Dna issue 11

CMY K

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

Dedicated to the legacy of the late Hameed Nizami

Arif Nizami Editor

Aziz-ud-Din Ahmad

Agha Akbar

Asher John

Joint Editor

Associate Editor

Chief News Editor

From Attabad to Miacher

Lahore – Ph: 042-36375963-5 Fax: 042-32535230 Karachi – Ph: 021-35381208-9 Fax: 021-35381208 Islamabad – Ph: 051-2287273 Fax: 051-2818125 Web: www.pakistantoday.com.pk Email: editorial@pakistantoday.com.pk

Much irony and absurdity

Topping the latter is PM’s remaining attached to talks!

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o, was this the “good news” Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif expected from the Taliban? Surely, owning the Karachi attack – dozens killed, many more injured – implies the TTP’s disassociation with previous, daily hits was as deliberate as misleading.

And, for argument’s sake, if they, too, were caught unawares as foreign, cross-border forces manoeuvred to sidetrack government-TTP peace talks, then why posture for peace while fine-tuning the police bus raid?

Yes, these things take some time planning, rehearsing, etc. But that’s not the direction right-wingers in the press went looking in as like-minded in the N-League and negotiations committees scrambled to keep the talks from collapsing. They (TTP) did it alright, and they will do it again if their conditions are not met, they said. And not only was ceasefire not very high on the to-do list till the Karachi attack, but the TTP’s proposed CBMs had also been largely brushed aside – what of their comrades still languishing in jails, the army still in South Waziristan (SW)?

Incredibly, the talks seem to have survived this particular scare. The

government committee was obviously upset, but Maulana Sami pleaded more patience, and assured peace was round the corner. A formal ceasefire is also in the works.

And despite talk of differences in the press, the prime minister assured all the way from Turkey that the military and government were

The manner of official response, or rather the lack of one, to the TTP threat to Ismailis and other natives of the Kalash valley was to be expected. There is much irony in the fate of our minorities, even if there is little left to say about it. They have lost the most in this war, yet find neither voice nor representation in the government’s committee. absolutely on the same page. But there’s more. What does back-tobusiness from here incorporate? And what of that other prominent feature of Taliban existence, its outright rejection of all forms of minorities,

from Christians to the Shia, and how it oscillates from threats to genocide in dealing with them?

The manner of official response, or rather the lack of one, to the TTP threat to Ismailis and other natives of the Kalash valley was to be expected. There is much irony in the fate of our minorities, even if there is little left to say about it. They have lost the most in this war, yet find neither voice nor representation in the government’s committee. There is more irony. PM Sharif’s assurances notwithstanding – the TTP trusts his ‘sincerity’ – the Taliban are convinced the army is not for these talks. And how that sets up a North Waziristan (NW) finale with their former masters should discomfort many a grey-haired khaki about how times change. Then there is the army’s new position. Despite its history of meddling in politics, of creating these soldier-clerics that now threaten state existence, and its playing proxy east and west, it is, today, without doubt the country’s best hope of reining in the wolf at the door. So much for irony. But there’s also the prime minister, refusing to accept futility of talks even as the TTP deceives, plots, and kills. That part is absurdity. g

Shahzaib’s treatment in the US When rules beg for exceptions

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he case of Muhammad Shahzaib Bajwa, a 20-yearold Pakistani exchange student now comatose in the US, is a saddening tale of how misfortune can strike you. Wasn’t it enough that he was comatose for almost three months after an unfortunate traffic accident that the hospital authorities in the US want to transfer him to Pakistan, still comatose, on a flight that would at least take 24 hours in the air? The student’s visa is set to expire within two weeks and the US State Department, up till now, has decided not to extend his visa. With the hospital authorities saying that they are merely following State Department’s decision, no course is left for his family other than to make pleas on human grounds to keep him there where he can get the best medical facilities, rather than sending him back to Pakistan where his family might not have enough to support his medical bills for more than three months.

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It is necessary that the governments institute and follow rules, but on a philosophical level rules are meant to make people feel that their life is safe, instead of turning it into a living hell.

Following the rules where they can cause more dismay and hurt than they are meant to protect, they must be changed or at least an exception be made. The medical insurance company and the State Department of the USA may be following the rules to the letter, but their action is putting a person’s life in considerable danger, something no one with conscience would allow.

Shahzaib’s family is frantically trying to gather enough support to move a Congressman or a third party organisation to intervene on their behalf, and as his particular situation makes a befitting case for an exception to the rules, one hopes that they would be allowed to keep him there, for at least a period the

doctors say that they may be able to decide what his chances of recovery are. Before that, sending him back is like sentencing a man to gallows, for no fault of his own.

After 9/11, the US administration sought tougher immigration and visa rules which have kept the country safe from any major terrorism incident, but the same have also put many people under undue duress and humiliation. The case of a famous Indian actor, how he was treated just because his name contained ‘Khan’ and was flagged as a suspicious person by the US airport security officials, should have told the Americans it is time to revisit their policies that have isolated them over the years.

This cannot be continued anymore. The US administration must find a way to discern genuine cases and allow them to be treated differently from the rest of the cases. Shahzaib’s case would certainly fall in the genuine category. g

Signs of ominous climatic change, with government unprepared

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minous portents of the impending climatic changes in Pakistan find place in media for a few days but are soon forgotten, overtaken by dramatic events with immediate consequence. It is forgotten that in January 2010 massive landslides resulted in the creation of Attabad Lake amidst extraordinary human suffering. What followed subsequently was sheer disaster, what lies ahead is frightening. The lake flooding displaced 6,000 people from upstream villages, and stranded a further 25,000 who were left with no land transportation routes. It also inundated over 19 km of the Karakoram Highway.

There are reports now of another series of landslides in Miacher valley in Gilgit Baltistan. Since October last year, landmass in the valley is showing signs of a possible disaster, with cracks in the rocks having widened from nine inches to twelve.

With the rise of temperatures in the bedding of the mobilised debris, the slopes can be expected to fail. If this happens, the landslide will create a damming wall 400 to 500 metres high and 200 metres wide out of a total of 1,000 to 2,000 million cubic metres of rock debris that will be displaced. When the Attabad lake was being formed, fears were expressed that in case of a sudden breach in the rock debris, it would have catastrophic impact on habitations and water works downstream, particularly the Tarbela Dam. The world is passing through a century of unusual climatic changes

whiteLies

Apollo

caused by global warming. Pakistan has been ranked the third most vulnerable country to climate changes. The nuclear power is least prepared to cope with the impact. It has helplessly witnessed the catastrophic floods in 2010 that had killed at least 1,600 and left some four million homeless and destroyed more than 1.6 million acres of crops. The floods had surpassed the humanitarian aid scope of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, Pakistan’s 2005 earthquake and the 2010 Haiti quake. Pakistan faces five major risks related to climate change including rise in sea level, glacial retreats, floods, higher average temperature and higher frequency of droughts.

Being a predominantly agricultural economy, climate change is estimated to decrease crop yields from flooding and changing temperatures.

Deterioration of climate is irreversibly harming Pakistan, as the glacier melt in the Himalayas is projected to increase flooding and affect water resources within the next two to three decades. After Attabad and Miacher there are likely to be other lakes created by water pressure and increased seepage in rocks causing further damage. There is a need on the part of the government to give heed to the recurring omens to prepare Pakistan to absorb the colossal shocks that lie ahead. No country can deal with the climatic changes taking place alone. It is no time to expand the nuclear arsenal or enter the missile race. The government has to initiate talks with neighbouring countries particularly India to join hands to prepare for the challenge. g

For feedback, comments, suggestions and, most importantly, tips, contact us at whitelies@pakistantoday.com.pk

And a new king holds court. What of the old courtiers? And which new ones are to move forward?

At the Sindh cultural festival held under the supervision of Bilawal Bhutto, there were a number of conspicuous absences. And of those present, many were not given the protocol they thought they deserved. This included a key member of the party who was given some pretty choice appointments.

She let her displeasure be known and an attempt was made to placate her at a fashion show held under the same festival.

Meanwhile, some socialites certainly do have the ear of the boy-king. This swish lot is expected to play a role – positive or negative, not known – in the future. g

********** The prudish lot that now runs the federal, Punjab and KP governments don’t take well to St Valentine’s day.

The Jamaat-e-Islami organised Haya Day functions throughout the country.

And, since, they also run KP, the event got more traction there.

Meanwhile, on Facebook, there is a directive – authenticity not known – by the chief minister of the Punjab advising parents to keep a check on their daughters (the sons can do whatever they want, apparently) on this day.

But, also on FB, much Valentine’s Day related humour is doing the rounds. Did you know, asks one joke, that the day has its origins in the Punjab. When wives were upset with their husbands, they used to beat them with their velans (rolling pin used to make bread) and to avoid this, men used to give them gifts.

In time, this became known as ValenTime and through the centuries of linguistic evolution, Valentine’s! So celebrate this day! It belongs to us! g

CMY K

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

Talking to the Taliban Perception vs. reality

Arif NizAmi The writer is Editor, Pakistan Today.

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OTWIThSTANDING the histrionics of Taliban apologists in the media, for all practical purposes the so-called peace process has been literally blown to smithereens. The government and the TTP delegations can still go through the motions but repeated terrorist attacks by the militants have practically killed the process.

‘The trilateral summit and the COAS Raheel Sharif’s presence over there might have strengthened the TTP’s perception that action against them is only a matter of time.’

The government team is appealing to the good sense of the Taliban to stay their hand, begging for a ceasefire. however the terrorist outfit is in no mood to oblige. Contrarily, it is demanding withdrawal of the military from S. Waziristan and release of prisoners allegedly held by the security forces. It has brazenly accepted responsibility for slaying 13 policemen in a terrorist attack in Karachi.

While the TTP detects a patina of

sympathy for its demands in Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, it considers the military as its enemy. A correspondent with a large media group who has never hidden his proclivity towards the Taliban claims while quoting unnamed sources that the military and the civilian government are not on the same page on the peace talks.

Obviously the manner in which the Taliban are wreaking havoc in the country reflects that they have little faith in the peace talks and are simply buying time before the final push comes. Apprehending an army operation against them, their spokesman has declared that the military is their number one enemy.

Despite the obvious, the government committee headed by Irfan Siddiqui is begging the Taliban for an interview. The TTP is however obliging him through its incessant campaign of rampant terrorism. A joint statement by the negotiating committees on Friday called on the TTP to end acts of violence and instead work for implementation of peace.

This is an insult to the Pakistani nation. An immediate cessation of terrorist activities by the Taliban should have been a sine qua non for any talks. In the interregnum no talks should take place. hitherto the Taliban have played their cards well. Through a largely sympathetic media buttressed by their apologists in the government they are controlling the agenda as well as the narrative.

Some one tweeted the other day that paradoxically it is a relief to watch the official PTV. At least it is not being dominated by clerics like Maulana Aziz, the former khateeb of Lal Masjid and his ilk pontificating on how the Pakistani nation should be living under the dominance of his brand of Sharia.

The narrative on most of the news

Editor’s mail Send your letters to: Letters to Editor, Pakistan Today, 4-Shaarey Fatima Jinnah, Lahore, Pakistan. Fax: +92-42-32535230 E-mail: letters@pakistantoday.com.pk Letters should be addressed to Pakistan Today exclusively

Time for CAA to modernise The decision to finally utilise enormous revenues generated by CAA Pakistan from travelling public to install ILS Cat3 at Lahore will start a major overhaul of the regulatory body to modernise in terms of technology and manpower recruited to handle technology for ensuring safety of air traffic. Credit for this long awaited decision goes to Special Assistant Aviation Shujaat Azeem, who immediately upon reappointment has taken this vital decision.

CAA is primarily a regulatory body and therefore steps should be taken so that airports are run by independent boards, along with setting up of an independent Accident Investigation Unit, both not under administrative control of regulatory body.

While the decision to induct medium range aircraft, not over seven years old for national airline PIA is technically wise, this alone will not achieve desired revenue generation, unless top management, which has monopolised executive corridors of airline

‘This is an insult to the Pakistani nation. An immediate cessation of terrorist activities by the Taliban should have been a sine qua non for any talks. In the interregnum no talks should take place.’ channels is the same like the bearded discussants hopping from one channel to the other. We are being told that the only alternative left for the state is to capitulate by agreeing to the demands of the militant outfits.

The alternative, we are told, in unequivocal terms is horrendous. The Taliban have spread their tentacles all over the country. And hence the war on terror is simply not winnable.

The PTI chief Imran Khan, another Taliban apologist, has quoted the former COAS Gen (retd.) Ashfaq Kayani while still in office as having said in a briefing that there is only a forty per cent chance of defeating the Taliban through military means.

Kayani was also very fond of quoting in the context of the Americans that, “they (the US) have the watches and the Taliban have the time.”

One does not know what Gen Kayani had exactly said to Imran Khan and in what context. Nonetheless prime facie, it is a defeatist statement coming from the chief of the fifth largest standing army of the world for whose upkeep the taxpayers have paid through their nose for 67 years. hopefully the same ostrich-like attitude will not afflict the military under Gen raheel Sharif. Gen Kayani as the army chief had on more than one occasions said that terrorism was an existential threat to the Pakistani state.

are not sent on forced early retirement, for they are part of the problem and therefore cannot have a role in the solution. It is PIA’s Corporate Planning and Procurement divisions, along with Marketing and Finance who have made previous Business Plans, such as that submitted in 2002 for B777, which failed to achieve declared objectives and targets. even automated revenue management and reservation systems have been rendered useless by powerful nexus of corrupt PIA executives and few travel agents, leading to fleecing of Umrah and haj pilgrims and losses for airline.

As long as mediocrity and corruption dominated executive corridors of PIA are not cleansed of the rot, revenue pilferage and financial improprieties will continue.

Induction of more aircrafts, will meet same fate that previous Business Plans met. For starters Special Assistant Aviation should ensure forensic audit and verification of qualifications, age certificates and other data of its paid senior executives, plus a scrutiny of assets accumulated not only in Pakistan, but also abroad, for most of them hold foreign nationalities with average qualifications.

ALI MALIK T Lahore

The forces of darkness KArAChI has seen unprecedented increase in Taliban attacks on security forces and other important targets in last few weeks. Is this city also going to face the fate of Peshawar?

Sure, no one would like to think on that line

Despite this assessment, he never walked the talk. Not much was done to shift focus from the eastern borders to the real and present danger on the western borders.

On the contrary efforts to keep the pot boiling with India never ceased.

Banned jihadists groups operating under a different nomenclature are still operating within Pakistan with impunity. Maulana Masood Azhar, freed by the Indian government in exchange for passengers on a hijacked Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar in 1999, has resurfaced recently in Muzzafarabad (Azad Kashmir).

Without a major paradigm shift by the military and the political leadership, the war on terror simply cannot be won by half-hearted and tentative measures. Chickens have come home to roost. Supporting jihadists groups for India-centric agendas is no longer a feasible option.

Mian Nawaz Sharif should get his act together. he should outgrow the perception that he wants to preserve his domain in Punjab at the expense of the rest of the country.

As the conjecture goes, Punjab is a safe haven for various Punjab-based terrorist organizations. Warning by certain pro-Taliban journalists that in case of an operation, terrorist groups based in the heartland will wreak havoc in Punjab is thus possibly correct. But does that mean that the country should not be saved from an existential threat?

Meanwhile the enigmatic Afghan president hamid Karzai on the conclusion of the trilateral summit between Turkey, Pakistan and Afghanistan in Ankara has reportedly assured Islamabad that the TTP leadership holed up in Afghanistan will soon be expelled from there.

Too good to be true. The wily Afghan president many a times in

but sadly that’s a reality we are facing now, not in distant future. There is a remarkable but fateful commonality in the situation being faced by these two unfortunate cities.

Peshawar has been under siege since last decade by the tribes living just few kilometres from its outskirts. This ease of accessibility and ability to attack and disappear in the tribal areas has made Peshawar an inhospitable place for its peaceful residents.

Unfortunately Karachi is being changed into another large size bastion for Pakistani Taliban (TTP). Militants, IDPs and other migrants from tribal areas have occupied around 1,200 square kilometres around metropolis Karachi, say one-third of Karachi wherein 2.5 million people live now under TTP. Major factions of TTP, from Mehsud and Mohmand tribes, and Swati Taliban are operating along with scores of sectarian outfits to raise funds for their brethren in North West and elsewhere in the country.

They are involved in widespread extortions, bank robberies, land grabbing and kidnappings. It’s being reported that they are running their own courts in the areas under their influence, handing out judgements while forcing the local residents to comply.

Awami National Party (ANP) has been a prominent Pashtun based left-wing-cumnationalistic party in Karachi. however, it has been completely routed out by TTP. MQM, a long time rival of ANP, shall not celebrate ANP’s ouster anymore; it’s their turn now. It’s not only MQM’s turn but of every liberal, enlightened Karachiite to worry about his/her honour, security and lifestyle.

the past has backed off from his commitments to Islamabad.

