Talibanization or the Turkish Model?

Omar Mirza

I read this article of yours after I had recorded my post today. I notice the same dichtomy in your character as you point out so poignantly in the mindset of the Muslims in general. You travelled all along from America to kiss the black stone and throw pebbles on the satan, a pagan ritual, continued in Islam, and then had the cheek to mention the Quaide Azzam, who never visited that satanic land ruled by Saudies who are funding Madrissas and mosques all over the world which are the nurseries for the sectarian terrorists. What a pitty!

true i agree send those afghans where they came from Pakistan love it or leave it

Temples dying in Pakistan

June 6, 2000

http://www.dailyexcelsior.com/00june06/edit.htm#4



By Firoz Bakht Ahmed

Few people are aware that Pakistan has Vedic temples prima au pareil (unparallel) languishing for want of care and dying a dusty death. Umpteen temples have vanished from the skyline of the prominent cities of Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi, Sindh and Islamabad. The clue as to how briskly they have disappeared is provided by the fact that at the time of Independence, some 424 Hindi temples dotted the landscape of Karachi alongwith a synagogue, several gurudwaras and a number of churches. Over the years, however, the temples have disappeared one by one, leaving alone only a handful of places where the city`s Hindu residents may worship.

According to Saquib Malik, the features editor of Karachi`s ‘Herald’ monthly, in the year immediately following partition, a majority of Karachi`s temples were converted into Government schools while some were turned into private residences. The rest of the temples remained more or less undisturbed. What is most unfortunate, according to the noted columnist of Karachi`s ‘Dawn’ English daily, Nahid Riyaz, is that the few remaining temples have always been under threat from the city`s notorious land mafia. In many cases, the courtyards and grounds surrounding these structures, have already been encroached. But more shocking is the fact that the custodians of the temples themselves joined hands with the land grabbers. While the administration turns a blind eye to the plunder, a vital part of the city`s cultural heritage is fast disappearing.

From the Pakistani capital Islamabad to Lahore, the motorway is not only very comfortable but also makes a memorable journey owing to the fact that there are many Hindu and Islamic monuments of importance and one such is the historic Katasraj Mandir associated with the Mahabharata legend. Legend has it that here the famous dialogue between Yudhishthira and Yaksha took place. The story goes that here the Pandava brothers went to quench their thirst at the Katasraj Mandir pond, Yaksha, the protector of the pond, allowed them to drink water on the condition they answered their questions. While the four of the Pandavas failed to answer his questions, they were rendered lifeless by him. Yudhisththira finally answered all the questions and had his brothers revived by the Yaksha.

Vijay Goel, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Lok Sabha MP, visited this temple in Pakistan and lamented that it was in a pathetic state in spite of the fact that it has a tremendous following and the cases for its uplift and restoration are in the Lahore High Court. Goel suggested that the Heads of the two countries come together and form a Joint Committee for involving the historians, social activists, planners and media persons for restoration of places of religious importance both in India and Pakistan. He made this suggestion to former Prime Ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto while on his visit to Lahore for the historic Delhi-Lahore bus journey representing the Indian Parliamentary delegation.

Goel was dazed to know that at the social level, the people of Pakistan wanted to be close to India as much and that there are no walls and political borders. Their craze for Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Aamir Khan, Juhi Chawla, Karishma, Kajol and Manisha Koirala was more than the Indians, Goel felt. After talking to the members of the Pakistani Hindu Mahasabha, Goel found that more temples in that country were destroyed after December 6, 1992 in the bloody Babri Masjid aftermath than in the half century after the vivisection of the sub-continent. They told Goel that religious fundamentalism is extremely dangerous, especially for the minorities.

In the days that followed the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition by the frenzied mob in Faizabad, the Hindu temples all across Pakistan came under attack from rioting crowds. The temples that were destroyed in Karachi and Peshawar in those days of unbridled hate, were never rebuilt. Rather, the land on which they were constructed, was quietly sold off to real estate developers. Some temples have been rebuilt but they are few.

The very entrance to Katasraj Mandir is a pathetic one. There`s nothing that can be termed as Mandir except the ruins. In fact, the presence of an old board only indicated that the site is that of the famous Katasraj Mandir where a guard is also placed. There is a plaque by the Archaeological Survey of Pakistan that quotes the history of this temple. ``Katas: Kohistan Mountains, Central Chakwal --- according to the legend of the Mahabharata, when Lord Shiva lost his wife Parvati, he felt so upset that the ponds at the eastern and western ends of the temple got filled by his tears. In Sanskrit it is also known as ‘Katak Sheel’ which means flow of tears. Later on the name got twisted to ‘Katas’. The place is of great significance for the Brahmins.``

Even Al-Bairuni wrote an interesting history of the temple in his ‘Kitab-ul-Hind’ where he depicts that he learnt Sanskrit and science at Katas. Not only this, quite interestingly, he even learnt many Vedic traditions. Renowned historian Panikkar states that ‘Kitab-ul-Hind’ brings a very honest and first-hand account of history at that time. It is also mentioned in Bairuni`s book that Katas happened to be the most revered Mandir after Punjab`s Jwalamukhi Mandir. This fact is also confirmed by Liaqat Ali Khan Niyazi, the Deputy Commissioner of Chakwal. Al-Bairuni also mentioned about other Pakistani temples like Panch Mukhi ka Hanuman Mandir, Nagnath Baba Mandir and Darya Lal Mandir.

