Ulema against Taliban
Tuesday, 19 May, 2009
FOR the ulema to say that suicide bombings are un-Islamic is nothing new. Last October, a Muttahida Ulema Council meeting in Lahore denounced suicide bombing in unequivocal terms and called it haram. However, the tone and tenor of the conference of ulema and mashaikh in Islamabad on Sunday went beyond the merely technical denunciation of suicide bombings and beheadings and appeared to represent the anti-Taliban wave now sweeping across the nation. Attended by ulema belonging mostly to the Sunni fiqh, the conference condemned the “assassination of ulema”, denounced the destruction of “sacred places” and demanded that shrines should be cleared of extremists. The resolution passed by the conference denounced US drone attacks but at the same time upheld the army action against the militants, whom it termed the country’s enemy. According to the resolution, the army action was for “Pakistan’s integrity and sovereignty”.
The conference’s most outspoken critic of the militants was, perhaps, Mufti Muneebur Rahman who pointed out that the Taliban were slaughtering even children and said those who wanted the Sharia must uphold Islamic values themselves. The outcome of the conference is positive, for the Taliban should note that they cannot fool the people any more in the name of the Sharia and that their barbarism and bloodletting in the name of religion have forced large sections of society to unite against them. Mufti Muneeb blamed “the agencies” for patronising the militants for three decades, and demanded that this time the war on the militants should be taken to its logical conclusion. We hope the government will build on the consensus that now seems to be developing in the country and act with resolve to crush the insurgency. The Taliban are responsible for the deaths of thousands of Pakistani civilians and soldiers; they have used civilians as a shield, and they have brought misery to more than a million people by making them flee their homes. The Taliban’s violation of the Nizam-e-Adl accord makes it clear that they cannot be trusted and that the government should step up the military offensive to give peace and security to the people of Malakand.
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Tamil Tigers’ surrender
Tuesday, 19 May, 2009
IT would be premature to assert that the final chapter has been written in a conflict that has claimed over 70,000 lives in nearly three decades of resistance and all-out war. Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tigers surrendered on Sunday and their leader Velupillai Prabhakaran has apparently been killed along with other commanders. Yet, the Sri Lankans who are celebrating these days must be aware that a rout of the LTTE fighters does not necessarily signal the end of Tamil resistance. There is every possibility that remnants of the Tigers or their sympathisers, now deprived of an army, will shift their focus to more terrorist attacks and perhaps even sporadic guerrilla combat. The grudge, to put it mildly, runs deep and only the brazenly partisan can deny the institutional discrimination that Sri Lanka’s Tamils have faced for decades. Their rights have been denied and it must be recognised that the LTTE, for all its atrocities, was a reaction to the politics of ethnicity — if not outright racism — practised by many Sinhalese and their leaders. Sri Lanka will have to come to terms with itself to achieve genuine and lasting peace. Crimes have been committed by both sides and this must be acknowledged. Portraying one side as the vanquished villain and the other the moral champion would be paltering with the truth. Such good-and-evil distinctions can only breed more resentment, for the grievances felt by the Tamils are real.
A military victory against the LTTE will remain incomplete without a political solution to the ethnic divide in Sri Lanka. But first things first. Once the mop-up operation is over, providing immediate relief to thousands of displaced Tamils must top Colombo’s agenda. After that the government ought to focus on rehabilitating those whose lives have been torn apart in the all-out assault unleashed in recent weeks. Then comes the political solution, which could do with a measure of truth and reconciliation. Awarding some form of autonomy to Tamil-dominated areas may be one option. Strong affirmative action aimed at the economic and social uplift of disadvantaged Tamils is another course Colombo could pursue. The biggest mistake from this point on would be to equate Tamil civilians with the defeated armed foe or to somehow suggest that the Sinhalese are the victors and entitled to the spoils of victory. If someone has indeed won, the victory should be that of the people of Sri Lanka, not just one community.
