| June 29, 2005 | Wednesday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1426 |
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Floods in the NWFP
Going after them
THE Security Council expansion issue now stands frozen — at least for a while. Even though the aspirants to the council’s permanent membership are unlikely to give up so easily, on Monday President George Bush virtually closed the issue. The message to Brazil, Germany, India and Japan was clear because Mr Bush let his views on the issue be known in the presence of the German chancellor, Mr Gerhard Schroeder. He said the world body itself needed reform and not just its executive arm. The US is opposed to Germany’s membership, is ambivalent about Brazil and India and is in favour of a Japanese seat. In the US view, German membership with a veto would mean three UNSC members from Western Europe, and this would give too much political clout to a geographically small area in UN affairs.
Founded in 1945, with 51 members, the UN is today called upon to tackle a vastly different world, with its membership having risen to 191. In the aftermath of World War II, the Soviet Union insisted on having a veto, because it feared being outvoted in a Security Council dominated by capitalist powers. This veto power for the permanent five members (P-5) has continued till this day — often to the detriment of nations and peoples seeking freedom and justice. During the Cold War, western diplomats and the media often derided Moscow for what they saw to be its too frequent use of veto power. But the latter decades have seen the US using its veto no less frequently to save Israel from being censured for rights’ abuses in the occupied territories. In the case of Iraq, the UN turned out to be a lame duck organization. To destroy weapons of mass destruction purported to be in Iraq’s possession, the Bush administration launched an attack bypassing the world body, even though a UN commission had reported that Iraq had no WMDs. In some of the world’s other flashpoints, too, the UN proved to be little better than a debating forum. In Kashmir, Palestine and Chechnya it failed to stop massacres and find a solution to these disputes. Most often, a veto from one of the P-5 killed a resolution that otherwise would have helped in a solution. India and Israel, both of which have violated UNSC resolutions, have remained unpunished, and the former is now intensely lobbying for a permanent seat.
The continuation of the veto power goes against the spirit of democracy in an age when “spreading democracy” is one of the developed world’s major concerns. Four more members with a veto will mean more states which will use it for protecting and promoting their national interests instead of striving to achieve the objectives for which the UN was founded. The aim of the UN and its Charter is to save the world from the scourge of war, but since its founding this world has seen more than 100 wars in which millions have been killed. In “civilized” Europe, as if the Nazi-era massacres were not enough, the close of the 20th century saw hundreds of thousands of people massacred and made homeless in Bosnia and Kosovo. The veto power failed to pre-empt these tragedies. The world would indeed be better off without an elite group of nations — whether five or eight — wielding veto power for no higher purpose than that of using the UN’s name as a cover for an unabashed pursuit of their national or group interests.
THE devastation caused by the on-going floods in the NWFP is yet another sign of the government’s inability to cope with an emergency situation. It is not as if the government had not been forewarned of the deluge that has struck parts of the province with full force. In March this year, an NWFP minister had urged the centre to take precautionary steps against possible floods, pointing out that the mountains in the north were covered by 25 feet of snow and that when this melted it would cause widespread flooding. This is precisely what has happened, and the situation, aggravated by a prolonged hot spell, now appears to be spinning out of control as the Kabul, Swat and Shah Alam rivers continue to be in high flood. Whole families have been uprooted, their homes and villages washed away, and much damage has been done to agricultural land. Communications have been disrupted and while the army is busy transporting marooned families to safer spots, there have been complaints that relief efforts are unsatisfactory.
It is unfortunate that the authorities have not learned their lessons from the tragic fallout of the heavy snowfall and the torrential rains that lashed the province, along with other areas in the country, earlier in the year. In the absence of any comprehensive disaster management plan, they can only make promises — as Interior Minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao has been doing — to ensure that permanent measures are taken to deal with emergencies of this sort. Moreover, all Mr Sherpao’s talk of approaching international agencies for assistance in building embankments on the rivers has come a little too late in the day. The damage has already been done, and hundreds of people have been left homeless and without a livelihood. This kind of attitude reflecting the little importance the authorities attach to the lives and homes of the poor is extremely shocking. The authorities must realize the importance of a comprehensive plan to deal with natural calamities and take preventive measures accordingly, thus minimizing the risk to people’s lives and the possibility of damage and dislocation.
THE government should take serious notice of the death threats issued on Monday by suspected Al Qaeda militants against 28 tribal and religious leaders in North Waziristan. The letter, written in Pashtu and circulated in Mir Ali village, targets the men for supposedly spying for the government and informing on the activities of the ‘Mujahideen’. It ends by warning the leaders to “mend their ways” or prepare for death. Local leaders believe this to be the work of Taliban elements active in this region who have issued similar threats in the past. One religious leader, Maulvi Janat Mir, whose name figures on this list, received a similar letter some time back, along with Rs 700, which, the letter said, was enough money to buy him a shroud for his funeral. Most of the men named in the letter are prominent tribal leaders or those who are affiliated with foreign-funded NGOs working for the development of the area. That no one has taken heed of such threatening tactics in the past does not mean that it should be ignored this time round also.
The militants have clearly doubled their efforts in spreading their edict against those whom they see as Islam’s enemies. The government too needs to strengthen its resolve in ridding the area of such elements whose activities have caused the country enormous harm. It needs to beef up security for those whose lives are clearly at risk now. Three of the men named in the letter have survived previous attempts on their lives and no effort should be spared to ensure their safety. The government needs the support of tribal leaders, not just in arresting terrorist elements but also in developing the largely backward area seriously lacking in basic amenities. Any backtracking on the government’s part will make the already volatile region a hotbed for more terrorist activities.