Salaam,

This poll is reserved for the essay competition. The names of the contestants have been added to the poll.

As soon as the essays are posted, the poll will be opened for the respectable members to assess the essays and vote for the best candidate.

Regards,
Satan

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Devolution Plan

Continuous change of regimes and persistent amendments in the constitution, applied by these regimes are the hallmark of this country, which we call Pakistan “The Land of Pure”. General Parvaiz Musharraf ‘s successful coup d’etat on October 1999 brings a seven points agenda, one of which is the devolution of power plan that mainly comprised on the distribution of power to the local government. There has been a great hue and cry about this devolution plan since then.

Devolution in simple language means to transfer power of responsibility from higher echelons to the lower starta, which is a sine qua non for a sustainable and successful democratic setup. If we study history, for example the pre-partition period, there were the Minto-Morley reforms of 1909, which introduced more local governments for certain functions. These functions were subsequently enhanced by the Montague-Chelmsford reforms of 1918, and then through the 1935 India Act in which, for the first time, provincial governments were given certain powers and after independence, there was the 1956 constitution and then the 1973 consensus constitution which both included specific reforms, but none of these were implemented, as has now been done.

On 14th August 2001, the new reform was finally introduced. It is for the first time that by bringing in some significant reforms, the NRB (National Reconstruction Bureau) has changed the status quo prevailing for over two centuries. For example, there is the winding up of the powerful administrative divisional tier. Although it was the implementing arm of the government and many policy decisions were taken at that level, it had no corresponding political representation. By winding up that tier, all tiers of the government have now been brought under the political administration. The new System provided a three-tier Local Government structure, which consists of the district government, the thesil government and the union government.
Another major step that has been taken is the distribution of the budget on a regional basis. In the past, fiscal distribution was skewed. Education funds in certain regions for example, were not being invested in the establishment of schools or the appointment of qualified teachers, rather they were being used to fulfil political agendas.

Now the provincial finance commissions are promoting local government functions -- primary, secondary education and healthcare, streets and drains, lighting, farm to market roads, parks and playgrounds, cattle fairs, etc. On the political side, there is now an elected representative as the executive head of the districts. It is a significant reform which is not only specific to Pakistan, it is universal.
And to guarantee the sustainability of the new local government system, there is a protection in the Sixth Schedule of 1973 Constitution. Because of this protection, the provincial government or elected assemblies cannot amend the Local Government Ordinance 2001, unless the President approves the changes.

As a consequence both political parties and bureaucrats of Pakistan reacted against the reforms, they felt that the reforms had deprived their power.
Subsequently, all the provincial governments have massively amended the Local Government Ordinance 2001, giving the devolution plan a serious blow and serving as a major leap towards the virtual reversal of the new system. With these amendments, formally approved by the President, the provincial governments are back to officiously rule the local governments and make them dance to the tune of the former.

Though the new titles like "district government" and "nazim" will remain, the local government system is almost back to square one. All the taxpayers' money spent and time consumed since 1999, when the great National Reconstruction Bureau (NRB) was established to conceive, design and implement the devolution plan, have gone to waste.
The promise was to devolve power to the local governments through decentralisation of provincial governments' authority. This, it was claimed, would achieve the prime objective of empowering the people at the grassroots level to decide their own future. The so-called reformers in the NRB, living in their ivory tower, were quick and enthusiastic to attain the given objective, but without taking into confidence all the stakeholders.

Conclusion:
The implementation of any reform takes time. Enacting reforms of this magnitude is a tricky business. Many countries have gone through devolution reforms - Philippines, Thailand, South Africa, etc. However, in Pakistan, despite the fact that the NRB has introduced dramatic reforms with implementation within a very tight time frame, the results are good. The people have accepted them; there have been no street riots.

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Swear not at all, let your yes be yes & your no be no – Jesus Christ (PBUH)

