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Deadly
rumour campaign Taal Matol crime The
volatile city RIPPLE EFFECT .
The debate on the controversial Baglihar Dam has been clouded by emotional statements from water lobbies. Here are some facts... By Adnan Adil Last September, while announcing his verdict on controversial Baglihar hydroelectric project in a closed door meeting with the representatives of India and Pakistan, Swiss water expert Raymond Lafitte said his judgment is neither a victory of Pakistan or India but of the Indus Basin Treaty -- signed between the two countries in 1960 to share rivers. The decision has been made public by the two sides in February. Although some independent
experts in Pakistan are not too happy with the verdict, the two governments
have so far responded positively -- both saying it supports their respective
stance. The debate on the controversial Baglihar Dam on Chenab river in Indian-administered Kashmir, like several irrigation water issues in the country, has been clouded by emotional statements from water lobbies. They presented the Baglihar Dam as a project which India could use to gain control of water flows of Chenab depriving Pakistan of its share at its will. According to water experts at Pakistan's Indus Water Commission, Chenab brings nearly 20 million acre feet (maf or a measure to gauge the quantity of water that can spread over one million acre one foot high) every year to Pakistan. The agriculture of central Punjab, the home of the country's ruling establishment, is dependent on this water. In fact, Baglihar reservoir's existing design has the capacity to store only 0.5 maf water. Thus, even in the highly improbable worst case scenario, India can use Baglihar to temporarily block only 2.5 per cent of the total water flowing in the Chenab and that too for one month. Hamid Malhi, the chairman of the Punjab Water Council, a body of central Punjab's rich farmers known for their aggressive position on water issues concerning Punjab, claims that two-thirds of the province's irrigation water come from Chenab river. Like other critics his objection to Baglihar's water storage capacity is that India may block Chenab's water flowing into Pakistan by storing the water in the winter season when water inflows touch the lowest level and are required for irrigation of winter crops and early summer crops in central Punjab. How can India do this? The controversy revolves round the project's spillway gates located 27 metres below the dead level in the reservoir. The fear is that with these gates India can empty the reservoir nearly to its bottom in peak season thus flooding Pakistan, and can fill the empty reservoir in dry winter, storing nearly all the incoming water, thereby depriving Pakistan of Chenab water in crucial winter crop season for at least three weeks. The World Bank expert dismissed Pakistan's position that these gates should be installed above the dead level so that India could not have leverage on the inflow of the Chenab. India argued that it required gates below the dead level on the spillway to flush the sand (or silt) that will accumulate into the Baglihar's pond rendering it useless. Pakistan tried to prove that India does not need gates to flush the sand or silt. The consultants of the two sides made presentations, but neutral expert Raymond Lafitte accepted India's position. Pakistan Indus Water Commissioner Jamaat Ali Shah says that Raymond Lafitte accepted Pakistan's stance on the spillway gates -- that under the Indus basin treaty they could be installed at the highest possible level. "But in the final verdict the neutral expert supported Indian position using the word 'international practices' and 'state of the art' technology." Shah says: "On this issue of the spillway gates, the World Bank expert has deviated from the Indus basin treaty that gives clear guidelines for building hydroelectric projects on the western rivers of Chenab, Jhelum and the Indus." However, the Pakistan Indus Water Commissioner believes that according to the existing design -- even after installing the spillway gates -- India cannot stop Pakistan's water from the Chenab. He says under the Indus Basin Treaty India is bound to provide Pakistan all incoming water into Chenab on a weekly basis. This means that India can temporarily store a part of the incoming water but at the end of the week the quantity of the total incoming water and the outgoing water would remain the same. Jamaat Ali Shah explains that, so far, India has never flouted the Indus Water treaty. "In 1978 India built Salal Dam on the Chenab 50 kms above Marala in Pakistan and so far Pakistan has never complained of reduced inflow in the Chenab due to this project. Similarly, India has already built Dul Hasti hydroelectric project on the Chenab in Doda district which is a very small reservoir of 9000 acre feet water. It also made no difference to inflows in Pakistan." Critics of Baglihar say that by accepting