[sacw] sacw dispatch #2 (1 Dec.99)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch #2
1 December 1999
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#1. Pakistan's Taliban Troubles
#2. Desperately seeking 1971 war crime justice!
#3. We All Live in Bhopal: Day of action Dec.2-3 1999
#4. India: HIV capital of the world

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#1.
JANE'S DEFENCE WEEKLY 1 Dec. 1999.

PAKISTAN'S TALIBAN TROUBLES
by Anthony Davis

Since the military coup of 12 October the attention of Pakistan's new
ruler, Gen Pervez Musharraf, has been focused mainly on domestic issues of
economic stabilisation and a campaign against debt defaulters. Before long,
however, he will need to make far-reaching decisions over one of the most
critical areas of Pakistan's security and foreign policy-the Taliban and
the conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Musharraf will not be making these decisions alone. A core security policy
triumvirate has emerged from the post-coup reshuffle consisting of
Musharraf himself, who doubles as Chief Executive and Chief of Army Staff;
the new Director General of the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence
Directorate (ISI), Lt Gen Mehmood Ahmed; and the new Chief of General Staff
(CGS), Lt Gen Mohammad Mir Aziz Khan.

Lt Gen Mehmood, formally appointed to head ISI on 30 October, replaces
sacked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's own appointee Lt Gen Khwaja Ziauddin,
who remains under arrest and may face court-martial. Earlier commanding the
key Rawalpindi-based 10 Corps, Lt Gen Mehmood is a former artillery officer
and a close associate and friend of Gen Musharraf. He has already begun
reorganising the ISI bringing in new personnel. Lt Gen Aziz brings to the
CGS post a wealth of experience of both Afghanistan and Kashmir. After
serving as Force Commander Northern Areas (adjoining Indian-administered
Kashmir), he moved to head the Afghan Bureau of the ISI where he gained a
reputation as a pro-Taliban hawk.

Since the coup, Pakistan's Afghan policy has been broadly in what one
intelligence source describes as "holding mode." Some shipments of
munitions have reportedly moved across the frontier. But in the field ISI
officers have been withdrawn from advisory roles with Taliban forces.
Coming at the same time as a Pakistani closure of the border (since lifted
on 17 November) aimed at checking smuggling and wheat exports, the shift of
pace by the ISI has alarmed Taliban leaders already under pressure from the
United States over the presence of terrorist suspect Osama bin Laden and
the Nov 14 imposition of United Nations-mandated sanctions.

Certainly Islamabad's Afghan policy demands a thorough review.
Diplomatically, Pakistan remains isolated in its support for a pariah
regime only recognised by two other states (Saudi Arabia and United Arab
Emirates) and widely condemned for human rights abuses, support of
terrorism, narcotics exports and political intransigence. Moreover, ISI's
logistical and advisory backing over 1999 has failed conspicuously to bring
the Pushtun Taliban any closer to their goal of military domination
throughout Afghanistan.

A late July offensive, aimed at seizing the Shomali plain from the Tajik
forces of Ahmadshah Massoud and massively supported by the ISI, was routed
by an Opposition counter-thrust that cost hundreds of Taliban casualties.
The second phase of operations in the far north met even greater setbacks.
Despite the September capture of districts along the river border with
Tajikistan and an advance towards Massoud's de facto capital of Taloqan,
the Taliban eventually lost all their gains to Opposition
counter-offensives in October.

Since then, the Opposition has swung onto the offensive in the
north-central provinces of Samangan, Balkh and Jowzjan. Advances in October
and early November swept the Taliban from the bitterly-contested Dara-i-Suf
valley, captured several district centres and even posed a threat to the
main northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. At the end of a militarily disastrous
campaign season that has cost at a conservative estimate over 3,000 dead
and wounded, Taliban morale is at a low ebb. As one western military
observer put it: " They haven't achieved any of their operational
objectives. Militarily, they're worse off at the end of this year than at
the end of last."

