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| February 19, 2006 | Sunday | Muharram 20, 1427 |
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Rail link resumption
Clinton’s war on Aids
Kashmir: back to square one?
INDIA rejected the proposals put forward by President Musharraf in his recent wide-ranging TV interview with Karan Thaper. Perhaps the Indians were taken by surprise to receive through the media the boldest proposals ever put forward in the history of the Kashmir dispute; for want of any other reaction, India peremptorily rejected them all.
WITH the Danish embassy in Pakistan closed and Islamabad having recalled its ambassador from Copenhagen “for consultation”, a breach has been created between the two countries. This is an unfortunate development because Denmark has always been a friendly country. Pakistan is not the only country to have recalled its ambassador from Denmark: Saudi Arabia and Libya did it earlier. Given the hurt caused to the Muslims by the cartoons in Jyllands-Posten, protest rallies in Pakistan are likely to continue, one of which is being organized jointly by the ruling party and the opposition. All one can do is to hope that the rallies will be peaceful and orderly. Those organizing these rallies should realize that the violence in Beirut and Damascus and in two Pakistani cities have in no way advanced Islam’s cause. In fact, things seem to be getting worse from the point of view of the Muslim world’s relationship with the West at a time when even those who have not read Huntington’s Clash of Civilizations are talking about it. On Thursday, the European Union parliament passed a resolution expressing its solidarity with Denmark, while in Europe’s right-wing press and political establishment a wave of Islamophobia seems to be rising. The anger caused by the cartoons has been set aside, and the conservatives seem to be using the occasion to call for tighter immigration and asylum laws.
It would be tragic if the act of indiscretion on the part of an editor were to harm the long-term relationship between the Muslim world and the West. There are reasons to believe that saner elements in the West support the Muslim point of view. In Islamabad on Friday, Mr Bill Clinton “strongly” disagreed with the publication of the cartoons, and thought it was a mistake, though the former American president equally disapproved of reacting violently to the sacrilege. In Karachi the same day, Commonwealth Secretary-General Donald McKinnon said while freedom of expression was “a core principle” with the Commonwealth, this “freedom has to be exercised with care.”
It is time the issue was taken up at a higher level for resolution. In this context, one should welcome the five-point agenda being presented to the European Union by the Organization of Islamic Conference. Among other things, the agenda calls upon the EU to adopt necessary legislative measures against hate literature and to make efforts to help the UN adopt a resolution on the lines of the existing ones relating to defamation of religion. At the same time, it should be everyone’s pious hope that the protest rallies still to come will be peaceful and orderly. Violence and destruction of property during which innocent lives are lost do not advance any cause, however important. There are about 20 million Muslims in Europe, and their interests cannot be sacrificed at the altar of emotions. A backlash in Europe would evoke a harder response from the Muslim world, and this in turn will lead to a spiral of conflict and distrust that could militate against the growth of a world in which the two sides which have so much in common could exist in peace and harmony to their mutual benefit. It is often forgotten in the midst of mutual misperceptions that during the long interaction between Europe and the Muslim world the periods during which Muslims and Christians have lived in peace and harmony are of a far greater duration than the times of war and conflict.
AMIDST a wave of enthusiasm at the people’s level, the Thar Express crossed the India-Pakistan border on Saturday, coming to a halt at Munabao station where the passengers were received by Indian railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav. Understandably, it was an emotional moment for the 200 people on board, many of whom were looking forward to meeting their families and friends after years of separation. At the government level, too, the resumption of the rail link after four decades is an important CBM in the Indo-Pakistan rapprochement process, and a sign that despite several stumbling blocks in the way of the ongoing dialogue, people-to-people contact between the two countries continues to grow. Even if there has been considerable foot-dragging by the two countries on important issues like Kashmir and Siachen, the opening of road and rail links in the last two years has been a positive development. In addition to the new link from Karachi to Munabao, there is the Lahore-Attari rail operation, besides three bus services, with promises of more in the near future.