India's limited control on the Chenab on Baglihar site, Pakistan has set a tradition and will allow India to build similar other projects thus increasing its control on the water. Jamaat Ali Shah does not agree with this line of argument. He says it is true that India wants to build eight to nine hydroelectric projects on the Chenab and the Indus Treaty allows building of the run-of-river projects but, he says, "the installation of spillway gates at Baglihar is a one-time permission due to considerations of the site." He says future projects will be taken up on their respective merits. Some other experts like Punjab irrigation consultant H M Siddiqui believe that India's possible leverage to increase or reduce the waterflows in the Chenab may disturb irrigation being done from Marala headworks. To meet such an eventuality, he proposes that Pakistan should link Marala and Mangla. The Punjab government has already asked the federal government to build this link canal. On Baglihar, the neutral expert has tried to allay Pakistan's fear by asking India to reduce the storage capacity of the pond by one and a half metre and to lift the level of the tunnel leading to powerhouse by three feet. Pakistani critics of Baglihar Dam may consider these amendments minor, fact is that India will, reportedly, have to spend at least 10 billion rupees and several months of civil works on these. Due to its controversial design, the dam's inauguration is already late by eight years costing a huge financial loss to the other side. The Indus Basin Treaty and sharing of the river water is one example of peaceful and negotiated solution mechanism between India and Pakistan. The truth is that in the events of two wars in 1965 and 1971, the treaty was not flouted and India did not stop Pakistan's water of western rivers coming from its sides of the border. But in Punjab, a group of people has presented Baglihar as the worst-case scenario by exaggerating its consequences.
Punjab's lifeline Chenab offers dependable water supplies for Punjab's agriculture Chenab river originates in Kulu and Kangra districts of Himachal Pardesh province of India. The two chief streams of Chenab are Chandra and Bhaga. They rise on opposite side of Baralcha pass at an elevation of about 16000 feet. They join at Tandi in Jammu and Kashmir state at an elevation of nearly 9000 feet above mean sea level. The combined stream traverses about 135 miles and then takes a sharp turn along Pir Panjal near Kishtwar. After traversing 400 miles of
mountainous regions and falling nearly 39 feet per mile, Chenab river opens
out into the plains near Akhnur. The river enters Pakistan in Sialkot district
near Diawara The total length of Chenab river is about 770 miles with a catchment area equal to 20079 square miles. Out of this, an area of 10075 square miles lies in Jammu and Kashmir state. A catchment area spread over 1735 square miles lies in Indian-administered territory and 13469 square miles lie in Pakistan. Hilly catchment area above Marala barrage is spread over nearly 12610 square miles. The Chenab has 12 major tributary streams namely Chandra, Bhaga, Bhut, Nballah, Maru, Jammu Tawi, Manawar Tawi, Doara Nullah 1, Doarah Nullah 2, Halse Nullah, Bhimber Nallah, Palkha Nullah, Aik and Bhudi Nullah. The last eight tributaries join the Chenab in Pakistani territory. Flows of the Chenab start rising in late May and passes 50,000 cusecs mark in June. High flows above 50,000 cusecs continue till the middle of September. July and August are the peak discharge months. It is an important characteristic of the Chenab for irrigation in Pakistani Punjab because dependable water supplies are available while the river remains at a high stage from June to September. The river is lifeline for the Punjab's agriculture. -- A. Adil Deadly rumour campaign Local religious extremists
make their position known by killing a surgeon and a technician involved in
anti-polio campaign The anti-polio campaign in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and adjoining tribal areas received a setback when a key campaigner along with an assistant was killed in a remote-controlled bomb blast, apparently planted by local religious extremists who had rejected the vaccination campaign arguing that it was a US plot to stunt the Muslim population. Abdul Ghani, the agency
surgeon of Bajaur tribal agency, had just left for a function in connection
with anti-polio campaign when a remote controlled device blew up his vehicle
in Salarzai subdivision of the recently troubled Bajaur last week. An EPI
