| July 23, 2005 | Saturday | Jumadi-us-Sani 15, 1426 |
Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
Kidnapping in Iraq
Motorway fatalities
PRESIDENT General Pervez Musharraf reiterated on Friday his government’s resolve to confront terrorism and extremism, and outlined a number of steps he intends to take. Some of these measures have been outlined before also, and the test of the government’s resolve will be to see how far they are implemented this time. Many of them were most notably outlined in Gen Musharraf’s statement in January 2002, and if action had been consistent and strong, some of the problems facing us today might have been overcome. The president has set a December deadline for the registration of madressahs, and there appears to be less resistance to the idea now, at least if the initial reaction from the MMA is to be accepted at face value (in 2002, it had announced it would oppose registration). It has also been stated that no banned organization will be permitted to operate under a new name, possession and display of unauthorized arms will be banned, and the printing, publication and distribution of hate material will be prevented. Although it is hard to shake off the impression that we seem always to be goaded into action by events rather than follow a coherent and measured policy on the question of religious extremism and its many manifestations, if this time the government means business, then it should be supported. The reservations arise because of what has been taking place so far.
Why, for instance, have banned organizations been allowed to continue to operate freely under different names and continue to inspire jihadi literature and sermons? The law was being flouted, but no one took any notice. Many of those rounded up in the first crackdown three years ago were released on the strength of simple affidavits saying they were not jihadis. Sectarian parties were allowed to take part in general elections, and Maulana Samiul Haq struts about as an elected member of parliament. Circulation of inflammatory material and preaching of hatred against communities or religions as well as the possession of unlicensed weapons are offences even under the ordinary law of the land, and yet the relevant provisions are not enforced. The problem with the madressahs is that almost all of them are affiliated to a particular sect and it is inherent in their make-up that they should inveigh against opposing sects. Registration and careful monitoring may lead to some controls on funding and links with militant organizations, but only a far greater commitment to a democratic and pluralistic polity will eventually isolate obscurantist institutions and individuals. The mindset of the military as once the custodian of militant Islam must also change.
There is another problem. The government and the ruling party are smitten with doublespeak. The president criticizes madressahs; the minister for religious affairs and the PML chief give them a clean chit. This indicates a sense of confusion at the highest levels. Some of it may be due to a difference of opinion between those who favour appeasement of religious parties as a way to neutralize them and those who want stronger action. Appeasement has not worked; it has only emboldened the revivalists. The government must seek its allies from among the liberal parties without further temporizing. It is on sorting out these anomalies that our attention should be concentrated rather than on seeking to lead the amorphous entity known as the “ummah”.
TWO more diplomats — this time Algerian — have been kidnapped in Iraq, bringing the number of foreigners taken hostage so far to more than 200. This is the second case of Arab diplomats being kidnapped this month. On July 2, the Egyptian ambassador was kidnapped and murdered. Given the fact that most kidnapped foreigners — diplomats, journalists, engineers and truck drivers — were murdered, all one can do is to pray for the safe release of the Algerians. In some cases, the kidnappers murdered a hostage by slitting his throat, and a brutal video recording of the act was then shown on television screens the world over. One can understand the Iraqis’ anger over their country’s occupation and the brutalities being perpetrated under the occupation. But the insurgents’ victims have not always been enemy soldiers. Sometimes, unknown people have kidnapped civilians belonging to countries having troops in Iraq. This too must be deplored, because many of the civilians, like Britain’s Margaret Hassan, were harmless people who had nothing to do with the invasion or occupation of Iraq. Similarly, the murder of the Egyptian ambassador and many Turkish truck drivers cannot be justified because of the pro-American orientation of these countries’ foreign policy. But, regrettably, the resistance groups have kidnapped and murdered even nationals of countries which had opposed the Iraq war. In this category fall the Pakistanis who were kidnapped, one of whom was murdered.
Algeria is an Arab country, had opposed the invasion of Iraq, and has no troops in Iraq. Yet the militants have taken its ambassador hostage. Those carrying out these dastardly acts should ask themselves whether they are thereby promoting the cause of resistance. Undoubtedly, all sane people everywhere, including those in Europe and America, believe that Iraq’s agony must come to an end. In specific terms, this means withdrawing the US-led occupation troops, drawing up a constitution and pushing the democratic process forward. These causes are hardly advanced by mindless acts of violence and terror which have killed more civilian than occupying soldiers. The murder of innocents only alienates support for Iraqi resistance and strengthens the hands of those who believe in the continued occupation of Iraq.
THE death of 19 people in a bus crash on the Lahore-Islamabad motorway on Thursday comes as a shocking reminder of both the hazards of road travel and our collective indifference to the almost daily toll of highway killings. The ill-fated bus was reportedly full of tourists who were returning to Lahore after vacationing in Murree. Initial reports suggest that a deadly combination of brake failure and speeding was to blame for the fatal accident on a treacherous bend of the road in the Salt Range. To be fair, it has to be said that the motorway is meticulously marked with warnings and speed limit signs in the 10-kilometre area in question. Heavy police patrols, too, ensure that no violations take place. Yet accidents happen in the area because of the lack of fitness of vehicles and carelessness on the part of drivers. Back in April, another bus carrying schoolchildren on a field trip from Rawalpindi had met with a similar accident in the same area and for similar reasons.
The troubling question remains as to how many more lives have to be lost before we, as a society, pay attention to the combined menace of rash driving and use of unroadworthy and ill-maintained vehicles. Last but not least, public apathy, as manifest in the absence of any outrage over frequent loss of life in road accidents day in and day out, is also to blame for the pathetic state of affairs. While it is not possible to check each and every vehicle entering the motorway or a highway for its roadworthiness, the least the authorities concerned can do is to run random checks and bar vehicles found unfit from going on to the high-speed roads. That said, the need for all vehicles plying in the country to undergo a mandatory, standardized road fitness test on an annual basis cannot be overemphasized.