Islam has been bulit upon five pillars . one of faith and four of action : belief in the oneness of ALLAH in theory and practice,offering of five times salat,fasting,payment of zakat and performance of haj.as food is essential for the maintance of our phsical health ,good ideas for the mental soundness , similarly, acting upon the five principles in paraphernalia for our spiritaul and material prosperity and devlopment,without which all human ethical and soical andmoral values can not flourish at all.
Islam lays great empass on brotherhood,equality,justice for all,irrespective of caste or race.it seeks to strike a blance b/w life here a nd after.and requires all to do good deeds and justice .pity alone is the creteria of the greatness of an individual. the holy PROHPET laid empasis that greatness is reserved for those who are pious.it is this sense ,islam rejects the narrow basis of birth and common blood as the element of solidority."all muslims brothers",the holy quran clearly enuciated and the path for a muslim is clearly defined and distinugishs a muslim from a non muslim.Islam is a complte code of life and not a utopian phlosophy.
islam and ummah and difficulties:
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the muslim ummah is that mass of the people whose members accept their divine responsibilty on the face of the earth. it is the duty of ummah to introduce the good things among the people and to restrain them from donig evil. the islamic concept of ummah derives its psirit from covenet of MADINAH (mesake-madina).it is fasionable today that whatever we could not do right pu its blame to the religion .its all because of the lack of religious knowldege,which is the basic.if we take a look that islam is the 2nd largest religion of the world ,but desipte of common religion all the muslims r not united. infact many muslim communities experience divisions that have made their enemies with each other.Now the need of the hour is our ummah,but if they r united theirselves they can do something epitome in the islamic progress in the world and society,otherwise all goes to chase..
for the ummah quran says:
"ye r the best of people ,evolved for mankind enjoing what is right and forbiding what is wrongand believing in ALLAH"(3:110)
IT is horrible ture that we the muslim lack in unity and knowledge at ground level,as one scholar says that"wakeup before its too late ,my massge i s v simple we 've to embrace islam ,we 've to go back our base and 've to understand that what r the roots of our religion,otherwise we can no do properly"
in suah al ankabat 29:69 ALLAH says "we shall certainly guide those who strive for our cause toright path" . nd in other surah ALLAH desecribes "
Allah never changes the condition of a people unless they change their own condition."
therfore to establish justice and uprightness and to be able to bear hardship in this connection it requires certain incentives which spring a sense of duty and responsibilty. so now it is the duty of muslim ummah to be aware well for their responsibilties and they 've to unite and balance the nation. as we all know that in these days islam is targted all over the world .in consequences of all this , ummah would regain the ture unity and total harmony of their personality ,that"ll induce him to pay his role honestly and show endurance and frimness in the face of difficulties. the main thing which our ummah 'has to develop is unity and brotherhood and make the awarness for the common people ,as our whole society depends upon them, the people mostly agreed upon what the ummah said .the present represent a great opportunity to reconstruct our society. we 've to make our ummah same as the prophet gave us his explianed picture "one who is wise ,able to do the differenec b/w right and wrong and who acting upon the sayings of holy quran and sunnah."
with the revival of real faith the ummah r bound to become the leaderof men as ALLAH said in holy QURAN "
and as u made ur direction to qibla,that we made u a better group"(al-.
aqrah).
measures can enhance the power potential of muslim ummah:
1: to make themselves aware and responsible as they r the leader of muslim community.
2:eradicate illeteracy and transfer thier masses to vibriate life through general,scientific and technological education.as we lack in both scientic and technological education.
3:stop brain drain from east to west and establish manpower .
4:develop capital saving and i labour intensive technology.
5:the best use of loud speaker.
6:establish islamic planning, religious education and also make the madarsaah update,means of providing scientific eduaction there.
7:make strong OIC and encourage self sufficiency instead of relying on the west.
8:propaget islam as the unifying force for the ummah and support the muslim liberation struggle and protect rival movements. as it is v common to misrepresent islam.
9: all the muslim amd muslim ummah 've to make ijthad for the welfare of islamic society and also for the propagation of islam in right direction according to the QURAN and Sunnah.

conclusion:

it is utmost important for the ummah to chalk out an integrated programme of action.top priority should be assnged to setup commonmarket.scientific and technical education must be promoted by ummah. becuse these things can bring us inlight of awarness and prosperity. the ijthad of the ummah can give us the best society of the world..

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ALLAH gives talent; our effort transforms talent into genius.

