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Rose Aslan University of British Columbia
"I’m not a woman. I’m a journalist," (156) Mary Anne Weaver adamantly argues when forbidden to visit Prince Fahd of Saudi Arabia during his luxurious hunting expedition in the far reaches of Balochistan. Weaver truly seems to have transcended the realm of gender as one dedicated to finding out the straight facts at any cost. Weaver is one of the most eminent journalists covering the Middle East and South Asia, and Pakistan provides an excellent introduction to the very complex political issues in Pakistan. Throughout her travels, she enters rooms usually off-limits to any outsider, especially females, visits remote guerilla training camps and socializes with members of the highest levels of society. Written in journalistic form without any footnotes or references, Pakistan makes for an absorbing and informative read, as well as being an excellent starting point for anyone seeking to widen their knowledge of Middle Eastern politics. As a recipe for disaster, Pakistan is oversaturated with tribal and sectarian rebels, drug and arms dealers, government funded militant extremists group, which has made it become perhaps one of the most dangerous and politically complex countries in the world. Pakistan covers the highlights of chaotic modern Pakistani political history derived not only from history books but also from Weaver’s personal interviews, investigations and travels. Weaver gathers her notes and articles from twenty years worth of material to produce this useful and fairly cohesive book. Starting with an action-packed narrative that recaptures Musharraf’s rise to power in a dramatic military coup in October of 1999, Weaver draws the reader into a half travel narrative and half history book covering Pakistan’s deep involvement in Afghanistan, illegal arms dealings, power-hunger politicians and rebellious tribal leaders. The first chapter presents a somewhat vague portrait of Musharraf, attempting to analyze his mysterious persona and controversial political moves. Weaver questions Musharraf’s lack of resistance to Militant Islamic groups and proposes various motives behind his actions. In Chapter two Weaver investigates Pakistan’s prime minister of twenty years before, Zia ul-Haq, the founder of a merciless regime which spurred the growth of Islamization, militarization and oppression of human rights. Since ul-Haq, this system has only become more widespread and epidemic in present day Pakistan. Inside this chapter is Weaver’s insight into ul-Haq’s cooperation with the CIA over Afghanistan which led to mass amounts of arms and drugs being smuggled into Pakistan. Ultimately, ul-Haq was a major factor in forming the violent and precarious military state of Pakistan that we see today. At the center of separatist movements, Balochistan is described by Weaver in chapter three as an isolated and violent state full of angry and armed Islamists who openly reject the central government. Weaver describes a local ruler sitting in his Quetta estate which is a remnant of Balochistan’s colonial past and contrasts this to the local politics, gun economy, and presence of the mujahideen lurking just across town. A breakdown of the previous colonial powers and negligence from the central government has led to strong resistance and fighting back from the fiercely independent Balochi people. Not going in any specific chronological or geographical order, Weaver, in chapter four, delves into the business of corrupt dealings between members of the Gulf elite who annually arrive in Pakistan for their annual hunt of the endangered Houbara bird and Pakistani officials. Weaver follows different members of the hunting parties, taking note of their plush traveling entourages, abuse of the environment, bribery of government officials and their blatant transgression of all national and international laws. This depiction of the hunt gives a depressing insight into the ruthless exploitation by the rich Sheikhs from the Gulf along with their Pakistani cronies, of the already devastated Pakistani economy, land, and people. Perhaps the most interesting section of the book is chapter five that focuses on Benazair Bhutto, Pakistan’s only woman, albeit failed, prime minister in history. Through close relations with Bhutto, Weaver is able to introduce a highly detailed and perceptive look into her persona and life. She examines Bhutto’s mainly futile political maneuvers and her powerlessness in improving Pakistan’s society and economy, which only worsened during her time in office. By narrating intimate conversations between herself and Bhutto, Weaver is able to explore Bhutto through intriguing stories of her past as well as her personal traits and beliefs. Chapter six deals with the increase of fundamentalism in Pakistan and Musharraf’s failure and reluctance to subdue bin Laden or any of the radical militant and terrorist groups. As a result, America lost most of its faith in Musharraf and his policies and pulled out some of its support. Included is a profile of bin Laden and his past dealings and pervasive influence in Pakistan. In this chapter Weaver describes many activities of radical groups as well as their history of shady dealings with the CIA. To wrap up to book, chapter seven describes Pakistan and India’s age-old dispute over the secession of Kashmir. Weaver traces how the Pakistani government drew upon the religious zeal of the extremists to turn the Kashmir dispute into a religious war. Inevitably, the call of jihad was ignited and attracted thousands of government and internationally funded mujahideen to the mountains of Kashmir. While Pakistan is generally an excellent introduction into the chaos of Pakistan’s deep involvement with the CIA and mujahideen of Afghanistan, as well as internal politics, Weaver leaves some very basic and critical terms undefined. One major omission is her failure to set out an explanation of Jihad and its different interpretations. Weaver’s writings gave me the impression that the Jihad is essentially a holy war carried out by fanatical, Kalashnikov wielding extremists attempting to control the world. This is a very unfortunate understanding, which reflects Weaver’s biased, and sometimes distorted view of Islam. Perhaps her voice is a bit too strong at times and thus takes away the desired objectivity. In a book of this nature, it would have served Weaver well to present the Jihad first in the light of the Qur’an and then from the viewpoints of contemporary Muslims, Pakistani and otherwise, from moderate and more extreme streams. Because this book is geared towards a more popular audience, presumably North American, an explanation of this basic term would have been vital in view of the sensitive nature of this often misunderstood subject. Apart from a few other minor factual errors and generalizations that need to be reevaluated, Pakistan is at once a dreary book due to the bare facts it lays out covering the unstable past, present and future of Pakistan as well as being a valuable book for its insight and widely ranging collection of opinions, viewpoints and facts on the subject. ●
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