What wisdom demands

AS AMERICA’s war against terrorism focusing on Afghanistan stretches to the fifth day, some positive developments are emerging in the geopolitical scenario of the region. These could lead to greater stability and peace in South Asia, provided the war does not drag on indefinitely and the fighting in Afghanistan does not escalate. One key factor will be the role the US decides to play to help normalize India-Pakistan relations. It has been announced from Washington that the Secretary of State Colin Powell will be visiting the capitals of the two countries at the weekend to address their worries about how the Afghan crisis can impinge on their relationship. The second important development has been the move by President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee to revive the Agra process which will help ease tensions between the two countries.

With India-Pakistan relations having touched a new low in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon on September 11, the promise of a new turn in bilateral equations in South Asia is most encouraging. Although the US has made it clear that Colin Powell will not be mediating between the two countries, it has conceded that the secretary of state would try to work with both to reduce tension in the region. There has even been mention of Mr Powell discussing ways to bring India and Pakistan closer to a settlement on Kashmir once the Afghanistan crisis is resolved. The fact is that without the good offices of a third party it is not easy to sort out the differences between the two countries, especially when they have been locked in this intractable dispute for over five decades. Only an outside power which has an evenhanded approach to the regional issues and enjoys the confidence of both interlocutors can facilitate a peace process. The present circumstances have placed Washington ideally for a facilitator’s role and one hopes that the Bush Administration will recognize the importance of normalizing India-Pakistan relations in the wider interest of peace and security in South Asia.

It is an encouraging sign that India and Pakistan have also thought it prudent to avoid acrimonious exchanges and to try to ease the strains in their relations. Of late the Line of Control in Kashmir has also been remarkably peaceful and the firing the two sides routinely exchanged has ceased. The environment is thus right for fresh initiatives to move the peace dialogue forward — prospects that were somewhat dampened by what followed in the wake of the Black Tuesday. New Delhi tried to win Washington’s backing against Islamabad on the ground that it was harbouring many terrorists who were operating in Kashmir. By adopting an evenhanded stance, the US has managed to keep the equilibrium in the region. It is now expected to move forward and exercise a moderating influence on the two sides and persuade them to sort out their differences on an issue which has bitterly divided them since 1947.

However, for any such initiative to bear fruit, it is also important for both India and Pakistan to approach the question of their bilateral problems more flexibly and with greater accommodation than in the past. In fact, in the given context, they should see the wisdom of conducting themselves more maturely and responsibly on their own in dealing with these issues — and not under prodding from one or the other major power or under the force of circumstances. A good starting for India would thus be to reduce the scale of repression in occupied Kashmir and for Pakistan to put militants operating across the LoC under stricter restraint.

NGOs under attack

UNDER the cover of anti-US protests, certain religious extremists seem to be busy settling old scores in the NWFP and Balochistan. Since Monday, protesters in the two provinces have singled out the offices of a number of NGOs and humanitarian agencies for attack, causing many of them to suspend their activities. Among the organizations attacked were UNICEF, whose Quetta office was burnt down, and UNHCR, the UN agency at the forefront of efforts to succour the Afghan refugees. In addition, a number of smaller local NGOs have also been targeted in recent days. Many of these organizations provide essential services to Afghan refugees or offer low-cost schooling and health facilities to local children. Religious extremists have been increasingly hostile to NGOs, especially in parts of the Frontier province. Such organizations have been demonized by the religious parties who have branded them as tools of the West bent on destroying local traditions and spreading obscenity in society.

The championing of causes such as human rights, rights of working women, girls’ schooling and family planning by the NGOs has drawn the ire of religious extremists, who have gone as far as to label their activities unIslamic. This hostility has led to a series of attacks on various Frontier-based NGOs in recent months. The most recent attacks signal the return of this ugly trend. The government must heed the pleas of the beleaguered NGOs and provide them with security, at least in the current volatile situation. The authorities must also clamp down on those elements instigating mobs to harass or attack the NGOs. Their misguided actions can only hinder the work of groups dedicated to serving the cause of the most needy sections of society, both at home and in Afghanistan.

Reclaiming parks

THE Karachi city government has pledged to bring back to life some 20 parks located within the limits of the city district’s 18 towns. The erstwhile KMC was entrusted with the maintenance and upkeep of a total of 34 city parks, and it seems that the civic body might have done everything but maintain these parks. In the last 25 years, groups with vested interests encroached upon hundreds of acres that were officially designated as ‘land for parks’, ostensibly in cahoots with the corporation’s officials. The city nazim now says it is time to vacate these plots so that parks for which they were meant, can be built or restored. Luckily, 14 of the parks are in good condition, while 20 of these need to be revamped and restored to their original status. The city government also plans to set up public health clubs at some of these parks.

All of this augurs well for this metropolis of over 10 million, whose cityscape has suffered a great deal in recent years owing to unplanned growth. The process has in many ways defaced Karachi, and made it look like a concrete jungle that no city should be allowed to become. The result of this haphazard growth has been devastating for the city: its open spaces have shrunk to make room for a rush of shabbily constructed blocks of flats, its atmosphere now chokes with fuel emissions and there is little respite from the deafening noise pollution. The promise of revamping of the city parks thus comes as a welcome move. The city government will do well to plan the move in a thorough manner, so as to be able to sustain it over the longer term.