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Control over ISI |
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Waiting for justice Profile On Record
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Control over ISI
Those familiar with the governance in Pakistan know that the force is a parallel authority which has its own agenda and which has its own ways to put it into operation. People inside and outside Pakistan were happy when there was a notification that the ISI would be under the Ministry of Interior. Asif Ali Zardari, co-chairman of the ruling Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP), welcomed the step and pointed out that “no one will now be able to say that this agency is not under the elected government control”.
But he spoke too soon. Within 24 hours, another notification was issued to say that the earlier notification had been “misunderstood” and that the ISI would “continue to function under the Prime Minister.” In other words, the military will continue to control it through an Army Maj.Gen who heads it. A more detailed notification was promised. But it has not come out. Nor will it ever.
It is apparent that the defence forces exerted the pressure and had another notification issued for “clarification”. The Director-General of the Inter Services Public Relation (ISPR), Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, was blunt enough to say the Army Chief and other defence authorities had not been taken into confidence on the issue.
This proves, if any more proof is needed, that the military continues to rule Pakistan even after the polls which gave the democratic forces a clear majority. Musharraf’s argument that the ISI is Pakistan’s “first line defence” is understandable. As the Army Chief, who staged a coup and ruled the country for more than eight years, is committed to the military’s ascendancy.
But why has Zardari, who praised the Interior Ministry’s control, kept quiet is beyond me. He should know he cannot have any deal with the military if he wants people behind him. But most surprising is the silence of Nawaz Sharif, head of the Muslim League (N). On the hand, he demands the impeachment of Musharraf for his rule as a military dictator, and on the other hand, he prefers to keep quiet when there is a small opening: handing over the charge of the ISI to the Ministry of Interior. In fact, the Charter of Democracy, which he signed with the late Benazir Bhutto at London two years ago, goes much beyond and wants the Army to return to the barracks. Nawaz cannot shrug his shoulders when the military puts pressure and gets back the control of the ISI. Indeed, the nub of Pakistan’s problems is the failure of political parties to stand up to the army, which has even spread itself in the fields of commerce, trade and real estate. The quantum is said to be as much as 70 per cent. Pakistan has returned to democracy through an internationally supervised polls. Political parties have not yet put their act together. Yet it does not mean that the old order where power rested with the military should continue. Musharraf belongs to the old mould. But he and his party, Muslim League (Quaide), were defeated at the polls. They want the military’s control in some shape or the other.
Therefore, Musharraf saying that the ISI should be “sovereign” fits into his way of thinking. The contradiction is that this train of thinking does not fit into the ethos of democracy. Still more frightening is the statement by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani that the probe into the bomb attack on the Indian Embassy at Kabul required concrete evidence. What more proof is required when America has said that the ISI gave support to the bombers to ram into the premises of the Indian Embassy? Moreover, the question of probe was sorted out when Gillani declared after The New York Times has reported in detail: “Michael V. Hayden, the CIA chief, who met the prime minister at a dinner on Monday, told Mr Gillani that Pakistan will have to do something about the alleged involvement of ISI officials with the militants. Some information in the CIA charge-sheet were so damning that the Pakistanis could not deny them. The CIA also told the PM that even a change of government in Washington would not help Pakistan as whoever occupied the White House in January would also want Islamabad to rein in the ISI”. Subsequently, in an interview to the Washington Post, Mr Gillani confirmed The New York Times report that CIA deputy director Stephen R.Kappes and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admn. Michael G.Mullen visited Islamabad in mid-July with reports of some ISI officials’ alleged links with militants. So far there is no evidence that Islamabad has taken the complaint seriously. Since the ISI has been caught on the wrong foot Pakistan is trying its best to fob off the agency’s responsibility in the bomb attack on the Indian Embassy. Even if something concrete is proved against the ISI, there is none in Pakistan to take action against the agency because it is the Army’s “first line of defence”. Destabilising India is on the top of the agency’s agenda and it does not matter to the ISI whether good relations between India and Pakistan are essential to combat the militants who were striking in the subcontinent at their will.
The policy the ISI has been pursuing for years is having Afghanistan under it on the conviction that it will give Pakistan a “strategic depth”. Islamabad has made no headway so far in this direction.
