Dr Swamy & ‘India Vision 2020’!

JUST ABOUT a couple of days before Janata Party leader Dr Subramanium Swamy’s arrival in Islamabad on his ‘peace mission’ last week, New Delhi released an ‘official’ report captioned ‘India Vision 2020’. The report, compiled by the deputy chairman of India’s planning commission, K.C. Pant, envisions a supremacist-militarist India rivalling China and dictating to Pakistan terms and conditions to wrap up the Kashmir dispute. The Kashmir issue, in the reported language of the document, “may (otherwise) still be unresolved by 2020.”

“Territorial disputes with neighbours that have defied resolution for 50 years may not lend themselves to easy solution,” he said.

On arrival in Islamabad, Dr Swamy, in an interview with an Urdu daily, said he had brought a message of peace, but some of his remarks, even if only coincidentally, seemed a distant but quite distinct echo of ‘India Vision 2020’.

While speaking of his efforts towards ‘normalizing’ India - Pakistan relations, Dr Swamy made an exception in the case of Kashmir, saying he would rather treat the problem as a long-term issue defying an early and amicable settlement.

“The right sort of environment must be created before an India-Pakistan dialogue could be resumed on Kashmir.”

Although Mr Pant’s 2020 Vision is an unquestionably daunting one, it does envisage nevertheless a time-limit — no matter how potentially disastrous — for its final settlement. Dr Swamy’s perception, on the other hand, remains even without a draft agenda, in the vaguest terms, for a resumption of dialogue.

Among the steps Dr Swamy specified for paving the way towards dialogue were removal of restrictions on air travel, restoration of rail and road services, ‘limited’ resumption of formal trade, and repatriation of some 250 missing Indian fishermen in Pakistan’s prisons.

But Mr Pant went on to stress the difficulty of bridging the gap between two such ideologically disparate countries as India and Pakistan. In his own words, “the fundamental ideological conflict between Pakistan and India is unlikely to be resolved without a major social-political change in Pakistan.”

Mr Pant’s reference to the ‘fundamental, ideological conflict between Pakistan and India and the unlikelihood of its being resolved without a major social-political change in Pakistan’ undermines the very basis of inter-state relationships. No two states can be ideologically identical much as they cannot be identical in history, tradition, demography and geography.

Even the two communist giants, the Soviet Union (1917-1991) and the People’s Republic of China, adapted their communist mores to their own particular conditions and national imperatives. By the same token, no two democratic states can be identical in practice even though they share the same perceptions. Let alone parliamentary Britain and presidential America, even social democracies like Sweden and Germany follow different paths, leading to the same destination.

‘India Vision 2020’, in the light of excerpts appearing in the press, is a fevered dream of India’s emergence as a great military and economic power, and regretfully constitutes a glaring departure from the vision of the progressive and peaceful India of its founding fathers.

It is conceived and couched in terms of an endemic ‘security threat’ real or imaginary. “.... In 2020, China may pose a serious challenge to its security while the Kashmir issue may still be unresolved. The increasing economic and military strength of China may pose a serious challenge to India’s security unless adequate measures are taken to fortify our own strengths.”

As regards the dismal prospect of an early settlement of the Kashmir issue, Indian intellectual Raju G.C. Thomas in an article some time back had spoken of the “risk of India unravelling like Yugoslavia” in the event of a forced solution of the Kashmir issue on the basis of religion. Thomas warned: “If four million Kashmiri Muslims cannot live in Hindu majority India, by logical extension neither can 144 million Muslims in the rest of India.... It was the leaders of the Indian Muslims in the Hindu- majority areas of British India who were mainly responsible for the creation of Pakistan, not the Muslims of the Muslim-majority areas that became West and East Pakistan”.

One wonders how Dr Swamy might respond to ‘India 2020 Vision’. In an interview with Dawn, (Jan 28) and in other statements, Dr Swamy shifted the onus of ‘reconciliatory initiatives’ on to President Musharraf whom he wants to help him in removing the misunderstanding the BJP government is creating in the minds of the Indian masses about Pakistan.