technician, Sartaj Ahmad, was also killed while two The anti-polio campaign has been under threat in remote areas of FATA and NWFP for quite a long time. There was an open propaganda that the vaccine is serving the interests of the United States. A cleric in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah, has directed his followers to stay away from the polio immunisation programme which, he says, is a conspiracy of the Jews and Christians to stunt the population growth of Muslims. The BBC quoted the maulana as saying that international organisations should help Hepatitis-C patients if they really want to improve the health of Muslims. The BBC had reported that 160,000 children in the country have not been immunised against polio because of rumours that the vaccine causes sexual impotence. The World Heath Organisation has launched a $196 million campaign to control polio in Pakistan, one of the four countries that are believed to be a source of polio. In 2006, 1,902 cases of polio were reported from all over the world with at least 39 cases of polio reported in Pakistan, 15 of those from the North-West Frontier Province and tribal areas. "Presently the number of polio cases in the country is only 4 against 1803 in 1993. In NWFP the number during the same period has reduced to only 1 against 419," informed Dr Jalilur Rahman, director general Health NWFP. "Until 2005 there were 28 polio cases detected in the country, 5 of which were reported from NWFP and FATA." The episodic polio vaccination drive in North West Frontier Province has targeted some 6 million Pakistani and 300,000 Afghan refugee children. Almost 2,000 children were not vaccinated in Bajaur, a tribal agency on the Afghan border where US warplanes bombed a seminary, killing over 80 students and teachers in October last in the hope of killing al-Qaeda's top leader. Some 4,000 children were not vaccinated in Swat due to the negative projection. A 2006 WHO report listed 66 localities that were not immunised due to logistical problems and 320 areas that were poorly immunised due the rumour. Even though only 24,000 children missed the vaccine during the recent campaign, the WHO said failure to vaccinate in small pockets of the country gave the virus a fresh foothold to circulate. Pakistan is not the only country where polio-vaccination campaign is under criticism from religious circles. Last August the northern Nigerian state of Kano suspended the campaign and set up a committee to investigate the claims of religious clerics. In a country where anti-American sentiments often run high, the idea that the polio vaccine is part of a US plot to render women in the developing world infertile quickly took hold. Dr Haroona Kito, dean of a Nigerian University, has claimed the vaccine contains harmful toxics that are threat to human reproductive system. Muslims in India have also launched a campaign against the polio vaccination, terming it a western plot. The two countries along with Pakistan are being considered most vulnerable to polio epidemic. Apart from the propaganda by some religious leaders, a lawyer from the provincial capital has moved the Peshawar High Court against the immunisation, saying the US itself has stopped oral vaccination of the medicine to its citizens after coming to know it is harmful to human health but the same is being practiced in Muslim countries. Lawyer Ghulam Nabi disclosed the vaccine contains Estrodoil that reduces the spermatogenesis. "If there is nothing wrong with the ingredients then why are they not mentioned over the vile like other medicines and why the vaccine is not available in the open market?" questioned Ghulam Nabi who is leading a campaign against polio vaccination. The DG Health NWFP, however, rejected all these claims saying the petitioner has personal stakes involved. "As far as the resistance put up by the religious scholars is concerned, we have got fatwa from top religious leaders who have declared there is nothing un-Islamic with the polio-vaccine," the official said. "There are refusals to administering polio drops by the people but its ratio is very low, even 1 or 2 per cent, while a successful campaign needs 95 per cent coverage. Polio is a menace which needed to be eradicated not only from the country but from the entire region. The government is committed towards its eradication and for the purpose aggressive immunisation campaigns are being launched." Government and UN agencies have asked religious scholars to change people's minds about the vaccination. The NWFP government, formed by the six-party religious alliance of MMA, backed the vaccination campaign. Polio vaccines were administered to children in different areas by MMA chief Qazi Hussain Ahmad and its general secretary and Leader of the Opposition in National Assembly, Maulana Fazlur Rahman to convince the public it was not un-Islamic. Health officials have long tried to dispel rumours that the polio campaign is a Western and US conspiracy to reduce Muslim populations. An official of the health department said that health workers had faced resistance in northwestern Swat, Dera Ismail Khan and Lakki Marwat districts as well as the tribal regions of Bajaur and Waziristan agencies. At some places health workers carry copies of a fatwa endorsing the vaccinations and signed by Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Qazi Hussain Ahmed.
