Blair has lost his way

The Europe has a problem, one which has been getting worse for almost two decades. Having started as a customs union, member states embarked in 1986 on a far more ambitious project. Under the single European Act the former Common Market began its slow transmutation to a jointly-governed but distinctive political entity. But what this new European Union has never achieved is democratic legitimacy.

The European Parliament - the means to that end - is self-evidently too weak. The only way in which the European Parliament could be more powerful would be for national parliaments to become less so. They, naturally, jealously protect the status quo. Yet there is another, more ingrained, cultural weakness. Outside Strasbourg and Brussels, no one thinks in terms of European-wide socialism or European-wide conservatism, an essential pre-requisite for creating any European democracy worth the name.

Citizens of European countries simply do not think in terms of European-wide parties which can act or argue on their behalf or who they can canvass for support. Even a European intellectual community is only in its hesitant infancy. The means to transform Europe to more than a common market do not yet exist - although I am sure, one day, they will.

This is the background against which the coming referendum on the EU constitutional treaty is going to be fought - an uphill struggle for the pro-side even if the debate were to be fought by political Queensbury rules. To have any chance, we pro-Europeans have to get our story straight, build as broad a coalition as possible that spans parties and interest groups, and be led with consistency and conviction. Even then it would be hard. The YouGov poll in the Sun with only 16 per cent in favour of the treaty indicates the scale of task.

Here's the rub: it cannot be done with Tony Blair as prime minister - as the sceptics know and a growing number of pro-Europeans are coming to recognise. For we start at this low ebb largely because of where his ambiguities and incoherencies have led us. A genuine pro-European who understood both British national interests and the over-riding necessity to sustain multilateralism would not have pre-emptively invaded Iraq without a second UN resolution - even if subsequently justified by finding weapons of mass destruction.

We could have backed the US with a powerful contribution to reconstruction and policing afterwards to show solidarity; but we had to stand with the Europeans over invasion.

This was a chance to do what was right and demonstrate the advantage of a solid European alliance. Tony Blair took the soft option, and is now locked in an inexorable political logic that could ultimately weaken Britain's relationship with Europe to mere associate level, or even lead to our leaving the EU.

This would be a tragedy. There are strong reasons for Britain to want more than a common market like the rest of Europe, and to try, in the process, to create the European public realm we currently lack. We share, despite a multiplicity of languages and histories, the same core values - a belief in the social contract, an adherence to the idea of the importance of the public realm and shared views that capitalism must be fairly run.

In an era of globalisation these can best be defended collectively. We have common interests, not least in each other's prosperity (on which our own is often dependent). The European street, as has been vividly demonstrated over Iraq, has similar attitudes and interests in foreign policy - a commitment to the rule of international law and a suspicion of American unilateralism. We are all Europeans now - we just don't yet have ways of expressing it.

The recourse to referendums has been inevitable. Democracy in the West is becoming more biased towards direct democracy by plebiscite and referendum and away from traditional forms of representation. It's the story in California and Holland alike, now pledged to hold its first-ever European referendum.

In Germany, 92 per cent of the population think they should be consulted in a referendum on the new European constitutional treaty. In Britain, referendums have legitimised devolved assemblies and directly-elected mayors. With Big Press and the Conservative Party pressing for a referendum, resistance would have been impossible. Blair should have made his now infamous U-turn months ago.

But while plebiscites have the advantage in an era of democratic disengagement of directly involving the citizenry in political debate, they have the disadvantage of being rather crude - with the results inherently manipulable by those who control the media. Mussolini and Hitler used referendums because the fascist state had a complete media monopoly and thus the vote could be guaranteed. Today, the Orwellian enemy is not state control of our thinking and debate; it is unaccountable Big Press.

What looms is not government by the people through their parliaments; it is government critically influenced by the private owners of newspapers in an environment where they can more or less say what they like about anything with little come-back, and which in a single-question plebiscite will determine the answer. Money rather than argument or evidence will govern opinion.

In this context pro-Europeans have to be ruthless. Tony Blair has led the Labour party for 10 years this June, and despite promise after promise - the most recent being the non-existent roadshows to explain the benefits of the euro - he has consistently ducked developing an agreed pro-European narrative and insisting that his senior ministers campaign on it.

