[sacw] sacw dispatch #2 (17 May 00)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web - Dispatch #2
17 May 2000
________________________________
#1. Pakistan: Where are we headed?
#2. Pakistan backs down on blasphemy law change
#3. Sri-Lanka: Tamils trapped between law and war
#4. South Asians States should Join Hands to End Lankan Crisis
________________________________

#1.

DAWN
17 May 2000 / Wednesday
Op-Ed.

Where are we headed?

By Khalid M. Ishaque

IN almost every get-together in Pakistan these days, questions about the
performance of the Pakistanis and the people's collective future come to
the fore. Heads are shaken in sorrow and frustration and woeful predictions
are made about of the country's future. Migration from Pakistan is looked
upon as a solution. Migrants from Pakistan to the West are viewed with envy
and their performance abroad is praised. The quality of life abroad is
discussed.

Even for those emigrating from comparatively well-off backgrounds and
starting at the bottom in the new land is not considered a loss. Nor is the
loss of the company of close relations. In fact, often old relationships
are looked down upon and criticized as being of no value. Question marks
are placed on all value-assertions, on religion and on patriotism.

No one is willing to raise or answer the question as to what he has done
for the country, but almost everyone is convinced - and readily says so -
that Pakistan has done nothing for him. Common judgment on Pakistan is that
it is a failed state, or one with no future. The alienation that today's
youth feels from his country and all that it stands for is frightful, more
so because it is not easy to understand the opinion formation at its roots.

Fifty years of Pakistan saw the break-up of its union for reasons which
were always there even before the achievement of independence. The
existence of similar disjunctive value-patterns and forces is claimed even
in what is left of Pakistan.

The problem of failed nationhood in Pakistan needs some preliminary
investigation, more so if the questions that follow have to be answered.
Was it that Pakistan had yet to be formed as a nation when independence
came? Why did the motivation towards integration weaken in East Pakistan
and not in West Pakistan when by and large East Pakistanis were as good
Muslims as those in West Pakistan? Or was it that economic development in
West Pakistan was more integrated and genuinely shared to prevent the
raising of issues of unfair use and the distribution of resources?

Even a cursory look at the century preceding the formation of Pakistan
shows all too clearly that the idea of 'a Pakistani nation' as we know it
now was in its most embryonic stage. Most Muslim intellectuals were either
lamenting the demise of the Mughal empire or dreaming of the restoration of
a state like the one in the times of Aurangzeb. The idea of the voting
strength of the Muslims in Muslim majority areas and its political
consequences were matters which had not yet attracted the attention of the
majority of the Muslims. It was the British who had favoured the Aga Khan
to preside over the newly-formed political party, known as the Muslim
League, in 1906. The ideas about a separate Muslim identity that were
floated during this period only remotely resembled the final form it took
in 1947. Integration was aspired to, and Islam was found to be the
strongest uniting glue for the purpose of unity and motivation for
sacrifice.

However, the aspirationally and jointly sharing of common history and
common events had yet to happen. Culturally speaking, the province of
Punjab had little in common with the province of Sindh. The distance
between the aspirations of the NWFP and Sindh was even greater. Political
events and developments in industry and agriculture did not bring the
provinces any closer. Notwithstanding the formation of the One Unit in West
Pakistan, politics in Pakistan remained essentially provincial.

The experience of the turbulent years immediately before partition and
independence opened new vistas, including one for the use of Islam. The
political parties, the ulema, the student and labour unions all sought to
use it in one way or the other, but not necessarily for the advancement of
unity. The recognition of Islam as the uniting force was there, but the
commitment to Islam was of an indifferent quality. The purpose for which
Islam was to be used was radically different for each politically
identifiable group. The process of nation formation therefore remained
incomplete and inadequate. For all groups seeking political power, Islam
became a useful device but never a driving or dominant force for
integration. In fact, no political group had thought out clearly for itself
as to what to do with Islam and where to place it in its political agenda.

The situation was crying for Ijtehad more acutely than ever before. But no
group or party was willing to undertake fundamental re-thinking on the
issue or recognize the right of the other party or group to bring about any
change vitally connected with, or based on, Islam. The result of all that
was that the formation of the nation as a project remained incomplete. The
demand for the 'Six Points' by East Pakistan leadership, (1966) however,
showed that new disintegrative forces had become strong. The demands in the
'Six Point' programme were purely secular and rooted in a sheer desire for
political power. The nation-building process was seriously disrupted.

