| 07 April 2004 | Wednesday | 16 Safar 1425 |
Curbing student violence
New Gandhara discovery
The situation in Iraq is getting grimmer, and the anti-American wave is touching new heights. The death toll in three days of fighting - 85 killed, including 20 coalition troops, at least 14 of them American - is not the only indicator of the rampant anarchy.
A more powerful element to enter the scene is the Shia factor as seen in the avowedly nationalistic feeling with which Muqtada al-Sadr is being greeted by crowds. On Monday, al-Sadr supporters occupied the governor's office in Basra and clashed with occupation forces in Baghdad and three other cities.
The same day, his supporters clashed with a US patrol in Baghdad. On Tuesday, there were fierce clashes between the coalition forces and both Shias and Sunnis. Now a warrant for al-Sadr's arrest has been issued for the murder of a Shia cleric, and Mr Paul Bremer, America's proconsul, calls him an "outlaw".
The rise in Shia militancy emphasizes two points. One, the Shias who were expected to welcome Anglo-American troops as liberators are increasingly turning against them. Saddam Hussein had persecuted them ruthlessly, but that was Iraq's internal matter.
Since the fall of the Baathist regime, nothing in the Shia behaviour suggests that they look upon the occupying forces as liberators. Two, the "Sunni triangle" is no more the only pocket of resistance; the Shias too have joined the resistance in a big way, and what appears to be developing is a new spirit of resistance that has united all Iraqis against the occupiers.
While declaring al-Sadr an outlaw, Mr Bremer said the Shia leader was trying to establish his authority "in place of the legitimate authority." Who exactly is the legitimate authority in Iraq? Those who at present rule Iraq nominally - the Iraqi Governing Council - have no mandate from the Iraqi people to rule.
The council consists of nominated men and women who are regarded as America's toadies. On June 30, power is to be handed over to a new provisional government, and Mr Bremer will cease to be Iraq's ruler.
Then elections are to be held in December to a transitional national assembly, which will draw up a permanent constitution. This must be done by August 2005, and then it will be put to a vote in October 2005. This date is clearly too far away.
As is evident from what is going on, the vast majority of the Iraqi people are not happy with the power transfer plan. One major cause of dissatisfaction is the absence of a cut-off date for pull-out.
The power transfer plan is silent on this issue, while President George Bush has said that American troops will stay on until the country is "free and peaceful". This makes the Iraqis feel that the occupation is open-ended.
A continuation of the occupation will merely prolong the miseries of the Iraqi people and result in more American casualties. The only way out for the US is to involve the UN with the power transfer plan. Elections held while the country is under occupation will lack credibility.
If the US wants to leave behind a peaceful and democratic Iraq, it must give up unilateralism which has so far characterized its policy. Only an election held under the UN auspices will be considered fair and impartial.
Curbing student violence
Two days of clashes, free use of automatic weapons, bullet injuries to a student, and the resultant arrests of some 19 students at one of Karachi's premier medical institutions are all proof that violence on campuses is assuming serious proportions in Sindh.
Given that the clashes took place between two rival student organizations, including one whose parent political party is in power in Sindh and at the centre, the clashes are also evidence that political parties are not playing their expected role in preventing violence and tension in educational institutions.
This is most disturbing considering that violence on campuses stems largely from the fact that some parties maintain armed student wings as a deliberate policy. The purpose is to keep their rivals at bay or to intimidate them when a situation so requires.
This must stop and that can only happen if the heads of political parties realize the damage such policies are doing to academic life and to peace and public order in the country generally.
Secondly, university administrations must be freed of political influence and interference because that is the only way to guarantee an impartial and assertive role for them in containing elements involved in violence and disruptions and in ensuring that no outsiders come to the aid of quarrelling groups.
Third, the government should consider lifting the continuing ban on student unions (reiterated in the National Assembly a few days ago by the education minister). Unions and some semblance of extra-curricular activity provide much-needed outlets for students to vent their views, feelings and frustrations in a constructive manner, which is what is needed for a peaceful and congenial academic atmosphere at all our academic institutions.
New Gandhara discovery
The discovery near Taxila of a fresco painting done on a stucco panel can prove to be a watershed in the unearthing of the history of the Gandhara civilization. This is the first time that a painting of this nature has been discovered from a Gandhara site, which is generally celebrated for its pre-historic carvings of schist stone reliefs.
Archaeologists estimate the painting to date back to anywhere between the second and the fifth centuries AD. The latter was the time when the White Huns attacked Gandhara, sacked its cities and burnt down its many monasteries and centres of learning.
The painting now unearthed throws an altogether new light on the evolution of the Gandhara art in this region. So far only traces of paint and gold had been found on artefacts and schist reliefs, leading archaeologists to conclude that painting was restricted to the Tantric form of Buddhist religious art practised further east of South Asia.
The Gandhara civilization had spread over a large area comprising present-day Pakistan and Afghanistan - from the environs of Rawalpindi in the south-east to the vales of Swat and Peshawar and extending deep into north-western Afghanistan. Extensive excavations were last carried out in the 1920s under the stewardship of Sirs John Marshall and Mortimer Wheeler.
The only other major excavation undertaken in the post-independence years was in Swat in the late 1960s, when the site of Butkara was unearthed near Saidu Sharif with the help of Italian archaeologists. Still most Gandhara sites are believed to lie buried across the entire region, shortage of funds having stalled more excavations.
Meanwhile, illegal excavations have continued at and around many of the protected sites and artefacts worth millions are believed to be smuggled out of the country every year. The archaeology department has also failed to secure its museums against theft, with stolen items clandestinely being auctioned abroad.
While the matter calls for greater vigilance on the part of the authorities concerned, it also underscores the need to create wider public awareness about invaluable national heritage.
One hopes that the new discovery near Taxila will help revive the international community's interest in Gandhara and steps will be taken to preserve its antiquities.