[sacw] SACW #1 (15 June 01)

aiindex@mnet.fr aiindex@mnet.fr
Fri, 15 Jun 2001 00:19:40 +0200


South Asia Citizens Wire / Dispatch # 1.
15 June 2001
http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex

----------

#1. Talking To Gen Musharraf - High road or low comedy?
#2. The Asian Development Bank in Asia - all sound and no fury
#3. English city uneasy as Hindu-Muslim tensions emerge

--------------------------

#1.
The Praful Bidwai Column for the week beginning June 11

Talking To Gen Musharraf
High road or low comedy?

By Praful Bidwai

Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee has certainly not enhanced his claim to consistency=
=20
by executing yet another flip-flop on Pakistan and inviting Gen Pervez=20
Musharraf, the very man New Delhi has been pursuing in every conceivable=20
forum since October 1999. But Mr Vajpayee may yet enhance his falling=20
public image a little if he reaches reconciliation with Pakistan by taking=
=20
the "high road" he promises. At its core would be substantive nuclear and=20
missile restraint and other confidence-building measures, and a procedural=
=20
agreement to begin discussing the Kashmir issue. One need not be a Vajpayee=
=20
supporter--and this writer is not--to respect the momentous importance of=20
India-Pakistan reconciliation.

However, first, we must note the weaknesses in the government's case for=20
inviting Gen Musharraf. Its reasons were clearly ad hoc, inconsistent, and=
=20
part of a knee-jerk reaction to differences within the sangh parivar over=20
extending the six months-long Kashmir ceasefire, which failed to deliver=20
substantial results. RSS hardliners and Mr Advani opposed the extension. So=
=20
Mr Vajpayee--now weakened within the parivar and in the Cabinet by recent=20
power shifts caused by the Tehelka expose and Assembly election=20
results--"compensated" by inviting Gen Musharraf. This was an awkward=20
balancing act, not a mature, confident, strategy. Also at work was the=20
BJP's calculation as regards the coming Assembly elections, especially in=20
Uttar Pradesh, where it expects to do disastrously. Mr Vajpayee reckons=20
that his "invite-Musharraf" diplomacy will help the BJP a little.

As the external level, the Musharraf invitation can't be reconciled with=20
New Delhi's refusal to engage, in fact even recognise, him fully, which=20
persisted right till May 23. Nor is the decision--taken over a=20
Vajpayee-Singh-Advani luncheon meeting--rooted in a coherent foreign=20
policy. It is a clever tactic unconnected to a larger game-plan or=20
strategy. At the tactic's centre is the Washington Factor: gradual nudging=
=20
by the US to talk to Pakistan. More important, New Delhi is itself keen to=
=20
please the US and ward off future international pressure on Kashmir by=20
appearing "reasonable". This is part of its craving for acceptance as a=20
"responsible" nuclear weapons-state, especially by the US, its new senior=20
"strategic partner." The pressure is likely to grow because situation in=20
the Kashmir Valley has deteriorated seriously with growing popular=20
frustration and rampant human rights violations by Central forces and state=
=20
police's Special Operations Group.

It is for this mix of political reasons, some of them dubious, that Mr=20
Vajpayee played the Pakistan gambit. And yet, it is vital that we support=20
his initiative--for principled reasons. These reasons have nothing to do=20
with the mistaken view that Right-wing conservatives are inherently better=
=20
placed or more capable than Liberal or Leftist leaders of a state to reach=
=20
reconciliation with adversaries. Rightists, on this view, needn't worry=20
about ultra-nationalist critics who could accuse them of "selling out."=20
Wasn't Nixon-Kissinger's "ping-pong diplomacy" with China a success story?

This is a misreading of Cold War history, especially of a specific=20
conjuncture around 1970 when a breach opened up for a variety of reasons=20
between the USSR and China. The US fully exploited it. It is this=20
conjuncture, not the personalities or ideologies of Nixon or Kissinger,=20
that was responsible for "ping-pong" diplomacy's success. The larger=20
context here was one of relative domestic instability--no US president=20
between Eisenhower and Reagan served two terms. This instabilty was itself=
=20
driven by US retreat in the global arena, with one revolution every four=20
years between 1945 and 1979. Added to this was Republican "isolationism."=20
The conservative "edge," then, was largely an illusion.

