As the powerful military here held out threats to India, former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has said Islamabad must stop treating New Delhi as its "biggest enemy" and conduct a reappraisal of ties with New Delhi "if we want to go forward and progress". Sharif, who was in power when the Kargil crisis erupted, also sought a probe into the 1999 conflict with India.

Sharif had signed the famous Lahore Declaration in early 1999 with the then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to resolve all issues peacefully through dialogue, including the Kashmir issue. But the Kargil operation launched by Parvez Musharraf a few months later, apparently without Sharif’s approval, subverted the accord.

Meanwhile, Sharif described the decision to set up an independent commission to investigate the Abbottabad fiasco as a first step to making Parliament sovereign. “We need structural changes and this inquiry has provided an opportunity to move forward and put the country on the right track, correct its direction by putting our house in order, establish the rule of law and bring all institutions under civilian control,” Sharif observed.

The PML-N chief said if the government fixed responsibility for the Abbottabad incident and punished those found guilty, a message would go out to the world at large that the people of Pakistan would not brook another Abbottabad-like embarrassment.

Asked whether he would get in touch with MQM during his stay in Karachi, he said rhetorically: “What for. They are now part of the government. And May 12 should not be forgotten because if we forget the tragedy, similar incidents will continue to happen.” Mr Sharif was alluding to the bloodshed in Karachi on May 12, 2007, - the day Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry was unable to come out of the city’s airport.

“I don’t want to say anything lest I be misconstrued. However, an inquiry should be instituted into the May 12 happenings and the guilty brought to justice,” Sharif said.

Colombo, May 17
This May is a special month for most Sri Lankans. This month the Buddhist majority in the county is celebrating the 2600 years of the passing away of Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. But the second anniversary of the defeat of the Tamil Tigers by the Sri Lankan army, which falls on May 18, has overshadowed the celebrations.

In these two years, the euphoria associated with the war victory is somewhat evaporated. The regular government propaganda that was used to shore up support for the military in the war years is almost down to zero as the reality has set in that the end of terrorism is not the end of the economic and social problems of the country.

In the north, which saw the worst of the fighting in May 2009, many people have returned to their former places of residence but the task of de-mining some areas continues till today. While massive developments projects are underway, the people have to grapple with their day-to-day existence, many are still living on government subsides.

While local visitors to the north can travel unimpeded, there are still restrictions on foreigners going post-Vavuniya, just north of which was Tigers controlled vast areas of land prior to May 2009.

This has irked many former Sri Lankans, especially Tamils, who now hold foreign passports. They require permission from the Defence Ministry to travel to the north. The reason given is that they have to be careful about the safety of foreign nationals and hence the need to obtain prior permission.

In other areas of the country, while there is the obvious sigh of relief that the Tamil Tigers can longer unleash their bloody acts of terrorism anymore in the country, there are growing concern about the manner in which the administration of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is going about its business.

Many are concerned at the authoritarian direction that he seems to be headed in. One of his main tasks last year was to amend the constitution to enable him to contest a third term for the presidency. Earlier a person could only contest for the post twice and had to step down after that. The President is now in his second term which will run till January 2016.

There has also been little let up in the attacks on media personnel and institutions that are seen as anti-government despite the end of the war while the allegations of nepotism and corruption against the government too are growing.

There is little transparency in the massive development projects that are now underway in the country, including building of new ports, airports, railways and highways with opposition political parties often accusing the government of corruption involving the programmes. However, there has been no move by the government to make their deals more transparent.

There are of course the allegations of alleged war crimes that have been made against the government, the latest being by a UN panel of experts appointed by the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. While most Sri Lankans support the government in its insistence that a local accountability process is in place to look into such matters, the lack of consistency in dealing with such issues is worrying.

BRIEFLY

Sarko’s dad says Bruni pregnant
London: French First Lady Carla Bruni-Sarkozy is expecting a child, the President's father has revealed in an interview with the German Bild newspaper. Speculation that Bruni-Sarkozy is pregnant has been rife for weeks, fuelled by her own cryptic comments, but Sarkozy Sr's statement is the clearest indication yet that she is expected, reports the Telegraph. — ANI

Rana’s trial begins
Chicago: The trial of Pakistani-Canadian Tahawwur Rana, who is accused with David Headley for the 26/11 terror attacks, began here with the initiation of jury selection process at a federal court house. Rana, a 50-year-old Chicago businessman, is accused of helping his childhood friend Headley to scout targets for the LeT for the Mumbai carnage. — PTI