For some time, it has developed the belief that if Afghanistan does not have India as its supporter Kabul would come round. The anger of the ISI against New Delhi stems from India’s close relations with Kabul. In fact, militancy in the region cannot go until the ISI gives up its policy of having Afghanistan in Pakistan’s backyard. Most of the activity of the Taliban is because of that.
True, the Taliban are the creation of the ISI. But they also have an ambition of their own to rule: To carve out a state of their own from the territories under Afghanistan and Pakistan is their dream. The ISI is playing a dangerous game when it encourages the Taliban to needle Afghanistan, without striking at Pakistan’s federally administered area on the border of NWFP. Only a civilian control of the ISI can sort out things. Preferably, the force should be
disbanded. |
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He (President Musharraf) will say: ‘Look here, I’ve been in office for eight years.
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Waiting for justice My
appeal may kindly be dismissed,” counsel Raj Kumar Gupta makes an unusual request to the High Court judge. “Why?” asks the judge. “He does not want his appeal against conviction and sentence of seven years rigorous imprisonment decided by the court.” “But why?” the judge again asks astonishingly. He says: “I have no faith in the courts. This is what he has stated in his application.”
The appellant Darshan Singh was challaned by the police for abetting his wife to commit suicide on April 23,1997, was arrested, tried and sentenced for seven years, was not allowed bail. By the time the trial concluded he had already suffered three years jail. The sessions court ordered him to undergo seven years imprisonment, for which, according to the jail rules, he was required to remain in, for a period grossly of about five years, excluding remissions and concessions. He filed an appeal in the High Court. It was contended that in all he has to remain in jail for 1½ to 2 years and that his appeal may be decided either on motion stage or on an early date. The High Court ordered in July, 2000, that the appeal be heard within one year. It is not heard nor even taken up. Darshan Singh completes his imprisonment on July 1, 2002. The jail authorities could not keep him in. He had to be released.
The appeal is not taken up till March, 2008 even six years after the appellant had undergone the entire sentence. “It is shocking,” the judge observes. “I express my anguish. It is a breach of justice. I propose the State should be penalised with costs” and proposes Rs 5000 as costs to be paid to the appellant.
Meanwhile, the judge takes up two other cases, which too have come up for hearing after a long period. Both counsel seek short adjournment. The judge observes that the lawyers are at fault and drops the idea of imposing costs in Darshan Singh’s case. Legally, the convict has a right to have his appeal decided on merits even if he has suffered the entire sentence, says the Supreme Court of India in Retti Deenabandhu’s case because the object of such a challenge to conviction is to avoid the other consequences flowing from conviction and also to erase the stigma resulting from it. Before filing application the counsel tried to persuade the appellant to continue with the appeal as he has paid the entire fee, has suffered the sentence, is not to lose anything and has a chance to have the stigma removed. Particularly in view of the recent judgement of the Punjab High Court in Shunti @ Raju vs State “That in present days a convenient mode has been adopted by the relations and the investigation agency to name accused as abettors in each case of suicide ….and to say that a spouse should live a chaste life in accordance with the expectations of the other spouse, and if the same is not adhered to, the other will commit suicide and make the other spouse responsible, is far fetched, and that every suicide will give rise to an offence of abetting under Section 306, IPC, cannot be entertained in law unless or until a simple act is followed by another aggravating act, which compels the commission of suicide.” “I can swear by God, at any religious place that I am innocent but nobody has believed me nor will anybody believe me now. My wife’s father lodged the complaint that his daughter told him in the morning when he went to visit my house that her husband (i.e I) was having an affair with another lady and that it was not tolerable to her and after he came back to his house his daughter committed suicide. Even if I am acquitted now who will undo the harm, the pain and the agony I have suffered. I think it was part of my destiny for some ill-doing of my past life”. Darshan Singh consoles himself, but is firm in not getting his appeal decided by the court as he had lost faith in it. We are left to ponder over the fate of millions of other similarly placed litigants waiting for justice. Even 30 years after Justice V.R. Krishna Ayer observed in Babu Singh’s case: “Would it be just at all for the court to tell a person ‘we have admitted your appeal, because we think you have a prima facie case but unfortunately we have no time to hear your appeal for quite a few years and, therefore, until we hear your appeal you must remain in jail even though you may be innocent’. The “slow motion syndrome” which Justice Iyer condemned continues to be there. The justice delivery system which we are experiencing negates Article 21 of the Constitution, which guarantees that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to procedure laid down by law.” Article 21, though not textually amended, has been judicially transformed by numerous judgements so as to elaborate its components, the person, the deprivation of life, liberty and procedure established by law, which according to the Supreme Court, should not only be established by law but should also be just, fair and reasonable. Common Cause, a registered society, brought to the notice of the Supreme Court the fate of persons facing trial for years together languishing in jail. The Supreme Court laid down certain guidelines for lower courts for the grant of bail and completion of trial in all cases except economic offences and cases relating to corruption, cheating, smuggling etc.