In the light of the above, the problems now being faced by Pakistan will
need somewhat unorthodox solutions.

The basic recognizable fact is that the phenomenon we identify in the
political parties as 'national bonding' remains weak. A Sindhi's national
vision has no place for a Punjabi except as an exploiter or usurper of
national resources. There is hardly any other active dimension of this
relationship. The question of paying or not paying taxes or investing
resources is colored by this perception. The question of building a new
dam, arising from the declining efficiency and potential of the existing
ones, is not examined on its technical or economic merit but is looked at
entirely >from a provincial angle.

Armed forces are looked upon in a similar fashion and are regarded as the
most expensive item of the budget, and that too with reservations about
their defence capacity particularly after the 1971 debacle. The national
bonding that the events of 1965 had brought about dissipated with the
annulment of the One Unit and the process has never since been reversed.

After the military debacle of 1971, spending on the armed forces has never
been a popular item. Civil administration by the armed forces has been even
less popular. Slow progress towards the restoration of civil rule is
absolute anathema.

The armed forces in Pakistan's history have repeatedly taken over power by
force, and in common perception assumed a status above law. For this
reason, dialogue with them was never easy. Dealings with them always
appeared risky. The armed forces always felt it convenient to keep this
factor in view, because it appeared to add to their bargaining power.

Though on the surface the contemporary situation is free from turmoil, the
feeling of insecurity is there. On the issue of new oath of office, six
judges of the Supreme Court had felt compelled to resign. Some judges of
the high courts were removed for no real reason. This was incongruent with
the supremacy of the judiciary as a symbol of rule of law in a society.

Public cooperation with the armed forces is not only required, but it must
have a new basis because of the old prejudices and the new demands facing
the nation. Paying taxes willingly and developing industry are not matters
governed simply by the phenomenon of command and response. The foundation
for smooth and willing payment of taxes and industrialization are rooted in
mutual confidence. Such mutual confidence will come if:

(a) no party has the power to unilaterally change the rules of the game.
Vesting of a supra-constitutional power in the armed forces in the
circumstances is a handicap;

(b) all parties (rulers and the ruled alike) are clearly and transparently
subject to the rule of law. Relocation of judicial personnel, particularly
in situations when the ruling agencies are locked in judicial disputes, is
not desirable. Ruling power should not only be, but should appear to be,
subject to the rule of law. They should never give the impression of always
acting in self-interest or for self-advancement;

(c) public authorities must learn to act swiftly in support of the
oppressed and the weak;

(d) the political process should never be or appear to be suspended for
long. The temptation to exclude politics and politicians from governance
should be resisted.

_________

#2.

Excerpts from:
=46inancial Times, 17 May 2000

Pakistan backs down on blasphemy law change
By Tahir Ikram - 17 May 2000 10:38GMT

ISLAMABAD, May 17 (Reuters) - Pakistan's military ruler, facing his first
organised challenge in seven months, has withdrawn a key change to a
controversial blasphemy law to appease restive religious parties.

The official APP news agency quoted General Pervez Musharraf as saying
late on Tuesday that an amendment to the blasphemy law would be withdrawn
as demanded by Islamic groups who had threatened to hold protest rallies on
=46riday.

The religious parties had backed the powerful traders in calling a
three-day strike from Friday in protest against a general sales tax (GST)
and a survey to broaden the narrow tax base, a key demand of the
International Monetary Fund.

Under the change, anyone with a blasphemy grievance had to register a
complaint, called a First Information Report (FIR), with the area
administrator or District Commissioner, instead of with the local police
chief.

The change was aimed at making the process more official and harder to
abuse, but religious groups said it was a dilution of a key legal provision
safeguarding Islam, and were furious.

"As it was the unanimous demand of the Ulema (religious scholars)...and
of the people, therefore, I have decided to do away with the procedural
change in registration of a First Information Report under the blasphemy
law," APP quoted Musharraf as saying.

Musharraf was talking to reporters on his return from a two-day official
visit of Turkmenistan.

Human rights groups have long demanded the repeal of the blasphemy law,
which they say is often twisted against religious minorities or in personal
vendettas and land disputes.

