| July 7, 2005 | Thursday | Jumadi-ul-Awwal 29, 1426 |
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Insurgency and occupation
The Internet debacle
THIRTEEN years after the demolition of the Babri mosque by BJP-led mobs, Ayodhya has once again shaken the subcontinent. The big question is whether the reaction to the terrorist attack there on Tuesday will lead to another communal bloodbath in India. Demonstrations have already begun, and it will need resolve on the part of the Indian government to maintain peace. Pakistan has done well to condemn the raid and to express the hope that the detente with India will not be affected. It was essential for Islamabad to make its views on the incident known, because some communal organizations in India began blaming Pakistan immediately after the attack. This is most unfortunate, because the Indian government itself has not so far identified the attackers, nor has any group claimed responsibility for the raid. Some Hindu organizations saw the involvement of Kashmiri Muslims in the attack, prompting its condemnation by Hizbul Mujahideen and the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front. Still clashes have occurred in New Delhi, Indore and Ranchi between police and demonstrators.
In December 2001, there was a terrorist attack on the Indian parliament building. Even though Pakistan condemned the raid, the reaction of the BJP government was unwarranted, for it started a massive deployment of troops on Pakistan’s border. In response, Pakistan too deployed its troops, leading to an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation in the summer of 2002. Mercifully, common sense prevailed in the end and the troops were pulled back. The breakthrough came at the Saarc summit in 2004 when the two sides agreed to pursue a composite dialogue to solve all outstanding issues, including Kashmir. The follow-up to the Saarc summit has seen a series of meetings at various levels, including the summit meeting between President Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during the former’s visit to India in April. Both declared that the process of normalization was irreversible.
What happened at Ayodha on Tuesday is a challenge to the two governments. Unlike some communal organizations, the Indian government has not blamed Pakistan for the raid. In Islamabad, the foreign office spokesman rejected the Hindu communalists’ bid to involve Pakistan in the attack. He said Pakistan condemned all sorts of terrorism and hoped that the unfortunate incident at Ayodhya would not affect the normalization process. The same day, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz had a meeting in Astana, Kazakhstan, with Indian Foreign Minister Natwar Singh. They talked about Kashmir, besides the Baglihar dam and Iranian pipeline issues, and reaffirmed their commitment to the composite dialogue. The incident at Ayodhya, however, serves to underline the need for strengthening the peace process as well as the threat to it from extremists. There are fanatics on both sides who would do anything to sabotage the peace process. India’s intelligence agencies had some information that an attack on Ayodhya was being planned. Evidently, the attackers outwitted the agencies by going ahead with their plan before they could be nabbed. Regrettably, the BJP has not shown the sense of responsibility that was expected of it in view of the fact that when it was in power it had initiated the peace process now in progress. By giving a call for country-wide demonstrations, the BJP has done no service to the peace process nor to the cause of peace within India. We expect the Pakistan government to take precautionary measures before extremists try to exploit the events in India to create trouble in the country.
THE attack on the convoy of Pakistan’s ambassador to Iraq, Younis Khan, is an example of how insurgents in that country appear to be changing tack and targeting members of the diplomatic community, instead of randomly kidnapping, and, in many cases, executing, ordinary foreigners. Hours before the Pakistani envoy’s narrow escape, the Bahraini charge d’affaires, Hassan al-Ansari, was wounded when gunmen opened fire on his car. Meanwhile, the whereabouts of Egypt’s ambassador-designate to Iraq, Ihab Al Sherif, remain unknown after he was kidnapped last Saturday by armed men in Baghdad. These incidents show that the insurgents, fuelled by their hatred for the American occupation of Iraq, remain undeterred by the continuing presence of US troops despite their fierce resistance. Realizing that the abduction of ordinary foreigners has not brought about any significant changes in the policy of the US and its allies, the insurgents have upped the ante by targeting high-profile diplomats. That this development is taking place despite reported contact between resistance groups and the US and Iraqi administrations, is alarming, as it indicates that the insurgents are not open to negotiations on their goal of ridding Iraq of foreign troops.
The insurgents may not have broad-based support among the civilians as their methods are contributing to bloodshed and political instability in the troubled country, but it is easy to sympathize with their aim of ending the American occupation, which itself was based on flawed premises. Thousands of ordinary Iraqis have paid with their lives for the 2003 invasion and the occupation of the country since then. Civic services are in tatters as reconstruction has been slow while lawlessness has been increasing by the day as the local police are not properly equipped to handle the chaotic situation that can spill over into the adjoining countries. As long as there is widespread resentment against the American presence, it will be difficult for the fledgling Iraqi government to move forward on peace, security and other pressing concerns. It is time for the Americans to announce a phased withdrawal from Iraq and for the UN or other representative body to organize a multinational force of neutral elements to fill in the vacuum.
WITH each passing day the crisis that has gripped the nation as a result of the undersea cable fault grows. The crippling of Internet and telephone services has affected scores of businesses which is bound to have a damaging effect on future foreign investment prospects. Call centre offices are virtually at a standstill, unable to operate. The travel industry has been badly hit while traders in the financial sector say “demand and turnover” had fallen by as much as 60 per cent. It is difficult to ascertain the monetary losses that companies have suffered although analysts say that these already run into millions of dollars. Some agency has to answer for the prolonged breakdown. Although PTCL does not own up to any responsibility on this count, it is being widely blamed for being ill-prepared in not dealing with the fault in a prompt manner. What makes the matter more frustrating is the continuing uncertainty regarding an end to the problem.
We have been hearing for a week that it is only a matter of time before the fault is fixed but because of rough weather, there seems to be an interminable delay. The authorities need to be reminded again of the importance of having a back-up system for exactly this kind of disaster. Pakistan is the only country in South Asia which relies on only one fibre optic link to connect with the outside world, which is quite appalling. Since 2003, this is the fourth fault to have occurred in the cable. A minor one in March this year should have prompted the authorities into taking preventative action but that did not happen. On Tuesday we were told that it will take another four days to repair the fault. Most analysts do not believe it to be possible but one only hopes that the problem will be rectified as quickly as possible before more financial losses are incurred.