In the India-Pakistan context, such an "edge" hardly exists. Mr Vajpayee's=
=20
rag-tag coalition is vulnerable to hardcore elements in his own sangh=20
parivar. And Gen Musharraf won't exactly have a cakewalk over "his"=20
religious Right. Mr Vajpayee has shown no special capacity for deal-making=
=20
with our neighbours. Mr I.K. Gujral has done ten times more for=20
reconciliation and peace in the neighbourhood than him.

The real reasons for welcoming Gen Musharraf have to do with restoring good=
=20
faith between India and Pakistan. For this, it is overwhelmingly important=
=20
that they resume their dialogue. As this column has repeatedly argued, it=20
was bad policy and unspeakably poor diplomacy on India's part to seek to=20
isolate Gen Musharraf in the first place. The intrinsic merit of=20
India-Pakistan reconciliation far outweighs gains from such devious=20
tactics. "Cross-border terrorism" has increasingly become a self-inflicted=
=20
delusion. Popular alienation and violence in Kashmir won't go away if=20
Pakistan changes its policy. Pakistan has indeed contributed to violence,=20
but the problem is largely internal.

The case for an India-Pakistan dialogue becomes stronger, not weaker,=20
because they both possess nuclear weapons. They repeatedly threatened to=20
use them in the Kargil war--history's most serious conventional conflict=20
between two nuclear weapons-states. Their rivalry is one of the greatest=20
obstacles to combating poverty ("our greatest common enemy", Mr Vajpayee=20
says) and promoting welfare--in all of South Asia. Anything that=20
de-escalates that rivalry deserves unconditional support. The parochialism=
=20
that afflicts Indian and Pakistani thinking cannot be fought unless there=20
is a new d=E9tente.

The growing momentum for a d=E9tente from below, involving citizens'=20
initiatives, only underscores the need for reconciliation at the apex=20
level. There are 20-plus citizen initiatives, encompassing artistes,=20
scholars, trade unionists, journalists, politicians, even former soldiers.=
=20
The latest is a FICCI high-level delegation visit to Pakistan. Large=20
numbers of Indians and Pakistanis are simply fed up with mutual hostility.=
=20
They include enlightened liberals. They seriously want to give peace a chan=
ce.

That's where Mr Vajpayee's "high road" comes in. This involves pursuing=20
"the path of reconciliation" in good faith. Vital here is the spirit of=20
trust, generosity, of wanting to do something unsordid, unlike what India=20
and Pakistan have done for a long time. It is easy to recount their bitter=
=20
history, replete with betrayed promises, mutual stalking, puerile abuse,=20
and worse. What is less lazy but more rewarding is to realise the potential=
=20
for a new endeavour, for a South Asian New Deal.

We must sincerely attempt this--without pettiness. We must resist the=20
temptation to read "preconditions" into what each side is saying about the=
=20
"core issue" or "composite dialogue." Indian and Pakistani leaders are both=
=20
at fault for overstating their case and specifying "the destination" before=
=20
"the journey" (the dialogue) begins. If Gen Musharraf has explicitly talked=
=20
of Kashmir, so has Mr Jaswant Singh: "an integral part of India" which "is=
=20
at the core of [India's] nationhood"--just as it is of Pakistan's. Such=20
exchanges should not detract from the spirit of reconciliation.

This "good faith" emphasis doesn't mean the Vajpayee-Musharraf dialogue is=
=20
doomed to remain at the level of lofty rhetoric. Unlike Lahore, which was=20
under-prepared, the two sides now have a reasonable period in which to lay=
=20
the ground for both procedural and substantive agreements. At Lahore, they=
=20
missed a historic opportunity to freeze nuclear weapons and missile=20
development. Today, they have a renewed chance.

This can take many forms: reiterated commitments to global nuclear=20
abolition and preventing a nuclear race in South Asia; non-deployment of=20
nuclear weapons for three years, coupled with a bilateral agreement on no=20
further nuclear tests and on a freeze on weaponisation; and a commitment to=
=20
exploring a nuclear weapons-free zone in South Asia. Such a zone would=20
radicalise the original concept--from non-proliferation to active=20
disarmament. They should agree not to deploy short-range missiles or=20
test-fly any missiles. Some of these commitments can be verified through=20
cooperative monitoring. In content and spirit, these are different from=20
Nuclear Risk-Reduction Measures, which presuppose deployment and merely=20
make nuclear weapons "legitimate," "safe"--and hence more usable.