We need a serious relook. It is a matter of concern for all of us. Not only on the criminal side, the civil cases in large number have been pending for decades. The voices of many litigants trying to know the fate of their cases have gone feeble, feebler and then stopped, leaving the next generation to continue asking. Who is answerable? |
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Profile
The legendary Baba Amte's son, Prakash, and his wife Mandakini have been awarded the prestigious 2008 Ramon Magsaysay Award, regarded as Asia's equivalent of the Nobel Prize, for community leadership.
Baba Amte was honoured with Magsaysay. It is hoped the Amtes' endeavour will set an example for many to emulate. “Prakash Amte grew up in Anandwan, an ashram and rehabilitation centre for lepers in Maharashtra founded by his father. Prakash was busy with post-graduate surgical studies in Nagpur when Baba Amte called him, in 1974, to take over a new project among the Madia Gonds. In a leap of faith, he and his wife Mandakini abandoned their urban practices and moved to remote Hemalkasa,” the citation of the award said.
Hidden amid the dazzling human mosaic of India are millions of tribal people. For centuries they have lived apart in remote highlands and forests. The Mandia Gonds, for example, occupy 150 square-km of dense forest in eastern Maharashtra, bordering Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh states.
In a thousand isolated villages, they survived by hunting and gathering and shifting cultivation. When Prakash and Mandakini, popularly known as Manda, arrived in their midst 34 years ago, the region had no services. Government officials considered it wild and served their reluctantly. By contrast the Amtes, medical doctors, came by choice.
The young Amte couple settled in a door-less hut without a telephone or electricity or privacy. They practised medicine beside the road and warmed themselves by woodfire at night. The Madia Gonds, shy and suspicious of outsiders, spurned help at first. Prakash Beginning in 1975, Swiss-Aid provided to build and equip a small hospital in Hemalkasa. There Prakash and Manda performed surgery and treated malaria, tuberculosis and dysentery, burns and animal bites. To conform to tribal sensibilities, they placed most of the hospital's facilities out-of-doors, beneath the trees. They charged nothing. Simplicity and respect guided the Amtes'work with Madia Gonds. Prakash wears only a singlet and white shorts as he goes about his work so as not to identify himself with well-dressed outsiders. Where applicable, the couple incorporates tribal cures in their medical practice. Today the Amtes' hospital has 50 beds, a staff of four doctors and they treat 40,000 patients a year free of charge. It is a regional centre for mother-child welfare and health education. Its " barefoot doctors" bring first aid to outlying villages.
