The growing divide
September 27, 2012
Perhaps the most important theme of the speeches delivered at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday was the growing divisions between the West and the Muslim world. Whatever their national perspective, Presidents Ahmadinejad, Zardari and Obama all focused on the increasingly complicated relations between the two sides. The trouble stirred up in Muslim countries by a profane video on the Internet has highlighted the sensitive nature of these ties. The Pakistani president, as expected, raised the issue at the UN forum, calling for criminalising such provocative acts by mischievous individuals. The proof that the outrage of the Muslims had been registered by the US, where the anti-Islam video originated, was provided in a statement by President Barack Obama a few hours before Mr Zardari’s UN address. Mr Obama urged the people to reject hate material, but quite rightly added that the death and destruction that such rejection led to could not be justified.
The gap has widened over time when it comes to America’s love-hate affair with a number of Muslim countries. The Muslim world’s connection with the West is jeopardised by a host of serious problems, including doubts rooted in a past that has spawned suspicions about American motives now. The countries in question have failed to evolve the necessary common language, based on the cultural and religious sensitivities of people on both sides, to address each other. Ever since 9/11 and more particularly the invasion of Iraq in 2003, these sensitivities have become more acute and have reached a point where the nightmare of a clash of civilisations may well turn out to be true if restraint and understanding are not shown at this stage. In looking after its own interests, the US has often adopted an actively aggressive path, with no consideration for the sentiments of the larger public in countries where it has either intervened militarily or interfered in domestic politics.
At the same time, the leadership in many of the Muslim countries, has failed to educate the population about the dangers of accepting the extremist narrative. In the current crisis they have been unable to convince their people that by reacting to provocative acts of individuals they are only deepening the divide. Though perceived as a powerless body, the United Nations still remains the right forum for raising issues of cultural and religious differences and for giving room to voices from all over. Without such a debate and interaction between countries, the chasm between the West and the Muslim world will only grow.
A familiar strain
September 27, 2012
“Please, stop this refrain to do more,” President Asif Ali Zardari said in his speech to the UN General Assembly in a thinly veiled reference to the US and the pressure it has put on Pakistan to squeeze the sanctuaries that the Afghan Taliban, particularly the Haqqani network, have on Pakistani soil. Whether the call to end the ‘do more’ mantra will fall on deaf ears will have much to do with the extent to which the US and Pakistan can narrow their mutual trust deficit that is very real and very acute. To be sure, Pakistan has some very legitimate complaints when it comes to US demands concerning Afghanistan. The US military in particular has been very stubborn and quick to blame Pakistan for its failures — or lack of success — in Afghanistan. To clamp down on the Haqqanis to satisfy the American timeline of 2014 without regard to the existing conditions or the potential for an unmanageable blowback in Pakistan is to pit a political imperative — a dignified exit from Afghanistan — against what should be a crucial strategic objective — helping Pakistan remain stable and the containment of militancy.
There is, though, an unfortunate consequence of the push and push-back vis-à-vis the ‘do more’ platitude: the debate over what should be done against militancy in Pakistan and when it should be done has in part become linked to the Pakistan-US relationship and the post-war future of Afghanistan. As opposed to focusing on whether or not what Pakistan has done to fight militancy is acceptable and a winning strategy, whether the country is less or more secure as a result of the state’s security policy, the question of our very real and critical fight against extremism has been entangled in the messy relationship with the US. So ordinary Pakistanis are still confused about whether the fight against militancy is for Pakistan’s own survival or for the protection of ties with an unpopular US. The unhappy truth is, Pakistan is not winning the fight against militancy. And the state needs to do more, much, much more. But for Pakistan’s sake, not anybody else’s.
Equality for all
September 27, 2012
Women and minority groups here often suffer seeing their rights being trampled upon, but there has been little question, theoretically at least, about whether or not they are entitled to equal rights and status. The only group that until now appeared to have been left out of the net of legal and constitutional protection was the transgender community. Relatively small in number, poor and generally uneducated, members of this grouping have historically lingered on society’s fringes. They have been discriminated against in terms of education, employment, inheritance and so on. It is encouraging, then, that on Tuesday the Supreme Court ruled that transgender people were entitled to all the rights guaranteed under the constitution. The petition had been filed by a private citizen who had conducted research on the lives of members of this community and found much pain: hermaphrodite children are usually given away by their parents and, because of discrimination on the part of educationists and employers, as adults are forced to earn through dancing, begging and prostitution. They are often not even allowed to use public transport.
The court has directed the police and provincial governments to ensure that transgender people have nothing to complain about in terms of rights. However, the state must go further. Ensuring that this community is respected and considered equal will require a change in the societal mindset — and who is better placed to lead the way than the federal and provincial administrations? Along with awareness-raising efforts, the government should consider a positive-discrimination employment policy for transgender people. This would not just send out a strong message about equality to the public at large, it would also have a great and relatively immediate impact on individuals who are given jobs. This has been tried before, notably by the tax services; it should be expanded to other departments.