World`s indifference
AZA is no more the open-air prison it has often been described as; it is virtually a charnel house, thanks to a world that is utterly indifferent to the massacre of Palestinian civilians by the Israeli government. With naval bombardment added to the cornucopia of weapons pouring fire into the Mediterranean strip, observers fear a dramatic rise in civilian fatalities, besides the damage to homes, hospitals and places of worship. Should the hardline Likud government also choose to launch a ground assault, the all-round destruction could overshadow that seen in the Israeli attacks on Gaza in 2008 and 2012. What encourages Israel in its depredations is its firm belief that it can get away with any crime. Notice the routine pleas for restraint by the UN, America, the European Union and the world at large, forgetting that `evenhandedness` here puts the criminal and the victim of criminality at the same level. As for the lame duck Organisation of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League, even the mere thought that the two bodies could act in concert and meaningfully appears laughable, given the fratricide within the Muslim world, especially in Israel`s neighbourhood.
The truth is that Israel finds in the unipolar world an ideal geopolitical environment in which to operate with impunity. Even though it always enjoyed the Western world`s especially America`s unqualified support for all its plans since its founding in 1948, the existence till the late 1980s of a countervailing power like the Soviet Union and the communist world at large circumscribed Israel`s limitless greed for Lebensraum backed by an ideology fixated on war. The collapse of the Soviet system of states removed whatever little stood between Israel and its desire for more land, with its political leadership frustrating every attempt at a deal visualising the Jewish state`s peaceful existence with an independent Palestinian state. Supported by a powerful lobby inside the US, successive Israeli governments have snubbed American presidents and have consistently nibbled at Palestinian land by building new settlements and expanding the existing ones on the West Bank. It made President Barack Obama stand on his head within 24 hours and made him repudiate his plan for a Palestinian state based on the 1967 border. There is now vague talk in Israel about territorial swaps and population transfer as the final solution to the Palestinian problem.
As for Gaza, the `pullout` in 2005 was hardly that, for Israel continues to control the strip`s land, air and sea exits and has imposed a blockade that has as a matter of policy denied normal life to the Gazans. Hamas`s isolation, in part due to its own rigid policies, also encouraged Israel to go for the kill. It is an unequal battle in which the Gazans are the losers. To save casualties, the international community should intensify efforts to effect an immediate ceasefire.
Status of mother tongue
OR the second time in three years, National Assembly member Marvi Memon`s move for granting the status of national language to the mother tongues of a large number of Pakistanis has been thwarted. A standing committee of the Assembly defeated the bill by a 4-1 verdict. The bill sought the status of national language for Balochi, Balti, Brahvi, Punjabi, Pashto, Shina, Sindhi, Seraiki, Hindko and `all those mother tongues as deemed to be major mother tongues of Pakistan by the National Language Commission`. It also called for establishing a `National Language Commission` `with a purpose to developing criteria for giving the status of national languages to mother tongues....` which the mover pointed out was in consonance with the PML-N`s election manifesto.
Having failed to get the parliamentary nod for a similar bill she had moved in May 2011, Ms Memon maintained that `the main purpose of the bill was to show respect to all regional languages`.
The call made perfect sense since the recognition of diversity in language and culture is central to the good health of a country.
Perhaps it would have made some sense if the reluctance to approve the bill had been based on a fear that, no matter how hard everyone tried, there would always be a risk of some languages being excluded from the privileged list. Nor are there any reports of anyone on the committee standing up and pointing out that it was more a question of changing the negligent official attitude towards mother tongues beyond and above bestowing national status on them. Instead, the logic provided by the special secretary of the law ministry in opposing the bill betrayed a severely deficient understanding of history. The secretary said `...there should be one national language of a nation`. The real shocker came when he surmised `the country had already suffered the East Pakistan tragedy in 1971 as a result of the decision to declare both Urdu and Bengali as national languages....` This was indeed a very a strange approach once again in the name of national interest. A more realistic version of history says the disillusionment in East Pakistan was in large part caused by the denial of due recognition to Bengali. The lesson has obviously not been learnt. Sadly, so many decades later, the same flawed reasoning has been used to block an eminently sensible move in the Pakistani parliament.
Grim polio figures
T is indeed a damning milestone. As reported on Thursday, the country has detected its 94th polio case this year, surpassing last year`s total cases reported. If this trend continues and with a little over five months to go before the year ends, we could be heading for an alarmingly high number of total polio cases for 2014. And with international pressure building on Pakistan thanks to our reputation as a polio `exporter`, such a high number of cases could translate into even greater global isolation for the country.
In comparison, in Afghanistan, which is much less developed than Pakistan where state infrastructure is concerned, only seven cases have been reported this year. What is troubling is that most of these have been traced to Pakistan. The vast majority of cases in this country 70 so far have been reported from Fata, though a surprisingly high number (seven cases) have been reported from Karachi. This gives the state a fair idea about the key geographic areas vaccinators must focus on. And while the military operation in North Waziristan has caused a tragic exodus of IDPs, it has also thrown up an opportunity to immunise the children who were out of reach thanks to the vaccination `ban` imposed by militants in parts of Fata. The state must target IDP camps as well as the cities and towns where displaced families are settling in order to vaccinate children with multiple doses.
However, as the number of cases reported so far proves, the official response to the polio crisis has been woefully inadequate.
For example, there seems to be no organised effort to vaccinate passengers or check for certificates at airports, despite WHO`s call for immunisation of all travellers to and from Pakistan issued last month. The world`s concerns must not be taken lightly. If strains of polio originating in Pakistan are discovered elsewhere, travel restrictions will only get tougher. At the same time, we must not ignore the core problem: ensuring every vulnerable child is immunised.
Dawn/18-07-2014