From Russia with hope
Russia is a great country. It has always been one. Nobody could ever occupy this country which remains cold almost nine months in an year. In some places life goes on at below 40 degree Celsius. Russia has always defended itself successfully against invaders. There was a time when Russia had controlled a large part of the world. It has a population of 140 million. Almost the size of ours. But territory-wise it is the largest in the world. It has a history of its own and culturally it is both — East and West. Resource-wise it is, perhaps, richer than any country in the world. And militarily it is second only to the US, even today. After the collapse of the Soviet Union Moscow has lost the political pre-eminence it had enjoyed for almost 50 years in global politics. Still, Moscow even when it is shivering at minus 30 degree Celsius exudes the majestic splendour of a superpower. The Red Square and the Kremlin with the surroundings covered even under ankle-deep snow give you the look of being permanent symbols of a great power.
The trauma which I saw in Moscow in the winter of 1991 (I was here on the day the Commonwealth of Independent States was established on December 15, 1991) seems to be continuing. The nation still seems to be engaged in a struggle to cope with the changing times and systems. People here are still trying to reconcile themselves to the fact that the US was no more Russia’s global competitor but a collaborator. They believe that President Putin did the right thing by not joining the US in the war against Afghanistan but at the same time they appreciate his decision to join hands with the world community in the post-war reconstruction of Afghanistan.
It was indeed a total revelation for a Pakistani to view the Afghan war through the eyes of a common Russian. People here believe that their country was facing a terrible situation when just before 9.11 Ahmad Shah Masood, the leader of Russian-backed Northern Alliance was murdered. In the wake of this murder, the Russian troops based in Tajikistan were under a perceived threat of an attack by the Taliban. This, the Russians thought was provocation enough for them to join the Americans in the war against Taliban. But they believe Mr Putin saved them from another wasteful exercise by deciding not to take this course. As it is, their hands were full with Chechen problem at that time.
Mr Putin seems to have been able to convince his people that Russia should be guided solely by its national interests and should not attempt any adventure in the global contest. By keeping his eyes focused on securing the borders of the federation, restructuring the economy and resolving the problems of the Northern Caucasus and Chechnya, Mr Putin seems to have won the hearts of his country men, and now at this point in time, he does not seem to be facing any kind of a political challenge from any political force or personality inside the country.
At the moment Russia seems to be making serious efforts to develop good relations with the countries that border Russia directly (this perhaps could be one of the factors instrumental in getting Moscow to take a new look at Pakistan as we, too, in a way have close physical proximity with Russia). Going by the way informed Russians want their country to contribute to peace and stability in the world one can expect Moscow to try to develop a foreign policy that would help create a balance between the European Union, the United States, China, India and a number of other powers. Russia is also contemplating developing a strategic partnership with Europe as Moscow regards Europe to be its most natural ally. It is likely to offer its enormous energy potential to relieve Europe of its dependence for energy on the “uncertain, volatile and complicated” sources of supply through the Persian Gulf. A trans-Siberian corridor from Europe to Asia is also being considered to be a highly viable project, both economically and politically.
Russia today does not appear too much apprehensive of the physical presence of the Americans in its area of influence — Central Asia. That perhaps is the reason why they have not shown any concern over the presence of US military inside Uzbekistan. There is a belief here that after the end of the war in Afghanistan, the US will withdraw its troops from Central Asia. They also believe that it would be too dangerous for the US to get involved in the internal politics of these countries as, according to the Russians, the Americans do not understand the Central Asia and, secondly, they believe Washington would like to let Russia which has the experience of the area and has 50 years old historic, cultural and economic links with the region to take care of its security when normalization would return to the area.
