Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

War against Islamists success eluding US campaign

By M Rama Rao

The US has failed to gain any advantage from its fight against terrorism unleashed by Islamic fundamentalists. A simplistic view of geo-politics and an overbearing concern for the so called rogue states are responsible for .........more

What rights is Musharraf talking about

By Virendra Saxena

Sports and education

By Ramu Sharma

In the modern Indian system where responsibility of imparting of education at every level is generally a joint venture involving both private and government,....more

EDITORIAL

Bush’s war

Whose war is this anyway? One started by United States
President George W. Bush after 9/11. It was supposed to
be a global war against terrorism. It has not exactly become one. It was aimed to ‘smoke out’ Osama bin Laden. He continues to be elusive. By moving in for the kill in a selective manner, Mr Bush appears to have been lost in a maze of his own making. Inconvenient questions are being raised. Few would have dared do so had he been successful. To make matters worse, his misadventure in Iraq has come a cropper in a way. With a helpful British Prime Minister Tony Blair in tow, he was able to build an Anglo-American axis. This has not proved adequate to meet the challenge in Iraq. Admittedly, Mr Saddam Hussein has been thrown out and his Baath Party nearly eliminated. That is the scenario at least for the time being. A pliable Government has been put in place after the invasion in that country. Extra care has been taken to give proportional representation to the Shia majority in the new dispensation. It had felt neglected under Mr Hussein. Nobody can say with confidence that they are happy now that some of their top leaders have been killed and there is fratricidal violence. Whatever that may be, this has not solved Mr Bush’s problems on his home turf where polls show that his approval rating among the Americans has slipped to less than 50 per cent.

One sight that the Americans detest is that of bodybags of their own soldiers coming home. They have had enough of them during the Vietnam war. If there is a repeat of them from Iraq, Mr Bush would meet his Waterloo. There is no doubt about that. US citizens want a satisfactory explanation why the Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs) — the stated reason for the invasion — have not been found in Iraq. In addition, his choice of Pakistan as an ally in the war against Osama bin Laden is quite confusing. Mr Bush himself is not tired of advising Pakistan that it should end cross-border terrorism against India. How can then the abettors of terrorism be comrade-in-arms in containing the same evil? How can the creators of the Taliban, some of whom have graduated to Al-Qaeda, be expected to fight it? India is naturally baffled by US’s double standards. The global community is equally surprised that the US should have vetoed a well-meaning resolution in the United Nations Security Council asking Israel to behave vis-à-vis the Palestinians.

There are many who believe that Mr Bush has read the writing on the wall. Now that he has achieved his objective in Iraq, he is revising his approach towards the United Nations. Having haughtily ignored the world initially, he is giving the impression that he wants to mend fences. Even while standing by Israel in the United Nations, his administration has clearly told the Jewish nation that it would better desist from carrying out threats of killing Mr Yasser Arafat. Likewise, in the Indian sub-continent, he is firmly walking a tight rope. He gives no inkling at all that he does not care about India and its sentiments. He has gladdened the country’s foreign mandarins by hosting a lunch for Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during his recent visit to New York. If Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has taken on the extremists in his country, it is also said to be under his influence. Pakistan is trying to send a word around that it is acting tough with Al-Qaeda and other mercenaries. That is why Gen Musharraf, it is said, is facing the wrath of Islamist terrorist outfits that are accusing him of selling his country to Hindus. Every day the US makes it a point to assert that India-Pakistan bonhomie augurs well for the world. Given its past experience, India has reasons to react cautiously to Pakistan’s designs. That does not seem to bother Mr Bush who is trying to turn the situation around on every count. Having created the myth of invincibility, he has realised that there is no option but to live up to it. That is the only way he can stop decline in his popularity among his own countrymen.

Gandhian justice

Not many complain about the manner in which Justice Karpa-
ga Vinayagam of the Madras High Court awards punishments.
People actually appear to be respecting it. Take the instance of Mr B. Ranganathan, Congress Democratic Forum member of the Tamil Nadu Assembly. He sought bail in a criminal case. As a pre-condition to meet his plea, Justice Vinayagam felt that he should realise his duties as an MLA. The legislator was directed to go through books on Mahatma Gandhi at Madurai’s Gandhi Museum for 30 minutes every day for five days. The legislator, according to a newspaper report, has already browsed through ‘The story of my experiment with the truth’, ‘How to adore Gandhiji’, ‘Lectures on Gita’, and ‘Human life and Gandhiji’. A chastened Mr Ranganathan is quoted as having remarked: ‘Even before coming here I had read many books on Gandhiji. I’ll use this opportunity to read some new titles’. A year ago, Justice Vinayagam had ordered a police officer to donate Rs 1,000 to the Gandhi Museum for failing to carry out a court order promptly. For Tamil film heroine Roja, who had failed to repay a loan on time, the punishment was to spend a day at an orphanage and eat the food served there. The judge gave a piece of mind to members of the Thuraiyur village panchayat who made a woman prostrate before them for six years. Her only fault was that she had requested them to reduce the amount of fine they had imposed on her for sending a divorce notice to her husband. Justice Vinayagam not only had the panchayat members personally apologise to the woman in court but also made them repay the amount they had collected from her as compensation. He cautioned the panchayat members that if they ex-communicated the woman’s family, ‘this court will excommunicate all of your from the State’.

