As the former British prime minister, Gordon Brown, pointed out, 75 per cent of terrorist acts can be traced back to Pakistan. Little wonder that Madeleine Albright, the former US secretary of state, called it “an international migraine”. And after the failed attempt of a Pakistani to explode a bomb in Times Square in New York, the present secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, warned of “devastating consequences” for Pakistan if any such attempt succeeded. However, a plot to do just that was scotched with the recent arrests of three people in Canada, one of whom was a Pakistani.

Pakistan must also be ashamed of the fact that its army is the only one in the world which is seen to be a patron of the terrorists. In all other Islamic countries, there is a clear distinction between the establishment, including the security forces, and the terrorists. But this line is blurred in Pakistan because of the open and unashamed collusion between the terrorists on one hand and the army and the ISI on the other.

Nor is there any possibility of these links being severed in the near future because the Pakistan army clearly looks upon the terror groups as its strategic assets in the event of a war with India. This is a unique and unprecedented situation for which any army, and official establishment, would have bowed its head in shame. But Pakistan apparently has no compunctions about harbouring virtually a rogue army.

Considering that the father of the country's atomic bomb, A.Q. Khan, is also seen as a rogue by the rest of the world although he is a hero in Pakistan, it is clear that the latter's norms of behaviour is different from those of the international community. This kind of an abnormal mentality can perhaps explain why the Pakistani cricketers become so brazenly involved in betting scams.

Any group of people, who are conscious of maintaining the good name of their country, would not have consistently behaved in the way that the Pakistani players have done from the time of Salim Malik and Ataur Rahman down to the present team. But it seems that they simply do not care to uphold their country's honour. Is this aberrational behaviour the fallout of the fact that Pakistan has a rogue nuclear scientist and a rogue army?

Its dysfunctional government and dysfunctional democracy can also explain why those, who can act as its brand ambassadors, do not mind dragging their country's name through mud. This absence of pride in the nation is perhaps the reason why the Pakistan army deliberately allows terrorism to flourish despite the havoc which the Islamists cause inside the country. The army also tries to provoke a conflict with India through acts such as 26/11 although it knows fully well that Pakistan itself will suffer even more than India.

Yet, the fact that it lights a fire to burn down a neighbour's house although the blaze may spread to its own house underlines a kind of nihilism which is rare in international relations. It is almost as if the army and the ISI are on a suicide mission with no thought for the future. Similarly, cricketers as talented as Salman Butt, Mohammed Asif and Mohammed Ameer can carelessly throw away their careers for the sake of money which they will have to stash away in secret bank accounts if they manage to keep them at all. But if they had stuck to the straight and narrow path, they might have earned as much legitimately if not more.

But are they in a hurry for fear of Pakistan's disintegration? As it is, the terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team last year has ensured that no official cricket can be played in Pakistan. As a result, Pakistan has had to play its “home” series against Australia this summer in England. It has also lost the chance of hosting next year's world cup matches, which will be played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. No snub is greater for a country, but it is a price which it has had to pay because of the Pakistan army's dalliance with the terrorists.

But even a greater rebuff awaits Pakistan, for there is every likelihood of it being ostracized by the rest of the cricketing world after the latest incidents. The isolation will be a humiliating experience for a country which has always aspired to be India's equal in the subcontinent. (IPA Service)