Yet more protests in Kashmir

THE wave of protests and violence in Indian administered Jammu and Kashmir continues unabated. For a region that has been racked by violence for two decades, the magnitude of the latest problems can be gauged by the fact that observers are readily describing the protests as unprecedented. On Sunday, Indian authorities imposed a curfew in all 10 districts of the Kashmir Valley to prevent a massive pro-separatist rally in Srinagar. The rally was meant to be the culmination of a three day strike called by separatist leaders, who are demanding a referendum on the future of Kashmir. Some of those leaders, including Mirwaiz Umar Farooq and Syed Ali Shah Gillani, leaders of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference, and Yasin Malik, chief of the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, have been arrested. At least six protesters defying the curfew in the valley have been killed by Indian security forces. Meanwhile, Hindu protests in the Jammu region are also continuing. The region has been repeatedly shutdown and scores of protesters have been injured in clashes with security forces. The catalyst for the violence in Jammu and Kashmir was a decision by the state government to hand over 100 acres of forest land in the Kashmir valley to the Amarnath Shrine Board. Muslim protests forced the government to revoke the transfer but this only angered Hindu groups, who launched protests of their own.

Most immediately the Indian security forces need to show restraint. The enormous crowds that have gathered in the Kashmir valley on several occasions in recent weeks have for the most part been peaceful and non-violent. The Kashmiris have a right to protest peacefully. Fundamental issues that have lain dormant and not been addressed by the desultory peace process between India and Pakistan must now be taken up in earnest. Muslims in the Kashmir valley feel their homeland is occupied by foreign, Hindu elements and believe they have long been oppressed by Indian governments. Land and its ownership is therefore a particularly sensitive issue, which is exactly what lit the fuse of the present crisis. On the other hand, the Hindu majority in the Jammu region feels it is a victim of neglect and believes successive governments have been keen to placate Muslims at the expense of Hindus. So the cancellation of the land transfer was yet more ‘proof’ of government bias.

There are no easy answers to these problems. What is clear though is that the people of Jammu and Kashmir are desperately seeking change. Moreover, what happens in Kashmir — especially if it takes the form of repression by Indian security forces at this point — will determine the future of India-Pakistan relations. With cross border violence having subsided for the moment, the unrest in the Valley is of a purely indigenous character. If New Delhi fails to placate the Kashmiris and the turbulence escalates it will destabilise the region, drawing India and Pakistan into renewed confrontation over the state.

Ahmad Faraz

SUKHAN dard ka ab kaha jaaye na (of pain cannot be spoken anymore), wrote Ahmad Faraz, the greatest Urdu poet since Faiz. His departure leaves Urdu poorer, and at a loss for words which he so elegantly wove into its ghazal and nazm for over half a century. If ghazal was all about talking to women, Faraz lived as its Casanova; if it was a medium for romance, he was its reigning deity for the young and old alike. In its contemporary form, as crafted by progressive poets in the last century, ghazal became the medium for equating grief over unrequited love with that borne by a people, a nation wronged, and Faraz stood head and shoulders above the many crowding the genre. Likewise his nazm revealed the humanist in him who informed the poet; his inspirations were the people and the values of a life lived in freedom and dignity, which he cherished for all.

There was no ambiguity in the poet’s stance ever; no exigencies could waylay the people’s advocate, a rights activist par excellence, from his chosen path. Steadfast in his track and vesting full faith in a final win for the will of the people against despotism gripping his homeland, he marched on, even if all by himself, as he did by returning a government award in protest against Gen Musharraf’s policies in 2006. In the ensuing civil society’s struggle for the independence of the judiciary, his was the lone poetic voice, like Habib Jalib’s before him, leading the protests on the streets of Islamabad. He was victimised by the Musharraf regime for his outspokenness, sacked from a government job and evicted from his Islamabad house, with the family’s belongings thrown on the street. Earlier, too, Faraz paid quite a price for his political moorings, living in the anguish of self-imposed exile under the Ziaul Haq dictatorship, away from the people and the country he so affectionately resonated with. Of the separation from the beloved, the values he espoused, he sang eloquently in Wali Dakhani’s rhyme: Wali, Qutb ho woh keh Ahmad Faraz/ Piya baaj sach hai jiya jaye na (Be it Wali, Qutb or Ahmed Faraz/ Truth is, live one cannot without beloved). Alas, the poet is no more.

Another ‘postponement’

WALKING the tightrope with divergent forces on either side of it, the International Cricket Council has struck a balance with its decision to postpone the Champions Trophy. It is hard to find fault with it. But the decision is good enough only in the immediate term because it has resolved a crisis that was about to cause a serious split in the cricketing fraternity between the ‘whites’ and the Asians. In the long run, however, the postponement is likely to turn out to be nothing but a euphemism for cancellation. This is what the fate of the Champions Trophy is likely to be.

