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Bhattal in the saddle King’s blunders |
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Caribbean carnival And a lot of wishes for Team India AS the legendary Sir Gary Sobers officially declared the 9th ICC Cricket World Cup open, not a single watching cricketer standing under his country’s colours fluttering in the air, and not a single eager fan from around the world, would have escaped a frisson down his back. This is as big as it gets, and practically every country fancies its chances at what is being touted as the most open cup in recent times.
Tough times for Musharraf
The Bicycle Age
There are alternatives
to Musharraf Knowledge and learning under attack in Iraq Defence Notes
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Bhattal in the saddle THE Congress graph in Punjab is at an interesting spot after the recent electoral defeat. Mrs Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who has been appointed leader of the Congress Legislature Party, will have to be at her persuasive best with her colleagues to be worthy of the confidence reposed in her by the high command. In spite of the brave front put up by all, the defeat has rattled the Congress and she will have to play a leading role as the opposition leader despite the fact that she has many critics in her own party. The Congress has to be restructured in the State and much will depend on who is selected as PCC chief. Their first priority will obviously be to make all factions pull in one direction. Defeated Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has accepted her elevation in public but it is common knowledge that there is no love lost between them. More than that, what matters is the relations between their supporters. The Captain backers have given in to the orders from the high command though they had lobbied vigorously to get the post for him. All such points of friction will have to be smoothed out. And it may not be easy. But that is the internal matter of the Congress. More crucial will be Mrs Bhattal’s role in helping the Congress make a smooth transition from the ruling party to a constructive Opposition. The Congress may not have enough MLAs to form a government but has sufficient strength to keep the new Akali government on its toes. Democracy works best when the Opposition discharges its duties as a vigilant watchdog diligently. But this would require some hard work and application of the mind on the part of Congressmen. One glaring weakness of the previous Assembly was that it met only briefly for a few days. As a result, even vital matters were not debated properly. That shortcoming must be removed this time. At the same time, there should be no confrontation either. Hard discussion in soft words is the ideal recipe for good governance. Unfortunately, unparliamentary words were freely bandied about during electioneering. Now that some of the contestants have become legislators, they have to turn a new leaf. Mrs Bhattal should lead the opposition party by standing up for the people and not for sectional interests.
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King’s blunders NEPAL’S Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala is right. It is a fact that the monarchy would not have given way to a Republican set-up in his country had King Gyanendra not made one mistake after another. The Prime Minister has been hinting about retaining the institution of the King on the British pattern. His idea, perhaps, is that in a parliamentary democracy there is no reason why the people of Nepal would not be happy to see their King on his throne, of course, without the authority he once enjoyed as the absolute monarch. But this appears to be beyond the realm of possibility when the King himself is destroying the kind of atmosphere that is necessary for the purpose. Nepal’s interim legislature was forced by the his foolish remarks to pass a resolution on February 21, asking the Koirala government to punish him for his unwillingness to accept the prevailing reality. The provocation was provided by the King’s assertion on February 19 — Democracy Day — that his ill-advised action in 2005 to dismiss the government and assume direct executive powers was caused by the government’s failure to hold elections and provide security to the people. Sadly, he fails to realise even now that had he been justified in doing what he did, the people of Nepal would not have risen in revolt against him. He was forced to relinquish the control of the government in April 2006. Anyway, the King’s fate remains to be decided by the Constituent Assembly, which will be elected in June. If he remains unreformed, he will only weaken his own case. Mr Koirala, however, may still try to ensure that the institution of the King remains in tact. For this he wants the King to renounce the throne on his own, which may touch the hearts of the people. Perhaps, this is what the Prime Minister has in his mind when he talks of creating a “new environment”. But nothing can be done if the King himself has no interest in such an idea. |
