history
If bricks could speak...
Once a symbol of the deep connection between liberal England and nationalist India, as well as a sign of Indian independence, Bradlaugh Hall now lies in ruins
By Yaqoob Khan Bangash
The writing of history revolves around personalities and events; seldom have buildings been the subject of historical research. But it is buildings in which these great people live, write, argue, and die. It is these buildings which witness the mesmerising speeches of statesmen, the deafening shots of an assassin, the silence of a writer, and the hushed sighs of a victim. 

issue
The price of development
Considered mankind’s greatest threat, climate change is likely to have profound 
consequences for socio-economic sectors
By Alauddin Masood
The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere crossed the alarming level of 400 parts per million (ppm) threshold, in mid-May this year, posing serious threats to the human life and economic activities on the globe.

A new counterterrorism doctrine
The inability of the US to win the war in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the World against terrorism may come as a resounding reminder to the American realists that there are some real problems with their prescriptions
By Raza Khan
The policy speech by United States President Barack Hussein Obama, mapping out new counterterrorism doctrine, is extensively realistic and could be instrumental in putting an honourable end to the Global War on Terror (GWoT) for Washington. The policy direction, which the new doctrine contains, could be effective measures to counter extremism and terrorism. 

health
Food for thought
Migration, urbanisation, improved life styles and income levels have 
complicated our food intake patterns. So ‘eat whatever you want but mostly plants’ and ‘avoid whatever your grandmother would not recognise as food’
By Syed Mansoor Hussain
For centuries, food that was eaten was pretty much unchanged in a particular area. There were differences in quantity, richness and style but the essential ingredients were the same. However, the last few decades have seen a major transformation in what we eat. The major reasons for these changes are migration, urbanisation, improved life styles and income levels, increased amounts of processed and refined foods, sugary beverages, fast foods and greater consumption of meat. 

Challenges, opportunities
As the ban on kite-flying and making continues, the youth at risk look for alternatives
By Naila Inayat
For some, it is painful to think of all the art and the skill that has died with the ban on Basant — the vibrant colours, the festivity, the string and the kite-making, the flying techniques and, most significantly, the youth who lost their livelihood. For some, kite-making was a family enterprise.
30-year-old Nasim Bano is one of the many who fell prey to the circumstances after the ban on kites. “String and kite-making was our business, we weren’t dependent on anyone for our living. But the ban on Basant took everything away from us. As a youngster, this was a skill and business that I inherited from my ancestors — thinking that our future generations would also benefit from it.”

A healthy 
lesson
Schools in Gadap Town are getting clean drinking water and functional washrooms, thanks to HANDS
By Shahid Husain
About 25 kilometres from the Karachi city in Al-Haj Dur Mohammad Baloch Goth, in Malir district, Gadap Town, is situated a beautiful school named Government Boys Elementary School. Its magnificent Neem trees and chirping birds remind one of Tagore’s Shanti Nakatan. There are 220 students and a team of 11 dedicated teachers — three of them female.

peace
Challenges ahead
Pakistan is in dire need to break away from a 
monolithic ideological formulation which has become anathema to its very existence. Thus, this is the most appropriate time to undertake such an initiative
By Tahir Kamran
The seminal trait of a state is the monopoly that it exercises over violence of any kind. Thereby, the state is enabled to act as a bulwark against any subversion or anarchy directed either from within or without. If divested of that singularly important attribute, the political formation called ‘state’ starts to implode. 

Nagging distractions
With a comfortable majority, Nawaz Sharif still faces a daunting task to keep the military and civilian bureaucracy at bay
By Helal Pasha
The relations between the Army and Nawaz Sharif’s earlier administration were at its lowest around September 1999. Then COAS Gen. Pervez Musharraf flatly denied “any differences with the government”, following the US warning against any “unconstitutional move” to remove the elected government in Pakistan. Then Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, based on intelligence reports, accused the Taliban government in Afghanistan of facilitating the trained and armed sectarian groups in Pakistan. The Pakistan Foreign Office, speaking for the Taliban, flatly denied the assertions. Interestingly, then Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz had no prior knowledge of the Foreign Office spokesperson’s denial (Dawn September 23 to October 9, various dates).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

history
If bricks could speak...
Once a symbol of the deep connection between liberal England and nationalist India, as well as a sign of Indian independence, Bradlaugh Hall now lies in ruins
By Yaqoob Khan Bangash

The writing of history revolves around personalities and events; seldom have buildings been the subject of historical research. But it is buildings in which these great people live, write, argue, and die. It is these buildings which witness the mesmerising speeches of statesmen, the deafening shots of an assassin, the silence of a writer, and the hushed sighs of a victim.

In South Asia, buildings have little value. Apart from the grand monuments, such as the Taj Mahal or the Mughal forts, few buildings are well-kept. Even important sites are often encroached upon, vandalised, and at times arbitrarily altered or badly restored. This lack of appreciation of ‘edifice history’ means that no one cares to preserve a period house, an old mosque or structures associated with particular events. The fascination with the ‘new’ deeply permeates the South Asian mindset, and as a result relegates history to often boring textbooks.

Learning history through vision, experience, or contact is increasingly impossible in modern South Asia.

Therefore, it is no wonder that hardly anyone has ever heard of ‘Bradlaugh Hall’ in Lahore. The 3000 capacity hall, which was the centre of intense political discourse in Lahore for almost half a century, and which was the main office of the Punjab Congress Committee for decades, now lies in a dilapidated condition, padlocked, with a crumbling roof and a fast flourishing business in drugs centred on it. Only the foundation stone, which notes its opening by ‘The Hon. Surendera Nath Bannerjea, on October 30, 1900,’ gives the visitor the sense that the imposing redbrick building set back on Rattigan Road might have had an illustrious past.

When my friend casually mentioned Bradlaugh Hall some time ago, I admitted to have heard about the place, but had no clue where it actually stood. Thanks to his resolute interest, he found out the exact location of the hall and after some searching we finally found the once significant and vibrant Bradlaugh Hall, forlorn and forgotten.

The website of the Indian National Congress rightly notes that the contribution of British people towards Indian independence is often ignored and mostly underplayed. However, Englishmen, and indeed some Englishwomen, were critical in the development of Indian nationalism, especially during its early phase. While most students of Indian history might have heard the name of Allan Octavian Hume, the founder of the Indian National Congress, and Mrs Annie Besant, the leader of the Home Rule League, few might recognise the name and importance of Charles Bradlaugh, the atheist Member of Parliament [MP] who was controversial both in England and in India.

