January 7, 2006	Saturday	Zilhaj 6, 1426

KARACHI, Jan 6: Dr Paul Flather, Secretary-General of The European and a human rights activist and journalist, has said that a government led by Hindu fundamentalist party BJP in India and a military-led government in Pakistan only can resolve the Kashmir issue, arguing that both of them are not accountable to their people.

Delivering a lecture on What Has Really Changed For South Asia Since 9/11 at the SZABIST here on Friday, he said that 9/11 had not only changed foreign policies of the countries of this region, but also ushered in an era of globalization.

Dr Flather observed that the BJP had also exploited the 9/11 events, and in this context recalled that a BJP-led government in Gujrat state had massacred thousands of Muslims without fearing any significant protest from the Muslim world or other segments of the international community.

He pointed out that the Indian lobby in the United States was significantly influencing decision-making bodies. It would repeatedly raise the issues of Pakistan’s nuclear programme and create fear of fundamentalist forces coming to power and posing a threat to peace and security in the world.

According to him, that lobby also played an important role in eliminating militancy in Kashmir.

“European countries do not consider Musharraf government as democratic. They have reservations over his uniform and the way he got himself elected as president.”

The visiting intellectual rejected the notion that democracy could not flourish in Islamic countries, saying there were several undemocratic countries around the world which were not Islamic states.

Discussing the US policy after the 9/11, he said religious groups in America were getting stronger with people having more inclination towards religion than they had before the 9/11. The religious groups were also playing a decisive role in changing the foreign policy, he added.

He pointed out that the Patriot Act introduced in the US after 9/11 curtailed individual liberties and effected an increase in the military budget at the cost of allocations for the health and education sectors.

Currently, US is supporting the military regime in Pakistan instead of strengthening democratic institutions. Many countries in the free world are finding it difficult to support the US foreign policy, he said, adding that India had moved closer to democracy in the aftermath of the 9/11 whereas Pakistan was moving away from it.

Dr Flather also spoke about the legitimization of non-democratic government in Pakistan, and said the US foreign policy did not allow favours to an undemocratic country having nuclear weapons, but this was overlooked in the case of Pakistan.

He said Kashmir issue had thawed under President Musharraf since the Kargil standoff. “This has been in the interest of both Pakistan and India,” he added.

Commenting on Pakistan’s economy after 9/11, he said improvement in economic sector was visible over the past six years as foreign investments and remittances from expatriates started coming in.—PPI