However, there is much red tape that is still obstructing contact at the people’s level. Even as they engage in diplomatic squabbles and hide-and-seek over major disputes and differences, India and Pakistan should not delay the re-opening of consulates in Mumbai and Karachi. Although the Thar Express has eased travelling, passengers still have to obtain visas from Islamabad and New Delhi — a process which entails considerable hassles and expenditure, especially for those whose destinations otherwise lie just a few hours across the border. The resumption of consular offices, besides being a confidence-building measure in itself, would facilitate travel between the two countries. Besides, it is also important to ensure the comfort of the travelling public, and railway officials here must make proper arrangements in this regard on the train and at stations en route to Munabao. In all the bonhomie generated by the opening of the rail link, it must not be forgotten that saboteurs possess the ability to damage the track, which could lead to further tensions. Security should, therefore, be reinforced on the train and along the way to prevent any untoward happenings.
FORMER US president Bill Clinton’s trip to Pakistan to sympathize with earthquake victims and to launch an HIV/Aids project under his Clinton Foundation should be welcomed as it underlines international commitment to dealing with a deadly disease that afflicts so many countries. While Aids is not very widespread in Pakistan like it is in sub-Saharan Africa, where the average HIV rate is more than seven per cent of the adult population, or in neighbouring India, this is no reason for not doing more to create proper awareness of the nature and sources of infection of the deadly disease here. The numbers of HIV/Aids patients in Pakistan is slowly rising and the last official count stood at 100,000, which proves how difficult it is to prevent the spread of the disease. Apart from taking some necessary steps like screening high-risk groups like migrant workers on arrival, ensuring that blood screening is done in a more effective manner and that used syringes are properly destroyed, the most important aspect of curbing HIV is to engage in open discussions about it. On that front, we have not done very well. Efforts to spread awareness through the media have been limited because of the taboos connected with discussing anything related to sex. Unless there is a realization that social taboos have to be tackled in a holistic manner, there is a danger that the country will face an Aids explosion that will play havoc here.
Mr Clinton’s project provides the country with an ideal opportunity to initiate a proper campaign against Aids, highlighting the dangers of engaging in unsafe sex, using shared needles and unsafe blood transfusions, all of which contribute to the spread of this disease. It has to target high-risk groups but also spread awareness among others who should be taught basic points of precaution and care to avoid infection.
To recapitulate the main proposals put forward by General Musharraf:
* India and Pakistan to take steps for progressive demilitarization of all areas of the former Jammu and Kashmir State under their respective control.
* Self-governance be granted by India and Pakistan for all parts of the State by both countries in their respective parts. However, the concept was not elaborated.
* The LoC be made irrelevant by keeping it open for Kashmiris on both sides of the divide.
* Status quo be maintained on territories and on the dispute with India.
The above proposals are within a stone’s throw of the declaration of former Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee “if the Kashmir issue can be resolved on the basis of autonomy, then the sky is the limit” (or words to that effect). But alas! the sky was brought down to earth by the post-interview “nyet” of the Indian foreign office.
After years of talks and talks about talks, are we back to square one? Like Sisyphus, are we destined to push the stone uphill, once again, as it appears to have rolled down?
We are India’s whipping boy on alleged terror support. India’s accusations of terrorism supposedly originating in Pakistan fall on receptive foreign ears. World memory is short; it forgets that Islamic terrorism has its origins in the US-financed Afghan War, which built madressahs and seminaries in the Pak-Afghan tribal areas. Let the West remember that it was this ‘terrorism’, then known as ‘freedom fighting’, that led eventually to the implosion of the Soviet Union. Given the temper of the times during the Afghan war, was it surprising that young boys — the future Talibans — were trained as guerilla fighters? But as Aristotle says, even the gods do not have the power to change the past; once armed, you never know who will be hit by the next bullet.
But times change. Today it is in Pakistan’s vital interest to disabuse the world of the so-called terror charge. True, our record is bad, because of the indiscretions of Dr. A.Q. Khan and the involvement in the past of our ISI with jihadism in Indian held Kashmir. But, this is no longer true and the onus of making it reasonably clear to friend and foe is on us. Let us frankly admit that there are seminaries and madressahs in Pakistan and elsewhere in the world that do incite young minds to violence either openly or insidiously in the name of religion. But closing these madressahs is not an option.
No government in Islamabad can expect to remain in power if it takes draconian measures against the seminaries and madressahs. Reforming these institutions through the introduction of secular subjects along with the traditional ones and the gradual incorporation of the seminaries into the education system is a long-term objective. Current resistance from the right wing organizations can only be overcome by persuasion and appropriate incentives.
