|
|
|
Chomsky:
Pakistan is a failed state
Wed,
06 Feb 2008 10:17:15
|
Prominent
American
Scholar,
Noam
Chomsky
|
The
US intellectual, Noam Chomsky describes Pakistan
as the paradigm of a failed state that has
undergone violence and oppression.
In an interview with Pakistan's Aaj Television,
Chomsky said Pakistan is now in danger of
collapsing because of a rebellion in
Baluchistan, the out-of-control FATA territories
and the unrest in Sindh sparked by Benazir
Bhutto's assassination.
While conceding that the Pakistani people want
democracy, he asserted that these hopes were far
from realization in the existing political and
social system.
The Daily Times quoted him as saying that for
Pakistan to become a democracy, it should
develop political and social arrangements in
which the population can actually determine an
effective policy.
When asked about the 'clash of civilizations',
the prominent linguist answered that the concept
was invented by Bernard Lewis, a scholar of
Islam with a bitter hatred for the religion.
The conception is that the US and its Western
allies are civilized, enlightened and liberal
while the Muslim world is developing in the
opposite direction toward 'Islamofacism', which
is backward, regressive and violent, and does
not understand the West's 'elevated ideals'.
In response to a question as to whether Pakistan
can move toward democracy considering that it
has unsuccessfully tried to do so several times,
Chomsky said Pakistan's 'alliance with the
United States, I think, has been quite harmful
throughout its history'.
According to Chomsky, the US has tried to
convert Pakistan into a powerful ally by
supporting its military dictatorship.
The Reagan administration strongly supported the
Ziaul Haq tyranny and even pretended to be
clueless about Pakistan's nuclear weapons
program, so that Congress would continue to fund
their support for Pakistan, he opined.
When asked if it is possible for Pakistan to
become a democracy considering that it continues
to yield to external pressures, Chomsky replied
that it could move to that level if it
disentangles itself from US domination.
AO/HGH/GM
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=41903§ionid=351020401
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|