Regrets over ’71 excesses

PRESIDENT Pervez Musharraf has done the right thing by expressing regrets over “the excesses committed” during the 1971 civil war and referred to the traumatic events as “unfortunate.” The president was certainly voicing the feeling of the entire nation when he said that “your brothers and sisters in Pakistan share the pain of the events of 1971.” Correctly did he remark that it was time both sides buried the past. In keeping with the occasion — while laying wreaths at the National Martyrs Memorial near Dhaka — the president was sombre but articulate. He wrote in the visitors’ book, “Let not the light of the future be dimmed. Let us move forward together,” because, as he put it, the “courage to compromise is greater than to confront.” The president repeated his remarks at the banquet later that day when he said the two peoples once constituted “a family town faced by a whirlwind of unfortunate events.”

There is no doubt the events of 1971 leading to the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign state constitute a sorry chapter in Pakistan’s chequered history. The “excesses” to which the president referred are a matter of historical record, with both sides guilty of massacres and horrendous human rights violations. It would be futile to lay all the blame on one side while exonerating the other. Apologists on the side of Pakistan have often blamed the violence against non-locals as the beginning of the nine-month long crisis, while for those on the other side it all began with the Pakistan army’s crackdown on the night of March 25, 1971, followed by military operations throughout the province in a manner that alienated even the moderates and drove them into the fold of the extremists. The casualties were heavy, and there is no denying the fact that honest intellectuals in Pakistan have squarely blamed Islamabad for thoroughly bungling the situation in the then restive East Pakistan by refusing to honour the results of the 1970 general election. That the army was called in to put down the agitation of a people justifiably angry at being denied power was the most unfortunate part of the 1971 tragedy.

The situation was compounded when India took advantage of what was basically Pakistan’s internal problem and saw this as “an opportunity of the century” to dismember Pakistan. The subsequent mass exodus of millions of people to India, the arming and training of the Mukti Bahini guerillas by New Delhi, the Indian attack on Pakistan on December 4, 1971, and the humiliating surrender in Dhaka are events that will continue to haunt the two sides. However, time is a great healer, and perhaps it will be quite some time before people on both sides begin to see things in their correct perspective or realize that the separation of East Pakistan was the inevitable result of the decades of misrule and autocracy, the absence of civil liberties and democratic rights, the denial of provincial autonomy and the perpetuation of an unjust economic order.

Nevertheless, in spite of all that happened then, peoples in both countries are prepared to forgive and forget. Any Pakistani visitor to Bangladesh cannot but note the fund of goodwill that exists for Pakistan and its people. It is this goodwill that needs to be deepened and given concrete shape in the form of closer economic, cultural and technical cooperation. Fortunately, there are no outstanding problems between the two countries, except the question of the Pakistani nationals stranded there since 1971. One hopes the two sides will find a satisfactory solution to this long neglected human problem.

Showdown in Islamabad

FOUR people were killed and dozens injured on the outskirts of Islamabad on Monday during pitched battles between villagers and the police. The trouble started when bulldozers moved in to start work on a new housing project for the capital in two nearby villages. The highly charged villagers alleged that the Capital Development Authority had begun work on the new D-12 sector without paying them adequate compensation or giving them alternative plots. The police initially resorted to teargassing to disperse the angry crowd and then indiscriminately set upon innocent men, women and children as they opened fire. Even journalists were not spared, with the police threatening to shoot them and smashing their cameras. The police, however, claim that it was the villagers who first opened fire on them, provoking retaliation in self-defence. However, this allegation is belied by the fact that none of the hospitalized policemen had sustained bullet injuries. The incident is yet another example of the high-handed tactics employed by officialdom when dealing with protests against development projects.

While development is necessary, it often entails disruption and the relocation of people. This process can be humanely and judiciously undertaken and carried out to the satisfaction of all parties. Sadly, evictions are often carried out by using strong-arm methods and without making sure that compensation has been paid. Because Pakistan has a poor record in dealing with the victims of development, people are increasingly sceptical of official promises, making the task of planners more difficult. Communities now resist evacuation until they have physical possession of alternative plots or compensation money in hand. While the CDA claims that it has paid huge amounts in compensation, villagers allege that the money never reached them and was siphoned off by developers or their agents. Those who were paid say that they received paltry amounts. It is reassuring that President Pervez Musharraf has ordered a probe into the incident and called for action against those responsible for the loss of lives. For the sake of future development, an inquiry into the incident should be conducted urgently and any injustice against those facing eviction should be immediately rectified.

Harsh and uncalled for

THE harsh treatment meted out to the protesting teachers by the Lahore police on Monday is to be strongly deplored. The teachers were holding a rally against the proposed denationalization of educational institutions when they were roughed up — some of them were dragged by the hair and their clothes torn — and bundled into waiting police vans. In the baton charge, a number of them, including lady teachers, were injured. Teachers spearheading the campaign against denationalization for the past many days have been maltreated by the police even before. But Monday’s action surpassed all acts of high-handedness committed against them. During the four-hour operation, the police reportedly arrested around 250 teachers, many of them elderly educators.

Whatever their stand, there was no justification for roughing them up or humiliating them. Moreover, they had not created any law and order problem as such or indulged in violence to warrant such drastic action by the police. Their protest meeting could have been allowed to pass off peacefully, without any unpleasant incident marring the proceedings. Teachers are supposed to constitute one of the most respected segments of society. Subjecting them to such harsh treatment for registering their protest is palpably unfair. Nowhere are teachers so harshly treated as in our country. It is an obvious instance of use of unnecessary and excessive force and mishandling by the so-called law and order authorities. Such hamhanded actions must be avoided and the policemen responsible for committing excesses in the present case taken to task.