Daily Excelsior... Editorial

EDITORIAL

It is a matter of satisfaction that partisan interests have taken a back seat in the meeting between Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad and a delegation of the Ladakh Union Territory Front (LUTF) in this city last week. From all accounts it has been a free and frank dialogue. According to Mr Thupstan Chhewang, MP from Ladakh and president of the LUTF, the Chief Minister has sounded "positive and responsive". There are certain issues which, if resolved to the liking of all concerned, would benefit the entire State. It is not for nothing that Ladakh Autonomous Hill Development Councils (LAHDCs) both in Leh and Kargil are being talked about as possible role models to meet the widespread desire for political empowerment. Certain irritants in the way of their functioning are minor and can be easily removed. The LUTF seems to be satisfied with the Chief Minister's assurance of carrying out a review of the existing arrangement with a view to strengthening it. The Front regards the establishment of the autonomous hill development council as a step towards achieving its goal of having a Union Territory. The question of UT has to be answered in a wider context. Ladakh leaders themselves are very well aware of this. Off and on they have gone slow in pursuit of their eventual objective following direct appeals or interventions by Central leaders from 1947 onwards. On the development front their plea for opening the Demchok route in Leh for the Kailash-Mansarovar pilgrimage merits serious consideration. Mr Azad's response has been favourable in keeping with the stand taken by his predecessors. He is reported to have promised to take up the matter with the Prime Minister, .....more

Bilawal and Zardari

By Atul Cowshish

School shootouts, a wake up call

By Rameshwar Singh Jamwal

Fight terror jointly

By B. K. Chum

Change is the law of nature. Success comes to those who restructure their policies and strategies to meet the requirements of changing situations. With the politico-security environment in Jammu and Kashmir having undergone a transformation, Pakistan experiencing turmoil and Islamic terrorists escalating their activities in India and Pakistan, it is perhaps time for New Delhi to have a second look at its strategy on Kashmir as also on countering terrorism...more

EDITORIAL

Matter of relief

Another demand of the LUTF is for the inclusion of the Bhoti language in the Eighth Schedule of Indian Constitution. The Chief Minister is said to be not averse to it. This will mean another feather in the State's cap. We already have Kashmiri and Dogri in the elite club of official languages. Bhoti, however, is spoken in a larger region covering almost all north and north-eastern borders of the country. It is a rich treasure house of the nation's heritage. Purely at the local level the LUTF has grievances against the police which is outside the control of the LAHDC. Why should there be any tension on this count? Why should it linger on anyway? It should be possible to resolve it sooner rather than later.

Peace is absolutely essential in our trans-Himalayan territory. It is more strategically located than any other part of the State hardly merits any elaboration. People of Ladakh have won repeated applause for rising to the defence of the country whenever there has been a foreign invasion. They have always rallied behind the armed forces in a remarkable show of solidarity. That is one important reason that they should be heard with rapt attention whenever they ventilate their feelings. Of late, the State Government and the LUTF have been at loggerheads at several neutral forums. This tense phase appears to be over with Mr Azad and the LUTF leaders discussing problems and solutions across the table. Is this too much to hope?

Hill driving

Two tragic accidents have once again brought to the fore the perils of driving on hilly roads. In one, five persons were killed when a mini bus in which they were travelling skidded off the road and plunged into a deep gorge at Banjwar in Kishtwar. To make matters worse nobody noticed the mishap. The result was that the sufferers were left to bleed to death in the absence of treatment. One tends to think that they must have shouted for help. Who would have heard them in the wilderness? Doctors who finally saw their bodies in the hospital had no doubt that they could have been saved had they received timely cure. No human error is involved in this calamity. It seems that the edge of the road caved in because of rainfall giving no chance at all to the driver to manoeuvre his way to safety. The other happening is no less poignant. Three workers engaged in the construction of the railway line lost their lives when a tipper carrying them rolled down into a nallah on the Reasi-Arnas road. Four of their colleagues were lucky to the extent of getting medical aid faster than those involved in the other occurrence who received it rather too late. The cause of this disaster is not immediately known. Our mountains have often been exposed to road catastrophes. Few have a chance to survive when their vehicle gets off the track. It may seem strange but even the people who frequent steep hills are not able to control their means of transport at times. They become victims of their own complacency. Either they drive rashly or recklessly overtake each other in a game of one-upmanship. While driving anywhere one has to keep one's eyes open and hands and feet firmly in their place. It is all the more important to do so in high stretches which have blind corners and sharp turns far exceeding the straight patches.