Euro-scepticism, not just in Britain, is fed by the new sense of nationalism and the confluence of ugly sentiment around asylum-seekers, immigration and race; instead of confronting and moulding it, Blair has again chosen to accommodate and thus legitimize it - so helping to create a culture in which Express proprietor Richard Desmond feels able to make the remarks he did about Germans being Nazis.

Too much political capital has been consumed; too little trust remains. Blair cannot lead the pro-camp to anything other than defeat. If he wanted to dispel the myths about Europe, he should have started years ago - and acted to build a pro-European constituency.

We need idealism, political flair, charm and a sense of a new beginning to win - all qualities Gordon Brown has in abundance. If Blair stands down and Brown leads a broad-based pro-European coalition, dropping his recently acquired euro-sceptic mantle, the pro-camp might just have a chance - which is what British progressive politics and Europe alike both need.

Without it we pro-Europeans must put up the best fight we can, but in the spirit of the doomed defenders of Dunkirk knowing a winnable battle may lie years ahead. Perhaps this is the way we build Europe - losing battles, winning others later - and the process being the route to construct a European public realm and deeper European roots. Any which way, let's roll. -Dawn/Observer Service

Wana bailout: from surrender to registration

It took the deployment of thousands of Army and paramilitary forces and 62 casualties among officers and jawans for the government to realize that it had to enter into reconciliation with the five most-wanted tribal militants.

At Shakai on April 24, arms (including an old rusted sword) were presented and not laid down. There was no mention of the cold-blooded murder of the officers and jawans, lest it irked the militants and aborted the reconciliation.

The law enforcers and the lawbreakers were equals. Nek Muhammad has become a symbol of tribal defiance. He has become the Faqir of Ipi the second (the legendary tribal fighter who had taken on the British) and he is relishing every moment of it. No wonder then that some amongst the audience at Shakai flashed the victory sign as he took the rostrum last week to tell us that both sides- the military and the militants- made mistakes and that those should not be repeated. Let bygones be bygones, he said.

No amount of spin can gloss over the blunders that have been made in South Waziristan. No matter who is made the fall guy, the fallout of the operation in Waziristan will persist.

Far from being proactive- a term much in currency in government circles- our policy (if there is any) vis-a-vis Waziristan has been reactive. From seeking a political solution to getting the problem resolved through military means to falling back on the political process to military intervention- the so-called war on terror in Waziristan had many defenders, but when the plans went awry, nobody was willing to hold the baby.

From the March-16 operation in Kaloosha to the hasty rapprochement with militants, clearly the government has shown lack of consistency and wisdom. True to our past traditions, instead of learning lessons from our mistakes, our micro-managers immediately set about looking for scapegoats.

Political agent Muhammad Azam Khan, who showed remarkable perseverance while dealing with a seemingly hostile situation, was made the first scapegoat for what clearly was a tactical and intelligence failure. Clumsy is too small a word to describe the manner in which he was posted out. His posting orders were issued at 12 past midnight, a day before the militants entered into secret parleys to negotiate 'reconciliation'.

The militants had been in secret talks through intermediaries with the government for quite some time, since December last, much before the March-16 Kaloosha-II Operation. There were indications that the militants would have agreed to 'surrender' on much better terms. Why did the government then spurn the offer then and accept something far less?

Secondly, why did those who ordered and conducted the talks keep the political authorities outside the loop? Paradoxically, when law enforcers 'mistakenly' fire and kill civilians, the buck is passed on to the authorities to do the fire-fighting, but when it comes to talking to militants, those who under the law are supposed to be doing the talking with the tribesmen, are not even consulted.

The government has yet to come up with a convincing answer for the way deal has been struck. The internal security dimension of the whole issue in Wana might also have played on the minds of military strategists. Ambushes of military convoys, rocket attacks and the politicization of what essentially is a national security matter appear to have led the policy-makers to conclude a hasty agreement the contours of which have yet to fully emerge.

More significantly, in the tribal context, the thinkers behind this 'evolving strategy', as they put it, worked and furnished and sought guarantees through the clerics-turned parliamentarians to strike a deal, instead of working through the tribal system itself. This fact alone betrays a lack of knowledge of the tribal system.

