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French move on
turban outrages
9 Indians among
78 detained in Greece Oppn questions
Pervez’s election as President Aide to Pak’s N-scientist held Window
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$ 2.5 lakh for
WTO suit settlement Cherie’s book
on life in Downing Street
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French move on turban outrages US Sikhs Washington DC, January 18 The ban, which is due to be debated in French Parliament next month, would prohibit the display of articles of faith such as the Sikh turban, Muslim hijab, Jewish yarmulke and “large” Christian crosses. A report by the official commission of French experts recommended President Jacques Chirac pass the ban to bolster his efforts to separate religion from the state. Sikhs are particularly piqued that the commission failed to interview anyone from their community during its six-month investigation. Asked about this omission, an official at the French Ministry of National Education, which is responsible for negotiating the law with Parliament, was quoted as saying: “What? There are Sikhs in France?” “The fact that these people did not even know about the existence of Sikhs in France is outrageous,” says Preetmohan Singh, director of the Washington office of the Sikh Mediawatch and Resource Task Force (SMART). France’s Sikh community, while small at close to 10,000, has made significant contributions to the country. Dr Chirinjeev Kathuria, a Republican Senate candidate in Illinois, hopes President Chirac will recall the strong alliance and friendship between the French and the Sikhs during both World Wars. “Thousands of Sikh soldiers, including those in the French armed forces, fought and died on French soil alongside the Allies to liberate Europe. And they did this with their turbans intact,” he says. “If we could come together in times of great turmoil, we can certainly live together in times of peace.” SMART has coordinated its efforts with other groups across the USA to raise awareness about the French legislation. “Folks around the world are outraged,” said Mr Preetmohan Singh. “In terms of President Chirac wanting to achieve religious neutrality, we want to make sure that the French maintain the separation of church and state. But this legislation is tantamount to the government imposing its view upon its
citizens." For Sikhs, our turbans are part and parcel of what we our – it is our identity,” he adds. Mr Manjit Singh, president of SMART, agreed. “To force Sikhs to remove their turbans and adherents of other faiths to shed religious insignia that have no correlation with state functions will solely serve to exacerbate religious bigotry in France,” he says. The Sikh community has raised the matter with the Government in India, but Mr Bakhshish Singh, secretary of the Maryland-based Guru Nanak Foundation, says the issue needs to be taken up “more aggressively”. Mr Preetmohan Singh feels differently. “In many ways it is a local issue for them (the Sikhs in France). We don’t want to impose ourselves on their internal matters, but we certainly want them to know we stand by them,” he says. Dr Kathuria says the French Government is “inflicting its own sectarian social preferences” on its citizens. “Trampling over the rights of your own citizens and forcing the people to follow a state-sponsored agnostic code cannot achieve secularism.” People claim America is such an “intolerant” country, he says. “Yet in America, people are free to wear religious symbols of all kinds in public. In America… religious freedom and civil liberties are borderless. Diversity is an asset, not a liability.” |
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9 Indians among 78 detained in Greece
Athens, January 18 The immigrants — 64 Egyptians, nine Indians and five Pakistanis — were found aboard cargo ship Rex as it was sailing near the port of Pylos, around 335 km southwest of Athens. The ship’s Georgian captain and Ukrainian crew were arrested, officials said.
— AP |
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Oppn questions Pervez’s election as President
Islamabad, January 18 Speaking at a joint press conference after staging a protest during Musharraf’s address yesterday, opposition leaders said he had recently amended the constitution to get his election through referendum as the President ratified. Leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) Asfandyar Wali Khan warned that reaction against the amendment would be severe. He said his party did not accept Musharraf as the elected President since his election had not been held in accordance with the procedure laid down in the constitution, hence he had no legal right to address the joint session. Cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan, who headed the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaaf, said all those who wanted to see Pakistan adopt the democratic path should record their protest against it. Amin Fahim, Chairman of the 15-party Alliance for Restoration of Democracy (ARD), said the opposition would continue its struggle for the revival of democracy and restoration of 1973 constitution. Acting President of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) Nisar Ali Khan said history had been made as a serving chief of army addressed an elected parliament.
— PTI |
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Aide to Pak’s N-scientist held Islamabad, January 18 Pakistan has questioned Abdul Qadeer Khan, revered as a national hero for developing the nuclear device, and several of his colleagues in recent weeks after a UN nuclear agency began a probe into possible links between Pakistani and Iranian nuclear programmes. A senior government official said Islam-ul-Haq, Khan’s principal secretary, was detained for questioning last evening in Islamabad.
