The opposition unites

IN spite of the differences, some of them acute, the opposition parties have finally managed to come out with a common strategy against the military-led government. The four-hour delay in signing the joint declaration was due to differences over the resignation issue in case President Pervez Musharraf decides to have himself re-elected by the existing assemblies. The PPP — already believed to be in secret negotiations with the government — did not wish to be categorical about its parliamentarians quitting the assemblies, as the other parties apparently seem determined to do if the general-president goes ahead with his plans. The result was a vague paragraph which pledges “united action, including the use of the option of resignations”. The declaration thus does not commit the PPP or any other party to resign. Also vague and open to the widest possible interpretation is the paragraph concerning the joint electorate, women’s reserved seats and the age limit. The consensus declaration, however, is emphatic about the need for restoring the 1973 Constitution as it existed before October 1999, and repealing the Legal Framework Order and the Seventeenth Amendment Act to which the MMA was a party.

Ignoring the political rhetoric and obvious demands —stopping the military operations in Fata and Balochistan, releasing all political prisoners, including those belonging to the MQM Haqiqi, ensuring free and fair elections, repealing the Pemra ordinance and appointing a caretaker government — the declaration has more or less focused on the real issues facing the nation and should provide food for thought for the military-led government. The parties gathered for the conference represent the people of all the provinces and all shades of opinion. For that reason the declaration can be said to articulate the wishes of the people of Pakistan to a large extent. What the parties gathered in London have done is to tell the generals that the nation has had enough of military rule, that the president must resign, that a caretaker government must take over to hold a free and fair election under an independent election commission, and that there must be an even playing field for all parties and individuals.

While all these demands are unexceptionable, the same cannot be said about certain other demands — for instance, those relating to women’s representation, minorities and the joint electorate. While the LFO has disfigured the basic law and stripped it of its parliamentary character, some laws by the military government are of a progressive nature and do not conflict with the aims of the London multi-party conference. The abolition of separate electorates and the introduction of a joint electorate, besides laws concerning women, minorities and the voting age limit, are provisions about which the religious right has reservations. The declaration is vague on these issues, and one hopes experts from all parties will study these laws carefully to make changes, if desired, in a way that do not rob these laws of their progressive character.

The delegates’ condemnation of the MQM is total. They have called it a fascist party, and have promised not to have any truck with it. It is time the MQM leadership did some soul searching of its own, realised that its political isolation is total, and adopted policies that could give it a more humane face, making it acceptable to all other parties as a partner in politics.

KESC in chaos

AS citizens suffer agonies, the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation continues to dither. The KESC management is clearly out of its depth and is yet to grasp the severity of the problem, let alone tackle it. Insiders say that the utility’s operational set-up is in complete chaos and the entire distribution network could collapse if the current ad-hoc approach to problem-solving is not abandoned forthwith. Blame is being laid on deteriorating discipline, lack of technical expertise in key management areas and the absence of a clear chain of command. Junior engineers complain that they are not allowed to use their judgment to fix problems as they arise and must await clearance from either the director of operations or the chief operating officer. Experienced senior engineers have lately left the organisation, among them the chief engineer in charge of generation. Siemens, KESC’s operations and management contractor, is mainly held responsible for the mess because of its pathetic performance and dubious role in a failed plant-purchase deal. The Siemens CEO, who was awarded the Sitara-i-Imtiaz this year, chose not to return promptly from a foreign trip when large sections of the network collapsed following the June 23 storm. All eyes then were on KESC’s director of operations, who happens to be an IT professional with not enough knowledge of electrical engineering. The power utility’s new chief executive officer, meanwhile, is a retired lieutenant-general who earlier served at the Fauji Foundation.

In all this, there is no solution in sight to what is perhaps the most pressing problem of all — increasing generation capacity. This key area has been neglected by the KESC since the private-sector management took over in November 2005, and it is no surprise that supply now consistently lags behind demand. On July 3, the KESC chief told a high-level meeting at the Governor House that the corporation “might” be able to meet demand by 2011. With at least four more years of torture to go, little wonder then that citizens are demanding that KESC’s privatisation be cancelled. Though this extreme step is unlikely, some manner of state intervention is called for in this case.