By Shoaib Hashmi It is a complete and utter 'Cop Out', and it is not acceptable! I mean it is not as if we are asking for the moon. Only what is our right. We made the man what he is, and now that we want our two bits worth in return, the man is not only playing hard to get, but is altogether chickening out. I say it is not fair and is therefore unacceptable! I am talking about Mr. Amitabh Bachhan! Look at what all we have done for him. We made him the big 'B'! And even before that we gave away the delectable Jaya Bahaduri, and lost her because he locked her up to do his cooking for him; and what we got in return was that dodo Abhishek, and now we are set to give over the equally delectable Ash. I hope she knows how to cook.
I admit that I am not a filmgoer, and my acquaintanceship with Indian movies consists of the snatches I catch while surfing the hundred odd channels, but that is enough. Even among the snatches I have inadvertently caught there have been enough which clearly showed our man beating the dung out of dozens of baddies single-handedly. And there was even one instance in which he shot an arrow into a flying aircraft, pierced it, climbed the rope tied to the arrow all the way up to a few thousand feet going five hundred miles an hour, and then beat the dung out of more baddies! And what do we innocents want of him? We don't even want him to take on a toughie like Amrish Puri, or Gabbar Singh, much less a real meanie like Pran! All we want is for him to take over from the mild and malleable Mr. Kalaam, and set him free to go shampoo his hair. And the man says No! It is not even as if there is no precedent for the act. Mr. Ronald Reagan was an actor in B-Movies, and he was never the mega-star, and he never got to marry Jaya, and look where he got! And if you have seen the movie Back to the Future you couldn't have missed them talking about the 'Arnold Schwarzenegger Presidential Library'. He's got to be Governor already. And if you have also seen Men in Black you will know that the only reason Sylvester Stallone will never get to be President is that he is actually an alien! And they have prejudices against that kind of thing in the US. Mr. 'B' is a dyed-in-the-wool Indian, although an old lady who used to cook for us was convinced he was her long lost son, left behind in the turmoil of '47, but I promise to tell no one. And even if he is a countryman of Stallone's from planet Zartok 5, I promise not to let in on that one either. But he must come to his senses. He cannot ride roughshod over the dreams and wishes of millions upon millions of his fans and admirers, and refuse to serve! crime In the name of religion Zille Huma's murder was not the first incident of its kind -- Gujranwala now has more than a ten years history of high profile crimes by religious extremists Reports by Aoun Sahi and Shahzada Irfan Ahmed from Gujranwala In his confessional statement before the police Maulvi Sarwar said that he was opposed to women holding public office. He said he decided to kill Zille Huma Usman, provincial Minister for Social Welfare, after he read in the newspaper that she would be holding an open court. Maulvi Sarwar shot her 'for
not adopting the Muslim dress code' in her home city of Gujranwala on February
20 this year. Huma, 36 and a mother of two children, was at the Pakistan
Muslim League (PML) House Gujranwala to hold an open Kuchehry. As she was busy
meeting women activists, Maulvi Sarwar, who was sitting in the audience,
approached her with a pistol and pumped bullets into her The killer Muhammad Sarwar Mughal, a father of nine, is a resident of Baghbanpura in Gujranwala and owns a shop in Gur Bazaar. Zille Huma was not his first victim; he confesses to have killed at least six more 'sinful' women, beginning in the year 2002. Two police stations in Gujranwala and the Tibbi police station in Lahore had booked Maulvi Sarwar for the murder of those women at the end of 2003. He had openly confessed, in front of media, that he killed all these women for the sake of Islam and he is proud of what he did. He was acquitted within two years for want of sufficient evidence. According to a local journalist, the Gujranwala police gave him VIP treatment during the investigation of murder of six women. He informs TNS that a committee of around 20 of his co-Namazis arranged money and a lawyer for him. After his release he was portrayed as a hero in the city and people welcomed him warmly. "The day he was released, people garlanded him, carried him on their shoulders and chanted religious slogans," says Sarmad, a young social worker of Gujranwala. Many others in the city second his statement. The neighbouring shopkeepers in Gur bazaar still believe that he did not commit a big