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Honoured guests, but … Identifying ashes |
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Sex test is murder
Kaladan Corridor
Mourners for a middle man
Washington worried about new Pakistan government Hunt on for mysterious terror mastermind UN rights logo in ‘Tibet’s colours’
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Honoured guests, but … EXTERNAL AFFAIRS MINISTER Pranab Mukherjee’s advice to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama can be faulted for one thing — it could have been tendered earlier. Though the “exiled” leader has not done anything that has not been in keeping with his status as an honoured “guest”, he should have ideally refrained from making any comments on India’s China policy. Unacceptable has been the violent demonstration his followers resorted to when they breached the security ring around the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi. Such a conduct on the Indian soil is not expected from guests who have given a commitment of good conduct. It is unfortunate that the minister has been forced to send this open message to the Dalai Lama, who himself was so distressed over the behaviour of his own followers that he threatened to quit from the temporal leadership of the community. Indians in general have sympathies for the Tibetans, whose culture and way of life have been under relentless attack ever since the Communists drove out the Dalai Lama from Lhasa. However, they cannot be oblivious of the fact that Tibet, in Indian eyes, has always been an autonomous part of China, a fact even the Dalai Lama accepts. Successive Indian governments have taken the line that the Tibetan issue is an internal affair of China about which India cannot do much. Nonetheless, India would like the Chinese authorities to hold talks with the Tibetans and solve the problem to each other’s satisfaction. BJP chief Rajnath Singh’s comments on the Tibetan question suggests that he is conveniently unaware of the declarations India made vis-à-vis Tibet when BJP leader A.B. Vajpayee was prime minister until four years ago. In fact, there is a political consensus on India’s China policy, which even a diehard supporter of the Tibetan cause like Mr George Fernandes could not question when he was a minister. This stems from the realisation that India cannot afford to have hostile relations with China with which it not only shares a long border but also growing trade relations. India and China, which have been registering a phenomenal growth rate, can reach commanding heights of global economy through collaborative efforts. All this cannot be squandered away by giving the Tibetans unfettered freedom to mount a political campaign against China from the Indian soil. The Tibetans and the Dalai Lama may have realised that most countries, including the US and the UK, are not keen to spoil relations with China on account of Tibet. The solution lies in holding talks between the Dalai Lama and the Chinese government. Geopolitics does not often respect emotional responses to a given situation.
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Identifying ashes VICTIMS of extra-judicial killings in Punjab during the period of militancy may no longer remain anonymous thanks to a decision taken by the National Human Rights Commission. The families of those who had been killed and illegally cremated by the police can at long last look forward to getting a measure of justice. It has been established that 2,059 unidentified bodies were illegally cremated in Majitha, Tarn Taran and Amritsar districts. After a long process, started by the CBI in 1996 and followed up by the NHRC, 1,245 such bodies were identified till October 10, 2006. Now, the NHRC has asked for the setting up of a committee, chaired by the divisional commissioner, Jalandhar, to make a fresh effort to identify the bodies which have not been identified so far. In doing so, the NHRC has rightly shifted the focus from the technicalities to the circumstances of killings and the methodology adopted to document these killings. It has asked the state to pay compensation to the families of the victims for the lawlessness of its officials. It wants the government to follow the format established by the Committee for Information and Initiative on Punjab (CIIP) which not only documented the cases of illegal cremations but has also been fighting the legal battle on behalf of the victims. The commission has been stressing on the state's obligation to provide psychological rehabilitation to the families of victims and to prevent recurrence of such violations. By directing use of the incident report forms prepared by the CIIP, the NHRC has reaffirmed the value of civil society inputs in areas where the state has failed. Circumstances of the violation are of the essence in human rights jurisprudence. The NHRC’s efforts will, hopefully, help in identifying all those killed by the police. This will help restore the faith of the people in the system.
