Islamabad: The visit of Pakistani hard-liner Maulana Fazal-ur Rahman to India was a message to New Delhi, Islamabad and the United States that it is the radical elements in the country, which would decide whether peace can be forged between the two countries, according to the US-based Pakistani web newspaper "South Asia Tribune".

It has commented that the regime in Islamabad should not take the utterances of Rahman lightly as they were similar to the speeches delivered by Bengali leaders before the 1971 liberation war.

"The message to Pakistani military is: you can go to hell, if you want to continue your games, here is what we can do. The message to Indians and Americans; you may consider us hard-liners, but we are the real people who can solve Kashmir problem, more so, on your terms," the article said.

It said, "If Pakistani Generals think Mullahs (religious clerics) are going to be easy meal, they are seriously mistaken. Maulana Fazal-ur Rahman chose Indian media and forum to convey his message.

"Was it the right media and forum to convey the message? Perhaps not, but General Musharraf is not giving them breathing space like Yahya Khan did not give breathing space to the Bengali leadership (in 1971)," the paper commented.

The newspaper advised that General Musharraf should immediately give up his political scheming, honourably give up power, allow Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto to participate in the country's politics (as demanded even by Rahman) as otherwise indicators have already started pointing towards another debacle like in 1971.

PTI