Charles Bradlaugh was elected MP for Northampton in 1880, but was unable to take up his seat in parliament because he refused to take the Oath of Allegiance to the Crown. An avowed atheist and republican, he was first imprisoned in the clock tower of parliament for attempting to take up his seat without swearing the Oath, and then fined fifteen hundred pounds in 1883 for voting illegally in parliament. His insistence on ‘affirming’ rather than swearing an Oath to the Crown deeply divided parliament and after much wrangling he finally took the oath ‘as a matter of form’ in 1886 and took up his seat in the Commons. With his strong support of secularism (in 1866, he co-founded the National Secular Society), birth control, republicanism, Irish Home Rule, and women’s suffrage, Bradlaugh was a thorn in the side of a deeply conservative late Victorian England until his death in 1891.

Charles Bradlaugh’s death in 1891 drew thousands of mourners. Among them, significantly, was the twenty-one year old Mohandas Gandhi, who was then studying in London to become a Barrister. Undoubtedly, Gandhi had come to pay homage to the great friend of Indian nationalism who had staunchly supported Indian home rule.

Bradlaugh had a deep concern for India. He tabled draft reforms of the Indian councils in parliament, which later crystallised in the Indian Councils Act 1892 allowing for greater self-government. More importantly, Bradlaugh wanted the Indians to become better politicians. He attended the 1890 session of the Indian National Congress where he strongly argued for more political activity and greater efforts for gaining increased self-government. He also made tangible his connection to India and bought a track of land in Lahore, on Rattigan Road, with a view towards developing some kind of a political space.

It is said that the Punjab government was so wary of his presence in Lahore, that they asked him to leave, whereby, he bought a boat and embanked on the river Ravi, claiming that he was not legally on ‘Indian soil’ then. Even though the government finally succeeded in making him leave, Bradlaugh made his mark on the Indian political landscape.

Within a decade of his death, his friends in India built the imposing ‘Bradlaugh Hall’ on the land he had bought a decade earlier, allowing for a purpose built space for political debate.

Over its nearly half a century of active existence, Bradlaugh Hall experienced many shades of Indian political opinion. Almost immediately the hall became the chosen venue of political debate in Lahore, and broadly the Punjab, and everyone from the Congress, to firebrand nationalists, to committed socialists, held their conferences in the hall. The existence of a purpose built, affiliation free, and easily available space spurred on a marked increase in political engagement and debate, allowing for a wide range of opinion to be discussed, developed and disseminated.

Perhaps the greatest, and most controversial, moment in its history came when the Punjabi politician, Lala Lajpat Rai, the Sher-e-Punjab [lion of the Punjab], heeded the call of Mahatma Gandhi to boycott British run institutions, and established the ‘National College’ on the premises of Bradlaugh Hall in 1922. The intention behind this ‘National College’ was very interesting.

Since the advent of British rule, Indians had accepted wholesale British institutions — from Councils to hospitals to schools. This was something Gandhi wanted India to ‘unlearn,’ and develop its own policies and methods. After all, why should India adopt Western styles without question when it was itself heir to great traditions? Few people understood this, and only three people, quite independently, tried to ‘nationalise’ education at least. One was Rabindranath Tagore, who established a school at Shantiniketan, which later developed into the Visva Bharti University, and the other was Abdul Ghaffar Khan who established Azad Madrassas in the Frontier. The third was obviously, Lala Lajpat Rai.

This ‘nationalisation’ of education was very significant, because it provided Indians with ‘Indian’ education — seeped in their own traditions, culture and language. If such nationalisation of education had continued, and developed, perhaps Pakistan at least would not have been in the sorry state where our students do not know any language adequately — they do not know their mother tongue well enough, cannot understand good Urdu, and are barely proficient in English. Such confusion is certainly the result of adopting a foreign system of education without question and adaptation.

Established during the height of the Non-cooperation Movement, the first mass nationalist movement in India, most Indians who joined National College were revolutionaries. Among these firebrands was the enigmatic Bhagat Singh, who studied at the college from 1922 to 1926, meeting his future co-revolutionaries at Bradlaugh Hall. It was, of course, in retaliation for the fatal beating of Lala Lajpat Rai in October 1928 during the Simon Commission protests, that Bhagat Singh killed the Assistant Superintendent of Police, AJ Saunders, and was subsequently hanged on March 23, 1931 — becoming a legend.

The 1920s was a time of intense political activity at Bradlaugh Hall: Mahatama Gandhi presided over the convocation of the National College, Maulana Azad gave fiery speeches against the Simon Commission, and the All India Communist Party held its sessions there. During that time, Bradlaugh Hall epitomised the breadth and depth of the Indian political spectrum.

From the older Lala Lajpat Rai, and the old moderates, to the young and dynamic Jawaharlal Nehru, and IK Gujral, many politicians experienced the charged atmosphere of Bradlaugh Hall. For the self-government starved Indians, it acted at the same time as the Speakers Corner in Hyde Park, the House of Commons floor, and party headquarters. Till the end of the Raj and the partition of India, Bradlaugh Hall remained the Punjab headquarters of the Indian National Congress, and as such a bastion of Indian nationalism, in a building built on an Englishman’s land and named in his memory. Bradlaugh Hall was, therefore, at once a symbol of the deep connection between liberal England and nationalist India, as well as a sign of Indian independence.

Just as libraries are important for intellectual discourse and parks for sporting and recreational activities, public spaces like Bradlaugh Hall are important for a constructive and vibrant political milieu. For nearly half a century, Bradlaugh Hall was utilised by different religious and ethnic communities, hosted often conflicting viewpoints, and gave rise to divergent political agendas. However, it still remained an open space for all, signifying inclusiveness, tolerance and dialogue. Thus, it became the political microcosm of a multi-religious, multi-ethnic, and multi-party India.

It was perhaps poetic justice that the political role of Bradlaugh Hall ended with the partition of India. How could a place where Hindus, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Christians, and even atheists, had shared a platform, retain its role in a country founded specifically for one community? When again would people like Bi-amma (the mother of the Ali brothers), Gandhi, and Subhas Chander Bose, be able to share the same podium? How could the place which was home to the party which declared ‘Purna Swaraj’ (complete independence) as its goal during its 1929 session in the same city, co-exist with a party which demanded a separate ‘Muslim homeland’ just a few miles away in 1940?

The post-1947 life of Bradlaugh Hall has witnessed it being a storage house, a steel mill, and till latterly a small technical institute. Today, it stands decaying, locked and forgotten. The relegation of Bradlaugh Hall to the memory of a few historians, or the old grandmother who can still remember Gandhi spinning at the wheel outside it, is probably apt since Pakistan had also forgotten the people associated with it.

The national outlook of Lala Lajpat Rai, who established the Gulab Devi Chest Hospital in Lahore (opened by Gandhi in 1934) in memory of his mother who died of tuberculosis on the same spot, the revolutionary spirit of Bhagat Singh, and the nationalist Indian Muslim outlook of the Ali brothers and Maulana Azad, are also forgotten in Pakistan.

