| September 10, 2002 | Tuesday | Rajab 2, 1423 |
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Violence in Nepal
Theft of antiquities
SUNDAY’s public meeting in Karachi organized by the six-party religious alliance was held at short notice as a protest against the cancellation of its “train march.” But as it happened, it became the country’s first public meeting signalling the start of the election campaign following the lifting of the ban on political activity from September 1. Coming from some of the country’s most effective speakers, the speeches by the leaders of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal were fiery. On the surface, the leaders covered a variety of socio-economic issues, with promises to make Pakistan an Islamic state and “a cradle of peace.” To avoid being merely negative, the ulema pledged to do away with poverty and illiteracy and promised to introduce reforms in several sectors. However, what was conspicuous by its absence was any mention of concrete policies to achieve the objectives outlined. This kind of political waffling is not confined to the religious parties alone: all parties indulge in similar demagoguery to mobilize the people and enlist their electoral support. The tactics focus on discrediting the government of the day and reviling political rivals without coming up with concrete solutions.
A considerable portion of Sunday’s speeches was devoted to the adverse effect of army rule. Maulana Fazlur Rahman specially referred to the loss of “three rivers,” and of East Pakistan and Siachin during the days of Ayub, Yahya and Ziaul Haq. While political parties are not alone in denouncing army rule and demanding an early return to democracy, the politicians tend to forget the role they themselves play in paving the way for ambitious generals. In 1977, a major leader of the Pakistan National Alliance wrote a letter to the then army chief, asking him to take over by overthrowing the elected government.
Again, during the 1988-99 political period, politicians in opposition, including some of the speakers at Sunday’s meeting, repeatedly asked the army “to do its duty.” The result was that in four cases in the nineties elected prime ministers fell prey to intrigue and were made to quit by the army acting either from behind the scenes or openly, as in October 1999. The MMA leaders’ claim, therefore, that the generals were responsible for territorial losses contains only half the truth, for they, as well as all political parties, must examine the role they themselves have played in facilitating army interventions in the past. Once in power, the military rulers felt no need to be in a hurry to quit and pursued their own agenda, including wholesale and arbitrary changes in the country’s systems and institutions.
Seldom have the politicians bothered to see beyond their noses or ever thought of working for the consolidation of democracy. The staple part of their political articulation is empty rhetoric as well as an abundance of promises that are seldom meant to be fulfilled. No party has tried to inculcate in the masses the virtue of tolerance, or attempted to make electioneering a civilized affair so as not to arouse emotions that may lead to violence. In fact, they have often encouraged their supporters to defy the law. That is why no party felt any qualms about organizing “long marches” or laying siege to the parliament building to overthrow governments established by law. The over-all result has been the people’s loss of respect for laws and the weakening of their faith in democracy. One hopes that in the few weeks left to polling, the political parties will set a higher standard of political campaigning.
THERE has been an upsurge in violence in Nepal in recent days, with Maoist rebels launching two devastating attacks on government forces in different parts of the country. On Sunday night, the rebels attacked a police station in eastern Nepal and killed 49 policemen. According to government sources, at least 70 rebels were also killed, making the attack one of the worst since the insurgency began some six years ago. Hours later, some 4,000 rebels launched a major assault on a town in south-western Nepal and went on the rampage, burning down many government buildings. They also cut off the town’s communications links with the rest of the country. As a result, there is still no news about the fate of the 200 army and police personnel based there. The upswing in violence comes only days after a state of emergency was lifted to pave the way for general elections in November. There are now fears that the renewed violence, which also included bomb blasts close to the capital, could force the government to re-impose the emergency.
Nepal has been in the grip of violence since 1996, when Maoist rebels launched their insurgency aimed at overthrowing the country’s monarchy and replacing it with a communist system. More than 4,000 people have been killed in the spate of violence, which shows little sign of ending. The rebels have now stated that they will disrupt the forthcoming elections and have warned people against going out to cast their votes. The violence in Nepal has not only led to severe bloodletting but has also had an adverse impact on the economy. Tourism, on which this landlocked and mountainous country heavily depends, has dipped because of insecurity and violence. While the government claims that it is determined to crush the rebels, officials admit that the task will be arduous and will take time. Meanwhile, the people of Nepal continue to live in fear, hoping for a respite from this terrible and relentless orgy of violence.
BESIDES the British and a few European museums, Pakistani antiquities have now started appearing in celebrated American museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York and the Smithsonian Institute in Washington. But these grand displays can hardly be termed a matter of pride for Pakistan, as, according to a former director-general of the archaeology department, these antiquities were stolen, smuggled out of the country and purchased by the said museums at auctions in Europe. He also said that in accordance with the terms of the Unesco charter governing antiquities, the government of Pakistan would be within its right to demand the return of all such stolen relics from the host countries.
That our world-renowned archaeological sites at Moenjodaro, Taxila, Harappa and elsewhere in the country, lie in a state of utter neglect is as widely known as thefts and smuggling of antiquities out of the country. Recent scandals involving theft of antiquities from the Lahore Museum and the disappearance of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s horse-trappings cast in gold from a Lahore Fort museum are only but two such incidents. While there is a real need to strengthen vigilance at the sites and museums housing national heritage, the former archaeology chief is right in suggesting that the government should pursue the restitution of all such antiquities with the foreign governments concerned, as and when they resurface abroad. Pakistani missions abroad must also be required to watch out for any Pakistani antiquities that routinely go up for auction in the western capitals. Together, the two measures can help curb the theft and smuggling of the antiquities by making the criminal activity a risky affair rather than a safe and lucrative one.