The grounds of the famous Nagnath Bawa Mandir in Karachi have been occupied by a businessman housing a soap factory. Though the owner claims to have brought it legally from the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA), Hindu residents of the area dispute the claim. The historic importance of this temple is that once Lord Shankar wanted to lead peaceful existence for some time and he came here. He took the permission of Anant Vasudevji, who gladly agreed and desired that the deity visited this place regularly even later on. It was managed by a local trust of the Hindu community that has no influence in the area. Not very distant is the Preedy Police Station adjacent to which is the Preedy Mandir at Sadar. It was occupied by the dreaded land mafia in that area. The trustees of the temple said that it was owing to a nexus between the land grabbers, police and politicians.

Similarly, there is Narayan Mandir, situated at MA Jinnah Road, just opposite the head office of the Karachi Municipal Corporation. Presently, it has been managed by the All-Pakistan Hindu Panchayat Committee and community leaders. It is known for colourful festivals. The shopkeepers on the road have not only encroached upon its premises but also started storing their merchandise in the temple compound. Raja Dharampal Varma, an office bearer, states that initially the shopkeepers said that they were sitting there only to avoid the heat during the summer. But, slowly they started using the premises as a warehouse. That`s why they sealed the rear gate of the temple for fear of an attack by the fanatics.

Narinder Jogi, a former trustee of the temple told that they complained to the authorities but to no avail. They have been pleading their case since Benazir Bhutto was the Prime Minister during her first-term but in vain. ``The corrupt have no fear, for they know even if they are entrapped and an enquiry held and they are found to be guilty and suspended, they will soon walk back or walk to an even better job. It is indeed difficult to fight and win``, rues a disgruntled Jogi.

Darya Lal Mandir in the vicinity of the Customs House got its name as it is situated just on the edge of the Arabian sea. The story goes that the Hindus living in the areas around this temple sought the blessing of the deity in the sanctum sanctorum before launching their boats in the sea. It is believed that those who sought the blessings, were safe and sound no matter whatever the fury of the tempest used to be. Apart from that they also got the best variety of fish. Basically most of them came from Mohalla Mahigir (fishermen`s locality). Today, they prefer to make their journey without Darya Lal`s blessings, perhaps because a large part of the temple as well as the surrounding area has been encroached upon by the Karachi Hazara Goods Company, transporters and a tea canteen. The company owner and his employees harass visitors to Darya Lal, especially the women.

In Karachi`s famous Hingora Lane, Lyari, the famous Jagdish Mandir was completely destroyed in the aftermath of Babri Masjid debacle. The Pujari, Sant Ram Bhatia, lamented the fact that prior to the Babri Masjid disaster, there was little love lost between the Hindus and Pathans and Balochis living in the neighbourhood. Rather, in the absence of the Pujari, the immediate neighbour Shamsher Khan Diwan took care of the temple premises and opened it if some visitor wanted to see it. Twice Bhatia visited India and each time he left the keys in the possession of Diwan who fully guaranteed its safety. But, after the sad Ram Mandir imbroglio, the very same neighbours accuse the Indian ilks of Pujari to be non-secular and fascist and anti-Muslim. A portion of the Mandir was taken by a madrasa and the remaining part was converted into a warehouse by the Managing Committee of the temple. Today, there is no trace of Jagdish Mandir, where the famous Saint Rishi Gautam used to reside here and even Ganga once appeared here in the form of Gautmi alongwith Shiva Trayambkeshwara Jyotirlinga. Now all this is a legend.

Lyari`s largest Hindu temple was the Panjrapur Mandir. A portion of the temple`s ground has been taken over by an adjacent building after some understanding by the trustees of the temple. After that another portion of the courtyard of the temple was bought by another person for commercial purposes. The construction is still on with the help of Khatu Mal, Member, Pakistani Assembly. Others who sold off the temple premises include the self-proclaimed Mahanta Babu Lal and temple caretaker Kishan Meghwar. Only 6x8 feet portion remains of what is now that Mandir that was spread over 3,000 sq yds. Not very far away from Panjrapur Mandir is the once famous Bhagnari Mandir near Tea Market that was constructed by the Balochi Hindus and was visited by the members of one Lassi tribe. More than half of the temple premises has been occupied by a transporter and a courier company, Al-Rifah.

Laxmi Narayan Panghat Mandir, situated beside the Native Jetty, (Neti-Jeti in the vernacular) once held a special significance for Hindu women, who came here for performing the ritual purification bath. Goddess Laxmi and Lord Narain also appeared here. It was originally here that out of reverence for this pious place that some tears fell from the eyes of Lord Narayan and Bindu Sarovar, a fresh water pound came into being immediately after that. Over the last few decades the devotees numbers have decreased owing to encroachment upon the premises by some politicians and other influential people. The aesthetic beauty of the temple has been marred owing to the construction of the Jinnah Over Bridge Extension. Besides, the women devotees hesitate to visit the site because of late the area has become a hunting ground for lecherous young men, especially during the festivals of Rakhi, Ganpati, Karwa Chauth, Holi and Diwali. Some distance away from this temple used to be the Hanuman Mandir at Frere Market Road that was abandoned after Babri Masjid debacle. Today, a cryptic sign reading KESC-208 is painted on the door.

In a recent judgement, the Chief Justice of Sindh, Kamal Mansoor Alam, realising the lack of confidence in the Pakistani Courts and the frustration of the minorities of that city who have filed umpteen number of petitions against the illegal and forced occupation of the temples, has appointed a ‘Temple Bench’ comprising two fearless judges, Justice Rana Bhagwandas and Sabihuddin Ahmed. He has also ordered it to sit on one day each week to hear cases involving encroachment on temples. This bench has successfully and expeditiously dispensed justice.

