Beyond Afghan operation

THE Pakistan Foreign Office has relied on its familiar formulations in commenting on a remark by the head of the US Central Command indicating the possibility of American troops at some point needing to enter countries neighbouring Afghanistan in the hunt for Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters. A Foreign Office spokesman said on Monday there was no question of allowing US troops to operate on Pakistani soil and reiterated that Pakistani troops were “fully capable” of meeting any eventuality. The spokesman also, as has increasingly been the wont of our officials in recent months, cited US certifications of the cooperation being received from Pakistan by the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan as obviating the necessity of any actual American military presence in Pakistan. A State Department spokesman has made the same point, saying Islamabad and Washington have been cooperating productively in the “war on terrorism” and that there have been no talks, so far, on the deployment of US troops in this country.

The point is not whether the issue has been raised so far or not, but what if it is raised in the next few weeks or months. Has the Foreign Office worked out a response to such a request? The Central Command chief, General Tommy Franks did not mention Pakistan when he said at the Bagram air base on Sunday that the military campaign against Al Qaeda and the Taliban could not be limited to Afghanistan. But since Pakistan happens to occupy a more crucial place in the current military drive, and since the country’s tribal areas particularly are seen as probable hideouts, it would be naive to believe that the pressure would not be felt most by us. We will be in the same kind of predicament then as countries neighbouring Iraq which are being sounded out as staging bases in case of a strike against Baghdad. We already have an American military intelligence presence, and US forces have the use of some of our military facilities. We could be asked for more, and should be able to fashion some kind of a strategy that preserves our sovereignty and national interest, especially in view of the fact that our choices continue to be limited even a year after 9/11.

The events of last September have provided an opportunity to the US to consolidate its strategic interests beyond Afghanistan. It has troops or military advisers or intelligence operatives in a broad swathe extending from the oil-rich Central Asian states to Indonesia and the Philippines. It is not necessary that America should seek greater cooperation from regional states only because of Afghanistan: it could well conjure up any number of reasons only thinly linked to the war on terror to extend its influence. The Bush agenda for the rest of the world now looks increasingly intrusive and overbearing. It is time Pakistan and the region generally took stock of the situation and regional governments started looking beyond the immediate financial, commercial or political gains that might have accrued to them because of American interest in the area. To start with, more questions need to be asked about how long the US plans to remain in Afghanistan and continue its search for Osama bin Laden and his associates. A prolonged American or western military presence in the area is fraught with many unsettling possibilities.

Showdown in Okara

AS feared, the stand-off between the authorities and tenants of state-owned farms in Punjab has spiralled into a violent showdown. On Saturday, the rangers and police moved into a military farm in Okara and ordered the protesting tenants to vacate the lands. The tenants, many of whom are Christians and have been working on the farms for generations, have been agitating for ownership rights over the lands. The authorities, for their part, have been trying to force the tillers to renegotiate the terms of their tenancies and threatening to evict them if they do not comply. Following a fracas, the rangers reportedly opened fire on the villagers, killing up to eight people, including two women, and injuring many others. The authorities, however, deny that the casualties were that high, claiming that they have been able to recover only one body. The villagers accuse the law enforcement agencies of trying to cover up their excesses against unarmed villagers. Many farms in the vicinity have been under siege for several weeks, with their entry and exit points sealed off by the police.

From day one, the authorities have maintained a hostile attitude towards the tenants, refusing to seriously negotiate with them or listen to their demands. The tenants accuse the authorities of behaving like the worst kind of absentee landlords, demanding ever larger shares from those who till the land. Following the Okara incident, many tenants have been arrested for inciting trouble and even those with bullet injuries have been handcuffed to their hospital beds. The incident must be thoroughly investigated at the highest level and those responsible for firing on the defenceless tenants must be brought to book. The authorities must also negotiate with the tenants in a spirit of sympathy and understanding and examine their case for ownership rights. If justice is not done, there are fears that the violence could spread to other state-owned farms in Punjab, where tempers are running high.

Where rain is no bliss

THE civic authorities meted out the customary collective punishment to Karachiites for getting a taste of the season’s first rain on Monday. The bitter aftertaste of the long awaited monsoon break included massive power, sewerage and water supply breakdowns. Roads were inundated and left impassable, storm water drains choked with garbage blocking the passage of rainwater, power supply went off at the first drops of rain and was only partially restored on Tuesday morning, suspending water supply to a large part of the city as the KWSB’s pumping stations shut down. Nothing had been planned to meet such a contingency — just as Karachiites have known it to be the case over the years — and the authorities decided to shut shop on them.

The annoying disruptions belied the earlier claims made by the district city government that all storm water drains had been thoroughly cleaned ahead of the monsoon season. The rain — averaging 27.5 millimetres — was not torrential by any standards. Thus, the KESC’s consistent failure to secure its distribution system against rain is truly deplorable, as is that of the KWSB in regard to managing and upgrading the city’s dilapidated sewerage system. Luckily, Monday’s rain did not bring any stormy conditions and caused no major disaster. It is no comfort knowing that left to the mercy of the district city government and those heading their totally ill-managed civic agencies, Karachi’s residents are very much on their own. That’s crying shame for the managers and minders of this city’s civic services and utilities.