 |
|
Policy on hold Khalid’s confession |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Captain’s calling An embarrassment of choices CAPTAIN Amarinder Singh — yes, the very one who was chief minister of Punjab till the other day — is certainly not a man of few words. Nor is he one to desist from calling a spade a spade; he would call it a bloody shovel, and in quite a few languages. He gave new meaning to politics, like diplomacy, being war by other means.
The 9/11 confession
Will-o’-the-wisp
Helmand: emerging epicentre
in the Afghan war Beyond the law of necessity Inside Pakistan
|
Policy on hold A
NUMBER of chief ministers have urged the Centre to defreeze the process of setting up special economic zones (SEZs) as the uncertainty may dampen investor enthusiasm and slow down economic growth. There is a broad political consensus on the need for SEZs to speed up industrialisation. However, the issue has become controversial for a variety of reasons. Forcible land acquisitions at below-market prices at certain places have led to farmer protests. The vast tax concessions given to SEZs have earned disapproval of the Union Finance Ministry. As domestic firms rushed to cash in on real estate opportunities in SEZs, the RBI asked the banks to treat loans for SEZs on a par with those for real estate while the government stipulated that the SEZ developers must also provide social infrastructure, including schools and hospitals. Realising the political implications of the anti-SEZ sentiment in certain areas, Congress president Sonia Gandhi intervened to say that SEZs should not come up on fertile land. Finally, it was decided that all SEZ projects should be put on hold until land acquisition and compensation guidelines were finalised. However, it is believed that the policy was held in abeyance in view of the pending assembly elections in some states and the status quo will continue until the Uttar Pradesh elections are over. SEZs make economic sense but political compulsions come in the way. Earlier, the Centre was keen to push reforms but some of the states did not show any interest. Now states are pressing the Centre for reforms but the latter has been dragging its feet. Disinvestment as a policy stands abandoned. SEZs have attracted a lot of domestic and foreign interest but these will have to wait until differences are resolved. Violence and police firing in West Bengal have also complicated matters. The chief ministers of Andhra Predesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal want a go-ahead for projects already cleared and where there are no disputes. That is fair enough. Meanwhile, why should a relief and rehabilitation policy take so long to
materialise?
|
|
Khalid’s confession WHILE the states of both Saudi Arabia and Egypt escaped censure for the diabolical acts of a group of their nationals in plotting and executing the September 11 terror strikes, Pakistan may yet squirm a little with the reported confession of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to being the mastermind. Mohammed, considered to be the number three in the al-Qaida hierarchy, declared, according to the transcript of a hearing in prison, released by the Pentagon, that he was “responsible for the 9/11 operation, from A to Z.” Now, how much of this is bravado, how much an attempt to shield “colleagues” still at large and how much a simple case of telling interrogators what they want to hear, is not clear. But the fact that Khalid is a Pakistani throws up some intriguing questions. It must never be forgotten that before the September 11 attacks, Pakistan was not only one of the few states that had recognised the Taliban regime but an active supporter and sympathiser of it. The Pakistani ISI’s connections with the Taliban and the Taliban’s coziness with al-Qaida, are well documented and it was only Musharraf’s dramatic turnaround to avoid “being bombed into the stone age” by the US — to recollect the controversial phrase Musharaff himself floated in his recent autobiography — that laid the foundation for a tightrope act that the world is still trying to figure out. Of course, it was Pakistan which arrested Khalid in March 2003 and handed him over to the US. Pakistan, till date, never fails to offer up an Al-Qaida or Taliban fugitive whenever the pressure is turned on; US Vice-President Dick Cheney’s recent visit produced a few big-wig arrests too. Pakistan’s balancing act, or double act, depending on which way you want to see it, is increasingly coming under the scanner. Pakistani territory in Waziristan is being used as a base for the Taliban to wage a war against the Hamid Kharzai government in Afghanistan. It would not be a bad idea for the US to release a little more about what it knows of Pakistan’s pre-9/11 shenanigans. |
|
