[sacw] SACW #1 (23 Sept. 01)

[Harsh Kapoor]

South Asia Citizens Wire | Dispatch #1
23 September 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

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#1. Against Rationalization (by Christopher Hitchens)
#2. MB Naqvi on developments in Pakistan
#3. Time to reflect ( Kalpana Sharma)
#4. Bahr-e-Zulmaat (by Rehan Ansari)
#5. A passion for selling ourselves cheaply (by Ayaz Amir)
#6. Afghans of Indian Origins- Living in exile (by Chetan Chauhan)

________________________

#1.

The Nation (New York) | October 8, 2001

Against Rationalization
by Christopher Hitchens

It was in Peshawar, on the Pakistan-Afghanistan frontier, as the Red=20
Army was falling apart and falling back. I badly needed a guide to=20
get me to the Khyber Pass, and I decided that what I required was the=20
most farouche-looking guy with the best command of English and the=20
toughest modern automobile. Such a combination was obtainable, for a=20
price. My new friend rather wolfishly offered me a tour of the nearby=20
British military cemetery (a well-filled site from the Victorian era)=20
before we began. Then he slammed a cassette into the dashboard. I=20
braced myself for the ululations of some mullah but received instead=20
a dose of "So Far Away." From under the turban and behind the beard=20
came the gruff observation, "I thought you might like Dire Straits."

This was my induction into the now-familiar symbiosis of tribal piety=20
and high-tech; a symbiosis consummated on September 11 with the=20
conversion of the southern tip of the capital of the modern world=20
into a charred and suppurating mass grave. Not that it necessarily=20
has to be a symbol of modernism and innovation that is targeted for=20
immolation. As recently as this year, the same ideology employed=20
heavy artillery to destroy the Buddha statues at Bamiyan, and the=20
co-thinkers of bin Laden in Egypt have been heard to express the view=20
that the Pyramids and the Sphinx should be turned into shards as=20
punishment for their profanely un-Islamic character.

Since my moment in Peshawar I have met this faction again. In one=20
form or another, the people who leveled the World Trade Center are=20
the same people who threw acid in the faces of unveiled women in=20
Kabul and Karachi, who maimed and eviscerated two of the translators=20
of The Satanic Verses and who machine-gunned architectural tourists=20
at Luxor. Even as we worry what they may intend for our society, we=20
can see very plainly what they have in mind for their own: a bleak=20
and sterile theocracy enforced by advanced techniques. Just a few=20
months ago Bosnia surrendered to the international court at The Hague=20
the only accused war criminals detained on Muslim-Croat federation=20
territory. The butchers had almost all been unwanted "volunteers"=20
from the Chechen, Afghan and Kashmiri fronts; it is as an=20
unapologetic defender of the Muslims of Bosnia (whose cause was=20
generally unstained by the sort of atrocity committed by Catholic and=20
Orthodox Christians) that one can and must say that bin La! de! nism=20
poisons everything that it touches.

I was apprehensive from the first moment about the sort of=20
masochistic e-mail traffic that might start circulating from the=20
Chomsky-Zinn-Finkelstein quarter, and I was not to be disappointed.=20
With all due thanks to these worthy comrades, I know already that the=20
people of Palestine and Iraq are victims of a depraved and callous=20
Western statecraft. And I think I can claim to have been among the=20
first to point out that Clinton's rocketing of Khartoum-supported by=20
most liberals-was a gross war crime, which would certainly have=20
entitled the Sudanese government to mount reprisals under=20
international law. (Indeed, the sight of Clintonoids on TV,=20
applauding the "bounce in the polls" achieved by their man that day,=20
was even more repulsive than the sight of destitute refugee children=20
making a wretched holiday over the nightmare on Chambers Street.) But=20
there is no sense in which the events of September 11 can be held to=20
constitute such a reprisal, either legally or morally.