There are certain basic dos and don'ts for hill driving. One has to properly regulate gears and avoid switching off engine. As much as possible one should keep vehicle close to the centre of the road making a deviation only to give way for upcoming traffic. Mud and rocks of hills on the one side and narrow valleys on the other hand present a between-the-devil-and-the-deep-blue-sea situation. One has to tread it carefully. Above all, the drivers should keep their cool. They should judiciously blow horns and use dipper during nights. The legends like "thrill kills" and "safety saves" are born of decades of experience. They must be followed seriously. Of course, there is a lot to be said about the management of traffic by the police men in charge. That is an altogether different story, however.

Bilawal and Zardari

By Atul Cowshish

It may have been a trifle disappointing for Asif Ali Zardari, widower of the slain Benazir Bhutto, to find that no one in his country or abroad had noted the ‘sacrifice’ he had made, which may not be comparable to a previously widely acclaimed ‘sacrifice’—that of Sonia Gandhi in India—but at the same a kind of oblation that is alien to politicians in the sub-continent. We have it on his word that in a handwritten ‘will’ drafted with a remarkable prescience weeks ahead of her assassination in Rawalpindi, HQ of Pakistan’s bloated army, Benazir Bhutto had nominated her husband to succeed her as the party chief. The act of self-denial was in Zardari foregoing that post, even though it was in favour of his teenage son, Bilawal.

That the baton of the leadership of Pakistan People’s Party will be passed on to someone in the Bhutto family was never in doubt. But the choice of Bilawal, the 19-year old scion of arguably Pakistan’s first political family, must have come as a surprise at first. The surprise did not last long as Zardari became the de facto power centre by declaring himself as a ‘co-chairman’ of the PPP (along with Makhdoom Amin Fahim) while the more fanciful title of ‘chairman’ of the party would rest with Bilawal, a first year student at Oxford.

The worldly-wise Zardari will act as the Regent while his son completes his studies, which guarantees the old man a minimum of about three years of absolute power over the PPP affairs. It could be an even longer period should the ‘serious-minded’ son of a former playboy father decide to extend his stay in the UK, or if his father thinks he needs a longer grooming period before he dives headlong into the vortex of Pakistani politics.

The reason why Zardari could not attract attention to his ‘sacrifice’ appears simple enough. With controversy dogging him almost as soon as he shot to fame overnight after marrying Benazir 20 years ago he was sure to face more problems than he would have bargained for had he agreed to take over formally as the PPP chairman. He has far fewer friends than anybody of consequence within the PPP family. It is the Bhutto children, not really the moustachioed widower, who have generated the ‘sympathy wave’ on which the PPP is banking to capture the national assembly after the polls, whenever they are held. Bilawal is more easily and convincingly identified as the continuation of the Bhutto clan than Zardari.

As a youngster who has hardly lived in his country since his birth, Bilawal may have an air of mystery about him but certainly he does not carry the kind of unwelcome baggage of real or trumped up charges, including corruption and murder (a brother of Benazir), that his father does. It is clear that had Zardari and not anyone directly from the Bhutto family been anointed the sole head the PPP could have witnessed a rebellion of sorts. It can only be guessed right now but it may well be that some senior party leaders may be unhappy over the role that Zardari will be playing as the PPP ‘co-chairman’.