The technicality of scheduling apart, the main problem remains the lack of enthusiasm among the non-Asians for travelling to Pakistan. Despite recently hosting the Asia Cup, which went without a glitch in Karachi and Lahore, and despite assurances of the highest level of security to the visiting sides, Pakistan has not been able to make a convincing case. And there are potent reasons behind that. For one thing, the country is paying a certain price for being in the forefront of the war on terror with security having become a serious concern across the land. But much worse than the grim ground reality is the image deficit it is suffering from in the eyes of foreigners.

It is no secret that players from certain countries have always been reluctant to travel to Pakistan for it calls for a certain social adjustment while being here. That they may have used security concerns as a facade to mask their unwillingness is not an outright impossibility. That they continued playing in England in 2005 and in India a few months ago despite serious security lapses also betrays the double standards being practised by a few.

But still it is hard to find fault with them in the face of Pakistan’s perception as a flashpoint. Unfortunately ‘terrorism’ is a word that we hear more often than not with the first mention of Pakistan. Unless we somehow disengage the two, there will be a reason for international sports to stay away. The onus is on us.

OTHER VOICES - European Press

Preparing for next Olympics

The Telegraph

AND so the Olympic flag heads west. In a closing ceremony every bit as dazzling as the opening, the 29th Games of the modern Olympiad ended in Beijing’s Bird Nest stadium and London is now the official host city. The handover was marked with a quirky eight-minute cameo of the capital that smacked more of the swinging sixties than of the 21st-century cosmopolis that will stage the next Games. If this is a statement of intent from the 2012 organisers that they will not try to match Beijing in scale or spectacle but will instead rely on flair and wit, it is commendable. As an emerging superpower, China felt it had something to prove. London should — in keeping with our nation’s character — be a little more understated.

China will be well satisfied with its handiwork, all £20bn worth. The past fortnight has been a memorable coming-of-age party for the world’s economic powerhouse. In opening itself to foreign visitors and media, it has allowed itself to be subjected to greater scrutiny than at any time since the communist revolution. It will find it hard to haul the shutters back up. Even so, as the United States rightly pointed out … China has not lived up to the commitments on human rights that were part of its bid for the Games. The decision to subject two elderly women to a year’s re-education through labour for seeking to stage an anti-government protest — in an official ‘protest park’ at that — shows that the politburo’s repressive instincts remain intact, regardless of the gaze of the western media.

Yet the ceremonies that book-ended the Games will not, for all their coruscating brilliance, linger long in the memory. Who remembers the opening ceremonies from Athens or Atlanta, Sydney or Seoul? It is what happens on the track, in the pool, on the pitch that lasts and Beijing has produced a fabulous harvest of athletic memories — many of them coming courtesy of Team GB, the most talented group of Olympians this country has produced in a century.

Now the focus shifts four years ahead to an as yet unbuilt stadium in a rundown part of London. Tessa Jowell, the Olympics minister, says there will be no overrun on the £9.3bn budget for 2012 — a statement of the obvious, given the state of the public finances. Yet while a lower-key Games than Beijing will be no bad thing, the athletes must feel no pinch. The past fortnight has shown that proper funding (courtesy of the Lottery) enables our immensely gifted young stars to reach their full potential. Our target for 2012 was to take fourth slot in the medals table — we have reached that a full Olympiad ahead of schedule. Not bad; not bad at all. — (Aug 25)

Jobs for leaders’ wives

REVELATIONS that the spouses of Kenya’s vice-president and prime minister will be paid GBP3,150 ($5,800) a month for showcasing the “nation’s family values” have caused anger in a country where nearly half the population lives below the poverty line.

Pauline Musyoka, wife of vice-president Kalonzo Musyoka, and prime minister Raila Odinga’s wife Ida will receive the allowances despite holding lucrative jobs. They will also qualify for generous travel benefits.

The women will join President Mwai Kibaki’s wife Lucy on the state payroll. Mrs Kibaki saw her allowance jump last year to nearly GBP4,000 ($7,400) a month to account for her “increased social responsibilities.” She has hardly been seen in public this year.

In a directive authorising the payments, civil service head Francis Muthaura said that they were being made to reward the wives for their public activities and for acting as hostesses at official functions. The controversy over payments to the political elite dates back to 2003, when the first act of parliament in the post-Daniel Arap Moi era was to increase MP’s salaries. Subsequent hikes in allowances have made Kenyan parliamentarians among the world’s best paid, with a typical MP earning GBP70,000 ($130,000) a year, most of it untaxed. It is not only the size of the allowances that has enraged people, but the timing. Tens of thousands of people have yet to return to their homes following post-election violence. The economy is struggling to recover, while government spending shot up dramatically due to the appointment of 42 cabinet ministers.

The Sunday Nation newspaper said attempts “to invent jobs for the wives” was “patently disingenuous.” Mrs Musyoka, who works at the Central Bank of Kenya, has made no comment. A spokesman for Mr Odinga said that his wife, who is MD of the family molasses business, had not been officially informed of her new allowance. n

— The Guardian, London