EDITORIAL
Certain
and uncertain India
If there is any natural
ally, to anybody, in the war on terrorism it is India.
Without being asked India pledged her support to the
Americans. Automatic as that support was it was not
without any automatic calculations that the Indians read
readily — too readily, now it appears — in the
campaign. Except for those in oppositions — who
perhaps sensed another election getting bombed good
— there was euphoria in the Indian statesmen and the
public. Was it a feeling of being vindicated in its
warnings or a relief that now they were not alone to
fight the terrorism, or the assurance that the enemy
number one has been fully downed, one cannot say. But
there definitely was relief. And as the dignitaries one
and all, poured into India after their late evening
meeting with Musharraf there was a feeling that India is
getting heard, getting talked to, getting into the thick
of the battle without joining any forces there. Now it is
strange that all the dignitaries should have late evening
meetings with the Pak general-cum-president. Is it
because that they have wanted to be sure that they got
the full report of the day. That the coalition and its
partner were there, in place, at the end of the day. And
thus assured they could have a good night’s sleep.
And yes, you have guessed
it. They came to India to have an easeful rest. The war
is tiring thing. The negotiations with the Pak president
cannot be called anything refreshing, with his wish list
getting bigger and bigger. And then one never knows in
Pakistan. More in the present Pakistan. They could lie
down to a nice nap and find themselves trapped as
hostages a la....more
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The
clash of confusions
By M J Akbar
If ignorance were truly bliss the front page of every
newspaper would be bubbling with ...more
NGOs
in the education sector
Academic Pulse
By:- Prof. S K Bhalla
"NGOs in today’s context are as important as
panchayats and fourth Pillar.. .more
What
US is saying is
not
truth
By K.N.Pandita
September 11 incident, a tragedy for the victims as it
is, has been projected in a manner as to paint the US
an... .more
Powell
strikes no
new
chords
By K V S Rama Sarma
The visit of U.S Secretary of State Colin Powell to New
Delhi has ‘almost’ settled the contour and
content of lndo, US relations in the post-September .....more
Pakistan's
duplicity in
role in Afghanistan
By Sreedhar
Since the day a debate about an alternative to Taliban to
govern Afghanistan.........more
Action
plan for children
with learning disability
By Dr Shubhankar Banerjee
There are many cases found in our modern society when
sharp bright and every way........more
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The
clash of confusions
By M J
Akbar
If
ignorance were truly bliss the front page
of every newspaper would be bubbling with
laughter. Here we are in the middle of
what is supposed to be the war of
centuries, the war of civilisations, the
war of destinies, the war of confidents,
and most certainly the war of hyperboles,
and no one has a clue about where the
America-led coalition's effensive against
the Taliban has reached, where it is
headed or how to reach a destination. It
is ironic that nearly a month into the
war, Associated Press has reached Babar's
tomb in Kabul before the United States.
We have pictures from AP of scenes next
to the tomb, but no evidence yet of
either the marines or the Northern
Alliance. The Northern Alliance, to judge
by the evidence so far, is living up to
its name. It is sticking to the North.
The
ignorance is not about territory; in fact
there should be no ignorance at all about
ground level. Half the satellites in the
sky are almost certainly gazing very hard
at Afghanistan at the moment, and since
they are capable of picking up an
individual in a crowd they should,
theoretically, be transmitting enough
information back to the backroom boys in
Washington. But it is apparent that the
Americans are unsure about the mind and
the ethos of the Taliban.
The great
debate over the American bombing during
Ramzan was started by President Pervez
Musharraf and continues to flutter
through news columns and airways.
President Musharraf took the lead and, in
an increasingly familiar pattern, led the
retreat. He wanted the Americans to end
their campaign before the start of the
''holy month'', but has been now
persuaded that a few B52s with payloads
do not really disturb the day long fast.
Ramzan has not become any less holy than
it used to be; It is the only the
American calendar for victory that has
gone a bit out of date President
Musharraf is a good soldier. He knows how
to follow orders.
The fact
is that the ''holy month'' was always a
non-issue. In fact, if I were in the
Pentagon I would be worried about Ramzan,
but in a different context.