Bradlaugh Hall needs restoration and reopening again as a space for constructive political debate, just as Pakistan needs reopening to the committed, broad-based, and refreshing political debate Bradlaugh Hall once epitomised.

The writer is Chairperson, Department of History, Forman Christian College, Lahore

capion

Bradlaugh Hall: Witness to history.

caption

Tagore and Gandhi.

caption

Controversial Charles Bradlaugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

issue
The price of development
Considered mankind’s greatest threat, climate change is likely to have profound 
consequences for socio-economic sectors
By Alauddin Masood

The concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere crossed the alarming level of 400 parts per million (ppm) threshold, in mid-May this year, posing serious threats to the human life and economic activities on the globe.

Deep divisions between the developed countries of the North and the developing states of the South about cutting the atmospheric emissions have largely contributed to this phenomenon. Under the landmark 1997 Kyoto Protocol, it was obligatory for the developed countries to cut down carbon emissions to the 1990 level by 2012. Well before the deadline, the developed nations managed to get a big breather — at least five years extension under Durban (South Africa) accorded of December 11, 2011.

Environmentalists criticise the Durban package — as did many developing countries during the 13 days of hectic talks — for failing to move faster and deeper in cutting carbon emissions. Logically, the time to act is now, scientists maintain. They say that unless carbon emissions, chiefly CO2 from power generation and industry, level out and reverse within a few years, the earth will be set on a possibly irreversible path of rising temperatures that lead to ever greater climate catastrophes.

The developing states want the US and other developed countries to cut the emissions the most, arguing that historically it is the industrialised world that is responsible for contributing 70 to 80 per cent of the carbon pollution in the atmosphere. For over 200 years since the industrial revolution, it is the industrialised North that has emitted large amounts of CO2 and other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. But, the US and other developed states argue that the developing countries like Brazil, China, India, South Africa and South Korea, which are growing rapidly, should also control the emissions.

The greenhouse gases, like CO2, methane and nitrous oxide, build-up in the atmosphere and lead to climate change or global warming, posing grave threats to human civilisation. In other words, when CO2 rises into the atmosphere, it screens the sunlight, allowing the sunlight in but preventing the heat to leave.

By the year 2100, the global average surface temperature on earth, as estimated by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), might increase by 1 to 3.5 degrees Celsius (about 2 to 6 F) with an associated rise in sea level by 15 to 95 cm (about 6 to 37 inches), posing extreme dangers to human life in low lying regions and low-lying Island States, like Venice and Fiji. But, the environmentalists forecast that due to greenhouse gases global temperature can increase by three degrees Celsius by the year 2040 and by the end of the century by five to six degrees Celsius, generating sand/dust storms, micro cloudbursts and tsunamis, if urgent remedial steps are not taken.

As concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere has reached new heights, scientists believe any rise above 2C threshold could trigger far reaching and irreversible changes, both over land and in the seas. Global warming at 3 degrees can result in the crossing of many “tipping points,” including instability in the South Asian summer monsoon, near disappearance of the Arctic summer sea-rise and degradation of the Amazon rain forest, rendering any remedial action ineffective. In case global warming reaches 4 degree C, climate scientists warn, only one-tenth of the global population will survive.

The highlands, in particular, are vulnerable to ‘Glacier Lake Outburst Floods’ as overall glaciers retreat and additional snow melt can increase the amount of water dammed in the vicinity of a glacier, and the added pressure enhances the likelihood of disastrous outburst flooding. The effects of global warming, observed over the last century, include: Increase in sea level by 1-2 mm, retreat of glaciers, decrease in snow cover, shifts of plant and animal ranges, increase in coral bleaching, earlier flowering of plants and insect emergence. The main factors contributing to climate change are: burning of fossil fuels, industrial emissions and deforestation.

Though like other developing countries, Pakistan’s contribution to global warming is negligible – as low as 0.43 per cent, it ranks at the top among countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change. According to scientists, 2010 and 2011 floods in Pakistan, forest fires in Russia, mudslides in China and droughts in Sub-Sahara Africa were enunciations of scenarios that experts had been predicting since long due to the impact of greenhouse gases.

In 2010, R. K. Pachauri, Chief of the Inter-Government Panel on Climate Change told Inter Press Service that the floods of the kind that hit Pakistan may become more frequent and more intense in future. Pakistan also figures among the countries which are at risk of droughts and where agriculture produce is likely to be affected adversely.

In addition to rainfall variability and changes in the marine ecosystems, evidence shows that most of the glaciers are melting and consequently shrinking in size and retreating, posing a serious threat to freshwater availability. In South Asia, glaciers of Karakoram and Himalaya ranges are reportedly under threat due to climate change. For example, Siachin glacier is melting at 110 metres per year. And by the year 2100, the experts believe, the Himalayan glaciers would disappear.

Pakistan has some 5,218 glaciers, over 13,680 square km or 13 per cent of mountains in the Upper Indus Basin, and 2,420 lakes of which 50 are reportedly highly dangerous and may cause flooding in the plains in Punjab and Sindh. Pakistan’s Indus delta also remains exposed to sea rise and sea intrusion, causing an upward shift of almost 400 metres in the coastline.

Pakistan is also experiencing biodiversity loss, shifts in weather patterns and changes in fresh water supply. The phenomenon of global warming might impact the snow and rain patterns and the snow melt during the summer. At present, Pakistani rivers receive 70 per cent of their flow from snow melt. If not addressed appropriately, these changes could accentuate after 2050.

Considered mankind’s greatest threat, climate change is likely to have profound consequences for socio-economic sectors, like health, food production, energy consumption, natural resources management and security. In fact, the harmful impacts of the global warming are already manifesting themselves in the form of storms, tornadoes, floods, droughts and increase in natural disasters to 400-500 in a year against 125 in the 1980s.

Global warming is the price of development that human beings are paying. But, the fruits of development have been harvested by the rich developed countries where development activities are contributing in a big way to global warming. But, developing countries, like Pakistan, with least contribution to this phenomenon, have to bear most of the brunt of ravages.

The rapid rise in greenhouse gases is reducing our ability to limit warming to safe levels, lending credence to apprehensions that the prospects of limiting the warming may close in this very decade. Furthermore, 13 of the warmest years recorded have occurred within the last two decades and the year 2011 caps a decade that ties the record as the hottest ever measured since 1850 when accurate measures began.

Across the world, over 710,000 people died from 1991 to 2010 from 14,000 extreme weather events, incurring economic losses, in today’s terms, of over 2.3 trillion US dollars. When seen across this 20 year period, not a single developed country features in the top 10 for climate risk. Only one — Russia — features in the top 20 as a result of the July 2010 heat wave, but that was an exception. The results underscore the vulnerability of poor countries to climate risks.

