| September 18, 2006 | Monday | Sha'aban 24, 1427 |
Don Quixote finds competition in South Asia
WITH his wife pulling along their three children aged from two to five, a grey-bearded man trundles out of the Hyderabad railway station with a tin box on his head topped by a sack. He is already exhausted, but he has to muster his strength to face some more troubles as he has to travel up to Karachi. He puts down his luggage on the floor and makes his family stand guard over it and rushes to join the queue seeking a refund of the tickets for their remaining journey.
Hyderabad is as far as the train goes these days because the Ran Pathani bridge has been washed away for a third time in the recent weeks, snapping Karachi’s rail link with the rest of the country. (The temporary bridge had been rebuilt and the rail link restored after these lines were written on Sunday.)
The bearded man’s travails are not yet over. He would get only Rs80 per ticket while he would have to pay Rs120 in bus fare between Hyderabad and Karachi. The rail fare mentioned on the notice board is Rs110, but nobody has the time to wrangle over it.
Hailing from a village across the Tarbela Dam lake, he first had to sail to Haripur to make a reservation in the all-economy class Hazara Express. When he embarked on his journey, it went smoothly till Daur, a small railway station in Sindh. Here the train came to a stand for an indefinite period. The considerate train driver told passengers to buy eatables and drinks for their families from the adjoining Daur bazaar as he expected prolonged halts before the train reached its final destination. “I think there will be more delays as trains have amassed at Hyderabad which has a limited capacity to handle trains. Even if the signal turns green, I can wait for a few more minutes till you buy things for your families,” Ali Asghar, the assistant driver of the train, told people who were leisurely, but restlessly, strolling on the platform.
The train moved less and stopped more as it inched its way towards the Hyderabad railway station. And when it finally made it to the station, the passengers were told to get their refunds and travel by bus on their own as no arrangements had been made by the Pakistan Railways for their onward journey .
The bus operators naturally took advantage of the passengers’ predicament. They declared they would not drive up to the Cantonment railway station in Karachi, where they were supposed to go, and dropped passengers wherever it suited them. The air-conditioning for which they were charging extra had “mysteriously” stopped functioning. Those who had the know-how of the system alleged that the driver was saving on fuel by keeping the AC off.
Buses have never been a convenient mode of travel for long distances. But it is the railway authorities who are making them attractive to travellers of upcountry destinations. The number of these buses is growing so much that their movement and parking has become a nuisance in the cities. At Sohrab Goth, Liaquatabad, Saddar, Qayyumabad, the Cantonment station, they are everywhere.Though cosmetic changes have been made inside the train coaches, they do not attract enough passengers. Previously they ran overcrowded. This could be an improvement from the passengers’ point of view as they travel congestion-free. But this costs a lot to the institution, which may ultimately hit the travellers.
With a little effort at Hyderabad, people believe, things could have been made better. For example, buses could be arranged by the PR authorities for free to compensate the passengers for their suffering. Or at least it should have been cheap and hassle-free. Foods and drinks at railway stations are not only expensive, they are substandard. There are no checks on their quality. And it seems an anomaly when someone says that a train has arrived on time. When there is a crisis at hand like the Ran Pathani bridge fiasco, trains run as late as 16 hours. The hours of suffering are made further long by the railway authorities’ indifferent attitude.
Of course, reports that the PR is in the process of buying more passengers coaches from abroad are heartening. Railways Minister Shaikh Rashid’s announcements about introducing new trains or extension of the existing ones are welcome. But more and more trains on the same old lengths of tracks will only add to the delays and consequent suffering. Even a proposed `bullet’ train may fail to achieve the desired results if the tracks are not strengthened and extended. Why can’t we learn from the many countries, including China and India, where trains are popular, convenient and efficient mode of transport? The claims that the railways’ income has increased may be true, but the amounts we are missing out due to the authorities’ inefficient handling of the service is really enormous. Convenience of the public is even more important than revenue generation.