It is
perfectly true that Ramzan is the holiest
month in the Islamic calendar. The thirty
days of fasting constitute one of the
five pillars of the faith, and burn away
your sins; the gates of Heaven are open
during Ramzan, this is the month with the
''night of power'' when the Quran was
first sent down. The faithful eat and
drink only between sunset and that moment
when they see a white thread on the
horizon in the darkness before dawn.
However, there is no mention anywhere in
the scriptures that war is forbidden
during Ramzan. The four months during
which war is avoided are Rajab, and the
three adjoining months of
Zul-Qadah,Hijjah and Muharram. And this
injunction did not prevent the tragedy of
Qarbala from taking place during
Muharram.
On the
other hand, the faithful will remember
that the historic battle of Badr was
fought on the 17th of Ramzan and marked
the first great victory of Islamic arms,
under the leadership of the Prophet
himself. Badr was the classic Muslim
victory; the Prophet had only about 300
men under him, facing more than a
thousand of the Quraysh, whose sole
purpose was to kill him and end Islam.
The Muslims were helped by the kind of
miracle that Osama bin Laden and Mullah
Omar are surely praying for at this
moment as they stand alone against the
odds. The Taliban may actually choose to
send a sharp message to America on the
17th of Ramzan rather than negotiate for
a ceasefire.
The point
that President Musharraf might have
raised to better effect is whether B52s
actually win any victories. These birds
of prey can destroy at will, but there is
one response, which can leave them
helpless nationalism. Till the American
bombing began the Taliban had no sympathy
from anyone, least of all from Muslims.
The version of Islam, whether it was the
destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas or the
treatment of Afghan women, was abhorrent
to most Muslims; only Pakistan, as sugar
daddy of the Taliban, Saudi Arabia and
the UAE recognised the Kabul government.
The Taliban was isolated, and deservedly
so. It was a government with some support
at home, but no credibility either at
home or abroad. But if they begin to
represent Afghan nationalism against a
superpower, then the Americans will have
only succeeded in strengthening those
they wish to destroy. President Musharraf
was wrong about Ramzan but he was and is
right about an assessment he now
hesitates to make in public. For American
strategy to succeed, it must succeed
quickly. Time is on the side of the
Taliban. They have recovered from their
initial nervousness, and are confident
enough now to take journalists
(including, presumably, the AP
photographer who sent us pictures from
Babar's tomb) to report the civilian
casualties that a war from the air
inevitably inflicts.
The first
American targets, understandably, ar the
symbols of power: the cities of Kabul,
the capital, Kandahar, the home at Mullah
Omar, and Mazar-i-Sharif, the most
important town of the north. So far, even
Mazar-i-Sharif is holding out, but that
is not the real point. The Taliban's
strength lies in the classic Maoist
proposition: they are fish in the water.
They are not an army in the conventional
sense of structures units under rigid
command.
If their
commitment does not waver, they can keep
the countryside and caves long after they
have lost the cities. Afghanistan is
countryside and caves.
Criticism
is easy: what is the answer ? It surely
cannot be the conversion of the Taliban
into heroes, irrespective of the merits
of American B52s.
Washington
is currently in single-drive mode, when
it needs a parallel route map towards the
causes of terrorism. Maybe that is the
George Bush works. That is not the way
the world will work. The argument that
the more complex response can wait while
the simler one solves an immediate
problem is fallacious. As we have seen,
short is not as short as the Pentagon
might have projected. Plus, the impulses
generated by something as emotive as war
can only make the longer journey much
more difficult. But George Bush is hardly
alone in his limited approach to the
problem. Everyone is guilty. President
Musharraf probably does not dare think
beyond the immediate.
Prime
Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is making
his first trip abroad after 11 September;
terrorism was already high on his agenda,
and he must be relieved to note that the
subject has risen on the agenda of his
hosts on this trip as well. You cannot
get a better audience than Moscow,
Washington and London.