NB: This essay is based on the views by a few of the independent Inadian media high-ups.This essay might seem to some of you as Indian chauvinism at my part, for , it depicts the critcism of the Indian foreign policy , by her own analysts.But to me , this would be a good yard stick for a few of us to get a measure of our own foreign-policy choices as well as limitations.
India's Geopolitical stigma
(An Indian view)
First let me look into the recent US-India politico-economic alliance ,or for that matter 'the honeymoon'. As for my invocation of memory goes, the Indians don't seem to be learning lessons from the political annals of the history. There are countless number of examples , which show the US indifference towrds their former allies and present foes. Pakistan , Iran and Iraq could be mentiond as the most highly operative figures here. Yesterday's Afghan Mujahidden are today's terrorists. Saudi Arab , Chile and Argentina are the other cases in point. Last but not the least is the fromer USSR, who saved the Occident from the ruthlesss clutches of Nazism. But at the end the USSR had to face the intriguing Yankee belligerence under the guise of Islamic Jehad.The Indian analysts also see the same fate befalling themselves, after the American agendas are met. They are entangling themselves into an irreverseable mess. They are undoubtedly pulling stuffing themselves into the belly of a hungry beast. Once Indians are deeply inundated into this quagmire of so-called US friendship, they will be at a point of no return. Once Indians are there, they ought to behave w.r.t satanic American agenda. But if they don't, they will be in trouble. For a number of Indian analysts this deal is based on a "win-win" bargain. But for their other oppostite numbers, both in electronic and print media,that a friendly deal between a "crocodile" and a "swordfish" is something tantamounting to impossibility . Many of them argue that , India has been lured into a make-believe publicity campaign that they are a superpower, but to these analysts She is just a 'super-poor'.
Now lets peep at the energy imbroglio. Many inside India consider that nuclear energy is not the sole option to run after. the feasibility studies on the various options related to new vistas of energy exploration, both renewable and non-renewable, haven't been shown to the general masses for an open discussion. A lot of political analysts are questioning the Indian pursuit for the nuclear energy as a sole option. No one in the Indian ruling junta is considering the pros and cons of this nuclear deal between the US and India. Its not all about the technical opportunities and restraints of this deal.To many Indian analystas, its a permanent lack of imagination by the Indian govt to consider these matters with an openly pragmatic approach.
But both Musharraf and Mannmohan are wanna-be Bushies. For many of the analysts , this deal shouldn't be looked with a yardstick of morality. But many among them also say that , Bush has butchered many an innocent civilian, to meet his insane ideology of neo-conservatism. They argue that the PM of the greatest democracy in the world , should never be dining with the greatest butcher and the liar of all times.A man who lied about the WMDs in Iraq(a former ally of USA), whose troops killed 100000 civilians in just a few months, could never be sincere with the Indians, especially in the long run.
India's Kashmir policy is also getting a lot of whipping inside India . They(Indian media embedees), say that Kashmiri public psyche can't be assessed with one odd visit to the valley. For independent Indian opinion leaders both India and Pakistan are resposible for this unending mess in Kashmir.But for the local Kashmiri people Pakistan is the most attrative territory for them to be a part of. For Indian media men, its a mysterious irony that a country with military dictatorship stands for a notion of liberation, and the world's largest democracy is seen as an oppressor and usurper by them. For the Kashmiri people the real face of Indian secularism could be uncovered , in every identity parade, at every check post, house to house search by the BSF tyrants every two hours and such like other activities. This Kashmiri feeling for the Indians make India morally isolated.
The Iranian deadlock is also creating a bothersome situation for India. The comments made in the daily "The Hindu" are really an eye-opener for an ordinary Indian. At the september IAEA summit , the Indian support for the US has really made India a trivial body in international politics. Many , both in and outside India, are criticising the govt for their absurd stance over the issue. It will also jeopardize the Indian efforts to purchase low-cost gas from Iran.
And last but not the least; the terrorism factor. It is clearly spreading at an exponential rate.More and more US soldiers are refusing to fight. A number of independent journalists say that a lot of US soldiers in Iraq abhor Bush, even more than Osama and Saddam.Thats why American admn is on a search mission to find soldiers from other countries with inexpensive and cut-price lives and blood. As the Zionist media is totally controlling everything, therefore (even ) Indians are deprived from the real picture. This dangerous trend might take the govt if India into the deceptive trap of sending the troops to the middle east.
All the above mentioned problems are only accruing to the already poverty ridden Indian nation. So to me the Indian ruling junta should endeavour to pull India out this multi-faceted quagmire of problems, else they might face a national crisis emerging out of all this.
TailPiece: Adil bhai ,I have fulfilled my promise of contribution to the essay section. I know its far inferior to the CSS standard(only800 words), but brother this typing has proved to be a real scray bogeyman for me. I hope you would also be working on your paper . Anyway I'll be waiting for your comments. With regards ur brother naveed.

Corruption

The distinction between developing and developed countries is determined through social, economic and political indicators of a country. Corruption is one such gauge that assists in detecting the level of development of a country. Corruption is a behavior which deviates one from formal duties of a public role (elective or appointive) because of private considerations regarding personal wealth or status gains. Corruption is also an illicit form of influence employed by people and groups to get things they want from government and its functionaries or to prevent actions they do not want. It has time and again been attributed to greed. The world renowned social scientist Ibn-i-Khaldun attributed it to “the passion for luxurious living within the ruling group” - which has a lot of validity. Others have ascribed it to particular cultures.

Corruption is ubiquitous. Undeniably, it is a hallmark more of developing countries rather than developed countries. The scale used for assessing evaluating the extent of corruption in a country is called Corruption Perception Index (CPI) developed by Transparency International (TI), an institution based in Berlin. This scale ranges from 0 – 10 (0 being the most corrupt and 10 being the least). This institution releases a table, annually, depicting how much corrupt a particular country is. Results of this institution are based on experiences of businessmen all around the world who have had the opportunities of doing business in the country being rated. These results exhibit that corruption is more noticeable in poor and developing countries than in small, rich or developed countries. According to recent estimates the most corrupt country in the world is Bangladesh, the unholy place vacated by Pakistan a few years ago, with a score of 1.7 on CPI scale and the least corrupt are Iceland and Finland with scores 9.7 and 9.6 respectively. Pakistan has dropped down from 2.6 to 2.1 within these few years while India rose from 2.7 to 2.9. India’s position is not at all enviable, but at least better than our's.

