| December 08, 2008 | Monday | Zilhaj 9, 1429 |
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Woeful working of our embassies
Processing news into movies
No park entrance fee — a devastating decision
Are days of mini-budget over?
American columnist’s advice
Army of advisers
Arms-free zone
Civil procedure
Hoax call
Europe’s deep concern
Readers are requested to restrict their comments to a maximum of 400 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for reasons of clarity and space. Letters, including those by e-mail, should carry the complete postal address of the sender. The views expressed in these columns do not necessarily reflect the views of the newspaper.—Editor
IT is surprising that our media has not taken notice of a very strange and ominous phenomenon following the Mumbai blast. This phenomenon is the ‘swift’ convergence of intelligence services, all of them are surprisingly from those countries which are directly involved in the ongoing wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
These are from the US, the UK, Australia and Israel. None has come from any Asian or African countries, notably, from Russia or China who have incidentally refrained from any doomsday comments.
Disregarding for a moment any hand of the countries just mentioned behind the blast one may safely assume from their alacrity that there is something more in their presence than meets the eye. Perhaps this is regarded as a golden opportunity to bamboozle India into quick commitment to aims and plans of Israel and the US for the Middle East, in particular, and for this part of our region, in general.
None of these countries showed any willingness to come to Pakistan to help investigate the blast at Marriott Islamabad. The damage and loss of life at Marriott were no loss than that of the Taj.
India is already very anxious to take on some kind of role in Afghanistan, in particular, and in the Gulf area, in general. India has already obtained facilities for docking and repair of its naval vessels on the Oman coast. The Indian navy very recently ‘arrested’ a ship on suspicion of its connection with the pirates which turned out to be utterly ridiculous!
There are other two sectors, among several others, which may benefit from the Mumbai blast. The Indian army is not very happy with the arrest of some of its personnel for involvement in terrorist acts. They would like to see the Indian government allow the army more say in defence matters, especially with regard to Kashmir and Pakistan.
The overreaction of the Indian government against Pakistan has only made it more dependent upon the army which may have come under increasing influence of the US following the ‘strategic consensus’.
In addition, the main opposition party, the BJP, has attracted a large number of retired army officers who are now very active on its behalf. The hue and cry by the Indian government will only strengthen the communal mindset of this section of the Indians.
The other sector which may not be unsympathetic towards the Mumbai blast are the Tamils. The Tamils are faring very badly in Sri Lanka; they may direct their fury and frustration towards someone which happens to be the Indian government which soon after partition held the dream of lording it over Sri Lanka, Nepal and other neighbours. The Tamil anger not very long ago took the shape of the murderous attack on Rajiv Gandhi.
The sanest policy is for India to line up with Pakistan against the spreading terrorism in this area instead of trying to be clever. It already has considerable problems in Bihar and northeast India which would be compounded by any internal strife as a result of coercion of untouchables and Muslim and Christian minorities. To this may be added the resistance by the leftist elements in India who will not easily agree to India becoming a western surrogate in this area.
The moral of Mumbai episode and similar others in the past is that regional instability if not corrected can engulf all and sundry. If India had cooperated instead of playing games with Pakistan, the metastasis of terror cancer starting in Afghanistan might not engulf India also. Conflagration in the neighbouring house affects without fail all the neighbours.
F. HASAN
Karachi
(II)
CRAMMING historical facts for an examination is an exhausting endeavour but these facts remain in your memory all your life. The recent Mumbai ‘attacks’ were a source of extreme mental distress for all those concerned.
A group by the name of the ‘Deccan Mujahedeen’ has emerged on the map of the world and they claim to be inhabitants of the Indian state of Hyderabad Deccan.
Let us reflect a little on the history of Hyderabad and how closely this state is connected to the ongoing rivalry between Pakistan and India. In 1947, Hyderabad Deccan was a prosperous state with a well-equipped army and a huge economy. It was one of the many states in India that were under the ‘raj’ of nawabs or princes.
The Nizam of Hyderabad was alone one of the richest men in the world and he was a Muslim. At the time of partition, Lord Mountbatten, the viceroy of India at that time, told all the princes and nawabs that they were free to accede to whichever country they wanted to be part of.
The Nizam of Hyderabad Deccan wanted to be free, but when this was not favourable in the eyes of the British Raj, he decided to accede to Pakistan. This may sound biased, but the source where I obtained this information was a British historian, by the name of Nigel Kelly.
He states that India, when it heard of the Nizam’s desire to accede to Pakistan, surrounded the area of Hyderabad Deccan and refused to let it accede to Pakistan.