Under these circumstances, Pakistan confronts an unenviable dilemma: to
continue backing the Taliban's flagging northern campaign; or to concede
the improbability of a military unification of Afghanistan and cut back on
support.

Pushing on-likely to appeal to ISI hardliners - would involve backing a
renewed offensive in the spring aimed at decisively severing Massoud's
vital logistical life-lines across the Amu Darya river from Tajikistan; and
ejecting him from him from Taloqan, marginalising (as distinct from
destroying) his forces in the Panjshir and other high valleys of the Hindu
Kush. As initial Taliban advances this September suggested, granted
sufficient manpower, neither objective is militarily impossible.

The alternative would be to abandon the long-cherished goal of an
Afghanistan united under a friendly Taliban government and to cut back on
support, urging a more conciliatory Taliban stance and a compromise
"broad-based government". The outlines of such a government are anything
but obvious but, unpalatably for Islamabad, would probably need to include
in some capacity the stridently anti-Pakistani Massoud.

Cutting back on military support is fraught with risk, however.
Politically, it risks alienating an already nervous and insecure Taliban
leadership. It could also push the Taliban towards a military collapse in
the north. With Opposition forces already on the offensive and dispirited
Taliban garrisons dangerously thin-stretched, it is far from inconceivable
that an Opposition spring offensive could break the Taliban hold on the
north. Such a major set-back would trigger upheavals within Taliban ranks,
possibly even the movement's fragmentation. That would present Pakistan,
which for the past five years has nailed its colours to the Taliban mast,
with a grave foreign policy and security crisis.

Continued Pakistani military support over the winter thus appears almost
inevitable. Whether that translates into another all-out Taliban offensive
in the spring will depend on tough diplomatic and military assessments to
be made in Islamabad in the coming months-and on whether the Taliban can
weather the winter without further erosion of their already shaky hold on
the north.
ENDS.
------------------------
#2.
News from Bangladesh
1 December 1999
Commentary

DESPERATELY SEEKING 1971 WAR CRIME JUSTICE!
By Jamal Hasan

It had been almost twenty-eight years that three million innocent folks had
been systematically annihilated by the brute Pakistani soldiers. A whole
slue of civilians from minority non-Bengali (Bihari) community and members
belonging to fundamentalist Islamic party (Jamat-i-Islami) collaborated
with the Pakistani soldiers to make this a "successful" genocide. Some of
these war criminals are long gone from this world, but a whole bunch of
them is roaming freely in the streets of Lahore, Peshawar, Islamabad,
Karachi, Dhaka, Chittagong, London, New York City, and elsewhere in this
world.

We live in a very different world now as compared to the one when the
marauding Pakistani soldiers were locked in a viscous campaign of terror
and mass murder. War crimes are not condoned anymore. Lucky for us that
there is no statute of limitation on war crimes. Thus, Chilean ex-despot
General Augusto Pinochet is being held in England awaiting extradition to
Spain to face murder charge committed by his soldiers under the general's
order. This is a victory for common folks of the world. Under this
backdrop, Bangladeshis who had lost theirs loved one during 1971 liberation
had all the reason to be cheerful. There is a resurgence in activity both
inside and outside Bangladesh to apprehend those war criminals. No, we
haven't forgotten a bit the pain and sufferings of 1971. Nor have we
forgotten the names of Al-Badar and Al-Shams's criminals who had abducted
the intellectuals in the wee hours of night at the fag end of our
liberation war.

Lucky for us that we have tracked down one such criminal who had assumed a
new identity in one of the boroughs of New York City. Similarly, some of
the criminals could be found in various metropolitan areas all over
England. Their time is running out. They are simply scared stiff. Needless
to say, a bleak future awaits while the noose of the justice simply
tightens slowly but surely around the neck of these war criminals.

