EDITORIAL
Riding
the tiger of terrorism
John F. Kennedy's words come to mind
at this juncture: "In the past those who
foolishly sought power by riding on the back of
the tiger ended up inside." Pakistan is
paying a heavy price on this count. The tiger of
terrorism it has created and patronised is eating
into its vitals now. From a distance we know of
only significant happenings in the neighbouring
country like the assassination of Benazir Bhutto
and the army operation in Islamabad 's Lal
mosque. A close look reveals a rather scary
picture. The statistics tell a grim tale. The
curtain has been rung down on 2007 with 1442
terrorist attacks, incidents of political
violence and border clashes in Pakistan. Of them,
1306 terrorist attacks were carried out by the
local Taliban, Pakistani Jihadist and sectarian
groups and Baloch nationalist insurgents. While
113 incidents of political violence were also
reported divided into separate categories these
constituted 80 sectarian, 12 political and 21
inter-tribal clashes. On the borders with
Afghanistan and Iran the security situation
remained intense and 23 major clashes were
reported. In response, the security forces
conducted 61 counter-terrorist attacks in Federal
Administrative Tribal Areas (FATA), Swat and its
adjoining areas and in Balochistan. The
causalities remained higher compared with last
two years, as 3448 persons got killed and 5353
injured in 2007. These casualty figures were 128
per cent and 491.7 per cent higher as compared
with 2006 and 2005, respectively. In 2006, there
were 657 terrorist attacks, which left 907
persons dead and 1543 injured, while in 2005
total attacks were 254 in which 216 persons were
killed and 571 were injured. However, the
indication of success against terrorists and
miscreants remained almost the same as compared
with 2006. During 2007 security forces killed
1008 terrorists and miscreants, and arrested 1636
suspected terrorists including 427 Taliban, 53
al-Qaeda operatives, 740 Baloch nationalist
insurgents, 315 banned Jihadist organisations'
militants and 27 Lashkar-e-Jhangvi terrorists,
who are operating as al-Qaeda force. In
comparison, in 2006 security agencies had
arrested 1552 suspected terrorists including 1094
Taliban and Afghan, 47 al-Qaeda operatives,198
other militants and 213 Baloch nationalist
insurgents.
A Lahore-based think-tank namely the Pak
Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), consisting of
top terrorism experts and media persons, which
has compiled these figures as part of an
exhaustive study on the security situation in
Pakistan has expressed serious concerns. One of
its observations is: "The sharp increase in
the terrorist attacks shows the security
situation is rapidly deteriorating in the
country. The security forces which are
responsible for maintaining law and order and
preventing terrorist attacks are facing direct
threat from the terrorists and (are) looking
helpless. This is manifested in the fact that
during 2007, 232 army men, 163 paramilitary
troops and 71 policemen were killed in terrorist
attacks and they also faced 41 suicide
attacks." Balochistan, North West Frontier
Province (NWFP) and Tribal Areas appeared as the
most troubled spots for the government and
security agencies where Baloch nationalist
insurgents, Taliban, al-Qaeda operatives and
sectarian militants kept striking the security
forces. There were 60 suicide attacks (mostly
targeted at security forces) last year killing at
least 770 besides injuring another 1574 persons.
