By IANS
Islamabad : Promoting “nationalist” feelings against the US will harm and isolate Pakistan just as the anti-India “nationalism” of the past hurt the country, an influential newspaper warned Friday.
“Pakistan has hurt itself through its nationalism in the past and it may hurt itself again through its anti-Americanism,” the Daily Times, known for its liberal views, said in an editorial.
“Nationalism, which made us lose many wars, was India-driven. The lack of realism in it dawned only gradually, but today Pakistan is ready to turn its face away from it without spelling it out,” it said.
“If the next phase (of nationalism) has to be America-driven, it will be immeasurably more harmful because of the isolation it will impose on Pakistan and the damage it will do to the national economy,” it added.
Large sections of Pakistani politicians, intelligentsia and media have accused President Pervez Musharraf of waging a campaign against terror at the behest of the US.
“This new ‘nationalism’ has brought Musharraf under siege,” it observed.
With the return of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto to the country and to the political scene, her Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) “can weigh in on the other side to lessen the extremism of Pakistan’s opposition”, the editorial said.
“Bhutto is needed today regardless of the charges tainting her persona.”