Internally Russia is confronted with two very serious political problems today. One is the threat to its integrity and the other, the uncertain fate of about 25 million Russians who are now living in a state of statelessness in countries which previously were part of the defunct Soviet Union. The manifestation of the first problem could be seen in the estrangement of Kaliningrad region, which is separated from the federation by Lithuania and Latvia. Russia wants these two countries to make it as physically easier as possible for its citizens to travel to and from Kaliningrad region and the rest of the Federation. So far the two have not shown any willingness to be helpful which in effect seems to be causing a rift between Kaliningrad region and the rest of the country. In order to resolve the second problem Russia has set up a correspondent office within its foreign ministry and a government commission has also been constituted on the affairs of Russians living outside its borders.
Pakistan needs to know the new Russia, study it closely and develop friendly relations with it in its own national interests. Now our Cold War ally, the US, is developing a strategic partnership with Russia and our friends of yesterday, Taliban, who had maintained a very hostile Russia policy have disappeared from the face of the earth. So, as of today we have no problems with Moscow except its tilt towards New Delhi. But then our long time friend the US, too, seems to be tilting towards New Delhi despite its very close partnership with Islamabad. Russia, too, could do the same by doing business with both India and Pakistan. So, it is time for us to develop normal relations with Moscow without allowing them to be influenced by the level of Moscow’s friendship with India.
President Pervez Musharraf during his three-day visit to Moscow made it very clear that he at least would like Pakistan and Russia to develop normal relations without prejudice to each other’s India policy. And the joint statement issued by the two countries at the end of his state visit in Moscow makes it very clear what Russia expects us to do to earn that kind of a friendship. Such a joint statement had never been issued by the two countries ever in the past. And it contains all the do’s and don’t’s that would influence our immediate and long-term relations with each other. And we must read the clear message in the omission of any mention of Kashmir by name in the joint statement.
There was much concern in the Pakistani camp here when we heard that President Putin had talked to Prime Minister Vajpayee of India by telephone on the very day that President Musharraf arrived in Moscow. But then this gesture was, perhaps, more than cancelled the next day when right at the time the two leaders were engaged in their first ever official summit, President Bush called up President Putin. Perhaps, the US leader was making his last minute effort to win Mr Putin’s support for his proposed war plans against Iraq. But then one cannot rule out the possibility of the US President mentioning to Mr Putin during his telephonic conversation how much the US needed Pakistan in its on-going war in Afghanistan and therefore the need to make life easier for Islamabad on the other fronts, like India in which Russia could play its rightful part.—M Ziauddin
Mooltan as the British found it
THERE is this small book, or tract if you like. It has a rather longish title, Mooltan, During and After the Siege, being Twenty-one Drawings, from Sketches taken on the Spot. It was written by John Dunlop, M.D; Assistant Surgeon, H.M’s 32nd Regiment, and Lithographed in Tints by Andrew Maclure with a Descriptive and Historical Account. London, Published by Wm, S. Orr and Co., Amen Co and 147 Strand. MDCLCXLIX
Last year, it was reprinted by Mr Abdul Jabbar, Beacon Books, Gulgasht, Multan and published by the Shirkat Printing Press, Lahore. It is priced at Rs790. Mooltan has been translated by Zubair Shafi Ghauri, a valued friend, if I may call him so. He is in the Railways but he does take time out to read and write. He is particularly interested in history and pre-history.
You might say that at Rs790, the book has been priced out of your reach but that is definitely not the case. The book is value for money. So save some and buy yourself a copy because the original went out of print long ago.
Mooltan is an account of how the British took the city. But brief though it is, it gives you something about Multan and its people.
About the city, Dunlop writes: The city of Mooltan, already celebrated in ancient annals, has during the past year filled an important page in modern history. Sir Alexander Burnes states that he heard it styled by the natives, Mallithan, which he translates “the place of the Malli,” and thence infers that it was the City which was, according to Arian, taken by Alexander the Great. Mooltan was the favourite resting-place of Aurangzebe in his progresses through the Empire. It was besieged and taken by the Mahomedans under Ben Kasmin at the end of the eighth century; by Mahomet Ghiznee two centuries later; by Mahomet Ghori in 1176; by Tamerlane in 1398; by Runjeet Singh in 1818; and lastly, by the forces of Anglo-India in January 1849.
