| June 29, 2002 | Saturday | Rabi-us-Sani 17, 1423 |
No room for police high-handedness: DATELINE QUETTA
Sense of deprivation among people of Sargodha: DATELINE SARGODHA
Furore in New Delhi: MEDIA REVIEW
WHEN Mexico’s representative to the UN Security Council two weeks ago sought an informal meeting of the council to discuss the Kashmir issue, the Indian foreign ministry went into action to thwart any such meeting. It contacted the capitals of the all the 15 member-states of the council. Under immense pressure from Russia, in particular, Mexico backed out from convening such a meeting.
THESE days press-police relations are rather bad. Two events that took place recently show the mood of the police against the newsmen. The first was the police reaction to an article published in a local Urdu daily in which some observations against the poor police working were made. The police moved swiftly and registered a criminal case. After the FIR registration, they raided the newspaper office and arrested the man who wrote the article. In the second event, a journalist was beaten severely by members of the elite Anti-Terrorism Force (ATF) in the presence of hundreds of people.
SARGODHA, which gained fame during the 1965 Indo-Pak war and was considered one of the biggest divisions of the Punjab, which included Faisalabad, Jhang, Mianwali, Bhakkar and other districts, faced bifurcation and deprivation when various development projects including agricultural university, medical college and other regional offices were shifted to Faisalabad even before it was accorded the status of a division.
It is, of course, possible that the council may not have been able to take a categorical decision upholding the Kashmiris’ right to self-determination as laid down in previous resolutions, because of Russia’s veto and the British and the US deference to India. But one thing is clear: India will no longer be able to argue that Kashmir is a bilateral issue. Indeed, the US deputy secretary of state, Richard Armitage, made that clear while echoing President Bush’s commitment that the US would try to “inspire” a solution to the Kashmir dispute.
When the tragic events of Sept 11 brought many nations together to fight international terrorism, India saw this as an opportunity to exploit the tragedy for its own objective of de-legitimizing the freedom struggle of the Kashmiri people by equating it with terrorism. However, the exercise of “coercive diplomacy” has proved to be a costly affair for India — economically, politically and strategically rather than a diplomatic victory.
Besides “internationalizing” Kashmir, India has ended up validating the doctrine of nuclear deterrence and eroded the repeated threats of a limited war espoused repeatedly by Indian leaders and generals in recent months.
When Pakistan’s ambassador to the United Nations, Munir Akram, refused to endorse India’s hollow commitment of “no first use “ of nuclear weapons at a recent press conference, the issue went on the front burner of the international community which made intense diplomatic efforts to avoid a war between the two countries where nuclear weapons could be conceivably used.
The possible threat of use of nuclear weapons prompted studies by Pentagon which warned that at any first strike more than 17 million people could die and another 12 million be impacted by the fallout. It prompted Mr Bush to send Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to the region preceded by Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage, who followed British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.
Indian columnist Anurag Sinha wrote in the Indian Express: “This is a classic deterrence theory.” Even the most hardcore foreign policymakers and military personnel have suggested that there is no cause worthy of a nuclear confrontation. The BJP’s presidential candidate A. P. J. Abdul Kalam admitted that addition of the nuclear dimension had diminished the chances of a war in South Asia.
To underscore the nuclear dimension and its impact, the US ambassador to India said: “It is no doubt that the nuclear dimension accelerated our decision-making and did accelerate the departure of Americans from India, including from the US government part of the American citizens there.”
But it cannot be overstated that the biggest cost of India’s standoff with Pakistan has been to the Indian economy. It resulted in reversal of foreign investment, crash of India’s stock exchanges, depressed businesses and decrease in exports. The compound economic impact of this standoff on India would easily mount to several billion dollars and consequently slow down India’s economic development and growth prospects for several years.
The primary objective of India’s macho posturing was to elevate the electoral prospects of the BJP in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. However, if the recent provincial elections and by- elections are any barometer, the BJP’s electoral chances have not increased by the present coercive posture.
It is quite possible that India may revive its bluff in September to give cover to the elections in Kashmir or in the hope of again coercing Pakistan to abandon its principled stand on Kashmir. Such manoeuvring may once again push the region to the brink of war.
