Momentous decisions

Some aspects of the Saarc summit and its decisions with regard to the setting up of the Safta (South Asia Free Trade Area) have been discussed in an earlier article in this space. There were, however, two other noteworthy agreements.

The finalization of the social charter with its emphasis on poverty alleviation in the region was really a statement of the intent of the member countries to share their experiences in poverty alleviation. Prime Minister Vajpayee gave it a concrete regional cooperation dimension by proposing a regional fund and offering an initial contribution of $100 million which he said could be spent on poverty alleviation projects in all Saarc countries other than India.

No further details on this fund have yet been publicly revealed and one presumes that there will be further discussions on what each country may wish to contribute and what the modality for approving fund-financed projects would be.

The additional protocol on terrorism was essentially designed to ensure support to the regional cooperation to interdict the financing of terrorist activities and drew largely on the resolution the UN had adopted on the subject.

Both these agreements were noteworthy not only because of the forward momentum they created for regional cooperation but because, combined with the Safta agreement they created the positive ambience for the most notable achievement of the Islamabad meeting namely the bilateral agreement between India and Pakistan. This was clearly the high point of the summit meeting.

It seems fairly certain that quite reasonable behind-the-scenes diplomacy had preceded the convening of the summit and the carefully crafted bilateral meetings. Both sides used special emissaries - Brijesh Mishra, Prime minister Vajpayee's adviser on foreign affairs on the Indian side, and Tariq Aziz, the principal secretary to President Musharraf and secretary of the National Security Council, and Lt.Gen. Hamid Jawaid from the president's office on the Pakistan side. While the negotiations by the two sides were said to have been intense, the agreement was finally clinched only when Vajpayee and Musharraf in a brief telephonic conversation endorsed the work their aides had done.

President Musharraf termed the agreement a "historic leap forward" and a victory for all peace-loving people of India and Pakistan as well as the people of Kashmir. Brijesh Mishra, speaking a little earlier, expressed the same sentiment saying: "Don't look at the document for victory of one side or the other. It is a victory for all, a victory of peace and security for the people of South Asia."

Professional diplomats, particularly on the Pakistan side, may cavil and point rightly to gaps that they would have liked filled but the fact is that in the given circumstances it was probably the best result that either side could have hoped for. The Pakistanis got a commitment from India for the resumption of the dialogue and India got, in a bilateral context, a reiteration of a pledge made internationally by President Musharraf not to allow the use of Pakistani controlled territory to "support terrorism in any manner".

It broke the logjam created by the Indian insistence that the resumption of the dialogue would have to wait on the complete cessation of cross-border infiltration and the dismantling of the "structure of terrorism" and the Pakistani insistence, as understood by the Indians, that the resolution of every Indo-Pakistan issue would depend on the resolution of the Kashmir issue.

The joint statement has been subject to considerable analysis particularly the sentence - "The two leaders are confident that the resumption of the composite dialogue will lead to peaceful settlement of all bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, to the satisfaction of both sides". Much has been made by commentators in both countries on the meaning of the phrase "to the satisfaction of both sides" with many expressing the belief that this meant that in arriving at a solution of the Kashmir dispute the wishes of the Kashmiri people would or could be ignored.

Others have suggested that this terminology has, in effect, meant the acceptance of the Indian view that Kashmir is to be settled bilaterally and that Pakistan has closed the door on the possibility of third party intervention to help settle this problem.

One finds it difficult to accept this line of reasoning. A composite dialogue between two parties can only result in an agreement between the two sides because in every such dialogue there is the implication that what is conceded on one issue may be compensated for by a gain on another issue. It would, however, be doing Pakistani negotiators an injustice to suggest that they would not keep the aspirations of the Kashmiri people in mind when the question of their future is to be discussed.

As regards the so-called closure of the option of a third party intervention there is certainly nothing in the joint statement that supports this interpretation. Realistically, however, one must recognize that currently and for the foreseeable future there seems to be little prospect of any third party being willing to offer its services in the face of Indian opposition.

What should be of greater interest in this context is the forthcoming dialogue on January 22 between the Indian government represented by deputy prime minister Advani and the APHC faction led by Maulana Abbas Ansari and including Mir Waiz Omar Farooq.