sin. Muhammad Ashraf, who owns a shop next to his, says Sarwar is a very gentle fellow and I do not know "whether what he has done is a sin or not." When asked as to why his activities were not monitored after his release from jail,Deputy Superintendent of Police Crime Investigation Agency Gujranwala, Tahir Gujar, who is investigating Sarwar in Zille Huma murder case, said: "He was a thorough gentleman who offered prayer five times a day. Basically his action of killing six women was acceptable in the society so we too gave no importance to him." Tahir says that investigation reveals that he is a psychopath who is against the empowerment of women. He thinks the murder of minister was his individual act and no political or religious party was behind him. As a matter of fact the murder of the minister was not the first incident of its kind. Gujranwala now has a history of high profile crimes committed by religious extremists. The first such case to emerge from the city was in May 1993 when the imam of the mosque at Ratta Dhotran village of district Gujranwala accused Salamat Masih, a 14 year old Christian child, and two others of insulting the Holy Prophet (PBUH). This created unrest in the whole country and worker of a religious party attacked him and his co-accused in Lahore when they were coming to attend the High Court, killing the co-accused Manzoor Masih. Salamat Masih had to be sent out of Pakistan to avoid getting murdered. The second famous case was of a quack Hafiz Sajjad Tariq. In April 1994, he accidentally dropped his copy of the Holy Quran in the fire and a local rival reported this over the loudspeaker. People from the entire neighbourhood responded to the call and burnt him alive. "The citizens mistook the word atai (quack) over the loudspeaker for isai (Christian). In other words, one does not have to check facts before killing a non-Muslim in Gujranwala," says Sarmad. According to him Gujranwala is the only city in Punjab where an MNA of MMA, Maulana Qazi Hameedullah, won election in 2002 after defeating both PML-N and PPP-P candidates (at other places they had the support of PML-N). "Qazi Hameed, originally belonging to Peshawar, has now become a legendary symbol for religious elements of the city. After those elections the religious elements in Gujranwala became stronger and stronger and started dictating the terms for even the social life of the city," says Sarmad. The latter crime incidents support his views. On May 30, 2003, hundreds of students of Islamic seminaries in Gujranwala armed with sticks swooped down on a circus show, ransacked it and beat hundreds of spectators as they thought it was spreading obscenity in the city. The mob, reportedly led by MNA Qazi Hameedullah, dismantled the circus tents and torched them while shouting Allah-o-Akbar (God is great). In the same year the students of these seminaries attacked theatres and cinemas in Gujranwala. Daily Jang on December 17, 2003 reported that even the district administration under the pressure of these religious extremists nabbed 22 actresses, including Nargis and Hina Shaheen, on charges of fahashi (obscenity) in 2003. 16 theatres were attacked and four theatres were sealed for promoting fahashi. Two cinemas were sealed and 47 internet clubs were closed down on similar charges. In April 2005 religious elements of Gujranwala once again showed their power when they forcefully disrupted the state-owned mini-marathon scheduled in the city. In February 2006 they torched two cinemas in Gujranwala in protest against the blasphemous cartoon issue. In an atmosphere of extremism, it may not have seemed like an impossible task to go on a killing spree of women suspected of obscenity. According to Ghulam Dastagir Khan, leader of PML-N, ex-federal minister and mayor of Gujranwala, people in his city have always been very close to religion but they were very tolerant towards each other's beliefs, before late 1970's. "But Iranian revolution, Afghan war and General Zia's Islamisation had a collective impact on our city and Gujranwala turned to jihad and turned inward, scrutinising its citizens for moral backslidings," he tells TNS. Dastgir says that although Barelvis are an overwhelming majority in the city, Afghan war created opportunity for Deobandis and Wahabis to influence the city according to their beliefs. "General Zia's policies too promoted both in Pakistan and as a result they gained a strong hold in Gujranwala." The situation, according to him, turned so bad that in 1988 general elections a Deobandi religious leader in the city asked him that they would vote for me on condition that I promise to do my best to declare Shias as a minority like Qadianis. Dastgir is of the view that President Musharraf's policies once again have been proving very helpful for religious fanatics to grow in the country as well as in Gujranwala. "If people of a city do not like to have women's marathon, why do they insist on holding it. Government thus deliberately promotes extremism." "The seminaries of Gujranwala played a great role in promoting intolerance in the city," he says. According to city district government data there are 136 registered madrasas in district Gujranwala while independent sources claim that the number is well above 400. "These madrasas are teaching a narrow interpretation of Islam and brainwash their students," says a worker of PPP-P Gujranwala. He also informs that these seminaries very proudly announce that the city has contributed the largest number of martyrs to jihad in Afghanistan and Kashmir. Sabeeha Shaheen executive director Bargad, a non-government youth organisation in Gujranwala, says: "The youth in the city are especially prone to religious extremism. Some years back a man in Gujranwala distributed sweets in the city on the martyrdom of his young son in Kashmir," she tells TNS. The industrialists and traders of the city generously support religious parties, she says. MNA Qazi Hameed is a poor man but on his elections millions of rupees were spent by the city's industrialists. "It is a baseless allegation that Zille Huma did not observe the Islamic code of dress. She was always clad in a Chaddar after she joined politics and her murder is a proof of extremism against women in the city." Chauhdry Muhammad Arif, director Punjab Group of Colleges Gujranwala, thinks that the main problem with the city is its level of illiteracy. "Many industrialists who are billionaires do not believe in educating their children." Qazi Hameedullah MNA, MMA from Gujranwala city and Ameer JUI-F Punjab chapter, also known as teacher of Mullah Omer though he denies it, says that residents of Gujranwala city are famous for being Islam lovers. He condemns assassination of Zille Huma but still considers her a sinner. "She was committing sin but not of a level that she had to be assassinated." He agrees that the city had produced the maximum number of martyrs in Afghan and Kashmir wars. He is full of praise for the industrialists and traders of the city for their overwhelming support to religion and seminaries.
Why are the people of Gujranwala more concerned about public morality than other cities? The conditions in which Punjab Minister Zille Huma Usman was murdered last month and a review of several other incidents of violence in Gujranwala are enough to establish that the city is hostage to sheer forms of extremism. No doubt there are reservations everywhere against the 'unwanted' foreign invasion of our culture and mixing of women with strangers, the people of Gujranwala have reacted differently. Instead of resorting to dialogue or accepting the change, they have often taken the law in their own hands and resorted to violence, sometimes even leading to deaths. As part of a recent survey conducted in Gujranwala, TNS contacted notables belonging to different cross-sections of the society and sought their suggestions on how to check the unbridled growth of extremism in the city. Rana Shahid Hafeez, President Gujranwala Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) says that it's the sense of deprivation among the have-nots that leads to extremist attitudes. "Gujranwala is no exception, this is the trend everywhere in Pakistan," he says. He suggests that the government must concentrate on developing Gujranwala that pays Rs 29 billion in the form of taxes to the national exchequer. "There are no parks, no proper roads and entertainment facilities. In this situation, frustrations keep building up inside individuals and are vented in the form of violence." He says Gujranwala was once known for its cool-headed but physically well-built Pehalwans (wrestlers) while now tolerance is something unheard of. The GCCI President says it is not true that industrialists are promoting extremism by financing madrasas run by hardliners. The charity goes to different sectors including madrasas but it is ensured that it's spent carefully. "Our industrialists mostly fund charity hospitals like Allama Iqbal Hospital and Haji Murad Eye Hospital and Jinnah Hospital. Besides, we are also managing a dialysis unit on permanent basis. I think this is the best way to spend charity funds." Chaudhry Muhammad Arif, Director Punjab Group of Colleges, Gujranwala, terms illiteracy the root cause of extremism prevailing in our society. He says illiterate people have close minds hardly ready to accept change, however gradual it is. Arif says: "I do not mean that it is wrong to oppose invasions in one's culture but I want to say that