| 22 August 2004 | Sunday | 05 Rajab 1425 |
Reviving the KCR
The youngest Olympian
MS Condoleezza Rice's observation that the US should try to improve its image in the Muslim world could not be more timely. Speaking at the US Institute for Peace in Washington, America's National Security Adviser said the US government and the American nation should do more to better organize their public diplomacy vis-a-vis the Muslim world. Coming from an important member of the Bush administration, her words seem to indicate a realization in Washington that its policy towards the Muslim world was flawed.
As a former university professor, she referred to the impact Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty had on the cold war and said the universities were then training their best minds for understanding East European cultures. In contrast, the American government and society today were not fully informed of Muslim societies and cultures.
While it is true that America needs to improve its understanding of Muslim cultures, what it needs first is to grasp some fundamental truths about its policy towards the Muslim world. For instance, it needs no great scholarship to realize the blatant hostility that characterizes American policy towards the Arabs. Basically, this policy flows from the closed mind which America has on the Arab-Israeli conflict.
No matter what Israel does - massacres, assassinations, destruction of Palestinian homes and orchards, violations of UN resolutions - Tel Aviv knows it can count on the US support. This support includes both diplomatic help and a copious supply of military hardware.
The US support to Israel does not remain confined to the Palestinian issue; its policy towards other Arab states is evolved and implemented by Israel's neocon agents in the Pentagon and the State Department. After the first Iraq war, the US-led sanctions led to the death of half a million Iraqi children - more than those killed in Hiroshima.
Asked whether the price of the sanctions in terms of death and human suffering was worth it, the then US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright replied "We think the price is worth it". As for the second Iraq war, the truth has come out openly that Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction, and the war was launched mainly to punish Saddam Hussein for his defiance of America.
Currently Syria, too, is getting America's attention, for every now and then one hears of Damascus being warned of consequences if it proceeded with its WMD programme.
The same hostility and use of force are seen in the case of non-Arab countries like Iran and Afghanistan. Iran is part of President Bush's axis of evil, and there is every possibility that Israel will bomb Iran's nuclear facility when the US gives the go-ahead. In its non-proliferation zeal, America forgets that Israel is the Middle East's only proven nuclear power. As for Afghanistan, US military operations seem to show no signs of coming to an end.
The Taliban and the terrorists who attacked the US on Sept 11, 2001, have few supporters in the Muslim world. In fact, Muslim countries like Pakistan, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Turkey have been victims of Al Qaeda's terrorism, but to America all Muslims seem tarred with the same brush. This is reflected in the humiliation to which all Muslims are subjected at American airports. While Ms Rice is no doubt right that American policy-makers should develop a greater understanding of Muslim cultures, it would be in the fitness of things if Washington first corrected the fundamentals of its flawed policy towards the Arab and Muslim countries.
Reviving the KCR
President Pervez Musharraf has ordered the revival of the Karachi Circular Railway for the second time in two years. Between then and now millions have been spent on getting feasibility reports prepared, some of them through foreign consultants, but no progress has been made since then. Last year, the city government had the Chinese experts come in to examine the KCR tracks, and it was announced with much fanfare that the transit system would be operational again in four years' time after some necessary realignment and modernization of its network.
The plan was stalled because of a dispute between Pakistan Railways and the city government over the ownership of the KCR's assets. The PR does not want to have anything to do with the running and management of the system, but if the project is revived, it insists on commercializing the land along the KCR tracks and around its stations. The train's shutdown five years ago was due to the PR's lack of interest in the system. The latter spent another three years refusing to revive it on one pretext or another.
If the past is anything to go by, hopes for the revival of the KCR are as forlorn as ever. The city government has neither the will nor the resources to contest the PR's claim on the KCR infrastructure. If the president is serious about its revival he will have to tell the legal owner of the project to do so, which is the PR. The railway being a national carrier has more resources at its disposal in addition to the sizable financial assistance it receives from the federal government to stay afloat.
The funds needed to revive the KCR will have to come from the federal government in any case as neither the city nor the provincial government has allocated any money for the purpose in their current year's budgets. The PR should be told that if wants to keep the KCR's assets, it will also have to get the system operating again.
The youngest Olympian
Rubab Raza might be just 13 years old and though she failed to go beyond the first round of her 50 metres freestyle event, she has made the country proud. Ms Raza is the youngest ever Pakistani to have competed at the Olympics and is also the first female to compete in swimming. Since Pakistan is not exactly known for its swimming prowess, it was not really expected that any medals would be won.
Even so, she managed to come fifth, in a group of eight, indicating that in the future she will be a good swimming prospect for the country. Her appearance at the games is also a good thing in itself because her participation has meant that Pakistan is one of a handful of Muslim countries to have had female swimmers compete at the international level.
The significance should not be lost, considering the conservative winds blowing in some parts of Pakistan, discouraging participation in sports, especially by women. The NWFP government has gone to the extent of passing a rule prohibiting male coaches from training female athletes. Given that most coaches in Pakistan are male, this absurd rule has had a discouraging effect on women wanting to take to a competitive sport requiring coaching.
However, in Sindh and Punjab, some private schools and colleges have a nascent but growing competitive environment in swimming with inter-provincial meets being organized from time to time. Ms Raza is a product of this - proof that talent is abundant in the country beyond male-dominated sports like cricket, squash or hockey.
Her performance at the Olympics is encouraging in the sense that competitive swimming in Pakistan has little in terms of facilities and coaching. At the age of 13 she is already a good role-model for other women, especially those interested in competitive sports.