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Indian elections
Tuesday, 19 May, 2009
THE Indian election results have taken political pundits by surprise. Predictions of a fragmented Lok Sabha with a fragile coalition forming the government have been proved wrong. The Indian electorate opted firmly for the middle road — the Congress. The broad picture that has emerged is that of a Congress-led alliance in full control which spells political stability for the country for the next five years. The 201 seats won by the Congress is the largest number to be taken by any party and it will not be required to dilute its approach on key issues to please disparate coalition partners whose cooperation it previously needed for its political survival.
More than anything else, the promise of economic recovery and growth has won the Congress many votes especially from the downtrodden masses living below the poverty line. Under Manmohan Singh the Indian economy grew at an impressive nine per cent. The country has managed to face the global recession by riding on the crest of the boom wave of earlier years. The future may be tough though for Manmohan Singh’s reformist agenda. Freed from the stranglehold of its leftist allies, the prime minister is expected to move without hindrance on the road to restructuring. But without the revenue windfalls it earlier gathered, the Congress may this time encounter problems from its own constituents. Already India’s fiscal debt has ballooned to 10 per cent of GDP and the government lacks the funds to increase social spending on the poor and adopt populist welfare programmes as it had done before.
The Indian elections have been significant because the results show a reversal of conventional trends. Previously the votes followed an anti-incumbency, pro-casteism and regionalist pattern. Mr Manmohan Singh’s election as the first incumbent prime minister to be returned to office after completing a five-year term since 1961 is a feat. Two factors helped the Congress. The extremist and rigid approach of the right and left drove away the voters. This is evident from the losses suffered by the BJP and the communists. The second factor was the election strategy spearheaded by Rahul Gandhi, the rising star of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty. Already billed as India’s future prime minister, Rahul took key decisions and is regarded as the architect of the Congress victory in Uttar Pradesh. His success confirms the mass appeal of the Nehru dynasty which in its heyday helped bridge the fissures that castes, ethnicities and regional diversities had created in a country as massive as India. Whether Rahul Gandhi will bow to public pressure to take the reins of leadership remains to be seen. Groomed by his politically astute mother, Sonia Gandhi, who has guided the Congress without opting for the limelight and who can be credited for its gains, Rahul Gandhi may not be in a hurry.
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OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press Refugees head towards Karachi
Tuesday, 19 May, 2009
AS the operation in Swat and Malakand continues thousands of people are fleeing from the troubled areas. The government is trying to shift these internally displaced people (IDPs) to safer places. While the exodus continues, some 1.3 million people have so far migrated from these areas. Reports suggest that around 15 per cent IDPs go to camps set up for their accommodation and others are in fact moving to different cities like Karachi. If this is not stopped in a timely and effective manner, it will become a burden on the city and create an imbalance in its demography.
Karachi has been experiencing a high influx of people from other provinces, the majority of which consists of people affected by natural disasters and conflicts. Once people settle here they are not ready to return to their homes. Sindh is still bearing the unjustified burden of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees and the 2005 earthquake victims. Now it is the refugees from Swat and Malakand. Buses are carrying hundreds of people to Karachi and other cities and towns of Sindh on a daily basis.
Kawish
Undoubtedly there is a humanitarian crisis in areas in the north and the government should provide accommodation to the refugees. To cope with the situation the government should set up more camps with adequate facilities. Equally important is registering and maintaining the record of the refugees so that they can be looked after properly and whenever the situation improves they can be repatriated. It is due to the lack of facilities that refugees are moving to other cities and towns even where they have no relatives….
Since the start of the operation refugees have been attracted to Sindh. It is strange that there is no monitoring and registration on their way to Karachi. Hence it is easy for them to reach the city. However, Sindh does not have enough resources to accommodate them and thus they are becoming a burden. The job opportunities are already scarce and this influx may lead to a rise in unemployment. Some suspected militants in the guise of IDPs may have arrived in Sindh which would be a threat to the law and order in the province and could worsen the security situation.
Can the Sindh government stop this influx? If it is not going to do so, then it is failing to fulfil its responsibilities. The government should ensure registration and checking of IDPs and monitor their movement. They should be confined to the camps and proper records should be maintained…. — (May 16)
— Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi