Logic of compromise

PERHAPS for the first time Mr L.K. Advani has displayed a remarkable degree of realism and objectivity on the question of a settlement of the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan. In an interview with The Guardian, London, India’s deputy prime minister emphsized the need for a compromise to resolve the long-standing conflict. Elaborating, he said that if the disagreement on an issue was so sharp as between Pakistan and India on Kashmir and if a solution was to be found, “it can only be in the form of some compromise in which both sides have to give and take in relation to their present positions.” If Mr Advani, who is otherwise known for his hard-line stance vis-a-vis Pakistan, means what he says and sticks to it, one can reasonably feel hopeful about the prospects of the on-going efforts for peace and normalization between India and Pakistan.

The Advani statement has come in the wake of some very hopeful developments in South Asia. The ball was, of course, set rolling by the Indian prime minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee, in his April 18 speech in Srinagar when he offered talks to Pakistan on Kashmir and other differences and disputes without any preconditions. Even though he sometimes returned to the familiar “cross-border terrorism” charge against Pakistan, there has, on the whole, been some progress towards normalization. The process is no doubt slow, but progress is there all the same. The two sides have decided to restore diplomatic relations to the pre-December 2001 level, high commissioners have been named, travel links are likely to be restored soon, and parliamentarians from both sides have exchanged visits. By subcontinental standards these are promising signs. One hopes that movement in this direction will continue unimpeded, and the much-awaited dialogue between the two countries at some level will finally start and try hard to come to grips with all differences, including Kashmir, afflicting their relations.

While airing these sentiments, one wonders why must the leaders on both sides continue to indulge in a slanging match and often talk in acrimonious and belligerent tones? This only creates misgivings and spoils the atmosphere for normalization. Recently, President Pervez Musharraf and Mr Vajpayee have said things that they had better avoided, knowing the political and psychological sensitivities on both sides. The president’s reference to Kargil was as unnecessary as was the Indian prime minister’s talk of a fourth war. One simply fails to see the point or wisdom of such fulminations at this critical time when the moves for a reconciliation between India and Pakistan are still at a tentative stage. One also fails to understand the motive behind New Delhi’s decision to block the move for Islamabad’s entry into the Asean Regional Forum. As it is, like the so many large and unwieldy regional groupings that have come into being, the ARF too is little better than a debating forum. Sooner or later, Pakistan will be admitted to it, given the fact that there is no other ARF country that would object to Pakistan’s membership. It is these little pinpricks and provocations that serve no purpose except vitiating the atmosphere and delaying the process of normalization.

Sufferings under occupation

TEN weeks after the overthrow of the Saddam regime, Iraqi babies are still dying of hunger, and because of a shortage of medicines, Iraqi cities are still without reliable water and power supply and nearly a million households without a means of livelihood. Those that do have a job have not been paid their salaries since February/March. Iraq’s largest and once best-equipped hospital — Baghdad’s 400-bed Al Kindi Hospital — has been without oxygen and life-saving drugs for five years. One need only to look through the curtain of the American propaganda to see the real picture: ‘liberated’ Iraq is occupied Iraq by two of the world’s richest nations, which are doing all they can to hide the truth. The situation for the hapless Iraqi people is no different now from what it was under Saddam Hussein. The only difference is that under the dictatorial Baathist regime, independent media and international aid workers were able to report the misery of the Iraqi people which they cannot do anymore under Paul Bremer’s administration.

The situation in smaller Iraqi cities is even worse. But the only time one hears from inside Iraq, it is usually about the safety or otherwise of the occupation forces. The attacks on US marines in recent days have only been the result of the frustration ordinary Iraqis feel about their ordeal under occupation. These attacks are least likely to have been carried out by the remnants of the Baathist regime, as Washington would like the world to believe, nor is there any organized resistance against the occupation forces just yet. But if the situation, with regard to lack of basic amenities and widespread unemployment, does not improve soon, the likelihood of the latter taking shape is very real. The slow pace of improvement in these critical areas cannot be justified. It is all the more incomprehensible after the lifting of UN-imposed sanctions on the sale of Iraqi oil. Washington and London would do well to open up Iraq to the UN and other aid agencies so that the promised rehabilitation and reconstruction process can start at the earliest.

Consumer rights

MANUFACTURERS and producers of various commodities in Pakistan, more often than not, take consumers of their products for a ride. As a recent seminar on the issue of consumer rights pointed out, the country is desperately in need of legislation on the matter. In fact, what to speak of new laws even the existing ones, especially those relating to adulteration or weights and measures are openly flouted all across the country. There is hardly any commodity or food item that the average Pakistani consumer will find conforming to the required standards and specifications. Products made even by reputable firms and well-known brands, after laboratory analysis and testing of their content, have been found to be substandard.

Adulterated food products are the potential cause of various illnesses and ailments and pose a serious health hazard to consumers. While the affluent at least have a choice of buying the costlier imported varieties, millions of the poor and the underprivileged have perforce to buy and consume adulterated food and in the process suffer all kinds of illnesses. The problem calls for the urgent attention of not only the government and policymakers but also of non-governmental organizations and rights groups. Awareness campaigns can also create pressure for updating the existing food laws and framing new ones where necessary. But a more important need is proper enforcement of the pure food laws. At present, only a handful of consumer rights groups exists and these too are concentrated in Karachi or Islamabad. They must expand their operations to other parts of the country. A mechanism should be put in place to periodically carry out random checks of the products being made and marketed to ensure that they are in line with the publicized claims of the manufacturers and to take action against the violators.