Crucial tasks ahead

A DATE for reviving the bus link between Lahore and New Delhi had been decided at the official level several days ago, but the actual inauguration of the service on Friday nevertheless made news throughout the world. It also led to heart-warming exchanges between passengers from either side. That this was so is an indication of how even small steps are seen as giant leaps towards mending the troubled Indo-Pakistan relationship. For 18 months, travel ties were frozen between the two countries, and rail and air travel still remains suspended. There was a trickle of people coming and going, but these were the lucky ones who had connections to get visas, and money to take circuitous routes via third countries. It should be hoped that rail and air services will also be restored soon, and these too will have meaning only if the visa regime is also suitably liberalized.

Moreover, the communication gap between Pakistan and India is far bigger than the one in travel facilities. There is a gulf of mistrust and suspicion that continues to widen. We have bickered and we have fought. We have fundamental and thorny issues that need to be resolved. The road we have to travel is far longer than the distance between Lahore and Delhi that can be covered in a day’s journey. There are issues of principle such as Kashmir and problems like trade and business ties that have over the years become encrusted with rigidities of approach. There is a lamentable lack of rational dialogue. To put this or at least some of it right calls for a far greater input of honesty and courage than was required for the resumption of bus services. It is not necessary for the two countries to jump straight into summit negotiations: a little plodding diplomacy should stand both in far better stead. For this to make headway, we need at the very minimum a moratorium on press statements and public speeches by leaders in the two countries. Hardly a day passes without some minister or high official in India or in Pakistan or obstreperous foreign office spokesmen reiterating already known positions. Newspapers duly print the statements, and the verbal war gains a self-sustaining force and momentum of its own. In the case of some politicians, anti-Pakistan or anti-India rhetoric appears to be the easiest way to grab newspaper space. So, a little quiet on that front should be helpful.

It has to be realized on both sides that we are living in particularly dangerous and disturbing times. The “war on terror” in Afghanistan and the occupation of Iraq have led to unprecedented turmoil in the region, unleashing new forces when it is not at all clear whether the old ones meant to be curbed have disappeared. United States troops are now deployed in the area, and the militant trends that a prolonged American presence will encourage will surely add to the challenges facing the region’s countries. If the US seeks to expand its influence to Iran and Syria, there will be further turmoil and a further increase in extremism. This will shrink the already limited space available for those who believe in peace and tolerance. There is enough room available to start a comprehensive dialogue that recognizes the new environment in the region and premises itself on the belief that the countries of South Asia will have no one else to blame if they do not make an earnest effort to establish peace and cooperation amongst themselves.

The French example

FRENCH Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin hit the nail on the head when he said the other day that his country would not send troops to Iraq unless the United Nations Security Council specifically authorized the formation of an international peace force for that country. He also said that France preferred to see Iraq’s transitional administration placed under the UN. This is a correct position to take and it should serve as a guide to those countries which have been requested to commit troops to Iraq under American command. The dangers in acceding to such a request are obvious: Iraqis will see the troops from a third country stationed on their soil as America’s stooges and target them.

It is time Washington realized the need to shun its unilateralist approach which has so far characterized its handling of the Iraq crisis. It seems the neo-cons are waking up to the dangers of America going it alone in Iraq. There is now a realization in Washington that it needs international backing for its conduct of affairs in that country but it does not want to get this help as part of a wider UN involvement in the affairs of post-war Iraq.

The shortsightedness of this approach is clear for all to see, as it will not serve even America’s interests in the longer term, let alone those of the Iraqis. It is time the world community told Washington in clear terms as the French have done that if it wants any credible international peacekeeping and management mechanism in Iraq, the place to seek it from is the UN Security Council.

Not by law alone

THE Law and Justice Commission is preparing a new law to curb ostentatious display of wealth at weddings. According to the details so far reported, the spirit and intent behind the proposed Marriage Expenses, Dowry and Bridal Gifts (Restriction) Act 2003 are good, but many of its provisions are too idealistic and impractical to be enforced. For instance, the provision relating to expenses incurred on wedding receptions, which the new law proposes to limit at Rs 50,000 for a three-day ceremony. This is too low a ceiling because many wedding halls charge a higher amount in rent and for the services rendered for a three-day wedding ceremony excluding any refreshment. The new law also proposes to ban the serving of meals at weddings and to impose a fine of Rs 100,000-300,000 on violators. The enforcement of a similar ban in the past has, at best, remained wholly ineffective as the influential people either found a way around it or flouted it. It was for this reason that when the ban was challenged in a high court, it was scrapped. The government then allowed a one-dish meal at weddings.

One other aspect of the proposed law is that it requires the families of the bride and the groom to submit accounts of expenditure along with receipts and lists of all gifts received at the wedding. Everyone in Pakistan knows what that means: at the end of the day it would simply boil down to bribing the officials concerned and getting one’s way. Ostentatious display of wealth is a social problem and cannot be checked by law alone. The government needs to educate the people by raising awareness of the ills of ostentation. Counseling, and not threats of fines or imprisonment, is what may persuade people not to flaunt their wealth. This can be achieved by running awareness raising campaigns in the mass media, and by conducting consciousness raising workshops involving local communities at the union council level.