The Prime
Minister will of course be a statesman
abroad. This would have been more
sustainable if his party and his home
minister, Mr L K Advani, had not
simultaneously launched the legislative
equivalent of B52s at the problem of
terrorism in India. All democratic
countries have to place civil liberties
and tough legislation against a lawless
enemy on either side of the balance of
justice. Washington has just pushed
through laws that restore to the FBI
rights of tapping and interception that
it once possessed, for instance. But the
awkward acronym, POTO, represents a frame
of mind that is authoritarian, not
democratic. Pundits are not renowned for
reading what they write about. I have
actually read the Prevention Of Terrorism
Ordinance. The powers that have been
granted to the executive are so
excessively arbitrary that they will not
be approved even by members of the ruling
alliance, let alone the full Parliament.
Some brainy insiders actually argue that
POTO is only a political trick; that the
BJP knows it will not pass but wants to
wear a tough mantle before the Uttar
Pradesh elections. I hope that is not the
reasoning at the higher echelons of the
ruling part, but if it is, a story will
serve. I was covering the elections in
Pakistan in which Nawaz Sharif hit
Benazir Bhutto with a landslide (those,
of course, were the last elections to be
hed by our neighbour). During the final
phase of the campaign, as Benazir Bhutto
saw power slip out, she began to raise
the temperature on Kashmir, promising
Jihad or whatever she thought Pakistanis
wanted in order to vote back to power.
Nawaz Sharif, on the other hand, was
campaigning for better relations with
India. Speaking to a voter in Lahore, I
asked why he was so determined to throw
out Benazir. Didn't he want the state of
Kashmir? The voter's reply remains firmly
imbedded; the state of the Kashmir.
Voters do not confuse issues. No amount
of terror-rhetoric is going to save the
BJP in Uttar Pradesh.
This is a
moment for Mr Vajpayee to place policy
above politics. A dialogue involving
India, Russia, the United States and
Britain is the perfect point in the
search of parallel options as the world
addresses itself seriously to a problem
that might begin with the vagaries of an
individual but could end with the
destruction of nations.
Mr
Vajpayee should carry one thought with
him on his travels: Asia, from Israel to
China, via Pakistan, India, Kazakhstan
and Russia. Is sitting on a pile of
nuclear weapons. The tremors of this
region are interlined by the tensions of
history and the provocations of
contemporary passion. Who knows where
Chechnya begins and where it will end?
The anger of Palestine boils over in
Kabul and Peshawar. Fragility in
Islamabad creates Seismic convulsions in
Kashmir. A message from Kandahar raises
heartbeats in the North-East Dhaka is
always ready to burst.
We need an
honest dialogue of nations to prevent the
havoc that an unknown trigger can create.
The clash of confusion is harsher than a
clash of civilians.
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NGOs
in the education sector
Academic Pulse
By:- Prof.
S K Bhalla
"NGOs
in today’s context are as important
as panchayats and fourth Pillar of
independent India which have been playing
a crucial role in various spheres of the
developmental activities. They could play
role as an apolitical movement. An NGO
can also guide and point out defects in a
Government and ensure that it was free
from defects. The Govt. directs its
energy as a welfare state and much of its
machinery was utilised in controlling law
and order but an NGO has altogether a
different role to play as a selfless
service apparatus' at various levels. The
black sheep among NGOs should be
identified and those doing commendable
service to the nation should not only get
encouragement but recognition of their
work in the society. "Thus spake the
Poet-politician Mr. A.B.Vajpayee and
reported in the columns of this esteemed
Daily in the second fortnight of Oct.
2001 for the perusal and scrutiny of the
intelligent readers.
After
environment in the field of NGOs a few
bodies wedded to the education sector
have made their presence felt in the
recent past in Jammu province too. One
such body has been TEJPUNJ- an NGO group.
Their team comprises counsellors and
educationists visiting various Colleges
and generating awareness about suitable
careers among the students . This group
also informs them about the various
courses of study , the institutions
running them and wherefrom to procure
forms etc.
Then we
have one more body- MAA SHAKTI devoted to
the well being of children and aiming at
strengthening the moral and spiritual
fibre at a time then there is an all
round chaos and confusion . It has been
working for the last few years with an
exemplary dedication and selfless-ness
and plans to bring about an attitudinal
change in the whole gamut of issues
concerning the betterment of the present
and future generations who will be
instrumental & in giving direction to
our limping and ailing society.