Salman Rashid, a freelance Karachi journalist, states that such unauthorised temple occupations are not raised overnight in a manner that would escape the notice of the officials, nor they can remain concealed. Such illegal activity bears testimony to the indifference of the authorities. At the same time, he maintains that the question of the illegal occupation of temples in Pakistan and mosques in India is a very sensitive one. The two countries` administrators must bear this in mind that if a temple is burnt in Pakistan, the ones to suffer will be the innocnt Indian Muslims and their mosques and if a similar incident takes place in India where a mosque is harmed, the innocent Pakistani Hindus have to bear the brunt.

Rashid maintains that this is very unfortunate and with the presence of custodians of law, the law of the jungle must not prevail. The two governments must respect the places of worship of all the communities. Rashid quoted the Karachi Governor Moinuddin Haider saying that one single most heinous crime in the religious realm of the sub-continent was the destruction of Babri Masjid. Let`s hope sanity and better sense prevails and the religious places of all the communities remain safe, not only in the sub-continent but elsewhere even - for they are the harbingers of harmony for those who are attached to them in the heart and mind.

The following paragraphs are quite graphic yet painful to read. This gives an overview of Pakistani army`s atrocity in nine months of 1971 in Bangladesh under occupation:

THOSE SISTERS OF OURS.

WHOM WE COULD NOT SAVE, DID NOT MOURN AND NEVER REMEMBERED.

I was in the S.F. Canteen of Rajarbag Police Line when the Pak-Army attacked on 25th March 1971.....Our brave Police force could not stand in front of their mortars on the 26th morning. In the morning they put fire around the S.F line and brought the Bangalee Polices out with bayonet, baton and kicking. They brought me also on gun-point, kicked me on the ground and burst into laughter like dogs while raping me one after another. When I was almost dyeing I cried and pleaded to them not to kill me because I was a sweeper, if I was killed there would be nobody to clean the toilet and drains....Then they said I would be spared but I had to be always present there and would not go out.........While I was cleaning the drain I saw many girls and women were brought in the barrack. Many were taken upstairs, some were kept in the balcony. Some of them had books in their hands, some were with some ornaments and they were weeping........the Punjabi soldiers entered in groups and kicked them on the ground, took their cloths off and started raping them. Some started raping in standing condition. I was seeing.........they not only raped them, they were biting their breasts, chicks.....flesh was coming out, blood flew throughout their breasts, shoulders, back....whoever tried to resist them, they dragged them by their hair, cut off their breasts and inserted the gun in their bodies from the front and the back and tore their bodies into pieces. Some, after rape, tore their blood-stained bodies of some girls in

two pieces by pulling their legs in opposite direction......I saw it all.......not only the common soldiers, but also the officers were busy raping them one after another after being drunk. No girl, no woman was spared for a moment. Many young girls breathed their last breath in deep cry of pain.....next day they cut their bodies in small pieces right in front of other women/girls and took out in bags. they became more scared and did not resist anything.........Some women cooperated them just to keep alive but even they were not spared.... officers used to gang-rape them and cut off their breasts, backs, and insert sharp knives in their bodies from front and back, thus killing them in their burst of laughter.

After that these women/girls were kicked and whipped like animals and kept

standing naked in the 2nd, 3rd and 4th floors of the barrack. Many were kept hanging with their hairs tied with the iron rods. Everyday the Punjabis used to pass them by, bitting them with baton like a hysteric, some used to cut their breasts off, some used to laugh while inserting rods in their bodies, some used to enjoy cutting their back very slowly, some used to stand on chairs and bite-off their breasts and laugh loud.......if anyone tried to scream, she was immediately killed by pushing rods in their bodies.All the women/girls had their hands tied back.......many a times the soldiers used to bit those naked hanging women/girls continuously. Due to such nonstop bitting everyday, their

bodies were flooded with blood, none of them had any teeth left in the front, their lips were torn by biting, all their flingers, palms were broken to mince........they were never untied even to go to toilets......I used to clean their stool and urine.........Many many women died due to nonstop rape in hanging condition in front of my eyes........I was there day and night for cleaning those blood and dirts.......from the upper floors they used to remove the distorted dead bodies of women/girls ........used to bring new ones, hang them and start raping them immediately.......Always there was armed guard and no Bangalee even no other sweeper was allowed to go there.......I could not save them inspite of their heart-breaking cry. In a very early morning of April 1 was cleaning the urine and stool of the hanging women, then I was very much moved for a college-girl named Ranu of 139 Siddheshwary. I covered her with the cloths of a sweeper and somehow took her outside the Police-Line. I never saw her again.......When in December the Freedom Fighters and Indian soldiers entered Dhaka, the Punjabis killed all the women/girls with bayonet in

front of our eyes. .......In all the rooms of upstairs of Rajarbag Police Line, there was so much clotted blood of these women/girls..........

Thumb-signature:- Rabeya Khatun

18-2-74.

Taken from:- Pages 53-56, ``Muktijudhhher Itihash`` vol-8

Desis in Silicon Valley

FORTUNE magazine has published a series of articles on success of Desis in Silicon Valley. Worth reading.

http://www.fortune.com/fortune/2000/05/15/ind2.html

Surya Sharma turns Peter Joseph, but still doesn`t feel safe in Lahore

LAHORE, MAY 2: Name: Peter Joseph. Father`s name: Shyam Sunder Sharma. Children: Monica and John. No, it is not some Anglo-Indian family living in Lahore`s Kashmiri Gate. Peter Joseph`s name till December 6, 1992, was Surya Prakash Sharma. He changed it when his brother Nand Kishore and cousin Ram Narain were killed in Lahore in the aftermath of the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

``I did not convert to Christianity. I just changed my name and it saved my life,`` he says, sitting in his small house in a lane in Kashmiri Gate. He refuses to be photographed. ``I`m very superstitious. It is like challenging fate,`` he says, holding his three-year-old daughter Monica close to him. He did not have the courage of giving Hindu names to his children, and then changed his wife Meera`s name to Mariam.

