be a great threat to the world.

The enormous internal challenges have put Pakistan in a great turmoil. A stable, democratic and prosperous Pakistan is what we hope to see in the near future.