The maximum number of suicide attacks was
reported in NWFP where 33 such attacks killed 374
persons and injured 640 others. Tribal Areas and
Punjab (including Islamabad) faced 11 suicide
attacks each whereas 4 suicide attacks hit
Balochistan and one Karachi. As many as 12
incidents of political clashes took 64 lives
besides injuring 222 others. Maximum number, 9,
of such clashes was reported from Karachi whereas
one incident each was reported from Rawalpindi ,
Hyderabad and Nasirabad (Balochistan). The most
violent political clashes ignited on May 12 in
Karachi which left 45 persons dead and 195
injured. Some of the conclusions drawn by the
PIPS are: (a) As no security operation is going
on in Tribal Areas there is risk of an increased
infiltration of militants into Afghanistan
besides increasing country's own security risk;
(b) The threat of enhanced 'targeted' suicide
attacks on political and security forces
'remains' intact in the future as no
investigations in any suicide attack case have
ever been completed; (c) The political unrest if
prevails may consolidate the militant outfits in
FATA and NWFP, and encourage the nationalist
insurgents in Balochistan and Sindh. Political
violence has been identified as "the new
challenge" in addition to the continuing
struggle against the Taliban, Jihadist and
nationalist insurgents. An intensified wave of
violence and agitation gripped the country after
Ms Bhutto's assassination on December 27 in
Liaquat Bagh, Rawalpindi. Violence began as news
of her death spread, particularly in her home
province of Sindh. Pakistan suffered colossal
losses in rioting with damage of more than $200
million to the railways alone. Twenty-two
locomotives and 140 coaches were completely burnt
and the railway telecommunications and signalling
systems damaged. The loss to life, public
property and infrastructure has been colossal.
Just 3 days of turbulence left more than 50
killed and about 100 injured. Manufacturing,
revenue, exports all suffered badly. The
government provided no estimates for losses to
other public sectors or to private property but
said the supply of fuel and food to all parts of
the country had been hit by the trouble. Karachi
faced the threat of political violence between
MQM (Muttahida Qaumi Movement) and Sunni Tehreek
also. Few nationalist parties in Balochistan
tried to create hatred against Punjabis. This led
to many attacks on Punjabis in the restive
Balochistan.
Any such exercise as undertaken by the PIPS will
help come to grips with the dimensions of
terrorism and political and sectarian hatred in
Pakistan. It can provide the basis of a
well-intentioned agenda to eliminate these evils
for good. Since the study is focussed it does not
take other relevant aspects. It is not within its
scope to acknowledge the courage of ordinary
citizens who live in such vicious circumstances.
Of course, it also does not look into how
Pakistan has bred and fed terrorism and targeted
it against us in this State and the country. We
have suffered immensely but have nearly overcome
our difficulties through collective efforts.
Pakistan on the other hand is bleeding from
self-inflicted wounds. That is why one
rediscovers the relevance of Kennedy's utterance
made in another period.
Bawa
Lal Dayal Ji Maharaj
By
Purushottam Sharma
Bharat is
the holy land where owner
of the Universe wishes to
incarnate in the bodies
of saints and sages to
fulfill the wishes of the
people, both princes and
paupers... He bestowed
His grace to lead us
‘from falsehood to
truth”, ‘from
darkness to light’
and ‘from mortality
to immortality.’
Sri Sri 1008 Paramhansa
Bawa Lal Dayal Ji whose
653rd birthday falls on
9th of February 2008, was
one such Incarnation.
Affectionately called Lal
Dass, Lal Dayal, Swami
Lal, Baraji Lal, Faqir
Lal, He was born to Smt.
Krishna Devi on Monday,
the second day of bright
fortnight of Magh Vikrami
Samvat, 1412, in village
Amli falling in
well-known town of Kasur
of Lahore District. His
sojourn of 300 years on
this planet was pretty
long. His parents Lala
Bhola Ram and Smt.
Krishna Devi were noble
souls who commanded great
esteem in the society.
They nursed the child to
boyhood with profound
affection and care.
Merely 5 years old Lal
(the Ruby) was admitted
in a nearby school where
he soon mastered whatever
he was taught displaying
His remarkable power of
imbibing. Zodiacal
position of the Lal’s
birth chart revealed that
He was the incarnation of
Lord Vishnu.
His “Leelas”
(plays) were and still
are unique, astonishing
and rewarding. Devotees
wishes were fulfilled and
He gives, gives, gives
and gives in abundance,
particularly the
issueless couples are
blessed with the
children.
Once He happened to
listen a bhajan recited
by a devotee. The Divine
words of praise of the
God made Him to slip into
trance. This incident
revealed His precocity.
