Stalemate in Sui

Commenting on the situation in Sui, Kawish writes that a criminal assault on a lady doctor and efforts to hush up the crime have added fuel to the flames. While troops have been deployed in the sensitive area, thousands of armed tribesmen have gathered there and the possibility of a clash cannot be ruled out.

The daily says that the root-cause of unrest is Baloch people's opposition to the Gwadar port project and their demand for royalty on natural resources of their province.

The federal government says the project will usher in an era of unprecedented development in Balochistan and its opponents are hindering progress. But the local people refuse to believe that they will get any benefit from the development of the coastal city.

Instead of taking the opinion of the people into consideration, the paper says, the government is trying to resolve the controversy with threats of use of force.

Criticizing the government's strategy, the paper recalls that a military operation was launched recently in Waziristan on the plea that terrorists were hiding in the tribal area of the NWFP and says that another operation against 'opponents of development' seems to be in the offing in the mountains of Sui.

It asks if the government will do the same in Sindh if the struggle against the proposed the Kalabagh dam intensifies in the province. The daily argues that use of military force against civilians never solves any problem as proved by earlier events.

Suggesting that the solution lies only in dialogue, it calls upon the government to convene a round-table conference of Baloch leaders to end the deadlock.

Referring to the last meeting of the technical committee on water resources, Ibrat says that Sindh's representative has rejected Wapda's figures on water availability and insisted that the Indus river system does not have excess water to justify a new reservoir.

President Gen Pervez Musharraf has announced that a decision on the Kalabagh dam will be made in the light of the report of the committee. Although, the committee has not prepared the report yet, but the point of view of the Sindh's representative needs to be heeded.

Had there been enough water, the daily argues, it must have been released downstream Kotri as is mandatory under the 1991 water accord. But the fact that no water has been released below Kotri for 12 years, causing an ecological disaster in the area, is a proof of water shortage. In this situation, any decision not based on national consensus is bound to create a crisis.

Grieving for three children who drowned in a drain in Khairpur, Awami Awaz writes that open manholes and drains have claimed a number of lives in different cities and towns, including Hyderabad and Larkana, but no effort has been made to cover them. It exposes not only the performance of civic agencies but also the claims of development made by government functionaries.

Deploring delay in the recovery of two judges and other kidnap victims from Shikarpur, Hilal-i-Pakistan says that law-enforcement agencies have raided several villages and detained a large number of people but have not yet found any clue to the kidnappers.

This reinforces the impression of inefficiency of the agencies and leaves little option for relatives of the kidnap victims to but to secure their release by paying ransom.

Electoral matters to dominate BD politics

The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party and main opposition Awami League have already started fuelling their election machines two years ahead of the next national polls scheduled for early 2007.

And the campaign has caused to be raised the matter of "free and fair" polls - thanks to Awami League's demand for changing the composition of the Election-time non-party caretaker government, a concept that the party had once fought for.

The BNP, which was forced to amend the Constitution in 1996 to accommodate the AL's desire to have the elections conducted by a caretaker government, seems reluctant to give in to the demand this time.

However, Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, chairperson of the BNP and head of the four-party ruling coalition, apparently began the electoral campaign on January 13, seeking "people's support for the BNP-led four-party alliance for continued prosperity".

"Continuity of the present government for a second term is necessary to sustain peace and development," she told a public rally in Chittagong. She enumerated the "successes of her government" in establishing peace and bringing in positive changes particularly in the economic, education, agriculture, poverty reduction and health sectors which "have made the main opposition party anxious about its future in the next polls".

She has reportedly issued directives to her party leaders to start reinvigorating the party units across the country so that the entire party organ could be converted to an election machine as and when necessary.

Awami League is not sitting idle either. The party's president, Sheikh Hasina, issued a directive at a meeting of the party's council of secretaries on January 13 to "start resolving the intra-party feuds immediately".

The meeting reportedly observed that the "internecine conflicts caused the party's landslide debacle in the 2001 general elections". Hasina asked all the seven organizing secretaries of the party to prepare two lists of party leaders across the country, one of suitable candidates for the next parliamentary polls and the other of the possible rebel candidates in all the 300 parliamentary constituencies.

She told the secretaries to report back within a month, identifying the reasons for intra-party conflicts, and recommend possible solutions. Awami League wants the BNP-led coalition, which has the required two-third majority in parliament to amend the constitution, to change the composition of the non-party caretaker government that takes over, as soon as the five-year tenure of an elected government expires, to conduct the polls.

Under the present constitutional provision, the immediate past chief justice of the Supreme Court is to take over as head of the government to form a 10-member interim cabinet comprising people of social standing with no record of active political involvement with any political party, to conduct polls within 90 days from the date of stepping down of the elected government.

In case of unavailability of the immediate past chief justice, the CJ who had retired before the immediate past one is to head the caretaker government and so on.

The caretaker government, an un-elected body and primarily meant for holding a fair election, is not entitled to make any fundamental policy decisions while conducting the "day-to-day routine affairs" of the state. The command of the armed forces remains with the president, the head of the state, who is the only elected person, by the parliament, during the care taking time.