The shock of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination had galvanised her party but that momentum will have to be kept alive till at least the national assembly polls. Zardari does not seem capable of discharging that duty. His son’s presence during the poll campaign just might help. Some of the profiles of Bilawal that have appeared in the Indian media do suggest that he can be a good speaker. But what has to be seen is whether, first of all, he has the necessary fluency in Urdu and, second, whether he can mesmerise audiences with the kind of demagogy and populism his mother and his grandfather displayed in abundance.

Benazir Bhutto had disappointed many of her followers in recent months after she struck a ‘deal’-much denied by all-with Gen Pervez Musharraf. It may be good politics in Pakistan today to present a tough face before Musharraf, but Zardari may have to negotiate on his own another ‘deal’ with the General to make sure that he does not have to suffer on account of the so-called corruption and other charges against him. He may like to deny it but he was able to stave off investigation and prosecution on many charges as the spouse of a prime minister. An unfriendly head of the state would not find it difficult to revive some of these charges.

Zardari’s problems will multiply if he is forced to speak and act for the reinstatement of the Supreme Court judges or to restore the independence of the higher judiciary. He cannot be too certain if a free and independent higher judiciary would not cause him any embarrassment in future even though he likes to claim that none of the charges levelled against him in the past ten years have been proved in a court of law.

In the aftermath of the tragedy of Bhutto’s assassination, Nawaz Sharif’s Pakistan Muslim League (N) has been all honey and sugar with the PPP. He has even agreed to form a coalition with the PPP should it become necessary. But in the end the PPP and the PML (N) are two different ‘mainstream’ and ‘secular’ parties in Pakistan. Neither of them will be interested in merging their identities into one body. Both will have to fight for the same space in Pakistan politics. It is hard to see their destinies linked to their merger or a long-term coalition. Sooner rather than later the two parties would like to stand against each other.

That may be the real test of all the skills that Zardari is said to have acquired during his forays into politics as a minister in Benazir’s government or as her spouse. At this stage it does not look possible that Zardari will acquire the charisma and the political savvy of Benazir in the coming three or four years. His son, no matter how talented he turns out to be, will require an even longer period of grooming before he is moulded into a perfect Bhutto, a popular brand in Pakistan politics. (Syndicate Features)

School shootouts, a wake up call

By Rameshwar Singh Jamwal

Two shootouts, involving school children, both as victims and as offenders, within a span of two months, firstly in Haryana and then in Madhya Pradesh should serve as a chilling reminder to the HRD Ministry at the centre and school education ministries in the states that the time to take corrective measures to arrest this trend has arrived. These incidents, recurring one after the other are not a flash in the pan and immediately after the Virginia shootout in US, where more than two dozen students and teachers were gunned down by a school going kid and similar such other incidents in the past, should have alerted our policy makers, and all those dealing with the student and youth issues that the time to act, and act fast has arrived. In this age of information technology, when such incidents get vide publicity in electronic media, there are many kids, having criminal tendencies or disturbed backgrounds, such acts incite the feelings of similar experimentation at their level.

There are many reasons and theories, perhaps all relevant, which can throw lots of light on these gruesome incidents. Disturbed family settings, easy availability of weapons of offence, lack of moral education at homes and schools, exposure to media, fascination for luring life styes and many more reasons. But there is one major factor which facilitates and contributes in the spread of these criminal tendencies amongst the young generation. It is the feeling that they can get away with such or other crimes with little to suffer. This ‘CHALTA HAI’ feeling has to be removed from the mind of the youngster if we want to arrest this trend. This can be done only by making the children understand that the costs of going astray on the path of crime will be costly affair and that the pleasure he gains by indulging in crime will be far less than the pain he will suffer if he does not mend his ways. He has to be told that the laws are not impotent and for that matter he needs a little bit of legal education at elementary level. I have conducted a study in Jammu district which was startling for me and which led to the start of Project SAFE J&K, by my Organization. I found that mostly young persons, in the age group of 15-40 years are falling prey to this menace. Cyber Crimes, drug peddling, terrorism, property crimes, social crimes, all have major contributors from this age group. What was the reason, why only youngsters commit majority of the crimes and then start reforming when they cross their forties. The answer was that after the age of forty, they start realizing the consequences and majority, who can return back, tend to take corrective path.

