Pakistan’s tragedy is that even if the new, democratically elected government changes its policies toward the jihad, the roots now go so deep in Waziristan, Swat, and even Karachi, that it will take much more than a change of policy to end Islamist violence.

Pakistanis like to blame America for what has happened, but the man they should blame is Pervez Musharraf. If more had been done after IC-814, after Daniel Pearl was killed, after the attack on our Parliament, after hundreds died on commuter trains in Mumbai, perhaps Pakistan today would not be considered the most dangerous place in the world.

More was not done and it is the most dangerous place in the world. So is there any hope? Yes there is, and it’s called democracy. Real democracy, in which judges do not get sacked on a whim and lawyers jailed for demanding basic human rights. Real democracy, in which military men in secret backrooms do not continue to ration out fundamental rights and take them back. As far as India is concerned, nothing better could happen than for us to have a stable, democratic Pakistan, because it could be the only way to improve our very dangerous neighbourhood.