It is worse than idle to propose the very trade-offs that may have=20
been lodged somewhere in the closed-off minds of the mass murderers.=20
The people of Gaza live under curfew and humiliation and=20
expropriation. This is notorious. Very well: Does anyone suppose that=20
an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would have forestalled the slaughter=20
in Manhattan? It would take a moral cretin to suggest anything of the=20
sort; the cadres of the new jihad make it very apparent that their=20
quarrel is with Judaism and secularism on principle, not with (or not=20
just with) Zionism. They regard the Saudi regime not as the extreme=20
authoritarian theocracy that it is, but as something too soft and=20
lenient. The Taliban forces viciously persecute the Shiite minority=20
in Afghanistan. The Muslim fanatics in Indonesia try to extirpate the=20
infidel minorities there; civil society in Algeria is barely=20
breathing after the fundamentalist assault.

Now is as good a time as ever to revisit the history of the Crusades,=20
or the sorry history of partition in Kashmir, or the woes of the=20
Chechens and Kosovars. But the bombers of Manhattan represent fascism=20
with an Islamic face, and there's no point in any euphemism about it.=20
What they abominate about "the West," to put it in a phrase, is not=20
what Western liberals don't like and can't defend about their own=20
system, but what they do like about it and must defend: its=20
emancipated women, its scientific inquiry, its separation of religion=20
from the state. Loose talk about chickens coming home to roost is the=20
moral equivalent of the hateful garbage emitted by Falwell and=20
Robertson, and exhibits about the same intellectual content.=20
Indiscriminate murder is not a judgment, even obliquely, on the=20
victims or their way of life, or ours. Any decent and concerned=20
reader of this magazine could have been on one of those planes, or in=20
one of those buildings-yes, even in the Pentagon.

The new talk is all of "human intelligence": the very faculty in=20
which our ruling class is most deficient. A few months ago, the Bush=20
Administration handed the Taliban a subsidy of $43 million in abject=20
gratitude for the assistance of fundamentalism in the"war on drugs."=20
Next up is the renewed "missile defense" fantasy recently endorsed by=20
even more craven Democrats who seek to occupy the void "behind the=20
President." There is sure to be further opportunity to emphasize the=20
failings of our supposed leaders, whose costly mantra is "national=20
security" and who could not protect us. And yes indeed, my guide in=20
Peshawar was a shadow thrown by William Casey's CIA, which first=20
connected the unstoppable Stinger missile to the infallible Koran.=20
But that's only one way of stating the obvious, which is that this is=20
an enemy for life, as well as an enemy of life.
_________

#2.

M.B. Naqvi Column
Karachi September 22, 2001

Friday (Sept 21) was billed, as the D Day by Pakistan=92s religious Right
in its fight against Musharraf government=92s caving in to the Americans.
It was to be the start of an indefinite campaign of resistance and broad
hints were being dropped left and right, that would develop into a Jehad
against the Americans and their henchmen in Pakistan when and if they
began military action against Taliban. The Jehad, according to the Fatwa
of Karachi=92s top Deobandi Mulla Naeemuddin Shamzai --- who is venerated
by Taliban, JUI and most hardline Jehadi outfits alike --- is mandatory
after any attack on Taliban by the US on all Muslims the world over.
Well, that Friday came and went. The Jehad is rather lacklustre

For one thing, there has been no American military strike against any
Taliban target yet. The Jehad part is thus not activated. Larger scale
operations can start anytime now if the dealy play has not already
started; America is still mobilising international support. The US is,
while assembling the strike forces at desired places, still building an
international coalition. It is not yet clear whether it will be a purely
American action, supported by many other nations, or it will be under
the UN flag. Has the UNSC, approved and or authorised any military
action by the US and its friends? No such resolution has been
publicised, although there was an obscure report that some such thing
did happen soon after the Black Tuesday but was not widely noticed. The
position remains obscure like so much else about the present situation;
at any rate many Europeans are insisting on UN cover as do many
Pakistanis.

The opponents of Pakistan-American link up against Taliban are assuming
that Islamabad has agreed to the stationing of US ground troops; Foreign
Minister Abdus Sattar has confirmed that the presence of American troops
in Pakistan is not excluded from the envisaged scope of the "fullest
cooperation" that has been promised to the Americans. A long war almost
by definition means ground operations. Some military experts think that
the kind of massive preparations that Pentagon is making would seem to
suggest that the US objectives are not limited to Osama, his training
camps or other personnel, dead or alive. They seem to go beyond even
terrorism as such. The aim would appear to be to replace Taliban with
another government. That cannot happen without US occupation of major
urban centres of that country --- or what is left of them.