The situation of the city is easily found upon the map, in the midst of the large principality of the same name which is spread over the western section of the Punjaub. Tracing the course of the Chenaub —- the middle stream of the “five rivers” which give a name to the district —- in its advance towards the Indus, Mooltan will be seen placed on the left or east bank, at between three and four miles’ distance. It is about 190 miles from the capital of Lahore (to which kingdom it is tributary), 45 from Bahawulpore, and 40 from the Sutlej. The city is built on a high mound formed of the ruins of other cities too ancient for tradition to name. It measures upwards of three miles in circumference, being the largest town in the Sikh territory after Lahore and Amritsar, and is enclosed within a wall from forty to fifty feet high, the strength and thickness of which has been fully proved by the recent five months’ siege. On three sides of the town these walls are pierced with seven gates, an enumeration of which is necessary to a proper understanding of the descriptions of the siege which follow: —- Facing the east, and next to the citadel, is the Dowlut gate; towards the south-east stands the Delhi gate. In the south wall are the Pak and Hurm gates. The Boohr gate faces the west, and the Lahore gate the north; as does the Khidr gate, which affords access to the citadel.
Without, the prospect is enlivened by mosques and gardens, and is dotted with villages. The country —- especially on the south and the east —- is much intersected by nullahs or canals fed from the Chenaub. The canals, as elsewhere in the East, are merely deep cuts; the excavated earth remaining where it was originally thrown up, and forming high embankments on each side. During the late siege the Sikhs fortified and defended these double lines of mound with success; and from them directed a murderous fire, themselves being out of the reach of our guns.
The houses within the city are built of burnt bricks, are surmounted with flat roofs, and sometimes rise to the height of six or seven storey. They are ranged in lanes close together, to exclude as much light, and therefore as much heat, as possible; for Mooltan has the character of being in summer the hottest place in India. The streets therefore are even more gloomy than the numerous ornamented and highly-venerated tombs, to worship at which multitudes of pilgrims were formerly attracted. About the extraordinary heat there is of course a tradition:—- Near the northern suburb is the gorgeous shrine of Shams Tabreezi, a martyre, who was flayed alive on the spot where it stands. In revenge he prayed that the sun would descend: the orb of day was so obliging as to grant the request, and there has not been a cool summer day in Mooltan since. The inhabitants declare that rain is almost unknown; yet it came down in such torrents just after its recent capture that some of our men had to stand for some time fighting ancle-deep in mud and water.
Mooltan is a place of considerable commerce. The bazaars are extensive and well supplied with commodities. The chief manufacturers are silks, cottons, shawls, loongees, brocades interwoven with gold and tissues; all which are largely exported into adjacent countries.
Within the walls, and overlooking the town from the north, rises the Fortress of Mooltan, in which the Dewan Moolraj took refuge after the British had entered the city on the 2nd of January. It stands on the highest part of the mound on which the town is built, and is an enceinte formed by a hexagonal wall from forty to seventy feet high, the longest side of which faces the north-west and extends for 600 yards, and which isolates it from the town. A ditch twenty-five feet deep and forty feet wide is cut on the fort side of the wall, behind which is a glacis exhibiting a face of some eighteen feet high, and so thick as to present an almost impregnable rocky mound. Within the fort, and on a very considerable elevation, stands the citadel, in itself of very great strength.
The walls are flanked by thirty towers, and enclose numerous houses, mosques, a Hindoo temple of high antiquity, and a Khan’s palace, the beauty of which was severely damaged by the battering it got from the guns of Runjeet Singh in 1818. This fortification is said to be more regular in construction than any other laid down by native engineers. Mr Vans Agnew —- the unfortunate political agent whose murder, with that of his companion, Lieutenant Anderson, gave rise to the recent hostilities —- wrote to the British Resident at Lahore, that he had seen many forts in India, but not one that could compare with Mooltan; the ramparts of which bristled with eighty pieces of ordnance.