While a peace initiative by any responsible party or individual is welcome, Dr Swamy’s sudden arrival in Pakistan without any prior announcement and his somewhat ambivalent statements on India-Pakistan relations have left one wondering as to what brought him here at all. That is, if he had nothing to add to his country’s known stand and posturing on the core issue. Might it not have added weight to his peace mission had he cho-sen to respond critically to ‘India Vision 2020’?

Registration and Kasuri’s visit

WHEN Foreign Minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri arrived in New York, he conceded that getting Pakistanis excluded from the US list of countries whose nationals (men) were required to register under the new registration programme would be difficult.

He blamed the Pakistani media for hyping the issue and creating a situation. In effect, what he meant was that because of the media pressure the Jamali government had to react to the concerns of citizens who had family or friends living in America.

One would have agreed with Mr Kasuri to the extent that in New York and elsewhere even some journalists had become spokespersons for various groups of Pakistanis vying for leadership here. But the minister himself made pronouncements at meetings with Pakistani expatriates in New York, Los Angeles and Washington where he milked the issue to the hilt, sounding as if he was seeking their votes.

To illustrate the point, consider this: At a press conference, he told journalists “off the record” that he was in touch with influential people who had contacts at the White House, Justice Department and Capitol Hill to persuade the US authorities to grant a special waiver to Pakistanis. But then he went public with the same assertion at a meeting of Pakistani expatriates at the New York consulate.

Was it really necessary for Mr Kasuri to raise the hopes of beleaguered Pakistanis even when he knew the reality?

The registration issue for Pakistani nationals became a big issue only because a large number of Pakistanis have either overstayed their visas or are in violation of their status as students or holders of work visas. In the past (before 9/11) not only Pakistanis but nationals of most Third World countries found themselves overstaying and working without proper authorization, hoping to get a waiver or a break by the US government by way of amnesty under provisions of law like 245(I) during President Clinton’s era. But all that has changed.

Secretary of State Colin Powell, when he was asked to give Pakistanis a special break on the argument of their country being a front-line state in the global war on terrorism, declined, saying: “We have to secure our border, but we want to make sure our doors are open. And so those individuals who are here legally with proper documentation, have nothing to fear from these registration procedures. There are some who do have concerns and I encourage them to step forward, register and resolve whatever out of status situation they may be in. There is a certain risk for that, but nobody should see this as something targeted against anyone.”

One must acknowledge that Mr Kasuri valiantly pleaded the Pakistanis’ case even when he was aware that he would get nowhere with the US government which has singled out Muslim expatriates as a clear and present danger. But he gets low marks for playing to the gallery instead of giving a realistic picture of the situation to the Pakistanis. His statements and responses to Pakistanis prompted one top Pakistani official to note: “The Sahib is even trying to hit a wide ball.”

The “administrative flexibility” issue, which was originally suggested by Pakistan ambassador Jehangir Ashraf Kazi and pushed through by the foreign minister with US officials, could end up helping some Pakistanis who are in minor visa violations. Basically, what it means is that immigration officials who sit as judge and jury should exercise positive judgment in case of Pakistanis, an attitude absent in the first stage of registration when Iranian citizens were arrested in large numbers in Los Angeles.

But one must point out that since 9/11, the attitude of US immigration official towards citizens of Muslim countries is downright rude and unhelpful at the point of entry (airports, borders, and seaports). One newly married Pakistani girl who arrived in New York a week or so ago on an immigration visa to join her husband was asked by the US embassy in Islamabad to hand over all original documentation to the embassy, such as birth certificate, marriage certificate, college degrees, etc., promising that they would be given back to her at the port of entry. So upon arrival when she asked for her papers, the INS official gruffly said: “I don’t have them.” When the girl persisted that US embassy officials had told her that she would definitely get back her documents, he dismissed her saying: “They lied.”

Last Wednesday, FBI agents arrested a columnist for The Friday Times, Ejaz Haider, although he was invited by the Brookings Institute as a fellow. Apparently they were trying to establish some Al Qaeda connection with him. But when many US officials intervened on his behalf, he was released, with the INS admitting its mistake.