Good news for us - in the US, a law has been enacted in the last month in
the US Senate. Senator Patrick Leahy was instrumental in moving this law in
the upper chamber of the US Congress. It is expected that the law will be
passed shortly in the lower chamber of the US Congress. While all these
developments were taking place, some of the courageous Bengalis living in
the US formed a group calling them "Bangla Nuremberg" group. The sad demise
of poetess laureate of Bangladesh, Begum Sufia Kamal, also fueled the fire
of justice for Bangladesh liberation war criminals. Recently, the
prestigious NY Times also ran a story eulogizing Begum Sufia Kamal. In that
news story, the war crime issue was reverberated. It seems as if the cry of
justice is coming from every possible direction. If I were a war criminal
and living in the US, I would be scared stiff. Is there a safe haven for
Bangladesh War Criminals anywhere in the world? Perhaps not. The clock is
ticking louder and louder. It won't be much longer when the remnants of
Al-Badar, Al-Shams, and all those retired Pakistani army officers who
committed crime against humanity during the turbulent nine-month period in
1971.

I would like to share a letter with NFB readers that I wrote recently
congratulating Senator Patrick Leahy for a fine job he has done. The war
criminals of the world who thought of America being a safe haven would
think twice now before migrating here. On the other hand, the one who came
here falsifying theirs past misdeeds would be tossing and turning in their
bed thinking the perilous journey that lies ahead. The cold arm of justice
won't spare those who killed innocent folks in occupied Bangladesh just to
keep Jinnah's Pakistan united against all the odds.

Here is my letter to Senator Patrick Leahy:

November 24, 1999

Honorable Senator
Patrick Leahy Senate
Russell Office Building,
Room//433 Constitution Avenue
Washington, DC 20510.

Honorable Senator:.

I am a US citizen of Bangladesh descent.

In 1971 a tragedy occurred in Bangladesh when the Pakistani army under the
leadership of General Yahya committed a systematic genocide on unarmed
people for nine long months. At least two million people perished in the
not so publicized holocaust. Back then Senator Edward Kennedy launched a
crusade to bring the tragedy to the attention of American people. At the
time the Executive Branch was supporting the ruthless ruler of Pakistan.

After the liberation of Bangladesh quite a few war criminals fled the
country. Some of them are roaming freely in the streets of USA. Your
proposed War Crimes Law will put an end to those criminals' undesired
freedom who deserved to face justice.

I wrote a piece on Ashrafuzzaman Khan, an alleged war criminal living in
New York on November 4, 1999 in News from Bangladesh
(http://www.bangladesh-web.com/news), an Internet daily published from
Bangladesh. It was an amazing coincidence that on November 5, War Law news
story was published in the Washington Post. Dr. Jaffor Ullah wrote another
piece in the same paper on the 8th. Then I saw Chitra Ragavan's report in
US News & World Report on the 15th. The series of events led us to build
our confidence that USA will not be the sanctuary of Bangladeshi war
criminals.

I am privileged to forward to you the copies of my article and that of Dr.
Jaffor Ullah's for your kind perusal. Also is enclosed the news story of
the formation of an egroup, namely, Bangla Nuremberg group.

In addition to those, I am sending to you a copy of the Report on the
=46indings of the People's Inquiry Commission on the Activities of the War
Criminals and the Collaborators. Published in 1994, this report contains
the details of the criminal acts committed by eight war criminals who are
now living in Bangladesh. Like Ashrafuzzaman Khan those eight individuals
belong to the same Islamic fundamentalist party called Jamat-i-lslami of
Bangladesh.

In case of unresolved issue of Bangladesh genocide and the war crime,
millions of Bangladeshis hope one thing and that is It is better late than
never.

We will always remember you for the historical role you played in the
vital issue of war crime. You single-handedly did a great service to the
greater humanity.
Thank you Senator.
Sincerely yours,

Jamal Hasan

( Jamal Hasan writes from Washington DC. )
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#3.
WE ALL LIVE IN BHOPAL
=46rom: essentialaction.org
This coming December marks the 15th anniversary of the worst chemical
disaster in history, the Union Carbide gas disaster in Bhopal, India. In
the years since this massive tragedy, the situation in Bhopal and around
the world has only worsened.

Rather than learn from their errors, chemical companies have stepped up
their assaults on our communities and our bodies. All over the world, our
food, our water, our planet, our bodies and our babies are being exposed to
an increasing assault from toxic chemicals in what amounts to an endless,
slow-motion Bhopal.