``I saw my brothers being killed in front of me. Many people in this area, mostly Hindus, have adopted Christian names to protect themselves,`` he adds. There is not even a single temple left in entire Lahore.

There was one Jain temple near Lakshmi chowk and another big one at Shalmi Chowk near Anarkali bazaar but both of them were burnt down after the Babri Masjid demolition. Some smaller ones in Krishna Nagar and Shyam Nagar in Chubhurjhi area where also destroyed, recall the 100-odd Hindus, now mostly living in Kashmiri Gate and Andhroon Bhati Gate.

``We are scared of even putting an idol of Ramchandraji or Krishanji in our houses. Most Hindus have converted to Christianity but we still offer our prayers to Hindu deities,`` says Frank (real name Harish Chandra). Most of the people refer to these Hindus-Christians as Balmikis in the area. Though Thapar Street, Bhatia Street, Bahamant Street and Sehgal Street remain, there is hardly any Hindu there. ``There used to be thousands of Hindus living in Lahore. But after December 6 (1992), most ran away to either Karachi or Kota in Peshawar. There are very few left now,`` says Septuagenarian Ram Pal, who has dared to retain his original name. ``This was the name given to me by my mother and I will be known by the same till I die,`` he says.

Though Christians too complain of ``problems and harassment,`` they are relatively better off. ``There are almost one lakh Christians in Lahore but they don`t really like to mingle much with the majority. We prefer to stay within our community,`` says Francis Louis, a science teacher in Don Bosco School in Lahore.

As if living as a minority in Pakistan is not bad enough, he says, teaching is even worse. Though Don Bosco is a Christian-run school, 70 per cent of the students are Muslims.

``There was a big furore in the school when I tried teaching the students about reproduction. The students went and complained to their parents who came and protested to the principal. I was almost thrown out of the school,`` he says. Louis had to apologise to the parents and assure them that he won`t teach them that subject in future.

``Now I just read what is in the book and cloak it in harmless and often meaningless language,`` he says.

Thomas D`Souza, who organises AIDS awareness programmes in schools and colleges, has to face hostility and ire every day. ``But we have to do our job. My assistant Franklin was beaten up by some students in Lahore University two days ago and has vowed to give up. I am trying to convince him but he is too scared,`` he adds.

The handful of Sikhs in Lahore are limited to the Dera Baba Gurdwara near Lahore Fort. ``There are three other Gurdwaras in Lahore but this is the only functional one,`` explains Harpal Singh, a kar sevak in the gurdwara which houses Maharaja Ranjit Singh`s Samadhi. ``Here, there are two dozen-odd Sikhs. We do the ``paath`` and read the Gurbani everyday even if there is nobody to listen. We will keep this Gurdwara alive,`` he adds.

http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/2000/04/21/fp1s4-csm.shtml

Signs and graffiti on the road to Shahdand say, ``We will take Kashmir with the sword.`` A message from the Hizbul Mujahideen, one of four groups recruiting young men, reads ``Get your training from us!`` ``Afghanistan ruined us. When I was going to school we never talked about jihad,`` Iftikhar recalls. ``But the war in Afghanistan translated jihad to this side of the border. I am a religious person. But I don`t want to take a gun and spread Islam by force.``

Bin Laden Rallies Muslim Youth

By KATHY GANNON, Associated Press Writer

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20000417/wl/afghanistan_bin_laden_2.html

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (AP) - On fences and car windows throughout northwestern Pakistan, small posters are popping up carrying a message to Mulsim youth from suspected terrorist Osama bin Laden: Join a holy war to the death against the United States.

In another message circulating in Pakistan, the Taliban`s supreme leader, Mullah Mohammed Omar, vowed Afghanistan would never revoke the refuge given bin Laden, one of the 10 most wanted men in the United States.

Bin Laden`s message circulating in Pakistan`s deeply conservative Northwest Frontier Province depicts burning U.S., Indian and Israeli flags and a cocked Kalashnikov rifle ready to fire.

``The youth should contact us as soon as possible,`` the message says. ``Territorial boundaries have no importance in our eyes. All the land belongs to God.``

Bin Laden`s message, written in Urdu, Pakistan`s national language, vowed to continue his battle against America.

``Our jihad will continue until America is expelled from Saudi Arabia and other countries of the world,`` bin Laden`s message said.

``It is our responsibility to free the world from their (U.S.) control,`` it said. ``The non-Muslim world should know it well that a Muslim is always ready to die in the name of God.``

``I am not afraid of America. I will continue my work. No one can stop me,`` the message said.

Washington has accused bin Laden of masterminding the 1998 twin attacks on its embassies in East Africa and wants bin Laden to stand trial on terrorism charges either in the United States or a third country.

The message by the Taliban`s supreme leader, Omar, was addressed to the United States and President Clinton and vowed that bin Laden had permanent refuge in Afghanistan.

``Even if the whole of Afghanistan is destroyed we will never deliver Osama,`` it said. ``A Muslim cannot deliver a Muslim to a non-Muslim.``

Omar accused the United States of using bin Laden as a pretext to attack Islam. The message surfaced in Pakistan following last month`s visit to the region by Clinton.

During a six-hour visit to Pakistan on March 25, Clinton sought the help of Pakistan`s ruler, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, to persuade the Taliban to hand over bin Laden.

Omar accused the U.S. of planning further action against the Taliban. The U.S. in 1998 fired Tomahawk cruise missiles at eastern Afghanistan taking aim at alleged training camps operated by bin Laden`s Al-Qaida group.