A nuclear and missile freeze will have a dramatic impact upon the regional,=
=20
indeed the global, security environment. India and Pakistan must put aside=
=20
long-standing irritants like Siachen, Sir Creek, and Wular Barrage--on=20
which agreements were all but reached in the past. Another substantive area=
=20
is relaxation of visa restrictions, freer movement of people and goods,=20
exchange of periodicals and literature, visits by scholars, peace=20
delegates, trade unionists, journalists, feminist activists and artistes.

On Kashmir, New Delhi and Islamabad cannot easily reach a comprehensive=20
agreement. But a beginning can be made in three ways. First, a long-term=20
negotiating group which meets frequently (once a fortnight) should be=20
established. This could institutionalise the process of dialogue open to=20
the people of Jammu & Kashmir. Second, a bus service should be started=20
between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad. And third, a "soft corridor" should be=20
created along the LoC, where people from both sides move and trade freely.

It bears stating that more radical proposals were exchanged two years ago=20
during the repeated Pakistan visits of PMO emissary R.K. Mishra. These must=
=20
be revived in a spirit of generous accommodation. India and Pakistan must=
=20
earnestly try to take the "high road." The only alternative to that would=20
be a sickening routine of mutual hate-mongering, more hostility, more=20
self-inflicted injury. That would be a low comedy, indeed.--end--

--------------------------

#2.

The Island (Colombo)
Wednesday 13 June 2001

The Asian Development Bank in Asia - all sound and no fury
by Prasanna Weerawardane

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), has been for much of us in Sri Lanka, a
remote institution headquarters in Manila. It occasionally comes into the
news when a new multi-million dollar development project is announced, and
then to disappears back into its niche in the fog of Manila This is now abo=
ve
change. It seems that the ADB is intent on impacting on our collective
consciousness in the same fashion as the ice-berg which sank the Titanic. I=
t
remains to be seen which of us Sri Lanka and the ADB is the ship and which
the iceberg.
The ADB has for the first time stepped into the quagmire of environmental
conservation policy in Sri Lanka. It seems intent on making the small muddy
hole that has been our conservation policy an enormous swamp, which would
obliterate our remaining conservation areas. Known as the "Protected tree
Management and Wildlife Conservation Project", the ADB seeks to revolutioni=
se
the policy and infrastructure of Sri Lanka=E2=80=99s National Parks, which =
we take
for granted

What poverty reduction?

More than eighteen months ago, the ADB publicly declared, poverty reduction
to be its main goal. It committed itself to that from there on, all ADB
programs -whether grants, loans or technical assistance-would be poverty
focused. This commitment has been paraded across Asia, much like the
Emperor=E2=80=99s new clothes, which in the telling relates that the Empero=
r had no
clothes on. It seems that in a similar vein, many across the Asia Pacific
region-call them critics, anti-globalise, is protectors, and even children =
of
the region, "What and where is the ADB=E2=80=99s poverty reduction strategy=
?"
It seems that the ADB senior staffers think that the centrality of poverty
reduction in the Dank=E2=80=99 operations is demonstrated by changes in the
institution is staffing, programme priorities and overall approach. The fac=
t
that ADB staff can now have open discussions with outsiders is pointed out =
to
be a symptom of the positive changes resulting from the poverty reduction
strategy. But apparently with in the institution, there is growing
dissatisfaction, as it=E2=80=99s long-standing and rigid institutional stru=
ctures
prove to be incapable of accommodating new ideas. The ADB has hired around
sixteen ~ poverty experts" and re-deployed other staff wish" poverty
expertise" in key position within the organisation. But most of these " you=
ng
and dynamic" recruits are located in project divisions rather than at count=
ry
or programme levels. This influx of new blood is generally too junior to
influence project designs. or country or regional programs. Also, there are
too few " poverty experts" at senior level.
According to a source within the AOB, a major bottleneck in the=20
institution=E2=80=99s
poverty reduction strategy seems to be its own senior programme staff, the
majority of whom are economists, have been in the AOB far too long, are
convinced they know all they need to about poverty and are reluctant to
accept change or new ideas.

