| May 1, 2002 | Wednesday | Safar 17, 1423 |
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Karachi’s mega projects
Back in form?
ON the eve of a censure motion in the Indian parliament against the government’s handling of the communal violence in Gujarat, Atal Behari Vajpayee’s coalition has suffered a couple of embarrassing setbacks: the first was the resignation in protest of a key cabinet minister and the second was the release of a damning report exposing official complicity in the Gujarat killings. Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan’s resignation will strengthen the hands of the opposition parties, who have been calling for a censure of the government and the resignation of Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi. However, the Vajpayee government appears confident of defeating the censure motion, relying on the continuing support of its own members as well as its coalition partners, who seem more interested in saving their political skins than upholding their secular principles. In fact, Mr Paswan’s decision to quit as minister is being attributed to the growing warmth between the BJP and the Bahujan Samaj Party, one of the former minister’s leading Dalit rivals.
If the domestic scene is heating up, international pressure over Gujarat also continues to mount. A number of European countries have strongly condemned the anti-Muslim pogroms in Gujarat and asked the Indian government to take action against those responsible. Such criticism is likely to grow following the release on Tuesday of a highly critical report by Human Rights Watch. The 75-page document is a scathing indictment of the government’s role in the frenzy that overtook the western state over the last two months. It argues that the violence was not spontaneous but a carefully orchestrated attack against the Muslims. It points out that the attacks were meticulously planned and carried out, in many places, by the police and state government officials. The report paints a chilling picture of mobs armed with computer printouts and voters’ lists systematically burning Muslim homes, places of worship and businesses and engaging in brutal killings, arson and rapes. Meanwhile, the police force simply looked on and even helped hand over Muslims to the rampaging mobs. The government now finds itself in a serious bind.
Despite growing domestic and international pressure, it has neither taken action against the Gujarat chief minister nor condemned the terrible killings in an emphatic manner. In fact, most ministers have tried to deny the scale of the horror and tried to shift the blame onto the Muslim mob who set fire to a train carrying Hindu militants, an incident that set off the terrible chain of events. While the official death toll stands at 850, independent observers believe that it is closer to 2000. While the government is aware of the damage the violence has done to India’s image, it is equally wary of alienating its core Hindu nationalist constituency by taking a strong stand on the issue. This is a dangerous tactic. The government should bow to the pressure and ensure an impartial inquiry into the violence and take those responsible to task. Trying to protect the guilty and cover up the incident for political gains can only further exacerbate an explosive situation.
THREE of Karachi’s long-awaited development projects were launched during President Musharraf’s recent visit to the city. These included the Lyari Expressway, the Northern Bypass and the Karachi Water Supply Scheme Phase-III. Political governments in the past had approved and re-approved these projects several times over, yet nothing was done to get the work started. Now with the initial funds provided by the federal government, and a promise to allocate more funds by the centre and the Sindh government next year, there is hope that these projects will be completed within a stipulated time-frame. The president also spoke of the need to revive the Karachi Circular Railway and give the city an efficient mass transit system. These projects should be pursued with the utmost sense of urgency.
Karachi has sprawled into a mega-city over the past couple of decades, but the city’s infrastructure has not kept pace with its growth, increasing the pressure on its inadequate civic amenities and services. Especially acute has been the strain from the expanding population on the water and power utilities, public transport and the road network. The circular railway stands suspended for over two years and the mass transit project is all but dead — thanks to the delaying tactics of our urban planning mavericks. Surely, Karachi’s 12 million-plus inhabitants deserve better. Like the president implied in his speech in the city the other day, it is a shame that the hand that feeds a burgeoning middle class and the largest concentration of the country’s work-force, should have been thus neglected.
The three projects launched the other day are a welcome development for the city. Now it is time the circular railway and the mass transit projects were also revived, and work on these started in right earnest, so as to reduce some of the pressures on the city’s hapless commuters. Also, once started, the president’s secretariat should monitor the progress of work on these vital projects so that no customary and unnecessary delays are allowed to hamper the pace of work this time.
THE clean sweep against New Zealand in the one-day series is indeed an inspiring stimulant for the Pakistan cricket team on the eve of the regular two-Test contest. In the longer-term context also, this resounding success could well be a pointer to the possibilities in the World Cup contest ahead. As skipper Waqar Younis rightly pointed out, the credit for this positive development is the collective effort put up by the team. Our failures in the recent past were mainly rooted in the absence of team spirit. Individual performances, however brilliant and eye-catching, cannot cover this deficiency. A tough and unwavering mindset capable of coping with all situations — as epitomized by the reigning world champions Australia — demands a high mental as well as physical level of excellence. If we continue to maintain consistency, succumbing neither to despondency nor to complacency, our chances of regaining the world championship cannot be ruled out.
Another positive and hopeful development is the complementary role of batting and bowling so clearly and convincingly evident in the latest encounters. The remarkable performance of the middle o