| February 15, 2003 | Saturday | Zul Hijjah 13, 1423 |
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Resettling: human dimensions
Motorbikes for postmen
THANKS to American cockiness, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization is today going through its most serious crisis since its founding in 1949. Europe has been split down the middle, for it is not Nato alone that is a house divided against itself; the European Union is meeting informally in a summit conference on Monday to take up the Iraqi issue. Since many Nato members are also EU members, the split has divided the entire continent. Further to the east, Russia and China are equally opposed to a military solution to the Iraqi crisis. So are all regional states. That leaves the US virtually friendless — with the sole exception of Britain, where, too, opposition to the Blair government’s blind support to the Bush administration is growing. Half a million men are now set to stage a peace march in London. Opposition to Anglo-American jingoism in Europe has been growing since last October when Iraq scuttled the pretext for war by agreeing to let the arms inspectors in. The case for war was further weakened when Hans Blix, the chief arms inspector, reported that his team had found no “smoking gun” in Iraq. Yet Washington continued to insist that Baghdad still possessed weapons of mass destruction and went ahead with its feverish war build-up. Now things in Nato have come to a head over military support to Turkey.
The US wants a variety of military items, including Patriot missiles and anti-biological warfare kits, to be sent to Turkey. France, Germany and Belgium have said no to such a move, because they think this will amount to abandoning diplomatic efforts to defuse the crisis. The shouting bout between US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer at the Munich security conference last week testified to the bitterness that had developed within the Atlantic alliance over the question of military action against Iraq. Essentially, this split stems from America’s refusal to accept the truth coming from none other than the UN inspectors who have been sent to Iraq with enhanced powers under Resolution 1441. The inspectors have reported twice to the UN that there was no evidence that Baghdad possessed WMDs. Disregarding this, US Secretary of State Colin Powell gave to the Security Council America’s own evidence about WMDs. However, the world, including America’s Nato allies, have remained unconvinced.
France and Germany now want the inspectors to be given more time. In this they have Russian and Chinese backing. UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has also emphasized the need for exhausting all diplomatic options before one could think of military action. The anti-war movement, too, is gaining momentum. The latest is that Nelson Mandela would be asked to join the “human shield” in Iraq. However, in its present mood, Washington seems hell-bent to pursue a unilateralist course of action. It is also exhibiting open contempt for both the UN and its Nato allies. America has often chided its European allies for being militarily impotent and being dependent on the US for security. However, in the post-cold war scenario, with the “communist threat” having disappeared, “old Europe” has no reason to kowtow to the US. Europe is asserting itself, and an increasingly widening circle of statesmen and policymakers sees oil as the principal motive behind America’s go-it-alone policy. Disarming Iraq is only an excuse. That in this “oil grab” policy thousands of civilians may be killed seems to matter little to the energy industry men and women who now run the White House.
THE authorities are finally paying attention to the problems of the people evicted to make way for the Lyari Expressway megaproject in Karachi. Some 4,000 families were shifted from the densely populated route of the expressway following the demolition of their homes and provided with alternative plots located in a remote and undeveloped area near Hawkesbay. The evicted families suddenly found themselves moved from bustling inner city areas to a wilderness with no water, transport, gas, electricity, schools, hospitals or places of worship. Following an outcry amongst the displaced families, the authorities began the task of developing infrastructure in the area, claiming that the Hawkesbay township will soon emerge as a model settlement. A sum of 300 million rupees has been set aside for the development of the area. The project director recently visited the new township and assured residents that the area would soon have all the facilities and that community participation would be the motor for its rapid development.
The Lyari Expressway project has had a troubled history. According to NGOs, some 200,000 persons living along its 16.5 kilometres path would be displaced and some 36,000 commercial enterprises would also be demolished to make way for the expressway. The first phase of demolitions began in the middle of last year amid strong protests. Many of those whose homes were demolished claimed they had lived in the area for decades and had legal rights to their property. There were also allegations that the compensation being paid was paltry and much of it was being provided to undeserving people. So far, some 40,000 families have been evicted with many more waiting for their turn. It is in this context that the recent moves to develop Hawkesbay must be seen. While the new urgency to provide infrastructure to the township is laudable, the work there must be sustained and not aimed at whitewashing the issue in order to pave the way for further evictions. The outstanding problems of those still not compensated must also be addressed immediately. While development projects invariably cause disruption and suffering, the government must try to ensure a minimum number of evictions in future because of their high costs in both financial and human terms.
THE news that the International Postal Union will be handing over 160 motorcycles to the Pakistan Postal Service, which will be given to postmen to deliver mail, is welcome. Currently most postmen employed by the PPS do not even own a bicycle, and those who do are only given a Rs 60 per month allowance to maintain it. This is in spite of the fact that every postman, according to the PPS terms of employment, is required to cover a minimum distance of seven miles on a daily basis in order to deliver mail and discharge his other duties. Postmen are not known to draw a good salary as part of remuneration for their services, and this partly accounts for the lack of interest on the part of the postmen when it comes to discharging their duties. Little wonder, then, that the PPS fails to deliver letters and parcels on time.
The latest scandal in the PPS has been associated with the non-delivery of the new computerized identity cards issued by the National Database and Registration Authority. The service’s high-ranking officials make no bones about the fact that the PPS is sitting on bag-loads of the said ID cards but has no additional means at its disposal to deliver them door to door. Hopefully, now with the promised availability of 160 motorcycles coming its way, the PPS will start delivering these and regular mail and parcels on time and in an efficient manner.