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Sex test is murder The
proposal to make the Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act of 1994 more stringent is welcome, considering that sex-determination tests continue to be conducted on the sly, despite there being a ban on them. In most of cases, the use of ultrasound tests is not for medical reasons but only to make sure that the baby that a woman is carrying in the womb is not a daughter waiting to be born. If it is, she may never be even born, thanks to the equally easily available means of termination of pregnancy. A diagnostic facility has thus been brazenly misused to kill countless number of daughters before they can see light of the day. Since the law has proved to be so ineffective, there is every reason to amend it so that it can have more deterrence. Till now, the testing equipment seized from a clinic is returned to it after payment of hefty penalty. But this has never come in the way of the unscrupulous clinics. They make so much money out of illegal tests that they pay the amount gladly without any difficulty. It is now proposed to allow confiscation of the equipment once for all and take legal action against unregistered clinics. But most doctors conducting these tests get away easily, not because the Act is bad per se. It is just that the investigating mechanism is so weak that even when they are caught, they manage to hoodwink the system. It is this aspect which needs to be addressed suitably. There is so much of corruption and sloth that every law becomes riddled with loopholes. Only if everyone who is caught is served his just desserts will the fear of the law be re-established. The conviction of the errant doctors and their staff should be as certain as the confiscation of the equipment, howsoever rich and powerful they might be. The sex ratio is already skewed to such an extent that it will take decades to set things right. Community leaders too have not played their role to the desired level. The result is countless daughters of the country, particularly of Punjab and Chandigarh, are missing.
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The heights by great men reached and kept/Were not attained by sudden flight,/But they, while their companions slept,/Were toiling upward in the night. — H. W. Longfellow
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Kaladan Corridor
Two
major factors play a crucial role in the security of India’s northeastern states. First, these states are landlocked. Their access to international trade and even trade and economic exchanges with other parts of India, is thereby curtailed. Second, even access by land is limited and precarious, because access to these states from other parts of India is through the narrow “Siliguri Corridor”, which is vulnerable to Chinese pressure, especially as an aggressive China brazenly lays claim to Arunachal Pradesh, by protesting against the visit of India’s Prime Minister to Arunachal. China’s policies on our border regions cannot be wished away or slurred over. Adding to complications in our northeastern security, is Bangladeshi refusal to permit transit of Indian goods to the northeast, coupled with what can only be described is demographic invasion of our northeastern states by Bangladeshi nationals, with separatist insurgents receiving haven and support on Bangladeshi territory. In these circumstances, one cannot overestimate the importance of the agreement on the “Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project” finalised during the visit of Myanmar’s Vice-President General Maung Aye. This project, with an estimated investment of $ 135 million, will end the landlocked nature of our northeastern states, by connecting Mobu in Mizoram to the Bay of Bengal port of Sittwe in Myanmar, which is located barely 539 km from Kolkata. While Myanmar has cooperated with us by supporting military operations against Indian insurgent groups being infiltrated from Bangladesh, this project will secure its cooperation in dealing with what amounts to a virtual blockade of our northeastern states by Bangladesh. Indian strategic planners will be relieved that by gaining access to the use of Sittwe port, India has also addressed its longstanding concerns about Chinese pressure to make this port available for its strategic corridor along the Irrawady River to the Bay of Bengal. This project has been handled more imaginatively than our unsuccessful and indeed amateur efforts to secure Myanmar gas from offshore fields, in which GAIL and ONGC have equity stakes. Vice-President Maung Aye’s visit comes at a time when the emerging contours of Myanmar’s future political