It will
not be out of context here to mention the
role of Save Education-an outfit founded
in 1999 devoted to the cause of reforms
in the education sector with its 11-point
agenda. Its core Group which mainly
handless its activities is a mix of
intelligent both seasoned and young
comprising Prof. Ajeet Angral and Prof.
Twinkle Suri working day in and day out
in its capacity as Educational watchdog.
The NGO is completely opposed to the
menace of academic/intellectual/moral and
financial indiscipline in the education
sector and raises voice for the redressal
of genuine grievances of genuinely
aggrieved parties. It has still to
traverse a long road as it shall take a
long time to spent evil forces.
The need
of the hours is that all these bodies
should work in tandem and agree on a
common minimum programme for a better
educational environment in J&K.
Though there may be divergence of views
and approaches to the issues at Stake to
me it appears that ultimate goal should
be larger public good which should always
be the sole criterion of genuine NGOs. I
shall conclude this week's piece with
Vajpayee's observation" we have to
identify issues confronting the people
and enthuse and encourage them to come
forward in resolving them" Besides
the NGOs we have also a few Trusts
contributing humbly in their own way but
still have to carve out a place for them.
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What
US is saying is not truth
By K.N.Pandita
September 11
incident, a tragedy for the victims as it is, has
been projected in a manner as to paint the US an
oppressed and tormented country. It has been used
to arouse the sympathy of the world. Indeed, some
sympathy did formulate but at the same time there
are skeptics who would not go by the diktat of
the sentiment.
The killing of the
innocent is tragic and deserves strongest
condemnation. It is a barbaric act the like of
which is found in the history of the barbarians
alone. The American nation will take a long time
to come out of this trauma
But the question
is this: is the US government really that
innocent as to arouse our deepest sympathy and
condemn the perpetrators of the crime? Is there
no background history of US connections with
Osama and the Taliban that the US government
should be supported threadbare in its fight
against terror?
What the US is
saying certainly is not the whole truth. There
are clear indications and even evidence that the
US government has been liaisoning with the
Taliban and Osama. From the reports of the
Congressional Foreign Relations Committee for
South Asia emanating from the testimony of the
officials of the State Department, Mr. Karl
Inderfurth and Mr. Richardson in July 2000, it is
known that the US official team had arrived in
Afghanistan in July 2000 and met with the Taliban
as well as the Northern Alliance leadership.
It had implored
the Taliban to give up fighting and lay down the
arms. A similar suggestion was made to the
commanders of the Northern Alliance. In these
talks Pakistan was also a party. The State
Departments high-ranking team had made the
testimony that the US needed Pakistan as an ally
in the geopolitical strategies in the region.
This is what Karl Inderfurth had told the house
committee.
The Taliban were
reluctant to lay down the arms but clandestine
manoeuvring of Pakistani intelligence agency
resolved the affair. It promised to re-arm the
Taliban after the Northern Alliance commanders
had agreed to lay down the arms. Thus the
Northern Alliance commanders were trounced. They
laid down their arms and so did the Taliban. The
Americans now began working for a compromise
formula.
But then covertly
Pakistan rearmed the Taliban this time with more
lethal and more sophisticated weaponry, the
latest in its and in American arsenals. The
Northern Alliance was left high and dry. With
huge arms consignments of latest designs arriving
in Kabul, the Taliban renewed their onslaught on
the Northern Alliance and drove them scores of
miles away from the existing war front. The
Northern Alliance suffered a heavy loss in terms
of men and material as a result of treachery.
The US closed its
eyes to the act of treachery. She had the reason.
She thought that now that the Taliban possessed
90 per cent of the Afghan territory including the
northern towns of Mazar-e Sharif and Herat, it
would no be possible for the American oil cartels
to prepare themselves for laying oil pipeline
from Central Asian to Herat to Kabul and then to
Pakistan and the Arabian Sea. But the opposition
of the American public especially of American
women organisations to the behaviour of Taliban
towards the women in Afghanistan was so strong
that Clinton could not make a deal with the
Taliban. The whole scheme fell through. But the
matter does not come to an end at this point.