The experts apprehend that the climate change would have a wide-ranging adverse impact on human health: It would increase mortality rates due to heat stress and lead to increase in the potential transmission of vector borne diseases, including malaria, dengue and yellow fever. Moreover, it will hardly hit the poor, who are more dependent on natural resources and have less ability to adapt to the changing climate. However, increase in winter temperatures in high altitude areas could lead to decrease in mortality rates.

While highlighting the urgency of shifting away from fossil fuels, this brings to the fore the need for taking up steps to return carbon to where it belongs — the soil — through regenerative agriculture. This approach represents our greatest opportunity to reduce the atmospheric CO2 levels, enhancing soil fertility and biodiversity as well as the land’s ability to retain water.

The geographical location and socio-economic fragility of Pakistan, like some other developing states, make it more vulnerable to the environmental, social and economic ramifications of climate change, while the lack of resources/capabilities to adapt to the changes can worsen the situation. This brings to the fore the need for constant monitoring/research of the impact of climate change on human life/glaciers, and mainstreaming climate change into development planning at all levels and sectors. In addition, the complexity of the problem calls for the need to increased access to innovative farm production practices and irrigation techniques, and improving forest management and biodiversity conservation.

Adaptation to climate change, aimed at allowing vulnerable groups to adjust and live with the change in the environment and economy, would require a heavy expenditure over a long period of time. Since the phenomenon has been unleashed by the developed countries’ unhindered pursuit for accelerated development and material gains, the international community, in particular the developed states, should make focused efforts to bail out the third world vulnerable countries from a bleak future, a situation in which they are likely to land for no fault of theirs.

In view of the serious nature of threats to the mankind and human habitats, one would suggest that the UN/international organisations and the developed states should set up a special fund and a dedicated organisation for mitigating the effects of climate change and providing help to countries affected or likely to be affected by it. Without international assistance, it would be very difficult for debt-ridden states like Pakistan to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The authorities in Pakistan, on their part, need to take up this issue at appropriate fora, making a beginning by sensitising Pakistan’s ambassadors abroad and creating awareness within the country about the ways this nation can contribute to lessening the impact of climate change.

The writer is a freelance columnist based at Islamabad. alauddinmasood@gmail.com

caption

The poor are the most vulnerable.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A new counterterrorism doctrine
The inability of the US to win the war in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the World against terrorism may come as a resounding reminder to the American realists that there are some real problems with their prescriptions
By Raza Khan

The policy speech by United States President Barack Hussein Obama, mapping out new counterterrorism doctrine, is extensively realistic and could be instrumental in putting an honourable end to the Global War on Terror (GWoT) for Washington. The policy direction, which the new doctrine contains, could be effective measures to counter extremism and terrorism.

In the policy speech, President Obama, admitting the mistakes and flaws committed in the conceiving and execution of the GWoT, also suggested rectification measures. Obama’s speech may sound idealist and a departure from the well-entrenched realist American foreign policy traditions but as realism has failed to buy Americans the most sought after value, security, it is indeed a time to let idealism play its role in putting an end to the one of the longest war of the modern history and human suffering thereof.

The announcement by President Barack Obama to restrict the use of drone attacks in countries with which the US is not at war will have major repercussions for Pakistan. In a related development, President Obama has also announced shifting of the control of drone attacks from the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to the country’s military. To date, the CIA has carried out the largest number of drones strikes anywhere in Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). Tens of the al Qaeda commanders and fighters of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have been killed in these strikes, but a large number of non-combatants have also perished in these attacks. Resultantly, Washington has been facing extreme pressure from human rights groups both within the US and outside as well as political circles particularly in Pakistan.

Despite announcing to reduce the number of drone strikes, the White House justified the large number of drone attacks in recent years. In a bid to deflect criticism, it argued that drone strikes were the most ‘discriminating’, meaning having caused extremely limited collateral damage relatively to other strikes. Although this argument has a substance, it cannot be used as a blanket justification for using the lethal weapons in a foreign land.

Sounding as a typical idealist democrat, Obama said that the US was at a crossroads after spending over one trillion dollars and paying the sacrifice of around 7000 lives over the last one decade in the GWoT. He said, “We must define the nature and scope of this struggle, or else it will define us.” This policy direction was indeed required on part of Washington as the GWoT has been seemingly futile and rudderless.

In times of crippling economic situation, Washington had no other option but to define the contours of the remaining part of the war. Speaking in idealist overtones, Obama said, “To say a military tactic is legal, or even effective, is not to say it is wise or moral in every instance.” This means that idealism has started overtaking the naked and ruthless realism of American foreign policy. The inability of the US to win the war in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the World against terrorism may come as a resounding reminder to the American realists that there have been some real problems with their prescription and doctrine.

Making the right analysis of the US interventions in the 21st century, President Obama said the US military entanglements in foreign lands did not ensure security of American mainland and instead fomented radicalism. Obama said, “A perpetual war — through drones or Special Forces or troop deployments — will prove self-defeating, and alter our country in troubling ways.” Obviously this has been the lesson which anyone with an average intellect could decipher from the events and incidents in the Af-Pak region. The US has been losing an increasing number of soldiers in Afghanistan without any sight of victory. If one does retrospective analysis whether extremism in the name of religion has grown or has reduced it transpires that it has exacerbated. Thus, it means that the GWoT has failed to achieve its objectives.

The most important part of President Obama’s new counterterrorism doctrine is emphasis on the need to locate the root causes of extremism. He maintained that although the attacks in the West continued while referring to the Boston and London strikes, but stressed that Washington should seek to address the “underlying grievances and conflicts that feed extremism.” The panacea which he suggested was expanded foreign aid and diplomacy. The doctrine in this regard is quite realistic because it has been due to the failure of diplomacy that wars have raged in the 21st Century.

A part of the blame in this regard can be attributed to the conduct of diplomacy in the full-blown public and media lens. In our era, the diplomats have also been playing to the gallery instead of focusing on their primary objective of furthering their respective interests through negotiations, tact and compromise — the very ingredients of diplomacy. A deeper look would reveal that even in a country like the US, if not entirely, a significant part of the foreign policy particularly related to defense has been formulated by the military and the intelligence agencies, which had disastrous consequences.

Insofar as provision of foreign aid is concerned, obviously this can go a long way in mitigating the sufferings of people in the Af-Pak region as well as Iraq, Yemen and North Africa, where al Qaeda has cultivated strong basis. Apart from it, foreign aid could increase the capacity of both the state institutions to provide good governance which is the main cause of rampaging extremism and terrorism in these regions. However, in order the aid to be effective it needs to be given in the right hands.