The fortress was filled with stores to profusion. A correspondent of the Bombay Times, who describes the place when in possession of the British, writes thus: — “I think Mooltan is the beau ideal of a Buneea’s fort, or rather fortified shop: never perhaps in India have such depots existed of merchandise and arms, amalgamated as they are with avarice. Here opium, indigo, salt, sulphur, and every known drug, are heaped in endless profusion —- there apparently ancient granaries in the bowels of the earth disclose their huge hoards of wheat and rice; here stacks of leathern ghee vessels, brimming with the grease, fill the pucka receptacles below ground —- there silks and shawls revel in darkness, bales rise on bales; here some mammoth chest discovering glittering scabbards of gold and gems —- there reveals tiers of copper canisters crammed with gold mohurs. My poor pen cannot describe the variety of wealth displayed to the inquisitive eye.”
(Note: I have followed the spellings in the original text, for example, martyre for martyr and ancle for ankle).
About a merry market
IF we go by reports in the press, the last week of the first month of this year witnessed the motorcar and motorcycle thieves in Karachi set to make a record profit in 2003 AD. They took away 38 motorcars and 87 motorcycles in one week. This phenomenon has become so regular a routine that newspapers have ceased to treat it as worthy of any notice beyond a tired sort of a single- column mention in some obscure corner of their city pages.
They are right. Whatever becomes a daily occurrence ceases to be news. There would most probably be bold headlines on the front pages of the same newspapers if, in the unlikeliest eventuality, we have a day during which no motorcar and no motorcycle was taken away. That would be real news of the ‘man-bites-dog’ category: something to rush to write home about.
Now do some figure work. The average market price of a favoured model of car (2002/2003) at present is said to be around Rs1,200,000. That’s one base figure. The other is the price of a brand new motorcycle at around Rs50,000. Give or take a few thousands. The week we are looking at saw 38 cars and 87 motorcycles gone. It would work out to 1,976 motorcars and 4,524 motorcycles before we say good-bye to 2003.
The value of 4,524 motorcycles at around Rs50,000 a two-wheeler works out to a neat Rs226.2 million. Of the motorcars at Rs1,200,000 per unit, the value of 1,976 motorcars taken away would be around Rs2.37 billion. Put together, you arrive at a figure that would stand at Rs2.6 billion. What does it mean to everyone of the 14,000,000 of us in this city? Very roughly that each citizen, woman, child and man, shall have paid well over three hundred rupees to our car thieves before we enter 2004. Our City Nazim, Advocate Naimatullah Khan, says that a mere Rs41 million is going to give Shirin Colony a network of roads, a sewerage system and a huge terminus complex for trucks. If what Karachi’s car thieves collect were to be diverted to the city coffers, Karachi would be a rich city, a vastly cleaner and healthier place than it is. If a fraction of this amount is spent on, say education, illiteracy will vanish like the proverbial horns on the donkey’s head.
This is no ordinary crime, even if it has become an integral part of our lives. The means to curb and eradicate this curse are in place. We have a fairly well developed Anti-car Lifting Cell (ACLC). The Citizen-Police Liaison Committee (CPLC) is a highly respected institution, and rightly so, too. We have a comprehensive and sophisticated wireless locating system. If a car is geared to this system it would be possible to locate it the moment the loss is reported. One should expect that anyone spending Rs1.5 million on a new car has the means to become part of this anti-theft system.
With all this, where does the rub lie? One guess would be that the CPLC has not been able to set up the needed liaison with the citizens. It should be safely assumed that victims of this kind of crime are all educated people. Those who own and drive such highly priced cars would not be cash-strapped. There can be only two possible factors to explain why the citizens remain so ill-informed or ignorant of the services available with the ACLC and the CPLC.