Is this method of delivering justice not unusual and unorthodox? Certainly it does not seem to fit into the conventional pattern. Is this in accordance with the law and the Constitution? Justice Vinayagam maintains that since he views each case from a humanitarian angle also, some of his judgments may look unusual to most people but they are within the ambit of law. Whatever that may be, it seems a laudable idea to rid the people’s mind of their wicked thoughts rather than sentencing them to imprisonment. After all, as Gandhiji always said, hate the evil and not the evil-doer.

War against Islamists success eluding US campaign

By M Rama Rao

There are three dimensions to the US war against the Islamist world of Osama bin Laden and his ilk of fundamentalists, according to the Stratfor weekly specialist George Friedman. One is within the United States and it is the covert duel between the security forces and Al Qaeda operatives said to be present in the country.

The second is the 'war' within in the Islamic countries where Islamist forces are striving to gain an upper hand like in Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia.

The conflicts along the frontiers of the Islamic world, where Muslims and non-Muslims engage in active combat, like for instance, the West Asia represents the third dimension of US war against Islamist terror, according to the Stratfor expert. This view is not shared by many as they see Israel as the rogue state and Palestinians as the victims. The US having thrown its weight behind Israel has not endeared itself to the average West Asian.

Another example of conflict along the frontiers of Islamic world that draws the US to its fold is the cross border terrorism in our own Kashmir. Here too its desire to be close to India and at the same time unwilling to hurt Pakistan where it should hurt most made the United States look for options that are not there in the first place.

There is yet another theatre, where the United States is getting deeply involved with no clue what so ever to the exit route. It is the Balkans. The US entered the scene on behalf of Muslims during the Clinton Presidency. The US Joint Chief of Staff chairman Gen Richard Myers visited the region last week to get a first hand feel of the situation.

Commenting on the American predicament, the strategic expert George Friedman says it might have been assumed that the intervention in the Balkans would have bought the United States some credibility in the Islamic world. It has not. Because it in no way addressed the real interests of Al Qaeda, and because the Clinton administration never effectively linked the intervention to a strategic demarche in the Islamic world.

This is primarily due to the US administration's mind-set, some say its perception that any thing should be for it or against it. There can be no middle ground. Egged by such outlook, Washington failed to understand the world it was facing then and therefore miscalculated. This flipside of American foreign policy is true even today as the world celebrated the second anniversary of 9/11 tragedy that made the world give up its complacency. To remark that this is due to super power arrogance may be saying the obvious.

While the intervention (in the Balkans) was on behalf of Islam, it was something the Clinton administration could not admit and projected its moves as a part of restoring stability in the region as a three-way war broke out, after the disintegration of Yogoslavia, between Catholic Croatia, Orthodox Christian Serbia and Muslim Bosnia and later Albania.

The slaughter and inhumanity on all sides was striking, particularly by the most powerful Serbia. The war was seen by all sides as an opportunity to rectify centuries of legitimate grievances, so complex and arcane that no outsider could truly understand the issues and certainly could never grasp the passions, remarks the Stratfor weekly.

More over, the Balkan region is historically very unstable with the Muslims, the Catholics and the Orthodox Christians living in forced harmony only under occupation or under a strong leader with an agenda of his own even while passionately clinging on to their ethnic identities.

There have been many conspiracy theories about why the United States did what it did, but the truth is simpler and in some ways more amazing. The United States did not see the Balkans question as directly affecting any immediate American geopolitical interest. Rather, the situation there was of concern because if the disruption was not suppressed, other regions might destabilize. The United States had an interest in global stability as the foundation for global economic growth. Moreover, if the West could not suppress chaos in Europe itself, its ability to control chaos elsewhere would be compromised.