One empathizes with Pakistanis who are in this country to escape poverty and despair. But they must also understand that the United States before Sept 11 was a much more friendly place and kind to all. But now it has decided that Muslims should be kept under surveillance. The stark fact remains that the policies of Ziaul Haq’s military regime and ISI which bred the culture of intolerance in Pakistan put Pakistanis in jeopardy here.

The American dream of “life and liberty in pursuit of happiness” is no longer valid for the Muslims.

ABUSE OF LAW: Speaking of rule of law in the country which espouses due process for all, it seems that in an effort to silence overt or covert opposition to the Bush administration, particularly on its stance on the war against Iraq, US laws are being selectively implemented above and beyond the call of duty.

For instance, Scott Ritter, the former UN weapons inspector, was snared in a case in which he was charged with intention to perform a sex act on a minor, although the alleged incident occurred two years ago, and the judge in the case determined that there was no real basis to proceed.

But since Mr Ritter has become an outspoken critic of the Bush administration’s Iraq policy, frequently appearing in the media, the US federal authorities decided to re-open the case. They are willing to charge him under federal laws despite the ruling of the judge in Albany (New York), closing the case.

Seventeen years ago, they tried — unsuccessfully though — to silence Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations, Said Rajaie- Khorassani, a highly articulate academician who was proving to be a thorn in the side of the United States and Israel. The Iranian envoy was charged with stealing a raincoat from a New York store in a botched up FBI operation.

On May 7, 1986, Rajaie-Khorassani went to Manhattan’s Alexander department store tailed by FBI men. He selected a raincoat and went to a nearby mirror to see how the coat looked on him. He decided to have another look in front of a three-way mirror which was some distance away. As he moved, the store detective pounced on the bewildered ambassador. “What’s this all about,” asked the ambassador. The detective told him that he must accompany him to the store manager’s office in the basement.

Not knowing what lay ahead, the ambassador followed the detective where FBI men were already present. The manager said he was going to report him to the police on charge of stealing a coat. Rajaie-Khorassani identified himself and strongly protested against the grave insult done to him. He refused to be cowed down.

After nearly two hours, the ambassador was allowed to go. The next day the entire print and electronic media was full of identical stories of the theft that never took place. No one questioned the police version. But in a bold move, Rajaie- Khorassani called a press conference at the UN and exposed the whole plot against him. His government stood by him and he left his post only after completing his tenure.

Another recent episode involved the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, whose wife, Princess Haifa bint Faisal, was implicated to links with funding for the September 11 hijackers.

To use strong-arm tactics against an ambassador who has literally spent all his life in the United States, being trained here as a fighter pilot and serving as an ambassador since 1983, with connections to every American president since Ronald Reagan, is being seen as a signal that no dissent from anyone including the diplomatic corps will be tolerated.

Messing around with education

I wonder whether there are such citizens in the Sindh capital who are surprised or rather disappointed at the point that the Sindh Assembly session which began in Karachi on Monday last, has not focused on the subject of education. That education is also in a mess is too well known, and often mourned. So what if one seeks to lament over a familiar theme.

The Sindh Assembly has focused on law and order, on water distribution, on the National Finance Commission, on unemployment, and other issues reflecting and establishing the point that Sindh has huge problems, and so has Karachi. So what else is new, would say some cynics.

To mention education is, in a way, to initiate a discourse of a kind on cynicism some citizens call it a cycle of cynicism, or a package of disenchantment. In reality there are only slogans, only empty promises, and meaningless rhetoric, they argue.

Look at some of the tell-tale headlines from some recent issues of Dawn, which would perhaps convey a sense of the direction or the lack of it in education. I want to begin with the subject of information technology, an area that the planners keep on stressing upon, and decision- makers pride themselves on in saying that they have given to the education sector an upgrading! ‘What’!

On 14th January came a headline which said that: “HSC IT exam likely to be deferred” and one can imagine the anxious state of mind and heart of those students who were to be affected by this prospect. 90,000 students, please note.

Then on the 18th of January there came the news that “IT to remain compulsory, weightage reduced.” And this is what it was reported “A joint meeting of the district education officers, (education) and Chairmen of the education boards, in the province decided to reduce the weightage of the compulsory IT examinations at the intermediate level this year.”