Nonetheless if he keeps his word this time, the TTP chief Mullah Fazlullah will be robbed of his sanctuary in Kunar.

The trilateral summit and the COAS raheel Sharif’s presence over there might have strengthened the TTP’s perception that action against them is only a matter of time and the so-called peace talks initiated by the government is simply a ruse.

Things are inexorably moving towards a military operation against the TTP with all its appended ramifications. By going through the motion of talks, Sharif understandably wants to forestall the intensity of the blowback as well as keep the rabid right part of his main constituency at bay.

‘A perception is being deliberately created that the government and the military are not on the same page. The prime minister should take the initiative to clear the air – lest the perception becomes reality.’

Still the Taliban campaign of mayhem continues unabated. The security forces, police and the ordinary citizen, none is spared. hence come what may the civilian and the military leadership will soon have to bite the bullet – somewhat in the literal sense.

Meanwhile a perception is being deliberately created that the government and the military are not on the same page. The prime minister should take the initiative to clear the air – lest the perception becomes reality. g

Forces of darkness are now unleashed upon Karachi.

MASOOD KHAN Jubail, Saudi Arabia

Traffic nightmare IG Punjab has sent a summary to the chief minister for allowing the traffic police to impose stringent fines on violators of traffic rules. The proposal is meant to control the traffic chaos on the roads. The suggested amount of fine is rs500 for the motorcyclists and rs1,000 for car drivers. One hopes the CM will not hesitate in approving the summary since the unruly motorcyclists and car drivers have made the lives of disciplined and law-abiding road-users miserable.

Particularly, the motorcyclists creeping through the lines of cars stopped at the traffic lights must hauled up. They scratch the sides of the cars and damage rear view mirrors.

And drivers taking turns without indicating too must be fined.

The provincial monitoring cell recently reported 537 road accidents within 24 hours in all the 36 districts of the province. Out of these, 129 accidents took place in Lahore alone. This clearly shows how dangerous our roads have become and how badly the traffic police have failed in controlling the traffic.

No other measure to organise traffic would be as effective and as quickly as imposition of heavy penalties on the violators of traffic rules.

IFTEKHAR A KHAN Lahore www.pakistantoday.com.pk 03

C M YK

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

The germs of dictatorship come swarming back A bunch of plunderers moves to assume unlimited regressive power CANDID CORNER

Raoof Hasan The writer is a political analyst and the Executive Director of the Regional Peace Institute. He can be reached at: raoofhasan@hotmail.com.

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s if the midnight assaults on PEMRA and NADRA did not generate enough vicarious satisfaction, the prime minister’s guns blazed yet again, this time demolishing the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and its entire structure. It is also part of our humiliating history that, after assuming the office of the chief executive of the country, the prime minister had arrogated to himself the charge of being the chief patron of the PCB, a title which had traditionally resided with the head of the state.

The story goes beyond just another undemocratic assault on the independence of institutions and stopping them from rendering their functions in a transparent manner. The stakes were high in the cases of PEMRA and NADRA. The same may be even higher in the case of the PCB. Already, Imran Khan and his party have gone public with the accusation that the person made the chairman of the PCB has been rewarded for ‘thirty-five punctures’ that he was instrumental in inflicting during the course of the last general elections when he was the interim chief minister of Punjab. The sharifs are notorious for rewarding their cronies, their Mamnoon Hussains, by hoisting them to positions of importance so that they would continue serving the rulers’ interests. same appears to be the matter in the curious case of the PCB where one such person, who had allegedly played a devious role in the PML-N electoral victory in Punjab, needed to be rewarded.

News have also surfaced that the government has allegedly decided to take away the prerogative of the appointment of judges to superior judiciary from the judicial commission and make the parliamentary committee all-powerful in the name of the supremacy of the parliament. More appropriately, it should be construed as another undemocratic step to denude the Judicial Commission of any decision-making powers with regard to the appointment of judges and authorise the prime minister to designate his munshis in the judiciary to do his bidding. It is another blatant case of rendering all pillars of the state subservient to the whims of an individual. This reflects a mindset that refuses to abide by the rule of law and is bent on persisting with people of the ilk of shujaat Azim who had resigned when the case of his controversial appointment for multiple reasons including his court martial from the Air Force, his dual nationality and the inherent conflict of interest as one of his companies had direct financial stakes in the working of the national airline that he was to control, had been referred to the supreme Court and his

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ouster seemed imminent. The same person has now been inducted at the same position, albeit with a different designation.

Only recently I met a dear old friend, a stalwart and an inveterate activist for judicial independence and human rights in the country. I was surprised to hear him say that this time around, if the military takes over, he would not protest. I provoked him: “Would you welcome the military takeover”? He backed off saying that he, possibly, would not do that. The question is how long will it take for all such people to move from raising their voice for democracy and rule of law to welcoming the military take-over, even advocating for it?

Unfortunately, such is the intermediary period that we appear to be passing through at this critical stage.

This also reflects the tragedy that defines the leadership that has manoeuvred the opportunity of ruling the country by employing fraudulent and decrepit means including the use of the official machinery and personnel, even the ones at the highest positions of power. The complicity to advance the evil designs of these powerhungry marauders, who have looted the country through decades, and who have no plans to give up on their voracious appetite, is widespread. Everyone involved in this

‘This also reflects the tragedy that defines the leadership that has manoeuvred the opportunity of ruling the country by employing fraudulent and decrepit means including the use of the official machinery and personnel, even the ones at the highest positions of power. The complicity to advance the evil designs of these powerhungry marauders, who have looted the country through decades, and who have no plans to give up on their voracious appetite, is widespread. Everyone involved in this disdainful racket has a price and they receive it many times over.’

disdainful racket has a price and they receive it many times over. It looks like that these partners-in-crime would see to the demise of the country to decamp to foreign lands of their choice where they have been saving their illicit wealth for years, even decades.

Is there no end in sight? Will there be no end to this all-consuming greed?

The country is burning without respite, yet the charade of talks with the criminal militant groups is continuing. There are even statements from the government of considerable progress having been made in these talks. This is in spite to a list of fifteen demands that the militants have publicised for talks to proceed further including an end to the drone attacks, introduction of the Islamic system in educational institutions, introduction of Sharia law in

‘Scary but real-time fears! It is so quiet. The only sound that is heard is that of the bombings and the bullets fired to kill by the militants. Few have the courage to speak out against the continuing outrage. I asked the same gentleman, who had vowed not to oppose the taking over by the army this time around, about the reasons for this debilitating silence “May be we are tired”, he said. May be, we really are.’ the courts, restoration and remuneration for damage to property during drone attacks, release of Pakistani and foreign Taliban detained in (Pakistani) prisons, shift of control of the tribal areas to local forces, withdrawal of all criminal allegations against the Taliban, withdrawal of army from the tribal areas and closing down of the check posts there, release of prisoners from both sides, jobs for victims of the drone attacks, equal rights for all including the poor and the rich, detachment from the Us war on terror, abolition of the interest-based system in the country, open clemency for all Taliban commanders and replacement of the democratic system with the Islamic system.

Is the government in denial of these demands? Is this the ploy that it is using to buy time to impose the Sharia in the country that would elevate the incumbent prime minister to the status of the Amir ul Momeneen – a cherished dream that he has been trying to fulfil for over fifteen years now? The only thing that he does not realise is that, by changing his constituency to the militants of the country, he would not be able to win the legitimacy that is required for him to be accepted as their leader. There are innumerable others who have long laid claim on that coveted spot and who are more qualified to measure up to the benchmarks of such a title, reflecting the ultimate in regression, than he would ever be.

The country continues to resonate with explosions and killings on a daily basis.

There have been attacks right across the national expanse, from Peshawar to Karachi. People have been brutally butchered. Quite expectedly, the apologists have pinned the blame on those who want to sabotage the peace talks. The government is not willing to tell who these alleged saboteurs are, but is adamant that they don’t belong to the militant factions that it is negotiating with. That opens up the proverbial can of worms. Who are these militant factions the government is engaged in negotiations with and who are the alleged saboteurs who continue on the war path? And, if and when the so-called ongoing negotiations with some of these criminal militant groups come to a conclusion, how many saboteur groups that would continue fighting? If the government opts to combat these, will it be done together with the militant groups that have been won over by then? And, most important of all, what would be the price paid to these militant groups in terms of

surrendering Pakistan’s sovereignty and writ and the future of its people?

These and many more questions rattle the brain as the government continues to show increasing signs of weakness in the face of unremitting militant attacks resulting in countless deaths on a daily basis. There have even been reports of the alleged threat to the Kalash tribe that they should convert to Islam or face death. In a video released on their website, the militants have warned: “We want to make it clear to the Kalash tribe that they will be eliminated along with their protectors, the Western agents, if they don’t embrace Islam”. The international NGOs have also been singled out creating an “Israel-like” state in Chitral by attempting to protect the Kalash culture.

The Ismailis have also been accused of running schools, colleges and hostels where young men and women are given free education and brainwashed to take them away from Islam. The statement also accuses that the schools and hospitals run by the Aga Khan Foundation, which are free for members of the public, are “espionage tools in the hands of foreign powers”.

Meanwhile, the Taliban spokesperson shahidullah shahid told Newsweek that “our war is not restricted to Kayani or Pasha. Our frontline enemy is the Pakistan Army and its main characters. so, if we get an opportunity to target, we’ll attack”. This they promptly did by claiming responsibility for the attack in Karachi on a police van, Thursday last, that killed fifteen commandos and injured over forty.

These multifarious threats outline the contours of a new Pakistan that Nawaz sharif is trying to shape in conjunction with the militants of all hues and colours. The objective is to compromise the writ of the state to a point where ‘surrendering’ before the militant onslaught would be projected as the only option. In the process, the institutions of the state that the prime minister lives in perpetual fear of, the army and the judiciary, would also be defanged and rendered subservient to the over-riding will of one man – the Amir ul Momeneen, Dr. Nawaz sharif.

The prime minister could not realise his dream through the 15th amendment. But he could not get over the ardent ambition either. He has now opted for a more circuitous route that goes through the heartland of the Taliban and their avowed militant culture. This spells the ascendency of the writ of an individual over the voice of all state institutions combined. It aims at eliminating all possible centres of opposition to the imposition of the militant writ and their way of life that no one would be able to challenge. All avenues for doing so would be obliterated. The other state institutions would be forced to bow before the grandiose manifestations of an overlording ruler who would not tolerate even the slightest ripples of opposition to his throne. scary but real-time fears! It is so quiet.

The only sound that is heard is that of the bombings and the bullets fired to kill by the militants. Few have the courage to speak out against the continuing outrage. I asked the same gentleman, who had vowed not to oppose the taking over by the army this time around, about the reasons for this debilitating silence “May be we are tired”, he said. May be, we really are. g

C MYK

Pakistan’s privatisation evangelists Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

The ‘grand sale of the century’!

Aziz-ud-din AhmAd The writer is a political analyst and a former academic.

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he clock has swung from ZAB’s extreme of ‘nationalise everything’ to an equally egregious ‘privatise everything.’ This time privatisation includes not only industrial enterprises but also regulatory outfits.

Last week the CCI gave the green signal for what Dr hafeez Pasha describes as the ‘grand sale of the century.’

The white paper on “economy under Bhutto” released by Gen Zia in 1979 had called ZAB’s nationalisation as “ill-conceived, ill-prepared and inadequately analysed changes” which were “introduced in a hurry, with only short-term policy objectives in view”. The same could be said about the privatisation exercise currently being carried out under Nawaz Sharif.

There is a need to maintain a balance instead of moving like a pendulum from one extreme to another. Privatisation might be necessary in case of some enterprises but it would harm society in case of others.

Meanwhile there is a need to revisit the arguments given in favour of across the board privatisation.

It is maintained that bureaucrats are not trained to run the industries while politicians misuse state owned enterprises, turning them into sick units. They dole out lucrative jobs to cronies, oblige party workers and overburden the state owned enterprises (SOes) with superfluous employees .This makes the enterprises inefficient and they start haemorrhaging the economy, The critics of state sector enterprises give the example of Pakistan Railways, PIA, Pakistan Steel Mills, PSO and power sector. There is no doubt that these units have turned into white elephants but to maintain that this was entirely on account of state ownership is telling only half the truth.

The privatision evangelists consider that state ownership of enterprises invariably leads to inefficiencies.

“It is not the government’s job to do business,” says Mohammad Zubair, chairman of the Board of Investment.

Why should we privatise, asks Farrukh Salim? Then he offers five reasons to support privatisation: private-sector owners behave differently from public sector managers, the private sector world over is more efficient, it is useful to isolate commercial entities from political interference, privatisation in a number of countries has resulted in higher economic growth and finally privatisation will bring in money to fill the government deficit.

What the privatisation evangelists fail to see is that more than anything else the failures in Pakistan’s SOe’s are caused by bad governance rather than state ownership. Bad governance leads to corruption both in the case of state enterpirses and on the part of private entrepreneurs.

Industrial efficiency requires an environment which besides competition promotes merit, rewards hard work and

‘Irrespective of whether it is the private sector or the state controlled sector, the crucial issue is that of governance and accountability. In the absence of these neither sector can perform satisfactorily.’

innovation and discourages cronyism. The environment of the sort is dependent on provision of adequate rules and regulations, oversight mechanisms, and strong and independent bodies to punish lawbreakers irrespective of their position or political connections. To put it briefly good governance and rule of law alone can ensure industrial efficiency. The developed countries practicing free market economy have this. So do China, India, Brazil, and Russia where numerous enterprises comprise SOes. India has turned the biggest Railway in the world into a state-run but thriving venture. Numerous large and small enterprises in China remain under government control, and is contributing to its over 15-year long era of high growth rates.

Interestingly in 2008, the Conservative government nationalised numerous banks in the UK while the private sector auto industry as well as some of the banks in the US had to be bailed out by Obama administration after they

‘What the privatisation evangelists fail to see is that more than anything else the failures in Pakistan’s SOE’s are caused by bad governance rather than state ownership. Bad governance leads to corruption both in the case of state enterpirses and on the part of private entrepreneurs.’

‘Privatisation in the 1990s and the decade did not have favourable impact on the growth of the GDP, investment and employment, argues Dr Akhtar Hasan Khan, former federal secretary and author of ‘The Impact of Privatisation in Pakistan’.’

suffered heavy losses.

A look at the result of the earlier experiments in privatisation in Pakistan would bring out the reality.

Analysing the impact of privatisation in Pakistan in the 1990s, the Asian Development Bank pointed out in a 1998 report that only 22 per cent of the privatised units performed better than in the pre-privatisation period; 44 per cent performed the same whereas approximately a third (34 per cent) performed worse.

And how satisfactory is the privatisation of the PTCL and the KeSC? Concerns have been expressed about extensive labour layoffs and continued injection of public-sector resources into the privatised entities.

Privatisation in the 1990s and the decade did not have favourable impact on the growth of the GDP, investment and employment, argues Dr Akhtar hasan Khan, former federal secretary and author of ‘The Impact of Privatisation in Pakistan’.

Incidents were reported in the media showing that in a few cases units offered for privatisation were purchased for the valuable real estate rather than their industrial worth. The owners dismissed the workers , sold off the machinery and used the land for commercial purposes.

Reports continue to appear in the media revealing cases where private enterprises show higher profits not through efficiency but through illegal practices that include stealing power and gas, dodging taxes and evading the implementation of factory-cum-labour laws.

While compromising on industrial safety enhances profits it has during the last few years led to major human disasters. In September 2012, a fire in the Karachi garments factory killed 258. This would not have happened if the ‘efficient’ owner had not saved money on providing emergency exits and had made better, though more costly, arrangements for stopping theft rather than putting iron bars on the windows that stopped workers from jumping out when the fire broke out. As an employee told the media, “The owners were more concerned with safeguarding the garments in the factory than the workers.”

A few days earlier absence of emergency exits, another measure to maximise profits, had led to 21 workers burnt alive in a Lahore shoe making factory the same year.

Inefficiency and corruption alone are not responsible for lesser profits earned by SOes. . Another reason is that they do not indulge in theft or compromise on industrial safety while at the same time providing full revenues to the state.

In Pakistan, the state-owned enterprises have not always been in the red. People still cherish the memories of a period when the lean and mean PIA provided world class service and rubbed shoulders with the best international airlines. One needs to remind the critics of the SOes that PIA then was a state owned enterprise rather than a private company. For two decades after Partition, Pakistan Railways ran on time, its restaurants provided both Pakistani and Western cuisine to travelers; it had separate coupes for couples and offered travel facilities to people in some of the remotest regions of the country.

Was it then being run by the private sector?