there is more than one way to handle such situations." He suggests that educating our young generations can bring change in their attitudes as well as their elders. "At the same time I think people's patience must not be put to test needlessly," he says. Arif tells TNS that though his organisation runs co-education institutes at higher levels, it strongly objects to the idea of holding such classes at intermediate level. "Girls and boys of this age are not mature enough to be allowed to interact freely. Anybody who tries to introduce co-education at this level in Gujranwala is bound to invite wrath of the locals," he adds. Mian Tariq, Town Nazim Qila Deedar Singh, calls for involvement of those who had supported Maulvi Sarwar (murderer of Zille Huma) during court proceedings in the past. He says the unprecedented public support that he had won after killing some 'call girls' had given him a false illusion. Intoxicated by this support, he thought whatever he was doing was enough to win him a place in the heavens. Tariq says once the supporters of Sarwar are involved in investigations, people would fear that they can be convicted for abetting in the crimes committed by the types of Maulvi Sarwar. They must know that under Pakistani law, the punishment for those abetting a crime is the same prescribed for the person committing that crime, he adds. Nasir Ismail, the owner of Prince Cinema in Gujranwala and a PPP big-wig, says the government must keep track of the activities of extremists. "It's an open secret that intelligence agencies and special branch of police collect information about parliamentarians, bureaucrats etc but hardly anyone bothers to keep trail of religious extremists," he says. Nasir is himself witness to an act of violence. Some years back, a bomber exploded a bomb in the toilets of his cinema. Soon afterwards, the bomber called Nasir and warned him that the next blast could be severer and lethal. "The caller said that he had exploded the bomb for the reason that my cinema had vulgar hoardings mounted on its walls," he says. Nasir tells TNS that Gujranwala is a city having mass public support for PPP and PML-N but the voters of these parties are neither organised nor do they move in groups. The religious parties/factions are however organised and instantly react to calls made by their leaders. "I don't say all of them are violent; many of them are. When an individual becomes so influential that he can affect thinking of others, it becomes binding on the law enforcing authorities to keep him under the scanner," he adds. RIPPLE EFFECT Fanatics, basant and tourism By Omar R. Quraishi If ever there is going to be a contest for a country with the highest number of fanatics per capita, I have a strong feeling that Pakistan will win it hands down. The last few weeks have been particularly bad (or good if one is looking from the point of view of winning this 'contest'). The country was rocked by several suicide bombings and there was news that many more had been planned by the extremists/fanatics. Thankfully, and for a change, our police and law-enforcement agencies had reportedly managed to nab several would-be suicide bombers but there were still many who were (and still are) said to be on the loose. All this obviously does not make for a carefree existence but then again who said that living in a country like Pakistan was going to be easy. There is bad (nay terrible) traffic, people with little or no civic sense, and now we have to deal with suicide bombers in our midst. This is not all. As the days progressed, two other stories came and they drove home the point further (as if that could be done given how intolerant we have become as a society) that Pakistan has far more fanatics than we would like to admit. The first was the tragic murder of a doctor in FATA who had been sent to the region to manage the polio vaccination drive. He was killed by unidentified gunmen and it's quite probable that this was done because the local population had been manipulated by some local mullahs into believing that vaccinating one's child was the handiwork of the devil and hence should be avoided at all costs. A week or so later, this poisonous disinformation had reached Swat with a local cleric -- and the son-in-law of the chief of the Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi Maulana Sufi Mohammad -- reportedly telling the local population to not vaccinate their children when health workers come to their homes as part of the provincial government's polio eradication drive. The cleric, who apparently broadcasts his pernicious views without impunity on a makeshift FM station, also is reported to have said the following gems: "I must tell my brothers and sisters that finding