| 08 April 2004 | Thursday | 17 Safar 1425 |
Another karo-kari case
Vanishing trees in Swat
Mr Zalmay Khalilzad must now feel duly chastened. President George Bush's adviser on Afghanistan was either irresponsible or perhaps did not know his boss's Afghan policy. He retracted his Monday's statement within hours of Pakistan's response to his arrogant claim that US forces could cross into Pakistan in pursuit of the Taliban.
On Tuesday, the Pakistan Foreign Office spokesman called Mr Khalilzad's statement "unwarranted and uncalled for" and correctly observed that President Bush's adviser was unaware of the position of his own government.
Mr Khalilzad then corrected himself and explained that he was merely suggesting "alternative ways" of destroying the militants' hideouts in the tribal belt. Otherwise, he said, Pakistan was "a significant country" and was quite capable of doing the job itself.
Ever since 9/11, when Pakistan became America's "front-line" ally in the war on terror, Islamabad has been doing all it can to curb terrorism within its borders. This it is doing because the elimination of terrorism is in its own interest.
In fact, even before 9/11, Islamabad had cooperated with Washington against international terrorism. Prominent among the militants whom Pakistan handed over to the US during the Clinton administration were Aimal Kansi and Yusuf Ramzi.
After 9/11, obviously, the level of Pakistan's cooperation with the world community in dealing with terror has increased, and there is a convergence of Pakistani and American interests on this.
However, some sections in the American administration and media give an impression as if Pakistan can be taken for granted on this score. This is absurd. As a sovereign state Pakistan is expected to take all measures to wipe out terrorism, but no government can afford to do this in a way that compromises the country's national interests.
Like sections of the American media, Mr Khalilzad, too, alleged that Taliban militants were entering Afghanistan from Pakistan. What he forgets is that terrorists cross the border into this country too.
One obvious reason for this is that the Karzai administration and foreign troops in Afghanistan have not had much success in the campaign against the Taliban. Americans mostly rely on air power, while the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force remains confined to Kabul and Kunduz.
This leaves virtually the entire countryside in the hands of the Taliban or brigands, who kill and plunder at will. The Afghan national army has not yet gained the strength or professional skills necessary for operations against Al Qaeda while the powerful warlords are not under the control of the Karzai government.
This makes a well-coordinated thrust against religious extremists a difficult task. Instead of blaming Pakistan for their failure to crush Al Qaeda, the US authorities would do well to upgrade their performance in Afghanistan.
Mr Khalilzad is part of the Bush administration's energy group. He has held important positions in the State Department and the Pentagon and was a member of the National Security Council. He was also the brains behind the evolution of American policy in the Gulf region.
This way he is one of the Bush administration's whiz-kids. Mr Khalilzad does not seem to possess the same insight into the intricacies of the war on terror as he does about the energy business. Given the difficult terrain and the fact that the Taliban have been active now for nearly a decade, the war on Al Qaeda and the Taliban will take time to bear fruit.
Another karo-kari case
The Sindh population welfare minister's statement on the floor of the provincial assembly on Tuesday that the government would soon be introducing a bill against the practice of karo-kari is reassuring.
Such a legislation will obviously be intended to curb this brutal practice and give some sense of security to women in the province. The most recent victim has been Rozina Ujjan, a school teacher from Gambat, who fled to Karachi after being declared a kari by a tribal jirga.
Ujjan's case proves that despite all the denials made a few months back in the Shaista Almani case, jirgas continue to hand out death sentences against women who they consider to have violated their concept of honour.
In this particular case, the jirga first declared Ujjan innocent but on pressure from her husband, went back on its earlier decision and declared her guilty. So arbitrary and pliable is jirga justice that it hardly needs evidence to pronounce a person guilty.
Despite this, the system continues to exist, particularly in the rural areas, while the district administrations look the other way. Instead of waiting to be killed by her in-laws, Ujjan fled to Karachi where she took refuge with a member of the provincial assembly.
The most encouraging aspect of this episode is that women MPAs from both sides of the house have lent support to the unfortunate woman. It is now for the government to take note and initiate action against those responsible.
It may be noted that honour killings in Pakistan registered an increase last year. In 2002, there were 290 such instances all over Pakistan. The following year this figure exceeded 300 by September.
The main reason is the indifferent attitude of the administration to prosecute the perpetrators of this crime for murder. This is precisely what the proposed law or karo-kari should provide for.
Vanishing trees in Swat
The NWFP is fast losing its forest cover. Quite regrettably the government of the province is sleeping over the matter. According to a report, the forest cover in Malakand division has rapidly shrunk in recent years despite an official ban on the cutting of trees and the transportation of timber between districts.
The timber mafia, which seems to be operating with impunity, is not the least affected by the prohibition. The provincial government needs to deal with this problem before the NWFP loses more of its forest resources and before much of Swat begins to resemble the denuded Murree Hills.
The forest department's guards and wardens should be given better resources and equipment to deal with the timber mafia. The local police should be asked to patrol the routes taken by the illegal loggers, and this should include checking not only on all inter-district roads but also some kind of monitoring of the Swat river, which is used as a major route of transport by the timber mafia.
The government should realize that besides being of great aesthetic value, the trees of the NWFP are an important natural resource and play a key role in the region's ecology, providing habitat for animals and firewood for the local population.
The timber mafia's continued success in robbing the Frontier of its precious forest cover could not have been possible without the connivance and perhaps patronage of influential people in the government and politics.
Hence, any move to put a stop to illegal logging in the province will not succeed unless the government goes after those officials who provide protection and patronage to the timber mafia.