| May 11, 2005 | Wednesday | Rabi-us-Sani 2, 1426 |
Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
Cartoon trouble
Curtailing thalassaemia
IT would be a pity if the Baghlihar and Kishanganga projects were allowed to pose a threat to the on-going peace process in South Asia. Islamabad has already moved the World Bank with regard to the Baghlihar dam, and it could do so on the other project, too, if bilateral talks failed. On Monday, following talks with their Indian counterparts in Lahore, the Pakistan delegation said it could take the Kishanganga issue to the World Bank if it was not resolved by July 15. Pakistan does not want the matter to drag on, and mercifully the two sides have agreed that the knotty issue needs to be resolved by July 15. The Kishanganga project is being built on the river Neelum, and India plans to divert its water into the Wullar lake to generate 330mw of electricity. Pakistan has raised objections to the project, for it will deprive Pakistan of at least 27 per cent of its share of the Neelum waters. Of the six objections, three relate to the design of the dam, two to the diversion of water and one to the power generation scheme. Unfortunately, at Monday’s meeting the Indian side did not come prepared with necessary data and failed to provide answers to Pakistan’s queries. This made Pakistan’s chief delegate say that Islamabad would invoke “treaty mechanism” for resolving the issue. The mechanism here obviously means the Indus Water Treaty, which provides for arbitration by the World Bank in case the two sides differ on a given issue.
In the case of the Baghlihar dam, Pakistan has already moved the World Bank. Being built in Indian-occupied Kashmir on the river Chenab, the Baghlihar dam is designed to produce 450mw of power, but in the process it, too, will deprive Pakistan of its share of water as guaranteed by the 1960 treaty. India insists that the dam does not violate the Indus water treaty, but at the same time it has offered to address Pakistan’s objections. In fact, the Indian prime minister has indicated the possibility of changes in the design. Talking to Pakistani journalists in New Delhi last month, Dr Manmohan Singh said his government could consider changes in the dam’s design if Pakistan came up with “weighty and credible evidence” in support of its stand. He even said India was “duty bound” to do so. What New Delhi wants is that the issue be resolved bilaterally without recourse to World Bank arbitration. Pakistan’s stand is that India should suspend all work on the project if it expects Islamabad not to take its case to the World Bank.
Common sense demands that the controversy over these two dams not be allowed to stand in the way of peace and cooperation between the two South Asian neighbours. Both the dams are being built upstream. Thus, Pakistan cannot in any way be accused of denying India its share of water or violating the treaty. The ball is clearly in India’s court. New Delhi must see to it that the projects do not infringe on Pakistan’s rights as the lower riperian country, as guaranteed by the treaty. River water is of critical importance to Pakistan, because — unlike India — its entire agriculture is dependent on the Indus river system. New Delhi should, therefore, address Pakistan’s concerns in right earnest and the normalization process should not be allowed to become hostage to these controversial dams.
THE National Assembly has adopted a unanimous resolution condemning a cartoon published in a US newspaper that was seen as derogatory of Pakistan. The resolution asks the government to register a protest with the US and seek an unqualified apology from the newspaper concerned. The cartoonist has since said he had no intention of offending Pakistanis and the trouble was perhaps due to a cultural misunderstanding on his part. One hopes that the matter will be allowed to rest there, and nothing as melodramatic as asking Pakistan’s ambassador in Washington, currently on leave in Lahore, to rush back to take up the matter with the US will be done, as suggested by Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. The cartoon used the symbolism of a dog, which has cultural and religious implications for Muslims. A feeling of hurt at the insensitivity reflected in the illustration is natural, although many Pakistanis and other Muslims keep dogs as pets.
The furore over the issue may not have been as intense if there were no perception that Pakistan has let itself be exploited by the US in the ‘war on terror’. It is now felt that despite everything that we’ve done, America is treating us churlishly. But lack of tolerance of criticism must also be blamed for our overreaction. British Prime Minister Tony Blair was called President Bush’s ‘poodle’ and depicted as such in countless cartoons, but Mr Blair, his government and the people — everyone took it in stride. Many Britons no doubt must actually have been mightily pleased with it. The US press reflects a great deal of news management, but it also enjoys a great deal of freedom, and regularly lampoons its leaders and leading public figures. A cartoonist can often offer a more incisive comment on a particular development than a leader writer. All these factors should be kept in mind before our legislators, who should be setting the level of public debate, allow themselves to be overtaken by emotion.
WITH the spotlight on blood-borne diseases like hepatitis C and B, there is a general tendency in the country to ignore the dangers of thalassaemia, an inherited, potentially fatal, blood disorder. Thalassaemia has been on the rise in Pakistan, and the statistics are cause for concern. According to reports, about 3,000 to 4,000 children are born with the more virulent form of the disease (thalassaemia major) every year. The carrier rate has also risen to about six per cent of the population. This figure may increase further given the number of marriages that take place among close relatives, and that reinforces the chances of children of parents with a similar genetic makeup, being born with it. What is also worrisome is the poor response of the government to the burgeoning threat. There are few thalassaemia centres in the country and the government is not pushed about taking preventive measures to bring down the number of children born with the disease. Also, there has been little attempt to educate people on the dangers and inconveniences associated with thalassaemia - that, along with other health problems, entails lifelong transfusions with all the risks of disease causing germs being transmitted to patients.
While it is obvious that blood banks and other health facilities should be more geared towards the care of thalassaemia patients, it is equally important to concentrate on the preventive aspect as other countries, like neighbouring Iran, have done with impressive results. In these countries, pre-nuptial testing is mandatory, allowing the couple to make an informed choice if there is the possibility of the woman conceiving an affected offspring. To be sure, considering the fierce adherence to certain traditions and practices in matters of marriage that dominate Pakistani society, health regulations of this sort may come up against strong resistance in spite of the obvious health risks involved in marriage among close relatives. However, a start has to be made somewhere in order to save our children from the effects of a lethal disease.