The most important issue regarding terrorism which the US faces right now is the issue of home-grown terrorists. Obama, realising the problem, said that after a successful fight against al Qaeda in the Af-Pak region Washington should now focus on the problem of home-grown terrorists. It means that there is a need to have a critical analysis of the American society and understand the dynamics of deviant behaviour displayed by Muslim Americans and that why many of them have decided to become terrorists.

Dismissing that al Qaeda is a serious threat, Obama, like a true statesman, argued, “In the years to come, not every collection of thugs that labels themselves al Qaeda will pose a credible threat to the United States. Unless we discipline our thinking and our actions, we may be drawn into more wars we don’t need to fight.” This is where Obama calls for soul-searching and wants a reassessment of the societal and social and state institutional processes of the US which have been contributing to the menace of extremism in the US society. Now this is the most apt approach to addressing the issue of religious extremism and terrorism because this means finding faults within than without. Now whether the American state institutions and policymaking circles would concentrate on what their scholar president has directed them to focus on is anybody’s guess.

Obama also called for formation of a special court to assess and give a go-ahead to drone strikes. This aims at inclusion of a third branch of government into the decision-making and execution of these lethal attacks. However, the attempt by President Obama to give a legal cover to lethal part of the counter-terrorism strategy may not turn out to be very successful in achieving its aims.

In a nutshell, President Obama’s recent policy speech regarding the priorities and challenges of the US existing policies has put an end to the notion of a ‘perpetual’ war. This would scotch many conspiracy theories regarding the covert intentions of the US in the Af-Pak region. At the same time, Obama’s speech has also laid the foundation of a new national security framework which is more realistic, comprehensive and noble vis-a-vis the existing paradigm which has been unrealistic, incomprehensive and ignoble.

The writer is a political analyst and researcher who hold doctoral degree in International Relations:razapkhan@yahoo.com

caption

A typical idealist Democrat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

health
Food for thought
Migration, urbanisation, improved life styles and income levels have 
complicated our food intake patterns. So ‘eat whatever you want but mostly plants’ and ‘avoid whatever your grandmother would not recognise as food’
By Syed Mansoor Hussain

For centuries, food that was eaten was pretty much unchanged in a particular area. There were differences in quantity, richness and style but the essential ingredients were the same. However, the last few decades have seen a major transformation in what we eat. The major reasons for these changes are migration, urbanisation, improved life styles and income levels, increased amounts of processed and refined foods, sugary beverages, fast foods and greater consumption of meat.

In a country like Pakistan where a majority of people are still living on the edge of poverty, many of the above factors are less important but we still see rising incidence of ‘chronic’ diseases that are at least partially related to diet. In particular, we are seeing more obesity in younger people, a virtual epidemic of high blood sugar (adult onset Diabetes), high blood pressure, increased incidence of blockages of heart arteries (coronary artery disease), and complications from these conditions.

As far as adult onset Diabetes and obesity are concerned, these are definitely related to what we eat. The more we eat of refined starches like white bread and white rice, refined sugar and high fat diets, greater the incidence of obesity and Diabetes. And Diabetes as well as a high fat diet definitely increases the risk of coronary disease. Also we are eating more processed and fast foods that contain greater amount of salt and that contributes to the incidence and severity of high blood pressure increasing the risk of brain damage (strokes).

Even though modern medicine has made great strides in controlling Diabetes, high blood pressure and high blood fat levels, that can lead to coronary disease and other complications like damage to limbs and the eyes or kidneys, proper diet still forms a an important part of prevention as well as treatment of these conditions. But I really want to talk about what normal people eat. Clearly there are no absolutes and the Internet and magazines are full of different diets and lists of miracle foods that would make us live forever.

The first thing to remember is that an average person, weighing around 65 to 75 kilogrammes who does not work as a day labourer or a farmer needs to consume around two thousand calories a day. Any excess intake will be stored in the body as fat. We don’t have to weigh ourselves every day to find out if we are putting on weight. Our clothes will tell us that. But being slightly overweight is not all bad and recent ‘studies’ suggest that people with some extra fat have a better survival when they become seriously sick compared to those that are thin.

Clearly the important thing then is to eat enough to maintain a certain weight. Here diet as well as the amount of physical work we do is both equally important. Food is the primary source of energy but types of food we eat is also important. Different types of food provide a variety of nutrients and minerals that the body needs besides just calories. It is for this reason plain sugar and foods heavy in sugar are often called ‘empty calories’.

First about fat in our diet; without fat we would not consume what we call ‘fat soluble vitamins’. So some fat is necessary but it does not have to be only of animal origin (ghee). Much is made about the source of a particular fat or oil but basically it is the quantity that matters. Olive oil or other oils from seeds all have their supporters. Another source of ‘good’ fat is nuts but these are too expensive for most people to use as a primary source of fat in their diets. The important thing, however, is to cook using as little fat or oil as possible.

Next is the question of proteins as in meat. Some animals, especially cattle, in west are bred to provide fatty meat — the ‘marbled steak’ for instance. From having meat as the main source of calories, we now believe that meat should be used more as a ‘side dish’. And it should be lean rather than fatty. Fish and poultry have less fat than beef or lamb. That makes them a better choice as a source of protein. Fish also provides certain oils that are felt to be beneficial. However, legumes (daals) and beans are also an important alternative source of proteins. The ‘lowly’ egg has come back in fashion as a source of fat, proteins and minerals. But eggs cooked without fat.

The primary source of calories for most people is the carbohydrates as in bread, potatoes and sugar. Here it is important to understand the concept of ‘glycaemic index’ or how rapidly a carbohydrate is absorbed into the blood after it is eaten. Generally speaking, purer a carbohydrate is like sugar or refined starches (white bread or white rice), the quicker it is absorbed and produces a physiological response that can be detrimental in the long run. In general, whole wheat, multi-grain flour, brown rice and unrefined sugar are better. Another major advantage of whole wheat type starches is that they contain dietary fibre that has distinct advantages when it comes to intestinal health.

As far as ‘plants’ are concerned, this includes vegetables as well as fruits. These provide a large number of nutrients that are vital for health. In general, vegetables should be eaten as close to uncooked as is possible. Another interesting fact about ‘plants’ especially fruits is that the more colour they have the better they are in terms of important dietary supplements called ‘anti-oxidants’. And plants are also a great source of fibre that as I have mentioned above is important to keep our intestinal systems working efficiently.

Another source of calories and minerals especially calcium that is needed for bone strength and of fat and proteins is milk and dairy products. We go through periods where one type of dairy product is thought of as better than another. Essentially all of them are useful but not as the primary source of calories. Yoghurt especially that contains live cultures is accepted as a good source of dairy intake.

