[sacw] sacw dispatch (14 Oct.99)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch
14 October 1999
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#1. Democracy again in the doldrums in Pakistan
#2. Military Takes over In Pakistan
#3. Lies out of control
#4. Christian Concern At Parivar Violence, Hate Campaign After Elections
#5. A film on "Nuclear Waste Disposal and Uranium Mining in Bihar"
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#1.
Hindustan Times

DEMOCRACY AGAIN IN THE DOLDRUMS IN PAKISTAN
By Beena Sarwar

LAHORE, Oct 13: It wasn't exactly functioning as a democratic government
should, but at least it was democratically elected. And the 'removal' of
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif by the Chief of Army Staff he dismissed has
again, within a few hours, plunged Pakistan's nascent democracy into turmoil
and uncertainty.

For some weeks, rumours had been rife about an impending change in the
political set-up. In Pakistan, such political speculation is perennial, but
of late the buzz had been more intense, fuelled by a tension between the
armed forces and the government that has led to the present situation.

The chain of events started by Sharif's attempts to gather more and more
power unto himself and his cronies was hastened by his autocratic behaviour,
which belied the heavy mandate with which he had been elected. Since taking
oath just over two and a half years ago, Sharif has sent packing a Chief
Justice, two naval chiefs, two army chiefs (the second of which has refused
to go), come down with a heavy hand on the press, non-government
organisations and political opposition, and treated the federating units
with scant respect.

All this, combined with an ongoing economic crisis -- worsened by the
nuclear detonations of last year -- contributed to an erosion of support for
Sharif and his government, nationally as well as internationally.

The Kargil misadventure culminated ingloriously, with Sharif scuttling off
to Uncle Sam for a way out of the mess in the face of an impending nuclear
stand-off between Pakistan and India.

The army's morale dipped, and Musharraf was allowed to remain in a state of
limbo by being allowed to continue as acting Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff
Commission. It was only recently that he was finally confirmed and given an
extension of two years on that post -- at the cost of losing the Navy Chief
Adml. Fasih Bukhari who had been next in line for it, and who promptly
resigned.

Gen. Musharraf's confirmation as Chairman JCSC appears to have been a
belated attempt to lull him into a sense of security and as well as provide
a sop to the discontent in army ranks caused by Sharif's dash to Washington.

There was much else for the COAS to be disgruntled about. Soon after he took
over from Gen. Jehangir Karamat as COAS last October, Sharif by-passed him
in appointing a party loyalist, Lt. Gen. Khwaja Ziauddin, sd the head of the
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Although the ISI reports to the Prime
Minister rather than the Army Chief, such decisions are rarely taken
unilaterally. The differences between PM and COAS increased when Musharraf
responded by posting army officers of his choice in the Intelligence
services.

The tension increased with the visit to Washington two weeks ago by ISI
chief Lt. Gen. Ziauddin along with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who
is also the prime minister's younger brother. Their return to Pakistan was
followed by an unexpected and categorical show of US support for the
Pakistan government, with a US State Department press release warning
"political and military actors" to refrain from making any
extra-constitutional move to overthrow the democratically elected government
-- apparently a reference to rumours about the Sharif government being
overthrown in an impending coup.

Meanwhile, the Pakistan government for the first time linked religious
terrorism in the country with training and support given to militants in
Afghanistan, and asked the Taliban to hand over those being imparted such
training on Afghan soil. Finally, it was being admitted that Pakistan's most
wanted terrorist Riaz Basra and the USA's enemy number one Osama bin Ladin
were in one category, receiving sanctuary and support in Afghanistan.

The unconfirmed "deal" between Sharif's emissaries and the Clinton camp was
believed to have been US support in the appointment of Ziauddin as COAS in
place of Musharraf, in return for a tall order: Pakistan signing the CTBT,
making peace with India -- including a settlement of the Kashmir issue --
and taking action against religious militants.

Meanwhile, attempts to overthrow Musharraf were discovered by military
intelligence, and a key player told last Friday to resign: Corps Commander
Quetta Lt. Gen. Tariq Parvez, the cousin of federal minister Nadir Parvez,
was given until Oct 13 to leave the army. He was said to be guilty of
violating army discipline by conducting one-on-one meetings with the
political leadership, and conspiring to overthrow Musharraf as COAS with a
view to installing ISI chief Lt. Gen Ziauddin instead.