Activists around the world are joining hands with the people of Bhopal to
plan an international day of action on the 15th anniversary of the Bhopal
gas disaster.

Wherever you live, we invite you to be a part of this international
campaign. On December 2-3, 1999, let's both remember Bhopal and call for an
end to the on-going slow motion Bhopal that we are all forced to live in.

There are many ways to join this effort:

-organize a protest against a local source of toxics on December 2nd;

-hold a fundraiser or candlelight vigil for the victims of Union Carbide
and other toxic industries;

-give presentations at local schools and churches;

-write articles for local media to remind people about Bhopal;

-launch a campaign or letter writing drive targeting polluting industries;

-demand that industries adopt clean production;

-get involved in the international POPs treaty currently being negotiated
by the United Nations.

Get the Kit! In order to help activists prepare their Day of Action on
December 2-3, 1999, and to tie together all the actions throughout the
world, Essential Action has prepared an Action Kit with logos, background
information, action ideas, media advice and more.

To get the kit: http://www.essentialaction.org/bhopal/kit.html
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#4.
The Independent
1 December 1999

INDIA: HIV CAPITAL OF THE WORLD
By Peter Popham in Delhi

The Victorians have a lot to answer for in India. This is the HIV capital
of the world today, with four million cases and rising fast: in a few years
there will be ten times that number. Yet Indian families cannot bring
themselves to discuss even normal and healthy sexual phenomena such as
masturbation or what is quaintly referred to as "nightfall" as educated
Indians quaintly describe wet dreams.

At a seminar in Delhi yesterday, the shock troops of the war on AIDS-
social workers, teachers, medical officers-confessed that even in their own
homes the subject remained taboo. "We just don't discuss AIDS with our
families because then we would have to talk about physical relations,"
admitted Dr Shankar Chowdhury, a consultant with UNAIDS.

"Many mothers prepare their daughters for menstruation by talking about the
hygienic aspects. But fathers don't tell their adolescent sons not to worry
about masturbation or 'nightfall'." As a result, he said young men often
visit quacks to get "cures" for these "problems". "I have had young men
visiting me steeped in guilt about masturbation, having parted with small
fortunes to get themselves cured=8A"

That sort of desperate prudishness is replicated among the millions crammed
into the shantytowns of India's big cities, where drug abuse and
prostitution cause AIDS to spread like fire. Recently the World Health
Organization admitted that there is massive under-reporting of AIDS cases,
in India, with perhaps fewer than 25 per cent of cases reported. "It is
mainly because of the social stigma attached to the disease," a consultant
explained.

It is like gonorrhea or syphilis in 19th century Britain: AIDS is known
about, but it is social death to bring it up. So when the Indian government
uses some of the huge sums it has borrowed from the World Bank to wage the
propaganda war on AIDS, there is a painful sense of worthy people going
through the distasteful motions: putting out posters in English, understood
by a fraction of the public, and an even smaller fraction of those at risk;
setting up a helpline which gives callers a 15-minute recorded discourse.

In Thailand, AIDS has been understood both by the public and the government
to be a menace to the nation's development and prosperity. A law was
passed, requiring all television and radio station to devote two minutes a
day to the problem. Thanks to these and other measures, the incidence of
infections is more than 60 per cent lower than it was at the start of the
decade.

In India, however, that shift is yet to happen. So there are cities like
Vijayawada, on the east coast, where last year 21 AIDS patients committed
suicide rather than live with it. And last May India made its own unique
addition to the world's AIDS nightmare: the image, published in the
newspapers, of a fireman playing a hose on the charred remains, scarcely
recognizable as human, of a man lying on a street outside Madras: beaten
and burned alive on suspicion of waving around a syringe infected with AIDS.

The terror stalks the land. How much longer before India can bring itself
to face it?

__________________________________________
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH is an informal, independent &
non-profit citizens wire service run by South Asia Citizens Web
(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since1996.