Taliban witch-hunt?
Saturday, 01 Aug, 2009


THE sentiments of the four boys who were kidnapped by the militants to be trained as suicide bombers speak volumes for how an emotional public response to the Taliban could turn dangerous. The four were taken blindfolded to different training camps in Matta where hundreds of other boys were also present. Having escaped and lived to tell their tale, the boys say that they are now treated as outcasts, condemned as terrorists and would-be suicide bombers. They complain of being harassed by the security forces and media, instead of being allowed to get on with their lives in peace.

Now that the militants’ organisational capability has weakened considerably, it is imperative that a process of reconciliation, rather than revenge, be instituted. The anger against Taliban-led militants is understandable, particularly on the part of the thousands who were forced to flee their hometowns and who are now returning to battle-scarred devastation. But the way forward lies in building a future, not avenging the past. Many of the ‘terrorists’ who sporadically continue to be apprehended could well have been victims of the Taliban like other citizens hailing from the affected areas. It is well known that in many cases the insurgents used brutality to coerce recruits to back their agenda. At the same time, the security forces have yet to apprehend or eliminate the top militant leadership. Given that locals are being encouraged to raise private lashkars to take out the remaining militants, there is great danger of individuals being wrongly identified and treated as terrorists by an enraged citizenry. A fair chance must be given to even a reformed militant sympathiser. Otherwise, the effort to uproot the militants would be in danger of turning into a witch-hunt. The ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ mindset must be discouraged.


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Lawyers turn violent
Saturday, 01 Aug, 2009


IN Punjab, the rule of law seems to begin and end outside the lawyers’ workplaces. Just recently, lawyers in Lahore ran amok. They attacked the office of a senior district administration official, forcing the government to transfer her; they locked a family court judge inside the courtroom; they publicly thrashed a police official inside a sessions court and, to top it all, they beat up a cameraman who covered their brutal treatment of the cop. Their ruthless attack on revenue officials in Faisalabad, scuffles with Wapda officials in Kasur and Gujranwala and their internal fracas over the presidency of the Lahore High Court Bar Association are also of recent origin. According to the Punjab police chief, district courts work in awe of the lawyers and cannot give independent verdicts.

This raises some fundamental questions: do the lawyers see themselves standing atop a societal heap after the success of their movement for the restoration of the judges? Do they think that courts owe their independence to them and, therefore, should work in their thrall? Do they believe that they can take on anyone, any department, any authority, any gov- ernment without fear of punishment?

So far the answers to these questions appear to be in the affirmative. The belief that the lawyers movement was nothing but a revolution has led the black-coats to trample on anyone and everything considered anathema. The media and civil society chose to look the other way when they humiliated, insulted and tortured opponents of their movement. But violence begets violence and justifying its use for a noble cause only allows it to be perpetrated for less noble, even ignoble, objectives. The blood-streaked face of the cameraman the lawyers beat up in Lahore confirms this. The leaders of the bar, bar associations and bar councils and, most importantly, the judges of the superior courts should come out openly and unambiguously against those lawyers who take the law into their hands and use aggression and violence to get their way. Shunning responsibility by blaming the violence on ‘elements’ bent upon giving lawyers a bad name is certainly not the way to go about it.


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Resolve at Dushanbe
Saturday, 01 Aug, 2009



THE resolve expressed by Pakistan and three other states, including Russia, to fight drug trafficking comes at a time when Afghanistan continues as the world’s number one drug producer. Meeting in the Tajik capital on Thursday, Presidents Asif Ali Zardari, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia and Emomali Rakhmon of Tajikistan didn’t confine their talks to the drug trade alone and touched upon some other equally vital issues like the war on terror, the economy, energy and regional cooperation. All these issues are inter-related. We know, for instance, that money from drug trade is one of the major sources of funding for the Taliban, but it flourishes, because the Karzai regime has failed to come down hard on known drug barons, some of whom are reported to be in the government.

The internal makeup of the four countries whose representatives met in Dushanbe deserves to be noted here, for in some cases many problems are common to them. Afghanistan and Pakistan are fighting a desperate battle against the Taliban. While there are foreign forces on Afghan soil, Pakistan — rightly — is fighting its own battle against the terrorists, though it has to put up with periodic American drone attacks. Afghanistan’s infrastructure is in a shambles, and there are no signs yet that Kabul is anywhere near the task of crushing the Taliban and beginning economic reconstruction. Presidential elections are due later this month, but one doubts if the polls will be fair and whether they will lead to political stability.

Pakistan has had its own domestic problems. The nine-year long military rule, a countrywide lawyers’ movement, militancy in Swat and the situation in Balochistan have destabilised the country, shattered its economy and created social tensions. One major effect of the lack of emphasis on economic development has been the neglect of Pakistan’s energy needs, for power outages have led to widespread riots. As for Tajikistan, it has still not fully recovered from the debilitating civil war in 1992-97, and depends upon foreign aid, especially from Russia and Uzbekistan, for meeting the basic needs of its people, 57 per cent of whom live in poverty.

Russia, meanwhile, seems to be coming out of the shock of the dismemberment of the Soviet Union and trying to find a role in world affairs, especially in what it calls its “near abroad”. President Medvedev’s speech at the four-power summit made it clear he was interested in regional cooperation in security and economy, especially energy. It remains to be seen whether the four states are able to come together in the face of terrorism that stalks the region.


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OTHER VOICES - Sri Lankan Press Destruction of the Jaffna Library
Saturday, 01 Aug, 2009



OUR collective memory as a nation is said to be notoriously short…. Our resilience may have resulted from our ability to forget tragic incidents as fast as they occurred…. However defective our … memory may be … atrocities we suffered are indelibly etched in our collective hard disc…. Therefore, it would be a mistake if someone thinks he could … take us for a ride. Deputy leader of the UNP Karu Jayasuriya has said in Vavuniya … that the UNP had no hand in the burning down of the Jaffna Library in 1981! In the same breath, he has claimed that the UNP’s rivals wrongly blamed the J.R. Jayewardene administration for that dastardly arson attack for political reasons….

If he could achieve the feat of convincing the discerning public, by any chance, that the Jaffna Library was not torched by UNP goons and some rogue elements in the police at the behest of the government leaders at that time, he would be able to dupe the world into believing that Nazis did not carry out the Holocaust or that the LTTE did not assassinate Rajiv! Karu is one of the few politicians who still command some respect and he unfortunately risks [losing it]…. The destruction of the Jaffna Library was a crime that … helped terrorist groups operating at that time justify The Island

terrorism….

As for the arson attack on the Jaffna Library, the present-day UNP leaders may undertake to … donate at least 100,000 valuable books. Still, they won’t be able to atone for their sin fully but owning up to it as well as essaying atonement is far better than being exposed for boru katha or lying and losing face. — (July 31)