a cure (vaccination) for an epidemic before its outbreak is not allowed in Sharia. According to Sharia, one should avoid going to the areas where an epidemic has broken out, but those who do go to such areas and get killed during an outbreak are martyrs." One does not know whether to laugh or cry at the presence of such people in our midst. It would be okay -- of course relatively speaking -- if they confined the import of their absurd and obscurantist views to themselves but the problem is that these purveyors of bigotry, disinformation and hate want everybody else to conform to their warped and skewed interpretation of religion. And of course, there is this man from Gujranwala, a certain Maulvi Sarwar who killed the Punjab social welfare minister because he apparently disapproved of the way she dressed. The man is said to have, apparently by his own admission, killed several other women as well (one newspaper's Gujranwala correspondent described them as 'model girls' while another called them 'women of easy virtue' -- so much for the reporting standards of our print media since it seems women are judged even after they have died). Incidentally, Maulvi Sarwar was wanted in several cases and had even been arrested but was released for 'want of evidence' -- will someone in Punjab's law-enforcement and legal hierarchy explain why this was allowed to happen?
********************** Tourism minister Neelofar Bakhtiyar can forget about making Visit Pakistan Year (2007) a success. Luckily modern-day Gujranwala probably does not have much to offer the foreign tourist, unless one's wish is to visit a polluted industrial city with little tolerance for women in general and the arts and theatre in particular. As for the anti-polio mullah, he is a resident of Swat, otherwise known as Pakistan's 'Switzerland' with its alpine landscape and verdant valleys (of course the fact many of its residents are lorded over by cleric who would have them live in the Dark Ages is something that one does not need to include in the travel brochure). One can be absolutely sure that there are many Maulvi Sarwars out there, and they can be found especially in the areas that we want the goras to visit. I remember that as long as eight years ago on one of my regular trips to Nathiagali I came across small signboards nailed on trees by a local jihadi outfit saying that women who did not cover their hair deserved to have their hair chopped off at the very least. These were also bolted on the trees along the Ayubia chairlift, so one could read them as one went up the chairlift to the top. If they are still there -- which they surely must be -- they can now be translated into various foreign languages so that the hundreds of thousands of tourists who are sure to visit Pakistan this year can benefit from reading them.
********************** Despite many hindrances, Basant thankfully happened this year. The whole debate, one must admit, has religious and cultural overtones and there is no need of getting into that. Just two things though. One: thousands of people die in traffic accidents every year, so do we ban people from buying and driving cars or do we ask them to be more careful. Two: strictly speaking constitutionally, isn't it parliament's prerogative to legislate (since it is sovereign and has the power to enact laws) and the judiciary's to interpret such legislation? The writer is Op-ed Pages Editor of The News. Email: omarq@cyber.net.pk |
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Having little knowledge of the complicated technical issues involved,
the common people found it strange as to how a ruling could simultaneously
satisfy two conflicting claims.
village. The river flows through alluvial plains of the Punjab
for a distance of 3398 miles. It is joined by Jhelum river at Trimmu. Further
40 miles downstream the Ravi joins it. The Sutlej river joins it upstream of
Punjnad near Alipur town and finally about 40 miles below Punjnad it meets the
Indus at Mithankot.
other aides of the senior
health official sustained different injuries. The incident was followed by a
strike by the health officials of Bajaur and the vaccination drive was halted
for security reasons. Thousands of children in Bajaur and other areas could
not be vaccinated due to the strike by the health officials.
And all we ever wanted in
return was that the 'B' take up the offer of whatever political party thought
of it, and become president of a neighbourly country. And the man won't! He
says he doesn't think he is up to the task! What is the man talking about?
head from a
point-blank range. She succumbed to injuries during surgery at Lahore's
General Hospital the same day. A party worker caught Sarwar and handed him
over to the police.