| May 16, 2002 | Thursday | Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1423 |
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Shocking and shameful
The end of Riaz Basra
TUESDAY’S daredevil attack by armed gunmen on an Indian military camp near Jammu is likely to further raise temperatures and inflame passions in the already tense region. The incident, which claimed some 30 lives, including those of the three armed assailants, was the worst of its nature in the occupied territory since the attack last October on the state assembly building in Srinagar. Within hours of the attack, India and Pakistan were trading acrimonious exchanges and engaging in bouts of finger-pointing. While a little-known group calling itself al Mansoorain has claimed responsibility for the attack, India’s hawkish home minister L.K. Advani wasted no time in seeing a Pakistani hand behind the incident, and accused Lashkar-i-Taiba of being the perpetrators. Pakistan denied the charge and asserted that India was engaging in its old tactic of trying to malign Pakistan in order to isolate the country. The Pakistani spokesman reiterated the country’s policy of cracking down on terrorist organizations and asked how infiltrators could cross the border when hundreds of thousands of Indian troops were stationed there.
There is growing concern that the incident could provide India with the pretext for an armed adventure that could trigger a full-scale war. With the armies of both countries engaged in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation on their common border since last December, there is a real danger that even a minor incident could spark a conflagration between the two nuclear powers. What makes matters worse is India’s constant refusal, despite numerous offers from Islamabad, to engage in a dialogue to reduce tensions. India has continued to insist that Pakistan should stop what it calls “cross-border terrorism” before any talks can take place. Its stance has remained rigid specially after the attack on the Indian parliament building last December, despite strong condemnation of the incident by Pakistan, along with the offer of a joint investigation of the attack. Despite this, India began to mass a huge concentration of troops on the border.
The most recent attack coincided with a visit to the region by US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca, who was sent to the subcontinent to defuse tensions amid ominous signs of a potential armed confrontation between the two nuclear neighbours. Whoever was behind the most recent shootout was well aware of the significance of its timing. Coincidentally, a massacre of Sikhs occurred in the region on the eve of President Bill Clinton’s visit to India in late 1999. While that attack was promptly blamed on Kashmiri militants by New Delhi, many independent human rights groups have attributed more sinister motives to the killings. Pakistan and India are both targets of terrorism and should be able to find some common ground to fight the menace together rather than engaging in endless rhetoric aimed at maligning the other side. This is a time to stay cool and defuse tensions and to refrain from provocative words and actions that could plunge the subcontinent into a senseless and destructive war.
THE forcible eviction by the police of the family of the late Begum Abida Sultaan from the Bhopal House in Clifton, Karachi, barely a day after the illustrious lady’s death, is a matter of national shame. That it happened when the bereaved family was preparing for the Qul of the departed lady and the way it happened, make the whole episode a distasteful instance of official highhandedness. Just goes to show the utter disregard for law, morality and norms of civilized conduct that often characterizes the behaviour of official agencies and personnel in dealing with the people. Although the eviction raid is said to have been carried out at the instance of the Intelligence Bureau, the ministries of law and works, too, cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility for hasty and highhanded action in view of the fact that the question of ownership of the Bhopal House is still pending before the court. Therefore, any move to take possession of the house at this stage could not have been made without the concurrence of these ministries. Indeed, if this is the treatment meted out to one of Pakistan’s most distinguished families, one can well imagine the rigours ordinary citizens have to endure at the hands of government functionaries in certain situations. So much for the government’s claims that it is working to establish good governance and rule of law in the country.
Princess Abida Sultaan was no woman of ordinary stature. Heir apparent to the throne of the princely state of Bhopal at the time of partition, she was the only one of the members of the Muslim royalty who abdicated the throne and came away to Pakistan in 1950, almost empty-handed, to pursue the Quaid’s dream in the new homeland. Having lived a life in the service of this country — she served as Pakistan’s ambassador to Brazil — and for the causes dear to its people, the Begum’s only son, Shahryar Khan, also served as a foreign secretary and ambassador of Pakistan abroad. It would be downright wrong for the government to look the other way and treat the whole matter as one of those ‘unfortunate’ things that happen in the life of a nation. It must at once order an inquiry into the matter, take action against those responsible for it and restore the right of occupancy to the Bhopal family until the question of ownership of the residence is finally settled.
THE death of Riaz Basra in a police encounter in Mailsi eliminates perhaps the country’s most dreaded sectarian killer from the government’s list of most wanted criminals. However, this can only be a source of temporary relief to the government and its law enforcement agencies in the fight against terrorism. We say this because Basra was widely believed to be in government custody since January, and since then there has been no discernible fall in sectarian violence, thus proving that his detention did not deter sectarian elements from pursuing their agenda. The brain behind the dreaded anti-Shia Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, the man was wanted in numerous high-profile cases of killing of diplomats, senior government officials, Shia leaders and for being behind the infamous Mominpura massacre in Lahore in which 25 people were killed.
The secrecy surrounding Riaz Basra’s arrest five months ago raised some very interesting questions. Since the country has been racked by sectarian violence, it seemed probable that the arrest of the most wanted terrorist of them all would be proudly announced by the government. This was not done perhaps because that would have alerted other wanted terrorists. In any case, the point remains that his incarceration did not even slightly reduce the number of sectarian attacks and neither will his death. In fact, prior to his death around a dozen other alleged sectarian terrorists were killed in police encounters. Their deaths too did not prevent crimes like targeting of doctors in Karachi from happening. We are also constrained to point out that it would have been better had Basra been tried in a court of law and judged accordingly. Hopefully, the government and its law enforcement agencies realize what they are up against and continue with their campaign to destroy the networks and the hatred that breed men like Basra.