All this simply means a long haul and ground operations too. What of the
Americans=92 --- and Pakistanis=92 --- rear? It is crucially important to
assess the omens represented by the countrywide strike on Sept 21. As
strikes go, it was countrywide alright; most shops in all major cities
stayed closed. Having said that it is necessary to make qualifications.
By and large, it was peaceful, though a few violent incidents in
Karachi=92s Pathan-dominated areas did take place, including a few in
which police firing killed three persons though it was claimed to have
been in the air. One Afghan shopkeeper was killed by the crowd who
wanted to open his shop. Rallies were taken out in nearly all cities.
But, and this but, needs to be taken note of in some detail.

What the news hounds had been led to believe did not happen: a large
outpouring of public anger and a sea of human beings filling all streets
in all cities. Participants in these rallies were in respectable numbers
of a few thousands in each case. Well, this is not what was expected.
Then, many reports even from Peshawar noted one telltale fact:
participants of these rallies, all emotionally worked up alright, for
the most part belonged to Madressas, students and teachers; common
public participation was conspicuously small. More telling was the fact
that in most cities the bulk of participants --- mostly Talibs or
students of Madressas --- were also ethnic Pathans or Afghans. JUI as a
whole is largely a Pathan party that has strongholds in the NWFP and the
northern districts of Baluchistan. People of other ethnicities have, on
the whole, stayed away from this largely JUI or Deobandi section,
further identifiable by Pathan ethnicity.

These details are unfortunately relevant in this grave crisis for
Pakistan. While the regime has just buckled under brutal American
pressure, well may it be respectful of opposition. It does have
potential to creating grave law and order situations: but that is likely
in the NWFP and Baluchistan border areas, mostly living under tribal
laws in semi independent status. Common people --- one hopes the
generals are listening --- are by no means fanatics and bigots; their
enthusiasm for opposition causes, when and if aroused, have enough
catharsis by shouting a few slogans while marching. It is the generals
own nerves that are more brittle. The most dangerous kind of backlash,
not counting the tribal territories, will not come from opposition
Islamic parties or their supporters. It will be from the military
supporters of Taliban, Jehadis and reactionaries in general.

_________

#3.

The Hindu
23 September 2001
Features

TIME TO REFLECT

OUR eyes hurt, our hearts break, our minds go numb as each day passes=20
and we continue to be inundated with news and views about the=20
terrorist attacks on America. Satellite television and the=20
overwhelming dominance of Western news channels has ensured that in=20
city and hamlet around the world this is the single talking point.

With the blanket coverage has also come the universal fear that we=20
are headed towards even darker days. There is constant talk of=20
revenge, retaliation, retribution. But what about reflection, about=20
reparation, about repentance or even reconciliation? Is there no=20
place for these sentiments at a time when everyone seems enraged at=20
the effrontery of a group of terrorists taking on the world's only=20
super-power?

When steam-roller nationalism replaces rationality, there can be no=20
space for reflection, or for honest questioning. It flattens healthy=20
divergence, so essential in a democracy, and it demands an unhealthy=20
uniformity of worldview, lifestyle and conduct. We have seen this in=20
India at the time of Kargil. Even so-called independent news channels=20
joined the nationalism band-wagon. There were no grey areas.=20
Everything was black and white. We were white, on the side of good,=20
and "they", the Pakistanis were black, on the side of evil. You were=20
either on the side of good, or with the evil. And if you were a=20
"true" Indian, you had no choice but to side with the "good". If, of=20
course, you belonged to the same religion as the "enemy", then you=20
had to prove your loyalty a hundred times to be considered a worthy=20
member of the "good" team.

More recently, Home Minister Mr. L.K. Advani suggested that people in=20
the Northeast States needed to become more "Indian". He did not=20
define precisely what he meant by "Indian" but we have enough=20
experience of the politics of the Government at the Centre to know=20
precisely what is meant by that. The people in the Northeast=20
certainly know it, and do not like it. And if they demonstrate their=20
objection in any way, their actions are instantly held up as proof of=20
their un-Indianness.

We can see the same game being played out in the United States.=20
American flags are the largest selling commodity today. Ethnic=20
minorities, particularly Asian and Middle-Eastern, are having to=20
prove their loyalty to the "land of the free and the home of the=20
brave". Even flag-waving, however, has not saved some of them from=20
the inevitable attacks by enraged White Americans out to seek=20
"revenge".

