Pakistan does not deserve David Cameron's insults

by Con Coughlin Con Coughlin, the Telegraph's executive foreign editor, is a world-renowned expert on the Middle East and Islamic terrorism. He is the author of several critically acclaimed books. His new book, Khomeini's Ghost, is published by Macmillan.   By Con Coughlin World Last updated: July 29th, 2010 An army helicopter overflies Pakistani soldiers in the upper Swat Valley last year (Photo: AP) What is this? Open season on Pakistan? Ok, so the Pakistanis can be immensely frustrating to deal with, and have not always, as the recent Wikileaks documents have shown, been the most reliable of allies. But that was then, when the country languished under the dictatorship of General Pervez Musharraf, who was reluctant to act against the Taliban. But following the country’s return to democracy, Pakistan has become a valued and effective ally in the war on terror, and has suffered immeasurably more casualties than Nato as its military has gone head-to-head with the Taliban in the lawless tribal territory to the north of the country. For this reason David Cameron should be praising Pakistan’s contribution, rather than castigating Islamabad as he has done during his visit to neighbouring India. Mr Cameron might revel in his “Cameron direct” approach, but he risks alienating a great many of this country’s important allies unless he learns to balance his plain speaking with some good old-fashioned common sense. It is a long time since a serving British prime minister has managed to cause two major diplomatic incidents during an overseas jaunt, but Mr Cameron has managed precisely that during this week’s visit to Turkey and India. His comment about the Gaza “prison” provoked an outraged response from the Israeli Embassy in London, while his patronising treatment of Pakistan has now elicited a similar response from the Pakistani High Commission. No doubt Mr Cameron and his advisors think that this policy will pay dividends because, at the very least, it is generating lots of headlines and helping to raise Mr Cameron’s international profile. But at what price? This country’s overwhelming national security issue to resolve the Afghan conflict, and I fail to see how our prospects in the war will be improved by causing serious offence to one of our major allies in the war.

Sad Commentary!

FAKE DEGREES

by Pervez Hoodbhoy

Sunday, 25 July, 2010

Currently on a short visit to the University of Maryland, I am taking this opportunity to inform readers about the impression created overseas by the fake degree scandal in Pakistan. Major newspapers here, including the New York Times, have carried stories of the scores of counterfeit degrees possessed by Pakistani parliamentarians. The US media has underscored the unwillingness of the government and society to punish this scandalous behavior. Also reported is that the Sindh government has attempted to intimidate and threaten the chairman of the Higher Education Commission, who had been charged with verifying the degrees.

With outright cheaters and crooks sitting in parliament under government protection, it is no surprise that most people here - Pakistanis, Americans, and Indians - feel that Pakistan is headed nowhere. Expatriate Pakistanis, who live in a society that places a premium on personal honesty, are hanging their heads in shame. They have no explanation for why their country has fallen so low. If a state cannot enforce even minimal ethical rules, and if it can live in equanimity with corruption that is starkly visible, then it rightly deserves to be called a failed state. No foreigner is going to think of Pakistan as anything other than a Somalia or Nigeria, lawless and corrupt nations with which we seem to be competing with.

Fortunately, there do seem to be people of conscience in Pakistan who will not let the scandal die and the country sink yet further. It is also fortunate that the HEC, with which I have had strong differences in the past, is apparently holding up against political pressures. One wishes that these forces for good could prevail. I am sad, however, to see some well-respected columnists argue that the fake degree issue is being used to derail democracy and prepare the ground for army rule. This is a specious argument that, carried to its logical conclusion, will allow the grossest and ugliest of crimes to go unpunished.