This was possible because Pakistan was still under the hangover of the British era when rules and regulations were implemented and acceptance for corruption had yet not become universal. enterprises that play important role in people’s livelihood like the railways must remain in state control. Private sector would never run trains on routes that do not bring profits while people in far flung areas need them. State sector has to be present in certain food industries like ghee, sugar, milk products to discourage monopolies in the sector, maintain standards and keep prices within limits affordable for the common man.

Irrespective of whether it is the private sector or the state controlled sector, the crucial issue is that of governance and accountability. In the absence of these neither sector can perform satisfactorily.

As economist Akbar Zaidi has put it: “Many of the largest, most successful firms in the service industry and in manufacturing, are all owned by the state whether in China, India, Brazil, Russia, and even in bastions of free-market enterprise. The Economist magazine carried a special report on the rise of state capitalism, showing how numerous governments now owned very large corporations which were highly profitable.

Clearly, the private/public dichotomy is a false distinction.” g www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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CMY K

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

The talks about the talks Has popular media allowed Taliban apologists to waltz onto centre stage? Are they a graver threat than militants?

SHAHAb JAfry The writer is a Lahore-based journalist and can be reached at jafry.shahab@gmail.com

I

F the prime minister’s insistence on talking to the Taliban, along with the blatant, religious-right tilt of his negotiating team, raised disturbing questions about his preferred counterinsurgency (CoIN) strategy, the talks about the talks, especially on popular electronic media, seem to have removed any remaining sanity from the exercise.

And in entertaining the mulla lobby and its apologists on prime time talk shows, mainstream media has allowed extreme right tendencies to snatch centre stage, much to the concern of lesser radical segments of society.

The talks initiative was a surprise to begin with, coming after weeks of clear indications of military action in North Waziristan (NW). Then the PM’s team was an instant give away – representing factions sympathetic to the Taliban to talk to a group openly advocating Taliban ideals. Then came the sharia-or-constitution confusion, with Molana Aziz ruling out talks prior to countrywide imposition of Taliban reading of Islamic law and Molana Sami claiming otherwise. And then more contradictions; PM Sharif expecting “good news” from the Taliban the same day news reports of the latter praising Mulla Fazlullah’s khalifa credentials came out, etc.

And since the first fortnight of talks featured more than an attack a day, the overwhelming presence of religious clerics, and their press and political sympathisers, on mainstream media is stoking doubt about the real forces pushing for talks, and their intentions.

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The apologisTs Clerical circles, including political parties like JI and JUI, have long lobbied for a stricter religious outlook of society than the constitution has allowed. They shared Islamabad’s fondness for Afghanistan’s Taliban regime of the ‘90s, and continued to promote their jihadi cause even after the Musharraf regime’s about turn after 9/11.

This cleavage widened after the ’07 Lal Masjid operation, when militant government proxies housed in Punjab rebelled and joined the TTP, and the insurgency subsequently spread deeper into the country’s settled areas.

In the years since, secular society outcast Molana Aziz and company as representing militant groups at war with the state, clearly lumped with the TTP’s sharia-or-else crusade. And religious segments, outraged at the operation, trumpetted him as a symbol of resistance to westernbacked tyranny.

And right-of-centre religious parties, stretching between maintaining political relevance and sharia affiliations, were in a constant state of to-and-fro.

Munawar Hasan defended his “martyr” title for Hakeemullah Mehsud, then got the Jamat to praise the military’s sacrifices. He even coined the term “living martyr” for Hafiz Saeed for his presence on America’s hit list.

Molana Sami, when first charged

by PM Sharif to talk to the Taliban, claimed the TTP was not at war with the state but rather at war to defend the state. All the while these groupings maintained ties with Molana Aziz, whose claim to fame was not the Lal Masjid incident, but an earlier fatwa barring Islamic burials for the military’s martyrs in the war on terror.

And these ties have come to the fore after the prime minister’s peace initiative. Molana Aziz is on the Taliban’s negotiating team, and graces TV screens for a couple of hours every day. Molana Sami, on the same team, also comes in daily doses, dragging public opinion further to the right. But these

ood of Shahidullah Shahid to clarify the Karachi bombing. But what of the earlier attacks, numbering at least one-a-day since the talks began? Was the TTP playing its usual hide and seek or was it really taken by surprise? And if it was, will such attacks continue or will a formal ceasefire really bring lasting peace within sight?

These questions raise more unsettling questions. For example, we have known for some time that the TTP has had funding and arming links with Afghanistan’s security service, the NdS, and, most likely, with our old friends in India’s RAW. The irony of how those opposed to the TTP’s Afghan Taliban mentors are facilitating their jihad against US-backed Pakistan is not lost on those familiar with different players who have called for Sharia from the rugged badlands of FATA. And if this

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Clerical circles, including political parties like JI and JUI, have long lobbied for a stricter religious outlook of society than the constitution has allowed.

They shared Islamabad’s fondness for Afghanistan’s Taliban regime of the ‘90s, and continued to promote their jihadi cause even after the Musharraf regime’s about turn after 9/11 voices would not have mattered if not for other, more mainstream forces.

“These molanas were always secondary voices with little relevance”, said Saifullah Mehsud, executive director at the fata research centre, an Islamabad based think tank with special focus on the insurgency.

“But they have been given prominence by political forces favouring negotiations, notwithstanding the Taliban’s continuing aggression against the state”.

The PTI’s posture since the May ’13 general election, and chairman Imran Khan’s personal comments specifically, seems to have played a central role in creating political confusion that put proponents of use of force on the back foot. And with the youth his party galvanised to campaign against corruption and tax evasion instead blocking nato supply routes and condemning drone strikes, the TTP-as-victims image began gaining prominence.

This confusion allowed other voices, especially from within the media, to spin the TTP’s suicide attacks and minority persecution as part of greater efforts to promote a more Islamic society.

Had it not been for the PTI’s long campaign in defence of militants as wronged tribesmen, Molana Aziz and the like would never have been able to imply on public TV that

50,000 lives is a small price to pay for sharia.

“With his wave of support prior to the elections, Imran could have come out very strongly against militancy, with the youth firmly behind him. But he seems to have a very different political agenda”, added Mr Mehsud.

Imran Khan has also angered the military, most recently by the revelation of PM Sharif’s concern (allegedly briefed by the military) that the army is only 40 per cent capable of carrying out an operation in NW. “Nonsense!” said CoIN officials, requesting anonymity.

“The army has been losing men and material all the while this talk of talks has been going on”.

Rather than being unprepared or unwilling, the military believes it can sweep through the region in a matter of weeks. And while the implied timeline may be a little ambitious, there is no mistaking the intent in CoIN circles.

“The military is subservient to the polity. So let them play out the talks, before we move in for decisive action,” they added.

The Media dominant electronic media has long been accused of simply gathering and presenting information, foregoing the most important component of news management – processing information. And right through the war against terrorism, it has concentrated on sensationalism, which is one reason why much of the public is still confused about the state and place of militancy, morality and sharia in society.

And as the government put its weight behind talks, media pundits believe they made the logical decision to project the position of the other side. “don’t forget they (Taliban committee) are genuine stakeholders in the negotiations”, said Arshad Sharif, prominent prime time talk show host at one of the leading private channels.

“These actors have been legitimised by the state, and once that stamp of approval comes, the media is only doing its duty by giving them room”.

They’ll do it again particular call is being financed by CIA money rolled through Kabul, just like petrodollars bankrolled the original Soviet jihad, then its driving force cannot really be Sharia-or-die-trying, can it? Strange that foreign backing for the TTP has not come up even once in the dialogue process.

Then there’s the make-up of the TTP, an umbrella organisation comprising splinter groups. Ch Nisar’s good offices put their number (repeatedly) at around 40. But the interior ministry fails to read out the fine print alongside the numerical strength.

These tribal militias were spun into a loosely controlled conglomerate by Al Qaeda fighters and funds fleeing

Afghanistan. Their aim was to expand the jihad by slowly bleeding the Pakistani state and dismantling its military through coercion, conversion, and head-on confrontation. Considering the foreign influences, it’s far more likely that these militias banded together for promises of greater riches and power as opposed to the fierce reading of Sharia they allegedly wish to impose across the country. Yet the government takes their word at face value, and the media floods extreme right religious views, favouring the Sharia perception.

There’s one more thing. Supposing the Al Qaeda, NdS, etc, link is real (which it is), then peace through talks is an impossibility.

While other senior presenters were unavailable for comment, Mr Arshad Sharif believes there is nothing sensational about how the media is handling these negotiations.

“The debate these days is as important as it is interesting, it is about the very identity of the state”, he added.

And if that means bombarding public opinion, already shaky, with radical Islam of the type created to program proxy militants since the days of the Soviet jihad, then so be it. Even if it implies ignoring the one-sided makeup of principal negotiating parties, and accepting complete absence of the worst persecuted religious and sectarian minorities, who have lost most since bomb blasts first announced the TTP’s campaign for sharia.

The PTI’s posture since the May ’13 general election, and chairman Imran Khan’s personal comments specifically, seems to have played a central role in creating political confusion that put proponents of use of force on the back foot.

And with the youth his party galvanised to campaign against corruption and tax evasion instead blocking nato supply routes and condemning drone strikes, the TTP-as-victims image began gaining prominence He did, however, agree that “if the media steps out of its circle of observing, analysing, and reporting, it is simply not doing its job”.

So far, these efforts, supposedly following government policy, have given those in active war against the state equal representation, as equal stakeholders, even as the TTP’s militancy has grown right through the talks. g

Surely the funds and arms are not routed to FATA to enforce Islamic law in Pakistan.

And should certain proxies really lean to an accommodated settlement with the state, wouldn’t it suit outside controllers to divert the goodies to other, more compliant groups? And this might just explain the rise in attacks since Mr Sharif’s bright fourmember-committee idea.

Interestingly, while the government bends over backwards to talk and the media trumpets extreme right religious and political ideology, the military’s careful silence might just imply it understands the situation best, and is waiting for democracy and negotiations to run their course before a final showdown in North Waziristan. Till then the TTP will recalibrate, just like it did before Karachi, and it will strike again. g – Shahab Jafry

C M YK

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

InTernaTIonal

Pakistan kneels to the Taliban Just when Pakistan needs a prime minister capable of uniting the country and laying down the political groundwork for action against the TTP, it instead has a leader who is regarded with growing resentment by those outside his core religious and ethnic base War on The rocks Myra MacDonalD

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akistan has been in a state of perpetual crisis for so long that it can be easy to miss the periodic lurches that bring it closer to state collapse. One such step-change is underway now, triggered by Prime Minister nawaz sharif’s decision to hold talks with the tehreek-e-taliban Pakistan (ttP). Even for a country that has history of pulling itself back from the brink, this particular lurch downwards is one of the more alarming in years. at issue is not the talks per se, but the form they are taking, which is legitimising and emboldening the ttP. it is also the context. sharif’s approach to the talks has raised suspicions that he is interested only in protecting Punjab, Pakistan’s biggest province and his political heartland. that in turn has exacerbated ethnic divisions, undermining further the authority and the integrity of the state. the ttP and their allies – who are demanding the imposition of their form of sharia across Pakistan – are positioning themselves to fill the vacuum.

Talks Gamble at first glance, sharif’s announcement last month that he would give talks with the ttP one last chance looked relatively sensible. although Pakistan’s attitude to the anti-state militant factions that operate under the ttP umbrella has been hardening after a string of bomb attacks, there is still no consensus on how to tackle them. By offering talks, sharif would in theory be able to drum up public support for tough action against the ttP in the event of the near-inevitable failure of those negotiations. He would buy time to prepare for the backlash of bombings in Pakistani cities most expect will occur if and when a military operation against the ttP in the Federally administered tribal areas (Fata) commenced. and he would neutralize his political rivals – notably imran khan, the pro-talks leader of the Pakistan tehreek-einsaf (Pti), which runs khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. the United states seems to be going along with this logic, at least judging by reports that it is holding off on drone strikes in Fata while the talks are underway to avoid providing an excuse for their failure. the ttP, however, have turned the tables on the government. they are using the negotiations as their biggest opportunity for selfaggrandizement since their faction in swat, khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, signed a peace agreement with Pakistan in 2009. (the Pakistan army later cleared out the so-called swat taliban after they terrorized the local population and began encroaching further into the country’s heartland.) after sharif named a four-man committee of mostly nongovernment representatives to hold talks, the ttP responded in kind by

appointing their own committee of mediators – thus demonstrating through the process itself their longstanding claim to be treated as equal stakeholders. their move met with no pushback by the government.

Both sides – the government committee and the mediators – include men with varying degrees of sympathy for the taliban; thus guaranteeing that their views, rather than those of the government, would take center stage in public perception. Moreover, the ttP, and their mediators, have publicly stressed a maximalist position of imposing sharia across the country. the result has been to make more palatable what appears, only by contrast, to be a minimalist position of ceding Fata to the ttP. Meanwhile, there is little sign of much being done to prepare for the backlash of bombings in Pakistani cities if talks fail and the army moves against the ttP in north Waziristan. a long-promised new national security plan to improve law enforcement and intelligencegathering capabilities is still on the drawing board. the public support that would be needed to sustain a campaign against the ttP is being frittered away as the media gives increased airtime to taliban sympathizers and even ttP spokesmen. Right-wing television anchors are only too happy to give prominence to taliban supporters; but to ensure its message is heard across-the-board, the taliban have also directly threatened media companies. Despite declining an offer by the ttP to be included among their nominated mediators, imran khan is sticking solidly to his pro-talks line.

WaTchinG The miliTary a significant part of the problem is that sharif does not have ultimate authority over security, which rests with the military. and sharif has reasons to be wary. When he was last prime minister in 1999, he was

blamed for ordering Pakistan’s humiliating retreat from a border war with india in the kargil region of disputed kashmir. Later that year, he was overthrown in a coup

by General Pervez Musharraf. He is unlikely now to take the risk of demanding tough action against militants without being sure he has the military and its inter-services intelligence (isi) agency solidly on his side. and nobody knows exactly what their intentions are.

For more than a decade, the military and isi have played “Good taliban, Bad taliban,” preserving some proxies for use in afghanistan or against india while fighting others who turned against the Pakistani state. this was never going to work – all these groups have links, both ideological and opportunistic. the army appears eager to fight the ttP, which has killed many of its own men, and routinely denies giving support to those militants who remain loyal to Pakistan. Yet it continues to back or tolerate some, while fighting others. the afghan taliban and Haqqani network still enjoy sanctuary and a measure of active support for their insurgency in afghanistan. the extent of this support has been a cause of bitter dispute between the United states and Pakistan in the past. Meanwhile Hafez saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-taiba militant group behind the november 2008 attacks on Mumbai, has had a prominent public role for a while. Last month, Masood azhar, the leader of the outlawed Jaish-e-Mohammad blamed for an attack on the indian parliament in December 2001, resurfaced to urge a rally to take revenge against india over kashmir. such mixed signals over the official tolerance among the security services for militants contributes to a tortuous guessing game between politicians and the military, so that the only players with certainty of purpose are the ttP and their allies.

savinG Punjab if sharif’s role relative to the military is uncertain, his political position is also on weak ground. His political support has never stretched much beyond Punjab, where his PML-n party has in the past made alliances with Punjab-based extremist groups, either for electoral gain or to keep the province quiet and insulate its economy. With the other three provinces, khyberPakhtunkhwa, sindh and Balochistan bearing the brunt of taliban bombings, anger against Punjab is rising, as is suspicion about sharif’s motives in holding talks with the ttP. sharif’s closeness to saudi arabia – he went into exile there after the 1999 coup – is also unsettling to shia and other religious minorities who are especially wary of the ttP’s sunni agenda and have been victims of numerous sectarian attacks. it is an article of faith among many shia that some of the factions responsible for sectarian violence receive funding from saudi arabia. so just when Pakistan needs a prime minister capable of uniting the country and laying down the political groundwork for action against the ttP, it instead has a leader who is regarded with growing resentment by those outside his core religious and ethnic base. it doesn’t help that the ttP are wrongly identified with the Pashtun tribesmen who live in Fata because that is where the taliban, along with their arab, afghan, Central asian and Punjabi allies, have established safe havens. Events since 2001 may have molded the ttP in their current form, but historically, Punjab was the wellspring of militancy in Pakistan. Conceived by the military as a means of restraining Pashtun nationalism in afghanistan and countering india in kashmir, this centrally created militancy was grafted onto Fata. Over the years, traditional tribal structures eroded, creating the space for what is nowadays a complex hybrid

insurgency with links throughout Pakistan. Many Punjabi militants moved to Fata over the last decade or so, fuelled by declining support for kashmir, an eagerness to take part in the afghan war, and ad hoc crackdowns carried out by Pakistan under international pressure. the false equation between the ttP and Pashtun tribesmen has, however, allowed Punjab to sidestep its own role in nurturing or tolerating extremism. More dangerously, it could mean that any eventual government crackdown will specifically target Pashtuns, both inside and outside Fata, fragmenting the country further. such fears were reinforced by comments made last month by Punjab Law Minister Rana sanaullah – who has campaigned publicly in the past with leaders of the Punjabbased anti-shia group that spawned the ttP-allied Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. in an interview with the Guardian, he said the government would carry out operations in 174 areas of Punjab where Pashtuns had settled to prevent a backlash in the event of a new military operation in Fata. For a country with a terrible record of ethnic violence – from the treatment of Bengalis in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) in 1971 to the crushing of Baloch separatists – such selective targeting would only make matters worse. reTreaT of The sTaTe the upshot of all this is that instead of using the time created by sharif’s offer of talks to the ttP to prepare better for their failure, the state is looking more and more uncertain. the public is confused and ethnic groups divided. the prime minister is focused on his Punjab stronghold – itself only superficially safe given the large presence of militants there. Beyond Punjab, from Peshawar to Quetta to karachi, the ttP and its allies exploit poor law enforcement to expand their influence through bombings, kidnapping and extortion. numerous politicians and pundits, most notably imran khan, continue to confuse supporters too young to remember events before 2001 by blaming the United states for all Pakistan’s problems and equating militancy with Pashtun tribesmen angered by U.s. drone strikes. the military remains as inscrutable as ever.

