ISLAMABAD, Oct 11: President Gen Pervez Musharraf on Wednesday outlined what he called the future course of Pakistani politics, and asked the liberal and moderate sections of society to galvanise their efforts to stem the growing wave of extremism in the country.

“The future of Pakistan lies in the tussle between the moderates and extremists” and “we’ll have to work together to make sure the moderates emerge victorious”, he told a large gathering of journalists. And then he went on to warn that if the extremists managed to win in this struggle then, in his view, “the Quaid-i-Azam’s Pakistan will be no more”.

President Musharraf has often in the past painted a scenario of such a conflict, but this was by far the most forceful articulation of his argument. He not only talked about the worst case scenario in case the religious extremists were successful, but also indirectly hinted at the possibility of convergence of liberal and moderate political groups, including the PPP, to meet the challenge.

The occasion was a big gathering of reporters and other media personalities, brought in by the information ministry from all over the country for a grand iftar party. Interestingly, it was also the eve of the seventh anniversary of the coup that brought Gen Musharraf to power. Speaking on the occasion, the president spoke at length on every possible issue concerning the country.

His detailed presentation, which was followed by an equally long session of questions and answers, touched issues ranging from terrorism to nuclear proliferation to religious and tribal militancy in Waziristan and Balochistan, and from domestic politics to the causes of Pakistan’s uneasy relations with India.

He forcefully defended the peace accord struck with tribal elders in North Waziristan, used extremely harsh words against those involved in armed militancy in Balochistan and threatened to ‘crush’ and ‘wipe out’ those who tried to challenge the writ of the government.

The president also called for the need to tackle the India-Pakistan issue at a level higher than the foreign secretaries’ talks in order to find an immediate solution to the resolvable issues like Siachen and Sir Creek. He also used the occasion to forcefully defend his controversial memoirs, ‘In the Line of Fire’, declaring that it was already a best-seller in the US, and a powerful defence of Pakistan’s case on every critical issue.

But during the entire press talk he somehow kept knitting all the issues confronting the country together to advocate the need to take on the forces of extremism. “It’s a major challenge,” he said, “and it will not be as easy as it may appear.”

President Musharraf was of the view that a proper strategy would be required to battle the extremists ‘politically, administratively and militarily’.

At the same time, by refusing to be drawn into a discussion about Benazir Bhutto’s alleged corrupt practices or a possible deal with her for the future elections, Gen Musharraf dropped a strong hint that some kind of back-channel contacts have remained with the former prime minister in an attempt to bring the moderate political forces close to each other. The President was asked, in some detail, how he once declared that both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif were corrupt and should have no role in the future politics of the country.

And the questioner then said the recent government move to ask the Swiss court handling her case for more time to investigate the matter has added weight to rumours that a possible election deal was being struck with the Pakistan People’s Party leader.

Gen Musharraf very politely ignored the thrust of the question. “I am not going to comment on what you have said,” was his answer. And when the questioner sought a detailed reply, the president said he could assure him that the elections next year would be free and fair, and that these two leaders (Benazir and Nawaz Sharif) would not be allowed to take part. “But I am not going to comment on any other matter.”

At a later stage, he also expressed the hope that the general election would be won by moderates, and that ‘the forces of extremism go down’. Acting as an astute politician, he also remained non-committal while fielding the question about his own political future. “No comment” he said, adding that by not answering the question he was also not lying about anything.

Gen Musharraf said that trying to create a moderate country was not only in the best interest of the people, but also the only way to dispel the growing impression in the world that Pakistan was an ‘irresponsible’ and a ‘rogue state’. He said during his recent trip people everywhere asked about Al-Qaeda, Taliban, rise of militancy, links of these militants with those operating in other countries, and then about nuclear proliferation and whether it was still continuing despite the arrest of Dr. A. Q. Khan. He said these were real issues, and they became more compounded as most of those arrested for religious militancy or terrorism in other countries were found to have some sort of a link with an individual or a group in Pakistan.

However, he said, through a highly organised military operation, the government had managed to dismantle or eliminate Al-Qaeda from the country, including the tribal areas. Even if some elements were left behind, they were mostly on the run, he said.

With Al-Qaeda out of the way, the president said, the focus had shifted to the Taliban, and the way to isolate the militants from common tribesmen. For this reason, he said, the need for a different strategy was felt. Therefore, the age-old system of tribal elders, maliks and lungi (privy-purse) holders was tried to handle the situation.

Gen Musharraf said all this was being done with a well thought-out plan, and though there were no guarantees of one hundred per cent results, there was a strong possibility that the government would be able to bring down the level of militancy in the region.

He called the new approach a ‘carrot and stick policy’, and said nearly 15 billion rupees were to be spent on development and reconstruction in the tribal areas, and money would be spent only in those areas where the tribesmen took conscious steps to honour the peace deal. Challenging the critics of the peace deal at home and abroad, he said he was convinced a military operation was not the way to deal with ‘our own people’, and asked opponents of the government’s policy to come up with any alternative suggestion.

But on the issue of handling a different kind of armed militancy in Balochistan, President Musharraf did not mince words to condemn those ‘challenging the writ of the government’. He said he recognised the injustices of the past, and was prepared to apologise on behalf of the previous governments. He also gave an assurance that all development work would continue in the province, but warned of the harshest possible action against those who were to pick up arms against the state.

The president claimed that the situation in Dera Bugti had returned to normal, and more than 47,000 people had returned to re-settle in their ancestral place.

Similarly, he said the coal-mines in the Marri area had been returned to their actual owners and most of the militant camps had been destroyed. He said there were about four or five farrari camps remaining, but they too would be eliminated.