evolution appear to be taking shape. Having signed “standstill agreements” with virtually all ethnic armed groups, Myanmar’s military rulers have ensured that apart from the Kachins operating on the Thai-Myanmar border, there is an end to all other ethnic insurgencies in the country. In addition, the military government has announced that a Constitution finalised after 15 years of discussions by a National Convention (in which supporters of Aung San Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) initially participated, will be put for endorsement to a referendum, to be held in May 2008. Unlike Myanmar’s past Constitutions of 1947 and 1974, the new Constitution envisages, for the first time, a measure of regional autonomy, with provisions for elected Regional Councils. The May 2008 referendum is to be followed by General Elections in 2010. Whether the ruling dispensation sticks to this schedule remains to be seen, as there are reports about differences within the ruling elite about the implementation of this roadmap for constitutional change. Does this mean that we are going to see full-fledged parliamentary democracy as we understand it soon in Myanmar? The Constitution envisages a dominant role for the “Tatmadaw” (armed forces) “to be able to participate in the national political leadership role of the State”. This is reflected in the powers the armed forces have been given to run their own affairs, including the budget and in the extensive powers of the President, who will undoubtedly be drawn from the armed forces. Moreover, 25 per cent of all seats in the Union Parliament and Regional Assemblies have been allocated to armed forces personnel. Thus, Myanmar’s transition to full-fledged parliamentary democracy is set to follow the path adopted over the past four decades by its two ASEAN neighbours — Indonesia and Thailand. It remains to be seen how Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD are accommodated in, or reconcile themselves to, this framework, where they will face stiff opposition from the Army backed Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA). As things stand, western pressures are unlikely to deter the ruling dispensation from following this path, though one will have to see how far urgings by UN Envoy Mr Ibrahim Gambari and friendly neighbours like India can persuade the regime to make the process of political evolution more inclusive. Apart from its bilateral dealings with Myanmar, New Delhi will have to play a more activist role in giving meaningful content to its engagement with South East Asia through the Bay of Bengal Regional Grouping, “BIMSTEC” which brings together Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka, with ASEAN members Myanmar and Thailand. There has to be a strong push to eliminate trade and investment barriers along our northeastern frontiers. BIMSTEC is a crucial forum to achieve this. As a first step, procedures need to be simplified and existing trade barriers removed for border trade with Myanmar. Our private sector would also find it worthwhile to invest in the agricultural sector in Myanmar. This will clear the way for easy imports of rice and agricultural products for our northeast from Myanmar, rather than providing supplies, especially for the Public Distribution System, from distant parts of India. Moreover, we have thus far ensured in cooperation with the Myanmar Government that there is no large-scale Chinese presence close to our borders. This could well change if New Delhi dithers as it did on utilisation of Myanmar gas, in implementing the proposal for developing the hydro-electric potential of the Chindwin River, close to Myanmar’s borders with Manipur. Energy hungry China could well move in to get the project implemented to meet its needs, if we continue to procrastinate. New Delhi can derive some satisfaction that successive governments in India have not allowed political populism to prevail over considerations of national security in dealing with Myanmar, over the last 15 years. Strangely, our Communist parties purport to be supporters of democracy in Myanmar, in contrast to their “hear no evil and see no evil” approach to Chinese repression in Tibet. China will, after all, be the principal beneficiary of strained India-Myanmar relations! But, while moving ahead with improving relations with Myanmar, New Delhi should urge the Myanmar Government to do more for people of Indian origin in that country, especially for the estimated half a million people of Indian origin who are still stateless. We do unfortunately bend backwards to help affluent Indians abroad, but pay less than adequate attention to the travails of the poor and
dispossessed.