Threat to Chinese nationals

PAKISTAN’s friendship with China is unique. It has stood the test of time in every sphere, be it national security, economic cooperation or cultural relations. While fair-weather friends have come and gone with the changing winds, China has remained steadfast in its support for this country through thick and thin. The reverse, no doubt, is also true but a global powerhouse like China clearly has far more options in the international arena than Pakistan. As such, it goes to Beijing’s credit that it has never treated Islamabad like a junior partner. Chinese assistance for infrastructure development has resulted in a brand new port at Gwadar while work is underway on the Gomal Zam dam in South Waziristan. China has also invested heavily in the Saindak copper and gold mines in Balochistan, and has consistently shown interest in helping Pakistan exploit its huge and largely untapped coal reserves.

Help has consistently been forthcoming from Beijing despite serious setbacks such as the assassinations in 2004 of three Chinese nationals in Gwadar and an engineer working on the Gomal Zam project. Last year, three more Chinese were killed in an ambush in Hub. In a highly embarrassing incident last month, seven Chinese women and one man were kidnapped in Islamabad by the Lal Masjid brigade but were released unharmed shortly thereafter. Now, in an apparent reaction to the Lal Masjid siege, three Chinese men engaged in business in Peshawar have been shot dead by unidentified assailants. It is expected that, as in the past, this tragic episode will not sour relations between the two friendly countries. Nevertheless, it is incumbent on the authorities to track down the culprits, bring them to justice and provide maximum security to all Chinese nationals living in Pakistan. The fanatics must not be allowed to sabotage a relationship that has weathered many a storm and holds even greater promise for the future.

A tale of two empires

INDIA is getting nostalgic all over again. The ever inward-looking nation is celebrating the 150th anniversary of 1857, the First War of Independence against the British. So it’s only fit that travelling inside India, I have William Dalrymple’s ‘Last Mughal’ to accompany me.

Having discovered the British author almost accidentally nearly a decade ago, I have stayed on with Dalrymple, or rather he’s stayed on with me, ever since. The affair began with his first travelogue, ‘In Xanadu’, a spellbinding first-person account of his historical quest from Jerusalem to Xanadu in China. And it has progressed with book after book, ‘From the Holy Mountain’ to ‘City of Djinns’ and from ‘The Age of Kali’ to ‘White Mughals’. What a pleasure it is to discover a good book! And what an incredible joy it is to return to your roots and to a writer who has long been your favourite!

And this at a time when the sun-baked subcontinent plays hide-and-seek with the monsoon. It’s great fun to see the parched Deccan Plateau and what is known as the country’s rice bowl rise breathlessly to welcome the rain-laden clouds. The temperature is mercifully down in Hyderabad, thanks to the endless curtain of rain that stretches from the earth to heavens, as far as you can see.

Boy, is there a greater experience than watching the dried and sunken earth transform itself into a dazzlingly green beauty — slowly and sensuously? The weather must have been coquettish like this 150 years ago, when the soldiers of the 130,000-strong British Indian Army decided to rise against their masters and restore power to Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar, the legitimate ruler of the vast empire that once his forefathers commanded.

‘The Last Mughal’ is Dalrymple’s most touching and evocative tribute to those heroes and their reluctant leader, Bahadur Shah Zafar. Coming from a British (Scottish, to be precise) writer, this sympathetic account of India’s first brush with freedom is indeed rare. Most European accounts look at the event and subsequent history through their tinted blinkers.

If the sun finally set on the empire that ruled the world from one end of the earth to the other — America at one end, Australia on the other and Indian subcontinent in the middle — the 1857 developments played a decisive role in it.