So, some basic ideas that have evolved over the last few years. Multiple small meals are better than two or three large ones. Drink a lot of water but avoid sugary drinks like sodas and fruit juices sold in cartons and avoid processed food and fast food. And then there are two general guidelines that I find particularly useful. The first is that ‘eat whatever you want but mostly plants’. Second is that avoid ‘whatever your grandmother would not recognise as food’.

The writer is former professor and Chairman Department of Cardiac Surgery, KEMU/Mayo Hospital, Lahore: smhmbbs70@yahoo.com

 

 

 

 

 

Challenges, opportunities
As the ban on kite-flying and making continues, the youth at risk look for alternatives
By Naila Inayat

For some, it is painful to think of all the art and the skill that has died with the ban on Basant — the vibrant colours, the festivity, the string and the kite-making, the flying techniques and, most significantly, the youth who lost their livelihood. For some, kite-making was a family enterprise.

30-year-old Nasim Bano is one of the many who fell prey to the circumstances after the ban on kites. “String and kite-making was our business, we weren’t dependent on anyone for our living. But the ban on Basant took everything away from us. As a youngster, this was a skill and business that I inherited from my ancestors — thinking that our future generations would also benefit from it.”

“There was a time when we as a family were deprived of even having a single proper meal in a day,” she says with teary eyes.

Bano, a resident of Kot Lakhpat, Lahore, has studied till 5th standard. She is married and has the responsibility of six children on her. “I wish I had completed my matriculation that would have given me an opportunity to take up an alternative. But now I’m trying to make ends meet so that I can at least feed my children,” she says.

According to the Kite Flying Association of Pakistan, around 3,30,000 people have lost their jobs due to the ban. However, in 2006, kite flying was banned in Punjab due to the rampant use of glass-coated or metal kite-strings, also called the killer kite thread, which took the lives of several motorcyclists.

Since then, the debate whether the ban is justified or not, or the government should have tried to regulate the making of strings continues with less focus on the individuals who lost their bread and butter.

Kite-making has always been a business restricted to the informal sector. It was the work that kept both women and men earning. It was shared by entire families, who could earn up to Rs 2,000 a day. Today they are broke with no work to do. In rare cases have those affected been able to shift their line of work, but even then they are reported to not be as prosperous as they used to be.

“Kite-making was totally a home-based work done by families that brought them decent income. Due to unemployment and increasing poverty, young girls were forced into prostitution while the young men took up odd jobs,” says Maria Kokab, Programme Officer at HomeNet, a national NGO.

Having closely monitored the ordeals of the kite-makers, HomeNet decided to raise voice for the women kite-makers, who had no alternative skill and many of them were supporting their families.

“Where unemployment and inflation keep increasing on weekly basis and population ratio is also on the rise, it becomes imperative to encourage the cottage industry and informal sector employment. The “Empowering Home-based Workers” project for kite-makers initially engaged 500 women workers in order to give them alternative employment — something that the government failed to do,” Maria says.

It was not an easy ride for the resource group as it faced difficulties in reaching out to the young kite-makers who were neglected and isolated. Though they were in large numbers, they were not ready to share their problems due to the ban and police raids on their homes.

When the focus groups tried to understand their problems, they were threatened by police who assumed that they are going to restart their kite-making business. “In some cases, men stopped their women from meeting our team. But slowly, we built their confidence, had long meetings with the male members of their families and convinced them to join training,” Maria says.

The ‘National Policy On Home-Based Workers’ reveals that most of the home-based workers, who represent 60 per cent of women workforce in the country, are piece rate workers involved in manufacturing and post-manufacturing tasks such as embroidery, carpet weaving and handlooms, wood work, bangle making, dates cleaning, packing prawn peeling and many other similar tasks.

The project began from two cities of Punjab, Lahore and Jhang. Considered a hub for kite-making, Walled City, Kahna, Kot Lakhpat, Shahdara, Imamia Colony and Guddi Market in Lahore were focused. Kasur, Gujranwala and Faisalabad were other important districts of Punjab where a large number of women kite-makers were targeted.

Nasim Bano is one of the home-based beneficiaries of HomeNet. Her eyes shine when she begins to talk about the project, “For me this opportunity came as a big relief. We have been imparted skills like needlework, knitting, dastkari, stitching, dyeing etc. I recall the time when I wasn’t employed; I didn’t even have the money to get my shoe stitched. But today, I can sew shoes — that is something that I learnt at one of the training workshops,” she says.

Bano doesn’t want to look back as she plans to start her own stitching school. “My area (Kot Lakhpat) has a lot of young female workforce but there are no means to engage them. With the help of HomeNet, I want to set up my own stitching school where I could pass on the skills to the youngsters in my community,” she says.

The writer is a staff member. Twitter: @nailainayat

caption

New opportunities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A healthy 
lesson
Schools in Gadap Town are getting clean drinking water and functional washrooms, thanks to HANDS
By Shahid Husain

About 25 kilometres from the Karachi city in Al-Haj Dur Mohammad Baloch Goth, in Malir district, Gadap Town, is situated a beautiful school named Government Boys Elementary School. Its magnificent Neem trees and chirping birds remind one of Tagore’s Shanti Nakatan. There are 220 students and a team of 11 dedicated teachers — three of them female.

Mohammad Aslam, 40, the headmaster of Government Boys Elementary School told TNS that about 100 years ago a person named Dur Mohammad Baloch migrated from Turbat in Mekran Division in Balochistan and settled down in this village. In the beginning, he involved himself in agricultural pursuits, but one fine morning an idea clicked his mind that he should establish a school for village children.

“Initially, the school was established in 1933 in Mirpur Sakro because Dur Mohammad Baloch could not get land in Dur Mohammad village,” headmaster Aslam said. Thereafter, the school was shifted to Damloti, the place from where the people of Karachi used to get drinking water.

“The school was then shifted to Sheedi Khan Goth and in 1948 it was relocated to its present premises in Darsano Channo in Union Council-2, Gadap Town, Malir,” Aslam said.

Malir in Sindhi language means “fertile” and it happened to be the food bowl of Karachi until it was devastated by “Reti Bajri mafia” that devoured its sand and gravel and destroyed Malir River. The buildings in Karachi city have been constructed with the sand and gravel of Malir River but at a heavy cost. The river that received water from the hilly tracts of Gadap has been totally ruined. So have the fertile Malir valley and its farm houses.

A few farms exist but the vast majority of agricultural land has been acquired by builders. The “Reti Bajri mafia” operates in connivance with police, land mafia, bureaucrats and feudal lords.

