[sacw] SACW Dispatch #1 | 1st Aug. 00

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Web Dispatch #1
1 August 2000
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

#1. Pakistan: Core issue, my goat
#2. Pakistan: JRC Dialogue on the Marginalised
#3. India: Rajasthan, Malapura Communal Tension
#4. India: Indian anti-Christian cult seeks A-bomb

_____________________

#1.

DAWN
28 July 2000
Ayaz Amir's Weekly Column

CORE ISSUE, MY GOAT

By Ayaz Amir

ANYONE using the term 'core issue' which has been made current and
fashionable by a generation of tight-minded diplomats and security experts
(God save us from them), deserves to receive a kick on his shins. If
Kashmir was solved tomorrow would Pakistan and India rush into each other's
embrace and forget the atavistic memories of the past? Kashmir is not the
core issue between us. Size and geography are and will remain so 500 years
from now.

Not out of any innate wickedness but because of its sheer weight, and the
sense of false destiny which afflicts a country when it moves from one
stage of development to another, India will want to exercise hegemony over
the subcontinent. This is the nature of power and has nothing to do with
morality.

In the subcontinent, after all, India holds the position which the Soviet
Union held in Europe after the second world war, which China has in East
Asia today, which Napoleonic France had on the continent after the wars of
the French Revolution. Size, numbers, the computers of Bangalore, a
mythologized view of its past and the long-legged beauty contestants
(ravishing so many of them) who give India's rising middle class the
illusion of first world rank and mobility will all fuel India's drive
towards regional bossdom. It will remain in Pakistan's abiding interest to
resist this ambition.

How we resist it is up to us. We can do this crudely as we have been doing
for the past 52 years, achieving little in the process except international
fatigue and opprobrium, or, calling up a wisdom which has yet to be
discovered, we can do it subtly, keeping India hard-pressed and occupied
(to the extent that we can achieve this) while avoiding at all costs
getting caught in a corner. India is the elephant of the subcontinent. We
should be the gnat buzzing round its ears.

So far of course the genius of our higher military command has seen to it
that it should be the other way round: India reaping the rewards of
subtlety while we have been getting the country into pitched elephant
battles. The 1965 war, the '71 imbroglio, the involvement in Afghanistan
with our eyes closed (which means that whereas we should have been
involved, we should not have been blind to our long-term interests), and
Kargil: even Ares, the god of war, inured to the spectacle of human folly,
would be aghast at the stupidity pitch-forked into these ventures. From the
British our military command inherited a conventional mindset. Although we
call the Chinese our friends, from them we have learned nothing of Maoist
warfare.

American military aid in the fifties is partly to blame for the military
attitudes we adopted, American tanks and planes giving our political and
military leadership the illusion of superiority over India. Of the
atmosphere reigning at the time, Brian Cloughley, no enemy of Pakistan, in
his informative and well-written account of the Pakistan army has this to
say: "...the army had a high opinion of itself without having done very
much except expand a bit and conduct some mediocre training with its new
American equipment."

Partly of course we were victims of our own myths, seriously believing at
one time (although mercifully no longer) that one Muslim was good enough
for ten Hindus. Hard though it may be to believe this, in the order for
Operation Gibraltar signed by Field Marshal Ayub Khan (who deserved his
rank about as much as Uganda's Idi Amin did his) it was said that as a rule
Hindu morale could be expected to crack under the impact of a succession of
hard blows.

This was then; it should be different now but it isn't, Kargil being the
decisive proof of the military command's continuing love affair with
set-piece thinking. The folly of Kargil lay not in betraying the Lahore
Declaration or breaching any other barrier of abstract morality. The
prosecution of war can dispense with such niceties. Its folly lay in the
fact that it committed Pakistan to a battle which it could not, under any
circumstances, win and which was unrelated to any political objective.

You fight a war to achieve a political aim. What were we hoping to achieve
in Kargil? Forcing India to the negotiating table? Internationalizing the
Kashmir issue? Kargil has done more to obscure the Kashmir issue and damage
the cause of the Kashmiri people than anything else in recent memory. A few
more internationalizations like this and Kashmir will be swept into the
rubbish-can of history.