India’s claim that Pakistan has still not been able to stop cross-border terrorism is a ploy to keep the pressure on Pakistan. Since the intense diplomatic activity by the United States and the United Kingdom, the top diplomats there have noted that the cross-border activity has almost stopped.
Mr Armitage said the other day that there were strong signs that alleged infiltrations from Pakistan into occupied Kashmir had decreased sharply in the last few weeks. But India continues to mass its forces on the borders, with no let-up in tensions.
Given the fact that the “fighting season “ in South Asia begins in September, India’s hostile posture could trigger a conflict by design or by accident, which could have devastating effect for both.
It is widely believed that the police did not consult the provincial government before registering a criminal case against the journalist and, later, raiding the newspaper office to arrest him. It was for this very reason that the detained journalist was ordered freed within 24 hours on the intervention of the provincial government.
Until recently the police in Balochistan had been working in low key — unlike their counterparts in Punjab and Sindh — avoiding high-profile involvement in local events. Traditionally, they would have a very soft approach towards the people. Hence there would be fewer complaints of police high-handedness.
The police cover less than 5 per cent territory of the province. The remaining areas are under the jurisdiction of levies, generally called the rural police under the control of the local administration. It is for the first time that the province has a police general, with high-profile involvement in various issues such as the framing of proposals for the police commission.
Before his posting here, he had been the Karachi police chief when Murtaza Bhutto, the younger brother of the then prime minister, was gunned down in front of his own residence in Clifton.
In the first case, the press registered its protest by holding a series of meetings at the newspaper establishments in Quetta. It did not seek any support from political parties or any other organizations and rather chose to deal with the matter as an in-house affair. However, the people, in general, supported the press, overwhelming. While these lines are being written, a meeting is on to resolve the issue.
The second incident reflects the mood of the policemen towards the journalists in general. The ATF was created to combat terrorism, and protect the lives and property of the people. Unfortunately, the ATF members were found involved in openly terrorizing the innocent and the law-abiding — the journalists being no exception.
The incident took place on Jinnah Road on Wednesday morning when the ATF personnel beat a journalist, taking him to be a hardened criminal. He was slapped and punched mercilessly. Irfan Saeed, the bureau chief of the Online news agency in Quetta, was travelling in his car, with a relative. At the main inter-section of Jinnah Road, the ATF team, while helping the traffic police to check the passing vehicles, signalled Irfan Saeed to stop his car. Mr Saeed, who had all the valid documents, stopped the car immediately and was about to offer himself and the vehicle for the checking that a cop dragged him out of the car and started beating him mercilessly in full view of the public, accusing him that he had disobeyed the order of a man-in-uniform.
Other ATF men too joined the cop in beating Mr Saeed when he identified himself as a journalist. “We have received orders from the top to punish the journalists,” an ATF cop was heard shouting. Some other ATF men took care of the onlookers, many of whom were punched and slapped in order to make them leave the scene. The ATF men perhaps thought that they were thus demolishing eyewitness accounts against their high-handedness.
It was an absolute disgrace as hundreds of people watched a journalist being punched and slapped by a group of policemen for no offence. The cops were rather guilty of taking the law into their hands for they must know that a man on the driving seat is no criminal or terrorist unless proved otherwise.
It is strange that ATF is being employed to do traffic checking, which is the job of the traffic police. It would be fruitful if the ATF is employed to help out fellow policemen whenever a terrorist attack is apprehended. Irfan Saeed is no terrorist, no enemy agent. He is only a journalist who has always contributed reports in a positive manner.
It makes no sense that ATF personnel should patrol the streets of Quetta in peace time. They are found pointing their guns and sub-machineguns on passersby, without any discrimination, to the discomfiture of the law-abiding citizens, including women and children. This is no service to society. Moreover, no government agency should have the right to disturb the peace of the people in such a fashion as the ATF is doing these days.
What is remarkable is the fact that the police did not register a case against the errant cops. This makes the establishment of Reporting Centres a mockery. If a journalist is not able to get a case registered, how a commoner can benefit from this facility. Dr Amiruddin, a known human rights activist, thinks that the government wants to turn Balochistan into a police state.