Having removed Parvez, Gen. Musharraf took the precaution of making
arrangements to safeguard his position before leaving for Colombo last week.
As reported in the press, he made made contingency plans in case of such a
move -- also evident by the smoothness with which the army took over.

The question is, now what? Constitutionally, Gen. Musharraf is no longer
COAS, nor can he 'dismiss' the government. In his brief address to the
nation last night, he was careful not to mention 'martial law' or suspension
of fundamental rights.

Hectic efforts are now underway to belatedly 'constitutionalise' what is
happening, by pressurising Sharif to either resign, or dissolve the
assembly, or restore Gen. Musharraf as COAS. According to reports from
Islamabad, where Sharif is detained at the PM House along with Lt. Gen.
Ziauddin and Shahbaz Sharif, this won't be easy. Sharif is believed to be
insisting on calling constitutional experts and proceeding according to law.

Another option reportedly being considered is that of effecting some kind of
change within the existing government, and having Sharif removed through a
vote of no-confidence. This would pave the way for the present government
with its two-thirds majority, to continue functioning but with a more
'acceptable' person at its head.

Martial law is an unlikely option, given the new global realities. The last
military government of Pakistan was fully backed militarily, financially,
and morally by the USA as necessary to further the USA's anti-communist
agenda in Afghanistan. The present army set-up has no such support. Nor,
given the economic situation and its heavy dependence on external funds, can
Pakistan afford to isolate itself. An IMF spokesman has stated that the Fund
is 'closely monitoring the situation and assessing its implications for
Pakistan's economic programme and borrowing arrangement with the Fund.'

There is already pressure on Gen. Musharraf to proceed constitutionally and
democratically. The Commonwealth Secretary-General has warned that Pakistan
could be suspended from its membership if reports of a military coup are
correct. The State Department issued a guarded statement expressing concern
about the extra-constitutional measures being taken in Pakistan, and
emphasised that the Constitution should be followed not 'just in letter but
in spirit'.

In a news alert of Oct 12, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New
York-based organization defending media freedom around the world, expressed
fears that the military takeover may lead to the imposition of tight
controls over reporting there, particularly in light of the army's quick
assertion of control over the country's broadcast media.

It noted that in the 52 years since Pakistan's independence from the
British, the nation has undergone 25 years of army rule marked by the
erosion of civil liberties. Previous military dictators have imposed strict
censorship regulations, with harsh penalties for journalists whose reporting
was not to their liking.

(ends)
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#2.
MILITARY TAKES OVER IN PAKISTAN

By: Farooq Tariq
General Secretary Labour Party Pakistan

The Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee and Chief of the Army
General Pervaiz Musharf dismissed the government of Nawaz Sharif on
Tuesday October 12. Former Prime Minister and his brother have been
taken into custody. In his nation wide address this morning at 2.45am,
the Army Chief did not speak about any martial law or announced any
interim arrangements.

Troops took over the sensitive buildings in Islamabad on October 12th
evening after General Mussaraf; s dismissal orders were aired by the
state run electronic media through news flash. According to the
reports, it was apparently Mr. Sharif, s decision to dismiss General
Mussaraf that prompted the military coup.

General Mussaraf in his televised address said that every one was
aware of the kind of turmoil and uncertainty that the country had gone
through in recent times. "Not only have all the institutions been
played around with, and systematically destroyed, the economy too is
in a state of collapse." " Despite all my advice, they tried to
interfere with the armed forces, the last remaining viable institution
in which all of you takes so much pride and look upto, at all times,
for the stability, unity and integrity of our beloved country".

The usual demagogy of any military ruler was repeated in General
Mussaraf first speech with the difference that he did not announced
the martial law. The military coup seemed provoked by the government
of Nawaz Sharif announcement of the dismissal of the General. Nawaz
Government promoted the General only a week before as the Chairman of
the Joint Chief of Staff Committee. During the week, the General
purged some of the senior military officers who were known as Nawaz
Sharif Supporters. In retaliation, the Prime Minister wanted to sack
the general. This was the immediate excuse for the military take over
but the main reasons were deeply rooted in the present economic crisis
and its political effects. The Kargil dispute with India over Kashmir,
where Nawaz Government apparently tried to put the blame of defeat on
the shoulders of military.