Thenceforward,
dispassionate and
detached from worldly
pleasures, young Lal
sought for solitude in
pursuit of truth roaming
here and there in the
country sides in natural
surroundings of
mountains, rivers and
forests inhabiting wild
animals and birds. One
day he noticed a group of
wandering ascetics on the
bank of river Ravi. Among
these was Chaitnaya Ji
Maharaj who was also
delighted to see the
approaching Lal Ji and
made out that He
possessed intense
yearning for God and will
make most worthy
disciple. After some,
Swami Ji cooked the rice
in unique way which Lal
Ji watched from some
distance. Swami Ji put
rice in water-filled
earthen pot on an
improvised ‘chullah’
(cooker) formed by
holding his both the feet
together and materialized
the fire instantaneously
by Yogic power.... Upon
this it occurred to Lal
Ji that He had found the
Master he was longing
for. After partaking of
the meals by the group of
ascetics, Lal Ji picked
up the three grains of
cooked rice left over in
the earthen pot as ‘prasad’
and went into trance.
Taking to his fold, Swami
Ji sermonized to Him,
‘God is One’,
keep chanting ‘Hari
Om Tat Sat’, do not
enmesh in worldly
pleasures and fall prey
to temptations and take
refuge in the lotus feet
of His Guru. Swami Ji
initiated Lal Ji into
‘Sannyas’ on
the bank of Ravi
imparting Him the Supreme
Knowledge. He commanded
Bawa Lal to fetch ‘Gopi
Chandan’ from
Dwarika which he brought
and presented to his
revered Guru with
humbleness. Guru Maharaj
was immensely pleased and
applied some ‘Gopi
Chandan’ mixed with
sacred dust on his
disciple’s ‘Lalat’
(forehead).
One day both Master and
disciple, on their way
back from Nagar Kot,
stopped at a spot from
where another track led
to a different direction.
Swami Ji ordained Bawa
Lal Ji to opt either of
the two ways and proceed
to deliver the message
and mission of
righteousness to the
people. Bawa Lal Ji
humbly obeyed His
spiritual Master and set
forth on his mission
instilling in people the
spark of spiritual
awakening.
At the age of 39 years,
Bawa Lal Ji arrived in
Saharanpur after visiting
all the places of
pilgrimage. He made
Saharanpur His Holy abode
for one hundred years.
Thousands of people of
all castes and creeds
became His devotees. He
ran a Langer (mass
feeding spot) for all
visitors. The then
emperor gifted 100 bighas
of land for Ashram and
800 bighas to meet
running expenses. This is
called ‘Bawa Lal Ji
Ka Bara’ where free
‘Langar’ is
still being run. Bawa Lal
was great devotee of Holy
Ganga and had morning dip
at Haridwar and performed
to and fro journeys with
Yogic powers. One day He
could not make it and the
Mother Ganga Herself
appeared before Him and
gushed out at a spot near
Bawa Lal Ji’s feet.
She counseled Him to
leave Saharanpur and make
Punjab his next abode.
On His arrival in Punjab,
he reached a small town
known as Kalanaur.
Thousands of people
thronged to join Bawa Lal
Ji’s prayers, ‘Sankeertans’
and discourse - sessions
and became His
follower-devotees. Among
then was an ardent
devotee by the name of
Dhyan Dass. One day Bawa
Lal Ji found Dhyan Dass
gloomy. All-knowing Baba
Lal Ji made out that his
disciple was thinking of
making a hermitage for
Him. Bawa Lal Ji then
pointed out towards a
secluded place at six
miles distance from
Kalanaur suitable for
Ashram. Shri Dhyan Dass,
was delighted and soon
built an Ashram which was
latter named Dhyanpur by
Bawa Lal Ji himself. It
is now looked upon a
great Holy Shrine Bawa
Lal Ji initiated 22
disciples here.
Prince Dara Shikoh, the
eldest son of Emperor
Shahjahan, was a pious
soul in search of truth.
He had a long
conversation with Bawa
Lal Dayal Ji which was
recorded by Shri Jadav
Dass. It is in
question-answer form. The
conversation on Divine
Knowledge between the
aspirant prince and Bawa
Lal Ji is contained in a
book named ‘Gulzar-e-Israr’.