It was not immediately known if they would now withdraw from the strike
but APP quoted an official as saying that there was no further
justification for it.

The protest is the first organised challenge Musharraf has faced since he
came to power in a bloodless coup in October and suspended parliament and
the constitution.

[...].
_______

#3.

South China Morning Post
Wednesday, May 17, 2000

SRI LANKA:
Tamils trapped between law and war

REUTERS in Colombo Updated at 1.10pm:

Trapped between a brutal guerilla group, tough anti-terrorism laws and a
threat of communal violence, minority Tamils in Sri Lanka are battling
apprehension.

''Tension, anxiety, fear...would best characterise the mood in the Tamil
community at the moment,'' Pakiasothy Saravanmuttu, himself a Tamil and
head of the Colombo based think-tank Centre for Policy Alternatives, told
reporters.

''The general attitude appears to be stay quiet and tread carefully,'' he
said.

That certainly seemed to be the mood on the streets of Wellawatte,
Colombo's predominantly Tamil district, dubbed ''Little Jaffna'' after the
northern peninsula where separatist Tamil Tiger rebels are battling
government troops.

Dozens of passers-by and shopkeepers declined to comment on the latest
flare-up in the fighting in Jaffna.

Many professionals and white-collar workers also declined interviews, and
those who did speak chose their words carefully.

''Tamils don't want war. We want peace,'' said A T Lingam, an aid worker.

Like most of Colombo's Tamils, Lingam is from one of the war-torn areas
of the country's north and east where Liberation Tigers of Tamil Ealam
rebels are fighting for a separate Tamil homeland.

The Tamils' apprehensions stem partly from tough new public security laws
which drastically curtail freedom of expression.

Under the laws, which were introduced earlier this month after the LTTE
launched a fresh offensive to recapture Jaffna, nobody can criticise the
president or hold protest marches.

Trade union actions are banned and the government has the power to seize
property and vehicles.

Strict censorship has also been imposed on the media.

Tamils in Colombo have always been anxious about police raids conducted
under the 22-year-old Prevention of Terrorism Act.

The government says the tough new laws are intended to protect Tamils
living outside the north and east from any backlash that might occur if
things go wrong for the mainly majority Sinhalese army on the battlefront
________

#4.

Times of India
Wednesday 17 May 2000

A South Asian Force
Join Hands to End Lankan Crisis

By JAWID LAIQ

WITH the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) all set to partition Sri
Lanka along ethnic lines and establish a separate state by force of arms,
the unity and integrity of India and of every other South Asian state could
be affected in the long term. South Asian governments cannot stand by idly
and let an outlawed group vivisect one of the member states of SAARC (South
Asian Association for Regional Cooperation).

Jaffna's 5,00,000 Tamil civilians, trapped between the vicious assaults of
the LTTE and the Sri Lankan army, are in dire need of protection. If Jaffna
falls to the LTTE, President Chandrika Kumaratunga's relatively
level-headed leadership could be overcome by hardline pressures from
Sinhalese hotheads to crack down on Tamils living outside northern Sri
Lanka, further aggravating the ethnic conflict.

Global Ranking

Despite Sri Lanka's abject failure to resolve its domestic Sinhalese-Tamil
confrontation over the last 17 years (which was encouraged in the early
1980s by Indira Gandhi's reckless assistance to Sri Lankan Tamil separatist
groups), Sri Lanka can by no measure be dismissed as a failed state which
should be left to suffer its fate. Despite its cruel internal war, Sri
Lanka remains the only South Asian state which has been able to provide its
18 million people, both Sinhalese and Tamil, with a wide spectrum of human
welfare benefits. Sri Lanka's standards of social welfare are far ahead of
the rest of South Asia, with the exception of the Maldives.

Sri Lanka stands at 90 in the global ranking of 174 countries in last
year's UN Human Development Index, compared to India at 132, Pakistan at
138, Nepal at 144, Bhutan at 45 and Bangladesh at 150. Sri Lanka's average
life expectancy at birth is 73 years, compared to India's 63 years and
Pakistan's 64 years. Sri Lanka's adult literacy percentage rate is 91,
while India's is 54 and Pakistan's is 41. In the women's empowerment index,
Sri Lanka ranks 80 while India ranks 95 and Pakistan 101. Sri Lanka must be
saved by its South Asian neighbours.

