A Hitlerite outburst

ARIEL Sharon does not believe in wearing even the proverbial fig leaf for his diabolical beliefs. His statement on Monday speaks for itself. In brief, even a Hitler could not have been more blunt about his views on the inferior race which Mr Sharon, as representative of the herrenvolk of Israel, has about Palestinians. Said the man, rightly called the Butcher of Beirut, that the Palestinians had to be “hit very hard because if they don’t feel they have been defeated, it will be impossible to return to the negotiating table”. To this he added: “Whoever wants to negotiate with them should hit them hard first, so that they understand that they will not get anything through terrorism”.

Normally, if any other head of government were to say such words, international condemnation would immediately follow. However, Israel seems to occupy a special place among the hearts and minds of those who happen to be the world’s conscience keepers. Even a cursory analysis of Mr Sharon’s remarks would suggest that the sense of logic of this “hero” of Sabra and Shatila is quite warped. For example, the only kind of Palestinian Authority he would like to deal with at the negotiating table is a defeated Palestinian Authority. But, if an entity is to be defeated then what is the point in negotiations? More so, because the Palestinians have proved by their courage that they are not a people who can accept defeat. Such offensive remarks only serve to highlight the Israeli government’s real intentions and Mr Sharon’s blood-thirsty psyche.

While the Europeans are critical of Mr Sharon’s murderous ways, they have done nothing practical to stop the violence and get the peace process revived. This inaction stems basically from the refusal to take sides in what is clearly a moral issue, and then come to the aid of the party that is by all canons of justice the oppressed. Only historical prejudice would prevent one from realizing that it is the Palestinians who are the oppressed ones and under siege in their own land. The Israeli security forces invade their towns and villages on a killing spree: they are the oppressors. The violence of the Israeli army is the violence of the oppressor and any reaction from the Palestinians is logically the resistance of the oppressed. While Israel gets billions of dollars of military hardware and aid, the interception of a single shipment of arms sets off alarm bells in Washington and the Palestinians are accused of resorting to terrorism. In a further twist of logic, the reprehensible tactics used by the Israeli army are seen as a justified response to terrorism while the resistance of the oppressed Palestinians is equated with terrorism.

The question is: who will convince Mr Sharon that the path he has chosen will lead only to further violence and the entrapment of Israel in the long run in its own perpetual jingoism? The only solution — and this is quite contrary to what Mr Sharon or his military advisers might have in mind — is that the peace process be revived and the Oslo accords, revised and distorted on Tel Aviv’s insistence, implemented to bring to an end Israel’s illegal occupation of Palestinian territory and to give them a sovereign state of their own.

Drawing up constituencies

THE Election Commission at its inaugural meeting in Islamabad on Monday has taken a number of important decisions to ensure the impartiality and independence of the electoral process. Maintaining the neutrality of the electoral process has gained added importance in view of the expansion in the size of the National Assembly under the reforms announced by the National Reconstruction Bureau earlier this year. Delimiting new constituencies to accommodate additional seats is obviously a ticklish issue in view of the overlapping interests of class, ethnicity, language and religion. In the past, candidates have often attributed their defeat to gerrymandering. Since candidates would want unhindered access to voters, maintaining the geographical compactness and homogeneity of constituencies should be a major consideration. This would not only help keep the process relatively non-controversial, it would also enable the contestants to be accessible to their potential voters. The areas proposed to be included in each constituency should therefore not arouse suspicions. Moreover, the fairness of the direct electoral process under freshly delimited constituencies will in turn impact on the fortunes of those candidates who will seek election on the basis of the newly introduced proportional representation system.

Political parties, more than individual contestants, will have a direct stake in this part of the electoral exercise. What lends increased importance to the task of delimitation is the elimination of separate electorates for minorities. There are fears that minorities may not necessarily gain from a joint electorate system. These considerations will have to be kept in view while framing draft delimitation proposals. Under the EC decision, the preliminary list of new constituencies will be published in the official Gazette. Any voter would be allowed to make a representation in respect of delimitation within 15 days of its publication. Perhaps more time should be given to the people and parties to study it and come forward with their reservations.

Lahore’s women police

QUESTIONS have been raised about the performance and even utility of women’s police stations, especially after the recent attempted suicide by a woman accused of theft. The woman tried to take her life by jumping from the third storey of Lahore’s Race Course police station building, where the women’s police station is working. The seriously injured woman accused the police of tormenting her and demanding money for her release. The incident suggested that the women’s police were employing the same old brutal tactics as their male colleagues to investigate crime.

Women’s police stations were meant to provide relief to women who felt reluctant to approach the male-dominated police with their complaints. They were also supposed to treat accused women humanely and fairly, avoiding the excesses that are generally associated with the male police. Unfortunately, this goal does not seem to have been achieved. There is growing disillusionment among those who had hoped that the setting up of women’s police stations would result in some improvement in the treatment of women. Exposure to the baneful influence of their male colleagues — with their penchant for physical violence and abuse of human rights — may be one cause for the poor performance of the women’s police. There is also inadequate professional training for investigating crime, leading to mishandling of cases. Mainly handling cases of domestic violence so far, the women’s police seem quite inadequate in tackling more serious cases. Of the 295 cases handled by the only women’s police station in Lahore in the six years of its existence, none related to murder. The maximum number of rape/ abduction cases reported to women’s police was a paltry eight each in 1999 and 2001, with the remaining cases being registered at regular police stations. Training in scientific investigation, including refresher courses, is urgently required to orientate the women’s police force along modern lines and to meet the challenge of providing justice to their own gender.