When the President of the United States reduces the issue to a battle=20
between "good and evil", there is no space for any complexity. Once=20
again the world is being asked to choose - you are either for "our=20
way of life" or against us. No fence-sitters will be tolerated.=20
Although television images and reporting would have you believe that=20
most Americans go along with the simplistic and aggressive rhetoric=20
emanating from the White House, in fact there are many voices within=20
the U.S. that are cautioning and questioning their Government. These=20
include ordinary people who are shocked and saddened by what took=20
place on September 11 but also ask why this has happened. These are=20
voices that need more space in mainstream media, because they=20
represent a genuine, democratic spirit that will not abide by the=20
notion of "my government, right or wrong" or even "my nation, right=20
or wrong".

These are people like my friend in California who wrote, "Like you,=20
listening to Bush and company spew overblown rhetoric is more than=20
worrisome. The idea that we are going to bomb Afghanistan to oblivion=20
in retribution for harbouring bin Laden just makes me ill and feel=20
very sorry for a country that is suffering much already and has=20
little left to bomb. I am hoping calmer heads will prevail ... but I=20
will probably be proved wrong."

And the well-known documentary film-maker, Mr. Michael Moore, who=20
wrote an open letter titled "Death, Downtown" which has been=20
circulated by e-mail. The letter documents horrendous security lapses=20
at American airports that the film-maker personally experienced in=20
the recent past. These include being left behind in the aircraft when=20
he took a shuttle service. When he emerged, he found no one around.=20
So we walked around unhindered on the tarmac. No one questioned him.=20
Finally, he managed to hitch a ride with a maintenance truck to the=20
terminal building!

But Mr. Moore also makes many thoughtful points that have a great=20
deal of relevance for us. He writes, "We abhor terrorism - unless we=20
are the ones doing the terrorising. We paid and trained and armed a=20
group of terrorists in Nicaragua in the 1980s who killed over 30,000=20
civilians. That was OUR work. You and me. Thirty thousand murdered=20
civilians and who the hell even remembers!"

The film-maker's letter asks many incisive questions, with humour and=20
humanity. Such as: "Will we ever get to the point that we realise we=20
will be more secure when the rest of the world is not living in=20
poverty so that we can have nice running shoes?"

And he also anticipates what followed September 11 when he writes, "A=20
key ingredient in getting Americans whipped into a frenzy against a=20
new enemy is the all-important race card. It is much easier to get us=20
to hate when the object of our hatred does not look like us." A=20
universal truth, as we know from our own experience with minorities=20
in this country.

The American film-maker concludes, "Let us mourn, let us grieve and=20
when it is appropriate, let us examine our contribution to the unsafe=20
world we live in. It does not have to be like this." No, it certainly=20
does not have to be like this.

KALPANA SHARMA

_________

#4.

courtesy: Chowk.com
19 September 2001

Bahr-e-Zulmaat
by Rehan Ansari

ON THE night of September 10, I went to watch a live interview of=20
Bruce Willis, star of the disaster series Die Hard, Die Harder, Die=20
Hard with a Vengeance (I am not too sure about the titles of the=20
sequels, but you get the picture) and the sleeper hit (M Night=20
Shyamalan's) The Sixth Sense. The hall at Actors Studio of New School=20
University, located on 12th Street and 6th Avenue, was filled to=20
capacity. The audience was unanimously white. It seemed impossible=20
that anything that made sense to this audience could seem sensible to=20
the rest of the world.

Other facts of Bruce Willis encouraged this impossible thought in my=20
head: from his blue-collar adolescence in New Jersey, his father was=20
a mechanic, his grandfather was a mechanic, as a teenager he was=20
expelled for a while from high school for his participation in a=20
race-riot (at the cost of being redundant: he was violent against=20
people who were of a different colour), to his adulthood in New York=20
and Los Angeles. After college he came to New York City and readily=20
found work in off-Broadway theatres. Soon he was in television and=20
then films. Disaster movies made him extraordinarily rich. In these=20
he was an ordinary man in an extraordinary situation. In Die Hard he=20
battles terrorists in a burning skyscraper. None of this Bruce Willis=20
biography can sensibly be transposed on someone who is of Middle=20
Eastern, Asian and South Asian origin in America. At the end of the=20
interview the famous interviewer, the principal of the Actor's=20
Studio, asked Bruce Willis the pronunciation of Shymalan's name.