Meanwhile, the ttP is using the time to regroup, win legitimacy and cow Pakistanis – both individually and collectively – into ceding to their demands. With only some 35,000 fighters, they can’t overrun Pakistan. But they don’t need to. they just need to take advantage of the vacuum opened up by a retreating state to expand their influence. Fear will do the rest.

Myra MacDonald is a former Reuters journalist who has worked in Europe, the Middle East and South Asia. She was Chief Correspondent in France and Bureau Chief in India. After publishing Heights of Madness, a book on the Siachen war between India and Pakistan, she has focused in recent years on writing about Pakistan. g www.pakistantoday.com.pk

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C M YK

Black History Month

but progress has been incomplete. the legacy of racism is still with us and profound challenges to equality remain WAshington WAtCh

Dr JAMes J Zogby

The writer is President, Arab American Institute, Washington.

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his is Black history Month in the United states – a time to reflect on the contributions African Americans have made to our nation’s history and to take note of the progress that has been made in advancing racial equality and the challenges that remain.

A special focus of this year’s programmes will mark the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964 by the then President Lyndon Johnson. That historic legislation marked a turning point in American life, ending racial discrimination in public accommodations. in this context, Black history Month provides an opportunity to reflect on a past we should never forget and the extent to which the legacy of racial inequality is still with us.

Growing up in the North in the 1950s, i was mostly unaware of the segregation laws that governed the southern states. in school we were

‘The reality is otherwise. In fact, discrimination and inequality still define American life. Most American cities, for example, remain racially divided, with blacks living in the poorest neighborhoods. These areas oftentimes have substandard schools and inadequate health care facilities.’ taught about our nation’s long civil war and the abolition of slavery — but not much more.

With the advent of the civil rights movement, my generation was shocked into an awareness of the reality of racism and its impact on the lives and fortunes of Black Americans. Our schools didn’t teach us about ‘white-only’ water fountains and restrooms, lunch counters, businesses, schools, and

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housing. And they hadn’t taught us about the restrictions that were placed on the right to vote.

Nor did we learn about the brilliant Black writers, artists, scientists, explorers, and other heroes who had contributed to so much, only to be denied recognition and, oftentimes, the fruits of their labours.

This is what made Black history Month necessary. it was not to teach a separate history, but to provide a corrective to the skewed history we had been taught, so as to insure that future generations benefited from a more complete telling of the American story.

Legislation banning discrimination, insuring the right to vote, and creating new opportunities for those who had been victims of discrimination did create new possibilities for African Americans.

Colleges and universities were forced to open their doors; Affirmative Action provided some needed correction in hiring practices; a new generation of African Americans won elections to public office; and through the efforts of civil rights pioneer Jesse Jackson businesses were pressed to award franchises to black entrepreneurs helping to create a new black middle class.

But progress has been incomplete. The legacy of racism is still with us and profound challenges to equality remain.

Ever since the passage of the Civil Rights Bill, some politicians saw fit to play off of the resultant backlash of white fear and resentment. Political campaigns were waged and elections were won by those who exploited this sentiment, in ways that were subtle and not so subtle. Warnings about ‘welfare fraud’, ‘crime’, and the unfairness of ‘affirmative action’ became coded ways of exploiting white fears.

Even today with an African American in the White house, the shrill attacks from elements of the Tea Party establish the persistence of race and fear as factors in our politics. The charges that the president is ‘not like us’, ‘not born here’, ‘not a real American’, emanate from a movement that polling shows is made up of individuals who are disproportionately white, middle aged, and male; and who believe that blacks are favored by government and have unfair advantages over whites.

The reality is otherwise. in fact, discrimination and inequality still define American life. Most American cities, for example, remain racially divided, with blacks living in the poorest neighborhoods. These areas oftentimes have substandard schools and inadequate health care facilities. Overall, Black Americans are disproportionately poor and black unemployment is double that of whites. As a result of this endemic poverty and lack of opportunity more than one-third of all African American males under the age of 39 are in the Us prison system (either awaiting trial, serving time, or on parole).

And so even with the progress that has been made, real work remains to make the promise of America real for all its citizens. Those who charge that Black history Month makes us ‘color conscious’ or who decry civil rights legislation alleging that it favors one group over another - miss the point.

The goals of both are to erase the color lines that have distorted our history and our present day reality, in order to make us ‘a more perfect union’ that provides equal opportunity for all. g

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

What ails Congress?

Dwivedi may have diagnosis out of turn

MJ AkbAr

The writer is a leading Indian journalist and author. He is the Editor-in-Chief of The Sunday Guardian. He has also served as Editorial Director of India Today.

e

LECTiON time is not the best season for a harvest of good sense, let alone acute insight. it prefers the familiar, driving roadtested clichés to exhaustion. it was surprising therefore that Janardhan Dwivedi, a Congress general secretary, should choose an election eve to launch a long-distance trident that punctures three fundamental positions of his party. he acknowledges, courageously, that the present government has been a political disaster; he bemoans the rise of a new plutocracy within that is distant from the indian voter; and he undermines the caste-reservations formula that has been a populist pillar of the entire democratic hierarchy. Dwivedi has lifted debate from that usual mundane swamp of me-too pandering.

Dwivedi says that Congress should not have formed the national government in 2009 despite a dramatic rise in seats and vote share. What precisely does he mean? After all, the only experience sweeter than election is re-election. it flies in the face of conventional logic that a political party should spurn such extraordinary endorsement. The talk within the beaming circles of Congress in 2009 was that they had created the base for a second high jump in 2014.

But Dwivedi suggests something far more audacious. he believes Congress, after having demolished BJP, should have challenged voters with a new dialectic. The new choice would not be between a resurgent Congress and crippled BJP, but between a coalition fatally flawed by compromise, and stable government.

Because Congress did not raise this question in 2009, Narendra Modi is in a position to ask it now. sonia Gandhi and Manmohan singh had a perfect opportunity to create electoral history in those dramatic few days in May 2009 between their triumph and UPA2’s oath of office, when DMK threatened to withdraw support if its minister, A Raja, was not given the telecommunications portfolio. The reason had nothing to do with politics and everything to do with corruption.

Manmohan did not want to give telecommunications to DMK precisely because he knew it amounted to blackmail. The moment he succumbed, he lost that invaluable asset called moral authority. he could never regain it. if he had taken a risk, and gone back to the people in 2010, or even early 2011, asking for a single-party mandate, there would neither have been the shadow of Anna hazare in the background nor the sight of Modi

in the foreground. Or, as Dwivedi notes, Congress could have chosen to sit on opposition benches and waited for the slapdash alternative to crumble. By 2011 it could have blossomed into a 300-seat party.

Politics has no space for lostand-found options. What is lost, remains lost. Dwivedi’s suggestion that the time has come to reconsider job and political reservations based on caste already seems lost in the immediate din. At one level, this will be written off as a Brahmin’s lament.

Dwivedi, as his surname indicates, is a Brahmin. if this is nothing more than special pleading to woo Brahmins back towards Congress, then it is either irrelevant or counter-productive, since every Congress ally, or potential ally, is a personification of caste politics.

(Watch out for Bihar, to begin with.)

But if this is designed to initiate a debate, then we are on to something.

A core problem with indian democracy is the sanctimonious worship of sacred cows. some issues are placed on an altar high above all levels of debate. Even discourse is sacrilege. it is not a question of right and wrong; or, more accurately, if what was right six decades ago continues to remain equally right today. One could make a persuasive case that reservations for dalits should remain in force for another five decades. But why should any subject be banished from discussion?

Why cannot we introduce the thought of amendments: that those dalits or backward castes who have flourished

‘Dwivedi, who comes from the Hindi heartland, traces the decline in Congress to its inability to seed regional leaders who were not educated abroad, or speak fluent English, or are “experts of new technology”. This is an unambiguous attack on the culture spawned by Rahul Gandhi, and endorsed by Sonia, without whose support Rahul might still be an understudy rather than an heir apparent.’ from reservations should be excluded from further positive discrimination so that benefits can accrue to the less fortunate among them?

Dwivedi, who comes from the hindi heartland, traces the decline in Congress to its inability to seed regional leaders who were not educated abroad, or speak fluent English, or are “experts of new technology”. This is an unambiguous attack on the culture spawned by Rahul Gandhi, and endorsed by sonia, without whose support Rahul might still be an understudy rather than an heir apparent. Perhaps Dwivedi’s own career is on the wane since he is not an Englishwallah. But that does not make him wrong.

An obituary mixes sweet with sour, with less emphasis on the sour. The dead deserve charity. A doctor’s diagnosis is the opposite. if you cannot identify what has gone wrong, you will never discover how to set it right. Dwivedi deserves a doctorate. g

CMY K

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

Syrian abyss heightens stakes the country has become a nightmarish tinderbox for the volatile middle east and the world at large ali imran

The writer is a Washington-based journalist.

T

he international community is finally recognizing the real extent of dangers the three-year deep Syrian abyss now poses to the Middle east and the world beyond.

Amid an unabated spree of death and destruction in the Arab country, intelligence reports indicate much more deadly involvement of foreign elements and see wider implications of the conflict. Meanwhile, the UN push to address the situation remains inconclusive.

American Intelligence officials warn that the Syrian civil war has become one of the biggest magnets for extremists around the globe since CIA-backed militants fought to oust Soviet troops from Afghanistan in the 1980s, a war that ultimately gave rise to al-Qaeda, the Los Angeles Times revealed last week.

James Clapper, the U.S. director of national intelligence, says that “7,500 or so” foreign fighters are in Syria from 50 countries, while another U.S. official says at least 50 Americans have joined the extremist groups fighting to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

The BBC disclosure that hundreds of British nationals are reportedly in Syria to fight against government forces and that a

British man may have carried out a suicide bombing in the Syrian city of Aleppo last week, point to the serious repercussions the conflict has for various parts of the world.

One in 10 foreign militants is believed to be from europe.

In the meantime, Syrian suffering seems to have no end in sight with thousands of people living on grass in besieged homs, bombs raining on Aleppo, the largest city of the country, thousands more including women and children starving to death in Yarmouk Camp, more than 130,000 already killed, thousands of activists jailed without fair trial, and millions more still pushed out of their homes to be left at the mercy of other nations and cruelties of sub-human existence.

Clearly, Syria has become a nightmarish tinderbox for the volatile Middle east and the world at large.

Assad’s brutal machinations, bloodletting by hezbollah and al-Qaeda-linked extremists, influx of foreign fighters, exodus of the peaceful Syrian citizens, sectarian strife, and tyranny of the world’s misplaced focus on superficial issues is beclouding the real and sustainable way forward - treatment of the wound left open by years of unbridled rule with impunity.

Then there is the backing of chosen proxies by some Western and Middle eastern states, Russia and Iran coupled with a constant supply of weapons to the Syrian groups that pose serious repercussions. The country is now feared to morph into another Afghanistan, a battlefield for competing ideologies, thugs, warlords and armed militias.

Given the time and space Syria is locked in, the emergence of another Afghanistan from the Syrian collapse may inflict a much more lethal mix of troubles regionally, for the Arab country is sensitively bordered by Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Iraq and Jordan.

Some of the serious implications stemming from the conflict include: movement of al-Qaeda from Iraq to Syria; alQaeda gaining a foothold along the Turkish border; increasing Iranian and hezbollah support for the Assad regime; Turkey’s backing of the Syrian Opposition; strained relations between Ankara and Teheran over Syria; emergence of a strong al-Qaeda in Lebanon; Israel’s strikes on Syrian military targets and its support for militants; paralyzing fallout for the Lebanese political system along sectarian lines; and inflow of Syrian refugees and weapons into Jordan along with the risk of militant infiltration into the Jordanian territory.

Internally, the trend to fight terror with terror threatens to plunge the country into a permanent cycle of violence between the Syrian civilian groups. The flawed deal on removing chemicals weapons from Syria might mitigate the intensity of the strife to some extent but it is the detoxification of the Syrian society that could ultimately rescue the country. And that can come through some kind of political reconciliation and formation of a pluralistic and inclusive government comprising genuine representatives of the people – a goal that looks distant at the moment.

If the civil strife festers, Syria faces horrible scenarios like permanent chaos and division. It risks becoming an epicenter of a regional conflagration, provoking a broader conflict among its neighbors.

The United States, meanwhile, has been trying to approach the complex Syrian standoff mainly diplomatically but many American critics say it is a case of doing too little and too late. In his State of the Union address, President Barack Obama touched on the explosive Syrian trouble but he would not spell

out a detailed plan for conflict management.

Some analysts interpret the absence of a cogent Obama comment on the Syrian situation as continuation of Washington’s retreat from action-oriented involvement in the Middle eastern imbroglios.

Andrew Bacevich J Bacevich, a professor of history and international relations, argued in a Washington Post piece recently that due to a combination of domestic opposition to wars and international factors, Obama is revoking former president Jimmy Carter’s doctrine of military involvement in the Middle east.

Obama also emphasized in that the U.S. must shift away from permanent war footing.

Washington seems determined to resist the temptation of any new military involvement, in the backdrop of vitiating implications of George W Bush’s Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Diplomatically, though, the Obama Administration has been engaged in an intensive diplomatic drive to find a viable solution to the Israeli-Palestinian dispute. But Tel Aviv’s decision on Jewish settlements on the occupied territories forestalls any meaningful progress. The Syrian conflict could also affect the long-running Middle east dispute equation.

As of now, experts see little hope in the UNArab League-brokered talks for a Syrian solution. Analysts believe a settlement would only emerge if one side in the conflict loses its will to fight and runs out of steam.

Meanwhile, will the United Nations allow Syria to bleed to death and stir up hordes of regional troubles? To prevent that deadly scenario, will the UN Security Council finally come together and take measures, perhaps under Chapter VII’s enforcement mandates and dispatch a fully equipped attack force (as in the case of Congo), composed of neutral countries, and restore peace in Syria? g

Drinking from the cup of destruction Saleem a Sethi

The writer is a freelance columnist and political analyst associated with a Pashto TV news channel. He can be reached at: sethisaleem1@gmail.com.

t

he critics of the government’s policy regarding the farce of negotiations were at long last proved wrong; the devil’s advocates, right. Chaudhry Nisar declared in Karachi on February 13 after the gruesome attack on a police bus, which killed 13 and injured 50 commandos, that peace talks cannot run parallel to such acts of war. It shows the government’s resolve, determination and clarity of mind it has about securing the state’s sovereignty and protecting its people.

You see, everything will now change; the government will move with vengeance, the syndicate of evil will finally be dealt with accordingly and peace restored in the land of the ‘neopure’– within 90 days, may be.

Pakistan was born with what Baber Ayaz has recently termed a ‘genetic defect’. And the physician who oversaw the labour died himself before cutting the umbilical cord and curing the defect. The case went into the hands of witch-doctors (without proper qualifications to lead) who prescribed Objectives Resolution, the likes of which was earlier tried in europe

with devastating effects in Dark Ages. The nascent state was treated with this outdated medicine for more than 66 years and the obtaining situation is for everyone to see – but not necessarily comprehend.

There is an enemy who has declared war on everyone that doesn’t look, live or think like him.

According to him everyone is punishable to death by cutting throat who violates his prescribed length of beard, hair in the groin area and shalwar. But the identical twin on this side still insists that he is our own; he is just misled and misunderstood. Let’s give him a chance to come back to us. Don’t mind his shenanigans.

And if he still doesn’t, then let’s go to him but peacefully and without even a verbal protest because that could irritate him. That, in turn, can provoke the army. And this can result in more bloodshed on their side, since we haven’t stopped dying during the past 12 years anyways.

Look at the circus of peace talks that is going on amid heightened extremists’ propaganda, veiled and open threats of death and destruction, 500 female suicide bombers and actual mayhem on the streets, cinemas, mosques and graveyard and police and armed forces’ barracks and buses.

