Pakistan: Our Sectarian Divide http://www.veteranstoday.com/2011/04/02/pakistan-our-sectarian-divide/

Both, the Pakhtun Power and Shia Power, are a significant element of our national power and must be harnessed to enhance our national security at this very critical moment in history, when a strong wind of change is sweeping the Muslim World. In Pakistan, we already have a burning problem in Parachinar, Kurram Agency, due to involvement of the neighbouring countries with so much of blood letting there, since the occupation of Afghanistan in 2001 by foreign powers. It is a dangerous trend, so clearly visible now in Bahrain, where the Saudi and GCC countries have entered to support the Sunni ruler with full blessings of the West. These are very ominous signs, making the Sectarian Tectonic Plates collide and damage the prospects of unity of the Muslim World.

The revolutionary upsurge in the Arab World, demands democratic freedom and social justice and equally ignites the Pakistani mind. Fortunately we have a democratic rule in Pakistan, which can deliver social justice and civil liberties, despite all the faults of the present system. We have to give it a chance to correct itself. 

We need political peace and stability, which will come if we show patience. And the best to happen to our national security, would be, the departure of the occupation forces from Afghanistan – the Mother of All Evil.Pakistan thus stands at the choice point to experiment democratic governance, unpolluted and free from foreign intrusions and intrigues. Sectarian divide is a great weakness, which can be overcome democratically, through political wisdom. Also awareness is fast developing in the Muslim society about the negative impacts/consequences of sectarianism.