But in reality, the US intervention was seen as it should be seen, namely as being on behalf of Muslims. The United States argues that it was on behalf of peace and justice, but none of the combatants doubt that the guns were pointing at the Christian Serbs, not the Muslim Bosnians.

There have been many interesting theories as to why the United States was intervening on behalf of the Muslims. One view was it was because the Saudis had offered to reduce the price of oil. Another view was to facilitate success of US moves for peace in West Asia.

But the point is the Balkan theatre is not quiet despite the presence of United States. Islamist elements present in both Albania and Bosnia are in a position to use the region as a transit point and to hit US troops in both areas.

US sleuths have been searching the region too as a part of the global hunt for Al Qaeda. Success eluded the mission. The danger, however, is that the region could explode in Washington's face at any time. Neither the Bosnian nor Albanian governments want this to happen, but Al Qaeda would not necessarily consult them, remarked a strategic expert.

The only power that has an interest in controlling Islamist actions in the region is, interestingly, Serbia. And the US may have to turn to it to deal with the current war, putting egg on the US face and its ability to understand the complexity of geo-politics. (Syndicate Features)

What rights is Musharraf talking about

By Virendra Saxena

In his rather acrimonious address to the General Assembly of the United Nations Organisation, Pakistan’s President General Pervez Musharraf accused India of "perpetrating gross and consistent violations of Human Rights in Kashmir". Is it not ironical that guilty of the grossest possible violations of Human Rights in his own country should be pointing an accusing finger at others?

As reported by Mohammed Shehzad in an article in Friday Times, Amnesty International’s report excoriates Musharraf’s regime for gross violation of Human Rights. The list of excesses being committed in Pakistan, as listed by Amnesty International (AI) is long: human rights abuses e.g., torture; deaths in custody and extra-judicial killings; abuses committed against women, children and religious minorities, including Christians and Shiite Muslims; a draconian anti-terrorism ordinance that provides for military officers to be part of judicial panel trying "terrorist" offences; the April 30 (2002) referendum that extended Musharraf’s presidency for another five years; the rigged October 2002 Elections; the Legal Framework Order that allows Musharraf to dissolve Parliament and set up a national security council; arbitrary detention and handing over people to US custody; abuses of blasphemy laws; abuses against juveniles; women rights; and the death penalty.

The Amnesty International in its report on Human Rights in Pakistan goes on to say, "Human Rights abuses committed in the context of the government's continued support for the US-led "war on terrorism" included the arbitrary detention of hundreds of people suspected of having links with "terrorist" organisations and their transfer to the custody of US officials. In addition, systemic human rights violations including torture, deaths in custody and extra-judicial killings - continued. Abuses committed against women, children and religious minorities, including Christians and Shia Muslims, continued to be ignored. At least 140 people were sentenced to death and eight were executed.

Terming the ban on jehadis as eyewash, the report comments: "In January, four religious groups were banned and thousands of Islamists arrested and held under administrative detention. They were released within days or weeks."

On the state of minority communities the report says "The state continued to ignore abuses inflicted by private individuals of groups against members of minority communities. At least 40 members of the minority Shia community, mainly doctors and other professionals, and some 65 westerners and Christians died in targeted killings. Preventive and protective measures were non-existent or inadequate and action was taken to investigate such killings only following domestic and international pressure."

The blasphemy law is another area the report predictably focuses on. "Several men were sentenced to death for blasphemy. Others accused of blasphemy were killed, some in circumstances suggesting official complicity or acquiescence in the killings." The report mentions the cases of Anwar Kenneth, Yousuf Ali, Zahid Mahmood Akhtar etc.

The report also details the plight of women and girls, who continue to be subjected to abuses at home, by the community and, even, the state. "Impunity for such abuses persisted. Hundreds of women were killed in so called 'honour' killings. Some private initiatives were announced. For instance the head of the Leghari tribe said in March that 'honour' crimes would no longer be permitted. However, the state did not take any action to ban the practice or to ensure that the perpetrators were held to account. 'The law of qisas and diyat relating to murder remained unchanged. This law allows criminal prosecution only if the family of the murder victim wishes to pursue it. In case of 'honour' crimes this often does not occur, leading to persistent impunity. Police failed to respond adequately to abuses reported by women." The report lists various cases of excesses against women to substantiate its criticism.