But no one is allowed to talk against Taliban or call them even terrorists or murderers. Yes, that can derail the peace process.

Whether the peace process brings some tangible results for the state and the nation is yet to be seen. But what it has already done is something like this: It has provided a golden opportunity to Taliban and their cohorts to have maximum time on the media to propagate their inane ideology against the state in the garb of implementation of Sharia.

People have started accepting things that remained controversial for decades, like

inclusion of Objectives Resolution in the constitution as an Operative Part or mixing of religion and the affairs of the state, etc.

Media has swung to the terrorists’ side because of fear, the rating game and because of most of the anchorpersons that don’t have either the brains or courage to ask the right questions from the Maulvis which they invite to their talk shows.

The debate about politics, foreign policy, constitution and the future of the state has shrunk to a dialogue of the deaf among different shades of the Right and among religious clerics.

By nominating their representatives from amongst the political parties, Taliban have succeeded in carving out a soft corner among the leadership and supporters of those parties, further sharpening the divide and confusion in the public opinion. excluding the well-known anti-Taliban political parties, the members and parliamentarians of all the remaining parties and government ministers are busy advocating terrorists’ ideology and their causes in their attempt to prove that the talks option is the only correct available option.

The nation is being demoralised by the more simpletons amongst the political leaders and the Taliban-supporting clergy by telling that the state has almost no capacity to confront the terrorists head on.

Taliban have got the opportunity to launch attacks in the meanwhile and accept responsibility of some of these which they consider beneficial, to show to the people and the state that they are the ones who enjoy a position of strength and that it is the state which is on the run.

The situation has become so nonsensical and the level of debate has gone so absurd that news have started leaking out about some of the government committee’s members

contemplating opting out of the so-called peace process. But the supporters and advocates of Taliban, instead of feeling embarrassed, are becoming more emboldened. Take Maulana Samiul haq, for example, who said on Friday that Taliban have accepted that some of the ‘acts’ were carried out by them in self-defence (like attack in Karachi). But he again accused the ‘anti-Pakistan elements’ of being bent upon derailing the peace process. And your guess is better than mine to identify who this anti-Pakistan element can be because PML-N Senator Mushahidullah and PTI’s Imran Khan have already declared Taliban as pro-Pakistan and pro-constitution.

But the war is not confined just to this war of words and attacks on civil and military installations and personnel. The series of physical and psychological conquests of Taliban is continuing unabatedly. Cinemas in KP have shut down and people related to entertainment industry there have stopped work and have refused to invest anymore in the business. This is the actual state of their conquering and dictating the society.

What appears from the developments so far is that the Punjab-based ruling party and elite have made up their mind to avoid spilling over of the menace to Punjab by surrendering tribal areas and some parts of the KP to militants. They may have the power to do so, yet the people of KP will not accept such an eventuality. But even if they accept it for the time being under duress, Pakistan will be lost forever. It won’t be revived at any future date.

But in order to think of one’s own self and save one’s own individual skin it is advisable to join the bandwagon of the Taliban and the mullah and drink from the cup of destruction to be part of the mainstream. Welcome to theocracy, welcome to the land of the neopure, called the emirate of al-Bakistan. g www.pakistantoday.com.pk

09

Cover Story

CAn’t get enough of LLf Once again the literary festival comes to stimulate Lahore’s ancient intellectual and artistic sensitivities

i

by AnAm ZAkAriA

t was a grey day, overcast and drizzling softly. Not entirely common for February, which usually sees Lahoris welcome the onset of spring. A canopy of lush green leaves sheltered Lahore’s busy Mall Road from the potential downpour, as the rain dripped slowly onto pedestrians and cars. I drove along the Mall, slowly relishing the myriad red, yellow, and orange banners announcing the Lahore Literary Festival 2013, as they fluttered in the gentle February breeze. As I approached the Alhamra Arts Centre, official venue for the event, it was immediately evident that I was not the only person who’d thought of heading over early. Crowds in the thousands - children and adults alike - thronged the courtyards and entrance to the historic Arts Centre. Of course, Lahoris take great pride in our city’s fantastic cultural heritage. Lahore has long been known as Pakistan’s cultural capital; for centuries, this historic city has been a hotbed of literature, poetry, theatre, music, and art. It was therefore unsurprising to see the sheer joy and enthusiasm with which Lahoris greeted last year’s Lahore Literary Festival. For two fun-filled days of literature and dialogue, the Alhamra buzzed with palpable energy;

Lahore has long been known as Pakistan’s cultural capital; for centuries, this historic city has been a hotbed of literature, poetry, theatre, music, and art the echo of laughter and excited conversations filling the air, bouncing off the classic red-bricked walls of this historic centre for arts and culture.

I entered the venue, my pulse racing with anticipation. As I passed the registration desk, I noticed in front of me an LLF board displaying the names of all those present for the various sessions: there, amongst the many literary luminaries - including the likes of tariq Ali, Mohsin Hamid, and Bapsi Sidhwa - was my name, Anam Zakaria.

It was hard to stay standing. Even so, I managed, mingling amongst the hundreds of friends and acquaintances I kept bumping into. Following a sunny first day, us stalwart Lahoris were in no way discouraged by a ‘little bit’ of rainfall.

Indeed, I overheard some attendees enthuse that even the heavens had opened up to welcome Lahore’s first Lit Fest (and that the raindrops bouncing off the stylish LLF-logoed umbrellas were tears of joy that Lahore was once again witnessing a cultural revival and renaissance). truly, this is what the Alhamra was conceived for

10 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

- to be a gathering place for sharing ideas, and visions, and artistic expression.

Despite the grey skies above, there was a tangible aura of intellectual fervor. I glanced beside me to see Musharraf Ali Farooqi, renowned author and translator, standing with his LLF umbrella in hand.

Musharraf was entertaining fans, flocked around him, asking questions about his work and writing as a career.

I must confess that I too was one of those dreamy-eyed girls, star-struck by one of my favorite authors, despite being a writer myself.

I had just completed my first book, a non-fiction chronicle documenting the stories of travel between India and Pakistan, and the construction of the state ideology (the book is expected to be published later this year by Harper Collins India) - and had been selected to attend the panel on ‘Aspiring Writers’ (as described within the official schedule). I have to admit, the title of the session was a little misleading, as it did not refer to individuals who want to be writers, but rather amateur authors on their way to becoming professionals.

Earlier that morning, upon arriving at the Alhamra, I had met with my moderator for the talk, Afia Aslam, the founder of the Desi Writers’ Lounge blog.

We chatted about our upcoming session, peeking outside at the increasingly wet weather - our session had been scheduled to take place outdoors and we were understandably concerned as to how we’d manage any attendees given the dreary weather. As we spoke, the skies opened up and a veritable deluge soaked the crowd outside.

Yet despite the pouring rain, the Lahori crowds were not to be deterred. Families, friends, white-haired ladies and gents, fresh-faced teens and tweens, all meandered about the wet green lawns of the Alhamra, holding their LLF brollies aloft, figuring out which sessions to head to next. Luckily, the organisers were kind enough to adjust our session indoors: we were given a small corner, initially reserved for the Desi Writers’ Lounge; the furniture was removed and chairs crammed in. I sat on one side of the room, along with two other ‘aspiring writers’, Haroon Khalid and Kanza Javed, while Afia sat on the other side, moderating the session. During the session, we all read out small excerpts from our upcoming books. As I looked into the crowd, I was quite surprised to note that along with the requisite friends and family, there were more than a few unknown faces, most of them young school students, still in

their uniforms.

Of course, the questions that followed our session were as innocent as the faces from whence they came: “How do you overcome writers block?” “How do you choose a topic?”

“What should you do if no one believes that you have it in you to become a writer?” In that moment, I felt truly empowered as a writer - I was guiding young minds towards sharing the same goals and aspirations I have held my entire life. As I aspired to be a writer, they aspired to be like me. this year, the Lahore Literary Festival comes once again to the hallowed halls of the Alhamra. Realising the Lahori hunger for all things artistic and cultural, the organisers have added a third day to the schedule. And once again, the Festival promises to deliver - and then some!

According to the organisers - who are for

security reasons keeping relatively quiet about the main attractions - there will be over a hundred delegates from eight countries. I was particularly pleased to find out that Kamila Shamsie will be launching her new novel, A God in Every Stone; there are also several exciting panels on Punjabi literature - a welcome addition to last year’s schedule.

Some of the other big names participating include literary giant Zia Mohyeddin; internationally-acclaimed miniature artist Shahzia Sikander; poetess Zehra Nigah; and journalist and satirist Jugnu Mohsin. there will be a session celebrating the life and works of Mr Ardeshir Cowasjee, possibly one of Pakistan’s most brilliant columnists; scholar Pierre Alain Baud will

Sunday, 16-22 FEB, 2014

revisiting the inAugurAL LAhore LiterAry festivAL

The debut was an outright success, the follow-up promises bigger milestones by omAr JAmiL

“

talk about the legacy of the great Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan; attendees will be regaled during the session on Lahore’s lost daughter, Amrita Sher Gil; and of course, there will discussions galore by Pakistan’s young new writers on creating fiction.

Rain or shine, I expect the same warmth, colour, and vibrant atmosphere that brought Lahore to life in February 2013.

2014 promises to be bigger and better. LLF can’t happen often enough. g

As Mohsin Hamid commented during his session with Quddus Mirza, just seeing Lahore and the Alhamra packed with people of all ages, from all walks of life, was heartening beyond words

LAHORE. If I toss up the word and close my eyes, it conjures up gardens and fragrances... the splendor of thousands of private houses with their riot of spring flowers. the winter and spring air are heady. they make the blood hum.”

So writes the legendary Bapsi Sidhwa about Lahore and the debut Lahore Literary Festival (LLF).

Lahore, the city of festivals, music, language, politics, and cuisine, has also always been the hub of literature, bringing the “who’s who” of literary world together. Be it the Punjab Public Library - the oldest Pakistani Library— lying in the heart of the city, or the historically significant Pak-tea house, where notable writers and poets would gather to share their insights on art and literature, Lahore has truly remained the cynosure when it comes to literature. to keep up the traditions, Razi Ahmad founded and kicked off Lahore Literary Festival in 2013, whereby distinguished writers, journalists, artists, and educators flew in from within and outside the country to Lahore. the event turned out to be a huge success with over 30,000 attendees and about 60 panelists. these 60 panelists included some of the living legends of the literary world such as Intizar Husain, Ms Sidhwa, the ever-elegant Zehra Nigah, William Dalrymple, and Ahmed Rashid accompanied the likes of Mohsin Hamid, Mohammad Hanif, Daniyal Mueenuddin and tehmina Durrani on the same platform. As one visitor commented, “this is what the Alhamra was built for.” the Festival started on 22nd February 2013, with a full bang. On the inaugural dinner, hosted by the Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr. Shahbaz Sharif, Mr Husain, Ms Sidhwa, and Ms Nigah were honored for their tireless lifetime contributions to Pakistani literature. Mr. Sharif promised to extend his continuous support for such cultural events in future as well. Later on the evening was made all the more memorable with Ali Sethi’s impactful vocal rendition of Faiz and Shahbaz Qalandar and a mesmerising flute performance by the exceptionally talented Haider Rahman. the first day of the event was one of those unusual and unforgettable days when even the odd weather could not stop the tasteful citizens from flocking in to listen to their favorite speakers, and there stood a huge crowd of about 10,000 people in Alhamra Arts Centre on Mall Road. People could be seen darting from session to session, carrying the LLF-branded umbrellas thoughtfully provided by the organisers. the entire venue was festooned with banners and balloons of red and yellow providing a wonderful contrast to the

otherwise grey day. In fact, the light and cool breeze seemed to have lightened up people’s moods and increase their appetite for learning even more. the courtyard outside Hall 1 housed the Food Court where punters could be seen satisfying appetites of a more culinary nature. And day two saw the sun come out to welcome visitors - perhaps tempted to peek from behind the clouds to join in the 20,000 or so visitors in their reverie.

Seeing so many people from all walks of life coming in despite all odds only complemented the already high spirited speakers and it was obvious from the way they spoke and how the attendees later described the sessions. tariq Ali’s opening keynote on day one was described by attendees as ‘electric’, while Hameed Haroon’s session on the ‘Holy Warrior’ was called ‘magnificent’ by others. Day two’s session by Mohammad Hanif had people chatting for hours afterwards, while Mohsin Hamid’s and tehmina Durrani’s respective sessions saw Alhamra halls 1 and 2 literally packed to the rafters. No matter what the session, the halls were packed to capacity and beyond. In many cases, people could be seen crowding the entrances, clamoring to enter. As Mohsin Hamid commented during his session with Quddus Mirza, just seeing Lahore and the Alhamra packed with people of all ages, from all walks of life, was heartening beyond words.

It was not an event peculiar to admirers of literature only, people from various spheres of life had gathered to celebrate knowledge and intellect. Inside Halls 1 and 2 were various stalls from a variety of booksellers and publishers, while Hall 3 and the areas outside hosted exhibitions by the Citizens Archive Pakistan (CAP) and the Office of Conservation and Cultural Outreach (OCCO). And it was not just limited to that, both days ended with enchanting performances. By her charismatic performance, Naheed Siddiqui enhanced the grandeur of day; while day two closed with musical performances from the socially conscious Laal and super rockers Qayaas enhancing the magnificence of the Festival.

Indeed, a few hundred words, no matter how well articulated, will not do justice to the grandeur of the event. However, fortunately, thanks to the free WiFi provided by Wateen telecom, attendees were able to record and share the pearls of wisdom and knowledge by tweeting and posting constantly from each and every session, blogging their experiences, sharing pictures on Instagram and Facebook and even had friends listen in live via Skype!

Plus, the Freedom Booths sponsored by Wateen allowed attends to record messages about their experiences at the Festival, their favorite panels, etc.

Lahore Literary Festival 2013 was the most celebrated event of Lahore last year. the enthusiasm and love for the festival didn’t fade away long after it was over and it’s the most anticipated event for the citizens of Lahore. g www.pakistantoday.com.pk 11

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C M YK

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

satire

TELLING IT LIKE IT ALMOST NEVER IS khabaristan.today@gmail.com

Muslim protestors present themselves as evidence against evolution on Darwin Day London sCienCe Correspondent

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group of angry Muslim protestors Wednesday demonstrated in front of London’s British Museum on Darwin Day, Khabaristan Today has learnt. They targeted Charles Darwin and the theory of evolution and claimed it hurts their religious sentiments. It is worth mentioning that Darwin was the first person to formulate a scientific argument for the evolution theory through natural selection.

Speaking on the occasion the leader of the protests said, “Celebrating Darwin Day

hurts my sentiments because he claimed my ancestors were monkeys. I am not Ibne-baandar, I can assure you that.” Another protestor claimed that Darwin hurt his religious sentiments by claiming that the first person on the earth was a monkey. “I will chop Darwin’s head off,” he bellowed angrily.

The theory of evolution has always challenged the tenets of orthodox religion.

However, while most religious groups don’t resort to public protests, Muslims seem to be the most vocal about their incompatibility with enlightenment and progression. They call for chopping off heads, quite often, to promote the religion

of peace.

Another protestor on the occasion claimed that the demonstrators themselves were the evidence against evolution. “I mean if in the year 2014 you have a person who doesn’t believe in evolution, they clearly haven’t evolved and continue to live in antediluvian times. And of course that means that we can be presented as evidence against evolution. We make a pretty strong counter case, of course,” he observed.

“If people find out that most of the population of the earth hasn’t evolved, that would be Evolution Theory’s death rattle,” the protestor concluded.