So what was I doing there? As long as I had only consumed=20
action/thrillers, not getting too close to them, as in going to an=20
interview of Bruce Willis, I was sane.

Afterwards I went for dinner in Tribeca. I got off at Canal Station=20
and turned around. I looked up at the World Trade Center Twin Towers,=20
using them as a compass to figure out my direction.

I had a job on Wall Street with a brokerage house in 1993 and one of=20
the brokers used to think it was funny asking me how the Hizbollah=20
was doing at least once every morning. He used to like rolling the=20
word around in his mouth. My response to him was model minority. When=20
the World Trade Center bombing happened that year, I was no longer=20
with the firm and wondered what he would say if we were to meet again.

Post bombing, I cannot escape the drone of the media. I have tried by=20
making contrary comments. For example: if a reporter says ground zero=20
in the financial district looks like a World War Two bombing, I say=20
out loud, in the presumed safety of the indoors: why can't the=20
reporter say that it looks like Baghdad. At least when Mayor Guiliani=20
said a similar thing he remembered Dresden, a city that the Allies=20
bombed. Edward Said happened to write in The Nation, a week before=20
the bombing: if you decide to bomb a people then imagine them sitting=20
across the table from you as you are making the decision.

Baber, Ahmed, Rashid and me, independent of each other, decided to=20
shave after it sank in that New York City was attacked. Later in the=20
day I overheard Baber, my brother-in-law, speaking to his father in=20
Lahore. He said that this is like Ayodhya. Not exactly. It is as if=20
the minority destroyed the majority's mandir. This evening I have=20
learnt that three women were attacked at the Penn State University, a=20
mosque in New Jersey was vandalised, a mother who wears the hijab=20
suggested to her 28-year-old daughter she take it off, a lawyer=20
friend, Sahr Mohammed Ali, encountered four separate incidents of=20
harassment in one day. From television I have learnt about attacks on=20
Arabs, Sikhs and other South Asians in Manhattan, Illinois, Virginia,=20
Texas, California.

Many from my school, Karachi Grammar School, work on Wall St. Many of=20
these people have worked for years and not gotten their green cards.=20
Indentured labour for our times. It will be days before I will know=20
who survived. None of us can empathise with the commitment, the=20
planning, the training, the principles of those that carried out the=20
bombings. Earlier this year in a Karachi neighbourhood I saw a poster=20
of a masked man against a red backdrop, holding a Kalashnikov, the=20
inscription a call for support for the Kashmiri jihad. I captured my=20
response by remembering a line from William Blake:

The vision of Christ that thou dost see
Is my vision's greatest enemy

Having won a scholarship from Vassar College, I left Karachi for New=20
York in 1987. I was to be going to a liberal arts college. I would=20
not have to think about my occupation for several years. It meant I=20
would study for the hell of it. I believed my college catalogue=20
description of the American liberal arts education. Studying History=20
of Western Philosophy seemed a good idea and I took a whole year of=20
it with a professor named Michael McCarthy, a big Irishman who gave=20
copious notes and said the eyes are the windows to the soul. During=20
the Persian Gulf War in 1990, Vassar organised many meetings and=20
seminars. Michael McCarthy gave a public address in which he called=20
the war a just war. He handed out copious notes to the audience. I=20
think he had 30 reasons for why it was a just war.

Road blocks and spot checks in all boroughs on New York City. Karachi=20
has plenty of this, so I am used to it.Non-residents are not=20
permitted entry beyond 14th street and the National Guard checks for=20
four kinds of ID. An aircraft carrier is in New York Harbor and F-14s=20
are patrolling overhead. From 14th street and 6th avenue at dusk I=20
look downtown and where the twin towers once stood is a haze and=20
shell of light from the construction. It looks like a film set for a=20
disaster movie.