An interesting part of the report relates to the capers of the MMA, the alliance of six pro-Taliban religious parties that "now rules Northwest Frontier. Province and Balochistan. "The Islamist party alliance in November announced it would end co-education and make religious education compulsory for all. Women's rights groups expressed their apprehension about a setback to women's rights under the new government."Pakistan continues to earn notoriety and ignominy under torture, deaths in custody and extra-judicial executions. "Torture in police custody continued to be reported; at least 26 people reportedly died as a result. Sixteen-year-old Kashmir Khan died in May in Bhanamari police station, North West Frontier Province. Police claimed that he was killed in an encounter with police who surprised him during a robbery. His father filed a complaint with police stating that the boy had been shot at and deliberately kept in a van until he died. An official inquiry was ordered but not carried out. The officer reportedly responsible for the killing was transferred to another post. The Director General of Police reportedly said: We do not want to demoralise police by taking action against the police official."

"In May, Raz Basra, leader of the Sunni organisation Lashkar Jhangvi, which was believed to be responsible for a number of targeted killings of members of the Shia minority, was reportedly shot dead by police in Vihari. Riaz Basra had dozens of criminal charges pending against him. The Pakistani media reported that he had been arrested six months earlier and been killed in custody. No investigation into the death had been initiated by the end of the year."Another factor features prominently in the report was the death penalty. "At least 140 people were sentenced to death, bringing the total number of people under sentence of death by the end of the year to over 5,500. At least eight people were executed. In April, Zafran Bibi was sentenced to be stoned to death. She had alleged that she had been raped by her husband's brother. However, her father-in-law told police that she had been raped by another man 10 days earlier. When a medical examination established that she was several weeks pregnant although her husband had been away, police changed the charge from rape to adultery. The court acquitted the man alleged by her father-in-law to have been involved, but found Zafran Bibi guilty of zina (fornication) and sentenced her to death by stoning. In June, in what was considered a landmark judgment, the Federal Shariat Court acquitted Zafran Bibi saying that a rape victim should not be considered to have committed a sexual offence and should not be punished."

An official admitted Pakistan's failure to address the human rights issue. "The state of human rights is dismal in Pakistan. The criminal justice system is corrupt. How can you expect good governance in such circumstances," he said.

With this record of Human Rights, one wonders, what right Musharraf has to point an accusing finger at India. (ADNI)

Sports and education

By Ramu Sharma

In the modern Indian system where responsibility of imparting of education at every level is generally a joint venture involving both private and government, the student and the parent have often very little say. For the parent it is essentially a question of making use of the best available facility with one eye on the financial implications.

Though it is now more than 50 years since the country has achieved independence there is till now no clear cut policy on education. The government runs schools at primry, middle and higher levels with the accent on studies, essentally the basics. Despite the best of efforts it has not been able to broad base education to add physical and recreational facilities along with health needs of the children, so important at the primary level. The learning of alphabet and lessons in addition and multiplication apart very little attention is paid to the other physical and mental needs of the students.

The reason is obvious the state does not have the money or the space to provide facilities in its entirety. The exploding population and lack of amenities has of necessity restricted its role. The gap is sought to be filled in by the private entrepreneurs and religious institutions, which have the benefit of Western culture.

At the State level, for instance Delhi, the mushrooming of schools, both private and government, has further exposed the near total lack facilities, particularly at the extra- curricular level. The government of course has laid down certain norms which make it compulsory for all schools to pay sufficient interest in games and health oriented activities. At the primary level the responsibility is placed on the class teachers who in addition to teaching have also to supervise and monitor games classes, the games in essence being with swings and slides.

Once the chid grows in the middle and higher education level, the physical aspect of his or her wll being passes into the hands of a qualified physical education teacher who however may not be a specialist. He takes them in marching and other drills and supervises their play time on the field wherever available. Not many government schools have full fledged playing fields and the students have to depend on rented grounds.

Government school children this generally remained deprived, unable to match the mainstream private schools at competitive level. This is particularly reflected in disciplines like swimming which in Delhi cost money. There are far too few public pools and the private ones, attached o clubs and hotels, are prohibitory.

As per the present system in the capital the children with most benefits are the privately aided schools, most of them with their own facilities, some of them even boasting of swimming pools. Despite the best of efforts the state government is not able to provide matching facilities.

Some of the governments schools have however tried to make the best of their limited resources, specializing in the Indian mode as it were, excelling in Yoga and related exercise-cum-recreational activities and even winning awards in them. These students have proved that given the facilities and the right incentives they are as good as anyone if not better.

But the government has to do much more particularly in terms of providing playing fields and swimming pools in its schools if sport at the middle and high school level has to attain the same competitive grade as that of the private and aided institutions. Till such time sport in Delhi and most of the places, except perhaps in Kerala, will always be a two-tier project, one for those with benefits provided in private and aided schools and the other for those studying in government schools.

Syndicate Features