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Now it’s
Virk’s turn Sharif’s
journey back |
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Chak de
Hockey
Caught
between US and Russia
Back to
exile
Women
caught in conflict Amnesty
shows agony of US detentions Delhi Durbar
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Now it’s Virk’s turn THE arrest of S.S. Virk, a serving IPS officer and former Director-General of Police, who headed the Punjab Police when the Congress was in power, is a blot on the Indian police force. It is for the first time that an officer of such a high rank has been arrested. People do not expect police officers to break the law and allow themselves to be treated as criminals. Few will have any sympathy for Virk, who faces serious charges of amassing assets vastly disproportionate to his known sources of income and entering into questionable deals with terrorists. He was so closely identified with the Amarinder Singh government that a constitutional body like the Election Commission was constrained to remove him from his position as Punjab Police chief when elections were held in Punjab. The arrest is the culmination of a process that had begun with the advent of the present regime. The DGP invited flak when he entered into questionable realty deeds just weeks before the term of the Congress regime ended. It gave the impression that he was out to make a killing when the going was good. His lavish style of living and investments in land and buildings were a give away of his mysterious sources of income. And to make matters worse, his credentials as an upholder of the law suffered a major dent when he admitted that many terrorists, believed to be dead, were actually living with assumed identifies. It was a reminder of the questionable methods the police adopted during the days of militancy. Perhaps, he did not realise that all this would invite retribution one day. The Vigilance Bureau as an institution has to ensure it is impartial in its investigation and is not guided by the new government’s revengeful desire. Captain Amarinder Singh has faulted the Bureau for arresting Virk and said he would meet the Prime Minister in this connection. One does not know whether the Centre will come to the aid of Virk when charges of corruption are involved. The enthusiasm the Bureau showed in prosecuting Mr Parkash Singh Badal and his relatives disappeared the moment the Akali Dal-BJP combine came to power. Now, it shows similar enthusiasm in turning the heat on Amarinder Singh and company. While this does not show the Bureau in a good light, we can only say that vendetta should not guide its sleuths. Nobody should get the impression that it is a tool in the hands of the ruling party. Such an impression can be removed only by adhering to the highest standards of probity and impartiality in dealing with cases like those against S.S. Virk. The people will welcome the law taking its own course if it is used without any extraneous consideration.
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Sharif’s journey back Former
Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif must have added to his following by keeping his word to reach Islamabad on Monday despite the threat to put him in jail. The Musharraf regime did what it had planned to do. It arrested Mr Sharif and bundled him into a special plain to take him to Jeddah. This was done apparently following an understanding reached between the governments of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Earlier, the Saudi rulers along with Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri unsuccessfully tried to persuade Mr Sharif to cancel his homecoming plan in view of the “agreement” between the PML (N) leader and the Musharraf regime signed in 2002 through Saudi intervention. But Mr Sharif stuck to his guns, saying that the emerging political scenario in Pakistan needed his presence there, particularly after the Supreme Court ruling upholding his right to return to his country. He also asserted that he was not violating the accord to remain in exile, as it was meant only for five years and not 10 years as claimed by the Pakistan government. Perhaps, General Musharraf thought that his plan to remain in power would go haywire if Mr Sharif was allowed to influence the course of politics from within Pakistan. Putting him in jail would have turned him into a hero. It would have been easier for the former Prime Minister to lend his weight to the anti-Musharraf drive launched by lawyers, opposition politicians and others struggling for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan. Now the military-backed government is being accused of having committed contempt of court. A ruling of the Pakistan Supreme Court, which has been approached by Mr Sharif’s party, may give a new twist to the political uncertainties there. General Musharraf’s options are diminishing. If it is true that he has failed to strike a deal with Ms Benazir Bhutto, then it may be difficult for him to get re-elected as President even by the existing National and Provincial Assemblies. The party patronised by the General, the PML (Q), is too weak to face the coming elections. This means the only better course left for him is to impose the much-talked-about emergency or marital law for his political survival. But will that be easy for him under the circumstances? Of crucial importance will be whether he can still work out a deal with Ms Bhutto by paying her a higher political price than offered earlier.