Regular personal diary writer invited to speak at Lahore Literary Festival Lahore Culture Correspondent

According to intelligence reports the Lahore Literary Festival is all set to invite a regular personal diary writer to next week’s Lahore Literary Festival (LLF), Khabaristan Today has learnt. After the overwhelming success of Karachi Literature Festival, the organisers of LLF have decided to build on it by inviting similar writers. The private diary writer received his call as he killed enemy soldiers while playing Call of Duty: Ghosts on his X-Box, sources revealed. “We are basically looking for self-important people who think writing about themselves makes them an academic,” an LLF organiser said, adding that, “Just bring along anything that you’ve written resembling a book, and you’ll end up being our star attraction. Personal diary writers get the best slots.” When asked for comments, the diary writer was pretty nonchalant about the whole thing. “Obviously the diary has taken years’ worth of effort for me to produce, and if it’s read properly, it can provide the answers to many of Pakistan’s, and indeed the world’s problems. Having said that, I’m still not sure whether or not I’d be able to make it to LLF,” the personal diary writer said, while practising various expressions for his speech during the Lahore Literary Festival. “I am working on my next diary and I am not sure whether I would be free to impart my wisdom to Lahore on Friday,” he said still failing to notice that we could see him make his “look I’m an intellectual” face in front of the mirror. g

Lashkar-e-Dumbledorvi issues threats against Orya, Abbasi tweets hogwarts/twitteristan WitChCraft & Wizardry Correspondent

Dumbledore’s Army, also known as Lashkar-e-Dumbledorvi (LeD), has issued threats against a journalist on Twitter whose tweet the organisation found offensive on Friday. The said tweet read, “Orya M****ol J*n and A***r Abbasi are like Fred and George Weasley. #AlwaysTogether.” It quite blatantly insults the religious sentiments of the Potterheads, LeD claims. (Note: We have censored the tweet as a safety precaution). The tweeter, who requested that his name be kept anonymous citing danger to his life, created a storm in Twitteristan by juxtaposing Fred and George with Orya and Abbasi. LeD chief Z Malik issued a fatwa immediately, while spokesperson Wengerullah Wenger (responsible for coining the name, “Lashkar-e-Dumbledorvi”) advised the tweeter to seek an All Parties Conference. There were demonstrations on Facebookistan as well, as Tee Jay targeted Orya and Abbasi while remonstrating against the tweeter, H Khan clamoured about death and S G Ahmad was visibly incandescent with rage. Despite a public apology LeD has called for the tweeter’s head, since that is the only punishment for blasphemy according to the Dumbledorvi doctrine. g

Nawaz Sharif reminds wife of Musharraf’s treason after forgetting Valentine’s Day Lahore Valentine’s day Correspondent

Pakistani Prime Minister Doctor Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif reminded his wife of former President General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s treason against the state, after forgetting Valentine’s Day on Friday, self-created sources told Khabaristan Today. While Mrs Nawaz Sharif was obviously upset at her hubby’s laxity but eventually forgave him in the greater interests of the country.

“Yes, obviously, I would have liked an SMS, a small

12 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

message, just a token. But yes, what Musharraf did in October 1999 is inexcusable,” Mrs Nawaz Sharif said.

When asked what the correlation between Valentine’s Day and Musharraf abrogating was, Mrs Sharif replied, “It’s about priorities. Answer me: Is forgetting Valentine’s Day a bigger crime than overthrowing an elected government? It’s just one of the things Nawaz does to bring things into perspective.”

Mrs Nawaz Sharif was then asked whether prime minister focusing on

Musharraf, while the Taliban wreak havoc in the country, was the natural extension of this. She replied in the affirmative.

“Of course, this is his go to play. Whenever he has to deal with a tricky situation, he brings Musharraf into focus. Remember the sectarian riots in Rawalpindi during Muharram? What was Nawaz’s immediate reaction? This is what he does. Last week he asked me to remember what Musharraf did in November 2007, after eating my chocolates without permission,” Mrs Nawaz

said.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Special Court is still waiting for Musharraf to

appear before it. The former president has neither appeared in court nor confessed to allegations of

treason. “But are chocolates more important than democracy?” concluded Mrs Nawaz Sharif. g

CMY K

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

SatirE

tired of Kashmir, Palestine and Myanmar?

Now there’s CAR...

KKS The writer is a socio-political critic. He can be reached at kkshahid@hotmail.com.

T

He ethos of Muslim Ummah is harmony. We have unity and togetherness and are bound by brotherhood, nationhood and a perpetual sense of victimhood. When one part of the Muslim Ummah’s body is in pain, the entire body feels the pain. Yes, it does. allah promise! look at Palestine: it unites us in our hatred for israel. look at Kashmir: it unites us in our hatred for india. look at Myanmar: it unites us in our hatred for… whoever’s killing us there.

Whoever you are, killing us in Myanmar, know that we hate you wholeheartedly.

Now, i don’t know if it’s a long distance thing with Pakistani Muslims, or it’s our suicidal tendencies, but we don’t quite feel the pain when one part of the Muslim Ummah ‘body’ hurts another part of the body. i mean i personally don’t care much about the Shia Genocide or the Baloch Genocide in the country, primarily because i’m neither Shia nor Baloch. also because i might not admit it

Look at Palestine: it unites us in our hatred for Israel. Look at Kashmir: it unites us in our hatred for India. Look at Myanmar: it unites us in our hatred for… whoever’s killing us there. Whoever you are, killing us in Myanmar, know that we hate you wholeheartedly. openly, but i don’t really consider Shias or the Baloch to be a part of the Muslim Ummah body, to be very honest. The same was the case with Bengalis. Ditto for ahmadis. Hell yeah, ditto for ahmadis!

However, it is getting increasingly difficult to continue doing what we do oh-so-well. Hazaras butchered? look at Palestine.

Baloch lifted and dumped? india at it again; doing the same in Kashmir. ahmadi graveyards violated? How about Myanmar? Oh, hang on, ahmadis are non-Muslims.

Hell yeah,

ahmadis are non-Muslims!

Yes, we know the tricks of this particular trade. We’ve been doing it for years and doing it rather well. But unfortunately some liberal fascists have spotted our pattern. it’s because we have become monotonous and predictable. and so we desperately need something different to catch the fascists off their guard. enter Car… Now Car isn’t an ordinary car. Well, to be honest it’s not really a car at all. and yet, it will drive us to our next destination.

Car, Central african republic, is witnessing ethnic cleansing of Muslims owing to the violent attacks of antiBalaka militants. Yes, i googled it.

Obviously.

We don’t know where CAR is. We don’t know what the issue is. We don’t exactly know how the Muslims are suffering. However, like in most cases where we form our unwavering opinions – we don’t have to know. i know what you’re thinking: where the bloody hell is Central african republic? Since the name says ‘african’, so i am guessing it’s somewhere near africa. and who on earth are these Balaka people? in any case Balaka bears an uncanny resemblance to Malala.

We don’t know where Car is. We don’t know what the issue is. We don’t exactly know how the Muslims are suffering. However, like in most cases where we form our unwavering opinions – we don’t have to know.

What we know by birth is that the Muslims are always right and everyone else is always wrong. and so we don’t need to go into the details of any conflict.

We don’t need to look at the haraam side of the picture. all we need to do is to remember the name: Central african republic – Car is easier, just remember that it is not an actual car. and just memorise who is causing all the trouble: Malala militants.

We can always create fabricated images for Facebook obviously. let’s use our brotherhood, nationhood and the unalterable sensation of victimhood to scream bloody murder, like only we can. let’s manifest solidarity with our Muslim brothers and bellow for jihad. let’s use this car to run over the liberal fascists.

So, Pakistani Muslims on Facebook, unite! it’s time to feel the pain that our Muslim brothers are experiencing.

Hurry up! Feel it before someone kills those Shias again. i don’t want to see that #ShiaGenocide hashtag. g

We’re the Illuminati of Pakistan: TTP We were only trying to bring a revolution, says Fazlullah

Luavut Zahid The writer is a journalist based in Lahore.

Her writings focus on current affairs and crisis response. She can be reached at luavut@gmail.com, she tweets @luavut

E

arlier today the Taliban from Pakistan made an exasperated announcement to a select few media persons. The group has revealed itself to be Pakistan’s ‘illuminati’ group that was meant to form a new World Order (restricted only to Pakistan, of course). Contrary to popular belief, their ultimate aim is not to promote Sharia in the country – all they were trying to do was start a revolution so that the common man could learn to fight for his rights. “like the illuminati, our goal has always been to promote gender equality, liberalism and secularism in Pakistan. We are fans of free-thinking. all our actions were meant to spark an uprising where the common man stood up for himself. But we have repeatedly failed,” lamented Maulana Fazlullah. History has shown that great oppression leads to great revolt and great revolt eventually leads to some form of change. as per their most recent claims, it is a positive change that the TTP has been seeking ever since their creation.

Something along the lines of the French revolution was meant to take place in Pakistan, apparently. Many have often prophesised of unrest and rebellion in Pakistan citing the poverty, lack of basic standards of living, lack of access to health facilities etc. even the rich aren’t trying to get richer in Pakistan; most people are just trying to immigrate.

“We kept attacking people even when ‘peace talks’ were underway. When we outlined our demands we made sure they were ridiculous and absolutely absurd. We even upped the ante and told the government not to impose any difficult conditions after giving them a list of impossible stipulations. We were sure people would stand up and say “That is it, no more of this nonsense”,” says Fazlullah. He was speaking in reference to the infamous list of priorities that the peace talks committee has been handed over by the Taliban. amongst other things the list asked for Sharia law in courts (Pakistan already has a Federal Sharia Court in place); islamic education system (islamiyat is taught at all levels in school); freedom for Taliban (when they’re not being elusive they simply break out of jails), etc. Their demands gave the impression that the country wasn’t the islamic republic of Pakistan but the Kababic republic of Pakistan.

Talking about the lack of willpower of the common man the TTP leader continued, “You have no idea how shocked and disappointed we are. People still lack motivation! How many more of you do we have to kill before

you start caring about the bigger picture? We took away your Chaudhry aslam so that you mice could become men – and then we blew up aitezaz so you could find your own courage, but nope, this country and its people can watch everyone burn around them and do nothing.” Chaudhry aslam was targeted by the Taliban more than half a dozen times before he finally lost his life. aitezaz Hassan died tackling a suicide bomber; his sacrifice helped many others live. Both men are seen as icons of courage in the country.

The TTP also outlined how they tried to create a sense of brotherhood and harmony between faiths in the country. Pakistan has a long history of minority abuse. From forcefully converting and abducting Hindu girls for marriage to creating false blasphemy cases against Christians, if there’s an atrocity that could be committed, someone in the country takes it upon themselves to get the job done. “We attacked the Peshawar church; it was a calculated move for us. Pakistanis were supposed to feel empathy; this community was being attacked like everyone else. They were supposed to rise to the occasion. instead, the ones dying and dead were called “safai wallay” on national TV. Their human value was reduced to their utility as janitors!

Christian protestors were attacked by average Joes. This entire country is mental!” he cried.

When questioned about TTP’s real stance on women, Fazlullah became at once animated. “Don’t even get me started on the women. We released reports that 500 female suicide bombers were ready for action; then we said the pious version of Veena Malik was a role model for Pakistani women; nothing we do or say infuriates them. They don’t want to fight for their rights, heck they aren’t even trying all that hard to get a seat on the peace talks committee,” he said. TTP had originally hoped that increased pressure and atrocities against women would result in an iran-like revolution where women took to the streets to protest and find their voice. But Pakistani women, like Pakistani men, seem not to have that big of a problem with the TTP. The threat against Chitralis and ismaili Muslims issued by the TTP was also outlined as a strategic move. “Hello? Your Quaid was ismaili? Your culture is your identity? Does nothing faze you people?” asked Fazlullah with clear frustration. “We were very happy when the Sindh Festival was announced. We were ecstatic that some political leader finally seemed to give a damn about the tattered remains of the Pakistani culture. Then waltzed in that buffoon with that Superman logo, what does Superman have to do with Sindh? and his elder sister one-upped him by rapping out an invitation to the Sindh Fest. What Sindhi rappers have ever existed in this culture?

When we heard about the fashion show using ajrak and traditional Sindhi prints we were happy… then we saw the ajrak mini dresses – seriously? That is YOUr culture? Seriously?”

Fazlullah exclaimed.

Fazlullah ended the session with the following statement: “This is not the arab Spring, we get it, but would it kill the people of this country to do anything beyond writing a few statuses, tweets and liking posts that talk about hating us? We’ve seen more people at a nihari stand protesting lack of nali in their meal!” g www.pakistantoday.com.pk 13

C M YK

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

international

Why does america send so many stupid, unqualified hacks overseas? politico

JAMES BRUNO

r

ecently, a colleague of mine from the Foreign Service told me about a former U.S. ambassador to Sweden who, some years ago, had passed out in the snow, too drunk to get up. He had been partying hard during an outing in the countryside. Fortunately, an embassy officer found him in time to save his life. America’s boozy man in Stockholm was a non-career political appointee—no surprise. The fellow who saved him was a professional diplomat. And the roles the two men played that night is emblematic of a familiar routine.

That was the thought I had earlier this week when word came that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee had approved nominations of President Barack Obama’s latest batch of ambassadorial picks—including a couple of firsttime diplomats whose cringeworthy performances during their testimony suggested they’ll need to rely heavily on their Foreign Service staff to keep from embarrassing the United States. Of course, we have little reason to worry about longtime Montana Senator Max Baucus, whose appointment to serve in China the Senate passed unanimously on Thursday.

But some wealthy campaign donors with backgrounds a bit further afield from public service should give us concern. They’ve already embarrassed themselves.

When hotel magnate George Tsunis, Obama’s nominee for Oslo, met with the Senate last month, he made clear that he didn’t know that Norway was a constitutional monarchy and wrongly stated that one of the ruling coalition political parties was a hate-spewing “fringe element.” Another of the president’s picks, Colleen Bell, who is headed to Budapest, could not answer questions about the United States’ strategic interests in Hungary. But could the president really expect that she’d be an expert on the region? Her previous gig was as a producer for the TV soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. She stumbled through responses to Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) like, well, a soap opera star, expounding on world peace. When the whole awkward exchange concluded, the senator grinned. “I have no more questions for this incredibly highly qualified group of nominees,” McCain said sarcastically.

For the purposes of comparison, Norway’s ambassador to the Washington is a 31-year Foreign Ministry veteran. Hungary’s ambassador is an economist who worked at the International Monetary Fund for 27 years.

The resumé imbalance, of course, owes to a simple fact: The United States is the only industrialized country to award diplomatic posts

14 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

as political spoils, often to wealthy campaign contributors in an outmoded system that rivals the patronage practices of banana republics, dictatorships and two-bit monarchies. A similar system once allowed political allies to become military officers, but Congress outlawed the practice after the Civil War, during which the public recoiled at the needless slaughter brought on by incompetent cronies who had been appointed generals (men like Daniel Sickles, whose insubordination at Gettysburg caused more than 4,000 Union casualties).

Representing the United States in a foreign capital, however, is a privilege still available to any moneyed dolt with party connections.

And President Obama—who entered office promising to limit the practice and instead appoint more Foreign Service professionals to ambassadorial positions—has arguably done more to exacerbate the problem than his recent predecessors. His second-term appointments have gone to political allies more than half of the time. Since World War II, under both Democratic and Republican administrations, that number has been lower: About a third of the ambassador posts have been offered to nonprofessional diplomats.

The reason a hotelier and a television producer, for instance, might be appealing choices is blindingly obvious: money. Bell raised $2,101,635 for President Obama’s re-election efforts. Tsunis, who flipped his affiliation from Republican to Democrat in 2009, embraced his new party with gusto, raising $988,550 for the president’s 2012 bid.

Among the ambassadors serving in 10 of the choicest cities in Europe and the Caribbean, the average amount raised per posting in the last election was $1.79 million, according to the Guardian newspaper. And the cost for a plush post in a city like Rome, Paris, Stockholm or Canberra seems to be going up. The Guardian reported that appointees to these embassies raised a total of $5 million in 2012, up from $3.3 million in 2008, $1.3 million in 2004 and $800,000 in 2000.

Apologists for the ambassadorship-for-cash status quo point out that the embassies where political friends are in charge are often quite stable countries with which America has a solid relationship. Others claim that envoys who enjoy direct access to the president can be the most effective. This is utter hogwash. Ambassadors’ chain of command goes through the secretary of state. Acting outside of that chain is cause for confusion and misunderstandings and is actually frowned upon by White House and State Department officials alike.

The truth is, there are real costs to sending dilettantes to do America’s diplomacy: public embarrassment and potential damage to U.S. interests. Scandinavia seems to attract some of

Transgressions by pay-to-play ambassadors include cocaine smuggling through the diplomatic pouch, drunken imbroglios at embassy functions and embarrassing adulterous affairs the worst of the lot. Tsunis will follow in the steps of Reagan-appointed ambassador Mark Evans Austad, an outspoken former Mormon missionary who had a thing for hurling verbal attacks at a variety of Norwegian liberal institutions and the press and in 1983 was hauled off, drunk, by police after bellowing loudly and banging on a woman’s door at 3 a.m. The police returned Austad to his residence. Around the same time, a politically appointed envoy to Denmark was forced to resign after word got out that he kept two prostitutes at the ambassadorial residence in Copenhagen. Other transgressions by pay-to-play ambassadors include cocaine smuggling through the diplomatic pouch, drunken imbroglios at embassy functions and embarrassing adulterous affairs.

And then there’s the recent case of Cynthia Stroum, Obama’s pick to serve in Luxembourg— a Rhode Island-sized NATO ally that has always been a convenient spot to stick political friends and donors. Over the years, real estate moguls, socialites and car salesmen have all washed up in the Ardennes. Stroum, a wealthy Seattle investor, was dispatched there in 2009 after raising half a million bucks to put Obama in the White House (or, $1 for every citizen of Luxembourg). She abruptly resigned in early 2011 after a blistering report from the State Department’s inspector general noted that her embassy “has underperformed for the entirety of the current ambassador’s tenure.” The ambassador’s managerial style, the report claimed, engendered personality conflicts and the embassy was fraught with verbal abuse and questionable expenditures on travel and booze.