The attacks have pulled off a switcheroo of revolutionary=20
proportions. Where the hand of capital was invisible and terror=20
located in rogue states, capital became concrete (the military=20
industrial complex became two buildings(!) - the Pentagon and the WTC=20
- and terror decentered, everywhere and nowhere. The tools of the=20
master used as weapons by the slave - the classic Hegelian paradigm.=20
I have never seen New York commentators, from the New York Times to=20
The Nation, so lost for concept in their first reaction. I saw a film=20
billboard of an Arnold Schwarzenneger film and thought of the tired=20
white men that him, Travolta and Willis will seem in their films. It=20
is true that the studios are postponing their thriller releases, the=20
ones with terrorism angles. They say they are being sensitive about=20
public sentiment in the light of what happened. More likely reality=20
overtook their imaginations to the extent that it embarrassed them.

Many people are thinking about what has happened. About violence,=20
cycles of violence, the price tag of American foreign policy. Does it=20
take this to open their eyes? In Pakistan the word on the street is=20
that the Americans now know how it feels to be at ground zero: a=20
group of aunties gheraoed a gori at Lahore Gymkhana swimming pool and=20
said as much. Qazi Hussain Ahmed, amir of Jamaat e Islami has=20
promptly said he does not support terrorism. Pervez Musharraf wonders=20
if he has the opportunity Zia ul Haq had to fight the good fight for=20
the Americans.

Its a mad day when the lines of that most dissolute of poets, Iqbal=20
Lahori, resonate like bugle-calls.

Bahre Zulmaat mein dora diyay ghoray hum nay
Yay jahan cheez hai kiya hum loh o kalm teray

Previously published in Sunday Midday

_______

#5.