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Chak de Hockey India
retained its hold over the men’s Asia Cup after inflicting a crushing 7-2 victory on South Korea in the final. It was not a fluke; altogether, India got 57 goals in the tournament, the highest any team scored. It also won the match with the biggest margin in the Asia Cup. Throughout the tournament, India remained unchallenged, undefeated. Goalkeeper Baljit Singh was rightly declared Player of the Match against South Korea and the performance of Prabhjot Singh and Shivender Singh was brilliant. Coach Joaquim Carvalho has reason to be pleased with the performance of his boys. And now he has begun hoping to help the team win the Olympics. This is time for the team to celebrate its win-and also to work for the next Olympics. The Asia Cup victory should not make India complacent. No doubt, Indian hockey in on a roll. The fourth position that Indian women’s team got in the Asia Cup notwithstanding, there are many more goals to score before the team can make a serious bid for the Olympics. Over the years, hockey has suffered because the Indian Hockey Federation (IHF) has been slack in its efforts. There have been charges of ad hocism, poor selection processes, lack of proper training, etc. No doubt, the recent win will draw in more attention from sponsors, which has become essential for competitive sports. However, this by itself will not be enough. Sincere efforts need to be made to identify promising players, and motivate and train them for taking on the best in the world. The hockey team’s performance at Chennai has shown how strategy and teamwork can give our players the winning edge; they now need to build on it.
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They lard their lean books with the fat of others’ works. — Robert Burton
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Caught between US and Russia
A
stark
feature of today’s world is that Europe has still to find its bearings as Russia seeks to exert its power and influence through President Vladimir Putin’s assertive diplomacy and Washington tries to contain it
after it acquired the habit of squatting Boris Yeltsin’s administration like
a fly. Helped by the energy bonanza and years of firm domestic administration and new prosperity, Moscow is attempting to tell Washington in various ways that it cannot both befriend and contain it.
While the Washington-Moscow stand-off is being played out through provocative American missile defence plans on European soil and Russia’s
flexing of muscles through its energy treasure and standing up for Serbia on
Kosovo, the European Union finds itself in a bind. There is a measure of
exhaustion over an ever-expanding Union and the introduction of new trends and antagonisms through the membership of mostly former communist countries.
The Iraq war, of course, saw the depth of disharmony in the EU, with the new members led by Britain siding with the US in sharp opposition to the
traditional continental heavyweights, France and Germany. But the nations
former US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld described as “new Europe” remain America’s cheer leaders because they are still reliving their past subjugation by the Soviet Union. Although the former communist nations, in particular Poland, have done handsomely by the EU subsidies, their primary loyalty is to the US, rather than Europe. This has added a dysfunctional quality to EU deliberations because “new Europe” is automatically anti-Moscow and believes that only the US canprotect them from a possible future aggressive Russia. Negotiations on a new Russia-EU mechanism for cooperation, for instance, were held up by Poland to protest against a Russian ban on Polish meat imports. Indeed, sometimes it appears that “new Europe” takes an almost childish delight in thumbing its nose at Moscow on the strength of its membership of the European Union. To an extent, “old Europe” has changed too. Mr Gerhard Schroeder has given way to Ms Angela Merkel and Mr Jacques Chirac to Mr Nicolas Sarkozy. The new leaders are friendlier to the United States than their predecessors, the hyperactive French President making his fondness for American precepts and practice explicit. Ms Merkel adopts a businesslike approach to
Washington, less influenced by ideology than horse sense. Britain, on the
other hand, has graduated from being “joined at the hip” with the US under
Mr Tony Blair to a more discreet relationship under Mr Gordon Brown. But it is important not to confuse a friendlier leadership of the two
main continental powers with its total identification with Washington. It is
clear to them, as to some others, that Europe’s desire to play an influential role in the world commensurate with its economic power and
historical experience involves separating transatlantic interests. This is,
of course, true in trade and economic relations – often subjects of The US seems to have made up its mind – cutting across the two main parties – to maximise the American advantage in the post-Cold War age by stymieing Russia in every way it can in order to remain the unquestioned leader of the world. It is a myopic view of the world unsustainable in the long run. Surely, the European Union’s avocation should be to bring some sense of equilibrium to this jaundiced view. Europe is, after all, Russia’s neighbour and steeped as it is in the practice of realpolitik, it should seek a saner relationship with Russia, whose power cannot be wished away.