Sri Lanka's current internal security situation is clearly desperate and
its government has sought external intervention. India alone cannot
intervene through the desperate remedy of sending its armed forces once
again to confront the LTTE on the battlefield after its bitter experience
in 1987-90. India cannot also be the sole external participant in any
forceful move to resolve the complex ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. In this
hazardous scenario, New Delhi cannot react in an ad hoc and impulsive
manner to the fast moving daily developments in Sri Lanka. It must act with
cool foresight and imagination to save Sri Lanka from its disastrous
predicament. As any prudent and experiences insurance broker would
envisage, we must seek to spread the risk liability and widen the medical
insurance cover for the threatened life condition faced by Sri Lanka.

We must immediately launch a serious initiative to rally all the members
of SAARC in a joint mission to halt the fighting for a start to be followed
by negotiations to find a political solution. This can only be done by a
show of overwhelming military force. The armed forces of Bangladesh,
Bhutan, Nepal and Pakistan along with our own forces should be inducted
into Sri Lanka under the banner of a South Asia Arbitration Force (SAAF) to
cleanse northern Sri Lanka of violence. The Maldives can also contribute a
couple of patrol boats from its marine police force as a token of
participation in SAAF.

SAAF would be more palatable as an intervention force to Sinhalese
political groups and to the LTTE leadership than a solely Indian military
mission. It should be made clear to our own Tamil DMK, MDMK and PMK parties
that SAAF's basic mission would be to establish a cease-fire. SAAF would be
explicitly forbidden from participating in any action to suppress the
legitimate aspirations of Sri Lanka's Tamils, so long as these aspirations
remain within the constitutional bounds of the Sri Lankan state. SAAF's
induction would preclude extra-regional powers like the United States,
China and Israel from gaining a possible military toehold in Sri Lanka and,
more significantly, would pre-empt Pakistan from independently establishing
a military presence on the island.

Nepalese Battalion

Pakistan is reported to have already dispatched a shipload of
multi-barrel rocket launchers, rockets and small arms to Sri Lanka which is
seeking emergency military assistance from all and sundry. Pakistani army
officers to train Sri Lankan soldiers in the use of these weapons are
likely to follow. These Pakistani personnel will be free to carry out their
own agenda if they are left unsupervised. Under the umbrella of SAAF, they
would have to function under the orders of a multinational command.

As Sri Lanka has ancient Buddhist ties and very cordial relations with
Nepal, it would be diplomatically appropriate for a Nepalese general or
lieutenant-general to be the overall commander of SAAF. Many Nepalese
officers have served as colonels commanding Nepalese battalions which have
operated as part of UN forces in places like Lebanon. Some of the colonels
have attained the rank of lieutenant-general. One among them would be best
suited to command SAAF. To assist him, the operational commander could be
an Indian major-general as India would be expected to provide the largest
component of SAAF. To maintain the delicate balance within SAAF, the deputy
operational chief could be a Pakistani brigadier.

Beyond Kashmir

During the past decade, Indian and Pakistan units have served fairly
amicably together under the UN in far flung areas of the globe, including
Somalia, Angola and Cambodia. Bangladeshi contingents have also served
alongside Indian and Pakistani units under UN command. There is no reason
why they cannot cooperate in Sri Lanka which is on their doorstep. A small
bonus fro India would be that any Pakistani brigade or battalion withdrawn
>from duty in its home country would mean a slight depletion in the
Pakistani force levels on India's borders.

A joint military operation in Sri Lanka could be the first practical
lesson in cooperation for SAARC which at the moment is the world's most
moribund regional organisation. NATO forces have intervened in Bosnia and
Kosovo, Russian and CIS forces in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, and West
African ECOMOG forces in Liberia and Sierra Leone. SAAF could bring SAARC
to life and, hopefully, may even break the logjam in Indo-Pakistan
relations if General Musharraf's tactically fertile mind can be persuaded
to look beyond his Kashmir obsession.

__________________________________________
SOUTH ASIA CITIZENS WEB DISPATCH (SACW) is an informal, independent &
non-profit citizens wire service run by South Asia Citizens Web
(http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex) since1996. Dispatch archive from 1998
can be accessed by joining the ACT list run by SACW.
To subscribe send a message to <act-subscribe@egroups.com>
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D