Superficial Solutions

When put under pressure to "produce something on poverty," programme staff,
it seems, come up with window dressing, which they ram down people=E2=80=99=
s throats
According to the same source, " the ADB is not great on personnel", this
shortcoming being evident in the continuing conflict between a majority tha=
t
favour the project approach (making loans) and a minority that advocates a
programme approach (developing more overall analysis)
Problems within itself aside, the most fundamental bottleneck in the ADB=E2=
=80=99s
poverty reduction strategy is the institutions=E2=80=99 understanding of po=
verty
itself. The ADB puts great onus on " poverty analyses" and poverty "
partnership agreements" with many countries, which it believes is the answe=
r.
But they are hard put to show how these analyses result in responsive
projects or programmes. These much proclaimed analyses are based on standar=
d
economic models which calculate poverty head count ratios, consumption and
income trends, poverty gap and severity indices, and inequality coefficient=
s.
While such arithmetic has its uses, it bears no relationship to the diverse
forms of poverty that exist in the Asian region, or to the multi-layered
strategies by which families and communities combat hardship.
For most part, the organisation continues to identity "the poor" as an
undifferentiated mass of people who consume less than a certain amount of
fixed goods in a given time. And the solution, of course, lies in ensuring
that they acquire the means to consume more of these fixed goods through
economic growth.
"The voices of the poor moved many of us, specially those who have soft
hearts", said W. Urooj Malik, the ADB=E2=80=99s resident rep in Cambodia=20
recently. He
may have a soft heart, but an unflagging support for market-driven
development remains at the heart of the ADB=E2=80=99s poverty reduction str=
ategy. As
a senior ADB staffer in the poverty reduction unit put it, "market means
competition, so better ideas men ". He later admitted that markets exploit
poor people and that " land and capital markets are distorted, only two
percent of total credits go to poor people". He later went on to say "ADB
wants a real market that works for the poor, and not a distorted market tha=
t
works for the rich"
But there lies the catch. The ADB=E2=80=99s approach to making the markets =
work for
the poor is Not through Support for domestic regulation and protection=E2=
=80=99 or
through ensuring adequate opportunities, access and services for the poor,
but rather=E2=80=99 by expanding the private sector=E2=80=99s share in phys=
ical, financial
and social infrastructure.

They look after their own

The ADB=E2=80=98s private sector development strategy is a window for undis=
ciplined
foreign investment that does not reflect national trade and industry
priorities. The ADB, having projected the South Asia subregion as "the
largest concentration of poor people in the world", is, in the name of
poverty reduction in the subregion, already supportive of physical
infrastructure in transportation, energy, water resources utilisation and
natural resource extraction, financial sector reform, privatisation of powe=
r
and water utilities, and increasing the proportion of private sector
providers and actors.
So after all this continuing flurry of private sector activity, a fundament=
al
question remains unanswered: how do these projects create markets that work
for the poor, or reduce poverty?
The answer is not quite that simple: an ADB staffer in the poverty reductio=
n
unit admitted that "the ADB still needs to come up with creative ideas of h=
ow
the private sector and poverty reduction go together," and also about "how
the private sector can be used to work with the public sector."
So what exactly is the ADB doing, with all this massive support of private
sector in the development arena, if it is as yet uncertain of the dynamics =
of
the process? Senior ADB staff at country and regional levels are usually
unable to explain how their programmes have been reworked to reflect a
poverty focus. Most of them cannot show clear links between the policy
reforms they demand of borrowing countries and benefits for specific
population identified as poor. Nor are they able to discuss how they will
monitor their respective programs for impacts on decrease or increase in
poverty.

Altruism by Accident...

Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that the ADB=E2=80=99s poverty reductio=
n=20
strategy
was an accident, according to an ADB source: one fine day, based on his
personal interest, ADB president Tadao Chino said, "let* go poverty, and th=
en
it was out there)"
So just like that, the emperor waved a magic wand and bingo! There would be=
a
massive decrease in poverty in the region thanks to the ADB=E2=80=99s spank=
ing new
strategies. The same ADB source happily declared, "President Chino threw a
hall in the air, and it was a good ball to put in the air: after all, who
would be against poverty reduction?"
But reality and Newtonian physics tells us that what goes up must come down=
.
This particular ball, it seems, has bounced back very quickly indeed to
earth, and is now burrowing frantically into the interior of the earth-such
is the weight of the ADB=E2=80=99s half-baked, Alice-in-Wonderland poverty =
reduction
strategies, which has so far increased the Levels of poverty of many and
enriched the few, just the very opposite of the ADB=E2=80=99s aims Let us t=
ake just
two examples of the ADB=E2=80=99s strategies at work, the Theun -Hinboun hy=
dro power
project in LAO People=E2=80=99s Democratic Republic, and the Samut Prakarn=
=20
Wastewater
Treatment Project in south Thailand leads to destruction by intent=E2=80=99=
.
The Theun-Hinboun hydro power project was planned in 1992, construction
commenced in 1994, and the dam began commercial operations in 1998. It is a
trans-basin diversion scheme; the 25- meter high dam diverts water from the
Theun River through a 5.2-km tunnel to a 210 MW power plant in the Nam Hai
catchment, a tributary of the Hinboun River. From its very inception, this
project has been characterized by poor decision making processes, inadequat=
e
environmental impact assessments, conflicts of interest, and a general
refusal by the ADB to accept the project=E2=80=99s potential for severe=20
socioeconomic
impacts. In late 1998, following overwhelming evidence gathered by outside
sources and by the ADB=E2=80=99s own consultants, the organisation finally
acknowledged that the project was seriously flawed, and promised timely and
adequate compensation for families affected by the dam, some three to four
thousand households living in the river basins.
Then comes the emperor=E2=80=99s magic wand: three quarters of the amount e=
armarked
for the compensation package will be spent on further studies, assessments
and monitoring, to be conducted by the ADB=E2=80=99s usual clique of consul=
tants.
Only US $137,500 (in a package that totals more than US $ 3 million) has be=
en
allocated as direct compensation, and that is earmarked for the purchase of
water pumps for gardens.
Perhaps the President of the ADB has a fondness for water gardens!
The US $ 750 million Samut Prakarn Wastewater Treatment south of Bangkok in
Thailand has been dogged by malpractice, corruption, and minimal compliance=
.
Local residents have demonstrated time and again against the project,
complaining that no public consultations, and no environmental and social
impact assessments were conducted before project construction began. The si=
te
is expected to produce 50 tons of sludge a day, flowing into the Gulf of
Thailand, destroying local fisheries and shellfish farming, resulting in a
serious decline in the living standards of the area Despite complaints by
local residents and requests by Thai Senators to the ADB to review the
project, the ADB claims that the complaints are unfounded, and has speeded =
up
the project, claiming that since 40 percent of construction has been
completed, the project cannot be halted
So much for transparency, accountability and flexibility in an organisation
setting itself up as the friend of Asia. So much for is vaunted poverty
alleviation strategy. -

We Must Say "NO"

Amartya Sen, the Nobel Laureate in Economics, at present Master of Trinity
College, Cambridge, has written a prescient volume titled " Development as
Freedom~=E2=80=99 which will cast a giant shadow over economic theory. In i=
t, he
states: "there are two general attitudes to development. One view sees
development as a "fierce process", with much " blood, sweat, and tears "-a
world where wisdom demands toughness. In particular, it demands a calculate=
d
neglect of various concerns that are seen as " "soft-headed" =E2=80=94 thes=
e can
include social safety nets that protect the very poor, and not to favour
political and civil rights, and the =E2=80=98;luxury " of democracy.
This contrast with the Nobel laureate=E2=80=99s own espousal of development=
as an
essentially "friendly" process: Sen sees development as a process of
expanding the real freedom people enjoy. In this view, expansion of freedom
is seen as the primary end and the principal means of development.
Substantive freedom include avoidance of starvation, undernourishment,
premature mortality, as well as increases in literacy, numeracy and politic=
al
freedom, etc. Development, in Sen=E2=80=99s view, is the process of expandi=
ng human
freedom, and the assessment of development has to be informed by this
consideration.
It is obvious which brand of development the ADB follows. If it really wish=
es
to change it=E2=80=99s clothes, to be attuned to the realities of poverty a=
nd
development in Asia, then it=E2=80=99s economist could do no worse than to =
pas close
attention to Professor Amartya Sen But I rather suspect that we would be
dreaming castles in the air, and it will be upto the people of Sri Lanka to
voice their concerns, as stridently as possible, over the ADB plans to
privatise our National Parks. and to sink them as completely as did the
Titanic.
______

#3.

