| January 29, 2003 | Wednesday | Ziqa’ad 25,1423 |
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ADB and development
Police callousness
INDIAN Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha’s advice to Pakistan to follow the “China model” in matters of good neighbourly relations seems more self-serving in motivation than a sincerely meant example of state conduct cited for common benefit. One would have wished Mr Sinha to address his words more appropriately to his own government which holds the key to the unstable pattern of state relations in South Asia. China is indeed a model of wisdom and realism in conducting good neighbourly relations. It is, indeed, Pakistan’s good fortune to have China as a neighbour. With it, as with all other neighbours except India, Pakistan has excellent relations. Can India claim the same about itself? There is no neighbour with which India does not have quarrels, which have sometimes degenerated into wars, at other times into deep alienation. With China, India had a bloody war in the Himalayas in 1962. What led to it was Nehru’s order to the Indian army before leaving on a tour of Sri Lanka to “throw the Chinese out”. Since then India has fought two wars with Pakistan (1965 and 1971), and almost came close to attacking this country last summer. It also sent troops into Sri Lanka and had to hastily withdraw after suffering thousands of casualties. With Bangladesh its relations are often uneasy, with military clashes in border areas being a regular feature. As for Nepal, New Delhi has exploited its landlocked character, and, every now and then, applies an economic squeeze to make it behave. As for the other two tiny Himalayan states, India has already annexed Sikkim, while Bhutan is virtually an Indian protectorate. No wonder all its neighbours look upon India with a great deal of unease and suspicion.
In contrast, China has demonstrated maturity and wisdom in dealing with its neighbours and the world at large. On Taiwan, for instance, the American attitude has been one of provocation and in violation of the United Nations, which recognizes only one China. America not only has diplomatic relations with Taiwan, it gives military aid to the island’s government and its fleet serves as a security umbrella for the breakaway province. Yet this has not prevented Beijing from keeping a dialogue going with Washington and having mutually beneficial economic relations with it. China also keeps talking to all neighbours, including Japan which had once subjected China to aggression. It is in this spirit that Beijing keeps India engaged despite the memory of the 1962 war and the existence of the territorial dispute. In dealing with India, China has never used intimidating tactics. As the bigger and more powerful of the two, China could have spurned India’s talks offer. Instead, Chinese and Indian leaders have exchanged visits at the highest level, and the two sides continue to talk. One wishes India too had shown the same openness of mind and spirit in talking to Pakistan on issues of dispute and difference instead of adopting a high and mighty attitude in dealing with Islamabad.
What is unfortunate is that India fails to show that self-confidence that one would expect from a country the size and power of India. Somehow, even after more than half a century of independence, it seems unable to discard the baggage of history and remains obsessed with Pakistan. What prevents it from talking to Pakistan and having normal relations with it is nothing but arrogance of power and a petty-mindedness that is stupefying. Pakistan has offered to talk to India “anywhere, anytime.” Is India ready? Does it have the bigness of the mind and spirit to respond without hedging or hiding behind conditionalities?
THE Asian Development Bank(ADB) has proposed to assist Pakistan during the current year in launching seven projects costing about 800 million dollars. This is the first instalment of the three-year 2.4 billion dollar assistance programme the Bank had earlier finalized as part of its contribution to Pakistan’s on-going economic restructuring process. The seven projects identified by the ADB for the current year seem to have been conceived keeping in mind the immediate needs of the country. Since the installation of local governments in August 2001, attempts are being made to provide access to social services at the grassroots level. Perhaps to remove the bottlenecks in the way of this process in Sindh, the ADB has proposed a 150-million-dollar contribution for undertaking this project during the year. A similar amount has been allocated for the Punjab Resource Management Programme. Official economic managers will surely find this project immensely helpful, especially in a province which has the largest population and resource-wise is heavily dependent on the federal government.
Balochistan has been allocated 150 million dollars for a road development programme which also includes construction of farm-to-market roads and connecting road links with Afghanistan. Having a relatively small road network to serve its huge territorial expanse, any project aimed at narrowing this deficiency in Balochistan should be welcome. Secondly, with reconstruction and rehabilitation work in Afghanistan just about to begin, neighbouring Balochistan is likely to benefit considerably if it serves as an easy-to-traverse conduit for the needed goods and services en route to Afghanistan. The 100 million dollars allocated for Industrial Efficiency and Environmental Management too are likely to help improve the situation in a crucially important sector. Our industrial practices are still largely very primitive, and there is need to cut down on costly waste in order to improve our per capita productivity. One also hopes that the 40 million dollars allocated to a FATA development project would be utilized properly and efficiently to help improve the lot of the people in this backward area.
THE tale of what happened to a busload of passengers passing through Karachi’s centre late on Sunday night is another reminder of the hostile attitude the police have towards the public. It also reflects the arbitrary way in which decisions passed on from superiors are executed by officialdom, in complete violation of the law and any semblance of decency. The bus was pulled over by a group of policemen within a furlong of the Sindh governor’s residence. The passengers, including women and children, were told to get off from the vehicle since it had been requisitioned for use during the Sindh Assembly session.
Not only did the policemen have no qualms about making this thoroughly unreasonable and illegal request, they did so without caring for the fact that it was close to one in the morning. This off-loading meant that many passengers risked being stranded, unable to reach their homes. The passengers argued with the policemen but to no avail. Some in the police party, however, continued to insist that they had orders from their superiors to commandeer buses. One hopes that any inquiry into this unpleasant episode will not only take those in the police party to task, but also not spare the superior officers who passed such orders. If the government feels the need to acquire buses or other such transport from the private sector then it should go about doing so in a civilized manner by renting vehicles. Stopping a bus filled with citizens in the middle of the night and then forcing them to disembark in a most uncouth manner does not do any good for the image of either the government or its police force.