The best thing going for Pakistan was the uprising in occupied Kashmir. At
relatively little cost to us, a goodly part of the Indian army was tied
down in Kashmir. We should have kept it like that without resorting to loud
rhetoric, at which we as a nation excel, or acquiring too high a body
profile. Indeed, instead of appearing obdurate, which also comes easily to
us, we should have espoused moderation and the virtues of dialogue, all the
while keeping our head low and extending, as we have been doing since 1989,
practical help to the Kashmiri struggle for freedom. Our moral and
diplomatic support the Kashmiris can do without. It is our practical help
that is of any use to them.

But holding on to these different strands would have required the subtlety
and quickness of the gnat. We went for elephant tactics and ended up with
Kargil. Our image took a battering and what had been an intelligent and,
until then, a sustainable policy of inflicting maximum damage at little
cost became a millstone round our neck, the freedom struggle in Kashmir
becoming confused with "cross-border terrorism".

What did Assad do in the Levant? While avoiding war with Israel he kept
the Israeli army bogged down in Lebanon. The Hizbul Mujahideen of Lebanon
were the Hizbollah, funded and armed by Syria and Iran. Through the
Hizbollah and not directly was relentless pressure kept on the Israelis,
ultimately compelling them to vacate South Lebanon. This did not prevent
the Americans from talking to Assad. In fact, much as they disliked him
(for he was a hard nut to crack) they had to take him seriously.
Globalization or not, steeliness pays.

But Assad never made a pantomime of the Lebanese resistance. The Maulana
Masood Azhars of Lebanon did not have the freedom of Syria, going about
toting guns and making vitriolic speeches. Resistance to Israel was serious
business conducted seriously without any of the crass irresponsibility and
empty showmanship which have cast Pakistan as the prime villain of
fundamentalism in the western media.

Even the Hizbollah cultivates a careful and restrained public image. Some
of the Kashmiri fighters, or at least those who periodically appear in
Pakistan, the Mast Guls and the Syed Salahuddins, look like dangerous
buccaneers. This does their cause no good. To some extent this is a
denominational difference. Throughout the Islamic world the Shia beard,
which is what we see in Lebanon, is closely cropped. The Sunni beard which
is to be seen in Afghanistan and Kashmir is fuller and often more
threatening. Image being king in the global village, some change is called
for here if only to deny grist to the mills of western sensationalism.

A few words finally regarding the Hizbul Mujahideen announcement of a
ceasefire in occupied Kashmir. I don't know all the facts and so I could be
wholly wrong but I cannot see the Hizb making this announcement without
Pakistani approval, tacit or otherwise. What lends support to this
impression is the restrained and sensible reaction to the ceasefire
announcement from the Pakistan government. Had the Hizb pulled this off on
its own, panic buttons would have been pushed in ISI headquarters in
Islamabad.

But if Pakistani approval is there, American involvement cannot be far
behind. It all fits in then, doesn't it? General Musharraf cosying up to
the religious parties by allaying their fears over the anti-blasphemy law
and then, to the dismay of the spineless liberati, incorporating the
Islamic provisions of the suspended Constitution into the interim
'military' constitution. All this done so as to protect the government's
flanks and prepare the stage for the props being rolled out in Kashmir. We
seem to be getting subtle after all.

Already, at a stroke, the spotlight has shifted from the issue of
cross-border terrorism to the Hizb announcement. This is the first smart
move from this side after a year of floundering during which Pakistan's
stock touched rock-bottom, what with our nuclear firecrackers and the folly
of Kargil.

=A9 The DAWN Group of Newspapers, 2000

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#2.

PRESS STATEMENT - JRC DIALOGUE ON VOICES OF THE MARGINALISED

LAHORE (July 29, 2000): Present government is considering a regulation to
which if the reserved seats for women in the Union Council are not filled
through elections, the council could not be challenged in the court as
incomplete.

This was stated by Punjab minister for information, culture, transport and
environment, Mr Shafqat Mehmood, addressing a dialogue on Voices of the
Marginalised, arranged by Journalists Resource Centre (JRC) at Lahore Press
Club on Saturday. The dialogue was held in two sessions to discuss issues
pertaining to women seats in the parliament and joint electorate.

He said that various issues regarding electoral process were still under
consideration by the government. The final announcement about the new
electoral system would be made by the Chief Executive on August 14, 2000,
he told, the size of the new demarcated constituencies would be smaller
than the previous ones. He further said that in the new setup it should be
ensured that maximum polling booths are established to provide maximum
access to the people.

