Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf took his campaign against extremism and terrorism to a new level at the weekend, calling for a jihad against the menace in his first address to a stormy session of the parliament that was marred by opposition heckling.
The opposition extracted its pound of flesh by embarrassing Musharraf with continuous booing and hostile slogans demanding that he step down from the position of power he seized in a coup more than four years ago.
The address on Saturday marked a "high point" in Musharraf's role as the leader of a nation troubled by a poor image abroad and battling terrorism at home, political analyst Riffat Hussain said.
Musharraf highlighted four "dangerous accusations" against Pakistan and outlined a strategy to improve the country's international standing and its survival.
Musharraf said Pakistan was blamed for terrorist attacks from its tribal areas in neighboring Afghanistan, for terrorism across the disputed border in divided Kashmir and for nuclear proliferation and was considered an intolerant, extremist society.
"We have to tackle with full force such foreign elements who can cause terrorism in Pakistan and Afghanistan," he said.
Secondly, Pakistan must move towards a just and peaceful solution to its dispute with India, taking forward the progress achieved through the landmark Jan. 6 agreement between him and Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to start a bilateral peace dialogue, he said.
Thirdly, Pakistan would have to convince the world that it was a responsible nuclear state that would never permit any proliferation.
"I appeal to you and the people of Pakistan to wage a jihad [holy war] against extremism," Musharraf said.
"We have to take important and futuristic decisions to take Pakistan to a bright future, otherwise our future generations will pay a very heavy price for our neglect."
Musharraf's staunch alignment with the US in the war on terror and his firm campaign against terrorism has exposed him to a serious backlash from al-Qaeda, Taliban and local Islamic militants after he banned more than a dozen extremist groups in the country.
Musharraf has set himself a fence-mending mission with India, with the apparent backing of his powerful military establishment, in search of a solution to the decades-old row over Kashmir between the two countries.
Musharraf reassured Vajpayee that he would not let any territory under Pakistani control be used for terrorism against India or any other country.
His Saturday statement to the parliament was a clear reaffirmation of his resolve to cleanse Pakistan from all forms of terrorism and extremism, analyst Hussain said.
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