This book contains His
teachings and philosophy.
Millions of people visit
the Holy Shrine of Bawa
Lal Ji Maharaj’s Lal
Dwara at Dhyanpur from
all over the world
throughout the year to
seek His blessings. The
Shrine is doing immense
good to the mankind. His
devotees never return
empty- handed. Their
prayers are answered.
Childless couples are
blessed with children.
Deadly diseased are
cured. Aspirations are
fulfilled. Impurities are
removed. Evil influences,
miseries and sufferings
get vanished. The shrine
temples, idols of worship
are profusely and
tastefully decorated. The
magnificence and
splendour bestows
serenity, elation and
love of the Lord of
Dyanpur.
There are hundreds of Lal
Dwaras all over the
country and abroad too
humming with spiritual,
educational and social
activities of
philanthropic nature
mitigating the sufferings
of poor and helpless
destitute. All
arrangements for the
comfortable stay of
devotees including free
‘Langar’ are
available in these
Dwaras.
Bawa Lal Ji Maharaj is
‘Dayal’
(compassionate) who is
always with His devotees
in all situations.
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Politics of
smaller states
By Allabaksh
After agreeing to
consider the demand for division
of some states during the last
(2004) Lok Sabha poll campaign
the Congress cannot wriggle out
easily from the predicament that
it faces now over the issue. It
seems to have led to sharp
divisions within the ruling
party. But while some of its
allies have opposed the setting
up of another states
reorganisation commission, there
is an equally strong support for
the idea of division of some
large states in many political
parties across the country.
It is generally said that large
states are unwieldy and not easy
to govern just as it is easier to
run smaller entities more
efficiently. The experience in
India has been mixed over the
years when there were large
states considered to be
well-governed and also large ones
that were headed in the other
direction. Likewise, there have
been smaller states with
reputation for good
administration and others that
presented a different picture.
What made the difference between
a good and a bad administration
in the states was probably the
leadership. This is a factor that
will always determine the quality
of a state's administration.
While much can be said about the
attributes of good leadership,
one quality that is supremely
needed is honesty of purpose to
stay focused on progress and well
being of the people, which is not
possible among the majority of
political leadership by now used
to placing self or partisan
interest above everything else.
The demand for division of large
states may stem from some genuine
reasons such as the feeling of
'discrimination' in one or more
regions within the states as a
result of which these regions lag
behind in economic development.
But the advocates for new states
are usually, though not always
politicians who place self and
party interests above those of
the people and heir commitment to
development may look suspicious.
The demand for carving out new
states out of existing ones has
gathered speed because of the
relative ease with which three
new states were created by
dividing UP, Madhya Pradesh and
Bihar. The division of Bihar that
led to the birth of Jharkhand was
not without surprise because the
strongman from the state, Lalu
Prasad Yadav, used to famously
say that Jharkhand would be
carved out over his dead body.
But in the end the division of
these large states was possible
because there was more support
than opposition at the popular
level.
Protagonists of new states
support one of the two courses to
meet their demand: either divide
some of the larger states
straightaway through an executive
action or appoint a states'
reorganisation commission on the
pattern of the one that was set
up half a century ago. The latter
course is far less popular with
the politicians because it will
be a time-consuming exercise,
which may end without necessarily
recommending division of states.
Cartographic changes in the
existing states with the help of
executive fiats will smack of
political expediency. In the
1950s it was probably necessary
to redraw the colonial era maps
of the states. The language riots
in many parts of the country such
as the old Bombay that was uneasy
with a mix of Marathi and
Gujarati speaking populations and
the 'Punjabi Suba' agitation by
the Akalis demanding separation
of Punjabi and Hindi-speaking
Haryana had also forced the
Government of the day to set up
the SRC, though Prime Minister
Jawaharlal Nehru was opposed to
linguistic states.
A 'Gurkhaland' will, of course,
be different linguistically and
ethnically from West Bengal. But
the northeast situation is very
different; it is the various
tribes that demand new states
with some sections using violence
as means to convey their message.