Born on Christmas eve in 1946, Manda hails from a conservative Brahmin family. Senior to Prakash, she met him during their course for MBBS. "It was love at first sight" and she decided to spend her life with this man, says Manda, It was only last year that Prakash and Manda were initially denied a visa by the US consulate in Mumbai because their income was low. When the doctor couple appeared for the visa interview, the officials rejected their application as, they felt, their financial status was not sound. The officials later realised their mistake and the Amtes got a call from the US consulate. An official regretted the refusal and granted them a 10-year visa. Little did the officials know that in a year's time the Amtes would be honoured with the Magsaysay Award and hit world
headlines. |
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On Record The
just-concluded SAARC summit in Colombo has
underlined the need for eradicating illiteracy from South Asia and opening up opportunities for higher education in the region. South Asian University (SAU) in Delhi is expected to go a long way in realising the common dream of South Asian leaders. But more than the institution, it’s the man behind it who matters. G.K. Chadha, professor emeritus at Jawaharlal Nehru University, does not wear pride on his sleeve. He is the sort who would silently lead revolutions, which is what he is supposed to do as the chief executive officer of SAU, which will create a think tank of intellectuals, besides filling the gap of required training facilities in higher education. A recipient of several awards for his contribution to the field of education, Chadha is also a member of the Economic Advisory Council of the Prime Minister. Besides, he has been a consultant to several international organizations, including the UN agencies like FAO, ILO and UNCTAD. For a man of such merit, bringing the SAARC university to life would not be difficult. It would be challenging, nevertheless. In an interview, Prof Chadha talks about his latest engagement, which the world would watch.
Excerpts: When is the South Asian University going to start its
first academic session? We propose to start the first session of the university from July-August, 2010. Every effort is being made to stick to the time schedule. It’s part of the discipline that will be the hallmark of our institution. What are the courses the university will offer? Conceived as it is as an institute of excellence for higher studies, it will offer courses related to important disciplines. To begin with, the university
will offer post-graduate studies in liberal arts. As we go along, more courses will be added. Growth will be gradual and sustainable. What are the expansion plans? Once the university gets going, there is a proposal to
have the campuses of different SAARC countries here. New academic programmes will also be added, consistent with the emerging demands of students and the understanding of higher education system elsewhere in the world. The university will facilitate commerce of intellectual ideas. Where is the campus going to be located? The government had announced setting aside 100 acres for the university in Mehrauli at Maidan
Garhi, adjoining the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) campus. On May 26 the land was dedicated to the people of the region by External Affairs Minister
Pranab Mukherjee. In fact, the university was first announced during the 13th SAARC summit in Dhaka, where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made an emphatic statement in this regard. When will the campus be ready? I think at least the functional part of the campus should be available around the time we want to admit the first batch of students, which is around
July-August, 2010, when we commence the first academic session. Is the university going to be affiliated to academic institutions in SAARC countries? Academic collaboration is an open issue. It is always
two-way traffic. What we can offer them, what they can offer us. We will closely interact with other institutions. Will each SAARC country have its quota of students? Every country will be allotted some kind of share in
certain proportion. The quota of the host country will obviously be relatively high, considering its size. If students from countries, other than SAARC nations, also want to come for studies, they will also be permitted. But there will be a limited number of seats
for them. Where will the faculty come from? It will consist of the best available talent in the region. We will also hire people from other countries because it is a question of excellence. The only driving force behind South Asian University is excellence. And we will not compromise on that
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eradicating illiteracy from South Asia and opening up opportunities
Not
I was very proud to be a party member. It was the saddest day of my life when I was expelled. There is no initiative on my part to rejoin... I don’t believe in (going to) Vrindavan, I will go to a small corner of my state, far from the maddening crowd and lead a retired life.
The United States believes the people of China deserve the fundamental liberty that is the natural right of all human beings… We speak out for a free press, freedom of assembly, and labour rights not to antagonise China's leaders, but because trusting its people with greater freedom is the only way for China to develop its full potential.
Structural discrimination against those who are vulnerable to HIV such as sex workers and MSM must be removed if our prevention, care and treatment programmes are to succeed… Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, which criminalises men who have sex with men, must go.
It is not time for finding fault with the functioning of intelligence agencies (after the serial blasts in Bangalore and Ahmedabad). It’s time to strengthen communal harmony to foil divisive designs of terrorists. Political bickering could only make us fall in the trap of extremist elements. Blaming an agency or community would not serve any purpose but standing united would surely do in this hour of crisis.
The government should consider the formation of an All India Intelligence Service on the lines of the IAS and the IPS to bring professionalism in the intelligence wing. The Central intelligence agencies should not behave in a casual and routine manner and merely pass on intelligence inputs to the states. There has to be proactive, sincere, organised and continuous efforts to unearth terrorist activities, networks and their designs by intelligence agencies.
It