Last year the United States barred all investment in and trade with the Taliban. The United Nations followed in November 1999 with limited sanctions against the Taliban also to press for bin Laden`s extradition.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/World/Asia_China/2000-04/fisk130400.shtml

Robert Fisk: Struggle continues for `unfashionable` Afghans

By Robert Fisk in Mardan, North West Frontier

13 April 2000

Their camps are little Afghanistans, streets of mud and wattle huts, a wooden gate padlocked on to dry earth, a flurry of goats, wooden roofsoverhanging earthen walls, a dust road and women who scurry into darkened rooms at the sight of a stranger. In the schools, the girls are taught, ``Yak, du, se, char, panj, shash...``, chorusing the Farsi numerals from beneath a tent.

The United Nations would like them all to go home, all 1.2 million of them in Pakistan. In the UN compound in Peshawar – with its carefully laid out gardens and air conditioning – they run a ``repatriation`` programme to send the Afghans ``home``. Travel to Jalalabad or Kabul and you`ll be given rupees, a blanket, food.

But why do you need a ``programme`` if all is well in Afghanistan? It`s not, of course, as the UN well knows. If the Taliban have provided security, they have created a state without a government, a theocracy without a nation.

So is it any surprise that all these miniature Afghanistans have blossomed along the border with Pakistan?

I walk into Mir Abdul Saeed`s home. Three of his brothers were killed in the war. Sergeant Mir Abdul Waser was a 26-year-old married soldier. Saeed Ahmed Shah was a 21-year-old army medical officer. Both were torn apart by rockets. Saeed Habib was a 20-year-old, killed on convoy escort duty in Pakman by the mujahedin. Mir Abdul Saeed`s cousin, Saed Ahmed, was killed, too, with his aunt`s brother, 45-year-old Wali Mohamed.

``I blame the selfishness of the various groups of people who want to rule,`` the old man says. ``They only think about their interests and not those of the people.``

Where was the last place I heard this? In Kosovo? In the Palestinian camps of Lebanon? In the Sahrawi camps of south-west Algeria?

And old? Did I write ``old`` in my notebook? Mir Abdul Saeed was an engineer in Kabul, an educated man of good family who travelled pre-war in India, Iran, Russia and Poland. Now he looks as if he is approaching 65, even 70. He is 46.

If Shangri La is the place of eternal youth, the refugee camp outside Mardan is a land of eternal age. Lines and hanging flesh mark the faces of the young. And they live in fear – of theft, of kidnapping, of overnight shooting. If the Taliban have imposed law – of a kind – in Afghanistan, there is still anarchy here.

And the desolation of half a society. The women talk to us with a kind of resignation. There is the 18-year-old whose mother wishes her to complete her education beyond grade eight but whose fiancé`s parents – in Saudi Arabia – insist that her education must finish early. There are the 15-year-old twin girls who studied to grade six but can only continue their education outside the camp. But the only transport outside is a four-wheel-drive that carries men only. They cannot leave. The camp is a prison without wire.

Every earthen hut could fill a reporter`s notebook. A family from Peshajee who speak a village dialect, farmers, nomads, an old lady, an old man, two sons with wives, one with six children, the other with five. No doctors, no access to a health clinic. An attempt by aid workers to talk to the women about childbirth, the avoidance of close pregnancies, was treated with scorn. A girl says to us: ``I will bear as many children as God gives me – the land will take the weight of the child and God will provide.``

Rahmina is 30 but looks 50, a beautiful woman with lively eyes, a sense of humour, a miraculous lack of complaints about life. She has never been to school, she cannot read or write and she cares for her seven children in a two-room hut. ``Life is easier in our camp,`` she says. ``Back home in Afghanistan, we had one small room for our entire family while here I have two rooms just for my husband and seven children. I`d love to study but it`s finished with me. My husband wouldn`t let me.``

Three female schoolteachers express their pain. They come from the cities of Afghanistan – the educated city dwellers cannot believe they live in mud huts rather than brick houses, beside illiterate farmers. The women`s university in Peshawar has been closed down (a big thank you here to the Taliban) but the schoolteachers work on; Malika`s husband takes care of their three children – he has four from a previous marriage – while she attends the Pakistani university in the morning and teaches in the afternoon. At last, an Afghan man who sets an example. Others do not. Outside in the street, I am taking photographs when a man approaches holding a cricket bat. ``It`s enough!`` a woman warns me. ``No more pictures.``

Around the camp are little pools of charity. The Bibi Mariam High School headmaster is Amanollah Nasrallah, who commutes to his home town of Jalalabad to teach two kindergarten classes when he is not in the camp with his 120 teachers and 3,000 pupils.

I listen by the tented classrooms. ``One, two, three...`` They learn the English numerals now. Then the Farsi, then one to 10 in Pashtu, dusty shafts of sunlight penetrating the dark tents as five-year-old girls read the Koran in high, screeching voices. They are the people of a dead country, seeking in the heat and dust a vague, computerless future.

In another square earthen room, I find a former employee of the Afghan ministry of technology whose home was destroyed by fighting between the Jamiat Islami and Hezbil Islami parties in Kabul. He is in his forties, looks closer to 78 or 79. ``The Afghan government promised to give peace and food and money to the people but they couldn`t do it,`` he says. ``After the Najib regime was overthrown, the mujahedin promised us peace and security and food and they couldn`t do it. Now there is fighting between the Islamic groups. Yes I blame all – the Americans, the Russians, the British, especially Pakistan because they help the Taliban.``

Another Afghan refugee casts his own cynical gaze upon this tired, hopeless camp world. ``We are no longer fashionable, we Afghans, and you don`t care about us anymore,`` he says. ``We have to deal with the Pakistanis. And with the UN. You know about the UN? They have what we call `hunting` seasons – when they are in full cry. The UN hunting seasons are war, earthquakes and returning refugees. We are part of the third UN hunting season. They want us to go back in one of their programmes. To what?``

Published Dawn, letter to the ed April 3, 2000

Top priority to education

EDUCATION remains the key to solving the nation`s problems. An uneducated workforce means the country cannot attract foreign investment to set up industries and create jobs. An uneducated voting public means that the masses remain politically immature, unable to hold rulers accountable, and to force their representatives to meaningfully address the issues that affect their well being or to participate as equal citizens in society, and demand rights and social justice.

