Another Life in Danger in Pakistan

Re: # 59

Mr. omar_r_quraishi: Thanks. According to news repaorts Dr Sarki`s relatives have filed a habeas corpus petition in the sindh high court. The court has issued notices to authorities. Nothing has happened yet.

Also that I used the word `senior` as a mark of respect for Mr. Cowasjee. It didn`t have anything to do with his `position` at Dawn. I am sorry that it came out that way.

Regards,

#39 Colonel. One of the big reasons for Indians not referring to their army as the Punjabi Army and for not showing any hatred towards it is that unlike the Pakistani army, the Indian army never conquored their own people multiple times.

hmm -- i think you do not know what the editorial page of a newspaper is -- it has the editorials but also carries columns or opinion pieces -- thats the way most pakistani papers including dawn are structured -- the two columns on the extreme left carry the unsigned editorials -- written in theory by the editor but in practice by one of several editorial writers -- the format has been in place at least since the 12 years I have been working for Dawn -- you know mr behram you really must get hold of the facts first before you debate something -- first you said mr narejo didn`t exist, then when you found out that he did you invited him to austin, and now this .. tch tch

mr narejo -- the best thing would be for his family members to file a habeas corpus petition in the sindh high court --

and for the record mr cowasjee is a dawn columnist -- there is no such thing as a senior, or junior, columnist

Thanks to the contributors on this forum who have commented on the case of Dr Safdar Sarki and other points made in the article. I regret that some contributors have tried to distract the people. I appeal to all the readers not to give way to their likes and dislikes and any prejudices that they might have against any individual or a people and look at the case on humanitarian grounds. It is now 18 days since the ‘disappearance’ of Dr Safdar Sarki. His whereabouts are still unknown.

Through the efforts of some people, Amnesty International has taken up his case and issued an urgent appeal for action. Please visit http://web.amnesty.org/library/Index/ENGASA330082006 to know more facts on it.

Some questions have been raised over some facts in the article. Let me address some of them:

Justice was carried: Some contributors have given the impression that military had taken up the issue and hanged Captain Arshad and I missed to mention it. People aware of the case know that the case was taken up after huge protest, media campaign and the heroic struggle of an elder woman of the family Mai Jindo. When the culprit was sentenced to death, his execution was delayed and efforts were made to save him. It was only after the self-immolation of two daughters of Mai Jindo that the sentence was finally carried out. I have referred to it as ‘partial justice’ in my article because that is what it is.

Here we have to consider as to what are the responsibilities of the state and the society towards the victims’ family? 9 of its male members – the bread earners for the family - were murdered cold-blooded. Who should be responsible for the family’s rehabilitation? Mai Jindo and her family have been calling for justice to them since about 13 long years. Many administrations have made empty promises. The family still lives in fear and in horrible conditions.

Cowasjee’s column: Senior Dawn columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee has mentioned portions of my article and some contributors have raised questions about it. Since this was an important and a serious matter involving the life of a human being, I made an exception and sent this article to some lists and human rights organizations besides sending it to Chowk to create awareness about the case and call for action. The intent was to make efforts to save a life.

A recipient of my mail sent a message to Ardeshir Cowasjee requesting his help in the case. He/she copied some portions of my email without acknowledging, which were carried by Mr. Cowasjee. I don’t have any problem with that.

Mr. Cowasjee has mentioned the case again in his column ‘This wild and woolly land’ in last Sunday’s Dawn. It is worth reading. I copy one paragraph here:

“It seems to be the fate of the citizens of Pakistan to live and exist in a wild-west woolly atmosphere, where anything goes other than the law. Few remember that it was Mohammad Ali Jinnah who exhorted his future law-makers to bear in mind, always and for ever, that the first duty of any government, democratic or otherwise, is to maintain law and order so that the lives and properties and religious beliefs of its citizens are protected. From the very start, the small men who followed him have never heeded his words.”

#40 by Mantolives

[I was planning on writing an article on Sindhi Nationalism... but this article emerged. I will submit my piece when I am done with it. ]

Don`t cry out loud
Just keep it inside, learn how to hide your feelings
Fly high and proud
And if you should fall, remember you almost had it all...

(by Melissa Manchester)

#43 omar_r_quraishi

Sorry about the mis-spelt name in #55.

#43 Omar_Qureshi
[...is it standard practice to use an email and convert it into a bylined article...]

Omar saheb, ye kya maamla hai? Did it ever occur to you that it was a good cause?

Did that ever occur to you?

Or DAWN upon you?

Re: # 51

``Its not a guess. Just Plain Statistics. ``

based on what data???

can i see that data. if there is any.

