| October 18, 2001 | Thursday | Rajab 30, 1422 |
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Unprovoked attacks
Pitiless justice
US SECRETARY of State Colin Powell’s brief visit to Pakistan ended on a positive note on Tuesday making it clear that Islamabad and Washington have an identity of views on a number of vital questions. A meeting of minds between President Musharraf and Secretary Powell was obvious on two most important issues of the moment, namely Afghanistan and Kashmir. The two agreed that in a post-Taliban scenario “all elements” should form part of the government so as to ensure that it had a broad-based character. This new government, Secretary Powell said, should include the Northern Alliance as well as the moderates among the Taliban. Given Afghanistan’s ethnic composition, it is obvious that only a government which commands the loyalty of all segments of the country’s multilingual and multi-ethnic population would be effective and stable. In fact, one of the major drawbacks of the current Taliban set-up is the virtual exclusion of Afghanistan’s non-Pakhtoon elements. Indeed, this has been one of the principal reasons for the protracted strife and violence that has been raging in Afghanistan since the Taliban emerged on the scene in the mid-nineties. It would, thus, be a big mistake not to take into account the Afghan society’s demographic composition in the formation of a future government. From this point of view, the convergence of views between Pakistan and the US shows realism and throws into bold relief the two countries’ shared perception of the Afghan situation.
The big question in Afghanistan today is the on-going Anglo-American military action against the Taliban and the time-frame within which its political objectives can be achieved. Obviously, as President Musharraf said at his Tuesday’s press conference, the duration of the operation was linked to the realization of these objectives. Nevertheless, he hoped that the operation would be “short.” He appealed to the international community to try to achieve the military objectives as quickly as possible. On his part, Secretary Powell said his government did not wish to extend the military operation “beyond the achievement of goals.” More significantly, he said the two sides “shared how to begin the process of reconstruction of Afghanistan.”
Another positive outcome of Secretary Powell’s visit was his statement that the Kashmir issue was “central” to the relationship between Pakistan and India. By making this declaration, Secretary Powell has upheld Pakistan’s position that the continuation of the Kashmir dispute posed a threat to South Asia’s peace. In fact, it has the potential to draw Pakistan and India into a military conflict which could escalate into a nuclear encounter. “We, too, believe,” said Secretary Powell, “that the Kashmir issue is central to the (Indo-Pakistan) relationship.” It is most unfortunate that the realism shown by the American secretary of state should have elicited a negative reaction from the Indian foreign office which tried to dodge the real issue of a negotiated settlement of the Kashmir issue by raising the bogey of “terrorism” in the disputed territory.
The world has recognized what terrorism is. That exactly is the reason why the world coalition has been formed to deal with it. More important, the world coalition has clearly seen the difference between terrorists and freedom fighters, whether in Palestine or in Kashmir. Secretary Powell’s statement, thus, deserves to be welcomed as a realistic assessment of the different nature of the problems at hand — one in Afghanistan and the other in Kashmir.
ALMOST as if on cue, the long silent guns along the Line of Control in Kashmir began to boom once again, just as US Secretary of State Colin Powell landed in Islamabad at the start of his tour of Pakistan and India. India admitted it had launched the artillery and mortar attacks, describing them as “punitive action” and part of a new “proactive approach to curbing militancy in Kashmir.” New Delhi claimed that the areas targeted were used by Pakistan to send militants into Indian held Kashmir. At his first press conference since being reinstated as defence minister, George Fernandes was in a bellicose mood claiming that New Delhi was going to take ruthless action against the so-called infiltrators. Islamabad claimed that one woman was killed and 25 other civilians wounded in the firing, which extended beyond the Line of Control to the working boundary near Sialkot. Pakistan termed the attacks unprovoked and unjustified and labelled them acts of state-sponsored terrorism.
The timing of the renewed firing on the LoC was significant. Clearly, New Delhi wanted to exploit Colin Powell’s visit and the on-going anti-terrorism action in Afghanistan to draw attention to militancy in Kashmir. It has been visibly rattled by the sudden turn in relations between Pakistan and the US following the attacks on New York and Washington. Since September 11, New Delhi has been speaking furiously of a parallel between the attacks on the US and the violence and strife in Kashmir, and labelling Pakistan as the prime instigator of global terrorism. The strategy has not so far worked. Colin Powell’s statement in Islamabad describing Kashmir as the “central issue” between India and Pakistan further incensed the Indians who gave the secretary of state a less than warm welcome when he landed in New Delhi. India’s pique at Pakistan’s new importance in the world coalition’s scheme of things has been less than dignified. New Delhi’s attempts to rock the boat by pushing its own agenda at such a crucial stage of the anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan is not likely to be welcomed in Washington. President George Bush recently expressed concern over the growing tension on the LoC and urged both sides to “stand down” and keep peace at least at this critical time. India must heed this advice and adopt a more dignified and mature stance at this tense and potentially explosive stage of the war against terrorism.
THE United Nations’ Unicef representative in Islamabad has warned that some 100,000 Afghan children may die of malnutrition if sufficient food supplies did not reach them before the approaching winter. Last year a similar number of children — many of whom had lost their adult family members to the civil war and to the drought and disease in Afghanistan — had perished. Hundreds of very vulnerable children below the age of five froze to death for want of shelter, food and medicine that would help them survive extreme temperatures. This year, independent media estimates place the number of such children at risk to be many times the figure admitted by the UN representative.
It is indeed tragic that an entire new generation of young Afghans should be allowed to perish as the US-led coalition wages its ‘war against terror’ in the name of upholding the values of the civilized world. As a result of the on-going war, those guilty of killing innocent people on September 11 may be brought to justice; yet, a mindless pursuit of justice that we know will deny thousands of helpless children their right to live, is certainly not worth the barter. The war against terror should not become a ‘war of terror’ that will only go down in history as a terrible battle of revenge. The US should instead pursue a wiser course of action under the aegis of the UN, by which only those guilty of the terrorist attacks on America are brought to justice, without, in the process, exposing countless innocent Afghan men, women and children to the grave risks of dislocation, starvation, disease and death.