Before it is too late

WITH a million soldiers confronting each other across their border, and the rhetoric between India and Pakistan growing more belligerent by the day, the world is watching in horror as the two hostile neighbours move inexorably towards war. What makes this confrontation more dangerous is that both sides are armed with nuclear weapons and possess nuclear-capable missiles that could obliterate each other’s major cities. This stark reality changes the entire context of the current stand-off. Fears are that even a small incursion, an accident or even a misunderstanding, could spiral out of control and lead to a conflagration of unimaginable proportions. Frantic diplomatic efforts by various global powers are now underway to convince India and Pakistan to step back from the brink. Yet, the voices of sanity and plain common sense are increasingly being drowned out in the frenzy that has gripped the subcontinent. What is most alarming is how recklessly the nuclear rhetoric war is being bandied about as if these weapons were simply the same as conventional weapons, only slightly bigger and more lethal. The cumulative effect of such outpourings can make the unthinkable come true.

A recent report by the US Defence Department offers a perfect damper on such myopic thinking. It predicts that a nuclear war between India and Pakistan could lead to a staggering twelve million deaths and untold damage to both countries. It is this shocking reality that the rulers of the two countries must urgently confront — and decide. Given the terrifying context in which the present stand-off is taking place, both India and Pakistan must act now to prevent a war in which there can be no real winners. At the heart of the matter is the festering sore of Kashmir, which has soured relations between the two countries for over five decades and led to two wars. Unfortunately, India’s obduracy in refusing to hold a dialogue on Kashmir or any other issues has been the major stumbling block to a resolution of the current stand-off. In the vacuum created by this lack of dialogue, the logic of war has had a free run and gained strength. If India believes that ‘cross border terrorism’ is the main cause for strife in Kashmir, it should argue its point at the negotiating table and hear Pakistan’s point of view on Kashmir.

Unfortunately, India has closed all doors on talks and instead raised the temperature by massing its troops on the border and threatened Pakistan with a “decisive war” unless it bows to its demands. It has refused to seek third-party mediation and yet gone about urging other countries to pressure Pakistan into ending alleged incursions across the Line of Control. Pushed to the wall, Pakistan had to respond in kind and make it demonstrably clear that it was quite capable of defending itself if a war is foisted on it. This tit-for-tat logic is not only self-defeating but destined to spiral out of control and lead to war. There is still time for the leadership of both countries to step back from the brink and save their impoverished people from what could be the worst catastrophe South Asia has ever known. Nuclear war should remain an unthinkable option and not be allowed to become the destiny of the people of the subcontinent

Menace of smoking

A “tobacco epidemic” is the phrase that has been used by the Pakistan Anti-Smoking Society (PASS) to describe the increasing trend of cigarette smoking in the country. According to an Islamabad-based NGO, the Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP), 35 per cent of adult males and 5 per cent of adult females in the country are smokers. This works out to about 28 million people, out of a total population of 140 million, who are addicted to smoking. The saddest thing about this “tobacco epidemic” is the alarming number of teenagers who have fallen victim to cigarette smoking. A study by another NGO based in Islamabad, the Network for Consumer Protection (NCP), shows that as many as 27 per cent of youngsters in the capital between 14 and 18 years of age are smokers. This unfortunate state of affairs has been attributed mainly to misleading tobacco advertisements over the electronic media glamourizing cigarette smoking among the young people.

It would be a good idea for the above three NGOs to come up with concrete measures to help arrest this negative trend among our youth, which is not only causing increasing incidence of lung cancer but other diseases like pneumonia, heart diseases, bronchitis, other respiratory problems as well as depression and even language impairment. The NCP has filed a petition before the Lahore High Court, Rawalpindi Bench, to stop PTV and PBC from using tobacco sponsorship before, during or after the telecasting or broadcasting of the events of the Football World Cup 2002, an event which the organizers, including FIFA and WHO, have declared as Tobacco Free. The CRCP has called on the government to institute comprehensive anti-tobacco legislation that would include measures like a ban on smoking in public places and increase considerably the tax on tobacco in order to discourage smoking. Not only does the government need to play an active role in the above-mentioned measures but campaigns should also be launched in all public and private schools, colleges, universities, offices, workplaces and over radio and television to inform and educate the people on the harmful and fatal effects of cigarette smoking.

Road repair travails

ONE of the most unusual — and painful — aspects of civic life in Karachi is the way repairs of roads are carried out. Undertaken mostly by semi-skilled contractors, repairs are done in utter disregard of the dislocation they cause to traffic and inconvenience to motorists and drivers of public transport vehicles. True, repairs are essential for all roads, and they have to be regularly carried out if the roads are to stay in shape. However, there should be a way of doing it. In advanced countries, with far heavier traffic on the roads, repairs are done methodically and in a way that causes the least disruption and inconvenience. On major thoroughfares, civic agencies normally decide to do repair work during weekends or at night. Also, repairs are carried out round the clock with a view to completing the work quickly and cause the least inconvenience to the public. In most cases, repair programmes are announced weeks in advance and diversions are provided so as not to waste commuters’ time.

In Karachi, however, these assentials are seldom observed. Busy roads are dug up without any notice, and often work proceeds at a leisurely pace for weeks. These days, a portion of the University Road — one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares — has been dug up, causing enormous difficulties for the public. At places, work has been completed, but the dug-up portion has not been macadamized. This pattern of repair can be observed everywhere in Karachi and other cities. Let the newly-installed city fathers do some fresh thinking on the issue and set up a committee to lay down guidelines for road repair.