In Nagaland the trend can be said
to be different from the usual
demand for reducing the size of
the states: there is a demand for
greater Nagaland with the
incorporation of some areas from
the adjoining states where there
is an equally strong opposition
to any move to shrink the size of
their states.
The Government must not be guided
by political considerations in
considering the demand for new
states.
Chopping the size of some states
can prove to be infectious while
the benefits to the people will
continue to look uncertain in an
environment where democratic
institutions that articulate
people's aspirations and seek
their redress are becoming
weaker.
What role the legislative bodies
in the states, big or small,
meeting for a few days in a year
perform other than provide an
occasion for members to trade
charges or jockey for power?
Instability threatens to become
endemic in most small states of
India.
With the Lok Sabha poll now
drawing nearer there will be
pressure on the Government to
concede the demand for at least
one or two new states. But any
hasty decision taken now should
not lead to regrets later when it
may be too late. (Syndicate
Features):
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Will
Pak polls be fair ?
By M L Kotru
Less than a fortnight from
now Pakistan will be, as promised by
President former Army Chief General
Pervez Musharraf, savouring the
‘‘essence’’ of
democracy after some eight year of his
dictatorial rule. The General, albeit a
retired one, being an ‘‘honest’’
man, has promised just the ‘‘essence’’
of democracy and not the kind we know and
is practised in most democracies.
Essence as we know can mean different
things to different people; it can be an
extract obtained by distillation or
otherwise from a plant or a drug, and
containing its specific properties in a
reduced form; it can also be something
that is just conceptual. And Musharraf,
as honest as ever, has informed the world
that what the February 18 elections in
his country will lead up to is only the
essence and not the real thing.
The General spent the latter half of
January knocking on as many European
doors as he could assuring everyone who
cared to listen that Pakistan stood on
the threshold of a democratic era, thanks
to him. And candour being one his
failures, he told his listeners not to
expect Pakistan to go in for democracy of
the kind practised in other democracies.
Don't a apply Western yardsticks to
Pakistani democracy as it evolves
post-February 18 elections. The democracy
which the undemocratically elected
President of Pakistan had offered his
people ‘‘will be more suited to
the genius of my country.’’
And who else other than him should know
what that ‘‘genius’’
needs to sustain itself. Several of the
preceding military dictators of his
country had over the years given their
own brands of ‘‘democracy’’
a go after the country's first coup by
Iskandar Mirza, scrapping in 1958 the
Constitution of the country. '' Field
Marshal Ayub Khan gave his own twist to
the Pakistani tale with Gen Ziaul Haq not
lagging behind to add his own spin to the
mess.
Yahya Khan who came in between Ayub and
Zia too tried his hand at democratising
his country but failed to honour the
outcome, resulting in the loss of East
Pakistan. Ayub Khan had earlier done one
better; he fielded himself as President
in a ‘‘free, fair and
transparent’’ election of the
kind promised by Musharraf and ensured
the defeat of Fatima Jinnah, the
Qaed-Arazam's adoring sister, the
original Mohtrama.
Musharraf is a slightly different kettle
of fish. He is self-righteous, he loves
to be lionised and even as he loves the
crumbs (it's much more than that really)
thrown at him by George Bush, wants to be
counted among the great leaders in the
war against terrorism. Maybe, in the
process terrorism has hit his own country
in a big way. Forget that. It hardly
matters. His Army will deal with the
terrorists; don't you remember his
reminder to Bush & Co. that his war
is directed against the Taliban and it's
not his job to get Osama bin Laden.
The Taliban, for their part, have
accepted the challenge. They are fighting
the Army with remarkable vigour in the
north west and Mullah Umar, the one-eyed
Taliban leader of Afghanistan, has
promised that his Pakistani followers
would give Musharraf a befitting answer.
‘‘All that is trash’’,
Musharraf, the former commando, will
dismiss with his well known swagger. His
immediate ‘‘task’’ is
to ensure ‘‘free, fair and
transparent’’ elections. He is
already taking in terms of his King's
Party, the Muslim League (Q), being
willing to enter into a coalition with
the People's Party now headed by Asif
Zardari, the late Benazir's husband.