Captain’s calling CAPTAIN Amarinder Singh — yes, the very one who was chief minister of Punjab till the other day — is certainly not a man of few words. Nor is he one to desist from calling a spade a spade; he would call it a bloody shovel, and in quite a few languages. He gave new meaning to politics, like diplomacy, being war by other means. So it was only natural that once the Captain had bowed out of steering the ship of (Punjab) state, his talent and skills might be commandeered for diplomacy. But no such fear, or fantasies, need be entertained: The Captain has taken pains to assure his audience that he won’t be ambassador or governor. Therefore, the powers that be should take note that he is an honest man who cannot be sent abroad to lie for his country; not even to Slovenia or Seychelles. “Can you ever imagine me in any of these roles,” he exclaimed with a rhetorical flourish. With him having made up his mind about the two jobs he would never ask for, the people of the state have to make up their mind whether the country’s, and the world’s, loss is Punjab’s gain. The Congress party will have to find other scapegoats to fill up the gubernatorial — a mouthful of a word even if you are not eating chicken kebab — and ambassadorial posts that are going abegging for want of both talent and takers. This is not to suggest that Captain cannot busy himself with preoccupations beyond government and politics. There’s much else that he can turn his mind and abilities, as he doesn’t have to tell those who know him. He intends to devote himself to completing a book on military history, on which he had been working even when he was chief minister. In the process, he may benefit from the secrets history has to reveal, and yet not forget that even those who remember history are condemned to repeat it. Carry on, Captain. |
|
The closer one gets to the top, the more one finds there is no top.
|
The 9/11 confession
Khalid Sheikh
Mohammed, the alleged mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, has recorded his statement before the Military Tribunal at Guantanomo detention camp which is to determine his status as a military combatant. The transcript of the statement made on March 10 in broken English — Khalid Mohammed Sheikh lived in the US as an engineering student for a number of years — and partly in Arabic has been released by the Pentagon. He has accepted responsibility for a number of acts of terrorism ranging from the 9/11 attack to sending in the shoe bomber, plots to kill various US presidents and the Pope and unimplemented plans to attack various prestigious targets in the US, the UK and other countries. His plans included an attack on the Israeli embassy in Delhi. According to his confession he was the planner of the military campaign for Al-Qaida and his planning went back to the abortive 1993 attempt to bomb New York World Trade Centre building. He refers to murder of Daniel Pearl, the US journalist, and plots against General Musharraf. In a subsequent instalment of the transcript released by the Pentagon he gloats over cutting off the head of Daniel
Pearl. The Pentagon explains the delay in releasing this portion of the transcript to the need to inform Pearl’s family ahead of its release. While he expresses some remorse for children who got killed he justifies his actions as war against the US and the West. While he has accepted to have written the statement which listed out all his planning and activities he refused to take the oath asserting that it was a religious act. In his statement there were suggestions that he was mistreated while he was in the custody of the CIA. Only last year he was transferred to military custody at Guantanomo. These proceedings are before a Review Tribunal and are subject to appeals to a Federal Appeals Court. If determined as an enemy combatant, the detainee will continue in custody. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed without in any way disowning his own responsibility asked the tribunal to treat the detainees fairly and said that many of them were detained without adequate justification. The key role of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was already known and was referred to in the 9/11 Commission Report. The present proceedings of the Military Tribunals are meant for the limited purpose of reviewing whether the detention as an enemy combatant is justified. Therefore why did the Pentagon choose to release the statements of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two of his colleagues who were all captured in Pakistan in 2002 and 2003? The Americans have taken some pains to ensure the credibility of the statements of the detainees though they appear to have redacted some portions of the statements. The release of the entire transcript, including Khalid Shaikh Mohammed’s statement in broken English and translation of his statement in Arabic, its contents, tone and tenor carry some credibility. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed’s (KSM) operations were mostly related to those directed by Al-Qaida leadership, especially in the last years. In the earlier period KSM had undertaken some independent operations — such as Boejinka in the Philippines. These releases of transcripts come in the wake of recent statements by two successive Directors of National Intelligence, John Negroparte and Admiral McConnell, about the Al-Qaida leadership rebuilding its strength from its hideouts in Pakistan. There are expectations of a spring offensive by Taliban into Afghanistan and there are very serious arguments in both US and Pakistan about the adequacy of Pakistani efforts in the war on terrorism. The release of KSM transcript is also a reminder to Pakistanis that after his capture in 2003 there have been no other major capture of Al-Qaida leadership from Pakistan. Al Zawahiri, the number two man in Al-Qaida, continues to issue audio and video recordings calling on Islamic militants all over the world to participate in the jehad against the US and the West. The very impressive list of terrorist atrocities, executed and planned by KSM, revealed in his statement before the Military Tribunal is a reminder to the peoples all around the world the massive effort still needed to counter effectively the terrorist threat posed by Al-Qaida which according to the US intelligence functions from the hideouts in Pakistan. KSM asserted before the tribunal the present statement was a voluntary one, though some of the earlier statements were made under coercion. He compared his actions to those of revolutionaries and pointed out that if George Washington had been arrested by the British he would have been considered an enemy combatant. By focusing attention on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Aba Faroj al-Libbi and Ramzi bin-al-Shibh, the three top Al-Qaida operatives captured in Pakistan, the US is trying to focus attention on Pakistan as the epicentre of Al-Qaida terrorism. Perhaps the Americans have found it necessary to employ such a tactic of pressure in view of Pakistan resorting to total denial about the presence and activities of Al-Qaida and Taliban on its soil. While reminding the Americans of 9/11 and the exploits of top Pakistan Al-Qaida operatives, may serve to stiffen the attitude of US Congress, one wonders whether this pressure will be effective on Pakistan. Earlier, there was an impression that KSM was given to self-glorification and he tended to exaggerate his role. The present statement has come out of him after he suffered the harsh interrogation in the hands of the CIA. If at all he should be expected to play down his role. Yet he has chosen to accept responsibility from A to Z as he puts it for a whole range of terrorist acts, both executed and
planned. The jehadis ,conditioned to court martyrdom for their extremist beliefs, are not concerned about their own death. On the basis of these admissions Al-Qaida, as a terrorist organisation cannot be
under-estimated.
|
Will-o’-the-wisp
Historians and literary researchers have confound us as easily as our politicians do with their public utterances. In 1640 a publisher called Benson produced a volume with the title, “Poems Written by William Shakespeare Gent”. The work, which we know as the sonnets of Shakespeare, was dedicated to one ‘Mr W.H.’ For a long time eminent scholars held the view that ‘Mr W.H’ was the young and handsome Earl of Southampton with whom the Bard was on friendly terms. Thinking along the same lines, a well-known literary figure, Cyril Graham, advanced the theory that Oscar Wilde, when he wrote his story, ‘The Portrait of Mr W.H’ had in mind, not the Earl of Southampton, but a boy-actor, Willie Hughes. Several years later, another researcher, Prof Rowse, while blowing the dust off the papers of someone called Simon Foreman, a contemporary of Shakespeare, stumbled upon evidence that has cleared the “greatest mystery of all time” viz, the identity of the person who inspired the Bard’s sonnets. It wasn’t a boy, after all. Prof Rowse tells us that the “dark lady” of Shakespeare’s sonnets was the daughter of an Italian musician at the court of Elizabeth I, Battista Bassano by name and his English wife, Margaret Johnson. It would seem, though, that Emila Bassano, the woman in question, had led rather a gay life of which her love complains in his Sonnet 142: “Love is my sin, and thy dear virtue hate/ Hate of my sin, grounded on sinful loving/O’ but with mine compare thou thine own state,/And thou shall find it merits not reproving”. Her wantonness appears to have been compensated somewhat in her lover’s eyes by her skill as a musician. He says in Sonnet 128: “How oft, when thou, my music playest/Upon that blessed wood whose motion sounds/With thy sweet fingers, when thou gently sway’st/The wiry concord that mine ear confounds”. Emilia Bassano, it is reported, became the mistress of no less a person than the Lord Chamberlain of England who, when he put her in the family way, married her off to a musician, William Lanier. To rub in the fact that she now had two Williams in her life, the Bard wrote in one of his Sonnets: “Whoever hath her wish, thou hast thy Will/And Will to boot, and Will in over-plus”. Of course, none of this would have happened if poor Anne Hathaway, the Bard’s wife, had lived up to her name. If she had had her way she would have kept her spouse firmly chained to their little cottage in Stratford -on-Avon!n
|
Helmand: emerging epicentre