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Mourners for a middle man
MOST of us who wrote or read the “middles” in newspapers in 70s’ and early 80s’ would remember V.D. Trivadi — a magic name in humour writing in English. The bald, fair, podgy figure’s rib-ticklers rivalled with the great R.K. Laxman’s daily delights in a national daily. He was a terror too! If you met him even once casually, you were sure to part with some cash forever. He could borrow even from a bird or a beast, just like that. The volume of his victims grew steadily — his skills at borrowing (or morrowing!) became a byword in Delhi circles. I met the great writer while he was smoothly assuring the receptionist in a newspaper that he would return “that paltry amount” very, very soon. The maestro recalled some light nonsense I had written and insisted on treating me to a “steaming cup of coffee”. I, the budding writer, was thrilled. I pulled out my wallet at the coffee van. Trivadi said “no” firmly, but not before glancing quickly at the notes. “We the seniors should spend on you youngsters — not the other way round”. The van-wallah took his ten-rupee note and declared that his earlier dues were now “adjusted”. A fierce battle of wits ensued and Trivadi finally managed to get back five rupees along with the coffee. He solemnly promised the van-wallah that the remaining five rupees would be paid up the very next day. “There will be five hundred mourners in Delhi when I die, my creditors of course!”, he laughed, coughing gently. Trivadi struck like a lightening soon after. He laughed loudly, recalling a humour piece I had written. Suddenly, he leaned and whispered, “I say, sorry to bother you and all that — how are you fixed for cash now?” His voice was silky. His hand landed affectionately on my shoulder. “I forgot to bring my cheque book. The wife will throw me out if I return without the stuff she had ordered. Females are females, you know. I will repay the day after tomorrow. And, yeh, don’t worry about all the loose talk about my borrowing… People are jealous about successful writers. You will also taste it one day.” Brushing aside my feeble protests, he made me open my wallet. “O.K, let’s see, you have, well, ninty bucks. I need at least sixty. I am sure you can manage with sixty till the day after… Lucky bachelors!” “Be British, on time please. Be here sharp at 1 p.m. to collect your cash”. I nodded, still in a daze. He walked a few yards, and called over his shoulder, “listen, I have another appointment at 1 p.m. Would 2. 30 suit you?” I nodded. Poor man, much maligned indeed! He never repaid. He would slip out of our embarrassing encounters more smoothly than the proverbial eel. A year later I made him write a humour piece for my publication “strictly for cash”. His fingers danced non-stop as he hammered out 500 words in forty minutes. A lovely piece too. I promptly deducted my dues from his two-hundred rupee honorarium and handed him the balance. He whined and protested like a child denied his chocolate. He never “touched” me again for money, and had a good word or two for me in press circles. I was away from Delhi when Trivadi, the best “middle” writer of his times, died in his late fifties. I still wonder what many of his “mourners” felt at his
funeral.
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Washington worried about new Pakistan government Pakistan’s
new Prime Minister, Yusuf Raza Gilani, has named the 24 ministers of his government, a coalition comprising four anti-Musharraf parties. Despite its grandstanding about supporting democracy, Washington has been uncomfortable about the political dispensation that has emerged in Pakistan since the electoral success of those parties in February. Washington’s dependence on Musharraf defies good sense. An unreliable ally, his authoritarian government oversaw the training and export of Taliban and al-Qaida militants who have come close to derailing NATO’s Afghan campaign and threaten to destabilise north-western Pakistan. So why does Washington continue to believe in his indispensability? Is it a question of old habits dying hard? Using a hard-won opportunity to restore democracy in the February elections, Musharraf’s political opponents have sensibly mended fences and formed a coalition. After being sworn in as premier on 24 February, Gilani lost little time in freeing judges jailed by Musharraf last winter and seeking dialogue with Taliban militants in the extremist-infested Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). Nawaz Sharif, the former premier who was overthrown by Musharraf in 1999 and has returned as one of the kingmakers of the current government, explained, ‘[w]hen you have a problem in your own family, you don’t kill your own family.You sit and talk.’ This suggests that the Gilani government is going along with a public opinion that feels American bombing of the FATA has angered the tribals into organising terrorist attacks on Pakistani soil. Then there is also the fact the Pakistani soldiers, deployed in the FATA at Washington’s behest, have been demoralised by defeats inflicted on them by militants. Much to Washington’s discomfiture, the governing coalition wants parliament to debate and decide on possible new ways of tackling extremism. The US, however, doesn’t want to change course and fears that any parleys with militants will only give them time to fortify themselves More ominously for the US perhaps, 70 percent of Pakistanis think that the US wants to weaken and divide the Islamic world. Forty-six percent favour negotiations with the Taliban. More than 60 per cent of Pakistanis view al-Qaida, local Taliban, and Pakistani Islamist militant groups as threats to Pakistan security, but almost two-thirds do not trust the US to behave responsibly in the world. Eighty percent think that America’s presence in Afghanistan is a ‘critical threat’ to Pakistan’s interests. Thirty percent of Pakistanis approved of Taliban attacks on NATO troops in Afghanistan; 18 percent had mixed feelings, while 15 per cent disapproved. Twenty-seven per cent took the view that the alliance with the US had harmed Pakistan. And it was of course Musharraf who led them into that alliance. Washington is concerned that a government that has come to power through the ballot-box could be susceptible to an anti-American public opinion. But the US could yet benefit from the army’s entrenchment in politics. As long as the military continues to dominate politics and the economy, no elected government will be able to do much without its permission. Only if the army, under its new commander-in-chief, General Ashfaq Kiyani, goes along with the Gilani government’s strategy of parleying with militants will Washington have something to fret about. So the crux of the matter is not whether Musharraf remains president or not, but whether the “post-election” army – like the politicians – will be influenced by an anti-American public opinion. The US can only wait and see. The writer is Visiting Professor at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Resolution, New Delhi
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Hunt on for mysterious terror mastermind COPENHAGEN, Denmark – If al-Qaida strikes the West in the coming months, it’s likely the mastermind will be a stocky Egyptian explosives expert with two missing fingers. His alias is Abu Ubaida al-Masri. Hardly anyone has heard of him outside a select circle of anti-terror officials and Islamic militants. But as chief of external operations for al-Qaida, he has one of the most dangerous – and endangered – jobs in international terrorism. He has overseen the major plots that the network needs to stay viable: the London transport bombings in 2005, a foiled transatlantic “spectacular” aimed at U.S.-bound planes in 2006, and an aborted plot in this serene Scandinavian capital last fall. But pursuers have captured or killed his predecessors and have been gunning for him. He prowls Pakistani badlands one step ahead of satellites and security forces. Although periodic reports of his death have proved false, rumors resurfaced after recent American airstrikes. Asked if al-Masri is alive, a Western anti-terror official said: “It’s a question mark.” Al-Masri himself can be described that way. Authorities know only bits and pieces of his biography. They know his face, having identified a photo, but not his real name. “He is considered capable and dangerous,” said a British official, who like others in this report declined to be identified. “He is not at the very top of al-Qaida, but has been part of the core circle for a long time. He is someone who has emerged and grabbed our attention as others were caught or eliminated in the last couple of years.” Al-Masri’s emergence reflects al-Qaida’s resilient, hydra-like structure. As leaders fall, mid-level chiefs step up, shifting tactics and targets with determination and innovation. But al-Qaida seems diminished despite insistent propaganda and an onslaught of violence in Iraq, South Asia and North Africa. The network has not pulled off an attack in the West since 2005. “We have to be careful not to fall prey to our fears,” said a senior British anti-terror official. “The language of 2001, 2002, gave an inflated view of al-Qaida’s size and structure. It’s not the Red Army, it’s not even the Irish Republican Army. . . . There have been advances by AQ at the ideological level, it has spawned franchises, but don’t lose sight of the operational setbacks that AQ has suffered.” The plots attributed to al-Masri were ambitious, but authorities infiltrated two cells long before they could strike. Some trainees seemed more fierce than talented. And the number of seasoned field commanders dwindles, former CIA officer Marc Sageman said in an interview. Al-Masri followed the classic itinerary after Afghanistan, officials say. He fought in Bosnia-Herzegovina in the early 1990s, went on to Chechnya and was wounded, according to the Italian file. He lost two fingers – a typical disfigurement among al-Qaida veterans. Al-Masri also spent time in Britain, according to the