Britain-Religion-Tensions

English city uneasy as Hindu-Muslim tensions emerge

by Shyam Bhatia, Indo-Asian News Service

London, June 14 (IANS) Communal tensions between Hindus and Muslims have
become evident in the English city of Bradford where a 350,000-strong white
majority coexists uneasily with 85,000 Asians, predominantly Pakistani
Muslims.

Bradford's latest Hindu-Muslim differences have surfaced in the wake of
serious race riots between whites and Asians in the nearby cities of Oldham
and Leeds.

Now a Hindu youth claims hostile Muslims are blocking attempts to bring up
young people of a different faith as good, law-abiding citizens.

Paresh Mistry, 18, an organizer of the Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh (HSS, or
Hindu Voluntary Corps) in Bradford, says his organization "aims to promote
and pursue the basic values of the Hindu way of life and to instill a sense
of pride in our identity. "

"Our aim is to encourage our youths to become good and decent citizens of
this country, but we are subjected to racial abuse, both verbal and
physical, from youths who come from a Muslim background," Mistry told IANS.

His group runs cultural activities for people of all ages and weekly
sessions are regularly attended by more than 100 members, some as young as
five. But Mistry says the good work of the club is being undermined by the
behavior of Muslim youths intent on provoking Hindu youngsters to react to
their taunts.

"I used to walk to the club with two or three other lads but as we were
walking along, Muslim youths would stare at us and make snide comments abou=
t
our religion," he says.

In one recent incident, a gang threw bricks at members attending a club
meeting. Mistry says foot patrols and police vans need to be in evidence
more than ever to react to incidents like these promptly. "We will never
retaliate because we expect police to be there. Retaliation hasn't got
anybody anywhere and it is not our aim.

"But we feel scared in an area where most of us have been brought up. Peopl=
e
are moving out of the area because they are sick of the tension. As long as
there are these thugs, they are never going to let people live life as we
want to."

After the last confrontation, Mistry says he and his friends called police,
but by the time they arrived their tormentors had fled. "Its an ongoing
thing that's got worse," explains Mistry.

A spokeswoman for West Yorkshire police said, "This is quite a complex
issue. There are a lot of communities in Bradford and we work with all
community partners on all issues. We like to work on all problems together.=
"

Ayub Laher, vice president of Bradford Council of Mosques, admits the
existence of unruly Muslim elements, but says there is also a problem with =
a
small minority of Hindus who identify with the right-wing Shiv Sena. "I am
not denying we have a small number of Muslim youngsters who have given up
the code of good practice and religious followings," he said.

"I cannot see a true Muslim having this sort of behavior. But there is also
a problem with a handful of Hindus who put themselves out as a part of the
Shiv Sena. They stir things up in Bradford and get the brunt of (such)
behavior from Muslim Pakistani youngsters.

"I would be pleased to meet Mr. Mistry with my colleagues and we can find
out when these problems occur and who they are. We have also told the polic=
e
we would like to investigate the problem and find out who are the
troublemakers.

Laher said community leaders would need to go to clubs, discos and snooker
halls to engage with the unruly elements. "These sort of yobs (hooligans)
don't come to the mosques and it is a difficult job to get them into line.
They don't listen to elders, they don't listen to police and they don't
listen to authority. That is the fundamental problem.

"What I'm saying is don't blame only the Muslims. We have enough problems
with our youngsters. Every community has some elements who have transgresse=
d
religious and community rules. To my mind, people practicing their faith
properly would not involve themselves in such behavior as thuggism, yobbism=
,
violence, disrespectful behavior and rowdyism."

The provocations faced by HSS members are the latest reported example of
Hindu-Muslim tensions in Bradford. Last April, chemist Hasmukh Shah
complained his pharmacy had been targeted by unruly Muslim youths who
smashed and ransacked his premises, causing up to 6,000 pounds worth of
damage.

Shah, a leading member of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in Britain, said
trouble was sparked off following racial clashes between whites and Asians.
"Later, Muslim youths got together and firebombed the pub where a Hindu
couple were holding their engagement party. After that, these same youths
moved to my pharmacy, half a mile away, which they smashed and ransacked.
Some of them were wearing balaclavas. They blocked the road so the fire
engines could not get through."

--Indo-Asian News Service
ends/sp

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