— Reuters
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Window on Pakistan One direct consequence of repeated military dictatorships in Pakistan is poor quality of life for millions of its citizens who have rarely enjoyed any democratic participation in the country’s political decision making. This all round deprivation is becoming too visible to be ignored by the media and others deeply concerned with the welfare of the people. Human development index has repeatedly indicated that Pakistani people except the upper middle class live the life of misery. But there has been plenty of lip sympathy all around. Discussing the issue of poverty, the Nation brought certain disturbing facts. It wrote “The 2003 HDI report lists horrifying arrays of figures to prove how poorly Pakistanis are served in the business of the quality of life. In cigarette consumption, infant mortality and defence expenditure we lead all the way by a wide margin, but for overcoming illiteracy and ill-health we fight shy of sparing funds despite claiming to have achieved macroeconomic stability.” Defence allocation has recently sharply come down from a peak of 6.8 per cent to 4.5 per cent of GDP. But obviously there are no compulsions to keep a viable military deterrence. Distributing resources the imperatives of improving people’s quality of life has not been kept in mind. The Nation said: “The universal recognition of education as the key to improvement is proved by a comparison between Sri Lanka and Pakistan in infant mortality: the former with nearly 100 per cent literacy accounts for 17 deaths per 1000 as against the latter with 47 per cent literacy an abominable 84. Yet our policymakers dream of spreading universal literacy by allocating a mere 0.7 per cent of the GDP to education, less than five times Sri Lanka sets aside for this purpose.” Another factor that keeps Pakistan tied down to the lowest rung in the HDI scale is pervasive corruption and massive misuse of funds, as a damning indictment of the authorities’ boast of good governance. The News International quoted Pakistan Society for Development Economists to say: “Having identified the challenges ahead, the government’s reform agenda over the next five years will concentrate on strengthening institutions, improving the competitiveness of industries, building a robust financial system, further strengthening the tax administration and promoting transparency in economic policy-making. What is all the more essential is good governance, which depends on well-functioning public institutions. At the same time, it is critically important that the private sector should be the main engine of growth and the main source of employment.” Dr M.S.
Jilani, an economist who had worked with United Nations, defined poverty in the larger context while discussing the HDI report. He wrote: “Poverty is not entirely an economic circumstance as it was once. But before pressing the argument further, one should try to visualise a scenario in which the richest segments of society dominate the legislatures, the chosen one’s out of them neutralise the bureaucrats or encourage them to adopt the life-style of the power elite, wealth is concentrated in a few hands, and corrupt practices to get rich have become a norm. What sort of law will be allowed to be enacted and implemented in such a situation? In such an ambience even the friends and sympathisers of the poor are liable to become a party to get-rich! Imported regimens for the civil society, academic and research endeavours have only exacerbated the condition.” Daily Times took up issues concerning women to hammer the point of liberating 50 per cent of the population from tyranny. It wrote: “Progressive Pakistan, a vision that will never materialise until women and other minorities are given their rights. If radicalism and extremism has to be eliminated from society, the issue of women’s rights cannot be ignored. Militancy is one manifestation of this curse, while the second-rate status of women is another. General Musharraf cannot deal with one and not the other.” Clearly the corrupt juntas and politicians have helped only a small section and have kept the people poor, ignorant and weak. They need the cover of jihad and Kashmir to carry on their nefarious activity to get rich and keep people deprived. |
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$ 2.5 lakh for WTO suit settlement
Seattle, January 18 The lawsuit, which had been scheduled to go to trial on Tuesday, stemmed from the arrests of 157 persons outside a “no-protest zone” on December 1, 1999. The city maintained protesters were arrested for pedestrian interference only after they failed to disperse, but last month, US District Judge Marsha Pechman ruled that Seattle police had no probable cause to arrest those 157 protesters.
— AP |
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Cherie’s book on life in Downing Street
London, January 18 The work entitled “The Goldfish Bowl” was almost finished, she said, and would be published under her maiden name Cherie Booth on September 23, she said in an interview published yesterday. Blair, who is a leading barrister and mother of four children, writes not only about her own experiences, but deals with those of her predecessors, including Denis Thatcher, husband of Margaret Thatcher. Cherie Blair is co-writing the book with Cate Haste, a social historian, and bases her work on interviews and discussions with the spouses of former Prime Ministers.
— DPA |
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