Democracy thus remains a mirage 52 years after independence. The emancipation of women in rural areas, and their equal participation in society remain an unlikely ideal without both male and female education. Population control also cannot be achieved when the people remain uneducated, under the sway of obscurantism, and superstition. The government must address education policy on a war footing if this nation is to make progress.

An ordinance should be passed making it compulsory for all school going age children to attend school until matric. If underage truants are found employed instead of being in school, there should be stiff mandatory fines on the employers and notices to them to appear in court. These measures will also alleviate underemployment of the adult workforce. Child beggars should be transported by the police and social workers, off the streets, into classrooms. Proper clothing and shelter can be provided to these children with the help of NGOs.

The government`s poverty alleviation programme should only provide resources to those families whose children are enrolled in school, thus eliminating the pretext of economic need for child labour.

The private sector, concerned citizens, and NGOs should be invited to `adopt-a-school.` Wealthy individuals who have made fortunes in running private schools should be encouraged to lend their expertise, management, and engage in directed philanthropy to meet the needs of the government schools, and bring them at par with private schools. School lunches should be provided free of charge.

I suggest the government initially focus its resources on the quality of education being imparted in select government schools on a city-by-city basis. In addition, these model schools should be provided with all furniture, and textbooks required, and the salaries in these schools paid to teachers should be raised. This is where the private sector can help in the aforementioned, suggested, `adopt-a-school` programme. It is better to create some schools that actually work, than dissipate all resources without any impact whatsoever.

Local citizens resident in the area should participate in the schooling of the children, sit at local school boards that monitor the performance of the schools, review their expenditures, and ensure that no more ghost schools or ghost teachers exist. Community participation is vital to ensure that in the long term these school reforms continue.

The curriculum of Madressah schools is a medium term recipe for civil war. It produces individuals who have no marketable skills, and no place in civil society. Hence, we can expect more social upheaval in the future if the government does not create a viable state school system.

The children are our future. They are more important than mindless confrontations with our eastern neighbour, which have sapped the resources of the state, and betrayed the promise of Pakistan`s creation. What is freedom if illiteracy reigns supreme, and the people live hand to mouth? What `ideological frontiers` can justify the diversion of scarce state resources?

In the wake of the Clinton visit, it is time to review Kashmir policy, and find a way to make a permanent peace with India. There is no military solution to the problem. The costs of ignorance, and lack of sustained development in Pakistan, are too high a price for 140 million Pakistanis to pay for just 4 million Kashmiris.

To economists, it`s the classic choice between guns versus butter. Only obscurantists, who thrive on ignorance and whose goal is the progressive, radicalization of the population, benefit from the status quo.

OMAR MIRZA

New York, USA

Turkish PM Says He Shares India`s Concern About Terrorism

NEW DELHI (AP)--Turkish Prime Minister Bulent Ecevit said Friday that his country - like India - has been the victim of internationally sponsored terrorism but will deal with it without deviating from democracy and human rights.

``Turkey has suffered a great deal on account of terrorism sponsored from outside the country,`` Ecevit told reporters after a ceremonial reception at the presidential palace.

``Just like India, we are determined to deal with terrorism without deviating from democracy and human rights,`` Ecevit said.

Members of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party have been fighting for an independent territory for the Kurd minority. The government says the rebels are being supported from outside the country.

Pakistan`s combination of a military Government, nuclear weapons capability, and support for Muslim extremists in Kashmir, has transformed its image in the West from a somewhat autocratic, yet moderate Islamic nation, into that of a reckless and unstable country.

Many Pakistanis share such concerns, but welcomed the coup because they thought a military government might crack down on the Islamic right.

Yet five months after the coup, it is clear that General Musharraf has very little room for manoeuvre.

The United States President, Mr Bill Clinton, got some idea of just how little when he dropped in for lunch in Islamabad last Sunday. The general offered no concessions.

The banners that greeted the President on his drive through a capital turned ghost town by a massive security operation, graphically illustrated Pakistan`s fatal obsession with Kashmir.

All the way to Islamabad, the pedestrian overpasses sported official banners demanding human rights for the Kashmiris, a mock-up of Pakistan`s nuclear test site and replicas of the medium-range missiles the country has developed, with China`s help.

Reality, in Pakistan, has become surreal, and dangerously so.

Pumped up by state-run broadcast media, the nation of 140 million people is fed an unrelenting diet of distorted and highly emotive propaganda about the plight of their brethren in Kashmir, India`s only Muslim majority state.

Before leaving their briefing, journalists are handed a video and photographs, depicting decapitated civilians, allegedly the handiwork of Indian troops said to have crossed the Line of Control in February.

On the ground in what the Pakistan Government calls the ``liberated`` area of Kashmir - basically the part it controls - people displaced by the conflict are used to score points.

At Zaffar camp, they are brought out of their tents to denounce Indian shelling, and deny that armed Muslim guerrillas regularly cross over to attack Indian forces, and create mayhem of the kind that struck the Sikh-dominated village of Chattisinghpora, where 36 men were massacred by unidentified gunmen on the eve of Mr Clinton`s visit.

But Brigadier Nawaz admits the wider propaganda war is being lost. ``We can`t get our point of view across, because the world is looking at India as a vast market,`` he says.