in the Afghan war KABUL, Afghanistan – Lala Jan is a hostage in his own home. In his village in the southern province of Helmand, Taliban gunmen patrol the streets and NATO warplanes scour the skies. Jan fears both, so in recent months the 28-year-old farmer has hardly stepped beyond his front door. “I don’t go out,” Jan said in a telephone interview, “because I don’t want any problems.” But right now, problems are tough to avoid in Helmand. As the weather improves and Afghanistan enters its traditional fighting season, the province is shaping up as the war’s central battlefield in a critical test for a country increasingly teetering under the pressure of a violent insurgency. With a weak government presence in Helmand, the Taliban has gained more control there than in any other province in the five years since U.S.-led forces ejected the Islamic militia from power, according to foreign and Afghan officials. In many villages, Taliban gunmen patrol day and night, residents said in telephone interviews. Some government supporters have been beheaded or hanged. Men who shave their beards, in breach of Taliban orders, have faced public whippings. Meanwhile, NATO forces, now commanded by a four-star U.S. general, are focused on Helmand for their largest Afghan offensive ever. In the past week, NATO planes have carried out frequent airstrikes, trying to loosen the Taliban’s grip before troops move in for what is expected to be intense ground combat this spring and summer. Caught in between are Helmand residents who say they are fed up with both sides. “Most of the people want the situation to be resolved very soon,” said Nematullah Ghaffari, a cleric from the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah, who represents the area in parliament. “Whether they want the government to take over or the Taliban, they are stuck in the middle right now, and they are suffering a lot.” But a quick resolution is unlikely, given the degree of instability. “Helmand is everything in one. Drug trafficking. Weak government. Hard-core Taliban who are spreading fear,” said Talatbek Masadykov, chief of political affairs for the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. “The perception of many of the local people is that Helmand is almost lost.” Masadykov said he believes Helmand can still be turned around. The Taliban, he said, is actually fairly weak and enjoys little popular support. But he said that the government is not providing residents adequate protection and that winning the province back would take “immediate, urgent changes within the province. If the government can put in place a strong, qualified, professional team of leaders, with weapons and ammunition for the army and police, there’s still an opportunity to reverse the situation.” Central government control in Helmand has never been strong. The province’s terrain is challenging, dominated in the south by vast deserts and in the north by jagged mountains. Helmand’s population of roughly a million people is largely uneducated, and deeply committed to a conservative tribal culture. Provincial Governor Asadullah Wafa said four of Helmand’s 12 districts have fallen into Taliban hands, including one in which the Taliban overran the district center after earlier agreeing to a peace deal with local elders. In several of the other districts, control is in doubt. Within the past month, he said, 700 al-Qaida fighters from Pakistan, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and the Persian Gulf have infiltrated the province and are plotting attacks. “The situation is out of control,” said Haji Mohammed Anwar Isaqzai, a parliament member from the Nowzad district in northern Helmand. “Most of the people have left Nowzad. The only people who are left don’t have the money or the resources to go to a safer place.” Isaqzai said the Afghan national police force has alienated the local population by abusing its authority. “During the day, they are policemen. During the night, they are thieves,” he said. By comparison, he said, the Taliban looks appealing because it enforces its laws – albeit in an extreme way. Several local residents and officials said they had reliable reports that Taliban members were carrying out their own strain of Islamic justice in parts of Helmand – executing those thought to be collaborating with NATO, and punishing men who have shaved their beards. In other parts of the province, residents reported that the Taliban was mostly leaving the local people alone. “They are not putting pressure on the people to implement their laws,” said Jan, the farmer. “But they do go to people’s houses for food and money.” Residents say NATO forces have not helped the situation, carrying out bombing raids that are aimed at Taliban fighters but that often kill civilian noncombatants as well. Within the past week, residents and local officials said a strike had killed four members of a family of nomads. “They just bomb the whole place whenever they see any Talib,” said one resident of the Nowzad district. “Because of the Taliban, our homes are being bombed and destroyed by the coalition. The people were once very hopeful about the coalition forces. But these kinds of things happen, and now they’re hopeless.” The man, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said his own house in Nowzad had been destroyed in a NATO bombing raid several months ago. Spokesmen for NATO forces say they take extraordinary precautions to avoid civilian casualties. NATO’s offensive is aimed at opening up a key highway, so that reconstruction projects in the area can get back on track.