However, Awami League's general secretary, Abdul Jalil, who Has publicly blamed the caretaker cabinet of Justice Latifur Rahman for his party's debacle, recently told the press that they were now for amending the constitution so that the head of the caretaker government would be selected on the basis of a consensus between the ruling party and the main opposition.

The BNP finds "no problem with the present constitutional provisions as regards the composition and jurisdictions of the caretaker government". BNP leaders argue that the AL should concentrate on winning a two-third majority in parliament in the first place to bring in changes in the whatever provisions of the constitution they want.

The left leaning parties and groups have criticized both the major parties for their visible indifference to the need for vital electoral reforms required for free and fair elections.

Rashed Khan Menon, president of the Workers Party of Bangladesh, in a newspaper article last week, argued that the nation needs an election commission which is organizationally and financially independent of the executive wing of the state, a set of laws as well their effective enforcement so that money and muscle cannot play any role in the electoral process, etc.

It is still two years to go before the next polls. But by all indications the debates already generated on the election related matters are going to dominate the political course of the country in the next two years.

War and peace: writers' role

Poet Jamiluddin Aali presided over a seminar (Jan 12) on Pakistan-India relations and writers' role in bringing the people of the two countries closer. An Indian writer, Prof Dr Talha Rizvi Barq, was the chief guest while speakers included Dr Manzoor Ahmed, Prof Saher Ansari, Saba Ikram and Azfar Rizvi.

Jamiluddin Aali emphasized the need to have amiable relations between the two countries to the benefit of their people. He recalled the role writers had played in creating the present environment of goodwill.

Prof Ansari, Azfar Rizvi and Saba Ikram traced the history of relations between the two countries and hoped that writers on both sides would be vigilant in preserving peace.

The Indian guest, Dr Rizvi, emphasized that there were rational, honest and peace-loving people in both countries, engaged in building bridges. He hoped the old chasm would not recur.

Dr Manzoor Ahmed reminded the audience that we were living in a world where science and knowledge were supreme and outmoded ideologies and attitudes had no place. Prof Ansari described the literary scene in India where rich literature was being produced in diverse languages.

Pakistani writers should try to reach that treasure of knowledge, and this could be possible through a free exchange of ideas. Saba Ikram was happy to recall the 'Pen for peace' seminar organized by the Progressive Writers Association, the Fiction Group and other literary bodies in Karachi two years ago.

It was meant to promote a peace movement in the region, and could be said to have been a precursor of the present climate seen in South Asia. The exchange of visits of peace activists between India and Pakistan, mostly led by writers, had removed distrust and helped to clamp down jingoism.

Doctor Rizvi was, however, critical of the fact that not enough eminent and acknowledged writers in Pakistan and India had yet put their weight publicly behind peace. He advised writers, painters and artistes to make concerted efforts to strengthen the peace movement.

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Pervin Nazir Somro, a young poet, slowly finding her place in literature, presented her second poetry collection, 'Bay sada dareechay' at a well-attended assembly of writers last week.

Dr Jamil Jalebi was in the chair, and provincial minister Saeeda Malik and Information Secretary Mehtab Akbar Rashdi praised the poet for her devotion to poetry and her courage to face the world against all odds.

The book's preface is also powerful and fascinating. Born in Hyderabad (Deccan), the second child among six sisters and brothers, Pervin was adopted by her uncle in her early childhood.

This separation from her parents has been haunting her throughout her life. Pervin filled that void by writing a diary, short stories and finally poetry. A love-lorn child she made friends in school and in college as she grew up and later as a teacher. Her poetry reflects the feelings of a tormented soul in search of an identity.

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The urdu translation by Zahida Hina of American scholar Glenn Paige's book 'Non-killing Global Political Scene' was introduced at a select gathering last week. Dr Mubarak Ali was in the chair while Syed Sikander Mehdi, Dr Jafer Ahmed and Tasnim Siddiqui spoke on the book.

Man is not a born killer, the author contends. Blood letting and killing are not part of human nature. Dr Paige, a Korean war veteran who later turned a pacifist, presents his arguments against war in his book in a convincing way.

But a little bit of controversy arose when Dr Jafer Ahmed delved into the social causes behind crime, aggression and war. If the causes which create economic imbalance and negative feelings among people were removed, the world would be abetter place to live in, he argued.

But was it possible to do this through peaceful means alone? Perhaps not, because those in power are not easily persuaded to give up their privileges. Dr Paige, someone recalled, was influenced by Mahatma Gandhi's ideology of non-violence and Dr Mubarak Ali in his discourse said force was the only weapon the poor people could use to find justice, but the Mahatma had taken away that weapon from the have-nots.

Referring to the strong public opinion against war and peace marches of millions around the world, he drew attention to the fact that none of this had been able to prevent US attack on Iraq.

Zahida Hina briefly spoke about the difficulties she felt in finding Urdu equivalents of unfamiliar English terms. However, the Urdu text is simple and readable, most speakers said.