The gamut of corruption is inversely properly to the level of justice, accountability and indiscriminate application of law. Pakistan is a country where justice and accountability take a back seat and corruption rules the roost. Corruption is a complex structure of many forms prevalent in our society at different levels starting from a ruler to a layman. The first type is “speed money”. Speed money is used to move the file quickly, to combat inefficiency and bureaucratic red-tapism, both planned and inherent in the system. The second type is “collusive corruption” in interpreting existing laws and regulations, and in formulating new laws or amending existing ones to provide benefits to an individual or a certain group. The third type is sanctioning and writing-off heavy loans by the banking authorities without proper or any analysis. Nonpayment of taxes is the fourth category. All rulers, officials and businessmen are defamed for their tax evasion. CBR officials, themselves provide consultation for evading taxes against their palm greasing. Businessmen, industrialists, traders, importers and exporters take full advantage of this blessing. They save duties by over and under invoicing of their imports and exports, while growers and manufacturers within the country seek subsidies for their sole benefits. Politicians practice corruption to collect money to contest elections and once re-elected put extra efforts to recover the money lost during the elections. Nonetheless, what hurts common man the most is bribe he has to pay at every counter not actually to get an advantage, but to avoid injustice, harassment or delay.

Public service promises more bribe and job security than private sector. This is why corruption is rampant at every level from the nadir to the pinnacle of state machinery. Public pays the officials to get a favour at the cost of government since it considers the state as an oppressor and suppressor who doesn’t care about it. Officials practice corruption due to low salaries, vanity and greed, and inflation. Everybody wants to feed, clothe and educate his family well. All these basic necessities of life have become too exorbitant in current times that they can’t be provided from the measly salary paid by government to the officials. Being a linchpin of the most esteemed institution of state machinery impels one to maintain a good status in the society. For that one requires as much money, luxurious cars and posh bungalows as possible. Society respects people who have money; hence, people seek the pleasure of society. One shining feature in a state that fuels corruption is absence of rule of law. A corrupt official has a mindset that he will breakaway with impunity even if he’s caught red-handed. This psychological disorder motivates corrupt to practice corruption overtly; thus setting the trend to destabilize the total system. The legal procedure of judiciary is cumbersome and costly. And it takes ages for a judgment to be delivered. The junior staff of the judiciary demands payment for any small work done. Thus, to no avail.

Corruption deters progress of a country. It breeds incompetence when undeserving appointments are made by higher officials to lower posts. This virtue on the part of higher officials plays a vital role in collapsing the whole system. Another baneful aspect of corruption is that it tends to favour the “haves” rather than the “have nots” —- particularly where the stakes are large. It assists the established elite to stay in power and to appropriate large benefits to itself. Corruption gives birth to poverty which is root to all the problems of a state. Widespread corruption in education sectors promotes illiteracy and mediocrity. Teachers draw their monthly salaries without attending the classes by just paying a hefty amount of their salaries to the higher-ups. Dominance of corruption in the health sector, in both public and private, has grim implications for the country. In public sector, the doctors that are posted in rural areas do not take pain to attend their hospitals, instead, prefer to set up their private clinics in cities to make some cash as a side-business along with drawing the salary from the rural hospital. The pharmaceutical departments of hospitals in rural areas display a magnificent sense of responsibility and sell every expensive medicine in the market blatantly, leaving behind no life-saving drug in the dispensary. The doctors in private sector get cosy cars and foreign excursion packages from pharmaceutical companies as quid pro quo in lieu of prescribing their medicine to patients to the limit mentioned in the contract. The laboratories located in the vicinity of clinics have concealed understanding with the doctors and promise them a hefty amount of commission (bribe) for referring patients for extravagant tests to them.

Increased foreign investment gives a boost to GDP by increasing output and generating local employment and frees up the pressure imports place on foreign exchange reserves. Corruption repels such already shy foreign investment. Corrupt officials in the excise, income tax and police departments harass the company on the pretext of checking whether the rules are being followed or not and won’t budge until and unless the owner agrees to compromise and hand over some bundles of currency to them. The red-tapism in official procedures for setting up a company etc. play a vital role in providing a golden opportunities to virtuous people to bug a businessman enough to yield to their ignominious wishes and grease their palms to get the work done. Corruption of this kind is so pervasive that many companies include bribes given to corrupt government officials as part of their operating costs. Thus corruption enhances the cost of doing business which is a bane for a businessman. In the end, the state suffers sheer loss of local employment, exports and the contribution of foreign investment in GDP.