French newspaper Le Figaro, quoting an
intelligence source writes as this: " Two
months before September 11, Osama (OBL) flew to
Dubai for 10 days for treatment at the American
hospital, where he was visited by the local CIA
agent. OBL arrived in Dubai on July 4 from Quetta
in Pakistan with his own personal doctor, nurse
and four bodyguards, to be treated in the urology
department. While there several members of his
family and Saudi personalities, and the CIA agent
visited him.
The CIA chief was
seen in the lift, on his way to see OBL, and
later, it is alleged, boasted to friends about
his contact. He was recalled to Washington soon
afterwards. Intelligence sources say that another
CIA agent was also present; and that OBL was also
visited by Prince Turki al Faisal, then head of
Saudi intelligence, who had long had links with
the Taliban, and OBL. Soon afterwards Turki
resigned, and more recently he has publicly
attacked him in an open letter: "You are a
rotten seed, like the son of Noah".
Private planes
owned by rich princes in the Gulf fly frequently
between Quetta and the Emirates, often on
luxurious "hunting trips" in
territories sympathetic to OBL. Other sources
confirm that these hunting trips have provided
opportunities for Saudi contacts with the Taliban
and terrorists, since they first began in 1994.
OBL has often been reported to be in poor health.
Some accounts claim that he is suffering from
Hepatitis C, and can expect to live for only two
more years." According to Le Figaro, last
year he ordered a mobile dialysis machine to be
delivered to his base at Kandahar in Afghanistan.
Le Figaro is a
prestigious French paper and its reports are
seldom contradicted. This should explain the
Washington-Pakistan axis and its mutual
understanding. Why Washington heavily depends on
Pakistan in the case of OBL and terrorists is
self explantory.
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Powell
strikes no new chords
By K V S Rama Sarma
The visit of U.S
Secretary of State Colin Powell to New Delhi has
‘almost’ settled the contour and
content of lndo, US relations in the
post-September 11 era. That fateful day marked
the turning point- for better or worse only
future can tell - in international relations.
September 1 1 abruptly changed expectations of
many nations including India and severely altered
strategic equations. The scene today is so
different from what it was hardly six weeks ago.
It is of super power politics and the strange
character of strategic compulsions, that India
which has been vindicated by the bombing of the
World Trade Centre and Pentagon has turned out to
be worst loser in the new alignments taking shape
today in the world, where mercilessness and
opportunism mark the so called statesmanship and
betrayal and bigotry decide the level of success.
India, true to its
nature as a country that genuinely stood for
principles, as against many who stood for none,
expected that the sudden burst of universal
realization of the depth and dimensions of
terrorism would persuade, if not compel everyone,
especially, the US to understand and recognize
what New Delhi has been saying for years. That
was an impractical thought. For, in international
relations there is no place for principles that
yield no benefits. New Delhi rushed to embrace
Washington, which was in a state of shock after
the attack. But Washington, even in its worst and
most humiliating crisis since Pearl Harbour, was
looking everywhere. What happened on 11 September
was several times more disgraceful for the U.S.
than Pearl Harbour. The U.S. sights were on
Pakistan and on how to exploit the bombings of 11
September into an opportunity to spread further
and strengthen its hegemony and how to nip in the
bud the Islamic power that began raising its head
after the tall of Constantinople six centuries
ago.
No wonder, India
got cold response and Pakistan, which had been
the fountainhead of terrorism in an evil
partnership with Taliban, was warmly greeted.
Without loss of times the U.S. assembled a
coalition with Pakistan as the fulcrum as well as
the focal point. lnfact in the so-called
anti-terrorist coalition, Pakistan is the axis.
Doubts, suspicions and apprehensions New Delhi
and others entertained in these six weeks about
the future course of the U.S. policies were
cleared by Secretary of State Powell. If there
are still any lingering doubts, they will be
cleared when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee
meets President George Bush next month in
Washington. One can safely assume that Bush will
echo what Powell had said about Kashmir (central
issue in lndo-Pak relations), Musharraf (bold,
courageous and key man in anti-terrorist
campaign) and lndo-US ties (shoulder to-shoulder
friends).