``Liberating`` Kashmir has become an article of faith for Pakistan`s generals. Clinton can point out to the military regime that the conflict with India is ruining Pakistan`s economy and its international relations. But will a country with its back to the wall listen to economic and political logic?

TIME Magazine

Slaughter in Singhpora

A Village Becomes Kashmir`s Latest Victim

By YUSUF JAMEEL Chitti Singhpora

They arrived in Chitti Singhpora at around 9:30 p.m., 25 heavily armed men dressed as Indian soldiers and claiming to be in search of Kashmiri separatist insurgents. They ordered the men of the village to line up outside a Sikh temple for questioning. Then, without warning, the ``soldiers`` opened fire. The villagers who were standing--34 in all--died on the spot; most of those who were squatting on the ground survived. Nanak Singh and his friend Sartaj Singh were wounded and left for dead. Nanak regained consciousness at a hospital in time to see Sartaj die of his wounds.

I reached Chitti Singhpora, a hamlet of 250 Sikh families in Indian-held Kashmir, 15 hours after the massacre. Shoes and sandals lay scattered in pools of blood. In the temple compound, bullet-riddled corpses of the slain men, ages 18 to 60, were covered in white sheets. Beside them, women mourned their husbands, sons, brothers, fathers. One woman, on seeing the bodies, had a heart attack and died--becoming the 36th victim.

The Indian government says the killers were disguised members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba and the Hizb ul-Mujahedin, Pakistan-backed Islamic groups that have vowed to free Kashmir from Indian rule. (Both groups denied the charge.) Officials believe the attack was an attempt to draw President Clinton`s attention to Kashmir and make him pressure India to accept outside mediation in its dispute with Pakistan over the troubled valley. If that was the intention, it didn`t work: Clinton renewed his offer to help, but left it to Delhi and Islamabad to resolve the issue. The men of Chitti Singhpora died in vain.

Small communities of Sikhs have lived in Kashmir for centuries. But this is the first time they have been targeted in the decade-long insurgency. In the past, such attacks were directed at Pandits--Kashmiri Hindus--forcing most of them to flee the valley. Indian army officials say they didn`t do more to safeguard Chitti Singhpora because they didn`t think it faced a threat. Now, Kashmir`s Sikhs are demanding protection--and blood. Hundreds gathered at the village last week, shouting anti-Pakistan and anti-Muslim slogans. In neighboring towns, more than 20,000 Sikhs violated curfew orders to gather for prayer meetings. And in cities across northern India, thousands more took their protest to the streets, blaming the Indian government for not protecting its citizens. In Chitti Singhpora, protesters demanded arms. ``We are not cowards,`` shouted one Sikh. ``Give us weapons. We will fight the militants ourselves.``

http://cnn.com/ASIANOW/time/magazine/2000/0403/india.singhpora.html

sadhana #191

The contrast you make between the multi-party system in India vs. bi-party in US is an important one. The reason could indeed be the ``melting pot`` common culture of US vs. the multiple cultures in India.

I think the evolution of laws in India to address practical problems of the kind you mention (e.g. to make it difficult to switch party allegiances by individual legislators) would be very useful input to Pakistan. As you may have read in the news today, Musharraf announced local govt elections for 12/01, and some thought seems to have gone into this (e.g. reserving seats for minorities, women, and the poor).

Thanks again for the very relevant information you provided. Looks like this particular article has now been pushed into the back benches by Chowk editors. I look forward to further interaction with you on some other article. Best Regards.

Krishna: Welcome to Chowk! Well if you`re interested in learning more about Islam & Women, I can reccomend that you read my piece here on Chowk `The Lack of Rights for Women in Pakistan.`

Honor Killings are against Islam, they stem from tribal practices that still grip Feudal Pakistan. As for polygamy, the injunctions allowing men to marry upto 4 wives at one time specifically state that the husband must treat all the wives equally. In addition, limited polygamy was only permitted to Muslims because in the early days lots of Muslim men died in battles.

But, like Slavery (which Islam discouraged although it did not end it legally, manumission of slaves being a great thing), polygamy is an institution which should have died out with the passage of time, but for the narrow minded reactionary `Ulema` who have kept it alive through their jihalat. Both slavery & polygamy are against the Spirit of Islam and should have been consigned to the dustbin of history long ago but for these regressive `Ulema.`

OMAR MIRZA

Tahmed321 #187

Well, all praise to you, firstly for taking interest and asking all these penetrating questions and then patiently making sense of my replies :-).

To your question, well, failed leaders can either lead to party splits or to the election of another leader. Very often state governments change when the second-in-command gets restive and incites party members to `demote` the leader and choose either himself or a compromise candidate for next leader(I`m the king of the hill style). This has happened very often in Karnataka. The government doesnot fall, just the CM changes and a whole new cabinet takes oath. The opposition tries to raise a major ruckus, sometimes it works, sometimes doesnot.

And yes, this phenomenon and the phenomenon of splitting of parties are both a good thing and a bad thing.

Its bad, firstly, because it does imply as you say a inherent instability and difficulty in moving forward boldly in any direction. Its a standing joke that nursemaiding coalition partners has been the uneviable fate of Vajpayee all his time as PM, particularly the women Mamta Banerjee from W Bengal and earlier Jayalalitha from Tamil Nadu and Mayavathi from UP, and Vajpayee a hapless bachelor :-).

Coalitions and many parties also provide a a lot of scope for `horse-trading`, or buying of legislators. There are plenty of stories from 70s and 80s where after a election or any legislative crisis, the aspiring CM/party leader would take all his presently supporting legislators to a remote place and `hold` them there incommunicado, so that his opponents couldnot get at them until the day of the confidence vote!! (I think I remember BB doing something similar on one occasion).