“At present, due to internal problems, [the embassy] plays no significant role in policy advocacy or reporting,” the report noted, “though developments in Luxembourg are certainly of interest to Washington clients and other U.S. missions in the NATO and EU communities.” So terrorized was Stroum’s small staff that the inspector general recommended the State Department dispatch medical personnel to examine the stress levels of embassy employees. It noted at least four quit or sought transfers to jobs in Iraq and Afghanistan during her tenure, rare moves for diplomats ensconced in cushy European postings.

These de facto report cards on ambassadors from the State Department’s inspector general were recently and inexplicably discontinued. But a share of the blame in failing to police the problem lies with the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has fallen down on its job of vetting ambassadorial nominees. In addition to a long-standing gentleman’s agreement that the out-of-office party will rubber stamp diplomatic nominees, wannabe ambassadors now spread campaign contributions to key senators to clinch an ambassadorial nomination. In the last two

Congresses, for example, George Tsunis contributed to the campaigns of five senators, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, former Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry and current Chairman Robert Menendez, as well as to the Senate Majority PAC. Before Tsunis paraded his ignorance before the Foreign Relations Committee, New York Senator Charles Schumer gave a gushing introduction. Tsunis had donated $4,600 to Schumer’s campaign fund in 2009.

Notwithstanding the troubling auctioning of the embassies, there’s certainly room in our ambassador corps for non-career diplomats.

Distinguished citizens have long represented the United States abroad with distinction: Daniel Patrick Moynihan in India; Mike Mansfield, Howard Baker and Walter Mondale in Japan; Jon Huntsman Jr. in China; and many others.

Despite admitting he’s “no real expert on China,” Max Baucus, a trade expert and skilled legislator, brings other skills to the job. Our first ambassador to a unified Vietnam was excongressman and Hanoi Hilton prisoner of war Pete Peterson, under whom I had served when I was political counselor in the U.S. Embassy in Hanoi from 1997 to 2001. With his Hill contacts and credibility among U.S. veterans’ groups, Peterson would accomplish more in a phone call than any career ambassador could in a hundred cables back to Washington. But these men were eminently qualified and did not buy their ambassadorships.

We have serious business with Norway. I predict that, as with most of his predecessors, George Tsunis will be a figurehead ambassador ably supported by his career Foreign Service staff, who will be doing the substantive work with no fanfare. If he stays out of trouble in the three years he will likely be in Oslo, he will have achieved something of an accomplishment.

Sending a soap opera producer to Budapest poses greater risks for Washington, as extremism and anti-Semitism are on the rise in Hungary and that country’s economy is held down by structural constraints and high debt.

How will Colleen Bell, who had trouble even identifying Washington’s strategic aims there, deal with a wily prime minister cracking down on freedom of political expression? Tough to say. But for those Foreign Service professionals nudged out of a plum ambassadorship, take heart—I hear there’s an opening at The Bold and the Beautiful.

James Bruno is a retired Foreign Service officer, novelist and blogger. His book, The Foreign Circus: Why Foreign Policy is Too Important to be Left in the Hands of Diplomats, Spooks & Political Hacks, will be published this year.

C M YK

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

international

Looking back from Syria to Europe’s age of religious war sectarian conflicts

I

War on the rocks MARk kONNERt

N a recent interview, Admiral James Stavridis, former NATO supreme commander, expressed concerns that escalating SunniShia conflicts in Syria and Iraq had the potential to spill over into a “truly regional war.” He drew parallels between these conflicts and the religious wars that convulsed sixteenth and seventeenth-century Europe. Upon reflection, it does seem to me that religious conflicts in early modern Europe bear some similarity to the sectarian conflict now rending parts of the Middle East.

To paraphrase Bill Clinton’s mantra when running for president in 1992, “it’s the religion, stupid!” That is, the causes of European religious wars really were religious differences.

Several generations ago, most historians were of the opinion that in early modern Europe, religion was a cloak, a pretext, for the combatants’ “real” motives, whether those motives were geopolitical interests in land and resources, the desire of nobles to revolt against centralizing monarchies, or class warfare.

Religion assumed a special importance in early modern Europe in that kings and governments explicitly based their claim to rule on divine right. It was generally assumed by almost everyone that there was one true religion and that religious diversity must necessarily lead to civil discord. Of course, if everybody believes this, it becomes a selffulfilling prophecy. This also means that our present-day distinction between religion and politics was simply not present in early modern Europe, and that, in a very real parallel to today’s Middle East, religious issues were by default also political issues, and vice versa.

In the early 1560s the large and prosperous Kingdom of France descended into a series of vicious religious wars that would last until at least 1598. Although political and social factors were important drivers, the length and bitterness of the conflict, to say nothing of its ultimate resolution, were almost entirely due to the existence of a powerful Calvinist minority opposed by a zealously Catholic faction that would settle for nothing less than restoring religious uniformity to France.

In another part of Europe, religious differences between a Calvinist minority and a Catholic majority also came to play a very important role in the Dutch revolt against King Philip II of Spain.

Although it may seem odd to us today, national differences—that is, the Dutch being ruled by a Spaniard— played very little role in the origins of the revolt, although a kind of nationalism did emerge during its course. In large part, it was Philip’s intransigence on religion, and the extreme methods he employed in his attempt to maintain Catholic uniformity in his Dutch possessions, that drove his subjects (even many Catholics) to

oppose his policies. Had Philip been willing to show even the slightest flexibility on religion, the Dutch might never have revolted at all.

French Protestants were generally in favor of helping the Dutch rebels, while many French Catholics believed that Catholic rulers ought to make common cause against the heretics.

Other French Catholics, however, thought that whatever harmed Spain was good for France, and had no desire to assist Philip in repressing his rebellious subjects. On several occasions, Dutch Protestants came to the aid of their French brethren and vice versa. More importantly, Philip’s efforts to reconquer his rebellious subjects were harmed by his diverting resources to other conflicts. On several occasions in the late 1580s and 1590s, Philip ordered his commander in the Low Countries, the Duke of Parma (the leading general of the age) to invade France in order to support the ultra-Catholic forces there.

England under Elizabeth I also had a direct interest in what happened in France and the Low Countries. For centuries, England and the Spanish Kingdom of Castile had been traditional allies against France. With their common enemy now reduced to impotence, the England of Elizabeth I and the Spain of Philip II saw their relations deteriorate (a process intensified by religious differences) to the point where in 1588 Spain would attempt to invade England and replace the English Queen on the throne. Among other irritants, Philip objected to England’s assistance to the Dutch rebels.

Of all the religious wars in early modern Europe, it is perhaps the Thirty Years’ War (1618-48) in Germany that bears the most resemblance to the Sunni-Shia conflicts in the modern Middle East.

In both cases, we see political instability with shifting boundaries and allegiances, bitter religious division, and the core strategic interests of outside powers all come to bear on the course of the conflict.

Although technically a part of the Holy Roman Empire, real political authority in Germany was extremely fragmented, with actual power exercised by a galaxy of territorial princes, Imperial cities, and noblemen. While it was united by a common ethnicity and language (with

several notable exceptions such as Czech Bohemia), Germany suffered nonetheless from religious division and fragmentation. Moreover, religious divisions assumed a military dimension with the formation of the rival military alliances of the Catholic League and the Protestant Union. At the same time, Emperor Ferdinand II (r. 1619-37), was attempting to achieve the centuries-long dream for his Habsburg dynasty to restore Imperial power in a religiously united and Catholic Germany. Ferdinand was at the same time King of Bohemia, a region that was largely Czech in nationality and Protestant in religion, and it was there that he first attempted to implement his blueprint for all of the Empire. In the process, in 1618, he provoked the Bohemian nobles into an armed revolt; they eventually deposed him as ruler, replacing Ferdinand with the Empire’s leading Calvinist prince.

By 1621, however, Ferdinand had routed the Bohemian rebels, forcibly restored Catholicism in Bohemia, and cemented his control over his unruly kingdom.

There is no inherent reason for the conflict to have to continued or expanded outside of the Empire.

German Protestant princes, it is true, feared for their future, but were not strong enough on their own to mount a challenge to Ferdinand. They sought aid from foreign Protestant rulers, but it is unlikely that such aid would have been forthcoming on religious grounds alone. In 1626, King Christian IV, the Lutheran king of Denmark, came to the aid of the German Protestants. However, this maneuver was not due only to religious solidarity, for he was not only King of Denmark, but also a prince of the Empire by virtue of possessing several territories in northern Germany. In addition, potential hostile control of the Baltic coast of Germany threatened his revenues, which came overwhelmingly from tolls on Baltic commerce. As such, Christian had a markedly non-religious incentive to become involved in a primarily religious conflict, a parallel which applies to the complex alliances in the Sunni-Shia conflicts of today.

Indeed, on top of German issues, virtually

every other European ruler had an interest in what happened in the Empire. The kings of France had feared and fought the power of the Habsburg dynasty for over a century, through their ongoing rivalry with Spain. A Habsburg ruled not only Spain itself, but also what remained of Spanish possessions in the Low Countries and large parts of Italy. The Holy Roman Emperors themselves were also members of the Habsburg dynasty and were bound to their Spanish cousins by long-standing treaties, familial connections, and religious interests. Enhanced Imperial (read: Habsburg) control of Germany threatened to put France in the jaws of a Habsburg nutcracker.

Similarly, the newly independent but still very precarious northern provinces of the Netherlands (the United Provinces or Dutch Republic) feared that Habsburg control of Germany would aid in the transport of Spanish men, money, and materiel to the Spanish Netherlands by way of the “Spanish Road,” a series of routes from northern Italy through Switzerland, the Alps and western Germany.

Most immediately, however, it was the Lutheran King of Sweden, Gustavus Adolphus (r. 1611-32) who felt the Imperial threat. Sweden was the superpower of northern Europe, possessing an empire around the shores of the Baltic. In 1630, the large and powerful Swedish army landed in northern Germany and quickly won a series of important battles against Catholic Imperial forces. In a sign of the evolving nature of the war, in 1631, Lutheran Sweden signed a treaty of alliance with Catholic France (governed by King Louis XIII and his chief minister Cardinal Richelieu) against the Catholic Holy Roman Emperor. And in a secret clause of the treaty, France agreed to subsidize the Swedish war effort. However, the Swedes lost their king in the Battle of Lützen in 1632, and in 1634, the hitherto invincible Swedish army suffered a crushing loss at the Battle of Nördlingen. Having already lost their king, the Swedes threatened to withdraw from Germany.

Faced with this prospect, France now had to openly enter

the war in Germany, at the same time that it was fighting a separate war against Spain. In this way, the Thirty Years’ War dragged on for another thirteen long and destructive years, by now having lost almost all of its religious motivation.

It is worth noting that left to themselves, Germans likely would likely have settled their religious issues by the mid-1630s along the lines laid out in the Peace of Augsburg in 1555. This agreement, the result of an earlier bout of religious warfare, provided for a kind of religious toleration under a set of guidelines: the religion of the ruler determined the religion of the territory and its inhabitants, but with the addition of Calvinism as a permitted creed. (This is in fact what happened, but not until 1648.) The war was kept going by outsiders—the French, the Swedes, the Dutch, the Spanish—for their own purposes which, although they might have been cloaked in religion, were really strategic and geopolitical.

The experience of religious war in early modern Europe does, however, contain some useful insights for thinking about current conflicts in the Middle East. One of these, unfortunately, is that it is very difficult to stop these conflicts from spreading, especially when outsiders see strategic dangers or opportunities in these conflicts. Another may be that as in early modern Europe, in the modern Middle East, the distinction between religion and politics is indistinct, if not meaningless. Yet, Although religious differences may be essential to the origins and duration of the conflict, as outsiders become involved, their interests tend to dominate the conflict and to prolong it for their own purposes.

A further insight we can draw from the experience of early modern Europe is that, whatever the interests of outsiders, these conflicts will not end until the religious issues are resolved in one way or another. As long as a sufficient number of people are willing to fight over religious differences, it is difficult to impossible, even with the best will in the world, to stop them from doing so. In early modern Europe, at any rate, the religious wars ceased only when enough people were so repulsed by the violence that the conflicts ran out of the fuel to keep going. However much they believed religious unity desirable, and however much they believed the other side to be damnable heretics, the conflicts ended once a critical mass of people was no longer willing to go to extreme and violent lengths to attain it. It is surely noteworthy that many religious leaders condemned the Peace of Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years’ War in 1648. Pope Innocent XI condemned the peace as “null, void, iniquitous, unjust, damnable, reprobate, inane, empty of meaning and effect for all time.” Nobody cared, and his fulminations fell on deaf ears.

Mark Konnert is a professor of history at the University of Calgary. www.pakistantoday.com.pk 15

Books

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

Those were the days…

Recounting Pakistan’s great sporting successes in Asia

AghA AkbAr

The writer is Associate Editor, Pakistan Today.

O

nce upon a time, Pakistan was truly an all-round sporting nation – producing podium performances at the Asian and the commonwealth Games as a matter of routine in a number of sports.

The mid 1950s, when the nascent nation for the first time took part in the Asian Games in 1954 (having given a miss to the inaugural event in 1951 at new Delhi, perhaps for reasons more political than sporting) is the starting point of the book. And in its first entry in the continental event Pakistan finished fourth, behind Japan, the Philippines and South Korea, and more importantly beat India (the number two at home in the previous Games) to the fifth position.

Hockey was still to make its debut in the Asian Games, and when it did in 1958, Pakistan promptly won the gold at India’s expense and, with china not participating, again finished fourth with Indian languishing lower down the order. Our athletes set the tracks ablaze, while our spikers, weightlifters and wrestlers too made their presence felt.

This and many other vignettes one would find scattered aplenty in Muhammad Ali’s labour of love that has resulted in his first comprehensive book on the country’s glorious sporting achievements at the continental level. This all-round sporting performance was a legacy, like so many other efficient systems like the Railways (to pluck a stray example) of the Raj. The education system was geared towards promoting all-round excellence, and sports were a very important, nay essential part, of the extracurricular activity with clubs in a whole raft of sporting disciplines also throwing up talent that was of a very high standard.

At the top of it, the organizers

16

www.pakistantoday.com.pk

and volunteers were imbued with a spirit that the nascent nation made a mark in the sporting arenas of the world. And Pakistan Army, the Railways and the customs, the two biggest employers in the public sector then, with PIA coming on line a few years down the stream and making a significant contribution towards national excellence in sports and culture, were in the forefront in employing and sponsoring sportsmen. The net result was an environment in which sports were valued, with sportsmen put on a pedestal as larger than life figures.

All this you can find in Muhammad Ali’s commendable compendium of Pakistan’s record at the Asian level – right from the Independence up to 2013.

At the book launch, the chief guest Wasim Akram, a class fellow of the editor and compiler of the hardbound book in full colour, said words to the effect that right from his school days Ali’s focus was extraordinary. As Ali was an understudy of this reviewer in The Nation, one can vouch that Akram could not have nailed it better – almost at a par with his trademark dismissals with those precision guided missiles that in his heyday left so many at the other end of the popping crease with toes crushed and in the process made him the greatest southpaw to have stepped onto a cricket green.

Ali indeed is a tenacious fellow, and this book is a true manifestation of this most valuable of traits. He confided in this writer that it had taken him 18 months in research and gathering the material for the book. He is being modest. It has indeed taken him 23 years, the length of his career as a sports journalist (and this is not counting his many years as a national colour in table tennis) to be able to produce his magnum opus.

Much of this record does not exist elsewhere, to the extent that even our national federations are not in possession of it, which makes the book all the more valuable for reference. That the narrative is interspersed with some rare photographs only enhances the value of the book.

It is indeed a tremendous effort on Ali’s part to recount the highs of Pakistan sport from its inception right down to the present day. even in these grim times, past victories and the continental, and in some sports global, ascendency of Pakistan sports can bring a

spontaneous smile of recognition to the initiated and be a ready source of enlightenment and education for the upcoming generations of sportsmen, who are by and large not in the know about the past greatness.

This book fills a huge void as very few people had previously undertaken the task of compiling, which is in effect, the history of Pakistan sports in all disciplines from Athletics to Wushu, with the author’s industry and thoroughness. g

Sports A chievem ents in A Edited & sia: 194 Compile 7-2013 Pages: 2 d by: Mu 68; Pric hammad e: Rs2,0 Ali 00/- (Ha rdbound)

CMY K

Muhammad Ali’s passion for sports has produced a labour of love in his first comprehensive book on the country’s glorious sporting heritage

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

Books

A man to respect Even as a professor, he was quite distinct from his fellows.