The Ansari-led faction of the APHC is not regarded as representative of the sentiments of the Kashmiris. It is suggested that Gilani, the leader of the other APHC faction enjoys greater popular support (Gilani's position is that the talks should be tripartite between India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris)

There is talk that before January 22, Ansari will try and meet Gilani and other Kashmiri groups to evolve a consensus for the talks with the Indians. There is little prospect that Gilani will respond positively to the Ansari call for evolving a consensus but the position in the Kashmir Valley being what it is, it is unlikely that Ansari and his group will stray much from the position that Gilani himself would advocate.

This is the context of Maulana Ansari's recent assertion that while they were going ahead with the meeting on January 22, they would insist that in the second phase they should be allowed to visit Pakistan "to take the Kashmiri and militant leadership across the Line of Control into confidence", and that in case permission was refused they would withdraw from the talks.

Some idea of what the Kashmiris hope will be done to satisfy their aspirations will probably be available after this first round of talks has been held.

Doubts on the Kashmir question notwithstanding there has been a great deal of euphoria in both countries about this breakthrough agreement. This is justified. It will ensure that steps to restore and even expand the communications links that existed in December '01 will now move forward. An agreement on augmenting the staff strength of the diplomatic missions has already been announced.

It falls short of the number that existed in Dec '01 but even so there will be some easing of the current problem of handling visa seekers for the increased communication links that are being envisaged. Pakistan has also proposed dates in March for meetings to work out the logistics for bus service on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad and Khokrapar-Munabao routes.

On the more substantive issue of the resumption of the composite dialogue, Foreign ministers Kasuri and Sinha have exchanged telephone calls presumably to discuss and agree upon the level at which the talks will be held sometimes in February.

If past precedent is any guide, the talks should be held at the foreign secretary level on Kashmir and on security issues including the question of nuclear risk reduction and on evolving a regime of restraint in the further development of nuclear and conventional arms. The other subjects - such as Siachen, Sir Creek, Wullar Barrage, facilitating people-to-people contact and trade - could be taken up by the secretaries of the technical ministries concerned.

At this time it is not clear whether the Indians are ready for talks even at this level. More importantly, however, the Indians are now preparing for elections and it is expected that Vajpayee will, after securing adoption of a provisional budget, dissolve the Lok Sabha sometimes in February and request the Indian election commission, which has the final say in the matter, to fix dates in April for national elections. It may well be argued that while talks can be held, no agreements can be finalized by a government which by that time will have a "caretaker" status.

I am not sure if it would be to the advantage of either the future of Indo-Pak relations or even the electoral fortunes of Prime Minister Vajpayee. There is an expectation in both countries that the Islamabad agreement will be built on quickly.

This would be particularly important perhaps in Pakistan where it seems that the government has finally decided to take resolute action to crack down on the extremist elements. The unrest that is bound to come as resistance is offered would be more easily handled if there were positive developments on the Indo-Pakistan front.

The BJP, if statements by party leaders are a good guide, intends to capitalize, in its election campaign, on the breakthrough in relations with Pakistan as much as on the "feel good" factor engendered by the growth in the Indian economy. There would naturally be an added benefit if further progress is made in the Indo-Pakistan dialogue.

Though not formalized, agreements already exist on the demilitarization of Siachen, and the demarcation of the land boundary in the Sir Creek area. These can be dusted off, formally accepted at the level of officials and, if necessary, made conditional on approval by the Indian government that takes office after the elections.

Similarly agreement can be reached on tripartite or quadripartite talks on the gas pipelines from Iran and Turkmenistan traversing Pakistani or Pakistani and Afghan territory to feed the Indian market.

These things can be done and that there are distinct advantages in doing them at this time. So far, however, nothing has been said at the official level to suggest that this is likely to happen. The writer is a former foreign secretary of Pakistan.

When the pickpockets are female

One of the finest of arts, requiring a high degree of manual dexterity, is picking pockets. I have always marvelled at the way pickpockets don't let their victims have an inkling that they are being robbed, and it's only when they put their hand in their pocket to fish out some money that they discover what has happened to them. Then they start shouting that they have been done it. By that time the culprit has melted into the crowd.