Making hay in rain?
As rains seem to have stopped for the season, robbers might be thinking of new ways to deal with their potential victims. However, a colleague had to share last week, when this column did not appear, the following report:
There has been a sudden rise in burglaries all over the city over the past few days. Taking advantage of the rains, the dacoits have come up with innovative new ideas to rob unsuspecting people.
Recently a man posing as a courier rang the bell of a house in Bath Island. When someone came to greet him at the gate, he politely asked if he could come inside to sort out his envelopes as all his papers were getting wet in the rain. The moment he was allowed in, he took out his gun to unveil his real identity. He also invited in his companions who had been right outside waiting for the call under a tree.
In another incident, a man with blood on his shirt rang the bell of a house in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, begging to be allowed inside to make a phone call. He said he was a motorcyclist and had just been in an accident and thanks to the bad weather his cellphone had no signal. He urgently needed to use the phone to call help for his partner who was badly injured. But as soon as the gates were opened and he was allowed inside, the residents of the house were held at gunpoint. The supposedly wounded partner too made his appearance in seconds and the house was cleaned out.
Pagara predictions
Pir Pagara disappointed his admirers last week when he said he could not make any predictions on a certain issue. He has never before shown his inability to foresee things that may be happening in the country’s political landscape. No doubt, it was a grim matter he was asked to forecast about by a group of newsmen at his Kingri House — the situation in Balochistan.
The spiritual and political leader said he could not make any prediction about the future of the province, but what he could say with certainty was that the Baloch, like the cobra, never forgot to take revenge. They might wait for a long time till an opportunity came by, he added.
If the veteran forecaster has lost his power to predict correctly, he should not be disheartened. He may take his cue from the meteorological department and begin using the word `likely’. The Met office throughout the year uses this word and nobody can challenge it. For instance, it invariably says cloudy/partly cloudy weather `likely’ tomorrow. Those living in this metropolis know that this prediction may come true even without the word `likely’ as patches of clouds may be discovered over its horizon even on the shiniest of days. But the department concerned doesn’t want to take chances. When the same clouds thicken and stay in such a state for a few days, the department alters its statement and uses the word `chances’. In a single breath, it predicts `chances of drizzles/light rain/thunderstorm/windy weather’.
I am sure the holy man more famous for his prediction-making than for his sagacious political achievements can reclaim his popularity by borrowing some of the vocabulary from the Met department.
— Karachian
Email: naseer.awan@dawn.com
THE so-called war on terrorism was not invented by George W. Bush. It was in fact the inaugural agenda of Ronald Reagan when he became president in 1980. For Reagan the foremost terrorist to pursue was Daniel Ortega. And, to overthrow Nicaragua’s popular leftist leader, Reagan had used money from illicit arms sales to Iran.
A quid pro quo was involved. Iran had helped the Republicans defeat Jimmy Carter by refusing to free the American hostages it had taken till soon after Reagan was elected. This was partly also because Carter had annoyed Khomeini with a self goal also known as the bizarre American air disaster that happened in the Iranian desert of Dasht-i- Lut.
However, light years before Reagan, Adolf Hitler had pursued terrorists. He called them communist terrorists. Today, George W. Bush has come a full circle as he targets Iran on terrorism. Poor Ahmedinejad is the new hot potato in Bush’s ever evolving definition of the global war. To comprehend the bluster in this venture, remember that during the covert bonhomie with Reagan, Iranian crowds were still chanting ‘death to Israel’ after the weekly Friday prayers. President Ahmedinejad has not said or done anything Iran didn’t say or do when Oliver North arrived in Tehran with a secret peace mission that was spurned by Khomeini.
So what kind of terrorists are Messrs Pervez Musharraf and Manmohan Singh proposing to pursue following their Havana pact for a joint mechanism to fight the scourge together? If history plays a hand, these people by tilting at their own windmills would give serious competition to Don Quixote.