Now the military regime has again bifurcated it into different districts and once again the multimillionaire traders of Faisalabad plan to deprive the people of Sargodha of their legitimate right of getting justice at their doorstep by floating an offer of constructing a building for a High Court bench and residences of the judge and his staff. This news spread panic among the lawyers community and members of the Punjab Bar Council, including Muhammad Mazhar Lillah, Tassadaq Husain Baloch and Mian Naseer Ahmad.
They said if the offer of the Faisalabad traders was accepted, it would be difficult for the poor to get justice. They said they did not oppose the setting up of a High Court bench in Faisalabad, but they had the right to refrain the traders of Faisalabad from making justice a purchasable commodity.
People of Sargodha are also facing problems in the field of education and health as neither any university nor medical college / teaching hospital has been set up here.
Educationists pointed out that for setting up a university, no extra expenditure was required as the building of the Government College was sufficient to meet the requirements of university. There are already post-graduate classes being held in it and with the construction of the dean’s office the university can start functioning and people from adjoining districts, including Khushab, Bhakkar, Mianwali, Mardan, Mandi Bahauddin and Jhang, can benefit.
The government has reportedly sanctioned space for the construction of Sir Syed University, and the proposed education university will take more than a decade. However, the government can allow a university to work in the Government College. It will solve the problem of the people and help improve the standard of education. Similarly, the DHQ hospital could be given the status of a teaching hospital without spending any heavy amount. The hospital was constructed in 1954 with 120 beds. Later on extension in the building was made and besides setting up new wards and departments, the bed strength was enhanced to 447.
This hospital was upgraded to divisional headquarters level in 1995 and adjoining it are gynae and OBS units titled Maula Bakhsh Hospital. In 1994, the philanthropists contributed for the construction of Rehmatul Alemeen Block with 50 beds and two operation theatres.
This hospital is known as a booking centre for private hospitals because most specialists have either constructed their own hospitals or are working in private hospitals. They sit in the hospital not to check the indoor or outdoor patients but to hunt patients for their clinics. Though CT scan and dialysis machines have recently been installed after hectic efforts, no patient has got any benefit.
Last year, a doctor from the DHQ hospital was sent to Japan to get training for CT scan, but he disappeared in Japan and the government was now reluctant to send another doctor for training.
The district government had allocated a huge amount of over Rs70 million for the purchase of medicines but due to mismanagement and undue influence of its favourites, this project was in the doldrums. Tenders were floated by unknown firms and with the intervention of army officials a bid to misappropriate a huge amount was foiled. Thereafter, medicines were not purchased even for the emergency ward.
Dr. Mazhar Rasheed, the medical superintendent, is making efforts to motivate the specialists for devoting some time to the poor patients but he has failed to control the doctors. He said there was no vacancy for a neuro-surgeon, a neuro physician, a dermatologist and a psychiatrist. He said after the abolishment of the previous system, the staff of defunct district council health branch was drawing salaries without rendering any service and they could be deputed in the DHQ hospital to overcome staff shortage.
He admitted that hospital timings were not being observed by the specialists and consequently people from the far-flung areas had either to wait for a long time or had to approach the specialist in a private hospital. He also admitted that many types of equipment, including dental units, ultrasound and physiotherapy departments were either lying functionless or required some minor repair.
He said there were 102 sanctioned gazetted posts of doctors and nursing staff at the DHQ hospital but still 19 seats were lying vacant, while out of a total 490 sanctioned seats for non-gazetted staff, 434 were working and 56 seats were lying vacant. He said there were 18 sanctioned seats for house jobs out of which nine were still lying vacant. There were ample opportunities for training of 25 female students of midwifery, 40 dispenser students and students of general nursing. The MS was of the view that without spending a huge amount, the government could establish a medical college here in two phases. According to the plan, there were two short and long-term programmes for FCPS part-II in collaboration with the College of Physicians and Surgeons Pakistan, Karachi, with minimal expenditure. He said residency programme for FCPS part-II could be launched immediately.
For the long-term plan, most of the infrastructure will be available. It could be helpful in establishing a medical college.