The Pakistan government retaliated by filing a petition to the United Nations. This issue still remains unresolved.
When on Nov 27 I heard that the terrorists claimed to be from the above-mentioned state, I was surprised, and this idea just popped up in my mind. Are there still some people in Hyderabad Deccan who want to come to Pakistan or is this just a reaction to the mass killings of minorities in Hindu-dominant states. Only God knows and the Indian intelligence agencies.
TAYYABA JAWAD
Lahore
I RECENTLY went to Bangkok to attend a conference for two days and was stuck for about 10 days because of the closure of their main airport. I finally flew from U Tapao Military airport and came via Kuala Lampur.
During this ordeal we met the Madam Ambassador at an exhibition of various countries held at the Central World. Interestingly she was selling home-made samosas for 20 baht each, among other things. When I asked her if she could help us in getting out of Bangkok, she said she herself was helpless in this situation.
We finally decided to get a Malaysian visa so that we could drive or fly down there and take a plane back home from there. After putting in our application, we went to the Pakistan High Commission to register but were thoroughly disappointed.
It is a grand embassy where we were first made to wait at the gate and then were asked to sit in the basement and wait for someone to talk to us.
After waiting for over half an hour with many other stranded Pakistanis, I decided to inquire what was happening. It was then that we were told by the peon that there was nobody to talk to us and they are all expected soon, it was 10.30am at the time.
I then asked him to give us a piece of paper so that we could put our names and contacts. I left a note asking them to get in touch with us and left all contact numbers including mobile, needless to say that we never received any calls.
Most of the countries sent out planes for the repatriation of their citizens except for Pakistan which have heartless staff, both inside and outside the country.
Gen Khatir, the ambassador, is perhaps still in his military mode and feels that he is too big to assist a common Pakistani, which makes me wonder what kind of work they are supposed to do.
The consulates of New Zealand and Malaysia were housed in a much smaller commercial establishment and were far more responsive to us than our own high commission. Is this country for the top military brass, bureaucrats and the politicians only?
In this time of economic crisis we should close down all the consulates and sublet the visa issuance to a third party like the UK has done with FedEx as, I am sure, these establishments have not contributed anything substantial for exports or projecting the country, they all seem to be living for themselves.
I would imagine that we will end up saving millions of dollars and also do away with the wrath of the people who are treated like they are in an enemy embassy.
HASHIM
Karachi
THE Indian film industry is said to be the biggest in the world in terms of annual output of movies. It churns out 900 films each year. An international Bollywood research study on the preferences of an average Indian moviegoer was recently conducted by Amanda Sodhi of Maryland University.
It revealed that an Indian watches a minimum of three to four new movies every month. No doubt an average Indian looks for drama in every aspect of life. And to cater to that insatiable palate for sensationalism, the Indian news media, especially TV, twists any noteworthy item into a short fiction film to keep that quasi-reality intact.
The Mumbai terror attacks were played out like a movie to the people who sat glued to the tube to witness the unfolding drama. Twists and turns abound, the short film became an epic saga with a running time of 60 hours. Of course you cannot discount the stellar cast lead by the Indian security agencies, namely the National Security Guards that wanted to enjoy its debut starring role and did everything possible to prolong the dramatics even if it meant hostages losing lives!
They wouldn’t let go of their moment of glory for nothing. Have you ever seen commanders of different units coming on TV and giving comments on an ongoing operation? The commander of the Black Cats crack unit couldn’t be discouraged as he appeared in full garb, with a black beret on top, dark shades, and a sinister black bandana to cover most of his face.
He spoke to the media in elaborate detail. The NSG commander followed the spotlight as soon it came on! And he wouldn’t leave it alone for three days and three nights. Oh! How I wished the Indian authorities would send in Sunny Deol…..he would have annihilated the ‘ghus-baithiyas’ in a matter of minutes…. 90 minutes at the most, with some songs thrown in as well.
NADEEM WARIS
Karachi
I HAVE been a regular visitor of parks in Lahore for the last about eight years and it gives me immense pleasure to feel the natural beauty our parks are full of.
These parks have been the prominent recreational sources for people of Lahore and are no less than a blessing for those who want some fresh air in a city where oxygen is rare. People in the past never complained about the negligible entry fee of Rs2 but the elimination of this entry fee has been a disastrous decision.
There is a huge difference noticed in the cleanliness of parks. Even on the first day after elimination of the ticket when I visited Gulshan-i-Iqbal, a beautiful park situated in Allama Iqbal Town, I noticed piles of plastic bags in the park’s lake as if they are having a pool party. The worse thing is that they have made it their permanent house as now I see them every day when I visit the park.
