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| 29 April 2005 | Friday | 19 Rabi-ul-Awwal 1426 |
‘9/11 changed Pakistan’s security perception’
ISLAMABAD, April 28: The post 9/11 era brought about a fundamental change in the security perception of Pakistan as the primary focus now is not on external issues but on internal ones like controlling sectarian zealots and Jihadis as well as foreign Islamic revolutionaries settled in the country.
This was stated by Dr Mohammad Islam, director areas study centre, Quaid-i-Azam University, while presenting his paper titled “Pakistan: change in security perception and policy in the post-9/11 era” on the second day of the 9th American Studies Conference at a local hotel on Wednesday.
The policymakers in Pakistan are more concerned with various religious and extremist elements that are disposed to bring about a fundamental socio-political change in Pakistani society, he added.
Mussarat Jabeen presented the second paper, titled ‘American preferences in the subcontinent in post September 11 scenario’.
She said the American policymakers had adopted a separate approach towards both India and Pakistan. The separate set of regional policy in relations with India is focused on democracy, market accessibility and information technology, she added.
Ms Jabeen said while in relations with Pakistan, the US policymakers were concentrating on international issues such as terrorism and narcotics.
She suggested that Pakistan should consolidate its existing interests by broadening the areas of its cooperation with the US to encompass as many beneficially economic activities as it could.
Khawaja Alqama read out his paper focused on American Jihad for democracy in the Muslim world during the cold war times.
He said: “Just as Americans do not understand Jihad we do not understand democracy.”
Dr Naheed Chisti spoke about US policy towards Israeli- Palestinian issue in its historical perspective.
Dr A.Z. Hillali focused on discriminatory US policy towards Muslims after the tragic event of 9/11 and its implications and discussed in details the price Pakistan had to pay for its pro-US policy.
He fully endorsed the policies of the present government saying that Pakistan was left with no other option but to follow US dictates after the declaration of war on terrorism.
However, he added that Pakistan had not successfully played its cards to get more out of its friendship with the US during the present sensitive phase of war on terror.
Dr Nandine Sahu focused on religious harmony and political cosmos of T.S. Eliot and focused on Eliot’s use of symbols, e.g. the symbol of rose meant truth.
Ishmeet Kaur in her paper linked poetry of Walt Whitman with Sri Guru Granth Sahab. She links Whitman’s commitment to democracy with the existentialism of Guru Granth Sahab.
She said both emphasized oneness and humility and mentioned significance of word ‘Zikar’ in Islam and ‘Ohm’ in Hinduism.
Focus of Dr Syeda Asadullah’s paper was Flennary-o-Corner novel and his position in American literature, especially in post war on terrorism period. She related this change to Freudian psychology.
In giving picture of humanism, Ponam Sharma talked about American dream and materialism and the decadence in her presentation and focused on the work of Arthur Miller.
She compared the idealism of Arthur Miller with the philosophy of Gandhi.
Dr Waseem Anwar talked about emerging trends in American literature in the light of social and political developments while Dr Farkhanda Aurangzeb talked about America’s changing role in the 21st century in terms of politics and values.
Dr Shahena Bhatti discussed in her paper the “mix of politics and religion and issues of colonialism and politics of slavery”.
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