For it is only in crowds that you are selected by a pickpocket to practise his trade. No matter which of your pockets you are using to store your money or your wallet (I'm told that wallets are preferred) the pickpockets with almost imperceptible fingers and the speed of lightning, gets at your wealth of the moment. They must be great psychologists not to waste their time and talent on citizens with empty pockets.

Somehow this profession requiring finesse is always associated with men, agile young men. It is only in Pakistani and Indian films that you see a pretty young girl picking a pocket, and that too while singing a beguiling song. Since she is the heroine in these movies, she has to be glorified into the sole earning member of the family with a tubercular mother and a hungry little brother. And she sings when she is wielding her nimble fingers for she has to prove herself attractive to the handsome youth she has robbed.

I don't think the women pickpockets of Rawalpindi sing while they are on duty otherwise the newspapers would have said so and it would have made the whole thing even more romantic. But the reporter of the daily I am talking about lacks romance (he must have been married off by his parents at a very young age) otherwise he wouldn't have treated the subject of female pickpockets with the matter-of-fact manner in which his breed usually write about uncovered manholes and Pindi's crazy traffic.

Yes, female pickpockets, and that too just a few miles from the federal capital. What luck for the foreigner who is looking for excitement in Pakistan and who has been fed on the nonsense that women are backward in this country and can't look after themselves. But these talented women should be prevailed upon to have a branch in Islamabad too.

This comes to us from a delightful story published by a newspaper some time ago. Picking pockets is apparently just a part of the activities of this five-member gang which also extend to shop-lifting and filching money and ornaments from simple-minded housewives on some pretext. The only bit I didn't enjoy in the story was that they are plain-looking girls. How unsporting of the reporter! Had he described them as ravishing beauties I wouldn't have gone out to check but it would have made our day.

The other disappointment in the story is the leader of "the gang of five". Although it was made quite clear that violence of any kind did not fall in the gang's repertoire, one would have liked to imagine the boss as a buxom beauty in jeans, sporting a gun (even if it is a water pistol in reality) and flourishing an unlighted cigarette. How cruel to be told that the girls are led by their grandmother whose only qualification for the job is that she has excellent relations with the local police.

A police source told the reporter, on the usual condition of anonymity, that when any of the girls is caught in the act and gets into serious trouble the grandmother, or rather the female Godfather, immediately engages one of the "special lawyers" at her disposal to get her released on bail or whatever. I bet all these special lawyers must be bachelors and must love their job. Has the grandmother also made Dickens' Oliver Twist (in Urdu) compulsory reading for her charges to teach them how pickpocketing was done in London 150 years ago? Possibly.

The newspaper story gave some other details too about the working of the Gang of Five. For instance, it told us of the areas where these girls are usually to be found. So if anyone of my readers in the twin cities is keen for an encounter with any of them, he can go into the streets of Ganjmandi, Thana Warris Khan, New Town, Banni and Sadiqabad with a fat purse obtrusively showing in one pocket.

If he is careful about money he can fill it up with waste paper. Unfortunately the time of night or day when these girls stalk the streets is not indicated. He might have to wait for hours for his turn, but I'm sure the experience will be worth the trouble.

The story also threw light on the modus operandi of these girls when they are engaged in activities other than picking pockets. It tells you that while the girls are young they are not unmarried and unprotected, for their husbands keep loitering around the scene of action and whisk them away in a taxi if there is trouble brewing. So don't get carried away by the idea that you may be able to lure one of them from the above localities.

An intriguing part of the story relates to the role of the guardians of law and order in all this. The Pindi police is fully aware of the gang, for it is from one of its officials that the reporter secured his information. It also knows that Godmother is named Bhag Bhari - the lucky one - and it is sure to be acquainted with the names of the girls too and of their husbands. But apparently it is helpless to do anything about them, probably on the old excuse that there is no evidence.

I would like to believe otherwise. The police can grab them any day, if not for picking pockets then for terrorism which is the favourite ploy of the police whenever it wants someone badly for boosting its record. I would like to believe that, in the opinion of the police, Godmother and her enterprising grand- daughters lend a kind of fairy-tale aura to their home town. After all, the girls are not going about hurting people, and no one becomes poor merely through losing a wallet. So why take them in? If my hunch is correct, the police of Rawalpindi is not as bad as the force is generally painted all over the country by everyone, including the press.

