Kashmir: Time for a Radical Approach?

re: nakhok

Some of the next set of 5 questions, only 2 questions are pertinent to Musharraf. The rest are again aimed at the system and should be discussed in Parliament.

The referendum and Wasim Sajjad`s writeoff are indeed poor decisions that have hurt Musharraf`s credibility. These are the only 2 valid criticisms that you have raised against Army rulers so far.

Most of the military lands and perks were taken during democratic governments. During Nawaz and Benazir`s governments, military indulged in more corruption than under the Musharraf government. This is quite a widely held belief in Pakistan.

Shaheen Sehbai`s criticism of Musharraf regime is quite valid. But this regime is still relatively more honest than the Benazir and Nawaz regimes. And despite the maltreatment of journalists, the Press enjoys more freedom than under Nawaz and Benazir rule.

# 197

HisExcellency wrote:
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``Pakistani chowkies don`t expect Indian chowkies to approve of our generals. After all, their job is to serve us, not the Indians.``
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If HisExcellency bothers to goes thru the columns of mainstream columnists like Irfan Husain, Ayaz Amir, Cowasjee, M.B.Naqvi, M.P.Bhandara etc., he`ll realize it is the Pakistanis themselves that are taking a dim view of the Generals.

Countries have armies. Pakistan is the exception. In Pakistan, it is the army that has a country!!

# 197

HisExcellency wrote:
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``This is the Army`s method of compensating its top soldiers for their services. You have to compare a soldier`s salary with that of a policeman, businessman or professional to understand this.``
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Pakistanis know land-grabbing when they see one. The chowk carried an article, ``Some Burning Questions`` by Nighat Yasmeen to put it in perspective. Needless to say, the questions were for the military, in general, and for General Pervez Musharraf, in particular. Here are some of the questions:

[The 1st set has 6 questions and are at the institutional level while the 2nd set has 5 questions and are at the personal level.]
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(i) How do you explain that a professor holding a Doctorate -- who started teaching at a public university 35 years back, before you joined the army -- is not entitled to a single residential plot whereas the property you have amassed-- squarely due to your military service -- is worth hundreds of millions rupees?

(ii) How come a brigadier in the army has more perks and privileges than the Chief Justice of Pakistan (his tamely churning out of order-made indemnifying verdicts notwithstanding).

(iii) Why a senior surgeon serving in a government hospital doesn`t get a fraction of monetary rewards as compared to what a GOC grabs without doing anything productive at all?

(iv) What does a police officer get from the state, despite risking his life, putting up with abuses and curses of the public on daily basis (and quite often flouting the law at the behest of the junta), in relation to good-for-nothing military officers?

(v) Where in the world, a FA or at the most BA passed supervisor/foreman in a security firm is multi millionaire, by default, on his retirement, entirely because of his job?

(vi) Which government service, irrespective of tenure, academic qualifications and/or assignments, in the entire region of South Asia, results in comparable amount of financial gains than that of military career in Pakistan? What extraordinary, the military of Pakistan accomplishes to deserve the amazing remunerations?
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(i) My son doesn`t get as little as a few tablets of Paracetamol after having queued for hours and endured endless humiliation at public hospitals. For your son there are helicopter ambulances, luxurious VVIP wards at well-equipped military hospitals [strictly out of bound for common man] -- free of cost. Why this callous discrimination against innocent Pakistani civilian children - in their own homeland? General sahib, my son demands an answer.

(ii) Barn for cattle at military farms are generally better furnished than the government school of my daughter. And, she is lucky that she has at least a school, be in rubbles, to go to -- more than 50% of her civilian age-fellows don`t have even this symbolic consolation either. In contrast, your daughter`s birthrights include O-Level at sumptuous Army Public Schools on highly subsidized rates. Sir, my girl holds you and your fellow officers responsible for this malevolent disparity. What should I tell her?