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Caribbean carnival AS the legendary Sir Gary Sobers officially declared the 9th ICC Cricket World Cup open, not a single watching cricketer standing under his country’s colours fluttering in the air, and not a single eager fan from around the world, would have escaped a frisson down his back. This is as big as it gets, and practically every country fancies its chances at what is being touted as the most open cup in recent times. And while it is the absence of some big guns in reigning champions Australia’s team that has had many people grasping at the cup, there are still big stars in all the main teams. Expect some exciting one-day cricket and those moments that can be savoured for ever. In fact, the big stars are eager for a last hurrah - many of them are expected to play their last world cup. Brian Charles Lara of the West Indies would like the cup badly. So would Sachin Tendulkar. In fact, India is fielding two more of the top run-grossers in the world - Rahul Dravid and Saurav Ganguly. Inzamam Ul-Haq is out there as well, as is Sanath Jayasurya of Sri Lanka. The younger Ricky Ponting, who has the promise of becoming as big as they get, is in no mood to let go of the cup. South Africa, who beat the Aussies’ 400 plus score and can look as good as anyone in the fray have their stars too. And if Ricky Ponting’s lashing back at Sunil Gavaskar for the latter’s comments about Aussie behaviour are anything to go by, expect some sparks to fly. At its best, one-day cricket is exhilarating and the World Cup always manages to throw up some superb performances. As Rahul Dravid led his men out, everyone will be hoping for his day in the sun. Go get’em guys. Enjoy yourselves, play good cricket, and the cup is there for the taking. |
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You’ll never have a quiet world till you knock the patriotism out of the human race. — George Bernard Shaw
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Tough times for Musharraf
There
is a fierce debate in Pakistan about collaborating with the US on the war on terrorism. The Pakistan National Assembly's Standing Committee on Defence on March 9 warned the United States that Pakistan could withdraw its support for the war on terrorism if the US slapped ``unwarranted restrictions on the country''. This is a response to the moves in the US Congress to pass resolutions linking up aid to Pakistan with its perceived commitment to fight the war against terrorism effectively. The US Congress wants more effective action by Pakistan against the leadership of Al-Qaeda, which the US intelligence assesses is operating from safe havens in Pakistan, and against the Taliban forces, which they allege are carrying out forays into Afghan territory against the coalition, the International Security Assistance Forces drawn from NATO countries. The US armed forces and intelligence believe that the truce agreement concluded by the Pakistani Army with the tribal chiefs in Waziristan has led to increased frequency of attacks across the Pakistan border. Even as the senior senators and Congress members demand that if Pakistan is unable or unwilling to act to counter the Taliban elements in their territory then the US and coalition forces should act. A senior US General assured the Senate that the US forces did have the right of hot pursuit into Pakistani territory. This claim caused widespread outrage in Pakistan. Pakistani Ambassador to Washington Mohammed Ali Durrani cautioned the US that too much pressure on General Musharraf might lead to the possibility of his being toppled and that would not be in US interest. One candid view expressed in the Pakistani media was that General Musharraf was not unwilling to deal with the Taliban elements as demanded by the US. But when he tried it, the Army suffered enormous casualties (800 dead) without commensurate results. Consequently, the Corps Commanders were opposed to further operations. General Musharraf was compelled to seek the truce agreement under those circumstances. It is recalled how the British were unable to subjugate the Pathan tribes in Afghanistan in the 19th century and how the Soviets were forced to withdraw. In other words, Pakistan could not do more than what it has been doing. At the same time, Pakistan cannot agree to allow the US or NATO forces to operate on Pakistani soil. Will the US Administration and legislators accept this? It is hardly likely. Last year's opium crop has been a bumper one and according to US estimates, 70 per cent of the crop gets marketed via Pakistan. While the US Congress, the intelligence community and the media are vociferous in their criticism of inadequacy of cooperation by Pakistan, the US Administration is full of praise for Pakistan as a partner in the war on
terrorism. The Administration is piloting through the Congress sale of 18 F-16 fighter jets with the possibility of sale of another 18 and refurbishment of 34 aircraft already with Pakistan. It is not lost on the observers that expectation about Pakistan's cooperation against the Taliban is immediate while the delivery of aircraft will take time. The aircraft are offered as a bait for Pakistani cooperation in the operations against the Taliban that are expected in the next few weeks. Al-Qaeda and the Taliban are the original foundainheads of terrorism. The US cannot afford to give up on Afghanistan as the Soviet Union did. The Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan coincided with the decline in the Soviet power and the impending collapse of the Soviet Union. The case of the US is very