By arrangement with
|
|
Beyond the law of necessity THE ongoing tussle between the Pakistan President, General Pervez Musharraf, and the "suspended" Chief Justice of the Pakistan Supreme Court, Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, shows that the judiciary in Pakistan is not a pushover. The judge, whose removal from office is being contested, has proved a hard nut to crack even for a dictator like Musharraf.
There is little doubt that the President has bitten off more than he can chew in calling the judge over to his office, to explain some of the charges against him and tell him that his services were no longer required. The legal fraternity, the media and other civil society organisations have come out in support of the judge, who enjoys a groundswell of support, not because of his personal calibre or charisma but because of the high esteem in which the people hold the institution of the court. It is true that in the turbulent history of Pakistan, the court has often played a subservient role, particularly in the face of military dictators like Yahya Khan, Ayub Khan and Zia-ul-Haq who had only contempt for the courts and the rule of law. It is the only court in the world to give cover to military dictators under its novel "law of necessity" theory. It was relying on this theory that the Supreme Court upheld the bloodless coup carried out by Gen Musharraf, when it was challenged. However, the court reserved its right to question the constitutional validity of the President's decisions. There have also been occasions when the court stood its ground and taught the government of the day a lesson or two in democratic governance. In fact, the role the Pakistan Supreme Court once played in restoring democracy is written in letters of gold in the history of that country. The most conspicuous exhibit in Pakistan's Parliament, situated close to the imposing Supreme Court building in the most beautiful area of Islamabad, is a copper plaque. The plaque stares you in the face as you come out of the lift to go to the circular, pillar-less National Assembly hall. It contains in bold letters the Supreme Court order dated May 26, 1993, delivered at 1515 hours. The then President of Pakistan, Ghulam Ishaq Khan, dismissed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharief and dissolved the National Assembly by his order dated April 18, 1993. He constituted a four-member government with Mr Bulakh Sher Mazari as interim Prime Minister. The full bench of the Supreme Court heard the case against the dismissal of the elected government of Mr Nawaz Sharief. Finally, it gave its majority judgement (10-1) declaring the President's order null and void and bringing back to life the National Assembly. However, Mr Sharief could not continue for long as Prime Minister as the Pakistan People's Party of Ms Benazir Bhutto put relentless pressure on him and the President to quit. Finally, both of them quit and elections were held. The point is that the Supreme Court by its May 26, 1993, order established the fact that it enjoyed full powers and autonomy. Critics may say that the President at that time was a weakling and not one like General Zia-ul-Haq, which allowed the Court to flex its muscles. But it is decisions of this kind taken at critical times that enhance the prestige of an institution. Small wonder, people have rallied behind the judge. In sharp contrast is the case of the Supreme Court of India. When Indira Gandhi imposed Emergency in 1975, arrested thousands of people and curtailed the democratic rights of the people, what did the court do? One of the judges at that time went to the extent of propounding the curious theory that even the people's fundamental right to life remained suspended under the Emergency. The developments suggest that there is a streak of independence in the Pakistan Supreme Court, which has come into play in the case of Justice Iftikar Chaudhry's dismissal. Whether it will ultimately revert to the expedient law of necessity or face up to General Musharraf is what remains to be seen.  |
|