In a move to reschedule the loans from IMF, the Nawaz Sharif
Government recently took another U turn and blamed the Talban
Government in Afghanistan for the terrorist activities in Pakistan.
Pakistan is the only country in the world, which had formally
recognized the Talban Government of Afghanistan. It has actively
supported the Talabans to take over Kabul and other parts of
Afghanistan. This U-turn was also not appreciated by the various
religious trends within the army.

The economy was in absolute shatters. The Government attempt to
introduce the general sales tax was successfully fought back by the
small traders association of Pakistan. It successfully organized a
nationwide strike on 4th September 99. In a bid to cool down the
traders, government in opposition to the IMF instructions withdrew the
GST and introduced a new tax.

In another development, the cotton growers across the country were
taking over the roads and were organizing massive demonstrations. They
were demanding an increment in the cotton prices. The powerful All
Pakistan Textile Manufacturers Association APTMA was opposed to the
increment of the cotton prices. Cotton amounts to the 70% of total
export of Pakistan. Pakistan produces 10% of the world cotton
production. On 10th October, a nationwide protest of the peasants and
cotton growers blocked for hours all the main roads of Pakistan.

So all these developments exposed the extreme unpopular nature of the
present government. It was remarkable change in the conciousness of
the masses in the last two and half years. In the beginning 1997, the
present Nawaz Government won the general elections with 40% of the
total votes winning an absolute two third majority in the national
assembly. It used its majority to introduce new amendments in the
constitution against the remaining trade union rights, against
minorities, women, and small nationalities. It tried to bring the
beaurucracy under its absolute control. It humiliated the beaurucracy
in public.

It wanted a Mughal Empirdoms type rule where his words must be
translated into actions within seconds. It had introduced a telephone
help line where he would listen any complaint and after hearing one
minutes, he will take an action. The TV will follow the story and the
impression will be given that justice has been done in seconds. This
was without any proper investigation of the complaint and so on.

The government of Nawaz Sharif had a highway construction menial. He
would like the roads build in days and all the so-called encroachments
had to go without any alternatives. Many historical buildings were
bulldozed in this process. This led to the widespread reaction among
the urban population.

Despite his demagogy, he was unable to implement of the agenda of IMF
in regard to the speedy privatization of the main public sector
institutions like railway, telecommunication, and electricity. It also
developed contradiction with some of the international power companies
who had made contracts with the previous Benazir government to build
the power generation plants. These power companies had signed the
contract with Benazir government to sell the electricity on a higher
rate than the international competitive rates. They bribed the
government of Benazir to go for this road rather than the Nawaz
Government. So it had problems with them. This led to the intervention
of World Bank who asked the Nawaz Government to seek a compromise with
the power companies.

It tested a nuclear bomb despite the hypocritical opposition of the
Americans. It went on war with India and lost. It retreated from the
border in a humiliation manner. All these developments led the Nawaz
Government in isolation from its own religious constituency and also
from its international backers. It also developed trade relationship
with the dying Daewo.

In this background, the Nawaz Government was seen as very weak,
unstable and isolated government. Despite that it grew its
contradictions with the military.

In this background, the take over of the military was not met with any
resistance from the masses. There was a sense of confusion and to some
extent a sense of relief by the masses.

Military have not yet developed its future strategy. As contrary to
the past practices, military this time have not used the religion as
the main cause for their action.

If it goes for an open military rule under martial law, it might face
opposition from the IMF and World Bank and Americans. The possibility
is that it will install a civilian puppet government under its full
control. The main aim of this so-called civilian government will be
the speedy implementation of the IMF agenda.

Labour Party Pakistan have anticipated the present move very clearly
and had the perspective that this government will not complete its
full five-year terms. But it had not seen the open intervention of the
military of the present level. The military take over is yet another
setback for the Left and trade union movement in Pakistan. LPP have
issued a press release to oppose the military take over and have
demanded an immediate announcement of the general elections under an
interim government of workers and peasants.

