Dialogue: the only way

US Assistant Secretary of State Christina Rocca ended her South Asian tour on a somewhat pessimistic note — her mission to defuse tensions between India and Pakistan seemingly marred by the May 14 attack on a military camp in Jammu. While denouncing the attack, Ms Rocca stressed that only a dialogue between Pakistan and India could resolve their problems and pull them back from the brink. The already tense stand-off between the two countries — that had prompted Ms Rocca’s visit in the first place — had clearly taken an ominous turn by the time she left for home. Characteristically, the Jammu incident unleashed a flurry of accusations and counter-accusations between the two sides. India accused Pakistan of masterminding the attack and labelled it a case of what it terms “cross-border terrorism.” Pakistan denied the charge and claimed that India should investigate the attack before pointing its fingers at anyone. Ms. Rocca, who was in New Delhi when the attack took place, stated that it was aimed at sabotaging efforts to ease tensions and undermining peace and stability in the region. She called for an end to cross-border terrorism and urged restraint on both sides and a toning down of their recriminatory rhetoric. New Delhi, however, seemed in no mood to heed.

True to form, a succession of senior figures, including Prime Minister Vajpayee, promptly blamed Pakistan for the attack and called for some kind of punitive action in retaliation. With hundreds of thousands of troops massed on both sides of the border, fears are that any punitive action by India could trigger a full-blown war. This is precisely what an extremely nervous world is afraid of. What makes this stand-off between the two nuclear powers more difficult to defuse is India’s stubborn refusal to hold any kind of dialogue with Pakistan. Ever since the attack on its parliament building last December, New Delhi has spurned all offers of talks and taken one hostile step after another. President Musharraf’s decision to crack down on religious extremists and his pledge to prevent attacks on a third country from Pakistan were brushed aside as so much window dressing.

Had India shown a degree of flexibility and aired its grievances at the negotiating table, the two countries could well have taken some steps forward towards peace and normalization. With bilateral talks rejected outright, another route to easing tensions could have been via third-party mediation. Here again, India continues to cling to its traditional line of rejecting all attempts at outside mediation. This refusal to hold any dialogue or allow mediation has created a dangerous deadlock in which only militarist options are at a premium. This is a most alarming scenario. The international community must convince India to break out of the vicious cycle created by its stubborn refusal to talk and bring New Delhi back to the negotiating table. The alternative could well be a terrible conflagration in the subcontinent.

Tinkering with prices

WITH the presidential referendum out of the way, price revisions of the so-called deregulated items like electricity and petroleum have been resumed. Despite the exchange rate stability and the government’s claim of easing of inflationary pressure — two important constituents of the pricing system — prices of the deregulated items are being revised upward. The oil companies’ advisory committee (OCAC) on Wednesday raised prices of petroleum products by 4.63 per cent for motor spirit and 17.02 per cent for diesel. Similarly, kerosene price has been upped by 14.70 per cent or Rs 2.20 per litre. Conspicuous by its absence is any explanation as to the trends in international prices of oil during the intervening periods. The oil advisory committee of the private sector had kept the revision in abeyance for three fortnights — March 31, April 15 and April 30 — to avoid creating an adverse condition for the people before the referendum.

The latest increase in prices of petroleum and its products will naturally have an impact on the whole spectrum of the economy, on transport in particular. Already transporters have given notice that they would invoke the agreement signed with the Sindh government recently to the effect that whenever a revision (increase or decrease) in the price of diesel takes place, the impact will be passed on to the users of this service in the form of a proportionate revision of tariff.

A day before the revision of the petroleum prices, there were press reports saying that, as an interim relief, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) had allowed Wapda to increase 8 paisa per unit in power tariff for all consumers except those consuming less than 50 units. This is in addition to the 4.5 paisa per unit raise approved in April under the fuel-based automatic adjustment arrangement. Although these increases were approved some time back, their announcements were withheld in consideration of the referendum.

The interim relief was given to Wapda in response to its petition seeking a raise of 24.65 per cent or 88 paisa per unit to meet a deficit of Rs 55.56 billion expected to occur by fiscal 2003. The point is that if the utility is in such dire financial straits as to require a 24.65 per cent increase in tariff, how was it possible for the president to announce a write-off of 50 per cent arrears of defaulters of up to Rs 10,000 and grant liberal subsidy on tubewells during his referendum public meetings? The way revisions of prices are effected or concessions are announced creates doubts about the transparency of the whole system.

Summer sorrows

SUMMER in Sindh is often a harsh season and one of ailments, particularly those relating to the stomach and the digestive system, besides the inevitable rounds of heat stroke brought on by torrid temperatures. The general lack of storage facilities in the rural areas makes food and water supplies highly susceptible to bacteria that can cause cholera, gastroenteritis and dysentery. Not treated promptly, these can be fatal. This year, the main culprit appears to be gastroenteritis, which has claimed 10 lives in Dadu and affected many people in 20 villages of the district over the past few days. Unfortunately, every time such a disease strikes, one is reminded of the inadequacies of the basic health care units in the rural areas.

Besides the obvious medical inadequacies, scarcity of drinking water is a key factor for starting an epidemic. This also seems to have been the case in Dadu where the outbreak of gastroenteritis was caused by a shortage of safe drinking water. It was only after the outbreak that the irrigation department released fresh water in the waterways of the affected villages, and the situation now seems to be under control. The government must see to it that such customary neglect on the part of the authorities concerned — often with fatal consequences for a hapless rural population — is not repeated as the sweltering heat wave continues.