No deal in tribal society can last long unless the tribes back it. In what appears to be an afterthought, the government is now reaching out to the tribes to enlist their support. This amounts to putting the cart before the horse. Leave aside the political fallout involving the MMA in the whole process, no one with even a modicum of knowledge of the tribal system would try to weaken the time-tested institution.

It is now evident that the offer of amnesty to foreign militants to surrender has not worked, primarily due to their lack of trust in the government. The behind-the-scene efforts to involve tribal clerics to get a sort of religious sanction for the offer clearly indicates that the deal was not properly thought through and lacked details regarding the most critical issue, the surrender of foreign militants.

This also indicates a stand down on part of the government from the 'surrender' of foreign militants to their 'registration', the modalities of which have yet to be worked out.

The written agreements that were signed with the tribes only days before the rather surprising deal with tribal militants provided for a verifiable process of checking the presence or otherwise of foreign militants.

Also, in the event of foreign militants really coming out for registration, have we considered the ramification of letting them off the hook on the basis of a simple declaration to live peacefully under tribal guarantees? Have we forgotten the futile exercise of differentiating between good mujahideen and bad mujahideen?

Most importantly, while the deal appears to have been struck keeping in view national security, will this apparent 'bailout' deflect American pressure to flush out foreign militants? With their drones and satellites scanning the areas, we will have to come up with convincing evidence to prove that the militants have either disappeared or have crossed over into Afghanistan.

Sooner or later, the government will have to re-evaluate its policy on South Waziristan. It needs to be one that takes into account security concerns vis-a-vis tribal dynamics. Any administrator replacing Azam Khan would find himself equally hamstrung under the circumstances.

Our government needs to understand that forces should be there to back up the political process to enable the political administration to use the carrot with the threat of the stick.

It must also understand that a political process takes time and involves patience. A three-decade-old problem cannot be solved overnight. Things cannot be micromanaged things from outside and the administration in Wana ought to deal with the situation. We have to have a policy that is consistent and not one based on ad-hocism.

Reunion with an FCC teacher

In the second week of March, President Pervez Musharraf was waiting at the President's House for a special guest from the United States. That guest was neither from the state department nor from the Pentagon. It was Dr Carl Wheeless, a former professor of political science at the Forman Christian College, Lahore.

On that nice, sunny day in Islamabad, Dr Carl Wheeless stepped out of the car to be greeted at the door of the presidency by President Musharraf. Overwhelmed by his warmth, which lasted all through the hour-long reunion over tea between the college alumnus and the 85 years old teacher, Dr Carl Wheeless departed taken in completely by his host's personality.

Showering him with the highest of compliments, Dr Wheeless called President Musharraf a combination of Abraham Lincoln and Andrew Jackson. "I admire him for the way he has handled George Bush's arrogance. We discussed the assassination attempts on his life and before leaving I presented him with my book, Landmarks of the American Presidents, which is shelved among the classics in the Congress' library," said Dr Wheeless.

"I've met many heads of state, monarchs and other people, but never have I been impressed by anyone as much as by Pervez Musharraf. He made me feel immediately at home and gave me the impression that every moment spent with me was a learning experience for him. He was humble but at the same time proud," recalled Dr Carl Wheeless upon his return from the federal capital.

Dressed in pale blue shalwar kameez, Dr Wheeless was sitting at the house of Shahid Malik in Lahore, another student who had arranged a special dinner of former Formanites in his teacher's honour. "We hope to dedicate one of the college blocks to Dr Carl Wheeless. He left a deep impression on whomever he taught," remarked Mr Shahid Malik before taking Dr Wheeless to the front lawn where nearly 30 of his former students had gathered to muse over the 14 years their teacher spent at the FC college.

The interview continued the next day at yet another student's house. This time it was at the residence of the chief minister of the Punjabi, Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi. "Pervaiz is like a son to me. Despite gaining political prominence he has not changed and wanted me to stay with him," said Dr Wheeless, as he looked around the room with obvious approval. A huge four-posted bed, complete with Victorian style, gilt framed sofas gave the room a look of a five-star suite.

The Iowa born, Fulbright scholar from the mid-west looked pleased to be part of the process of defining and educating men like Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, Pervaiz Elahi, Mushahid Husain and many others whom Dr Wheeless felt had illustrated the true nature of the FC College. "Pervez Musharraf was not my student because he was not on the humanities side. But at the time I came to Pakistan in 1957, FC College had only 1000 students. It was easier to know everybody," recounted Dr Wheeless.