Both the West and Russia accuse each other of starting a new Cold War. In a sense, the days of the Cold War cannot be replicated because we are living in a different world. But we are seeing the beginning of an intense
strategic competition between Russia and the US. As Washington seeks alliances around the world to deny Russia its due, Moscow is making its own moves to checkmate Washington. Moscow’s first coup was to tie up pipeline and other arrangements with Central Asian states to trump the US, which had made its plans to take the pipeline system outside Russia amply clear and even succeeded in concluding one project. Russia and much of the world finds it strange that the US considers it as
a right to extend its influence over Central Asia, as elsewhere in the
world. But when Russia seeks to mend broken relations with countries that
were until recently parts of the Soviet Union, Americans decry it as Russia’s desire to recreate the old empire. And President Putin is mending some other old fences – witness his recent visit to Indonesia to sign up an arms deal on the basis of a loan and cement trade and economic relations.
The danger is that a divided European Union cannot punch its weight in
the world because of its divisions and timidity. One has only to hark back
to the brave talk of a European rapid reaction force with its own planning
apparatus to deal with subsidiary crises. The NATO rapid reaction force has evolved but one hears little or nothing about the European force. Europe seems to be providing grist to the mill of men like Robert Kagan who distinguish between Mars and Venus in contrasting the attributes of the US and Europe. How the European Union will face up to the challenges remains to be seen. Men of vision who laid the foundation of the EU are dead and gone. We are now living in a more mundane age and Europe needs leadership of a new magnitude to rekindle the fire in its
belly.
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Back to exile
IN a small office-apartment in London’s Duke Street, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif looked spirited but thoughtful as he pined for his return to Pakistan. His mobile phone buzzed with calls from his party — Pakistan Muslim League — leaders back home seeking directions on how to pace the party’s protest against decisions of President Pervez Musharraf and the position they should take vis-à-vis Benazir Bhutto’s Pakistan People’s Party. Sharif had moved to London after staying in Saudi Arabia for nearly six years following his exile from Pakistan in 2000. He was not being written about in the British media when I met him in January this year. The general elections in Pakistan were several months away and Sharif had little to say on issues of concern for the media in the UK, including nuclear proliferation linked to A Q Khan and the camps in Pakistan which had reportedly been visited by some of the terror suspects in Britain. Sharif was at the helm through a tumultuous phase of his country’s relationship with India and his own career had been marked by some cataclysmic events. Even though he had articulated his views on most of the controversial issues surrounding his tenure, an interaction with him always had the possibility of getting new information and a fresh perspective. My initial efforts to reach him halted at the barriers generally erected by the personal staff of a leader. The guys wanted me to e-mail a questionnaire and wait for an answer from them. As nothing happened for days, I decided to visit his office. Luckily for me, Sharif was there. He came out of his room when I was about to leave the premises after being told by his staff that my request for an interview would be duly forwarded. As soon as I introduced myself, he took me to his room for a chat. He was evidently curious about India and wanted to know how people in India perceived Pakistani leaders. “Who is the most popular leader in your country,” he asked me. And then there was a question about rivers. I wasn’t sure if the former Prime Minister was testing my general knowledge or it was his way to find out if I was a genuine journalist. Sharif offered to be interviewed straightaway for a few minutes but conceded my request to spare more time at a later date. As I reached his office on the appointed day, his aides took me to a place near Hyde Park where Sharif was sitting by the side of a pond. I learnt later that he liked to sit and talk in the open whenever an opportunity arose. After asking me a few questions, he let me have my go. Sharif, who declared Pakistan’s nuclear weapons capability to the world following India’s tests, mentioned in between the interview that he was not happy criticising Pakistan’s government from a foreign country, but there was no option. Determined to return home, he said no one had the authority to keep him away from his country even though he was being forced to live outside for the time being. He denied entering into a deal with Gen Musharraf for not coming back to Pakistan for 10 years. Sharif criticised sections of the judiciary for legitimising the General’s rule. As it turned out, his passage back home that finally landed him in Jeddah became possible due to a judicial
verdict.