DAWN
21 September 2001

A PASSION FOR SELLING OURSELVES CHEAPLY
By Ayaz Amir

It is a moot point which crumbled faster: the twin towers of the=20
World Trade Centre or the imposing ramparts of Pakistani pride?
Just a few threatening statements from President Bush and Gen Powell=20
and Pakistan's military government, usually so tough at home,=20
conceded everything the Americans were asking for.
We did not say, as forgivably we might have, that we would look into=20
the US demands. We did not say that we would consult public opinion=20
before formulating our response. To some extraordinary outbursts of=20
arrogance from Washington we succumbed first and only later was a=20
show made of consulting leaders of public opinion.
We buckled under pressure. Alas, no other construction fits our swift=20
capitulation. Perhaps, as General Musharraf has been at pains to=20
explain, we had no other choice. But must we have bent that swiftly?=20
Even if only for form's sake, couldn't we have paused to take breath=20
before agreeing to every last item on America's imperious list of=20
demands?
And, pray, what precisely were we afraid of? That the US in its blind=20
anger would make an example of us, flattening our airfields,=20
destroying our installations, taking out our 'nuclear strategic=20
assets'? These wretched assets were supposed to be our ultimate=20
defence. Now they turn out to be our biggest weakness, useless=20
against the crude blackmail to which we have been subjected.
Sadly, it's all in character. After India's nuclear tests in May=20
1998, a few threatening statements from that side threw us into a=20
panic and made us carry out our own tests. Restraint would have won=20
us international kudos and put India in a spot. But out of paranoia=20
we frittered away an historic opportunity. It makes one wonder as to=20
the kind of people we are. Listening to our bombast anyone would take=20
us to be Greeks of the Homeric period. Anyone examining closely our=20
national record would be struck by our pusillanimity. And our ability=20
to shoot ourselves in the foot.
But I bet the Americans who have a fair measure of Pakistan's=20
capacity to withstand stress are not surprised. We have always been=20
eager to serve their interests, often at great cost to ourselves and=20
mostly without getting much in return. Once again we are gearing up=20
for the same role despite bitter experience of having been repeatedly=20
used and repeatedly abandoned.
What handsome revenge for America's debacle in Vietnam was the=20
savaging of the Soviet bear in Afghanistan. A handful of Pakistani=20
generals enriched themselves during that momentous struggle. But what=20
did the country get? Guns, violence, drugs and a sea of refugees. All=20
the glory America's, all the recurring costs Pakistan's. Anyone could=20
be forgiven for thinking that history is being repeated.
Surely, a measure of self-serving calculation is involved in the=20
decision General Musharraf has taken on behalf of the nation: a=20
vision of gratitude dollars pouring in, of our debt burden easing, of=20
India being outsmarted, and of Pakistan being treated as honoured=20
ally instead of a country down on its luck. But what did we get=20
before that we are hoping for the wheel to turn this time?
We don't know what the US eventually decides. Afghanistan is not the=20
easiest of battlefields and sending in ground troops carries enormous=20
risks. But we do know that Pakistani territory and facilities will be=20
used for any strike on Afghanistan. Such a concession, if at all to=20
be given, should have come at the end of a process of mutual=20
discussion and consultations, not right at the outset as we have=20
done, hoping that the US out of the goodness of its heart will reward=20
us later. We don't even know who'll take care of the refugees pouring=20
into Pakistan. Should we then have pressed the panic button so=20
quickly?
Granted that it was our support for the Taliban which brought us into=20
the focus of American pressure. But who was pushing the=20
support-Taliban policy? The military, the ISI, the national security=20
establishment. The people of Pakistan are now paying the price of=20
this folly.
There was no shortage of voices questioning the wisdom of our Taliban=20
policy: that it was fanning the flames of religious extremism at home=20
and proving a source of disquiet for our friends abroad. The notion=20
of 'strategic depth', so beloved of GHQ, also made no sense because=20
blind support of the Taliban meant not enhanced defence but importing=20
another set of problems into our midst. But the experts remained=20
unfazed. Now under duress we are doing what should have been done=20
long ago: distancing ourselves from the Taliban. At long last the=20
right policy but for the wrong reasons.
We are being told, however, that if we had not acted first India,=20
which was rolling out the red carpet for the US, offering it every=20
last facility, would have stolen a march on us, leaving us out in the=20
cold to face American anger alone.
What nonsense is this? Must we see ourselves in India's mirror=20
always? True, in order to paint Pakistan into a corner, India has=20
tried to pander to American sensibilities (to its chagrin without=20
much success). We had a duty to protect our flanks. But we could have=20
paused for a moment.
>From which bases in the Rajasthan desert can a ground assault be=20
mounted on Afghanistan? The key to any land action against=20
Afghanistan is Pakistan and if the Americans are serious about any=20
such action they have perforce to use Pakistani facilities. Had our=20
nerve held we could have played for time in order to see what the US=20
was willing to give in return. Admittedly, Pakistan is not Vietnam or=20
Cuba. Our leaders do not take Ho Chi Minh as their model. Still, must=20
we have caved in so quickly?
How would the Lion of Damascus, Hafez Al-Assad, have played his cards=20
in such a crisis? He would have spoken no unnecessary word, would=20
have guarded his silence like the Sphinx and made the paladins of the=20
State Department and the Pentagon come to Islamabad, refusing only to=20
meet the American official (was it Armitage?) who said it was for=20
Pakistan to decide whether it wanted to live in the 21st century or=20
the Stone Age. Credible threats Assad would have weighed carefully.=20
Arrogance he would have treated with contempt. Above all, he would=20
not have displayed his hand prematurely.
This is not a summons to arms or any misplaced arrogance of our own.=20
The winds blowing across our country may be too strong for us to=20
deflect. But there is no reason for us to sully national honour by=20
behaving in too supine a manner. In any case we are confusing two=20
separate issues: support for the Taliban and bowing before American=20
demands. Our Taliban policy was a prescription for folly. Even if we=20
have friendly feelings for the people of Afghanistan, Pakistan cannot=20
be sacrificed for the sake of any other country. But this is one=20
thing, offering Pakistani territory for use against Afghanistan quite=20
another. Have we carefully pondered the consequences of this move?=20
How will our people take it? And what will be the cost to our already=20
battered pride as a nation?
We are being told to be wise. Wisdom does not lie in acting cravenly.=20
What good is our half-a-million man army and our famous nuclear=20
deterrent if in every crisis we are to crack under the first strain?=20
This does not mean we take on the Americans.
There is no need to tempt the gods or please our enemies by doing=20
that. It only means that we let the Americans know, politely but=20
firmly, that while we are only too ready to do the right thing,=20
preferably under United Nations auspices, we are not willing to be=20
pushed around or sell ourselves cheaply.
Was it a sense of opportunity lost which made General Musharraf look=20
so tense on Wednesday evening when he addressed the nation? It was=20
not one of his best performances and certainly was a far cry from his=20
conquest of Agra. He asked the nation to trust him. The nation has no=20
choice: he is the captain on deck and it is he who must take the ship=20
of state into safer waters.
It would help, however, if even at this stage he opens the shut=20
portals of his regime a bit to let in some fresh air so that=20
decisions affecting the country's future are taken in a setting=20
slightly broader than the cloistered world of the corps commanders.

