| 23 January 2004 | Friday | 30 Ziqa'ad 1424 |
Two missing journalists
Blight of ghost schools
That unilateralism will continue to guide American policy emerges clearly from President George Bush's speech to Congress on Tuesday. With the presidential election only 10 months away, the state of the union message was devoted understandably to domestic issues.
Nevertheless, such references as he made to foreign policy issues show that the victory in Iraq has served to strengthen the Bush administration's belief in the efficacy of unilateralism and that it would stick to its "pre-emption" doctrine. The president specifically defended America's action in going to war against Iraq without UN authorization and declared that, even though weapons of mass destruction had not been found, WMD-related programmes had been detected.
If the US had not attacked Iraq, he said, Saddam Hussein would have been in possession of WMDs sooner or later. For the future, too, he said if such a situation arose again America would not care to obtain "a permission slip" from the world body. Coming from the leader of the world's sole superpower, these are scary words. More important, they run counter to the very principles of the United Nations in whose founding a great American president had a pivotal hand.
The existence of the UN assumes that all its members are equal and sovereign, and that international disputes would be resolved through recourse to negotiations. As for a threat to a state's existence, the UN Charter provides for the right of member-states to collective security.
Throughout the Cold War era, the US played a leading role in setting up a system of collective security to avert what it thought was a threat to the "free world" from the communist bloc. However, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union, all American actions seem to have been characterized by a sense of its own supremacy.
For instance, even before 9/11, America refused to follow the Kyoto protocol, and it virtually abrogated the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with Russia by going in for a national missile shield. The events of 9/11, of course, removed whatever inhibitions America had about acting unilaterally.
While President Bush once again warned Iran, Libya and North Korea on WMDs, he avoided a reference to the Arab-Israeli conflict. It is obvious why he did so. First, Washington knows its position on the WMDs is morally bankrupt because Israel is the only country in the Middle East which possesses WMDs.
Besides, Israel is the only country in the region which is in occupation of lands belonging to other people. This is not the case with what America calls "rogue states" because none of them - Libya, Iran and Korea - has robbed other people of their lands. Second, any mention of the Middle East logically calls for a condemnation of Israel's human rights violations and its genocidal policies against the Palestinians.
Third, such a speech must contain a reaffirmation of America's commitment to the roadmap which Mr Bush himself unveiled last year. The roadmap is being violated by Ariel Sharon, whom Mr Bush calls "my friend." If, therefore, the US president were to refer to what indeed is the world's most important issue, justice would require that he criticize his friend. This he has no intention of doing in this election year. The speech is merely a reaffirmation of the hold which the neo-cons have over America.
Two missing journalists
Two recent cases involving the continuing detention of journalists are a disturbing reminder of how citizens' rights and freedoms are callously disregarded in the country. Reporter and political activist Rasheed Azam has been in custody since August 2003 on charges of sedition after being allegedly found in possession of photographs of army personnel beating up a crowd of young Balochs.
According to the HRCP and Human Rights Watch, Mr Azam has been tortured in detention, and remains in custody after a local court refused bail. The Balochistan High Court has been moved for bail by his professional colleagues but a hearing is yet to be held.
The other case is of Khawar Mehdi Rizvi, activist and a stringer for a foreign publication. Mr Rizvi had taken two French journalists to Quetta and has been held incommunicado since December 16, the day the Frenchmen were arrested by the Federal Investigation Agency on grounds of visa violation. While the foreign journalists have already been charged, tried, sentenced and then allowed to return to France, Mr Rizvi continues to languish in custody. No charge has been framed against him and he has yet to be produced in a court for a remand.
A bench of the Sindh High Court, having a habeas corpus petition regarding the detainee pending before it, has been unable to do anything because it is yet to be ascertained who exactly is holding Mr Rizvi. For their part, both the federal and provincial governments deny any responsibility in Mr Rizvi's detention or any knowledge of his whereabouts. Can there be a more baffling position to adopt where a person's liberty and physical well-being are so critically involved?
The cases of the two missing journalists are proof of the propensity of certain elements within the government to act as if they are completely above the law. Besides, it does not behove senior government functionaries to keep telling high court judges that they have no knowledge of an individual's detention when there is documentary evidence to the contrary. If any crime has been committed, the two men should be charged and given a chance to defend themselves in a court of law. If not, then they should be immediately released.
Blight of ghost schools
News that the Peshawar District Council's monitoring committee has detected over 20 non-functional, or "ghost", schools in the city is cause for concern. More worrisome is the knowledge that this phenomenon is not confined to the NWFP alone. In its report, the council committee has revealed that the ghost schools in Peshawar have been converted into personal quarters as well as cattle pens by influential people.
It is a shame that the substantial funds spent by the provincial government to build these institutions have gone to waste.The government needs to focus on this problem urgently and take preventive and corrective action. As things stand, 13 million children in Pakistan today out of a total of 50 million of school-going age do not go to school. Pakistan's literacy rate is one of the lowest in the region. Part of the problem is the lack of schools, especially in the rural areas.
One may recall the campaign launched by then Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif in 1998 with the help of the army. This unearthed over 4,500 ghost schools in Punjab alone. It was revealed that 40 per cent of the province's teachers go to school once a month only to collect their salaries. While this campaign was successful in identifying the ghost schools and the errant staff, little was done in terms of punitive action.
Aside from identifying the ghost schools all over the country, strict action needs to be taken against those responsible for this irregularity at all levels. The government needs to have the resolve to have usurped school buildings vacated so that classes can be held in them. It should also take measures to ensure that ghost schools do not reappear after the government's campaign ends.