As a young, 38-year-old man who had just completed a Fulbright appointment in Ankara, Turkey, and studied Islam in detail, Carl Wheeless felt drawn to the Oriental culture. He came back to Washington and applied to the Methodist Board of Missions to be sent to a Muslim Country to teach political science. In 1957, Mr Carl Wheeless, along with his wife and two children, was sent to Lahore's Forman Christian College.

The principal, Dr Rhea Ewing, gave the enthusiastic teacher the course curriculum for Bachelors of Art and within no time Dr Wheeless was standing in Room A-52 facing a batch of 60 students. "I was scared to death! There were no blondes and no redheads. A mop of dark hair was all I could see. They were so different but very respectful. I instantly recovered my confidence and memorized the names of each one of them. The next day I surprised them all by calling them by their names which made them realize that I wanted to develop a deeper relationship going beyond the roll call," said Dr Wheeless, recalling his first day at college.

Life on campus was, of course, quite different then. Students were disciplined, maintaining a respectful scholarly distance with teachers. Unlike the politicisation wrecking the image and academic record of the college two decades later, the FC College was seen as a serious contender to the Government College. At the start of the nationalization in 1971, leaving back for the United States was painful enough. But what turned out to be a cause of extreme concern for Dr Wheeless was the gradual collapse of the FC College's educational system. "I was very sad to learn about the college's deterioration and fall into disorder."

A knock on the door caused Dr Carl Wheeless to momentarily stop reminiscing. The door opened and in walked one of his favourite students: it was the chief minister, Pervaiz Elahi. "Here comes my favourite student!" beamed his teacher. Facing an absolutely overjoyed teacher, Mr Pervaiz Elahi sat on the sofa and said: "Chaudhry Shujaat and I owe a lot to him. He taught us the basic foundation of education, which begins with respecting your tutor."

The chief minister started talking about the three-year educational reform programme he had introduced in the Punjab. "This is the first time in the history of the Punjab that Rs6 billion will be spent on primary education. We've identified 15 districts in the south of Punjab where free text books, from class one to five, will be provided to students," stated Mr Pervaiz Elahi. Dr Carl Wheeless could not have looked more gratified with himself. He was probably thinking about the late 50s when the chief minister was a shy, politically unmotivated student of political theory. "He has really done me proud!" came forth the professor's praise.

As summer comes to city

As I walked for a while, on the poorly-maintained shabby pavements of the posh Zaibunnisa Street on an afternoon during the week, two things stood out right away. Not the heat of the April sun, for as we know it is going to get worse as the summer is here. But it was the fact that portable generators were working full steam, contributing to the noise pollution, and reflecting the power failure that the affluent shopping centre of Karachi was hit by.

The other was the fact the Rabiul Awwal celebrations were on, and were at that time symbolised by the fact that some programmes were being played over a loud speaker, and which could be heard well by all. As someone would perhaps ask: was that the reason why the people of this area were not protesting about the KESC failure, or was it the fact that the power failure was of a short duration, or because in this area of the city, people did not agitate over power failures and water shortages.

The fact that May is here is an occasion to focus on these power shortages, failures or closures, call these what you will, for that is what most conversation will invariably be about. How the water and power shortages will be braved through in the midst of a summer that will tire citizens, make them despair. And some of them could resort to violent protests. Riot, as newspapers say this week. In fact it is pertinent to mention here that the Thursday night's major power breakdown that hit the country, was caused by heavy rain, which coupled with strong winds, caused serious damage to the Wapda's 500 KV main supply line from the Tarbela Dam.

This brings us to the point of what we have seen in small measure this week. In fact it was disturbing to hear over a private television channel that people in parts of Karachi, like Federal B Area and its adjoining localities, had taken to the streets to protest against the prolonged power shortages in the areas, which made the end April heat unbearable.

A news report on Monday morning said that "3 day-long" disruption triggers off power riots" and it was reported that "enraged citizens blocked Liaquatabad flyover and the Shahrahe Pakistan on Sunday afternoon in protest against the power failures. It went on for four hours, the police tossed tear gas shells to disperse them, but the protesters turned violent, and some of them pelted police with stones," (Mind you dear reader this is a protest about power shortages.