That Powell lumped
India and Pakistan together equating them and
started his journey with lslamabad is loud enough
for everyone to see where Washington’s heart
is. As has been said in this column before Powell
did not travel to Delhi to counsel India on
Kashmir. He wanted to ‘put more meat’
into India’s offer of support, as he himself
had said at a press briefing in Washington on
October 16. Referring to India’s offer of
support he said ‘we are very appreciative of
that and may be in the course of this trip we
will find specific things to talk about putting
more meat to that offer’.
Powell also
urgently wanted to sign the treaty on Mutual
Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, which is an
improvement of the extradition treaty they had
signed in 1999. Asked why he described Musharraf
as ‘bold and courageous’, this was
Powell’s reply:’ On 13 th I called
President Musharraf and I had a good conversation
with him. I had talked to him a couple of times
before, so we were not strangers. I said you need
to understand, Mr President, and I am saying this
to you in all friendship, that we had a
catastrophe here and we are going to respond to
this catastrophe and we need to know whether you
are going to be on our side of it or not. And it
took him 24 hours to ponder that question, to
consult with his leaders and to make his own
decision, a sovereign country making their own
decision not taking instruction from anybody. And
he did that. He came back to us and said we will
work with you. We gave him some things we would
like to see them do and he agreed to all those
things and considering where he lives, his
neighbourhood, what his government had been doing
in the recent past, I thought it was a bold and
courageous decision. He did it knowing there
would be demonstrations. He did it knowing there
would be opposition. And I can think of no other
way to characterize that kind of political
decision other than bold and it was courageous in
the light of circumstances’.
Given this opinion
about Musharraf, it is not surprising Powell
parried questions on Pakistan’s record and
Musharraf’s own record, in fomenting
terrorism. Infact, Powell rewarded Musharraf for
his ‘bold and courageous’ decision by
agreeing with him that Kashmir is
‘central’ to lndo-Pak relations and
that the ‘views of Kashmiris’ must be
taken into account in any future settlement. It
is unfortunate that Powell forgot or was not
aware of the fact that successive elections held
in the State in the past several decades have
repeatedly reflected the views of the Kashmiris.
The same cannot be said of the Pak-occupied
Kashmir. When Pakistan itself does not hold
democratic elections, what to talk of PoK? Powell
has clearly indicated both in Islamabad and New
Delhi that once again Pakistan is America’s
main ally in this part of the world. Both would
naturally have a lot of things to do together not
just only in Afghanistan, but in Central Asian
countries, Kashmir and even China.
As far as India is
concerned, the U.S. policy will be the same as
before with no concrete diplomatic or strategic
cooperation. As Mr. Natwar Singh said it is a
shame that foreign ministry sought to ingratiate
with the U.S. Worse still, its spokesman gloated
in delinquent jubilation over the fact the U.S.
had not invited Musharraf to Washington!
Powell’s remarks on crucial issues in New
Delhi and lslamabad showed that External Affairs
Minister Jaswant Singh’s visit to Washington
was a futile exercise. Even in Delhi, the Indian
leaders failed to put forth in a dignified and
firm manner the country’s viewpoint. It was
left to Congress President, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, to
tell Powell without mincing words that it was not
Kashmir, but ‘cross-border terrorism from
Pakistan’ was the central issue in Indo-Pak
relations. Now that General Musharraf got a pat
on his back from General Powell, India must watch
out for Pakistan’s attempt to exhibit its
new equation with the U.S. on the ground. Absence
of expected results from Powell’s visit
should not inhibit India in fully cooperating
with the U.S. Even if Pakistan bends back and
forth to please the U.S., India need not get
rattled, for India stands on a different footing.
