Madam, Mulla, and Musharraf

Much-touted writ of the Musharraf government has become thinner than a toilet paper. Even within a few miles of his office - his seat of power - bamboo-club wielding female seminary students, Talibaat, have been successfully thumbing their noses on him.

First, in January, they occupied a children's library next to their madrassa and refused to vacate it until government dropped its plan to tear down their madrassa that was built on illegally occupied land by its management. They still have the possession.

Then, on Tuesday, these Talibaat along with Taliban from the same madrassa complex descended on the malls and stores throughout the capital and demanded that they stop selling music and movie Cd's. One of the shrewd store owners deflected their wrath to a house in one of the neighborhoods of Islamabad where they claimed an alleged madam was running a brothel. The Talibaat and Taliban raided that house and put rope nooses around the necks of the madam, her daughter, her daughter-in-law and her six-month old granddaughter and dragged them bare-head and bare-foot "like dogs" to their madrassa and presented them to the head of the madrassa, Abdul Rashid Ghazi.

Police went to rein in their vigilantism and arrested two teachers and two Talibaat but, in retaliation, two of the police officers along with their police van were reeled in and held hostage by Talibaat. Talibaat and their administrator, A. R, Ghazi threatened to wage Jihad if the two teachers and two Talibaat were not released within hours.

Musharraf government was so hapless that it bowed down to Talibaat demands and started "negotiations" with the management and swapping of police hostages and detained teachers and students was agreed on after hours of back and forth. Talibaat and Ghazi also let the kidnapped women and infant go but only after madam was coerced to read a written statement denouncing her past illicit activities and repenting her evil deeds.

Did Musharraf contrived this capitulation to send an SOS message to the West to convince them of his indispensability and of the fact that the Talibanization had crept even to the capital, Islamabad, and he was the only man standing between this growing danger and the west being eaten alive by these "barbarian jihadis"?

Is he truely on his knees because he has opened too many fronts simultaneously?

Is it a coincidence that four US Congressmen have met with Nawaz Sharif in London on their way to Pakistan where they will meet with Musharraf and Benazir Bhutto is in America?

Is Musharraf on his way out and new horses are being groomed?