But first let us be fair to the leaders of India and Pakistan. If their Cuban agreement is indeed going to be limited to an exchange of notes on, and the planning of a common strategy against those who caused the Mumbai train blasts for example or those who tried to assassinate Pakistan’s president and prime minister, the Havana pact is just the medicine the doctor ordered.
However, there are genuine fears that this may not be the case. The fact is that not unlike their guru in Washington, Messrs Musharraf and Singh are prone to grappling with shifting definitions of terrorism. The killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti is being seen as part of this widening definition in Pakistan. Likewise for India. If we see the priorities being spelt out carefully the state seems to be preparing to pursue as a perceived threat from Maoist Naxalites. Muslim extremists come second. This is the theme that has been dominating the Indian prime minister’s concerns.
In fact within a week or so after the Mumbai blasts Manmohan Singh was directing senior state officials to prepare to crush the Naxalites, defining them as the first priority in his version of the war. Nawab Bugti was sitting on priceless economic assets of Pakistan. The Naxalites similarly control mineral rich swathes in the heartland of India. Like Bugti’s men the Naxalites too are shored up by a predominantly tribal mass base. The war against terrorism seems set to turn upon South Asia’s indigenous tribes-people.
In their foreign pursuits too against alleged terrorism Messrs Musharraf and Singh share a common perspective. They were both ready to arm and fortify the dictatorial king of Nepal that would neutralise the Maoist threat to Kathmandu, who again comprise largely the indigenous tribes people. As for Sri Lanka, India plays here with a handicap. It cannot afford to be brazen enough in its support for the Sinhalese majority rulers of Colombo for fear of alienating its own highly charged up Tamils. Pakistan has no such qualms in Sri Lanka where it is arming the Sinhalese against the Tamils.
It’s not clear what great principle lies behind Pakistan’s endorsement of freedom and human rights for Kashmiris fighting Indian rule while denying these same rights to the Jaffna Tamils who want a homeland of their own on the island. It is ironical that Gen Musharraf was returning from Colombo after promising military aid to President Kumaratunga the day he got into a flap and staged his bloodless military coup.
We do not normally associate sagacious ideas and pearls of wisdom with rightwing leaders. However, Hindutva rabble-rouser and BJP dissident Uma Bharti probably made a serious point last week when she said that religious fundamentalism had a lot in common with business fundamentalism. According to the stormy petrel of the BJP the world faces a twin threat from religious and corporate extremists. In her own way Uma Bharti was alluding to America’s rightwing neo-con agenda.
This agenda has come to influence economic policies in both countries. Take Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz or Manmohan Singh and try to figure out a single difference in their economic worldview. There’s no difference. None, barring a small variation say between Citibank and World Bank. Most liberal analysts believe that it is this worldview nurtured under American tutelage that could eventually pose a more serious threat to the stability of South Asia.
As American artists and satirist Joel Pelletier put it fundamentalism is a way of thinking. Or, perhaps, not thinking. Says Pelletier: “Fundamentalism is all about being sure, without questioning. Fundamentalism is binary (yes/no, right/wrong, good/evil). Fundamentalism has nothing (necessarily) to do with religion, but it helps. Fundamentalism says all markets must be free, the Bible must be inerrant, and only one political party can be patriotic.”
The three branches of modern “American Fundamentalism”, according to Pelletier, are religious, economic and political extremisms. In the religious version, “you only get to heaven through our god, our way”. The economic fundamentalists believe that “to not profit for yourself and your friends is a sin”. Political fundamentalism is unabashed about its wisdom. “We are right about everything, and you are right about nothing,” it proclaims.
Arguably, these three principles of supposedly kosher fundamentalisms are being rapidly promoted by the state in India and Pakistan. Don Quixote was Cervantes’ metaphor for hallucination in a farcical genre. If the leaders of India and Pakistan go beyond their well-meaning resolve in Havana, it would not be so funny for South Asia.
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