The old golden proverb ‘‘Prevention is better than cure’’ can help us in tackling this problem to some extent and we can develop a culture of Lawfulness in this state and the country. For this we have to ensure that those who transgress the rules are targeted not only by the Law enforcement machineries but also by many other sectors of society. Community support and involvement can focus on preventing and rooting out criminal practices without involving much expenditure for a massive law enforcement and Punitive Establishment. This community involvement will also reduce the risk and expanse of intrusive surveillance and regulatory services which are sometimes accused of as harmful to individual liberties and creative economic, social and political initiatives.

I am sure that it is possible to shift a culture and bolster the rule of Law, even in areas and communities where crime, unemployment and poverty have been prevalent for decades.

By such initiatives, it has been possible to create a culture of Lawfulness. A culture of lawfulness is a society in which the overwhelming majority of members are convinced that the rule of law offers the best long-term chance of securing their rights and attaining their goals. They believe that the rule of law is achievable and are committed to upholding it. By marginalizing lawless behaviour, a culture of lawfulness helps protect societies against major threats to democracy, organized crime, corruption, extremism, political violence, authoritarianism, and public fatalism. Of course it is true that perfection is unattainable in anything you introduce yet Rule of Law is a new promising institution developed by people to check growing criminality in societies and has been quite successful in improving life of people in societies wherever it was introduced. Lawful culture does not mean that everybody will start believing in the feasibility or desirability of Law or that every group which will be touched will be imbued with value of Lawfulness but such societies in the State and the country would be characterized as one in which average person will believe that legal norms are either fundamental part of justice or provide the gateway to attain justice and that such a system will enhance the quality of life of individuals and society as a whole besides checking the drifting away of youth towards the path of crime and destruction.

Schools are the best places where we can change attitudes and knowledge of next generation. Students can become the real constituency from where we can achieve long term objective of decreasing criminality and every sort of crime and so school based legal education should be the key element to advance the cause and foster requisite qualities in the young generation. Moreover schools can reach large number of children and by using the services of teachers, who can have lasting impressions on the minds of youngsters, we can change lives not only of children but also of their parents and the society as a whole also.

A variety of learning strategies and approaches should be adopted keeping in mind and diverse geographical, ethnic, religious and regional components of populace. We should try to reach children from primary to secondary level, before the children reach the age of deviance and become involved in serious criminality. Adolescents (in the age group 16-18 years) are already exposed to temptations of crime and since majority leave schooling by this age, we should adopt different strategies for them. But the support of academicians, school managements and intellectuals in this endeavour is required at levels which can force the governments to wake up from deep slumber and give a chance to the idea.

(The author is the President of Criminologists Society)

Fight terror jointly

By B. K. Chum

Jammu and Kashmir's political and security environment has qualitatively changed in the past five years. Four factors are mainly responsible for the change. First: The universally acknowledged 2002 free and fair Assembly elections which also saw encouraging turnout, changed political equations leading to the formation of the Congress-PDP coalition government. Although the elections did not bring back the alienated sections of the Valley into the mainstream, these did have a salutary effect on the state's overall situation.

Second: The security forces' resolute anti-terrorist operations helped bring down the level of terrorist violence and infiltration which, in turn, started creating a sense of security among the peace-hungry people. With Pervez Musharraf's regime in Pakistan itself becoming Islamic militants target, Pakistani rulers, for own survival, had also to concentrate more on dealing with the country's deteriorating security situation. International pressures forcing them to honour the commitment made in the January 6, 2004 joint statement that Pakistan's territory will not be allowed to be used by terrorists, also contributed to lowering the level of Pakistan's help to terrorists in Kashmir. The media reports on terrorist violence data show that Jammu and Kashmir is no longer "the capital of nation's terror map".