_______

#6.

The Hindustan Times
Sunday, September 23, 2001=20=20

LIVING IN EXILE
Chetan Chauhan
(New Delhi, September 22)

For most Indians the year 1947 is not just the year of Independence.=20
It is also the year of Partition and the ensuing bloodbath on both=20
sides of the border.

But for the Afghans of Indian origin, it is all this and more. They=20
were, at the time, undergoing a different kind of turmoil. For them,=20
the year marked the beginning of their unending troubles as permanent=20
refugees.

Amreek Singh, like many other Pushtun-speaking Sikhs was a wealthy=20
businessman in Peshawar prior to 1947. He had a fledgling family=20
business that involved trading links on the other side of the=20
Pakistan border in Afghanistan.

Then came the Partition. His family like the other Sikh and Hindu=20
families became the target of fundamentalists. They had no option but=20
to flee and wanted to come to India. But that wasn't easy.=20
"Afghanistan was quite close and we had several relatives there who=20
were eager to give us shelter. So instead of coming to India, we=20
found ourselves there," says Sardar Manohar Singh, member of one such=20
family.

Many Hindu and Sikh families from Quetta and Peshawar reached=20
Kandahar, Ghazanvi, Jallalabad and Kabul. "We had to start our=20
business from scratch," says Ram Singh, another refugee. It took 20=20
years of hard work before they could reach close to their earlier=20
living standard. "By the early 1970s, we had managed to recreate some=20
of our earlier prosperity," he says.

But more troubles awaited them. In 1978 another catastrophe struck -=20
the Russian backed Najibullah government came to power. And their=20
first targets were the affluent Sikh and Hindu families. "We were=20
forced to sell off our property at throwaway prices and became=20
refugees once again. We moved to Delhi and once again started a small=20
business with whatever money we had," says Manohar Singh. It took=20
another 20 years to reach the road to prosperity.

There were others like Amreek Singh who decided to stay back in=20
Afghanistan. They were perhaps not as rich as Manohar Singh but were=20
living a comfortable life. Then came the devastating late 1980s when=20
Russians were forced to bow out of Afghanistan in the face of=20
continued conflict. The Sikhs and Hindus lost trade. Amreek Singh,=20
for instance, lost most of his money. He sold his shop and his days=20
of poverty were back again. He took menial jobs to feed his 15-member=20
family. "There were days when we fed ourselves at gurudwara langars,"=20
he recalls.

Ethnic strife was at its peak in 1992 and many innocent Hindus and=20
Sikhs were targeted. "The families like ours left without selling=20
their belongings. The Army commanders occupied our houses and took=20
possession of our belongings. We crossed Peshawar and reached Delhi,"=20
says Amreek. It is estimated that 10,000 Afghans of Indian origin=20
fled during that period.

After landing in Delhi, Amreek Singh realised his biggest handicap.=20
None of his children were educated and hence there were no jobs for=20
them. "We never realised the importance of education in Afghanistan=20
as the male members carried forward their family businesses. There=20
was no need for looking for jobs," says Sardar Manohar Singh, who=20
heads the Khalsa Diwan Welfare Society of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus.

Though physically strong, thousands of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus didn't=20
find work during their initial stay in India. Fortunately, the=20
Afghans who had migrated earlier offered them help. "The migrants=20
started working in shops and factories owned by rich Afghans. We gave=20
them higher salaries than the others to ensure their families could=20
afford at least a two meals a day," says Singh.

But not much has changed for the families that reached India after=20
1992. They fled after leaving everything behind. They had no money to=20
invest in businesses. "In Delhi, the investment required to start a=20
business runs into lakhs. Moreover, we were not used to hard labour,"=20
says PS Manchanda, another member of the society. "In the past eight=20
to nine years, they have just been able to own small stalls, dhabas=20
or garment shops," he adds. Life has come full circle for these=20
Afghans.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

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