Inevitably, the growing economic crisis and the continued resistance in the cast have produced political shock waves in West Pakistan. Dozens of citizens in the northwest frontier province of Sind were arrested recently for demonstrating in support of provincial separatism. And Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, the ambitious western political leader who promised his followers an early end to martial law in West Pakistan, has been discredited by continued military rule. But above all the looming danger of inflation and the prospect of a prolonged; clandestine insurrection in the east pose a threat to Yahya Khan himself. For as one leading Karachi politician told me last week: “Other governments in the past have been toppled by far less. I'd say that Yahya has about six months to settle this mess. After that, the army may conclude that the President has bitten off more than he can chew, and it may start looking for a new leader.” If accurate, that assessment still gives Yahya some leeway. But clearly. time is running out.
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