file. In 1995, he surfaced in Munich, Germany, under an alias and requested asylum. In 1999, authorities rejected al-Masri’s asylum claim and jailed him pending deportation. But he was released instead for reasons that are unclear. After the capture in 2003 of the prolific Khalid Shaik Mohamed, the accused Sept. 11 mastermind, al-Masri’s duties shifted. He joined a group of chiefs who tried to keep targeting the West, mainly Britain. They succeeded on July 7, 2005, killing 52 people in synchronized transport bombings in London. The lead bombers were groomed in Pakistan by Abdul Hadi al-Iraqi, a former Iraqi military officer, according to officials and court testimony. Al-Masri’s name emerged as a planner working with him. Al-Masri had embarked on his biggest task yet: a mega-project intended to match the carnage of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by blowing up airplanes en route from Britain to the United States. Half a dozen British militants traveled to Pakistan for training. The innovative techniques required special instruction. Al-Masri envisioned his operatives injecting the liquid explosives, a highly concentrated hydrogen peroxide mix, with a syringe into the false bottoms of innocuous containers such as sports drinks, sneaking the components aboard planes and assembling bombs after takeoff. Investigators monitored the plotters for months, managing to film inside their London safe house. In August 2006, police rounded them up. The attack was weeks away and would have targeted five planes, the U.S. anti-terror official said. By arrangement with
LA Times-Washington Post
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UN rights logo in ‘Tibet’s colours’ It
must have seemed like a good idea at the time – redesigning the UN logo to mark the 60th anniversary of the world’s most translated document, the UN Human Rights declaration. After a long search for a new design, a South African artist was commissioned after the UN decided to ditch its blue and white logo in favour of one which the high commissioner for human rights, Louise Arbour, believed would have more resonance in the developing world. The successful design was unveiled in December last year, when the UN launched a year-long promotion for the 60th anniversary, which is to culminate with ceremonies on 10 December. Nobody noticed any particular significance of the orange and amber logo, showing a person with outstretched arms. When the design was unveiled the artist, Yolande Mulke, said: “I think what the UN likes about it is the continuity of using the wreath device from the UN logo and the feeling of peace and welcoming that the man with his arms wide open projects.” But four months later, after weeks of protests by the amber-robed Buddhist monks in Tibet as China prepares to hold the Beijing Olympics, the UN has been embarrassed by the logo’s distinctive colours which are also those favoured by the Dalai Lama, the symbol of Tibetan resistance. “It’s a complete accident, we had no idea that the colours were those of Tibet,” said a UN official. The problem for the UN – which recognises China as the ruler of Tibet – is that the logo has been chosen to replace the official UN Human Rights one not only throughout this year but on a permanent basis. Susan Curran, a spokeswoman for Mrs Arbour, said no UN member state had complained about the logo. Chinese embassy officials in London did not return calls yesterday. But Ms Curran stressed that the decision was taken long ago and that there was “nothing specific” about the logo’s chosen colours. “The criteria were that we wanted to show colours that were grounded and indigenous,” she said. The UN is enlisting artists, filmmakers and cartoonists to raise awareness of the human rights declaration under the slogan “Dignity and justice for all of us”. A website, www.KnowyourRights2008.org has been set up to promote the campaign. The Nobel peace prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called for Mrs Arbour to be allowed to visit Tibet in order to “report to the international community the events which led to this international outcry for justice”. However, Amnesty International has issued a strong criticism of the international community’s response, saying that unless Gordon Brown and other world leaders speak out strongly and in public, “they risk giving tacit endorsement to China’s repressive policies”. The US state department also weighed in. A spokesman said: “The Dalai Lama is a man of peace. There is absolutely no indication that he wants to do anything other than have a dialogue with China.” By arrangement with The Independent
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This is partly because of rumours that Pakistan’s new cabinet could call for the resignation of President Musharraf, whom Washington perceived as a steadfast and loyal ally in its war against global terrorism for more than six years, partly because the Gilani government might be at odds with the Bush administration over Pakistan’s role in America’s anti-terrorist campaign.