AN article a couple of weeks ago by Time magazine’s India correspondent about Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee’s failing health had the Indian government, and a large section of the print and electronic media, literally up in arms. In fact, a week after the article, its author Alex Perry was asked by the Indian authorities to meet immigration officials who wanted to question him on whether he was stying in India on an expired passport.
Mr Perry, a British national, was quoted as fearing that he might be expelled as a result of this investigation, despite the fact that he had a valid passport and a letter from the British high commission stating that he was in India on a valid passport. A spokesperson for the Indian government, questioned about the timing of Mr Perry’s questioning, said that it was a pure coincidence that he had been summoned right after he wrote the article about Mr Vajpayee.
A week later, the Indian authorities said that Mr Perry’s documents were in order, indicating that he could stay and continue with his job. However, it is more than clear that a message had been sent by the Indian government to Time that it was not in a mood to tolerate such criticism of the prime minister’s person. In fact, the tenor of the response, by even responsible members was that the article was part of a conspiracy by the Western media to malign India at the highest level by implying that the man who led the country and controlled its nuclear arsenal was senile and suffered from an array of “multiple physical incapacities.” The response also seemed to suggest quite overtly that the article was timed deliberately to embarrass India at a time when most of its armed forces were deployed at its border with Pakistan. In the days immediately following the article, India’s ministry of external affairs said it had spoken to editor of the New York-based magazine. In addition to that, the prime minister’s office issued what it said was a “stiff rejoinder” pointing out that there were several “factual inaccuracies” in the piece, including Mr Vajpayee’s age which the correspondent had got wrong.
Time agreed to publish the rebuttal by the Indian government in its next issue but this did not stop the Indian media and various members of the ruling BJP coalition from launching into, at times, illogical diatribes against the article, the magazine and the writer.
Chandan Mitra, editor of the more right-wing Pioneer newspaper, wrote: “As an Indian I was outraged. I was outraged by the supercilious, patronizing, white-supremacist, flippant and crassly ill-mannered tone of the piece. I was outraged that a magazine of such awesome reputation could actually publish a catalogue of bazaar gossip, almost totally incorrect and unsubstantiated. I was outraged that not a single person was quoted to confirm even one damaging observation. I was outraged that an American journalist and his redoubtable publication had mocked at the democratically elected leader of a country of one billion.”
Mr Mitra also said “there was a motive in running the article,” which was to browbeat India and the prime minister to fall in line with US agenda in the region. “(The) motive can only be to humiliate India and get us to kow-tow to American diktats in the confrontation with Pakistan. The aim is to lower India’s confidence level and deflect the government into trying to salvage the prime minister’s image rather than address the more important military and diplomatic tasks at hand,” he wrote.
In fact, reporting on this, other Indian newspapers bought Mr Mitra’s theory wholesale without considering the possibility that what he was writing could have been motivated more by a sense of outrage than objectivity. One certainly can take issue with his “outrage” that “an American [the writer is British] journalist and his redoubtable publication” could make fun of a “democratically elected leader of a country of one billion.” Well, these things happen all the time, and surely Mr Mitra must have seen the ridicule George W Bush is regularly subjected to on the very popular talk shows hosted by Jay Leno, David Letterman and Conan O’ Brien in America (all shows are available on cable in Pakistan). In fact, it is precisely because Mr Bush is a public figure, who by running for office has given up the privacy normally reserved for an individual who does hold a prominent public position, that he exposes himself to judgment by others. And, Mr Vajpayee’s case should really be no different.
In any case, others who joined in rebutting Time included the secretary-general of the the confederation of Indian industry. Tarun Das, who (it can safely be said, subscribes to Time) called the article “non-factual, impressionistic and very, very superficial.” India’s railways minister, Nithishk Kumar, wrote: “The Time article denigrates the post of the prime minister and India [sic] of over 1,000 million people and we demand that they tender an unqualified apology.”
Some Indian newspapers and websites carried stories quoting senior government sources saying that since his knee operation a year ago Mr Vajpayee’s health had actually improved. A minister was quoted as saying: Mentally he [Mr Vajpayee] is as agile as you or I am ... If I know the man, he will just laugh it off,” he says. Well, certainly his ministers and many Indians didn’t. —OMAR R. QURESHI
(email:omarq@cyber.net.pk)