LPP demands that army should go back to the barracks immediately. It
will not accept the reinstatement of Nawaz Government and demand fresh
general elections.
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#3.
Himal,
September 1999, Vol 12, No 9
Features

LIES OUT OF CONTROL
by S.N.M. Abdi

A couple of months after the Kargil conflict, some intense
soul-searching by the Indian print and electronic media is revealing
that much of the national press meekly toed the government line and
fanned war hysteria at the cost of objectivity and professional ethics.
Prominent journalists have come out with scathing indictments of the
Indian media and their contents are indeed shocking for what it
portends.
The Times of India's Sidddharth Varadarajan writes that Indian Foreign
Minister Jaswant Singh's allegation-made at the height of the Kargil
conflict-that the bodies of six dead Indian soldiers were "severely
mutilated" by Pakistanis, was never substantiated. "Virtually every
newspaper carried the gory details released by an Indian wire service
without waiting for independent confirmation. Such confirmation never
arrived... During the war itself, at least two newspapers received
information that the allegation was highly exaggerated-probably only one
of the bodies bore signs of mutilation. But the journalists who received
the information, chose to remain silent."

Varadarajan has also revealed that a newspaper and a magazine received
reports from its correspondents at the war-front that Indian soldiers
had mutilated the dead bodies of Pakistani soldiers in retaliation. But
after heated editorial debates, it was decided to kill these stories-at
least until the fighting was over.

"The Indian media was on test as to how fairly it would report and
interpret. But overall, it failed
miserably," says columnist Praful Bidwai. "The general style of reports
was: '50 Pakistanis killed and 11 gallant Indian soldiers laid down
their lives'. So our boys became dedicated soldiers and Pakistanis
barbarians; our leaders are mature politicians and theirs prisoners of
dark forces. It is upto the government to say all that. Why should the
media?"

N. Ram, editor of Frontline magazine, said that the distinction between
the reporter and the armyman was blurred during the fighting.
"Objectivity was the biggest casualty in the coverage of the Kargil
conflict," according to another weekly, Outlook, which also said that
journalists chose to become participants instead of remaining objective
observers in the revered war correspondent tradition.

Analysts have also accused 'independent' TV news channels of becoming a
propaganda wing of the state by suppressing the truth and glamourising
war. Giving instances of censorship and manipulation, Bidwai said that
recycled stock pictures were frequently presented as live footage.

Another commentator, Sagarika Ghose, wrote that no attempt was made by
print or TV journalists "to scrutinise the role of the military from the
citizens' point of view". TV, she said, has a duty to make sure that
legions of jobless young men don't unthinkingly give themselves to the
army in order to die for their country because of a false bravado. "We
were shown [puzzlingly] brave parents promising to send more sons to the
front if need be. What about parents who were sad? What about parents
who cried and said I want this war to stop and I don't want my son to
die?"

Analysts said that even if soldiers in Kargil couldn't voice their
doubts about the war before television cameras, reporters should have
dutifully paraphrased their fears to project a balanced picture. The
Indian media also failed to question the official figure of 410 dead and
594 injured in six weeks of intense fighting in one of the world's most
treacherous battlegrounds. "How is it possible that casualties on the
Pakistani side were higher-as India claims-when they had all the
advantage of higher ground? The Indians should have suffered higher
casualties than the Pakistanis," said Arthur Max, New Delhi bureau chief
of Associated Press.

Another senior journalist of The Times of India, Jug Suraiya criticised
the coverage of the shooting of a Pakistani plane in the Kutch region
soon after the Kargil conflict. Wrote Suraiya: "Was the wreckage of the
Pakistani reconnaissance aircraft really retrieved from Indian territory
or, as circumstantial evidence indicated, was it salvaged from across
the border to give the prime minister a vote-catching photo
opportunity?"

"The suppression of truth...and the dissemination of half-truths and
innuendoes did not save lives. All it did was undermine the reputation
of the Indian media," warned Varadarajan. Perhaps the most insightful
comment came from Seema Mustafa, political editor of The Asian Age, who
pointed out that the Kargil conflict exposed the warts and the moles the
Indian media has managed to camouflage over the years.
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#4.
All India Catholic Union
F-299, New Rajendra Nagar, New Delhi 110060 National Secretary for
Public Affairs: John Dayal
Phones: 91-11-2722262, 2726582
Email:johndayal@v..., jdayal123@a...