One, that the carowners are careless. The other that the CPLC is just too modest to publicize itself. If that is the case, modesty could hardly be less well placed. The means to combat this crime in a systematic way are perhaps available but the citizens are not adequately briefed about them. Be that as it may, the fact remains that the crime continues to thrive and the citizens continue to be robbed.
Take a look at another aspect of this criminal activity and the criminals’ ability to get away with their booty. The car thief does not keep the car to himself. He sells it. The number of cars stolen would strongly suggest that a market for stolen cars exists, and is thriving. They used to wonder where do the elephants go to die? We in Karachi should wonder where do these stolen new limousines go from here to disappear into thin air? This crime has now assumed the character of a regular commerce. Obviously, there are people minting money on stolen cars and motorcycles. Who are these people? Whatever the nature of these people, their ability to survive and prosper in complete immunity speaks volumes of their power behind the scenes. And why behind the scenes? What is so successful cannot be so invisible and inscrutable.
There must be more to this activity than meets the eye. The police are there to combat crime when it is only crime. But when criminal activity appears to be backed by forces more powerful than the police themselves, the remedy has to be found elsewhere or upstairs. Where is the secret police, or the under-cover arm of the law and order apparatus? Has anyone given any thought to this aspect? May be here lies the rub.
Living in fantasyland
The Sindh governor, Ishratul Ibad, recently told the provincial committee on investment to concentrate on attracting tourists to the province since this would give a much-needed boost to the local economy.
Quite ironically, the governor said this the very day there was a big bomb explosion near the PSO building in Clifton. The governor, according to an APP report published in this newspaper, quite rightly said that Sindh was rich in natural beauty and that it had just the kind of cultural and geographical offerings that would be of interest to tourists. However, what the governor said about tourism giving a boost to the economy is interesting because one would have thought that it should be the other way round — i.e., economic growth and a booming local economy should make Sindh, in particular Karachi, more attractive to tourists.
Unfortunately, as most Sindh government officials know only too well, attracting foreign tourists to a place that — fairly or unfairly — has is frequently hit by bomb explosions and where, according to several western intelligence agencies and newspaper reports, remnants of Al Qaeda have regrouped, will be quite a tall order.
This is not to say that law and order is terribly bad. To be fair, the city, at least in the recent past, has as much violent crime as any large city anywhere else in the world. And, it’s not as if Karachiites, known for their resilience, are not going about their lives in a normal and usual manner. In fact, according to friends, many hotels are gradually experiencing a rise in arrivals of foreigners and one gets to see more and more non-Pakistani faces driving around in, say, Defence/Clifton, shopping at Agha’s or at parties.
The point in qualifying earlier references to law and order is that even if there was no problem at all, the reason we have not managed to attract tourists in large numbers to Sindh is because nothing has been really done to make things attractive for them. For example, why would a European come to Sindh when he could get to see the same kind of architecture and culture in, say, Rajasthan. At least in the latter case, he wouldn’t have to abide by all kinds of regulations and rules prohibiting him from going to a nightclub or even a hotel bar. And what about the completely abysmal state of roads and other infrastructure in the province.
Every time we get a new chief minister, we hear of the Gorakh Hill Station and how amazing it would be, only if it were developed as a resort. Liaquat Jatoi used to talk about it all the time, as did Abdullah Shah before him (both are from Dadu where Gorakh is situated) and so does Ali Mohammed Mahar. In fact, his government has allocated Rs 100 million for a tourism project that is quite unlikely to take off, at least in the foreseeable future. Would someone please answer why any sane person would want to risk his life and limb, travel on a potholed (in this case non-existent) road, through dacoit-infested territory to reach the province’s highest point?
Eidul Azha, or Bakra Eid is fast approaching. Unlike the more festive Eidul Fitr, there seems to be a much more subdued mood to the festival. There isn’t that joie de vivre, that air of celebration in the air that grips citizens in the last few days of Ramazan. But one thing makes Bakra Eid stand out from all other festivals; the ritual of fetching sacrificial animals.