Both stories have appeared and in detail, and it made one ask in anger why at all are we in such a hurry to make IT compulsory when we do not have the equipment and the teaching faculty.

Dawn in its editorial “The IT conundrum” of January 26 has commented on this, and written “the problem is that the subject has been made compulsory without first having provided public institutions with the necessary infrastructure.

“Imagine the misery of students who would be required to sit in an exam, for a subject that they were never taught at college even though they had paid for the privilege.”

It makes one wonder whether this is happening only in Sindh and why at all is it happening? Who is responsible, and whose brainchild is this method of spreading the necessary difficult subject of information technology? There is no grudge against IT. It is the way it is being handled that makes one contemplate the fact that there are so many other areas of neglect where our official planners and decision-makers have rushed in, and created a mess. It is only a mess that lies ahead if this haste to introduce information technology is not handled in a sane and balanced education-related manner.

Let me take some more headlines from recent days which will help to revisit the vital and suffering theme of education. Said this daily on 22 January that “students damage principal’s office.” And the first paragraph said that “students of Islamia College staged a demonstration in front of the college here (in Peshawar) on Tuesday to protest against the non-availability of rooms in hostels, high rate of penalties, and the ban on study tours for students.”

There are other details too. But it all makes you wonder about Pakistan society where our educational institutions and the education sector lack funds, resources - money that is. But it still has fanciful and dreamy ideas of having information technology. “There are schools in Sindh and Karachi where there are no classrooms and students have no books. There are educational institutions, schools, colleges and universities that are functioning in deplorable conditions. Stories of these appear regularly in the print media, and even the electronic media is talking of them now. The larger problem is that of the insufficient budgetary allocation that is made for the education sector. But our blue-eyed boys in the hills, with their utopian ideas do not seem to realize that unless there are resources aplenty, it is not possible to spread education and do so with meaning and quality. Somehow in all our emphasis on good governance we do not seem to realize that there is a relationship between good governance and good education. Ask private and government-sector employers of how poor is the quality of our graduates and postgraduates. On the subject of IT, let me refer to an earlier column where we talked of the poor quality of students being turned out by the mushroom growth of IT institutes and colleges in the country. Even Dr Ataur Rehman lamented this which makes one wonder whether he has taken notice of the Sindh situation where IT is being made compulsory, with a reduced weightage. This peculiar concept with a reduced weightage is something that one finds quite ridiculous, to say the least.

Our world of education, and look at this headline from January 28 when it was said that “experts for Urdu as medium of instruction,” and speakers and scientists at a three-day workshop in Karachi said that “English as a medium of instruction would never be fruitful for the people of the country, and the decision of the NWFP government to declare Urdu an official language was lauded.”

So what do you expect of education in Pakistan where the argument about medium of instruction is still a matter of settlement. Strange. Co-education: that is another one undecided. The list is long.

Take another headline from January 26: Students suffer due to official wrangling, MBBS exams from tomorrow. The story here was that “the acquisition of admit cards became a nerve-wracking exercise for the students of government-run medical colleges in the city as they had to remain on their toes till Saturday night while their examinations are only 40 hours away.” Why are we making students suffer all the time. Reminds one of intending Hajis this year who are waiting for their visas and papers. Strange world we are creating.

Friends and foes unaware of Sharifs’ plans

The sudden arrival of PML-N president Mian Shahbaz Sharif in the United States from Saudi Arabia last week opened floodgates of speculations about the purpose of the visit and future plans of the exiled family.

Party leaders having direct access to the Sharifs have come up with conflicting versions. Thus, what actually took the former chief minister to the US will transpire only after some time.

So far, three different reasons have been cited. One is that Mr Sharif needs brain surgery which was not possible in the kingdom. The other is that he has gone for the treatment of post-appendectomy complications. Yet another reason cited for the visit is talks with US authorities on the growing MMA influence in Pakistan, which is being regarded as a matter of serious concern for America.