President General Pervaiz Musharraf took the reins of this country from the ruler of one of the most corrupt regimes in history. It is all due to his efforts that the image of Pakistan has improved a bit on the CPI scale. He established National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to fight against corruption. The institution has been triumphant to some extent; however, the coveted results are still awaited. The actual problem lies in the working of this institution. NAB is generally in search of bigger fishes and doesn’t pay attention to the smaller ones that adversely affect the general public the most. NAB needs to shift a quantum of its concentration from higher-ups to the underlings now. Only such a swift change in policy of NAB can bring forth a difference. The devolution plan introduced by Mr. President has raised some hopes of relief to the public. Democracy at the grass-root levels has resulted in the empowerment of general public and has ultimately helped in curbing corruption to some extent.

Generally held idea for eradicating (better say, alleviating) corruption includes two requisites i.e. ‘political will’ and ‘increase in remuneration’. The first one means reincarnating Jinnah back to life to lead the nation and the latter demands paying police, income tax, revenue and customs officials 100 times more of what they are getting now. And corruption isn’t only restricted to these departments. Then one has to think about the nurses, doctors, engineers etc. in public sector organization. Thus both these tactics fail at the rudimentary thought. The solution according to me lies in paying clean salary to all, leaving it to the officials to select the battery of servants, cars and homes as they like and arrange petrol; telephone, sui gas and electricity connections themselves rather than getting them gifted from the government. Also, the intelligence agencies should be diverted from bugging the politicians and streamlined to monitor the officials suspected of corruption. Revitalizing the annual property assessment system would also help enormously. Corruption is inversely proportional to the extent of rule of law in a country. Punishing a culprit and stripping off his wealth will evaporate the mindset of escape with impunity. The current trend of privatization can bring substantial relief to people in this regard.

__________________
"The race is not over because I haven't won yet."

Adil Memon
Police Service of Pakistan (P.S.P)
37th Common Training Program

**********Adil, i m waiting for the result***********

TERRORISM

The history of terrorism is very old. The first known act of terrorism was held about 2,000 years ago, perpetrated by a radical offshoot of the Zealots, a Jewish sect active in Judea during the 1st century ad. The Zealots resisted the Roman Empire's rule of what is today Israel through a determined campaign primarily involving assassination. Zealot fighters used the ’sica’, a primitive dagger, to attack their enemies in broad daylight, often in crowded market places or on feast days essentially wherever there were people to witness the violence. But the word terrorism was first used in France to describe a new system of government adopted during the French Revolution. The word, however, did not gain wider popularity until the late 19th century when it was adopted by a group of Russian revolutionaries to describe their violent struggle against tsarist rule, and now this term has gained a terrific popularity. The term ‘Terrorism’ may be defined as a deliberate intent along with prior planning and involves the killing of innocent people. Or it is a deliberate creation and exploitation of fear for bringing about political change. It includes murders, and killings, kidnapping, hijacking, bomb blasts and other activities creating violence or threatening to create violence.

Terrorism has occurred throughout history for a variety of reasons. Its causes can be historical, cultural, political, social, psychological, economic, or religious or any combination of these. In broad terms the causes that have commonly compelled people to engage in terrorism are grievances borne of political oppression, cultural domination, economic exploitation, ethnic discrimination, and religious persecution, perceived inequities in the distribution of wealth and political power.

The act of terrorism can be grouped into three categories; Individual’s act, group’s pursuit and state policy. Individual’s act is invariable the product of injustices, frustrations or denial of legitimate rights etc. A group’s attack is often the outcome of carefully calculated strategies, it may be aimed to highlight a particular point or gimmick people’s attention towards a particular demand of the group. The third one is state’s policy which is sometimes termed as ‘State Terrorism’. One thing which is common in all three categories is that, all terrorist acts involve violence or equally important the threat of violence.

The individual act of terrorism is mostly observed within a local area, while the group pursuit and the state policy acts of terrorism have broad area of influence, i.e. national and international level. Group terrorist attacks have some characteristics in common. First of all they never commit an attack randomly or senselessly. The act of terrorism is carefully planned; even some acts take decades to get planned. This planning includes collection of list of activities of the victim, patterns of daily activities, communication systems, bomb makers, specialists to ensure strategies, mapping of escaping routes, safe houses etc. another common characteristic is secrecy. For this purpose terrorists follow the narrowed pyramid organizational structure, according to which senior command structure and leadership lies at the top.

