| 07 January 2005 | Friday | 25 Ziqa'ad 1425 |
Another black law
Saving the children
Islamabad's proposal to a visiting Iranian delegation that the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline can be pursued as a bilateral project if India is not willing to join it at this stage speaks of a pragmatic approach.
If the step is taken, this multi-billion dollar project can finally be extended to India if and when that country in ready to join it. Till now, tensions and misgivings between India and Pakistan have dimmed the wider prospects of the project despite the great economic benefits it promises to both.
One hopes that the commencement of the project will prompt both India and Pakistan to take a fresh look at their mutual relationship so that they are able to settle issues that have come in the way of an Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline project.
Much of India's concern on the score relates to the security of the pipeline and the guarantee that gas supply will not be disrupted even if India-Pakistan relations sour in the future. Keeping in mind past experiences, this is a genuine worry and needs to be addressed by Iran as well as Pakistan.
There are suggestions that India is deliberately avoiding the project as it already has an adequate supply of natural gas in the form of LNG and will only join after extracting concessions from Pakistan. If this is the case, then it makes good sense for Iran and Pakistan to keep the project bilateral in the first phase.
The project promises great potential for the three countries involved. For Iran, which has been under American economic sanctions in one form or another since 1979, the export of gas is a valuable source of income which it needs for its development.
For Pakistan, the import of natural gas through this project which is expected to be operational by the end of the decade will coincide with the drop in domestic gas production.
Studies suggest that Pakistan's gas shortfall will start from 400 million cubic feet per day (mcfgd) in 2010 and will rise to four billion cubic feet per day (bcfgd) by 2025, as the economy grows at the rate of over seven per cent annually. For India, this will mean a cheaper alternative to its expensive fuel imports to run industries in Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat states.
With limitless possibilities, the idea of cooperating in supply and availability of energy resources should be taken up on a priority basis. Discussions on fostering regional connectivity in the field of energy and the establishment of a ministerial forum on energy have been held in addition to proposals for setting up a Saarc energy centre.
However, these well-intentioned proposals need to be followed up with some tangible developments marking a shift from word to action. In the past years, Saarc has been able to pursue its agenda of promoting regional economic cooperation, with countries now looking towards the establishment of the South Asia Free Trade Agreement and possibly a single currency for the region in years to come.
With the economic agenda of Saarc countries gaining importance, the idea of setting up an energy grid in the region is very encouraging. In this regard, the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project would be an out-standing example of regional cooperation.
Another black law
A US appeals court on Tuesday allowed immigration authorities to go ahead with deportation proceedings against a former Haitian national who was convicted after he had been naturalized as an American citizen.
The new law which was signed by President George Bush last month, allowing immigration authorities to deport a naturalized citizen, will be seen by many as yet another sign of xenophobia gripping the Bush administration.
Tuesday's court ruling, thus, seems to have cleared the way for many more planned deportations of those convicted of a crime by an American court. Rights groups fear that Muslims, given the post-9/11 scenario, will be the main target of the new law now upheld by an appeals court.
If that happens, it will mean putting in place a new apartheid law, negating the goals of the long-drawn struggle for civil rights that had rid America of discriminatory laws back in the 1960s.
One says this because of the way the Americans have conducted themselves since the events of September 11, 2001, bending the rules and legalizing the same retroactively in order to keep terror suspects in prison without bringing them to open and fair trials.
Foreigners confined at the Guantanamo Bay prison have not been alone in suffering caused by this policy; many Muslim Americans, a majority of them naturalized citizens, have continued to languish in prisons without due process.
If those behind the making of this policy think that it will help America throw out its bad eggs, they are mistaken. An overwhelming majority of convicted criminals in US prisons comprises born Americans.
Should they also be deported to the countries of their ancestors' origin? Why this discrimination then? It goes against the very foundations of America which not so long ago prided itself on being a 'nation of immigrants'.
A criminal is a criminal and must be proceeded against under the law without the punishment being a reflection on his/her country of origin. Implicit in such a policy is the danger that the US action will encourage rogue states such as Israel in pursuing its anti-Palestinian policies, especially those pertaining to deportation.
Saving the children
The disclosure that about a 100 or so children admitted in Lahore Children's Hospital with advanced liver diseases may die for want of proper medical resources at the hospital makes painful reading.
A number of children there need immediate liver transplant which their parents cannot afford. The facility is not available in any public-sector hospital in Punjab and the cost of a transplant at private clinics is said to be very high.
In Pakistan, liver transplant facility is mainly provided at the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplant in Karachi in collaboration with the King's College, UK. But it is said that this is done usually once a year, which makes it difficult for very many children outside Sindh to benefit from it.
The picture becomes even gloomier in view of the exorbitant cost of treatment abroad. In this context, the helplessness of those whose children are in danger of losing their lives can be well imagined.
There is clearly a case for providing a credible and affordable facility for liver transplant in Punjab and other parts of the country. But the immediate problem is how to come to the rescue of the children facing a grim prospect at the Lahore hospital.
A proposal to set up a transplant centre at the Children's Hospital was earlier said to have been submitted to the chief minister. While funds are scarce, a redeeming feature is that local expertise to set up such a facility is available.
But until practical steps are taken and a feasibility study is quickly finalized, progress in the matter cannot be made. Surely, if the government takes the necessary initiative to save children's lives, others, including philanthropists, may come forward to share the cost of building the infrastructure to deal with the problem.