In very few cosmopolitan cities around the world does one get to witness and experience the sights, sounds and scents that descend upon Karachi as soon as the Zilhaj crescent is sighted. One of the most unique sights that the wayfarer witnesses while standing at any major roundabout, bus stop or traffic signal in the city, is of animals being transported from the market to the makeshift mangers in the backs of people’s homes, in the sides of garages, and in congested neighbourhood galis.
Most often, the fateful last ride of these beasts is a rickety pick-up truck with mangled iron bars serving as a cage, lest Bessie the cow decides to jump ship in the middle of Karimabad. Along with the bovine cargo are an army of neighbourhood handlers, often a mix of teenagers, children and an adult playing a supervisory role, that shepherd the animal to its final place of rest. Onlookers have even reported that goats have been traversing the roads of Karachi in the backs of rickshaws along with their owners! Least they’re riding better than the poor commuters in the back of a Khan coach at rush hour are. Matter of fact, an acquaintance reported that he once saw a baby goat travel in the back of a minibus, along with its owner, who had obviously just arrived in the city of lights from the hinterland. Another bizarre phenomenon is when people take their cows or goats out for walks in the evening, presumably to get them some fresh air before D-day. Whereas in the West (and parts of Defence), people would take the dog or the pet cat for a walk, in Karachi, cows, goats and at times even camels are given generous doses of tender lovin’ care.
These sights would be something out of a surrealist painting or maybe a scene from experimental German cinema anywhere but in Karachi. But here, in the tumultuous city by the sea, all’s fair, and even those things that touch the periphery of unreality are but part of the everyday. So until these animals meet their end in the temporary abattoirs and end up as barbeque or korma, take in and enjoy these sights, and oh yeah — have a safe and happy Bakra Eid.
The action may be taking place thousands of miles away, but Karachi too is in the throes of World Cup fever. Anticipating a sudden slump in business, the city’s hotels, restaurants and shopping malls have rushed to cash in on the six-week long cricketing extravaganza in Africa. Huge TV screens have been installed at many venues where live coverage will be beamed to shoppers and those taking high tea.
Unlike Lahore, no arrangements seem to have been made to install TVs in the city’s parks. This is a pity, as it will deprive the average citizen of the opportunity to watch the action in a picturesque setting among raucous, cheering crowds. Another factor that is depressing cricket lovers is the timing of the matches. Most matches will take place during working hours, with only the lucky few being able to watch more than the last hour of the matches from the comfort of their homes. Plans are already being hatched to smuggle transistor radios into work and even small portable TVs. For those who do not have access to either, there is always live coverage on the net. Whatever happens on the field during the World Cup, one thing is clear: there is going to be a dramatic drop in productivity in this cricket crazy city.
People are already predicting the outcome of the tournament, with optimists claiming that the slightly jaded Pakistan team will suddenly find new inspiration and come home with the cup. Realists, however, are not raising hopes too high and are just looking forward to some exciting cricket while keeping their fingers crossed. As one young from the city put it on TV the other day, “My mind tells me it will be Australia, but my heart says Pakistan will win.”
The headline above probably reads like a fantasy tale. Dolphins at Boating Basin is like saying the Rolling Stones will perform at Nishtar Park. It’s not going to happen — ever.
Actually, this bright idea was recently floated by a senior government official. I was reading the paper and I couldn’t help but chuckle at the idea. Having dolphins at Boating Basin can’t be all that good for the poor animals. Besides, it just goes to show just how far removed our bureaucrats are from reality. In case they didn’t notice, the Nehr-i-Khayyam (a misnomer if ever there was one) with its toxic load of effluent and sewage and millions of plastic shopping bags empties right into Boating Basin, after passing by Mideast hospital.
Bringing dolphins, or in fact any living thing, close to the water here will be like sending them to a quick (and smelly) death. This is certainly one government project one hopes never gets off the ground.—By Karachian
Email: karachi_notebook@hotmail.com