He never cared an iota about earning money

BasHarat Hussain QizilBasH

The writer is an academic and journalist. He can be reached at qizilbash2000@yahoo.com

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ost of us live an unexamined life. that is because the circumstances are too compelling. By circumstances I mean the individual versus the rest. the forces of circumstances are indeed quite dictatorial. one’s birth, brought-up, education, career, family, social life and what not are mostly determined by the forces of circumstances leaving very little time and space for free action. often what goes around us is not of our liking. It is not probably the way, we want things to be but how many of us have the will to raise the ‘banner of revolt’ against the established ‘narrative of life’. It is easy to say that we do not like ‘the dross of life’ but at the end almost all of us become a part of this ‘dirt,’ barring a few exceptions. Professor Hussain Ahmed Zubaer’s life has been one such exception and that is why the literary quarterly journal ‘Barish’ has dedicated its entire sixth issue in his honour under the title ‘Armaghan-e-Zubaer’ (Professor Hussain Ahmed Zubaer ki yad mein). one does not have to be a socrates or a Che to envision a unique vision of life, as these were ‘big men’ whose ideas and actions transformed the lives of millions across continents and therefore ‘too big’ to be emulated by a common man. It is not that Professor Zubaer was unfamiliar with the ideas of such giants; in fact, his rare personal collection contains a large number of seminal works of history, philosophy and literature of the East and the West. His reflective essays on poetry and history in this journal manifest a deep understanding of these disciplines of knowledge.

No common man can afford to ‘play big’ in life. the important question that begs an answer is that ‘can a common man with all the accompanying limitations still live a life of choice within the given circumstances?’ It is a difficult proposition because common man has hardly any choices. A reading of

the sixteen long and short write‘fortunes’. till his retirement, he ups, which in a sense is the lived in rented houses and never reflections and reminiscences of his owned a car. In this way, he kept his friends and associates, who have evenings all for himself and his been attached with him for several friends. He was a man, who decades, testify the fact that even an believed in living with a style. this ordinary man can live as a free style was unique in several ways. human and not necessarily as a After the college hours, he would slave of his given circumstances. not rush home but would leisurely Flash backs from his life help in stroll from the Islamia College, Civil understanding this phenomenon.

Lines via the oriental College to the till today, I cannot forget the old Anarkali inspecting all the stalls public statement of a senior of old books on the way, on daily educationalist, who said about basis. After spending some time at teachers that those who could not sabu and Ahmed bookshops, he do any other thing in life join the would indulge in ‘Amroodkhori’ at teaching profession. Zubaer sahib the ‘rehri’ of Riaz Butt before opted it by choice being a double proceeding home for lunch, late in Masters in English and Political the afternoon. science. He proved to be a wellNot only was he a collector and respected avid reader of professor books, he throughout his encouraged Often what goes around career in Rahim others, us is not of our liking. It Yar Khan and particularly the Lahore, retiring youth to read and is not probably the way, as the head of the we want things to be but write as well.

English several of his how many of us have the youthful friends Department from will to raise the ‘banner the Government are now, in science College, teaching, writing, of revolt’ against the Wahdat Road. translation, established ‘narrative of Even before publication and life’. It is easy to say that joining teaching, journalism. this we do not like ‘the dross he was a success youth were not story by the his college of life’ but at the end Pakistani students but the almost all of us become standards having ones whom he a part of this ‘dirt,’ qualified the PCs made friends at barring a few competitive the bookshops examinations and and in the cafes exceptions. Professor appointed as an and restaurants Hussain Ahmed Zubaer’s Extra Assistant of the Mall that life has been one such.

Commissioner. he frequented In this position, religiously in the he was catapulted evenings for as the dispenser of justice. decades in the company of his However, after some time, he bosom friends. He was a regular resigned from this much coveted visitor at Capri, Caspian, Pak tea post because he had realized that he House, Cheneys lunch home and would not be able to do justice as the canteen at the Alfalah Cinema. the system was heavily loaded in Most of these hang-outs have favour of the unjust. When someone become history, now, and his pointed out that it was a coveted friends jokingly blamed him for career, he clarified that freedom of their closure. conscience could not be sacrificed at the lively professor was a true the altar of bureaucratic power. romantic, who pursued his ideals Easier said than done! But he did it. by leading a weekly discussion Like most of us, he too could have forum called “Forum for easily indulged in the ‘dross of life’ Literature, Identity, tolerance and but being a crystal headed Equity” (FLItE) where every intellectual he preferred a much member was free to express his humble yet free life which ensured opinions without inhibitions. Each at least a good night’s sleep with word in the title of the forum clear conscience. clearly reveals his cherished ideals.

Even as a professor, he was the issue of identity questions quite distinct from his fellows. every thinking mind. Even his own While the others spent more time in identity i.e. his name “Hussain private tuition centres and less in Ahmed” was chosen by his father, classrooms to raise additional who was a great admirer of sources of revenue to buy a car, a Maulana Hussain Ahmed Madni, plot or a house, Zubaer sahib or the top leader of Jamiat Ulema-e“Murshid” as he was lovingly called, Hind, which stood for a distinct never cared an iota about these Islamic identity for the Indian

CMY K

most were the Muslims but within the The lively professor was a true pan-Arabist Gemal Abdel umbrella of romantic, who pursued his Nasser, the the greater ideals by leading a weekly liberal Kemal Indian nationalism discussion forum called “Forum Ataturk, the nationalist Z as espoused for Literature, Identity, Bhutto and by the Indian Tolerance and Equity” (FLITE) A the antiNational where every member was free imperialists Congress. At the same to express his opinions without Mao and Lenin. their time, inhibitions. Each word in the ‘Hussain title of the forum clearly reveals portraits adorned the Ahmed’ his cherished ideals. The issue walls of his added study and ‘Zubaer’ to his of identity questions every their birth name on his thinking mind. anniversaries own because were he was greatly celebrated as impressed by occasions of debate and the heroic character of ‘Zubaer’ in communion with friends. an historical novel of Naseem He had several academic Hejazi entitled “Dastan-eprojects in mind which could not be Mujahid”. It is true that his realized due to his sudden demise. identity was rooted in the Muslim Let’s see if his friends can continue metaphors, and although he was a the mission of enlightenment that ‘Hafiz-e-Quran,’ who unfailingly they commonly share. one of them, fasted and personally distributed the renowned Urdu poet and critic the zakat yet he remained a saifullah Khalid has fired the first committed secular, believing in shot by progressive and liberal political compiling this ideals. that is memorable why some sh ri work. the of the Ba ad d Tariq As Quarterly llah Khalid an ifu Sa leaders he more is eagerly : re by ho ed La Edit hers, and T Publis awaited. g admired Publisher: T 0 Price: Rs 10 Pages: 128;

www.pakistantoday.com.pk 17

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Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

travel: Words and Pictures

land of Hornbills – sarawak saifuddin ismailji

The writer is a world-renowned traveller and travel writer.

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ocated on the island of Borneo in South east asia, Kuching, meaning “cat” in Malay language is the capital of Sarawak state of Malaysia, the country that is ranked among the top 25 competitive countries in the world, lead by Switzerland at number one. the natural destination for adventure loving souls, tourism contributes a large share to Sarawak’s economy. Kuching is the launching pad to some of the more popular tourist attractions including Gunung Mulu National Park, orangutan and wildlife sanctuary, tribal villages, Miri and the Rainforest World Music Festival - the single event that attracts more than 20,000 music lovers from around the globe.

Kuching is the venue for the aSeaN (association of South east asian Nations) tourism Forum (atF) 2014 - a major travel event that gathers the ten aSeaN member countries (Brunei darussalam, cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PdR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, thailand and Vietnam) on one platform to showcase and market travel and tourism products of this rich and diversified region. While International tourist numbers in 2013 grew by five per cent to reach a record 747 million worldwide, some 38 million more than in the same period of 2012, South-east asia’s share was an impressive 12 per cent jump year-onyear (10 million new arrivals). the travel event adopting the theme: “aSeaN - advancing tourism together” primarily focused on the sustainable development of tourism and comprehending tourism initiatives and plans that could further support this decade’s mantra of “tourism conserves, preserves and protects.” a panel of tourism experts was flown in to deliver key note addresses to disseminate knowledge through the attending delegates at the Forum - a gathering of over 1,600 delegates including about 150 aSeaN tourism ministers and officials, more than 500 aSeaN exhibitors, 500 international buyers, 100 international and local media as well as over 100 tourism trade visitors.

Locally called “Bumi Kenyaland” meaning

18 www.pakistantoday.com.pk

The bedrock of ASEAN’s ambitious tourism initiative

the Land of the Hornbills, Sarawak is renowned of its conservation efforts and the breeding ground for orangutan. Iconic to the people of Sarawak, the official seal of the state symbolises the Rhinoceros Hornbill with its wings spread. the Ibanic tribal groups, particularly the people of dayak, regard the Rhinoceros Hornbill the most supreme of all the birds in the world, which can survive, even in captivity, up to 90 years. the yellow-orange color beak of the bird with a slightly curved out shape was considered the sign of power and in the past, worn as a necklace by the chief. the bird’s feather was used to adorn their traditional costume or en suite the warrior’s weapon such as the spear, blow pipes, wooden shield and machete. tribal people believed that the hornbill feather would give magical power to their weapon and thus a victorious battle. Rhinoceros Hornbill now totally protected species in Sarawak, found in abundant numbers in the rain forest of Mulu and also in tropical and sub tropical jungles. these large birds vary in size from 36 to 48 inches, almost as large as white swan, and weighing between 4.4 to 6.6 pounds.

Backed with a strong indigenous culture, historic accounts tell us that the Melanaus tribe have been thought to be amongst the original settlers of Sarawak. However, today they only form only six per cent of the local population. the chinese were the first outsiders to have entered Sarawak as traders and settled down back in the 6th century ad.

In this christian dominant State of Malaysia, chinese are known as non-Bumiputera ethnic group, the predominantly chinese Buddhists make up 24 per cent of the population. the Sarawak chinese belong to several different groups including Foochow, Hakka, Hainanese, Hokkien, teochew and Puxian Min. they adhere to their inherited customs and traditions and fill colors to Sarawak culture with the celebration of the chinese New Year and Hungry Ghost Festival. today, chinese have made a significant contribution in the tourism industry of Sarawak and particularly in Kuching, you will find chinese temples, china town, chinese cemetery and a number of impressive chinese architecture that submit a role-play to attract tourists.

While the Malays make up 23 per cent of the population and reside in the southern region and urban areas of Sarawak, different groups of tribal people are scattered throughout Sarawak. about eight per cent of the population, Bidayuhs reside on the Western end of Borneo. they speak either english or Sarawak Malay as their main language; however practice mother dialects

and even today, practice ancestral religion. orang Ulu (meaning up-river people) ethnic groups (also including Kenyah and Kayan people) and down-river tribes of the Lun Bawang, Lun dayeh, dwell around the river and uphill areas in the districts of Baram, Belaga, Lawas, Limbang and Miri. the lesser known Punan Bah communities live in border areas - Sabah, Brunei and Indonesia. this tribal group makes up about six per cent of Sarawak’s population. Kedayan reside in Lawas, Limbang, Miri, and Sibuti areas. the Kedayan language is spoken by as many as 37,000 people. Indian Sarawakians are small in number and have well adapted with indigenous communities. Mixed marriages are the main cause for the eurasians now minority ethnic groups in Sarawak.

Sarawak’s indigenous religion of animism has almost faded out except for a few people in the dayaks and Iban group who still practice animism and ancient sacrificial rites. today, Sarawak is the only Malaysian State with majority christian residents (44 per cent) comprising Roman catholics, anglicans, Methodists, Borneo evangelical (BeM) and Baptists. Second in line are Muslims (30 per cent) from Kedayan, Malay and Melanau - and then the Buddhists (13.5 per cent) - third largest for the most part practiced by chinese Malaysians. other beliefs include taoism, chinese Folk (six per cent) and other religions (3.1 per cent) including Bahai, Hinduism, Sikhism and animism. Non religious groups make up of 2.6 per cent. tourism of Sarawak heavily relies on effective environmental policies and the government has stepped up efforts in rehabilitation and protection of the natural habitat, wildlife, flora and fauna through implementation of National Park reserve and wildlife sanctuary and rehabilitation projects. one such program is the Reef Ball project that will rehabilitate the ocean ecosystem of Sarawak by placing artificial reef modules in the sea to form a new environment - underwater. National Parks in Sarawak amount to large visitors’ economy in the region. Some of the most visited National Parks are deep in the rainforest and impenetrable tropical forests including Mulu National Park that highlight the Mulu caves: home to millions of bats. Baku National Park and Niah National Park have gained popularity more recently, the latter evidenced the birthplaces of civilisation after a skull was unearthed, which was estimated 40,000 years old, thus making the park one of the most significant finds among archaeological sites in the world. g

Art

CMYK

Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

Iqbal Hussain:

Painting life And not the canvas!

Nadeem alam The writer teaches Art-History at the University College of Art and Design, Lahore. He is a researcher, art-Historian and art-critic with a special interest in Western, South Asian and Pakistani art.

Email: nadeem.cad@pu.edu.pk

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qbal Hussain is more renowned for his socially radical and somehow controversial topics that he has been painting since long. He opened his eyes in the walled city and in a locality that has been famed for the performing arts like music and dance. Visual arts, as a genre, inspired Iqbal Hussain, up to a level where he found it appropriate for his soft, rather whispering idiom about life.

Iqbal Hussain has been a great exponent of figurative painting with a convinced approach that can be titled as the antithesis of feminism and its accepted etymology.

Female figures in his paintings, do not present the concept of splendor and fragility that we associate with the woman. His paintings, rather display the other side of the society where the dialect of this term is confined to materialistic exploitation of the human nature and emotions.

Therefore, in his paintings the representation of the female body does not stand for the accepted values of a society for a woman; even in terms of sensuality and voluptuousness for which, the female body has been an icon since ancient civilizations.

In his paintings, the female is neither emotionally overwhelmed nor physically amiable albeit, she occupies the frame in comparatively a non-emotional, if not objective, way with barrenness in her eyes and lackadaisical attitude in her posture.

However, Iqbal creates a kind of dichotomy when he links these figures with the society through the gaze or kinesics of his figures that often can cause the viewer to become apprehensive of the situation against his or her intentions.

With this attitude and style, Iqbal Hussain became known as a socially aware artist within his capacity as a painter. He is among those practitioners of art who used art for life. His art is alive because it is deeply rooted in the society and culture he

lives in; this applies to both of his figurative and landscape or cityscape painting.

The cityscapes of Iqbal Hussain, seem the continuity of his figurative painting as they represent the disheveled complexity of the walled city architecture, in a manner that its walls, roofs and the heavy environment adds to the unheard silence of the noisy and busy life around.

These cityscapes let the viewer wander through the intertwined streets, breathe atop a rooftop, and sneak a glimpse of the badshahi Mosque or the River Ravi. Iqbal Hussain, who paints portraits and figures to insinuate the ‘introvert’ character of his subject through the barrenness of eyes and lethargy of posture, relates them with the surroundings they live in by painting that environment without them. This practice also serves the artist to harmonize his profound perception to the infinity of nature. Marjorie Hussain comments on this quality of Iqbal Hussain as: “at times, the artist slips away to the tranquility of the river Ravi, and restores his spirits painting the unspoiled landscape with vast skies around him. The artist paints the views from his home, and records the bustling streets that he endows with a timeless quality.

Hussain is a compassionate artist, one who offers an insider’s view of a world seldom mentioned by polite society.”

Many other painters have put their hands on painting the architecture complexity of the walled-city of lahore, but their approach to this subject is, more or less, like of a visitor or a spectator, whereas Iqbal has painted this area with a special sense of possessiveness. He has absorbed the light, sight and sounds of this area as an extension to his heart and soul. He has felt the warmth of the sunlight, and have sat in those shadows before rendering them on the canvas. He looks at these alleys as pathways; he knows where they would turn or curve to intersect another narrow street, rather than considering them as mere labyrinths.

Therefore, his rendering of these elements is an ‘insider’s view’ that makes Iqbal Hussain different from his contemporaries.

Iqbal emerged as a radical and notable painter of Pakistan owing to his serious concerns with the environment and ambiance where he was born and spent his early life and youth. Since he never shied away from own that locale, with all the sincerity and acknowledgement, his art is candid in its representation.

Iqbal’s portraits edify the viewer of the emotional and psychological circumstances that can cause quietness inside, while his cityscapes suggest the same outside. g CMYK

‘Iqbal Hussain has been a great exponent of figurative painting with a convinced approach that can be titled as the antithesis of feminism and its accepted etymology.’

‘The cityscapes of Iqbal Hussain, seem the continuity of his figurative painting as they represent the disheveled complexity of the walled city architecture, in a manner that its walls, roofs and the heavy environment adds to the unheard silence of the noisy and busy life around.’

www.pakistantoday.com.pk 19

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Sunday, 16 - 22 FEB, 2014

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