different and it cannot afford to give up on Afghanistan and accept defeat. NATO is also fully involved in Afghanistan. While in the US Congress there are suggestions for withdrawal from Iraq, there are none to pull out from Afghanistan. Therefore, the US and NATO are bound to pursue the operations in Afghanistan. Can General Musharraf afford to stay out or continue his game of running with jihadi hares and hunting with US hounds? In September 2001 General Musharraf gave four reasons for making a U-turn in policy and giving up the Taliban and facilitating US operations against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. They were (i) safeguarding the sovereignty of Pakistan, (ii) safeguarding Pakistan's economy, (iii) protecting the nuclear assets of the country and (iv) sustaining the Kashmir policy. Pakistan has done well economically in the last six years and has reached a growth rate of 6 per cent thanks to the inflow of billions of dollars in US aid. It is not in a position to give up US aid without once again running the risk of becoming a nearly failed state. Unlike in the eighties and the nineties, when Pakistan could depend on Saudi Arabian aid, now in the post-9/11 era the US exercises greater control over Saudi financial transactions. It is doubtful whether a Pakistan which antagonises the US can expect the flow of aid from Saudi Arabia. The threat from jihadis to General Musharraf and the Pakistani polity is much greater today than it was in September 2001. While colloboration with the US will enable General Musharraf to have some influence on the operations on the border, alienating the US may lead to Washington using its air power extensively even over Pakistani territory leading to increased unpopularity of the General. US arms aid will come to an end if there is no military cooperation with it against the Taliban. Above all, Pakistan is very sensitive to the enhancing US-India relations and would not risk giving up all its influence on the US and pushing its relations to a breaking point. In theses circumstances, General Musharraf's strategy would be to sustain military cooperation with the US to an affordable extent even while pleading that his life is under threat from jihadis and that he is facing the risk of being toppled. He would come up with token gestures like the arrest of Obaidullah, a Taliban leader, on the eve of Vice-President Cheney's visit. The Inter-Services Inteslligence (ISI) may advise the jihadis and the Taliban to lie low for some time. Whether they will accept that advice is a different matter. There is no doubt this is a very difficult time for General Musharraf. Pakistan cannot afford to break away from the
US.
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The Bicycle Age
SOME TIMES after taking the reins of the country, Jawaharlal Nehru remarked that India was then passing through the Bicycle Age. At that point of time, “Hind” and “Hercules” were the most popular brands of bicycles in north India. “Hind” was lighter and cheaper. It was, therefore, quite popular among the common commuters. The sturdier “Hercules” was the preference of the heavy-duty users like the milkmen. They would load two to three cans of milk on the carrier and ride round vending milk to the great envy of their poor cousins still selling milk in buckets. My father was a supervisor with an Army ordnance depot at Lahore during World War II. His office was located quite some distance from Vasant Nagar where we stayed. To overcome his commuting hassles, he finally took one of the major decisions of his life i.e. the purchase of a bicycle. He would neatly fold the right leg of his trousers near his ankle and clip it, so that it would not get entangled in the chain and get messed up with grease. He then looked like wearing trousers in one leg and “churidar pajama” in the other. After reaching his office, he would spend some time in straightening the folds, so as to give himself a dainty “babu-like” look. We withdrew from Lahore a little before the horrors of the Partition climaxed. My father got a posting at Jaitu, a small town in the princely state of Nabha. Meanwhile, I had also grown up enough to have some fun with our cycle. In my attempt to ride it, I would put one foot on the left paddle and push the other leg through its frame to reach the right paddle. Thus, I rode in, what was then called the “kainchi” (scissors) style. Once riding high on confidence, I took the bicycle on a crowded road. A six-footer “Khalsa” (Jat Sikh) came right in my way when I was quite at speed. In the confusion, I forgot to apply brakes and the front wheel passed right through his legs. It was only then that I remembered to ring the bell. The man gave me a furious look — more for my audacity of ringing the bell when the cycle was already jammed in his legs. However, seeing an apologetic and innocent look on my face his rage melted and the good-natured man went his way. The utility bicycles of yesteryear are well on their way out. It is mostly some blue collared workers who still commute around on these in industrial areas. Some children and fitness fanatics can also be seen riding their designer bikes here and there. Otherwise, Nehru’s Bicycle Age, for sure, is over and we are now passing through the age of motor-bikes, if not the cars
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There are alternatives