Nobody is now concerned about clearing the mess, a glimpse of lake life (turtles and fish) which were commonly noticed before are not to be seen again due to the terrorist attack of plastic bags on them. What propelled me to write this letter is an event I saw recently when two persons with guns in their hand entered the park and started jogging on the track, at that moment I felt being somewhere in Afghanistan.
No one was there to stop them from entering the park with weapons as after this elimination of entrance fee now there are no security guards and the gates are open for all.
This exclusion of an entrance ticket has not proved to be a successful decision. In a country where illiteracy is high and awareness is low, parks have to be saved by imposing this ticket again or putting in the same kind of security and cleanliness. Why isn’t an entrance fee imposed again and the money which is collected by these tickets is used to subsidise everyday utility items for the poor? There is a need to do a lot of thinking to make things better. Let’s hope common sense prevails.
RAI NAVEED SULTAN
Lahore
AS reported on the Business pages of Dawn (Audits to hunt tax evaders
— Tarin rules out mini-budget, Dec 5), the adviser to the prime minster on finance has declared that the government has decided to hunt the ‘big fish’ involved in tax evasion and further claimed that there will be no mini-budget during the current financial year ending June 2008.
Although these assertions are welcome in view of overall depressing circumstances the country’s economy at present is passing through, yet history proved that such claims have always proved merely political rhetoric being never unfulfilled. The de-linking of consumer organisations such as Wapda, KESC, PSO and gas from the national budget by creating so-called autonomous organisations such as Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority (OGRA) and National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) to determine tariffs any time they wish has made the national budget hardly consequential for the general public.
These organisations instead of protecting interests of the consumers have made their lives miserable as increases in the prices of commodities, i.e. oil, gas and electricity, enhance the cost of almost every merchandise, which especially hurt the poor and the middle class severely. Basically the time OGRA or NEPRA enhance the tariff, it is the mini-budget for the people howsoever the adviser negates the fact.
However, for catching the tax evaders for which the adviser has used the cliché ‘big fish’, what essentially is required is the political will of the present regime. The history in the respect has never been enviable as most of the time the so-called ‘big fish’ are found hobnobbing with those who are sitting in the corridors of power and obviously the present dispensation is no exception.
Still I wish the finance adviser the best of luck in catching the big fish and recover taxes due from them so that Pakistan can become economically prosperous.
AMANULLAH TURK
Dubai
ONE would begin with the story of two identical twins named Ecilop and Noog. One grew up to become a scientist while the other took to gangsters. Ecilop would develop novel kinds of weapons and Noog would use them to shock and awe any challengers to his domain.
Along the line, Noog came up with an ambitious plan, went to a country named Ebolg and offered to become its chief policeman. As his foremost qualification, he cited the possession of frightful weapons invented by his brother, which he claimed, could vapourise any opponent and turn a rebellious territory into a wasteland.
Understandably, he got the job and, over time, acquired power and riches in Ebolg. But, towards the end of his tenure, his conscience pricked him about a number of his misadventures and he publicly owned up to these. The people of Ebolg felt cheated and decided to fire him.
Some of the perceptive readers may have noticed that Ecilop is actually ‘Police’ spelled in reverse, while Noog is ‘Goon’ and Ebolg is the globe. This fable is meant to show the role United States has played in the world from WW II on, in trying to be its policeman.
First, it incinerated and vapourised nearly 200,000 innocent Japanese men, women and children in 1945 through atomic bombs, which was ultimate terrorism. Then, in the Vietnam war it used Agent Orange to wipe out forests serving to conceal the enemy forces. Apart from millions killed in that needless war, the defoliant permanently affected millions more.
The newest adventure has been in Iraq, where over a million Iraqis have met an untimely death just because America decided to invade it. Now, perhaps bothered somewhat by his conscience, Mr Bush said the other day that he felt sorry his intelligence agencies had provided wrong information about Saddam Hussain’s WMDs.
However, he never expressed any sorrow over the huge Iraqi casualties and the four million who became homeless. It reminds me of Shakespeare’s words: “Man proud man, dressed in a little authority, plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven as make the angels weep.”
In this backdrop comes an article by the Washington Post columnist Robert Kagan, who is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment in Washington. He has advised placing Pakistan’s tribal belt and areas where terrorist groups allegedly have their bases under international control.