These positive developments, however, have some disturbing aspects. The terrorist infrastructure in Pakistan and PoK has not yet been dismantled and Pakistani Army and ISI elements with a jihadi mindset have not only not completely abandoned their support to the Kashmiri militants but are also trying to divert peoples' attention by reviving militancy in Punjab.

Third: Jammu and Kashmir's pro-Pakistan and separatist outfits having their support bases mainly in the Valley have witnessed multiple splits. This caused disillusionment and demoralisation among sections of their followers. Pakistan's developments have also caused confusion among their leaders and ranks. Indicators are that the pro-separatists are losing political space in the Valley to the advantage of the mainstream parties.

Fourth: Pakistanis growing disenchantment with Musharraf's rule and Islamic militants stepped-up violence have caused civil unrest, political instability and serious security problems for the country. Senior Pakistani leaders including Musharraf are on the hit list of Jihadis. Besides these factors, the India-Pakistan peace process and the Composite dialogue between the two countries virtually stands confined to the cold storage. Though not abandoned, there is little possibility of the processes being resumed in the near future.

The above developments naturally raise questions about the likely future political scenario of Jammu and Kashmir and the strategy New Delhi should adopt to expand the area of achievements in Jammu and Kashmir and counter terrorism in the rest of country.

Elections usually act as catalyst for changing political realignments. Assembly elections to be held later this year in the background of the positive changes in the state's politico-security situation in the last five years are expected to trigger political realignments. Although it is too early to speculate about the form of realignments, Congress and PDP are likely to continue their alliance.

The hardliners are expected to boycott the elections. If the moderates also follow suit, they will lose the opportunity to prove their claim of being Valley's representatives. They lost this opportunity in 2002 by boycotting the elections. Home Ministry's mandarins in the Vajpayee-led NDA government also reportedly disfavoured separatists' participation in the elections. Bansi Lal, then very close to Home Minister L. K. Advani, (their relations later soured) had told me that he had expressed his fears to Advani about the possible serious implications of separatists' participation in the elections. In view of the anti-India sentiment then prevailing in the Valley, the separatists, it was feared, would emerge as the dominant political force of the Valley which could harm India's stand on Kashmir to the advantage of the separatists and Pakistan. Bansi Lal said Advani agreed with his (Bansi Lal's) fears and said New Delhi "was taking due care of the situation".

The situation in the Valley is now vastly different from that of 2002. There are media reports that support bases of Hurriyat Conference (moderates) and hardliner Syed Ali Shah Geelani's outfit have been dented by the mainstream parties and the separatist outfits are striving hard for survival. Whether the separatists boycott or participate in the elections, the outcome may not be of any alarming consequence as it would have been if they had participated in the 2002 elections.

In view of Jammu and Kashmir's improved politico-security conditions, there is need for the state's mainstream political parties to adopt out-of-box approach for the coming elections and for Delhi for countering terrorism. It will be in the national interest if the mainstream parties come on one platform to fight the elections and form an all-party government. Because of their conflicting political interests, the idea may appear utopian. But national interests which they claim to uphold, should goad them to jointly contest the polls.

Similarly, India and Pakistan need to join hands to fight the terrorists, their common enemy. His past record, no doubt, shows that Musharraf is untrustworthy. From his Kargil misadventure to his reluctantly shedding his uniform to don civilian President's crown, Musharraf, in order to stick to power, has gone back from every commitment he has made. But as he and his government are beleaguered by Jihadis terrorist activities and India is also being increasingly targeted by Pakistan-based Jihadis, it will be in the interests of both the countries to have an effective and credible mechanism to jointly fight the terrorists. Pakistani rulers cannot be so naïve as not to realise the serious consequences of the prevailing situation which, if left unchecked, can lead to Pakistan's disintegration. Realism and timely actions ensure survival. (IPA)