The most important aspect of terrorist attacks is the ‘target’. Most of the time innocent citizens are the victims of these attacks. Terrorists target innocent citizens to create fear. By generating such an atmosphere of fear they claim ‘power’. Sometimes, some specific people like government officials, business men, transport and vehicle facilities (air craft or train), building etc are also the victims of terrorist attacks. Second type of victims is targeted to draw more attention, some times this type of victims are freed after negotiations but many times the attack results as killings. The most common examples of these ilk of terrorist attacks are attacks of 9/11, hijacking of the air-craft of Indian Airlines in 1999, demolition of Babri Masjid, a recent bomb blast in NishtarPark.

Terrorists’ attacks not only sow panic but also undermine confidence in the government and political leadership of their target. Terrorism is therefore designed to have psychological effects that reach far beyond its impact on the immediate victims or object of an attack. Terrorism is by nature political because it involves the acquisition and use of power for the purpose of forcing others to submit, or agree, to terrorist demands. A terrorist attack, by generating publicity and focusing attention on the organization behind the attack, is designed to create this power.

Now comes the ‘state terrorism’, as I mentioned earlier that, it is state’s policy which is sometimes known as state terrorism. This type of terrorism is used a s a tool to maintain a country/ state’s influence on a particular area. Well known examples in this regard are the Indian occupation on Kashmir and Israel’s policy for Philistine. In both the cases hundred thousands of people have been killed, women have been raped, the basic rights of the natives have been denied. Regarding state terrorism we can’t forget US policy for Afghanistan and Iraq. But in case of Afghanistan and Iraq, the objective of the act is a little different, i.e. the natural resources found in these regions. Well whatever the objective is, it killed innocent people, so it is terrorism.

How to stop terrorism? The most crucial question, many attempts have been made through out the world to lessen the acts of terrorism, but its increasing day by day. New techniques and innovations are being brought in action. Terrorism has existed for at least 2,000 years and is likely to remain a fixture on political agendas, both domestic and international, for years to come. Terrorism provides a means by which the weak can confront much stronger opponents. It therefore has an enduring appeal to the alienated and the disenfranchised, the aggrieved and vengeful, the powerless and the would-be powerful. In addition, it is relatively inexpensive to conduct while offering a vast potential payoff: the ability to evoke fear and alarm and inflict pain and suffering in the hope of compelling agreement to demands made.

Concisely, terrorism is evolving constantly to overcome governmental countermeasures designed to defeat it. It also involves an ongoing search for new targets and unidentified vulnerabilities in its opponents. This quest also raises the possibility that terrorists may pursue unconventional means of attack, such as chemical, biological, or radiological weapons, or nuclear weapons. The latest terrorist tactics include cyber-terrorism, using computers to destroy computer networks or systems, in future it may be electronic warfare that targets critical infrastructure, such as communications and power facilities, or societies in general.

Throughout the world, terrorism reinvents itself in new and more dangerous forms. As older groups are defeated or exhausted, more radical and more violent successors often take their place. Although terrorism likely can never be completely eradicated, countering its threat requires continuing vigilance. The highly individual nature of terrorism’s causes, the diversity of its perpetrators, and the complexity of its fundamental characteristics present enormous challenges to those who must effectively counter this menace.

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Salaam,

Dear Members, though this competition was nipped as evil right in its bud, but with the renaissance of Satan bhai and exceptional interest displayed by Qurratulain, we're reviving and conducting the contest.

Members are requested to peruse the essays and vote for the best.

The votes are supposed to be impartial, totally pure of fear and favour. It's a secret ballot. So vote fearlessly.

Members are further requested to avoid over-voting.

Regards,

PS: If any other member wants to take part in the competition, he/she must submit his essay as soon as possible so that his/her name could be added into the contestant list.

__________________
"The race is not over because I haven't won yet."

Adil Memon
Police Service of Pakistan (P.S.P)
37th Common Training Program

The idea of the creation of international organizations as governing bodies first came into being when the world was in disarray after World War I. The purpose behind any such organization was to provide a venue for countries to negotiate their disputes through dialogue, rather than resolving disputes through armed conflicts. However, the vision of any such organization was not fully realized by the world powers until the end of World War II, when the world was yet again left in dismay by the destruction and misery caused by the war. Consequently, the United Nations came into being as a byproduct of such vision of an international organization that could serve, as something as close to the world governing body that existed in the world. Nonetheless, the United Nations in general and Security Council in particular are riddled with many complexities and problems that sometimes make it harder to achieve the very goal of this organization, namely world peace and security. This paper will examine the role of the Security Council, an important branch of the United Nations that is responsible for dealing with world events that may be a threat to global peace and security. It will examine the structure and functions of the Security Council and examine the case study of the Kashmir conflict; one of many longstanding conflicts that are as old as the United Nations itself, to examine its effectiveness in preserving world peace and security.