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Women caught in conflict Her middle name is Prism. Her father gave her the name because it reflects the seven shades of courage, grit, determination, success, strength, fighting and do-or-die spirit. When he died in militant firing in 2001, it only strengthened her resolve to offer a beacon of hope in circumstances that often bring despair and hopelessness to those faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges in the nearly two decades of conflict in the insurgency-torn state of J&K. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has been synonymous with conflict for nearly two decades now. With hundreds of families broken by death or disappearance of their relatives, women have borne the brunt, direct and indirect, of a situation not of their making. Amid the anguish and devastation, the story of Surgeon Lieutenant Commander Wahida Prism Khan (35) stands apart as that of a small-town girl from the border district of Rajouri. Braving all odds and earning a distinct place for herself in history, Wahida has scripted an inspiring portrayal of women’s empowerment and personal growth. Wahida has several firsts to her credit. She became the first woman from Jammu and Kashmir to not only join the Indian Navy but also create history by being the first woman to command the annual parade at the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, in 2006. This year she added another feather to her cap when the National Council of Education Research and Trainings (NCERT) incorporated her unique story in one special chapter for Class IV students to inspire them to reach for the stars. Unassuming and modest, Wahida was born in a small town, Thandamandi, to a teacher couple. She spent her schooling years in this remote area cherishing her dream of joining the armed forces. “I always had this fascination for the uniform and dreamt of doing something different. My early years of schooling in Rajouri strengthened my resolve to join the armed forces though it was a well-guarded secret since girls joining the Army was not common then. Though I had not seen any women Army officers in my childhood, I was fascinated by the men in uniform, their disciple and humility. Deep inside, I had pledged to myself that I would join them,” recounts Wahida. After completing her MBBS from Jammu, she applied and qualified for a job with the defence forces. Opting to join the Navy, she was commissioned into the Navy on November 10, 1997. She has come a long way since. Recalling the experience of being the first ever woman Naval Commander to lead the parade in 2006, she exclaims with pride, “I was dumb-founded when I was told that I would command the parade. I was lying in hospital a fortnight before as doctors had suspected a malignant growth and two weeks later I was holding the sword. I don’t know how that miracle happened. Even today, I pinch myself to actually believe that it really happened.” Wahida was selected from among over a hundred medical graduates, including twenty two women officers, on the merit of her performance to command the parade. Wahida married a former short-service commissioned Army officer, Major M.F. Khan, a pathologist. “Though, he was junior to me in service, I knew he would understand my commitments to work and all odds and evens associated with it”, says Wahida, who recently joined her husband overseas where he is working on an international AIDS project after completing his short service in the Army. “I have three different roles,” narrates Wahida with a twinkle in her eyes. “When at work, I am a disciplined, devoted naval officer; at home, a mother and wife and a daughter when I go back to Jammu and Kashmir. I am proud to fit into each role with perfection. I am proud of my womanhood.” Wahida, who has also served aboard naval ship INS Amba for 19 months, is now aiming to become the first woman to work in submarines. Till date a woman officer is yet to join the ranks in the Submarine wing. Her days at sea, Wahida admits, were the best days of her naval career. With only water and sky as far as the eye could see, those days enhanced her will power and patience. Attributing her success to her parents, she points out that her parents gave all their children total freedom to seek their personal and professional goals in life, irrespective of gender-based stereotypes. Her only regret is her father’s absence at the momentous occasion of commanding the parade. Her advice to the youth of her home state: “Nothing is impossible if you are determined. Parents should give total freedom to their daughters in matter of career choice and daughters should live up to that trust. The youth of J&K must shun all apprehensions about the Indian armed forces. Ours is among the most secular armed forces in the world, one can do wonders here. Come and join and fight for your motherland.” The Prism’s beaming smile says it all. — Charkha Features The writer is a recipient of the
Charkha-Sanjoy Ghose Media Fellowship for Women Journalists in Areas of Conflict, 2006-07
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Amnesty shows agony of US detentions Forced
