Madrid bombings

It is not yet clear as to who is behind Thursday's deadly bombings on commuter trains in Madrid, which left 200 people dead and over 1,400 injured. Ominously, European media have likened the March 11 attacks to the September 11 tragedy as far as its magnitude is concerned, and Spain has announced a three-day mourning for the victims ahead of the elections scheduled for Sunday.

That a group calling itself Abu Hafs al-Masri and an Al Qaeda affiliate should have claimed responsibility for the attacks when all fingers point to the Basque separatists is indeed curious.

The US intelligence community has, however, discarded the claim, saying a similar claim was also made by the group after a major power breakdown hit the US and Canada last year, which did not turn out to be an act of terrorism.

Regardless of who might have carried out the bombings, the tragedy seems to have united all Spaniards - a nation not known for political or social coherence - in their sense of shock and anger.

Spain has a long history of home-grown terrorism. Spread over a period of 35 years, it is to be seen in acts of sabotage, kidnappings and deadly bombings targeting government officials and civilians. North-western Spain and adjoining Basque regions in southern France have long demanded independence from Spain and France.

American and European governments regard the separatist Euskadi Ta Azkatasune (Eta) - Basque Homeland and Freedom - an outlawed terrorist outfit, while Spain and France have been cracking down on its operatives for years. Even though Eta has not carried out any major acts of terrorism over the past few years, Spanish authorities identify it as the prime suspect in Thursday's bombings. There have also been reports linking the attacks to a car found abandoned in a town near Madrid where the ill-fated trains had originated.

The car was loaded with explosives and contained an audio tape in Arabic. This has made the authorities wonder if Al Qaeda indeed carried out the attacks or, worse still, if it colluded with the Basque separatists to plan Thursday's bombings, which had all the hallmarks of Al Qaeda planning and its resultant horrors.

Terrorism is indeed a global phenomenon. The tragedy in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, has been followed by some devastating events elsewhere - Bali, Istanbul, Riyadh and Baghdad, to name only a few. In some countries it has become endemic, as in Iraq, while in Pakistan it raises its ugly head every now and then. The tragedy on Ashura in Quetta was one such reminder of the terrorists' ability to strike where and when they choose.

Seen against the background of the US-led war on terror in the aftermath of 9/11, "Islamic terrorism" seems to have become the bugbear of some western governments and sections of the media. However, as the Spanish tragedy shows, it would be folly to discover the hand of Islamists behind every act of terrorism.

More unfortunately, the spiral of deliberate violence has provided some with an opportunity to blur the distinction between terrorism and resistance. Random but pitiless acts of violence involving civilians, as in Madrid, not only delegitimize genuine freedom movements but lead to sweeping state retaliation that violates human rights and rule of law.

A historic tour

It is like the Genesis all over again as India and Pakistan join battle in the cricketing arena in Karachi today after all of 15 years. As a critic said recently, an Indo-Pakistan series is the Asian equivalent of the Ashes. In effect, it is much more than that. If played in the true spirit of the game, cricket can, to a very large extent, determine the general level of relations between the two countries.

Saurav Ganguly, the prince of Kolkata, leads quite the most formidable batting side from across the border to these shores. Sachin Tendulkar is no longer the rookie he was in 1989. Arguably, he is one of the best batsmen in the world today. He is in fact a whole team unto himself. At the other end, we have such batsmen as the flamboyant opener Verinder Sehwag, the intrepid top order batsman V.V.S. Laxman, India's own Mr Dependable Rahul Dravid, and skipper Ganguly himself. Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif are no less exciting, specially in the one-day version of the game.

India have had a great Australian tour recently. All their batsmen delivered at one stage or the other and there were some memorable bowling performances by Ajit Agarkar and Anil Kumble with speed and spin. India will, unfortunately, be without the services of these two potentially match-winning bowlers, as also Harbajan Singh, one of the leading off-spinners in the game today. On paper, then, Indian bowling looks pretty thin.

However, the visitors have shown tremendous improvement in fielding both close in and out in the deep. They can thus raise an ordinary attack to winning heights. Pakistan have an extremely talented though not fully tested batting line-up. In bowling they have an edge over India but on the slow nature of wickets for the Test matches they will be hard put to it bowling India out twice.

While the five one-day internationals are sure to draw capacity crowds, public interest in Test matches has been on the wane in recent years in this country. We hope that it will be different with India this time around. An Indo-Pakistan cricket match is a test for both talent and temperament. On current form, India appear to some pundits to be favourites both in the one-day and the Test series.

More than the game itself, however, it will be the manner in which they play which will win them Pakistani hearts. Let everyone who watches the Indians play here over the next 39 days sing with the West Indians, I love my cricket, Sir. I love it, Sir. India are here on a historic mission. Those who make history should never be taken lightly by anyone, least of all by the makers of history themselves.

Official ads

Federal Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmad has said that the issue of government advertisements to the Nawa-i-Waqt group of newspapers will soon be resolved. He made the statement in the National Assembly on Thursday.

He had promised something similar a few days ago, but the deadlock remains. No one from the government side has clearly explained why it has blocked advertisements for Nawa-i-Waqt and The Nation. The management of the newspapers has said advertisements have been stopped to force the papers to change their editorial policy.

All accredited organizations representing the newspaper industry have protested against the government's tactics. It was thought that, learning from the history of government-press relations, the present administration would play fair with the newspapers and resist the temptation to use official advertising as a pressure tool. This belief has now been shaken, and in other devious ways also authorities at various levels have tried to bully or harass newspersons.

While instances of the latter can be blamed on officials acting alone or exceeding the limits in their zeal for surveillance, the information minister has taken personal responsibility for the action with regard to the Nawa-i-Waqt group. It is, therefore, also his responsibility now to sort out the affair to avoid any further deterioration in the government's equation with the press.

It should also be pointed out that there is no need for the government to ride the moral high horse on this issue. It doesn't advertise in newspapers as a favour: it needs to do so to convey information to the public and to publicize its activities.

It is also an established fact that official advertisements have sometimes been employed to extend political patronage to individuals bringing out 'dummy' newspapers. This is as undesirable as using advertisements to force a change in editorial policy or express disapproval. A healthier attitude needs to be adopted.