Mr Shafqat said that empowerment of women is essential to democracy in
Pakistan and the government has announced 50 per cent seats reserved for
women in the Union Council. It reflects the government intends to increase
the representation of women in the elected assemblies and eventually in
the mainstream politics. He said that it was not merely an issue of
representation but also of the empowerment. He dispelled the impression
created by the critics who oppose the high percentage of reserved seats
for women, saying that the critics would be surprised by the participation
of women in the elections as candidates. He said that the political
parties and certain civil society groups had also been opposing the
allocation of high percentage for women seats. However, he said, the
political parties usually opt for an electable candidate and thus they do
not take women candidates seriously.

To a question he said that to curtail cases of violence in the elections,
government would be adopting a multiple proportional system. First two or
three candidates gaining highest number of votes from a constituency would
be elected for the council. This would minimise the chances of feuds that
usually sprout in one to one contest and also the costs.

Earlier Ms. Khawar Mumtaz, renowned social activist of Shirkatgah, gave a
detailed account on the history of women representation in the parliament.
She said that to ensure true women representation at least 33 per cent
seats should be reserved for women in all houses of elected parliaments.
She pointed out that the role of the administration and the election
commission should be defined. She quoted an example of 1997 elections in
NWFP where only 37 women exercised their right of franchise out of the
6,600 total registered votes in the area and the results were accepted by
the election commission.

She also pointed out certain flaws in the voter's criteria as the point of
reference for women in the national identity card changes with the marital
status, which leads to confusion and discarding of the vote.

Executive Secretary of National Commission for Justice and Peace, Mr Peter
Jacob said the separate elections divide the strength of our nation. It was
an irony that the religious minorities of the country have been
incessantly advocating joint electorate but the governments in the past
insisted on separate electorate in the guise of protecting the rights of
religious minorities. He said that an All Parties Convention has been
called on July 30, in which 16 parties would gather to support Joint
electorate.

He said that the previous government in 1997 made an announcement in the UN
that the separate electorate had been abolished in Pakistan without
actually doing it. This act of the government created a very wrong
impression in the international community. He said that the people
supporting the separate electorate are former MNAs and MPAs who have their
vested interests attached to the system.

Senior journalist Mr Rashid Rehman moderated the two sessions. In his
deliberations he pointed out that the education limit for the candidates
would be against the democratic norms in a country where only 15 per cent
of the population is functionally educated.
ENDS.

For further enquiries: Journalists Resource Centre (JRC), Suite # 15, 5th
Floor Davis Hytes, Sir Aga Khan Road, Lahore-
Pakistan Tel: 92-42-6306998 Fax: 92-42-6369898 http//: www.syberwurx.com/j=
rc

______

#3.

24 ARRESTED FOR TONK VIOLENCE, CURFEW CONTINUES

from India Abroad News Service

New Delhi, July 12 - Twentyfour persons have been arrested after Monday's
communal violence in Malpura town in Tonk district of Rajasthan that
claimed ten lives.

The arrested persons belong to both the Hindu and Muslim communities, a
state government official told IANS on the telephone from Malpura. He said
an enquiry had also been ordered into the incidents.

The official described the situation in the town as being "perfectly
normal." However, there has been no relaxation in the indefinite curfew
imposed in the wake of the incidents. "We might relax the curfew for four
hours tomorrow if the situation warrants," the official said.

Curfew has also been clamped as a precautionary measure in the district
headquarters town of Tonk and in nearby Todaraisingh town. Security has
also been beefed up in the state capital, Jaipur. Tonk is about 70 km from
Jaipur.

The official said that five additional companies (200 men each) of the
Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), including some elements of the Rapid
Action Force (RAF), have been deployed in Malpura. The RAF is an elite
force that is specially trained to deal with communally tense situations.

The army had been asked to remain on alert after the incidents but the
state government did not think it necessary to deploy the force as the
situation was improving, the official said. Senior officials of the police
and the administration have positioned themselves in the area to monitor
the situation, the official said.

Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot had visited the two towns yesterday.
He had also announced compensation of Rs. 100,000 ($ 2272.72 at Rs. 44 to
the dollar) for the families of each of those killed in the incidents.

Malpura is considered a communally sensitive town and had witnessed
large-scale communal clashes in the wake of the demolition of the Babri
mosque in Ayodhya in 1992 that left 26 persons dead.

Monday's incidents occured when Kailash Mali, a prime accused in the 1992
riots, was attacked by some people near the bus stand. Mali was rushed to
hospital in Jaipur but died on the way.