to Musharraf Last month United States President George W. Bush told General Pervez Musharraf of Pakistan that he must be more aggressive in hunting down al-Qaida and the Taliban along his country’s border with Afghanistan. During his recent visit to Islamabad, Vice President Dick Cheney echoed the claim that al-Qaida members were training in Pakistan’s tribal areas and called on Musharraf to shut down their operations. British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett also expressed concern recently about suspected terrorist safe havens. Clearly, the pressure is on. Western leaders are finally beginning to recognize that Musharraf’s regime has been unsuccessful in taming the Taliban, which has regrouped in the tribal areas of Pakistan while the military regime has given up trying to establish order on the Afghan border. At the same time, the regime has strategically chosen to help the United States when international criticism of the terrorists’ presence becomes strident. The arrest of Mullah Obaidullah Akhund, a top Taliban strategist, by Pakistani authorities late last month is a case in point. The timing, right on the heels of American and British pleas for renewed toughness, is too convenient. Akhund was arrested solely to keep Western governments at bay. There are other political calculations in all of this. For too long, the international perception has been that Musharraf’s regime is the only thing standing between the West and nuclear-armed fundamentalists. Nothing could be further from the truth. Islamic parties have never garnered more than 13 percent in any free parliamentary elections in Pakistan. The notion of Musharraf’s regime as the only non-Islamist option is disingenuous and the worst type of fear-mongering. Much has been said about Pakistan being a key Western ally in the war against terrorism. It is the fifth-largest recipient of U.S. aid – the Bush administration proposed $785 million in its latest budget. Yet terrorism around the world has increased. Why is it that all terrorist plots – from the Sept. 11 attacks, to Madrid, to London, to Mumbai – seem to have roots in Islamabad? Pakistan’s military and intelligence services have, for decades, used religious parties for recruits. Political madrassas – religious schools that preach terrorism by perverting the faith of Islam – have spread by the tens of thousands. The West has been shortsighted in dealing with Pakistan. When the United States aligns with dictatorships and totalitarian regimes, it compromises the basic democratic principles of its foundation--namely, life, liberty and justice for all. Dictatorships such as Musharraf’s suppress individual rights and freedoms and empower the most extreme elements of society. Oppressed citizens, unable to represent themselves through other means, often turn to extremism and religious fundamentalism. Restoring democracy through free, fair, transparent and internationally supervised elections is the only way to return Pakistan to civilization and marginalise the extremists. A democratic Pakistan, free from the yoke of military dictatorship, would cease to be a breeding ground for international terrorism. Indeed, Pakistan’s return to democracy is essential to America’s success in South and Central Asia, as well as in the Middle East, as democratization is an integral part of fighting terrorism. Wouldn’t it therefore be prudent to tie aid money to genuine political reform? Pakistan must take steps toward hunting down al-Qaida operatives in the “ungovernable” tribal and border areas -- which were once successfully governed by democratically elected civilian governments. The regime must also stop its intimidation tactics of recent weeks, which include brutal murders, assassination attempts and other attacks on opposition party members. Of course Musharraf’s regime, to legitimise its coup and divert attention from the institutionalized corruption of the military, accuses Pakistan’s secular, democratic parties of corruption. But according to Transparency International, 67 percent of the people believe the regime is corrupt, surpassing the rate for past civilian governments. Musharraf’s regime has lasted twice as long as any civilian government in Pakistan. Yet not one of its ministers or key political supporters has been investigated. The National Accountability Bureau has persecuted opposition leaders for a decade on unproven corruption and mismanagement charges, hoping to grind them into submission. However, when politicians accused of corruption cross over to the regime, the charges miraculously disappear. Musharraf’s regime exploits the judicial system as yet another instrument of coercion and intimidation to consolidate its illegitimate power. But the politics of personal destruction will not prevent me and other party leaders from bringing our case before the people of our nation this year, even if that could lead to imprisonment. In his State of the Union address in January, President Bush said, “The great question of our day is whether America will help men and women in the Middle East to build free societies and share in the rights of all humanity. And I say, for the sake of our own security: We must.” This holds true for countries in South and Central Asia as well. Now is the time to force Pakistan’s government to make good on its promise to return to democracy.