Often, the party leader when speaking to the governor/President about forming government would submit a list with signatures of supporting legislators which some legislators would later disown or call forgeries! Sometimes, just one Member of Legislative Assembly(MLA) at the state level could defy his party whip, defect to the opposing side and cause the state government to fall(and receive suitable reward, obviously).

So finally in the 80s the Indian Parliament passed an Anti-defection law. This decrees that if less than 1/3 of the elected representatives(MPs or MLAs) defy their party whip, they get automatically disqualified(no longer MPs/MLAs, reelection has to be held). So there has to be consent among at least 1/3 of the elected representatives before a party can split.

I have seen the effects of this at Panchayat level, too. The local Panchayat head in my home town(who happened to be a woman) decided to change parties. The Panchayat members(who number around 10 or so) were evenly divided between two rival parties, she represented the majority of one. When she `defected`, she got disqualified. They had to hold elections for her seat again. She stood again, this time from the opposing party, won again and now another party controls the Panchayat! Now why did she really defect? Well, if the voters approved, then the REAL reason is less important. She will be held accountable for her STATED reason, at least(I don`t recall what that was).

The Anti-defection law affects large parties and small parties in different ways. Large parties can now be less paranoid about a few legislators being bought off. Its now usually a major issue that triggers a split like Sonia Gandhi`s foreign origins. Small parties with just a few elected members can make merry, or acquire an importance out of proportion to the size of their constituencies! Well, thats one good way to protect `minority` rights, everyone gets to play kingmaker someday. I remember a small party called RDP from Maharashtra, which represents a community of Dalit Buddhists, had just a few elected members, but became really important when the numbers(in national Government, I think) were really close.

RDP could now decide which side to support according to what they were offered by either side. Now if RDP MPs/MLAs didnot ultimately pass on some benefits to its core constituents, another RDP(A-Z) could possibly come along and wipe it out in the next election. (I think in this case there is already a rival party)

So its not all bad. Its not all good,either. Narasimha Rao, a former Congress Prime Minister who managed to give India 5 years of stable government after Rajiv Gandhi`s death, survived one crucial midterm confidence vote, allegedly by bribing with cash the MPs of a small tribal party from Bihar, JMM. The case has been making its way through the courts, guilty verdicts have already been pronounced by intermediate courts, I think. Being found out harmed both Rao`s career and the reputation of the JMM leaders.

An allied phenomena is the high number of independents standing for elections(and often winning) in India at all levels. An independent if elected can be in `chandi`, since he can do exactly as he pleases and profit from it all(until the next election)! Well, this is both bad and good, because everyone is free to stand for election, no need pander to the party powerful. The Election Commission is recommending `weeding` out independents, but many think thats not a good idea.

The two-party system in the US, I personally feel is unsuited to the Indian scenario where is so much diversity of culture and issues.

In the US, one good thing is that there is no party whip in either House of Representatives, or the Senate. In both, members vote based on their own personal compulsions or convictions(in the main). So every legislative decision is made based on the issue or some compromise on another issue, and not necessarily based on loyality to a party whip. However, to get elected, one has to please the party faithfuls or the entrenched core constituency which has remained unchanging many many decades. In that sense, the entrenched power centres of each party have an inordinate importance. Elected incumbents are difficult to displace(why would the Republican Party look for another candidate in a seat it already holds?).

In addition, there could be `gerry-mandering` or shaping constituencies to favor either one party or the other(with some collusion between both parties as on campaign finance issues). So, minority viewpoint representation is tough. In the important elections, like the Presidential, there has to be pretty close adherence to core principles. For example if Al Gore has misgivings about some types of abortion, (or against gun control) he cannot afford to express them openly and still be Democratic nominee, since it will offend Democratic core principles. Since there is so much government at so many levels in the US, maybe it doesnot work out so badly, but I think a two-party straitjacket is not presently suitable to India.

In India, issue based voting happens when there are many parties or very important issues or an alert public. Also, its easier for an aspiring politican or leader to pick something from one `ideology` and something from another or espouse some issue relevant at one time, and another at another time and be a freer agent, whether as a party or as an independent. This is often opportunistic, but sometimes works out well( BJP, Ram Temple or BJP and liberalization maybe fair examples). Core constituencies exist in India, too, but they cannot be taken for granted like Congress party had been taking lower caste voters and Muslim voters for granted so many years.

Also, interparty acrimony cannot be as entrenched as in the US. Who knows, tomorrow you may be out in the cold and looking for a home for yourself and your loyal supporters, or maybe you won plenty of seats, but not enough and may need your former opponent to cooperate and form government.

So there are pluses and minuses of multiparty democracy. In India, it is expected that it will finally boil down to 2 or 3 stable `fronts` or alliances at the national level. This has happened in Kerala, which has been 10-20 years ahead of the national trend toward coalitions. These fronts are the United Democratic Front lead by Congress, Left Democratic Front lead by CPM. Individual coalition partners always `haath-pair maaro` among each other according to the current circumstances, and mutual power adjustments keep taking place, either driven by personalities or issues. Incidently Kerala politicans of opposing sides are always thrown into a major tizzy when in N Delhi, they have to cooperate at national level with their state-level blood-enemies :-) against the BJP -led alliance.

I cannot say what might be the best for Pakistan. I suspect multiparty is the way to go ultimately for reason of diversity and resisting dominance by one region or one group like has happened with the rise of regional parties in India.

Sadhana

PS: I have been looking up Panchayati Raj on the Web, couldnot find any comprehensive nationwide summary(though a number of states have related sites), plenty of books on the subject are advertised on amazon.com, though. I am still looking.