(iii) 90% civilian children don`t have access to decent playgrounds, but for your kids the state provides thoroughbred stallions and instructors for riding. A pointer: 140 million ``ordinary`` Pakistanis have fewer swimming pools available to them than the sports centres exclusively on the disposal of officers of the armed forces. [I can substantiate this claim with exact figures]

(iv) My old frail father toils in scorching heat to make the ends meet, to pay the ever-swelling utility bills in time, you write off millions of rupees, due from your defaulting chums, as it was your dad`s property. One fresh glaring example: Wasim Sajjad. Why?

(v) Billions of rupees from the national exchequer were shamelessly frittered away on that lousy referendum, just for appeasing your unconstitutional ambitions. An exercise, ``the heaviest ever mandate``, no one gives a damn to. Doesn`t the hard-earned money of my husband and taxpayers like him deserve a bit more respect and a better use? Before I forget, how free and fair the referendum was if the Election Commission has to straight away [and illicitly] destroy all the records on your orders? Would you kindly elaborate this unmatched urgency?
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If HisExcellency goes over the questions he might never again write:``To redress the downgrading of a military officer`s social status, Pakistan Army awards lands``

And here are a couple of write-ups to give HisExcellency a feel for the Vox Populi on the land-grabbing General Musharraf:

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DAWN, Karachi, Pakistan
12 November 1999 Friday 03 Shaban 1420

How many plots does a man require?
By Ayaz Amir

..... one of the things wrong with the Pakistani elite: it is over-privileged and over-pampered.

The army chief has six plots, an under-construction house in Karachi and two squares agricultural land in Bahawalpur. This is besides a house owned by his parents in Islamabad and a house in the name of his daughter in Defence, Karachi. The naval chief has three sizeable plots, a flat in his wife`s name in Islamabad and the obligatory two squares of land in Bahawalpur. This is what he must have acquired while in service. What he inherited were four acres (repeat four acres) of barani land in Rawalpindi and six acres in Multan. The air chief has six plots and the inevitable two squares in Bahawalpur. At this rate there will not be any land left in Bahawalpur.
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DAWN, Karachi, Pakistan
08 September 2000 Friday 09 Jamadi-us-Saani 1421

The worth of a general
M. SALEEM, Lahore

THIS is with in reference to Humayun Gauhar`s and Maj (R) Ishtiaq`s arguments regarding some details of the assets owned by most of the generals. Generals of the Zia and post-Zia era would normally possess a choice residential and a choice commercial plot both in the defence housing societies in Karachi and Lahore. Various other schemes would also benefit a general by at least two more plots.

Before a general`s retirement, he is also allotted approximately a two-kanal plot of land for building a house in the most expensive area of any cantonment (like Sarwar Road in Lahore Cantt).

In addition to the urban property, a general is also allotted 50 acres of agricultural land. This practice is not new, it started soon after independence and became more and more widespread with the passage of time. These are the visible assets. Far bigger are the invisible assets depending upon one being at the right place and at the right time. The biggest source of corruption are the internal and external defence procurement deals. Whether the armed forces would ever be able to eliminate corruption in civil departments can be judged from the level of corruption prevailing in the MES and in defence purchases. What is the worth of a general? All the assets put together, a general is worth close to Rs100 million.

Just compare it with the assets of a much more qualified university professor with a doctorate who would own not more than Rs5 million at the time of retirement. If anyone is in doubt, he should remember the seven plots of land declared by the CE himself. One also wonders what sort of taxes do they pay as hardly anyone declares his rental income
or pays the wealth tax. If they are somehow made to reveal their income tax/wealth tax returns for the last five years, unbelievable facts would come to light.
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http://www.satribune.com/archives/Aug17_23_02/P1_landgrabbing.htm

...Army generals from Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf to his interior minister, General Moinuddin Haider, to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, General Aziz, have allegedly ``grabbed land`` exceeding 400 acres at the throwaway rate of Pakistani Rs 380 ($6.50) per acre.