But does India not have its share of schools and institutions influenced by the extremist ideologies of the RSS, Shiv Sena and the revivalist Bajrang Dal and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad? How else can one explain the massacre of over three thousand Muslims in Gujarat and the tearing down of the Ayodhiya mosque? Can one blame the government of India as being responsible for this mayhem? I think not: for the same reason it is not fair to blame Pakistan for every terrorist outrage in India or Kashmir. Religious extremism and ethnic chauvinism today is a worldwide phenomenon; it has taken the place vacated by left-wing revolutionaries of the previous century.
Indians are prone to pointing a finger at Pakistan for every bomb blast from Baramula to Bangalore, from Delhi to Doda and from Kargil to Kolkata. They overlook the fact that the very same Pakistani extremist organizations they name are the ones which made four unsuccessful assassination attempts on President Musharraf and are responsible for bombings of rival mosques and sectarian violence in Pakistan. There is no guarantee that these ultra-secretive extremist organizations are not responsible for bombings in Kashmir, but, they are as elusive as the ghosts that escape through roof-top chimnies.
If all the secret apparatus and electronic skills of the West cannot locate Osama bin Laden and his cohorts, by the same token, it is not easy for governments in the subcontinent to track down all saboteurs and extremists of our respective secretive right-wing organizations. Does it make sense for the Pakistan government to tolerate those who want to assassinate our own leaders and create a sectarian hell in Pakistan?
Let both India and Pakistan think of new or re-dust old CBMs as a measure of good faith. For example, consider joint patrolling on the LoC; allow national and international human rights organizations full access to jails holding political prisoners and to expose Human Right violations. We need to change a terrorist’s mind, not physically persecute him.
All nations make and change policies in their own interest. Witness how India has recently succumbed to the US on the Iran, IAEA issue. It is only self-interest that will force India to be flexible on Kashmir. Today it has a great opportunity of becoming the intellectual workshop of the West. It is poised to receive billions of dollars in foreign investment now going to China. A single bullet recently fired by a terrorist in Bangalore sent a chill down the backs of foreign multinational corporations.
In a sense, conditions are propitious for India to be flexible on the Kashmir issue, or else it will jeopardize the mega investment opportunity. We underestimate the power of the multinationals to push sovereign nations in the direction of flexibility and reasonableness. Multinationals have opted for China because of its ideal law and order situation internally, and, the containment of the Taiwan issue.
Some other “out of box” ideas need consideration: Let’s first put our own house in order. The constitutional status of Azad Kashmir and Northern region has long been in a constitutional limbo. Pakistan should call upon the United Nations to implement its 1948/49 resolutions in respect of Kashmir territory under our control and hold a transparent referendum.
A range of choices be offered to the populace whether to join India, or to be a province of Pakistan, or become an autonomous region in Pakistan. Let the UN appoint its own commission, and Amnesty or Human Rights International be the referendum commissioners.
Such an exercise is bound to influence the Kashmir dispute in a positive way. The burden will be on the world’s largest democracy to explain why freedom of choice is denied to a restive people in a part of Kashmir which is disputed. Let Pakistan’s military-led dispensation be shown to be more democratic in real terms than a constitutional democracy.
There is little doubt in the mind of any independent foreigner who has visited the Valley of Kashmir in recent times (including this writer) that it is a land under occupation; its people are alienated, disenchanted, frustrated and rebellious.
The Valley today is what Eastern Europe was to the Soviet Union — a huge financial blackhole with sullen people.
My other suggestion adverts back to the theme of violence. It is my belief that it is much easier psychologically and physically for a state to deal with violence than with non-violence.
It will be interesting to observe how India, a nation that won its freedom on the creed of non-violence and non-cooperation, deals with this manner of protest in the Kashmir Valley. Non-violence and non-cooperation has won freedom in South Africa and liberty for the blacks in the US. The people of the Valley must realize that freedom is neither a bounty nor something that comes only with Pakistan’s moral support. It requires much greater moral and physical courage to be an unarmed freedom fighter than being a terrorist. Let the Valley protestors take a leaf out of Mahatma Gandhi’s book on non-violence.
The upshot of it all is that no solution is possible on the basis of a maximalist position of India, Pakistan and the Kashmiris. Any compromise solution is bound to fall short of any maximalist agenda. If in our life time we are to have peace in the subcontinent, we have to learn to live with compromises. President Musharraf’s recent proposals merit consideration by the Indian rulers.
The writer is a National Assembly member. murbr@isb.paknet.com.pk