| January 13, 2002 | Sunday | Shawwal 28, 1422 |
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Lahore’s Sikh relics
MIXED signals are emanating from New Delhi and Washington on the current confrontation between Pakistan and India. While New Delhi continues to exert immense military and political pressure on Pakistan, the US seems to be gently softening the tone of its pronouncements on Pakistan, moving away from its distinctly pro-Indian tilt of recent days. The most alarming note in the on-going war of nerves between the two countries was struck on Friday by the Indian army chief when he described the situation on the borders as very serious and categorically stated that there was “ scope for a limited conventional war.” Alarmingly, the general did not rule out a nuclear strike against Pakistan if Islamabad used nuclear weapons first. This tough talk seemed all the more ominous in the light of India’s decision to conduct military exercises close to the border with Pakistan. The decision raised alarms in the US which hinted that such a move could be dangerous because it might create circumstances that could trigger an accidental war.
Meanwhile, India’s hawkish home minister, L.K. Advani, blew hot and cold in Washington, where he is engaged in talks with a number of top US officials, including President George Bush. In Washington, Advani outlined a series of tough measures that Pakistan must take to satisfy India. Advani also issued a statement claiming that the US president fully endorsed India’s point of view on the current standoff, a line that was not echoed by the US spokesman in describing the outcome of the talks. Significantly, the US stance on Pakistan seemed to be notably softer than in recent days. After the Bush-Advani meeting, a White House spokesman came out with a relatively benign statement, calling for both parties to recognize the importance of fighting terrorism. He added: “India and Pakistan have a mutual enemy in terrorism, not each other”. Secretary of State Colin Powell also echoed this softer line by praising Pakistan’s role in the war against terror and its decision to launch a crackdown against extremists. He also urged India to understand General Musharraf’s difficulties. Powell, who is set to visit the subcontinent shortly, asked India to give Musharraf time to crack down on religious extremists, and pleaded that New Delhi should exercise some patience and not merely expect all problems to be resolved through a single speech.
India is obviously pursuing a strategy designed to keep the Pakistanis guessing and exerting the maximum amount of pressure on Islamabad. However, it is now clear that the US is beginning to realize the dangers inherent in putting too many unrealistic demands on Musharraf, which could well push him to the wall. While the US may not want to alienate a potentially important ally like India, it must also be aware that exerting too much pressure on Pakistan, a close ally in the anti-terror coalition, may prove disastrously counter-productive in the long run.
THE Pakistan Telecommunication Authority and Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited are at it again. Not content with a year of record revenue and profit, the telecom monopoly is pressuring Internet service providers to block all websites that let users make free or very cheap calls to America or Canada. The PTA has written to most Internet firms, asking them to block around 14 such sites. The rationale behind this request is that by using the Internet to call people in either America or Canada, users are causing a loss in revenue to PTCL.
There are several aspects to this issue. First, the loss is extremely marginal, since according to PTCL itself it is around a couple of million dollars. Compare this with the billion dollars in revenue the utility generated in the last financial year, and the loss in revenue seems like pocket change. Second, is it possible at all to prevent Internet users from making such calls? And, why is the PTA asking the ISPs to monitor the websites for such calls? Is that really the job of these private sector firms or is their job to provide better service? Surely, if a state regulator feels that something needs to be regulated it cannot really expect the private sector to do the job for it.
Given that PTCL itself is quite profitable, we would be inclined to side with the users of such websites. After all, the utility is too large to be threatened by people using the Internet to make calls overseas. In any case, the lost revenue is negligible, and the technical issues involved are too complicated for the company to spend its time on what can safely be called a misplaced notion of maximizing profits. It would be much better if PTCL expended its energies on cutting waste, and on improving the quality of its customer service. Also, if issues related to the Internet must be monitored, it should do something about the slow speed of data transfer that seems to have become a hallmark of Internet use in Pakistan.
THE archaeology department says that Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s stuffed horse will be put back on display at the Lahore Fort’s Sikh Gallery as soon as a replica of the original stolen gold trappings is ready to go with it. The theft of the multi-million-rupee horse-trappings that were cast in gold and studded with precious stones took place in 1996 from the gallery in question. No one was apprehended, and the police closed the case after the archaeology department dismissed the two watchmen who had stood guard at the gallery at the time of the theft. Part of the Princess Bamba Jindan Collection, the trappings and other precious Sikh relics were acquired from one Mr Sipra, whom the princess had bequeathed her family treasures in 1957, before she breathed her last at her Model Town home. The princess was the great-granddaughter of the maharaja and had moved to Lahore after partition.
The Sikhs ruled the Punjab with Lahore as their capital in the early 19th century until the British annexed Punjab in 1849. The founder of the Sikh rule, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, was a known patron of the arts and had collected a sizable treasure, a large part of which now rests with the archaeology department, the Lahore Museum and the Fakir family of Lahore.
The Lahore Museum does not have enough room to display its Sikh collection, barring a handful of relics which it has squeezed into crowded showcases. The Punjab government had earlier approved a plan to hand over the Tollinton Market to the museum so as to facilitate the latter’s expansion. However, no formal decision has yet been taken in this regard. It is time the government made more museum space and a secure environment available in which to display the rich and precious relics of Lahore’s past. It was, after all, a failure to do this that resulted in the theft of the gold horse-trappings from the Sikh Gallery, which is not the safest place for housing such invaluable relics and artifacts.