Shahbaz Sharif has been himself quoted as saying that his treatment was not possible in the kingdom and it was for this reason that he had to fly to the US.

A party spokesman claimed that the former chief minister had no health problem and had flown to the US with a political agenda.

Another important party leader based in Islamabad said it was a mission aimed at “testing waters”. After some time, he said, Shahbaz would return to the kingdom and stay there till the expiry of the agreement term.

An equally important leader, who has been in constant touch with the Sharifs, advised the media to find out which hospital Shahbaz visits during his stay in the US.

A religious party leader, who spoke to Mian Nawaz Sharif a few days back, said he had received no indication that the PML-N president faced any medical problem. “The mission is political in nature and is likely to result in some compromises.”

A leader based in Lahore claimed that Shahbaz Sharif and his family might be returning to Pakistan in a couple of months. He said it was very significant that Shahbaz’s son, Hamza, had started getting active in politics.

The version given by the government was, perhaps, more interesting. The spokesman for the president and the information minister said in separate statements that Shahbaz had been allowed to travel to the US on humanitarian grounds, to enable him to get treatment for his ailment.

However, a contemporary quoted Prime Minister Jamali as saying that he did not know whether the PML leader had gone to the US for “medical or political treatment”.

Still more interesting was the fact that while Information Minister Sheikh Rashid claimed that he had himself seen the exile agreement, the prime minister said he was not aware of any as whatever happened in this regard was done by the previous government.

In a country where access to information has been made so difficult, and where leaders give contradictory comments on and off the record, and where positions are changed so conveniently, where even the prime minister is not aware of the factual position, it is not possible for an ordinary mortal to make head or tail of whatever has been said about the Sharif’s visit.

The moral bankruptcy and degeneracy of our ‘chosen representatives’ was exposed in the Punjab Assembly last week when some of them made indecent remarks in the presence of dozens of their women colleagues. Unfortunately, the treasury benches and the opposition were found trying to outdo each other in passing remarks that were neither witty nor humorous but outright vulgar.

What the education minister said while answering questions about his department established beyond doubt that the bearded young man did not know decent language and was hardly suitable for the portfolio he had been allotted. Someone who has to deal with teachers — the architects of the nation — should be a cultured man, whose character is a model for others.

The PML-N parliamentary party leader, though a competent lawyer, was also second to none. His remarks — after a lady, impatient to express her views on some issue, complained that he had taken the floor for too long — were unbecoming of a man of his stature.

The way the legislators behave in the assembly, their lack of awareness about parliamentary practices, inability of many of them to put across their point of view in a decent manner demand that a training course should be organized for them.

Such an exercise will certainly enable them to do more for their constituents without wasting the precious time and resources, or causing embarrassment to their fellow-legislators.

Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan’s demand that fresh elections should be held under the supervision of an interim government has not received support from any party, not even his allies in the ARD or friends in the MMA.

The senior leader had said at a recent news conference that the general elections and the subsequent by-elections had been rigged on a large scale after which there was need for the electorate to choose their representatives afresh. The MMA remained tight-lipped, knowing well that it would not get as many seats in fresh polls as it had got in the general elections.

The PML-N quietly rejected the octogenarian leader’s demand, saying the Nawabzada was trying to make political parties fight a modern era war with the weapons of the World War One. “Elections under an interim government of national consensus were being demanded before October last year — not now”, said a top leader.

The PPP has also preferred to ignore the senior leader’s views. Having failed to find any supporter, the Nawabzada said at the last week’s APC that his views about fresh elections were ‘personal,’ having nothing to do with the ARD.

Critics say that Nawabzada Nasrullah and Malik Ghulam Mustafa Khar, both from the Muzaffargarh district, are entangled in a serious competition. One is fond of making political alliances and the other contracting new marriages every now and then. Both are groping for their final destinations. While the Nawabzada is yet to form the last alliance of his life, Khar is also reportedly in search of his ‘ideal life partner’ even after more than half a dozen marriages.

Had the fresh demand for elections received support, way would have been paved for a new alliance under the chairmanship of the Nawabzada, throwing a challenge to Khar to turn lights on some new target. — ASHRAF MUMTAZ