Where is the OIC?

ONE disappointing phenomenon surrounding the current crisis over Iraq is the total absence of the Organization of Islamic Conference from the international scene. At a time when the Muslim world is facing serious challenges, and Muslims in some countries are victims of genocidal policies, the OIC, representing the world’s one billion-plus Muslims, is conspicuous by its lack of initiative and interest. Not that the Arab League — the other major Muslim grouping — has done any better. Much older than the OIC, the AL’s record has been equally dismal in terms of concrete political and economic achievements. Nevertheless, the AL is never absent from the diplomatic scene. It may not have achieved much in terms of ensuring collective security for its members, but at least it remains active on the diplomatic front. It was through the efforts of the Arab League that the United Nations General Assembly had declared Zionism a racist ideology (the resolution was later rescinded). The AL had also initiated the successful move for Israel’s economic boycott, which worked for decades, until it was called off in the wake of the Oslo peace accords. On the Palestinian issue, the League continues to make itself heard and felt. Last year, it adopted the Beirut Declaration, offering a new formula for breaking the Arab-Israeli imbroglio. Though nothing came of it because of Israeli obduracy, the AL at least tried and remains seized of the Palestinian issue. It is involved in the current diplomatic activity for resolving the Iraqi crisis by peaceful means. All this is in sharp contrast to the OIC, which seems to have gone into a state of hibernation.

Now Turkey has invited five Muslim countries to a summit meeting in Ankara. Reports say that it has prepared a declaration which it hopes will be adopted by the summit to be attended by the leaders of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iran. As a Turkish official put it, it is “a multilateral crisis,” and the summit was designed to show the countries’ “commitment to a peaceful solution.” One would like to ask why the OIC could not take such an initiative and involve a much larger group in a peace move. Indonesia and Malaysia, for instance, have been vocal in favouring a peaceful solution. But because of the OIC’s lack of an initiative, their voice does not translate into concrete action.

It is time the OIC realized its responsibility. Despite all the political and inherent limitations, it can still play a useful role in registering its opposition to the idea of war. The Iraqi crisis is not an Arab issue; Muslims throughout the world feel strongly about it and would want to do all that is possible to spare the Iraqi people further suffering. But the OIC’s absence from the scene is utterly inexplicable. Muslims now wonder what is the purpose of having a large organization if in critical times it chooses to act ostrich-like and do nothing. It is time the OIC set up a committee drawn from some core states to devise a strategy to reactivate itself and give it a more purposeful role. Despite the lack of military teeth, the organization has many assets, including financial power, oil wealth, the advantage of numbers and the strategic location of its member-states to count on to make its presence — and voice — more effectively felt.

Protecting minority rights

THE Pakistani Christian community’s sense of being a beleaguered group must have been assuaged to some extent by President General Pervez Musharraf’s visit to the Lahore Diocese on Friday. The president forcefully condemned the recent spate of attacks on Christian churches and institutions, which had left the community feeling unsafe and vulnerable. The attacks were attributed to militants who found Christian places of worship and learning a soft target on which to vent their anti-American anger following the allied action in Afghanistan and the rout of the Taliban. This eruption of militancy, resulting in several terrorist incidents, has not just been an anti-Christian phenomenon. It has wider political and social dimensions — some that are obvious and some that are intangible.

There was a perception initially that 9/11 would help the Musharraf government to build on the liberal underpinnings of its policy as enunciated in several statements, which were direct in their criticism of religious fanaticism. Unfortunately, this premise was proved wrong, largely because of the vengeful and irresponsible manner in which the United States launched its war on terror. It led to a backlash in Pakistan that has actually strengthened the forces of extremism. The government has been forced on the defensive in its professed aim of seeking to create a more tolerant society. It just barely managed to get away with its decision to abolish separate electorates for minorities; if the decision had come later than it did, it might have been resisted by the religious parties.

In the present climate, it may not be immediately possible to undertake further bold political initiatives with regard to the minorities, such as ensuring greater representation for them in government, but the long-term goal of providing them with every opportunity available to other citizens should not be lost sight of. This means looking at the problems of the minorities in a wider perspective than just in the law-and-order context, important though the latter is to guarantee security of life and property. The minorities in Pakistan have demanded no special privileges and no more than that they should be treated equally in all secular matters. It is the duty of the state to ensure this.

Passage for Chitralis

THE action by the Frontier Corps in closing down the alternative route from Chitral into the rest of the NWFP, via Afghanistan’s Kunar province, needs to be urgently reviewed because it seems to be causing immense problems to thousands of Chitralis stranded because of the closure of the Lowari Pass. According to reports, the paramilitary force, despite approval from the Afghan authorities, has decided to stop the movement of people from Chitral through Afghanistan, re-entering Pakistan through a mountain pass further south. Within Pakistan, the only land link between the Chitral valley and the rest of the country is through the 3,100-metre-high Lowari Pass, which is normally snowbound, and hence unpassable, from December until at least April. The action by the Frontier Corps has meant that stocks of essential items and necessities in the valley are in danger of being depleted, and this is already having an inflationary effect on prices. Also badly hit are patients in need of more specialized medical treatment available only in the hospitals of Peshawar or Islamabad.

As the district nazim of the area told this newspaper, the people in Chitral have become ‘hostages to a conflict that is not of their making’. The obvious reason for the closing of the border is to prevent Al Qaeda and Taliban remnants from moving back and forth across the border with Afghanistan. However, the Chitralis point out that they have not, unlike Pakistanis from many other northern districts, ever helped the Taliban. The air link is too dependent on the weather and inadequate to meet the growing demand of Chitralis to travel to the rest of the country. The NWFP government should in fairness reverse the decision taken by the Frontier Corps and mitigate the hardship of the people of Chitral.