Inside Pakistan “Unfortunately, the ordinary citizen cannot do much because there are no strong political parties that would mobilise them and channelise the people’s voice to some effect”, as veteran journalist M. B. Naqvi remarked in his article in The News on March 14. Going into the depth of why General Musharraf thought of humiliating the CJP, Naqvi says: “A particular writ has been filed with the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional vires of what the government is openly planning to do: the latter wants the President to be re-elected by the existing assemblies a second time just before they are to complete their tenure. The petition also mentions that the government is likely to postpone the elections due this year. “Also included in the impugned government intentions is that the President wishes to continue to remain as the Chief of Army Staff indefinitely after being re-elected. How would the CJP have reacted to this petition? What would have been his judgement?” Obviously, Justice Chaudhry was not expected to take the line that suited General Musharraf. Retired Foreign Secretary Shamshad Ahmad in his article in Dawn says: “Pakistan’s judiciary has been turned upside down strictly ‘in accordance with the constitution’... The constitution today is a magic basket with recipes for all tastes. Everyone can use it as he likes.” A defiant figure In the opinion of another contributor to Dawn, Dr Tariq Rahman, “If the Chief Justice is acquitted the image of the presidency will be tarnished and at a juncture when extremist elements may become powerful as a moderate president weakens; this is not good for Pakistan.” But what are the exact charges against Justice Chaudhry? According to Rahman, the charges against the CJP are “primarily based on a letter by TV personality and Supreme Court advocate Naeem Bokhari. In his letter of February 16, 2007, Naeem Bokhari accuses the Chief Justice of announcing decisions in court and then giving an opposite decision in the written judgement, insulting and intimidating lawyers, insisting on ostentatious protocol, using expensive cars and aeroplanes, and influencing decision-makers to help his son make his career in the bureaucracy without due merit.” But few will believe all this. Justice Chaudhry has become the symbol of protest against the present regime’s style of functioning. While the media was debating the different aspects of the case relating to CJP having been referred to the Supreme Judicial Council by President Musharraf, came the report that he was manhandled by the police when he was on the way to the Supreme Court. It was shocking for the people to learn that his clothes were torn. “Never before has a chief justice been treated in such a callous and disrespectful manner, with little regard for his position, exposing the full extent of the government’s muddling of the whole affair since Friday”, Dawn lamented in one of its editorials. In the opinion of Daily Times, “The developing animosity against military rule is spilling over into support for the CJP because at the moment he seems to be the only defiant figure on the scene.” Very few people on this side of the Indo-Pak divide would be aware of the fact that Dawn, one of Pakistan’s highly respected newspapers, owes a great deal to its legendary editor, Ahmad Ali Khan. Known for his fiercely independent views, he commanded respect and obedience mainly because of his honesty and commitment to principles. The grand old man of Pakistan’s English journalism died on Tuesday at the ripe age of 83. In its editorial, “The end of an era” (March 14), Dawn said: “A left-leaning intellectual, well-read and remarkably intelligent, he was in any given situation able to get to the root of a problem by avoiding the pitfalls of details. This helped him face acute crises stemming from pressures bordering on persecution by governments unhappy with the paper’s (Dawn’s) policies.” Daily Times commented that Khan Saab “stuck to his principles of non-alliance with politicians and soldiers and was able to maintain his objective view of politics in Pakistan.” A product of Aligarh Muslim University and Lucknow University, he was involved in the workers’ movement in Punjab before he left for Karachi to join Dawn. |
| HOME PAGE | |
Punjab | Haryana | Jammu & Kashmir |
Himachal Pradesh | Regional Briefs |
Nation | Opinions | | Business | Sports | World | Mailbag | Chandigarh | Ludhiana | Delhi | | Calendar | Weather | Archive | Subscribe | Suggestion | E-mail | |