It is upto India to exploit its unique status as
a strong democracy that commands a massive market
and that is fortunately second to none in
intellectual power. As Mrs Sonia Gandhi said,
every time India was ignored it drew upon its
inherent resource and progressed. The present
phase is probably one such. The government must
make a considered statement on Powell’s
visit and take the nation into confidence on what
"meat" Powell wanted to put into
India’s offer of support and what was
India’s response. In any case India need not
be despondent. It must welcome the assurance of
the U.S. and learn to depend on its own efforts,
as Mrs. Sonia Gandhi said to fight terrorism in
Kashmir. —CNF
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Pakistan's
duplicity in role in Afghanistan
By Sreedhar
Since the day a
debate about an alternative to Taliban to govern
Afghanistan started, Pakistan had brought in a
new term ‘moderate Taliban’ into the
ongoing turmoil. Pakistan’s argument is
simple. The entire Taliban militia is not as
radical as Mullah Umar is; and the moderate
elements among them should be separated and
accommodated in any future set-up.
The US was
apparently told that Taliban movement is 90
percent Pashtoons, and Pashtoons being the
dominant ethnic group, cannot be ignored in any
future arrangement for the governance of
Afghanistan. The US, which was backing Northern
Alliance, the group that is fighting Taliban for
the last 7 years, quickly retraced its steps
vis-a-vis Northern Alliance. Instead, it
suggested a compromise formula with King Zaheer
Shah as head of state, assisted by a council of
elders from various ethnic groups. The elders
will be selected through a system of proportional
representation by each ethnic group. In this
‘moderate Taliban have a place.
For the past two
decades, the US Afghanistan policy is guided by
Pakistan. It is a fact. The US is also in a mood
to condone Gen. Pervez Musharraf’s Taliban
experiment as Pakistan agreed to be the frontline
state in its fight against "global
terrorism". One can understand this American
attitude.
The interesting
point is, why Pakistan introduced this concept of
"moderate Taliban’. One can offer two
explanations. Pakistan has a strong Pashtoon
population in Balochistan and North-West.
Frontier province. According to rough estimates,
nearly 10 percent of Pakistan’s population
are Pashtoons. To quote Khan Abdul Wali Khan,
‘I am a Pashtoon for 5000 years, a Mosalman
for 1000 years -and a Pakistani for 50
years’. Pashtoons across Pak-Afghan border
have relations and social relationships are quite
common among them.
From 1980 onwards
successive administrations in Pakistan argued
that they got involved in Afghan turmoil
basically because of the Pashtoon factor. Even
when Taliban was created, Pakistani analysts
argued that it was to protect Pashtoon interests.
When the US launched its war against Taliban
-AI-Qaida combine after the 11 September
terrorist attack, Pakistan quickly realised the
amount of damage if can do to Pashtoons.
In fact if the US
campaign continues for long, Pakistan may find it
difficult to pacify the Pashtoons in NWFP and
Balochistan. Knowing fully well that
collaborating with the US against Taliban will be
considered betrayal of Pashtoons by the political
leadership in lslamabad, Gen Pervez Musharraf
tried to make a fine distinction between moderate
and hardcore among Taliban.
Gen. Musharraf
seems to have succeeded in convincing the
Americans. But the Pashtoons seem not to have
taken kindly to Gen. Musharraf’s moves. They
all have taken abait (Islamic oath) to Amirul
Moimeen, Mullah Umar. Everyone knows that this
oath cannot be broken once anyone takes it.
Normally death is the only sentence given to
people who break the oath.
Already the
protests organised by pro-Taliban elements in
NWFP and Balochistan has brought lslamabad’s
rule over these two provinces to a halt.
Peshawar and Quetta have become out of bounds for
Pakistan President. One need not be surprised, if
the local people start attacking the US military
personnel and convoys.
It this trend
continues, Pashtoons declaring independence from
Pakistan cannot be ruled. Apparently, the
US put all its eggs in Pakistan, thinking
that they can finish off Taliban - Al Qaeda
within a couple of weeks of aerial bombing,
followed by commando operations. What made the
Americas to think on these lines is not known.
Equally amazing is the presumption that Pakistan
will extend full cooperation to its military
operations.
It seems to be
unaware of the fact that the ISI is a government
within government and enjoys considerable amount
of autonomy. Taliban always exploited this
peculiar feature in the functioning of the ISI.