Zardari has not ruled that out, though he
still talks in terms of his party getting
a clear-cut majority.
That, though, is not my concern just now.
I am more interested in Musharraf's
concept of ‘‘essence of
democracy’’ which he hopes will
pervade the country after the upcoming
elections. How much faith he has in his
people stands out when you read his
statements made in Europe last month.
Pakistani people are indisciplined, they
are feudal and tribal and therefore not
ready for democracy. The politicians ?
Plague to their houses. They are all
corrupt. The judiciary is corrupt, given
to nepotism, inept and politicised to
boot. The media ? They are ungrateful
wretches whom he had given unprecedent
ted freedom ! Look how the media is
behaving: it is undermining the armed
forces and the country as a whole.
So, does it really matter if he has put
some restrictions on them or if he has
barred political parties, contesting the
elections, from holding political rallies
? He will of course not take the Islamist
parties of the MMA head-on, instead
opting to take a slight dig at the
extremists.
Here, in President Musharraf, we have a
head of State who very nearly holds the
bulk of his own people in contempt. Even
when the country is supposed to be
girding up for a poll which is expected
to throw- up popularly elected
representatives, the country's President
is telling his Western audiences how
stupid they are. He simply refuses to
accept their concern for restoration of
genuine democracy in the country.
And not loath to take advantage of the
position he has put himself in as an
American ally in the war on terrorism, he
browbeats the West with homilies like
‘‘you have taken centuries to
reach where you are (democracy); allow us
time for going for the values that you
have reached for yourself.’’
Listening to Musharraf one would imagine
Pakistan is still steeped in the medieval
age, and not the vibrant nation of some
16 crore people who have constantly been
denied by a succession of self-seeking
military leaders to take their place in
the sun. Forget the Pakistani elite, the
country has any number of brilliant young
scientists, technologists,
administrators, lawyers, and other
professionals. Has Musharraf ever
bothered to count the number of Pakistani
professionals working in foreign lands,
in foreign universities? And how dare he
forget that if Pakistan is modern enough
to be a nuclear weapons State and an
attractive destination for foreign
investment its people are incapable of
looking after themselves; that they (the
people) need to be treated as subhuman by
Western standards. Why should Pakistan,
in Musharraf's words, be incapable of
looking after its democracy. As Hussain
Haqqani, a former adviser to Benazir
Bhutto, now the Director of Boston
University's Centre for International
relations, asks, if Pakistan, in the
General's view, needs time to be forward
looking why then should backwardness
apply selectively by human rights and
democracy and not to the other
characteristics of being a modern power ?
Musharraf told an interviewer that he
would leave power when he is convinced
that the people of Pakistan want him to
quit. But for that to happen it must be
his gut feeling that he is not wanted any
more and not the will of the people of
Pakistan as expressed in a genuinely free
and fair poll. He is not bothered really
about what the Pakistani people think of
him as long as long as he feels assured
that the Armed Forces are with him. In
Ayub Khan's Pakistan it is said that 20
families ruled or had benefitted from
military rule. Musharraf could well take
credit for having widened the base a
little more by involving the Army in most
businesses and even in civil
administration. His successor as Army
Chief Gen Ashraf Pervez Kiyani has been
wanting all serving officers (currently
manning civil administration) to return
to the Army's fold with not much success
so far.
Even so there are many men of honour
within the Armed Forces who find the
Musharraf doctrine unacceptable. Over 100
retired senior military officers have
recently asked Musharraf to go but the
man would hear none of it. He may have
served under some of the signatories but
for him they are ‘‘insignificant
men’’, as he told a European TV
network the other day in Davos.
All said and done, and I am sure that the
region would be a happier place if the
retired Army General Musharraf were
somehow to ensure that people of Pakistan
are allowed to have a genuinely free and
fair poll. Any attempt to subvert the
outcome the results, would push even the
civil society of his country into the
embrace of violence.
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