A special report published in the South Asia Tribune, a Web newspaper edited by the well-known Pakistani journalist Shaheed Sehbai, carries a list of Pakistan Army generals who have allegedly grabbed land and joined the tribe of landowners in the process.

The report states that the list, comprising more than 100 defence officers, covers just one district of Bhawalpur in Punjab (Pakistan) with the Web newspaper maintaining that similar lists ``exist all over Punjab and Sindh.`` It adds that the land was given to ``the serving and retired generals on the pretext that these Army generals will ‘prove a front line against the invading army.’``

The report alleges that although the cost price of the land was nominal, several army officers sold the land for millions of rupees. ``Others,`` the report adds, ``have become feudal lords in their own right by employing landless peasants to till the land and produce key crops.`` The list, according to the Web newspaper, was prepared by the Nationalist Qaumi Movement on the basis of the land revenue records of Bhawalpur district.

The South Asia Tribune list of top generals is published alongside.

http://www.satribune.com/archives/Aug17_23_02/P1_landgrabbing.htm

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The Kashmir dispute is the oldest unresolved international conflict in the world today. Pakistan considers Kashmir as its core political dispute with India. So does the international community, except India. While Indian security forces are practicing an unprecedented reign of terror in Occupied Kashmir being widely reported world-wide; the Indian government, currently led by Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, is neither willing to negotiate the issue multilaterally—through international mediation—nor is it ready to sort it out with Pakistan through bilateral negotiations. India and Pakistan have already fought two wars over Kashmir. The exchange of fire between their forces across the Line of Control, which separates Azad Kashmir from Occupied Kashmir, is a routine affair. Now that both India and Pakistan have acquired nuclear weapons potential, the possibility of a third war between them over Kashmir, which may involve the use of nuclear weapons, cannot be ruled out. The likely nuclear disaster in South Asia, whose cause may be Kashmir, can be averted with an intervention by the international community. Such an intervention is urgently required to put an end to Indian atrocities in Occupied Kashmir and prepare the ground for the implementation of UN resolutions, which call for the holding of a plebiscite to determine the wishes of the Kashmiri people.

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re: rsridhar

[You guys have bartered your future to USA. Now wait and watch. ]

Pakistan made the right choice at the right time especially from an economic perspective. But more importantly, this will ensure a permanent involvement of the U.S. in J&K. Call it mediation, facilitation or political go-between or whatever... India no longer enjoys the privelege of calling Kashmir an internal affair. Each clash between Jihadis and Indian security forces is brought to the notice of Colin Powell and Jack Straw. Pakistan`s objectives have already been achieved. Kashmir is no longer a forgotten place on the world map.

Welcome to an internationalized world! Some interesting times are in store for both India, Pakistan and Kashmir. Wait and watch.

re:#139 by bhugidar_singh
What are you? A Khalistani from Canada? That is all we need in chowk now to add to variety.
Sridhar

re:#106 by bhugidar_singh
There is a democratic govt in J and K. You don`t like it. Tough luck. Pakis do not have a democracy. Not yet. They are trying hard. When they have a people`s democracy, they can talk about democratic aspirations of Kashmiris. Such talks right now sound hypocritic.
Sridhar

The same Sheikh Abdullah who had spent time in British jails and then acceded to India in 1949, changed his mind about India in 1952. He was deposed as Prime Minister of Kashmir, replaced with another lackey (Bakhshi Ghulam Muhammad) and put in jail.

Lackeys stay in power as long as they lick your boots. When they stick their necks out, they end up licking the walls of a prison cell.