For instance, the Government of Pakistan declared
that it will observe the UN sanctions against
Taliban that came into affect from January 2001.
Under these UN sanctions, there cannot be any
military cooperation with Taliban by any UN
member - country. Yet Pakistan press reported
that 3000 Pakistan soldiers left their
posts in Afghanistan and returned home after 11
September. Therefore, one need not be surprised,
if we find Pakistani soldiers fighting US special
commando forces, like they did against the Soviet
Red Army in 1980s. —CNF
Action
plan for children with learning disability
By Dr Shubhankar Banerjee
There are many
cases found in our modern society when sharp
bright and every way normal children are also
labelled as "duds'’. These
‘duds’ children are experts of
everything except reading and writing and they
are treated with disdain and hence called
underachievers. According to clinical
psychologists, 5 to 10 percent of all children in
regular schools usually qualify for these
epithets. These children are called as
"dyslexics" i.e. slow learners. They
habitually score no more than 5 to 10 percent in
their subjects. Actually, the paradoxes are the
children themselves. It is usually observed that
these children understand perfectly well what is
taught in class orally, but they are unable to
write in the examination and read in class-room
or before others.
There are few
organisations like NCERT and CBSE who have taken
stock of these situations of children. Actually,
NCERT has already prepared a report on
examination reforms for children with learning
disability. Now, a concrete action plan is
required to be implemented in schools from the
time children just enter schools till they finish
upto the examination. These children may require
to tackle examinations and take on life as well
as their peers for which changes in educational
patterns and as well as a keen perception on the
teachers are also must. A cautious and prudent
parent must take assistance of qualified clinical
psychologists and special educators to provide
proper aid to their under achiever children. For
instance - a severely dyslexic boy who can not
even read, write and understand properly must get
proper special permission to write his papers in
the examination hall. C.B.S.E. has already given
permission as special facility to such learning
disable children. However for this purpose,
examination by laws are also required to be
changed. According Pavnesh Kumar, controller of
examination of CBSE, we need to define certain
complex issues for granting relaxations to such
students and the board is deliberating upon
these.
In this context,
Dr. Neeraja Shukla, head of the department of
education of groups with special needs in the
NCERT, further added that these children are
invisible in the present school system,
therefore, teachers have to be made more aware so
that they can focus better on them. It is also
observed that dyslexia is often a genetic traits.
It may be actually a basic psychological disorder
that itself in the understanding of a language,
whether written or spoken, or shows up as an
inability to read, write, spell correctly, space
letters and as well as to calculate. According to
Roma Kumar, a clinical psychologists with Ganga
Ram Hospital (New Delhi) who sat up the
hospital’s child development clinic, it is
determined by a series of IQ, perceptual and
spelling tests, among others.
Sheroo was a
dyslexic child, student of Modern School, is now
survived as swimming champion. On the other hand,
Sheroo’s younger brother, Aditya was also
labelled as severely dyselexic who could not
read, write and understand maths. Actually, the
mother of these dyslexic children, Mrs. Anjal
Bawa was so determined that she provided them
services of best clinical psychologists and
special educators. Therefore, Aditya also scored
58 percent in the 12th board examination in
Modern School and then he left to Austria for a
course in hotel management. Whereas, Sheroo
flunked, without fail per year and promoted only
because of swimming. Now, he is working with the
Merchant Navy. Sheroo also expressed his views,
‘Dyslexics become nore confident with
age".
Inspired by above
incidents, Anjali Bawa is having so much
confidence that she is now determined to
help other dyslexics children to make them cope
UP with school work in mainstream schools.
Therefore, she has established the society Action
Dyslexia Delhi. She confidently said, " That
is where these children belong." Her society
has set a basic object beyond education to help
parents and children fighting hard to cope up
with learning disability. In this respect, Bina
Nangia, a special educator with Amity
International School (Saket, New Delhi),
"Mainstream schools are finally waking up to
this problem." In fact, the number of
sufferers are also huge, so it is the right time
to do better efforts for the benefit of these
dyslexics children under concrete action plan.
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