Charter of the United Nations and Role of the Security Council:
The United Nations has both strength and weaknesses in the anarchic international system. The United Nations was the basis to do away from such anarchic ways and create some order in the chaotic global politics that resulted in two World Wars, but that attempt failed miserably because the member states were reluctant to empower the organization that could play an effective role on the world stage. Each state wants their power to be reserved and does not want to yield their sovereignty to a higher world body, thus it seems that sometimes the United Nations is helpless against the sovereignty of even modest sized states, let alone the big powers. Nevertheless, the United Nations charter itself is the basis on the principles that all states have full sovereignty over their own affairs; states should have full independence and territorial integrity; and states are obligated to carry out their international obligations[1]. The United Nations merely expects its member states to oblige by international law, and adhere to the resolutions that it passes, but at the end, the decision solely lies with the concerned state.

By far the Security Council is the most powerful body within the United Nations, and has the responsibility to resolve the threats that endanger international peace. The Security Council has the power to define the threats and take necessary measures to suggest how the United Nations should respond to them. Occasionally, it also uses the means at its disposal to enforce its decisions by ordering member states to take measures such as economic sanctions, such as halting of trade with the violating member. With reference to its charter that does not empower the United Nations to enforce its will on any member states, these measures come as a mutual agreement by other states to abandon the aggressor until it obliges to its decision. Even then, the role of the Security Council is riddled with complexity by its structure and the mandate given to it by the United Nations charter to be effective in conflicts that may involve superpowers or mid size powers, and the reluctance of other members to take actions against them.

The council consists of fifteen members in total, five of which hold permanent seats, and the rest are elected by the General Assembly of the United Nations for the rotation of a two-year term. Five of the permanent members were the winning powers at the end of World War II, and to the present day, they still represent the bulk of world’s military might. Furthermore, all these members retain the veto power in the Security Council. These members include the United States, Great Britain, Russia (former Soviet Union), China and France. Decisions of the Security Council require nine votes, but any one of the permanent members can veto the decision, consequently putting an end to the issue. The matters brought before it can only be effective if all five members reach a consensus to take any punitive measures against such threats[2].

This is the very reason that some of the longstanding conflicts in the world lack the mandate or the will of the Security Council for them to be resolved. In some instances, even if they recognize the threat and agree that the conflict needs to be resolved, the members are in disagreement to impose their will to the concerned parties or come in dispute amongst each other, to develop the best way to resolve the conflict. Among those longstanding conflicts that the Security Council has not been able to resolve to this day, is the dispute of Kashmir between India and Pakistan in South Asia.

Jammu and Kashmir Dispute:

The Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India is yet another example of the Security Council’s failure to resolve the conflict that still proves to be a serious threat to both the region and global peace. Ever since their independence from British colonialism, both of these countries have fought several wars with each other and acquired nuclear weapons in their arm race, yet the issue remains unresolved. The perception of these two countries as to what constitutes the dispute is very different. Pakistan regards it as an unfinished agenda of the partition era from the British Colonialism of 1947 as an issue of granting the right of self-determination to the people of the region. In contrast, India regards it as a territorial issue, and asserts Jammu and Kashmir as its integral part. Therefore, India occupies the two-thirds of the territory by means of military occupation, and Pakistan administering one-third, with a United Nations recognized ceasefire line separating them[3].

Historical Background of the conflict:

In accordance with the exit strategy, the British adapted a partition formula that constituted that all the areas under colonial South Asia on the line of Muslim and Hindu majority areas. Thus, the Muslim majority areas acceded to Pakistan, and the rest acceded to India on the planned date of August 14, 1947. Muslims constituted 78 percent of Jammu and Kashmir and ninety-eight percent of the population of the valley, which was under the control of Hindu Prince (Raja). It was the common understanding of the people of the Kashmir that it accede with Pakistan, not only because of its majority Muslim population, but because it was also linked to the outside world through would-be Pakistani territory. The Raja of Kashmir had initially showed no intention to accede Kashmir with neither Pakistan nor India, and signed a standstill agreement with Pakistan in August 1947, which allowed the continuation of services by Pakistan as they were under the British rule, until the pending matter of accession.

In the meantime, he ordered the Muslim subjects in his territory to surrender their arms, and later would repeat the same with his Muslim military personnel. This disarmament followed by the campaign by RSS, a Hindu nationalist organization’s attempt to exterminate the Muslim population or force them to leave the valley and migrate to Pakistan. This campaign resulted in237,000 Muslims being exterminated, and caused an insurgency in parts of the Valley that later developed into a guerilla movement by the Kashmiri Muslims who had taken part in World War II.