The writer is chairwoman of the Pakistan People’s Party and served as prime minister of Pakistan from 1988 to 1990 and from 1993 to 1996. She lives in exile in Dubai. By arrangement with
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Knowledge and learning under attack in Iraq Last week’s bombing of the Al-Mutanabbi book market in Baghdad was a new low in the violence ripping through Iraq. The symbolism was clear: The suicide car-bomber wanted to strike at the heart of Iraq’s intellectual life. Nearly four years ago, looters rampaged through the Iraq National Museum, set fire to the National Archives in Baghdad and burned down the Koranic library at the Ministry of Religious Endowment shortly after that. Priceless books and documents, letters from Ottoman and other Arabic courts, the written records of a thousand years or more, went up in smoke. And now this. Al-Mutanabbi, named after a famous 10th century Arab poet, was once one of the grandest bazaars of knowledge, a place where books, old and new, on science, law, literature and religion were stocked in abundance. It had become a shadow of its former self in war-torn Baghdad. The supply of foreign books and magazines had been cut off. Yet somehow it had managed to carry on. Beleaguered and now indigent Iraqis often disposed of rare, century-old books in Persian and Arabic from family collections, and many a foreign visitor picked up priceless volumes for a pittance. Afterward, surely some of those visitors whiled away hours at the nearby Shah Bandar cafe, a coffeehouse frequented by Iraqi intellectuals that was also obliterated Monday. Neither the ordinary Shiite nor the typical Sunni gain anything by this fanatical act of destruction, which took away a resource from Iraqis and from the Arab world at large. This wasn’t a strike against a particular sect but an attack on free thought. It is clear that the bombing that left a 20-foot-wide crater was targeted at those who think, read or are interested in learning. Books and libraries have been burned through the ages, starting with the destruction of the great library of Alexandria, to the purges of knowledge ordered by Cisneros and Savonarola in the 15th century, to more modern bonfires of the vanities by the likes of Mao, Pol Pot and the Taliban. The terrorists who are fighting for control of Iraq realize that freedom of expression and learning are their enemies. Why else would anyone give his life to obliterate thousands of books, manuscripts and magazines? Now that the piles of old – including some irreplaceable – books are but ashes, what remains to be done? One wonders if the people of Baghdad shouldn’t rebuild the Al-Mutanabbi market immediately, if only to strike back at the terrorists symbolically. As the English poet John Milton wrote during another age of religious-political censorship, “He who destroys a good book destroys reason itself.” Maybe Baghdadis should take it upon themselves to show that reason cannot be suppressed. But in the devastating strife that is life in Iraq, does it make sense to take a stand for books? In a war-torn zone, books may seem as irrelevant as a Beethoven symphony or an Old Master canvas. Yet those books in Al-Mutanabbi market proved the depth of the Iraqis’ abiding curiosity. A popular Arab saying holds that “Cairo writes, Beirut prints, Baghdad reads.” For a thousand years, Baghdad has been a leading cultural light of the Arab world, and this is not the first time its books have been desecrated. When a grandson of Genghis Khan sacked Baghdad in the 13th century, legend has it that the Tigris River turned black with the ink of books. Rather, it must have been the ashes. To anyone who has ever browsed antiquarian books and felt the pleasure of finding a rare volume, the demise of the Al-Mutanabbi market should be an occasion of sorrow. Think of London losing the bookshops of Charing Cross Road or Paris without the booksellers along the Seine. Baghdad will never be the same. Across the world, anyone who has ever loved a book has lost something very dear indeed. No man is an island, and no reader either, and this death knell to reading in Baghdad diminishes us all.
Das is a physicist. Raychaudhuri, an editor for the Commission on Human Security’s final report, is a doctoral student in comparative literature. By arrangement with
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Defence Notes A distance learning programme, e-Gurukul, was launched recently for Indian Army personnel in order to keep them up to date on emerging technologies. It was launched by Major General K.J.S. Oberoi, GOC of Delhi Area. Given the committments of the personnel in the form of peace time duties, exercises and large scale deployments in counter insurgency operations both in Jammu and Kashmir and in NorthEastern states, most have very little time for training. While there are training institutes of the armed forces spread across the country, soldiers often find it difficult to get time for a tenure there. The Corps of Signals has embraced the e-gurukul technology to provide training opportunities. By using commercially available equipment, an inter-active video and web based virtual classroom has been created for the first time, and instructors based in a central location can run classes. To add the element of a “human touch”, the video images of the instructor will be streamed live to all the students. The students can also interact with the instructor either via a chat facility or through an embedded voice application. Officer and counsellor With the increase in the number of suicides and incidents of fratricidal killing amongst armed forces personnel, as many as 50 Junior Commissioned Officers (JCO) from the Army Medical Corps have been trained as counsellors in Northern and Eastern Commands, where troops are engaged in intensive and highly stressful counter insurgency operations. With as many as 20 such incidents in the first two months of this year and 146 incidents reported last year, authorities have taken recourse to this measure, besides having regular psychiatrists in the forces. The other measures taken include the recruitment of religious teachers and a programme where JCOs of the Army Education Corps, and Regimental Medical Officers, have been identified to function as ‘Psychological Health Mentors’ at the unit level. The introduction of training capsules on various kinds of relaxation exercises, including Yoga and Pranayam, and rotation of units and individuals to minimise exposure to stress, have also been adopted. Besides, the leave policy has been liberalised permitting splitting of casual and annual leave. All Chief Ministers of the states have been requested to make the civil administration more responsive to the problems of serving soldiers and their families. Steps for better man management and prompt attendance of grievances at the unit level, and improving the accessibility of leaders and frequent interaction of junior leaders with the solders, have also been undertaken. |
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