Not surprisingly, 1857 is remembered by the British as the Mutiny — Gadar in Urdu and Hindi — in what was the most prized dominion of the empire. The jewel in the crown indeed! For the colonial power, Gadar was an act of betrayal, nay sheer sacrilege, by the ungrateful natives who did not appreciate the civilising and harmonising influence of the white rule. For Indians though, 1857 was the first valiant attempt to throw out the yoke of colonial rule. The landmark event is rightly celebrated as the First War of Independence.

In May this year, Indian leaders and lawmakers gathered in parliament to flag off the yearlong celebrations of the historic anniversary. Similar celebrations are taking place on the other side of the divide in Pakistan. Since Hindus and Muslims in the undivided India fought side by side in 1857, just as they have in all subsequent struggles against the colonial rule, Pakistanis’ keenness not to be left behind is understandable. The perfunctory ceremonies though that pass for official celebrations do not let you comprehend the truly epoch-making character of the 1857 struggle.

The speeches made by Indian leaders Manmohan Singh, Sonia Gandhi and others, dripping with patriotic fervour as they were, might have made Indians feel good about their heroic past and proud of the courageous men and women who sacrificed themselves to win freedom and dignity for their country.

However, few in South Asia today seem to be aware of the epic proportions of the battle that their forefathers fought. As far as the people of my generation — or generations before and after it — are concerned, this is just another anniversary. Another date in history! This is sad given the fact that 1857 not only shaped our past but it has also built our present and may yet form our future. The heroes who paid with their lives for the cause of liberty and dignity might not have succeeded in their struggle to drive the colonial forces out then. But their sacrifices ensured that the people who came after them enjoyed the fruits of freedom.

The year 1857 remains relevant to the people of South Asia and the rest of the world for two reasons. First, it tells us that freedom and dignity come first for any people. Simple as that!

You cannot suppress and control a people for long at gunpoint or by offering them lollipops. Carrots and sticks both do not work, if a self-respecting people decide to restore themselves the freedom and dignity that God originally bestowed on them. In their arrogance that comes naturally to people with infinite power, the British forgot that there are limits to tolerance of even those who may appear all submissive and obedient. You cannot keep human beings in chains for long by challenging their freedom and sense of self-respect.

It was this haughty indifference of the East India Company merchants that brought wave after wave of Company soldiers, the largest force in Asia at the time, out of their barracks and out on the streets.

Within hours, the spark of freedom that had originated in the cantonments of Meerut and Kanpur had developed into a wildfire raging across the length and breadth of the vast country. And thousands of Hindu and Muslim soldiers and fighters marched in unison to Delhi to reaffirm their loyalty to the old poet-emperor in the Red Fort.

Regardless of the final and tragic outcome of the 1857 struggle, I believe it was one of the finest hours in the undivided India’s history. Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs, men and women and young and old joined hands in this noble struggle to rediscover a lost country and their collective freedom and dignity.

The ruthless crackdown and manipulation by the British to take back the power is part of history now. The bloodshed in Delhi went on for several weeks with the old Muslim quarters of the city being worst hit. Zafar’s own sons were killed in cold blood with their heads being presented to the 84-year old emperor on a platter. And the frail, old man was banished to Burma where he died in total seclusion and obscurity, pining for his homeland. His magical poetry, full of pathos and pain, remains the only link with the country he madly loved. How could anyone forget the immortal lines:

Kitnaa hai badnaseeb zafar dafan ke liye

Do gaz zamiin bhii naa milii kue-yaar mein

(How unlucky Zafar is! Couldn’t even find himself two yards of land for burial in his beloved’s country)

The 1857 revolution might have failed in its original mission. But the spirit of bonhomie and unity that the movement generated was successfully harnessed nearly a century later.

The freedom movement, pioneered by Ali brothers, Gandhi, Jinnah, Nehru, Azad and others, later in 20th century succeeded by emulating the example of Hindu-Muslim unity during the 1857 struggle. So isn’t it a shame that in India today as it revisits the spirit of 1857, there’s little or no mention of the crucial role Muslims played in the country’s liberation?