Raja in response had asked India for military assistance, embarking the start of the occupation of the valley that was under the control of Raja, and the territory taken by guerillas became Pakistani administered territory. These acts of violence had left Kashmir in chaos, with the assurances by both the British Governor General of India at the time, Lord Mountbatten, and Indian authorities that the accession of Kashmir would immediately take place once peace in the valley restored. India later conditioned the accession by promising to conduct plebiscite under the auspices of international organizations, such as the United Nations[4]. However, after sixty years of these events Kashmir still remains a dispute with no promises fulfilled by either India or the British, who had left the sub-continent in haste, due to the changing nature of global politics after World War II, and their incapacity to rule an enormous region due to depleting resources of the British Empire.

Kashmir Dispute in United Nations Security Council:

The Kashmir dispute of South Asia is one of the conflicts in the Security Council that are as old as the United Nations itself. In the fifty-eight years history of this dispute, the Security Council has adopted eighteen resolutions that directly or indirectly deal with this conflict[5]. However, the fact remains that over time these resolutions have had a change of language and tone that reflect the Security Council’s inability to act upon its resolutions without the will of its members. The Security Council considers this dispute to be a threat to the peace and stability of the region. However, due to the pivotal global position of the two countries involved in the conflict, other members, and especially the permanent powerful members have not been able to reach to an agreement on the means to resolve such a pivotal issue to global peace. When the Kashmir dispute was first brought to the Security Council in 1948, it took the stance that the people of Kashmir should have a right to determine their future. It has also entertained the idea of conducting a plebiscite under United Nations auspices, for it to be fair. Unfortunately, India has changed and evolved its position on the dispute and regards the Kashmir dispute as its internal matter, and declaring the Security Council’s resolutions on the issue irrelevant.

Critical Analysis of the Dispute:

Due to the critical positions of these two countries in the International Relations, the world community has been largely putting the Kashmir dispute off, for these two powers to settle on their own. Pakistan from the beginning has played an important role in global affairs, serving as a pivotal ally of the Western powers in the region, namely during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, and presently as a pivotal ally on the American offensive in Afghanistan and on global war on terrorism. India on the other hand, has also played its part in global affairs, but its relations with the West during the Cold War were unstable due to its close relations with the Soviet bloc. However, it has proved itself a counter power against Communist China in the region that makes it vital in its relations to the Western powers. The Security Council has underestimated the threat that has caused these two rivals to engage in a nuclear arm race that could prove deadly in any full-fledged future war between the two.

As for the Kashmir dispute, India has deployed close to a million army personnel in the disputed region to keep the people from deciding their future. After the unfortunate events of 9-11, the world faced the dilemma of terrorism, but a bigger dilemma that is faced by the world community and the Security Council is to define the term categorically, so that freedom movements cannot be stamped as terrorism. Now, the freedom fighters in the disputed territory have been declared as terrorists by India, and given the psyche of global community after the events in United States, it is siding with India. Nevertheless, the fact of the matter remains that the occupied forces commit most of the civilian casualties in the disputed territory, and the people’s armed struggles are strictly directed towards the forces and not the civilians, therefore negating the notion of terrorism being involved in this indigenous movement for freedom.

Remedies to make Security Council effective peacekeeping body:

The Kashmir dispute has transformed the rivalry of two stated into the race of nuclear armament to maintain the balance of power, and clearly shows the failure of the Security Council responsible for global peace and security. International relations among the world states are in junction with realist principles, where the states with powers have more bargaining and leverage on global issues. Therefore, states maintaining their hegemony over international organizations, such as the Security Council are only interested to tackle the issues that serve their own interests and successfully ignore the threats that may run against their self-interest. Therefore, it is necessary that concrete reforms should take place to make this world body effective, and transparent.

In order for Security Council to be effective as a global governing body, states will have to follow the transitional power theory to empower the greater body that can fairly deal with global affairs. It may be impossible for the major players to significantly yield their sovereignty to any such organization, but it is imperative for the survival of the Security Council for the permanent members to give up their powers in part for greater good. Some of the reforms that may prove this greater world body to be effective are as follow:

• Power to veto Security Council resolutions has contributed greatly to make the it ineffective. The permanent members must reach to an agreement to limit the veto power of a single member, by amending in their rules that no veto can be effective until at least agreed upon by three out of five permanent members.
• The United Nations must make changes in its charter. Currently, it is not an obligation for the state to follow the decisions of the Security Council. However, in the future states should be bound to follow them.
• The Security Council must acquire the military capability that is independent of any state’s influence, and can promptly respond to serious threats by means of military offensive.

The new challenges of the twenty first century require the global community to invest in bodies such as Security Council to meet any threat to global peace and security. No doubt, that the United Nations as an international organization is evolving over time with the new challenges that it has confronted. Nevertheless, the fact remains that this global body needs more respect and empowerment from the major powers to fairly operate and perform the functions that was the genesis of its creation, namely world peace and security.