on to the balls of his feet, bent double with his hands handcuffed behind his back, the near-naked man shook violently. From beneath the hood, muted moans were audible. It seemed obscene to stare at this apparently frail, vulnerable man, caught in a stress position reminiscent of the images of Iraqi prisoners being interrogated by US soldiers at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib prison. Yet this was not torture. It was art. In an attempt to draw attention to human rights abuses, Amnesty International has filmed a dancer in the positions captives have been forced to adopt by US troops. The resulting film makes shocking viewing. During a break in filming, Jiva Parthipan, a Sri Lankan performance artist, appeared relieved as he rubbed his limbs, which were aching after just a couple of minutes in a position that suspects in President George Bush's "war on terror" are expected to endure for hours. The star of the Amnesty International film, which is being released online next month to highlight the agony of such interrogation techniques, said he found the experience painful, both physically and psychologically. In secret jails across the world, Amnesty insists, captives in the fight against terrorism are expected to maintain these poses. They are not considered torture, simply "enhanced interrogation techniques". Alfred McCoy, a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, argued recently that the photographs from Abu Ghraib reflected standard CIA torture techniques of " stress positions, sensory deprivation, and sexual humiliation". In August, President Bush issued an order decreeing that Article 3 of the Third Geneva Convention – which prohibits the humiliating or degrading treatment of prisoners of war – should apply to the CIA's detention and interrogation programme. But Amnesty believes the order does not go far enough in specifying what constitutes degrading treatment. It is calling for an end to all secret detentions, as well as for detainees to be given access to lawyers, medical care and monitors. It wants all allegations of enforced disappearance, torture and ill treatment levelled at the CIA to be investigated independently. Amnesty's film, entitled Waiting For The Guards, forms the backbone of a new campaign the charity hopes will draw attention to such interrogation techniques. The film, by Marc Hawker and Ishbel Whitaker, does not attempt to document the mental torture of being kept in a secret location with no contact with the outside world, simply the physical agony of such allegedly innocuous methods. The crew expected it to be an arduous task but were shocked and disturbed by how quickly Parthipan found it impossible to endure the stress position. "He is somebody who is physically fit but suffered excruciating pain. It was shocking how real and visceral the process was," said Hawker, adding: "He was surprised himself just how quickly the position took over. He was in a lot of pain and felt a lot of emotion. "He was in a safe environment but we said that, if you were just off a jet, did not know where you were or what your future held, how psychologically tortuous it would be." Richard Lowdon, the actor who plays the interrogator, added: "It was quite unpleasant watching Jiva. There was something unbearable about it. It is degrading to the person who is doing it, as well as to the person to whom it is done. It is very dehumanising." Amnesty hopes its campaign will prompt people to object to such practices. It recently named 38 men and a woman it claims were whisked away on secret CIA "rendition" flights and disappeared into prisons worldwide. The charity has spoken to former detainees, such as the British al-Qa'ida suspect Moazzam Begg, who was held in the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. "The suggestion is that they suffer a bit of discomfort, when in fact they endure quite severe pain," said Sara MacNeice, Amnesty's campaigns co-ordinator. "We are sending the message that this is ill treatment, but we should be calling it by its rightful name." By arrangement with
The Independent
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Delhi Durbar With
the possibility of a snap poll looming large, the BJP is expected to finalise its strategy during the coming National Executive meeting next week. Even as the party is silent on its strategy, insiders say that the BJP will adopt a triple “S” formula to attack the Congress and bolster its chances in the next general election. The triple “S” formula pertains to Stability, Security and Sovereignty. “However, with the tug-of-war continuing over the leadership issue, how the party convinces the electorate on the stability plank will be keenly watched.
Rally venue Even as Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh has defended the Congress’ right to choose the time and venue of its rallies, a section of the party feels that the rally held on the last day of the assembly session near the place where the BJP held its meeting could have been scheduled differently. These leaders feel that the scuffle between the workers of the two parties had provided the Opposition an opportunity to gain sympathy of the people.
Left as Opposition With the Left parties’ frequent attacks on the UPA government, many wonder if they were positioning themselves to be the principle Opposition party. The Communists have often criticised the BJP-led NDA for failing to be a watchful Opposition coupled with its inability to raise the peoples’ issues to put the government on the mat. With the Indo-US nuclear deal providing the ammunition to Communists to attack the government, scribes were left wondering if the Left parties were jostling to occupy the space of the Opposition. CPM leader Mohammed Salim observed; “We are not trying to occupy anybody’s space. We want to occupy our rightful place.” That created more doubts with a general election not far away.
Chennai influence Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priyaranjan Dasmunshi apparently saw an outside influence in the NDA’s decision to stall the Parliament proceedings on the nuclear deal. This came about after the government had taken an initiative to start discussions on the agreement in the Rajya Sabha. He gave indications that “directions from Chennai” could be a factor in the NDA’s decision. Though Dasmunshi did not name the leader in Chennai who supposedly gave the directions, the reference obviously was to AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa. The apparent reasoning was that the BJP would like to have a tie-up with the AIADMK in the next parliamentary polls and would not mind adhering to her advice. Though there was no confirmation of this, the Congress does not seem to have forgotten how AIADMK MPs and MLAs voted in the presidential election after the party had decided to abstain. Contributed by S. Satyanarayanan,
R. Suryamurthy and Prashant Sood
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