13 October 1999
CHRISTIAN CONCERN AT PARIVAR VIOLENCE, HATE CAMPAIGN AFTER ELECTIONS

Prime Minister Vajpayee urged to curb fundamentalism, NDA partners must
assert secular values
Community congratulates People of India on democratic process

PRESS STATEMENT

The Following is the text of a Joint Press Statement issued by Mr. John
Dayal on behalf of the All India Catholic Union, the All India Christian
Council and the United Christian Action on the results of the General
Elections and the continuing violence by various organisations of the
Sangh parivar against Christians and its threats of agitation against the
visit of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II to New Delhi.
The Christian community congratulates its fellow citizens on the
successful conduct of the General Elections, the largest democratic
mobilisation in the history of mankind. The electoral verdict reflects the
aspirations of the people of the States for development and their
confidence in India's pluralistic culture and its federal polity. The
community congratulates Prime Minister Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee who has
today taken oath of office to protect the Constitution committed to
Equality, Secularism, and the uplift of the poor, the downtrodden and the
victims of caste oppression. We hope Mr. Vajpayee will take speedy steps
to assure the people of India that his government will carry out the
promises in the National Democratic Alliance on law and order, secularism
and development. It is also the particular responsibility of his political
partners in the NDA that the sensitive ministries such as the Human
Resource Development, Forests and Home are not allowed to infuse communal
sentiments in policy matters.
It is in this context that the community has noted with deep concern
statements by senior ministerial colleagues of the Prime minister's
Bharatiya Janata Party that the BJP has not disowned its Hindutva agenda,
but has merely postponed it for the period of the NDA government's tenure.
Such statements, we fear, are directly responsible for encouraging the
spate of anti-Christian violence that has been reported from Gujarat,
Rajasthan and Punjab, among other states, in the wake of the NDA returning
to power after the general elections. The state government of Gujarat has
once again been a silent, if not a conniving, spectator as Parivar's
activists have assaulted Christian pastors and ordinary people in at least
three incidents in the state.
Worse has been the unmitigated campaign of hate and calumny perpetrated by
senior leaders of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh and the Vishwa Hindu
Parishad during the election campaign and even after the formation of the
government. This hate campaign is marked by the intensity of its venom,
and is systematically being built through half-truths, lies and
disinformation. It is intriguing that there is no condemnation of these
actions and statements by the government leadership. If this malice is not
checked now, the country may lead to even more tragedy than was witnessed
in Gujarat in December 1998 and in Orissa this year.
We are also deeply concerned at blatant attempts to vitiate the atmosphere
on the eve of the visit to India of His Holiness, Pope John Paul II, the
spiritual leader of the Catholics of the world who is coming here to
conclude the Synod for Asia. Public statements and threats of agitations
by the Sangh Parivar are meant to coerce and frighten the minority
community whose 2,000 year old existence in this country has been marked
by love and compassion for their fellow citizens and unsurpassed
commitment to service and empowerment.
We call on the Prime Minister of India to categorically condemn any action
that mars the environment of amity in the country and which maliciously
seeks to coerce minority communities by hate campaigns and show of force.
We hope Mr. Vajpayee will not fail us.

Issued by John Dayal on behalf of
Mr. Norbert De Souza, President, All India Catholic Union
Mr. Joseph De Souza, President, All India Christian Council
John Dayal, acting President, United Christian Action, National Secretary
for Public Affairs, AICU, and National Convenor, United Christian Forum
for Human Rights
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#5.
RAGI : KANA : KO BONGA BURU (BUDDHA WEEPS IN JADUGODA)
A film on "Nuclear Waste Disposal and Uranium Mining in Bihar"

About the film :
Jadugoda is a tribal populated area in East Singbhum district of Bihar. It
first came into prominence when uranium deposits were discovered in the
area by the Uranium Corporation of India Ltd. (UCIL). Jadugoda is India's
only underground uranium mine. UCIL makes no attempt to protect the lives
of the people and the environment of the area. The unsafe mining of
uranium has resulted in excessive radiation leading to genetic mutation
and slow death. Medical reports reveal that the impact of radiation on the
lives of the tribals has been devastating.

Ragi : Kana : Ko Bonga Buru (Buddha weeps in Jadugoda) is an attempt to
record the tragedy that has played havoc with the lives of the tribal
people of Jadugoda.

If you are interested in knowing more information about the films or buying
them, please get in touch with us.

Other Media Communications
Fax : 0091-11-6198042
Email : admin@d...
VHS price : Rs.500 for individuals and Rs.1000 for organisations (in India)
$50 for indivuduals and $100 for organisations (outside India + postal
charges)

_______________________________
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) since 1996.