What women MPs can do

The controversy surrounding the Legal Framework Order, the elections of October 2002 and the recent accord between the government and the MMA notwithstanding, one positive feature has emerged under the present political dispensation. This is the induction of women on a relatively large scale in the assemblies and thus, by implication, their enhanced role in politics.

By increasing the number of reserved seats for women the Musharraf regime has enabled more women than ever before, to enter the legislative bodies. Today Pakistan has the good fortune of having 205 women MNAs, MPAs and Senators. This is a big jump from a handful who reached the assembly chambers a few years ago.

True, the female presence has so far made very little impact on the functioning of the legislatures which have failed to conduct much business in their brief existence of a little over a year. Although the National Assembly managed to meet on 131 days and introduced 20 bills/ordinances, it could undertake no significant legislative work. It passed only two bills, one being the federal budget. Perhaps the most meaningful performance of the House was the concerted efforts the members made to ask questions during the Question Hour. As many as 1932 questions were put up and answered.

Now that matters seem to be settling down, one can presume that the assemblies will pay greater attention to their key function, namely, law making. The ruling party has already announced that when the Assembly meets, a bill will be introduced to repeal the anti-woman laws on the country's statute books. With many NGOs working hard to create awareness among women about the various issues of direct concern to them and workshops being conducted to train the parliamentarians in their jobs, one expects the women members to show greater interest and expertise in legislative work. Last week, they proceeded to introduce a bill on honour killing which was long over-due.

The general belief is that the female MPs should be concerned about gender issues and concentrate on them since their role is that of the custodians of women's rights. As watchdogs they should be monitoring the performance of the government in respect of the status of women.

This is a paradoxical assumption. On the one hand, if women were not to act to safeguard their own rights, who else would do it for them in our male dominated society? If they wish to improve their status, they will have to display greater self-reliance and assert themselves.But on the other hand, it makes little sense that women should be segregated in political life and restricted to playing the role of a lawmaker for women only. In Pakistan, the conservative and traditional elements have always resisted the induction of women into the mainstream.

It is against this propensity that women legislators must take a stand while striving to get fully involved in the law making process. They should work to get laws enacted to safeguard women's rights and promote their emancipation and empowerment. On these issues they must join hands across party lines. Although it cannot be denied that the female perspective on a number of issues tends to be different from that of a man's, it doesn't mean that women cannot participate fully in the task of governance.

It is also important that the women legislators who are inherently deeply involved in social issues should address them more keenly. They can act as a pressure group to compel the government to pay attention to matters relating to health care, education, housing and nutrition.

Being the key care-givers in family and the ones who primarily nurture and rear children and provide succour to the elderly, women are more sensitized and can appreciate the issues better. They can become the voice of the nation's conscience and force the government to formulate policies to promote the welfare of the people and channel more funds into human development projects.

There are a number of issues which remain neglected since the policymakers have not considered them worthy of serious consideration. It would be pertinent to mention two of them. The first is a library law. Educationists and librarians in the country have been crying themselves hoarse demanding legislation which would regulate the library system in the country. In the absence of an adequate number of libraries and reading rooms, Pakistan is in no position to make books easily accessible to the common man.

In this situation, it has been left to the heads of educational institutions and some public spirited persons to provide libraries for the people. The countries like India ensure a good stock of reading material to the people by enacting legislation which makes it mandatory for the government to allocate a certain percentage of its budget to the libraries. Besides, it creates an authority to oversee the administration of the libraries.

The library situation in the country can be improved by passing a library law. It is heartening to note that the women MPs have begun to show interest in this project and a People's Party member of the National Assembly, Sherry Rahman, along with others is working on the draft of a library bill.

Another issue crying out for attention is the cadaveric organ donation law which was introduced in the Senate in 1994 and has been lying there gathering dust ever since. With 5,000 people dying every year because of the non-availability of vital human organs.

It is a pity that this law has still not been passed. Since the medical and surgical expertise has been developed in the country - last month the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation (SIUT) successfully performed a liver transplant on a six month-old-baby - it is inexplicable why the law makers have been so indifferent towards this law. One only hopes that the women who now sit in the National Assembly will take up these bills.