So much for India`s democratic credentials!

re: #108 by nomani
Let us say Indian politicians agree to talk to Mushy. What is that going to achieve? If they want, they can keep talking without any results. There are ways of doing this. Indians are adept at this, after 50 years of talking. Right now, Mushy is not being granted even the most basic thing about diplomacy: talk. Indians are right now talking about the talk. Talk of diplomacy!
Sridhar

re:#150 by nomani
All these things do not matter anymore. Once Iraq war is over, it is time for Uncle Sam to turn to the mess that is Pakistan. The action that US takes then will determine the future of J and K. All discussion as to what India should do or what Pak should do is futile. You guys have bartered your future to USA. Now wait and watch.
Sridhar

re: nakhok

Unlike Gandhi and Nehru, Jinnah was one of the top 3 lawyers of British India. A truly self-made man who believed in constitutionalism, he did not approve of nonviolent noncooperation or things like that. Gandhi`s way was not the only one.

Jinnah`s popularity among Muslims is evident from the fact that in 1945 elections Muslim League won 95% of Muslim seats. Congress-backed candidates were wiped out. At the end of the day, the Muslims of India unanimously rejected Gandhi`s philosophy and voted for Jinnah`s leadership.

If Muslims considered Gandhi a hero for going to jail, why didn`t they endorse his candidates? Because Gandhi was not going to jail for the interests of Muslims. Gandhi`s vocabulary and symbols were hindu. His message was drenched in hindu mythology. All this was alien to Muslims who saw Jinnah as their lead4er.

In 1947, the Muslim elite and Aligarh-educted middle class migrated to Pakistan. They were the ones who had political acumen and could distinguish between the true face of Congress and its propaganda. The uneducated, poor Muslims were swayed by Congress and stayed back in India. Incidentally, these Muslims did not vote in the 1945 elections at all.

But as far as election results are concerned, Jinnah was the sole spokesman of Muslim India.

re: nakhok

[Military officers (including General Pervez Musharraf) have been into land-grabbing on a grand scale for a long time. ]

For your information, giving land to Army officers in remote barren areas is not land grabbing. To redress the downgrading of a military officer`s social status, Pakistan Army awards lands in Bahwalpur and Rahim Yar Khan to Brigadiers and higher ranking officers.

This is the Army`s method of compensating its top soldiers for their services. You have to compare a soldier`s salary with that of a policeman, businessman or professional to understand this. If after 20-25 years of military service, an officer becomes a 2-star general, he deserves some renumeration. The tradition of awarding land in barren areas to Brigadier and higher ranking officers is more than 100 years old.

A soldier is paid Rs 5,000 (or $100 per month). He stays in a small army quarter with his family. There is limited petrol quota for his jeep. In the 1950s and 60s, marrying off your daughter to an army officer was considered fortunate. Now, the proposal from an army officer is looked down upon.

It was actually started by the British to cultivate the loyalty of British Indian Army. That`s a long discussion in itself so I won`t go into it here.

To cut a long story short, General Musharraf is not a land-grabber. He is courageous soldier who is being rewarded for his military service with land.

Its one thing to attack individual officers and quite another to criticize an established tradition. Pakistani chowkies don`t expect Indian chowkies to approve of our generals. After all, their job is to serve us, not the Indians.

I suggest that the Indian army also follow the same practice. The poor Indian officers will have some land to fall back after retirement. This will reduce the number of spies in Indian Army.

re: pmishra2 #192

Political wheeling and dealing was not allowed under UN SC resolution 654. Only a mutual reduction of forces and withdrawal of tribal militias followed by a plebiscite was allowed.

The UN did not stipulate any timeframe for withdrawal of militias. Given the hostility between India and Pakistan, 10 months is too short a period to expect a Pakistani withdrawal. Let`s not forget that the UN SC resolution was passed in January 1949.

But India started working on Kashmir`s inclusion into Indian Union as early as March 1949. Pakistanis are not stupid that they would honour their part of the contract, while the other side is playing ``Russian roulette`` with the lives of Kashmiri people.

A plebiscite is a plebiscite. Admit it, India was as much of a pussycat to face the Kashmiri public 57 years ago, as it is today. Indian chowkies should read nomani`s reference to Nehru`s correspondence (#186) to get an idea of how scared Panditji was of Kashmiri opinion.

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