PAKISTAN suffered an agonising birth, and its early years were little better. Now, just as the country should be approaching a degree of maturity and relative affluence, terrorist violence and inter-communal religious strife threaten even the limited achievements of the past five decades.
The attack on American officials in Karachi on Wednesday marks a new stage in the political and security crisis that is undermining the government of Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. Islamabad can justifiably argue that the assassination of two foreigners does not mean the country is turning into another Algeria, but businessmen, tourists and diplomats will be increasingly reluctant to take the risk.
The motive for Wednesday's attack is unclear. It is widely assumed that it was prompted by the extradition to the United States last month of a suspected terrorist, Ramzi Ahmed Yousef, but there are so many aspects to the deteriorating security situation that it would be unwise to jump to conclusions.
Karachi is a tapestry of tensions, including ethnic and political violence associated with the Muhajir Qaumi Movement, and intra-Muslim violence between the Shias and the Sunnis. Pakistan occasionally accuses India of fostering unrest, while Indian officials point to Islamabad's own shadowy security services. Mrs Bhutto deserves some sympathy. Pakistan has always been beset by corruption and regional rivalries, and it would be difficult to think of any country that has successfully handled the rise of fundamentalism.
However, Mrs Bhutto also deserves blame. Huge inequalities in wealth, combined with a system that thrives on nepotism and corruption, provides fertile ground for a rise in fundamentalism. It is particularly sad that Pakistan is in such a mess when huge economic opportunities present themselves in the former Soviet republics of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. Fundamentalism thrives in opposition to moral bankruptcy and political repression, and Mrs Bhutto should grapple the bulls by the horns.