Mali, who is a member of the Bajrang Dal, the militant arm of the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council), is the husband of the vice-chairman
of the Malpura municipality. He is facing trial on 14 different charges,
including murder, in connection with the 1992 riots.

News of the attack on Mali spread rapidly and the town soon turned into a
battleground between Hindus and Muslims, according to reports. Nine persons
were killed in the clashes. In one incident, a jeep was attacked on the
outskirts of the town and four of its passengers killed. Two women and a
child were also killed in the incidents.

______

#4.

The Nation (Pakistan)
Monday, July 31, 2000
Last update 6:30 GMT - 11:30 PST

INDIAN ANTI-CHRISTIAN CULT SEEKS A-BOMB

WASHINGTON - The number of terror groups receiving training in
Lebanon's Bekaa Valley is stupefying and the the new kids on the block in
the Bekaa are from India, reports The WorldNetDaily. The new anti-Christian
terror cult of 'Ganesh' - a common Hindu god - is central to the new "Hindu
Awakening" of the 1990s. These soldiers and anti-Christian terrorists are
known as the "Munnani." They hail from the New Age capital of Madras and
are seeking to get hold of an atomic bomb, according to intelligence and
terrorism experts.
In Sunday's edition of WorldNetDaily, its roving international
correspondent Anthony LoBaido takes WND readers on a colorful guided tour
through one of the most beautiful, historic and dangerous regions on earth
- complete with exclusive photos.
According to LoBaido, along with Ganesh under training in terrorism is the
Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia. It is a
Marxist-Leninist terrorist group formed in 1975. The group's goal is to
force the government of Turkey to publicly admit its guilt for the deaths
of 1.5 million Armenians killed back in 1915. The Armenian Secret Army for
the Liberation of Armenia wants monetary compensation as well as their own
homeland. The group's leader, Hagop Hagopian, was assassinated in Greece in
1998.
According to the WND, perhaps the best-armed and most well-trained group
in the Bekaa Valley is the Kurdish Workers Party. They want to set up a
Marxist state in southeast Turkey where a large population of Kurds reside.
The Japanese Red Army is also operating in the Bekaa, led by Fusako
Shigenobu. The Red Army wants to overthrow the Japanese government and
monarchy. Chemists and agricultural high-tech experts from Japan's Om Shin
Ri Kyo cult are also sporadically posted in the Bekaa. Their expertise and
elite scientific training are highly prized by groups wanting to gain
skills in biological and biochemical warfare.
Apart from terrorism, opium is the other main product of Bekka Valley.
Larry Martines, a professor and terrorism expert who works with the US
government, told WorldNetDaily: "The Bekaa Valley is home to a great deal
of heroin cultivation. It is controlled by the Syrian military. If they,
even for one second, think that you are a DEA agent, you will simply
disappear." The Bekaa Valley is fertile and well designed for the
cultivation of opium poppies. The Mossad intelligence officer interviewed
by WorldNetDaily in Zahlah siad: "The CIA has made a secret deal to protect
the Syrian drug pipeline. This was done vis-=E0-vis promises that the Syria=
ns
(led by El-Khassar) would help to get American hostages released from
captivity in Lebanon. One agreement, as everyone now knows, involved 'CIA
One.' They protected the Syrian-Bekaa drug flow from Lebanon through the
airport in Frankfurt, Germany, and into the United States. The DEA was also
involved, mainly for purposes of plausible deniability.
"I remember when the Defense Intelligence Agency group working out of
Beirut led by Maj. Charlie McKee had a devil of a time trying to track and
rescue the US hostages being held in Lebanon. We kept trying to explain to
him why he wasn't getting the cooperation he needed from the other US
agencies. But in the end, everyone found out about 'CIA One.' Talk about
your dances with wolves." "Terrorism is what Mao called the 'death of a
thousand cuts.' It hurts the morale of the people and eventually saps the
will of people to resist. Terror groups are normally opposed to the "core
states" of the globe. The core states are usually democracies with market
economies aligned with the US and the West.
Russia, ex-Soviet satellites and communist China form "transitional states"
which the West is trying to lure into its orbit. "Rogue states," now
renamed "states of concern" by the US State Department, are fundamentally
opposed to the political and economic value system of the core nations.
These include Syria, Libya, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Cuba, Laos, Cambodia
and Vietnam, adds WND.

=A9The Nation Group of Publications Pvt Limited

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