Mr Kagan suggested forming an international force to invade those areas and destroy the bases although such an undertaking would violate Pakistan’s sovereignty. He has argued that “Pakistan and other states that harbour terrorists should not take their sovereignty for granted. In the 21st century, sovereign rights need to be earned. (Dawn, Dec. 3).
Who had given the right to the US to kill and maim millions of people in the 20th and 21st centuries? It was a ‘right’ earned not by its compassion or humanism but by sheer force of WMDs and gunboat diplomacy. The American broadcaster, writer and intellectual David Bersamian has revealed much about the unlawful and outrageous acts of his nation, during lecture tours of Pakistan.
Before faulting Pakistan, people like Mr Kagan must show some realism, if not empathy, by trying to understand the troubles that have shaped its present predicament.
India hounded us right from 1947. The occupation of Junagadh and Kashmir, among other places (including Goa), is an indelible proof of New Delhi’s aggressiveness and expansionism, with the first two issues still pending before the UN. Anyone with any sense of justice should first call for resolution of the underlying causes of hostility in the region.
The breaking up of Pakistan by India in 1971 is another undeniable fact. Things like these, as well as the latter’s detonation of an atomic device in 1974, deceptively named the ‘Smiling Buddha’, forced Islamabad to take the nuclear path, which bothers the West so much. If the world powers had checked India’s covetousness and hegemonies, there would have been no militarism, no nukes or desire in some Pakistanis to wage jihad for Kashmir.
Similarly, the British philosopher and peace activist Bertrand Russell, who had worked for India’s freedom until 1947, was so disillusioned by the time of the Sino-Indian conflict of 1962 that in his book ‘Unarmed Victory’ he accused India of having double standards regarding Kashmir and Nagaland. He also held India responsible for initiating the war with China.
In view of all these facts, Pakistan needs a sympathetic and helpful approach, not occupation of its territory. If the root problems are resolved, the militancy will wither away rapidly.
QAMAR IQBAL
Karachi
IN the presence of a large number of elected representatives and ministers, a number of non-elected people have also been appointed advisers to the chief minister. Most of them even have not been assigned any portfolios.
In spite of poor the financial condition of the country, it is not understood why so many people are being appointed advisers, special assistants, though they have nothing to do. They are nothing but a burden on the national exchequer. I hope the IMF would also look into this aspect while asking the government to curtail its expenses.
KTH
Karachi
IRRESPECTIVE of the status and stature, no one should be allowed to carry arms on person. Weapons should be withdrawn from guards as they have failed to protect the premises, property and life.
The streets, neighbourhoods, playgrounds and workplaces should be cleared of weapons.
With an open heart, all must accept the rule and practise it.
This will release tension and Karachi will be back on the track.
AFSHAN TARIQ
Karachi
DURING some past litigation I was flabbergasted to note that pending appeal in the superior courts, the executing court carried out execution against the defendants.
This is analogous to hanging to death an accused by the lower courts during the pendency of an appeal.
MAZHAR BUTT
Karachi
THE height of distrust in relations between Indian and Pakistan can be judged by the news published in one of the leading English-language newspapers (Dec 6) about a reported hoax call from Indian External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee that could have triggered a war in the subcontinent.
Reportedly on Nov 28 senior officials in the President’s House here in Islamabad transferred a call of the Indian external affairs ministry to Mr Zardari, without authenticating the caller’s identity. The caller directly threatened to take military action against Islamabad, after that the tension heighten between the two countries as a top Pakistani security official in a media briefing announced that next 48 hours are crucial to determine Pakistan-India ties.
Ironically, both countries hold talks on a regular basis to normalise their ties; however, it is shocking to hear they may be put against each other only on a single anonymous call. Leadership of India and Pakistan should act more sensibly during such incidents.
M. AAMIR
Rawalpindi
I BEG to differ with your Brussels’ correspondent, Shada Islam, writing under the above mentioned caption (Dec 6). Leaving aside that who created terrorists on our soil, our present concern is how to clear this mesh.
Would the Europeans largely and Americans especially really like to clear this mesh? Never. Until and unless their long-term interests are safeguarded in the regional context.
Then knowing it why are they pressuring Pakistan to clear this mesh unilaterally? It is crystal clear that Americans don’t like peace in this region unless their interests are not only accepted by regional players but also by Europeans too.
A retired Afghan diplomat has recently vowed on this Great Game where several players are currently engaged and has suggested to solve this issue by declaring Afghanistan as a neutral state like Switzerland, pledging its development only. Will they come up?
IFTIKHAR A. MALIK
Lahore
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