Secondly, in their import and far-reaching impact, the events of May 1857 can only be compared to September 11, 2001, landmark in the US history. The British refusal to draw necessary lessons from what was in their view a mutiny culminated in the empire’s dismemberment in less than a century. What began with India’s independence did not stop there. The Raj was soon forced to withdraw from the whole of Asia, Middle East and Africa. Britain finally paid dearly for its hubris.

Watching Bush’s America blunder from Afghanistan to Iraq and fight what it calls the war on terror in rest of the world, you wonder if the US has drawn its lessons from its own empire. For what is going on in Iraq today is little different from what happened in India 150 years ago. And as George Santayana warned, if you do not learn from history, you are condemned to repeat it.

The writer is a Dubai-based journalist
aijazsyed@khaleejtimes.com

Pop songs solve nothing

OCCASIONALLY a noble attempt to galvanise action proves so ineffective that it only entrenches hopelessness. There is a risk that Saturday’s Live Earth could fall into that category. It was an extraordinary feat of organisation, involving eight concerts on seven continents, and was seen on television by as many as two billion people.

Yet instead of inspiring the world to action it merely highlighted how little of substance was being done to avert climate catastrophe. There were warning signs already: the Istanbul concert was abandoned for lack of support and Rio, the centrepiece of the effort, had to be salvaged by the last-minute intervention of Al Gore himself.

Part of the problem was that there was something flawed in the Live Earth psychology: in the cause of tackling a problem that must ultimately be solved by reducing consumption, it will conspicuously consume resources, as the Guardian reported on Saturday. But the gloom might also be because Live Earth was raising awareness of a problem with no attractive solution.

It was Bob Geldof, a particularly grumpy critic of the Live Earth effort, who remarked that pop songs solve nothing. They can raise money, of course, as Geldof knows, for back in 1985 his Live Aid set an extraordinary precedent in loosening individuals' purse strings, if not the rich world's government aid budgets. And they can raise the pressure on politicians, as Live 8 seemed to do for a time in 2005.

Above all, they can raise hopes, on that occasion stirring ambitions of a world where poverty was made history. The idealism of the march and concert in Edinburgh back then encouraged thousands of those who took part to believe that the world leaders gathered almost within earshot would be inspired to make commitments that could kick-start Africa into prosperity.

But the limits of rock'n'roll remedies to the world's problems were on display at the G8 last month when, two years on from Live 8 and Gleneagles, there was a bad-tempered scramble just to get many of the participants (though not the UK) to recommit themselves to the promises they had made in 2005. Meanwhile, as the UN reported earlier this week, poverty in sub-Saharan Africa is stubbornly resistant to improvement.

The UN's millennium development goals, which include the aims of universal primary education and greatly expanded access to clean water, were set in 2000, but with half the time elapsed before the 2015 deadline, it transpires that African progress is far from on track. Now the heady hopes of 2005 have faded, some hardened campaigners are wondering whether a less audacious, but more tightly focused, campaign might have been preferable. It is to be hoped that the organisers of Live Earth will not find themselves looking back in the same mood of anger.

To try to avert this, Live Earth's organisers have rightly recognised the need to keep the pressure on after the show is over. They have devised seven objectives for the global audience to buy into, from pressuring politicians to sign up to cuts that will reduce global-warming pollution by 90 per cent by 2050 to going green at home. Stop Climate Chaos, the coalition embracing the UK's main green lobby groups that was backing the Wembley concert, sees it as an unmissable opportunity to communicate with the unconverted.

Yet many people are already aware of what doing their bit would involve. The trouble is that they also know that if every household in Britain were, say, to bike to work and wash their whites at 30 degrees, the carbon savings would be entirely negated by a few days' emissions from the coal-fired power stations that China is rapidly building so that it can supply us with cheap manufactured goods. That is the logic that leads to the gloomy conclusion that an individualistic response will never be adequate. Taking the moral high ground might be a good reason for turning down the heating and taking the bus. But it will not save the world.

— The Guardian, London