HANDS, the brainchild of eminent pediatrician Prof. A.G. Billoo has done a remarkable job. It has provided filter plants to hundreds of schools in Gadap town and taught hand washing with soap to students as well as teachers, ‘chowkidars’ and other staff of schools. “HANDS have taught our children and staff hand washing according to WHO standards,” Aslam said.

“Many important personalities hail from our village and some of them have studied at this school,” Aslam said with a sense of pride. “Abdul Hakeem Baloch, MNA-elect from PML-N, Ghulam Hussain Baloch, Director Finance, government of Sindh, Mohammad Saddiq Baloch, DEO, Elementary Schools, Karachi and Ghulam Mustafa Baloch of non-governmental organisation SPO studied at this school,” Aslam said.

“I am headmaster at this school since 2011. Our students get filtered water thanks to HANDS. It has also constructed five washrooms. Nine classes are functional,” Aslam said.

“But we have persistent problems too,” Aslam said. “One is loadshedding. On an average, we face loadshedding for over 7 hours daily. Sometimes, we don’t have electricity for three days,” he lamented. “We don’t have funds to hire ‘chowkidars’. Hence there is always a threat of theft,” he said.

The school is neat and clean. “However, every month there is a cleanliness drive and all the students and teachers participate in it,” said Bilquis Rehman, General Manager, Communication & Information, HANDS.

Amir Ali, 14, a student of class VIII, said shyly he wants to become a doctor. His father Umeed Ali is a police constable. He has 5 brothers and one sister. His mother is a housewife.

Abdul Khalil, 25, is a voluntary teacher. He is Matriculate and has also acquired a degree in “Shahadat-e-Alamia,” a religious degree equivalent to Masters. “I volunteered so that kids of my village may become educated,” he said.

It was now noon but Neem trees had kept the school cool. The school bell rang and young kids came out from their classes in a queue and dispersed.

Yet another school visited by TNS was Hashim Khaskheli Government Girls Primary School. It has 150 students from Class I to V. It was established in 1995. HANDS have entered into partnership with the government school and conducted renovation, planted trees and installed swings for children.

Safia Tareen, who works for HANDS, lives there and teaches hand washing with soap to the students. There are 7 teachers in the school whose educational qualification is from Matriculation to BA.

TNS also visited GGBPS Primary School Hashim Jokhio in Gadap Town. Prominent documentary film-maker, author, environmentalist and leading debater of yesteryear Javed Jabbar who graduated from the University of Karachi in the 1960s shot his famous film “Ramchand Pakistani” in 2007 at this school. There are 10 girls in the school. The rest of the students are boys. There are five teachers; one of them is female.

Headmaster Mohammad Azam, Matriculate from a school in Memon Goth, told TNS that HANDS constructed washrooms in the school.

“There are three washrooms; all functional,” said Saeed Ahmed, an engineer from HANDS who lives there. The washrooms had WCs and clean towels too. They had overhead tanks and were connected to a big underground water tank through pipes. One could also find green Peepul trees and beds of ornamental flowers.

TNS also visited low-income locality called Surjani Town where HANDS has constructed a filter plant. Kids as young as 4 were collecting drinking water in bottles from the filter plant.

The demand for water in Gadap Town is 45-50MGD but it’s getting 18MGD, an engineer from Karachi Water & Sewerage Board, who requested anonymity, told TNS. “Summer brings crisis here,” he said. “We are focusing on distribution of water.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

peace
Challenges ahead
Pakistan is in dire need to break away from a 
monolithic ideological formulation which has become anathema to its very existence. Thus, this is the most appropriate time to undertake such an initiative
By Tahir Kamran

The seminal trait of a state is the monopoly that it exercises over violence of any kind. Thereby, the state is enabled to act as a bulwark against any subversion or anarchy directed either from within or without. If divested of that singularly important attribute, the political formation called ‘state’ starts to implode.

Beset with the process of implosion, the Pakistani state is struggling hard to defy the challenge posed to its very existence. Plagued with militancy and terrorism, ruling Pakistan will not be plain sailing. The fragmented state in which Pakistan finds itself provides a conducive environment for non-state actors to prosper to such an extent that they could mount a challenge to the state’s existence.

The foremost challenge facing the in-coming government, therefore, is to restore the position of the beleaguered Pakistani state so that it is able to regain the monopoly over violence. This is possible only if these non-state actors are rendered toothless and subsequently obliterated, but not, of course, at the cost of civil liberties.

Ensuring the civil liberties of all its citizens, irrespective of the religious or sectarian persuasion they adhere to, is imperative for the peace and prosperity of the country. However, the only plausible recourse to perform that herculean task is to disarm the countless factions and bands imbued with militant zeal, contesting the supremacy of the state with impunity. Forging a broad consensus among the political stake-holders will be the first and the most important step. The writer of this narrative believes that Nawaz Sharif, with decades-long experience of practical politics under his belt, has the requisite capacity to bring the divergent political voices together.

This expectation is worth nursing, despite the likely incumbent’s previous propensity to accumulate over-riding authority in his own person. The rough ride that he had to endure during his days of incarceration and subsequently in exile seems to have done him considerable good, as demonstrated by the political acumen he has exhibited in his post-exile period. Having said that, the political will and persuasive skill that is needed for performing the task before him will be an ordeal of gargantuan proportions. This requires the dexterity and skill of a super-statesman. Whether Mr Sharif will measure up to that extraordinary level, the coming months will reveal.

Given the difficulty of the task in hand, one must not be under any illusion in this particular regard. Pakistan is currently one of the most difficult countries to govern. Endeavours made to begin the process of disarming the many armed factions may not yield immediate results, however, the first small step in the direction of non-violence will, in itself, be an immensely creditable feat. One must qualify here that I am not proposing non-violence in the Gandhian sense. Non-violence has its moorings in our own ethos too. A centuries-old ethos which was embedded in South Asian Muslim traditions, which has allowed socio-cultural pluralities not only to exist and sustain, but to thrive.

In the current situation, a stride, however small it may be, to cultivate such plurality is likely to generate a discourse at the national level which eventually will permeate down to the grass-roots level. Eventually, it will sprout and start blooming and will serve as a viable alternative to the order punctuated by militancy and violence. Besides, it will strengthen the all inclusive nature of Pakistani nationalism as prescribed by the founding father which has been jeopardized by belligerent religiosity, expressing itself through violence. Pakistan is in dire need to break away from a monolithic ideological formulation which has become anathema to its very existence. Thus, this is the most appropriate time to undertake such an initiative.

Of equal importance is the reconfiguration of the nationalist ideology, with its character embedded in cultural plurality. Any variant of nationalism rooted in monolithic ideology sustains itself through coercion and force. In a country with a multiplicity of cultures and social values, the state must remain neutral. In the current situation, any religious narrative is bound to have a very strong sectarian ring to it.