Re: # 48 HP

I have only narrated hard facts and figures about the makeup of so called Punjabi Army.

Your reaction is typical of a bigot liberal reactionary , who can not tolerate anything which does not fit in his frame of mind. Please grow up to be more mature.

I don`t know about Sikhs being 40% of the fighting arms--maybe if one only counts Infantry and Armor as fighting arms--but the Sikhs are certainly over-represented in the Indian Army. It appears that they might be about 11-12% of the total force composition.

The only study that attempts to quantify ethnic representation recently appears to be Omar Khalidi`s and this has received a great deal of criticism in India. You can take a look at some of his findings at http://www.defenceindia.com/def_common/ethnic_group_recruitment.html

Among other interesting tidbits, Khalidi writes that
``However, the government disclosed in Lok Sabha in early 1997 that there were religious teachers of the following categories: Hindu pundits, 1568; Sikh Granthis, 194; Muslim Maulavis, a mere 54; Christian padres, 27; and 11 Buddhist monks, which may be roughly proportionate to their number in the army.``

This makes Sikhs not quite 11% of the Army; however, anecdotally, the Sikh proportion in the IA seems to have been much higher (20-40%) in the 1950s-1970s.

Re: # 47 Netizen

Its not a guess. Just Plain Statistics.

I must calrify that the Perentage of Sikhs in the Fighting Arms (Infantry, Armour and Artillery) is 40%. However Overall the percentage of Sikhs in the entire Indian Army is around 10%.

Even in the British Indian Army the overwelming mjority of soldiers were drawn from Punjab (Both Sikhs and Muslims).

behram:
i agree with you on MQM (ref#36).

Re: # 41 Aquarius;

I had started the list with the native Chiefs as the issue was preponderance of the Punjabi influence on the Army.

General Sir Douglas Gracey was the second Chief and commanded the Pak Army from 148-1951. I must say he was an extremely professional and capable soldier who is respected for his services to the Pakistani Army and nation.

General Tikka was definitely not a Pathan. He belonged to a village in Tehsil Kahuta, Rawalpindi District in Punjab and had his initial education in that village.

#40 by Mantolives
“I was planning on writing an article on Sindhi Nationalism... but this article emerged. I will submit my piece when I am done with it.”


I look forward to that. I am thinking that it is time I write something about the movement too but I will wait for your article.

#34 by behram1 on March 12, 2006 9:57am PT
Re:#19 by HP on March 11, 2006 11:29pm PT

Let’s just wait for Manto’s article to discuss that. But I do think that Chiniotis have done tremendous work in small manuf. area and mostly they have made Sindh their permanent home. The discussion about the army and Punjab would require many exchanges and I would wait for Manto’s article to discuss that.


#23 by bjkumar on March 12, 2006 4:12am PT

#19 HP
(Disclaimer: I know very little about the Sindh national rights movement. So be kind.)

Please see my response to Behram.

#24 by faisaluno on March 12, 2006 4:31am PT


``about time gop taught indian agents like dr. sarki a lesson. and sure its a little ugly. but then, so was the operation launched against mqm by the democratically elected sindi dominated hukumuth of bb.``


I don’t know what your source of information is but just calling him an Indian agent is pathetic. Why would he be an agent? Give me one good reason. He is financially well off. Never had a history of relations with India or Indians, has never supported Indian in any public forum or otherwise. What is the basis of your claim?

OTOH, neighbors do interfere in each others affairs. I don’t think there is anything wrong with it and that’s why I support Pakistani intervention in Indian affairs too.


#39 by colonel

Your post is a typical response from people who don’t even have an iota of knowledge abt the Pak army and its role in Pakistani politics and economic life. Reeling off names don’t make the army innocent.

Re: # 39

colonel:

``We have another Punjabi Army across the border. The 40% of the fighting arms of Indian Army consists of Sikh Punjabis ( who are only 3% of the population). Interestingly the reasons for this great imbalances in the demographic makeup of the Indian Army are also historic and social (similar to Pakistan Army) and do not represent any political or regional prefrences in the recruitement. The present Chief of the Army Staff India is a Punjabi as well are majority of Generals. ``

is this your guess or based on data ????? i would be very interested to know. more later.

chacha akhmad:

``That was an informative post, particularly the comparison with the Indian army which is clearly far more Panjabi (40% of the personnel being from the panjab!!) ``

don`t get too excited so early.

colonel: That was an informative post, particularly the comparison with the Indian army which is clearly far more Panjabi (40% of the personnel being from the panjab!!) when one compares the relative share of the panjabi population in the two countries.