This was how Monday morning greeted us in Karachi, and those of us who did not get affected, heaved a sigh of relief.

Experience of living in Karachi over the years has shown that eventually all of Karachi gets affected as these power failures also envelope the affluent areas of the city. Either there is a high number of airconditioners in those areas that does it, or it is caused by poor and negligent maintenance by the KESC. Indeed we are going to be talking a great deal of the KESC in the summer months, not all of it with gratitude, one must concede.

That Monday morning, there was another familiar issue of concern, which was water shortage. Having said this one is distracted by a news report which says that "the federal government is finalizing here on May 4 the water and power projects for the coming fiscal year, as the provinces have submitted their respective projects without seeking any allocation for mega water projects such as the Kalabagh Dam and the Bhasha Dam," there are more details in this story but one has quoted this paragraph to indicate that the water and power issue is of deep national concern.

There is a countrywide anxiety on these issues, says a Karachiite, as if he is trying to offer consolation and strength, which reminds me a friend from the past who always found it repetitive whenever I would find myself troubled by water and power shortages in the eighties. She would insist that there were other far more worrying issues to be focused on. Time has unfolded that not only have the water shortages been magnified with an increase in the city's population, but there are many more urban challenges, horrors and terrifying scenarios than one could have ever imagined.

There is such a high profile of security personnel that it makes one feel that a crisis has either just occurred or that it is feared to occur any moment. I am terrified at times as I walk on a pavement that has a uniformed security man in a ready-to-shoot position. The security cover that parts of the city have, and the manner and degree to which we have integrated the concern and cost of armed private security into our lives (homes, offices, and entertainment areas), is something that ought to forever make us wonder whether this society is moving in the right direction, perceives one thoughtful Karachiite.

Anyway, let me return to Monday in Karachi, which brought the news that there was staged a sit-in against the suspension of water supply in the Baldia Town. A traffic jam resulted, as the flow of vehicles was diverted to other roads, and streets. This is what happens in other areas too (like the Dr Ziauddin Road area). There are resultant traffic jams, aggravating the chaos and the mood of the citizens. The rest of the details sound repetitive.

The same old complaints against the water board, and the city nazim, familiar explanations for a leakage in a 15-inch dia pipeline, still more familiar assurances that things would be brought back to normal soon, and that henceforth there would be no digging of roads without a proper No Objection Certificate from the concerned department. I often wonder about this NOC in our lives, and how elusive it can become at times.

Now, along with water and power, there was another story of recurring woe; the disturbing prospect of atta shortage, a subject that had been staying with us since the beginning of 2004. In fact one would like to mention here that the ARY channel, in its Views on News, focused on this atta theme in the context of the wheat shortage, and its many dimensions, and spoke to the federal minister concerned also.

This was on Thursday night and it was at the point where the minister was accusing the media of trying to blackmail the government on the atta issue, that I had tuned in. And when the anchor person (Dr Shahid Masood) confronted the minister with the question whether that particular channel was trying to blackmail him, the minister at once answered in negative.

I have spoken to a number of people on the problem of atta prices, people who represent the common man in a way, and they have not shown much concern for atta prices as such, but they do demonstrate an uncertainty that they have on the issue.

However, there is reason, say other Karachiites, to take notice of such statements that have been issued recently on the atta theme on a countrywide basis. Statements from Balochistan and NWFP, for example, that suggest that if Punjab does not lift the ban on inter-district wheat transport, there will be reciprocal action and retaliatory measures in respect of items from the two provinces. One does seek to go into the details here, which are well known, and a Punjab official has been quoted as saying that "no province asked up for wheat," that statement of April 30 reflected that all was well. Well Well!

Having said all this, one would like to return to the point, the column began from. That now that May is here, Karachi begins its long, tough, trying summer time. Right now, it is an extended holiday time, with a weekend of three days! May Day yesterday, and the Eid Miladun Nabi tomorrow. There is lots of colourful illumination of private and public buildings, and that is of course telling on the KESC's supply. Public attitudes don't change. That's our culture.

As the culture of summer unfolds itself steadily, surely, and as the weather scissors into the fabric of Karachi, cynical citizens look pessimistic. A taste of weather ahead was experienced on Friday when a dust storm hit the Sindh capital.