In the case of Pakistan, it will virtually be impossible to segregate Islamisation from Sunnification. Hence the minorities and the Shias will suffer social and political exclusion, if not complete extinction. Outfits like Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, Jaish-i-Muhammad and Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, to name only a very few, must be done away with. The fact that needs to be stressed here is that any nationalism predicated on religious ideology engenders social and sectarian fissures, which will eventually jeopardize its very existence. Ironically, therefore, religion, instead of providing the culturally or religiously disparate factions with a glue, becomes a fissiparous force.

One may draw consolation from the fact that Mr. Nawaz Sharif and his close coterie of companions are trying hard to distance themselves from the Ziaul Haq’s legacy, which is a very felicitous development. In the light of the party programme of the PML-N, it can very safely be inferred that the resolution of the substantive issues will be its priority. More so it will not squander this opportunity of placating reactionary forces, as it has in the past.

It is quite pertinent to mention here the intimacy that the Prime Minister-elect enjoys with Saudi dynasty is seen by many with the pinch of salt. If USA flouts Pakistani sovereignty through drone attacks, Saudi Arabia allegedly does the same by funneling the funds to the organisations and outfits that foment one particular creed through militant means.

Since 1980s, Pakistan is being used as a battleground for the ideological clash between Saudi Arabia and Iran which has resulted into a complete laceration of its social fabric. Hence, Pakistan will have to eschew from all sorts of hegemony, material or ideological in order to restore its prestige and honour among the comity of nations. In order to do that, the resource generation primarily from within the country is extremely important and so is looking into its own history for moral and ideological guidance.

Continued reliance on the foreign assistance will not help us to ameliorate ourselves from the lowly status of what Fraz Fanon termed as the Wretched of the Earth.

 

 

 

 

Nagging distractions
With a comfortable majority, Nawaz Sharif still faces a daunting task to keep the military and civilian bureaucracy at bay
By Helal Pasha

The relations between the Army and Nawaz Sharif’s earlier administration were at its lowest around September 1999. Then COAS Gen. Pervez Musharraf flatly denied “any differences with the government”, following the US warning against any “unconstitutional move” to remove the elected government in Pakistan. Then Chief Minister of Punjab, Shahbaz Sharif, and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, based on intelligence reports, accused the Taliban government in Afghanistan of facilitating the trained and armed sectarian groups in Pakistan. The Pakistan Foreign Office, speaking for the Taliban, flatly denied the assertions. Interestingly, then Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz had no prior knowledge of the Foreign Office spokesperson’s denial (Dawn September 23 to October 9, various dates).

While the COAS was denying any possibility of Kargil investigation, the prime minister called his Indian counterpart to improve relations. In Washington DC, when asked how long in her view the Nawaz Sharif government would continue, “Before December they will go” was Benazir Bhutto’s response. She welcomed the coup on October 12, 1999 within hours of its success.

The 2013 election results have brought Nawaz Sharif back to the PM’s House. Many analysts have been counseling and cautioning Nawaz Sharif to avoid déjà vu all over again. A cursory reading of the conditions in 1999 makes many to believe that the differences in 1999 were over the foreign or the defense policy.

This hypothesis gained coinage as the Kargil incidence happened right when Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was making an all-out effort to improve relations with India. While the Indian prime minister was enthusiastically welcomed in Lahore, the COAS refrained from showing up. The Kargil incidence, soon after the Indian prime minister’s visit, destroyed any goodwill generated during and after his visit. Nawaz Sharif was visibly annoyed when he had to rush to Washington DC to salvage a rapidly worsening military and foreign policy disaster on the mountains in Kashmir.

The Kargil incidence, just like the prior armed or political conflicts with India, reflected the internal political dilemmas in Pakistan. The stark reality is that whenever Pakistan is in deep internal economic or political crisis, either the relations with India take a turn for the worst, or Pakistan finds itself in a war or war-like state.

In 1965, after the coerced election victory, President Ayub found himself in a perilous political crisis and the whiff of coup grew against him. The escalation of the conflict in Kashmir was a part of the strategy to regain the lost political ground. However, that did not save him for long. Similarly, the war in 1971 was essential to cover up a momentous political disaster in East Pakistan.

The army coups in Pakistan tend to develop around some contrived calamity. Gen. Ayub took over in 1958 after Khan Qayoom started a march to destroy the scheduled elections. The 1977 coup of Gen. Zia followed a deliberately designed political crisis after the elections. The Kargil incidence was part of the series of false dilemmas that crop up in Pakistan at various points to create the environs for a change at the central government.

The annoyance of the prime minister over Kargil was enough to develop a consensus for the coup within the GHQ. That conflict, not in any way, shape, or form, confers the problems were over the foreign or defense policies. The sharp differences were already there as was evident from the forced resignation of Gen. Karamat a year before the Kargil incident.

The Kargil incidence was the public face of developing consensus for the coup within the officers and had nothing to do with differences over foreign or defense policies. Historically, all Pakistani political parties and the GHQ agree over the vital foreign and defense policy goals. Often even the priorities are identical too.

Kargil strengthened the view that relations with India are a separating line. However, looking at the history, all the army ruled governments worked to improve relations with India. It is an erroneous assumption that the usually sour relations between the civilian governments and the GHQ are over these two policies. The abstract fear of India did influence the army before the 80s. Presently, the manipulation of the public opinion has ensured that the Army will maintain its pivotal position in the Pakistani politics, even after extensive relations with India are established.

Disconnect between the civilian governments and the Army brass is primarily on the style of governance. The army, over the last several decades, has developed a sense of entitlements and the Generals find it difficult to stay away from the daily operations of civilian administration by the civilian representative. The elected governments often reach the PM’s House after several years of bitter political struggle. They have to appease their followers, assembly members, and make deals with the other power brokers. While the leaders attempt to maintain their political base, the nagging criticism of the state functioning over trivial issues from both the military and the civilian bureaucracy linger.

The hammering and the constant nagging of the outgoing People’s Party government over the internal issues from the military bureaucracy turned it into an ineffective government. President Zardari and his prime ministers had given up all pretenses of control of the foreign and defense policy very early on in their administration. The attempt to recover some ground through the Kerry-Lugar Bill designed with the help of former ambassador to the US, Hussein Haqqani, also backfired on the PPP government.

The new administration of Nawaz Sharif will again face the similar issues. Mr Sharif, though with a comfortable majority, still faces a daunting task to keep the military and civilian bureaucracy at bay. The irritable army-civilian relations will continue. The international support that he already enjoys is wider than the PPP administration ever had a chance to develop. That gives him an edge and many eyes would be on Sharif’s admin on how it copes with the meddling and the micro management of Islamabad from the offices in Rawalpindi.

 

 

 

 

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