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Sectarian issue revisted in Gilgit
Sibtian Shah
Gilgit has a history of sectarian
violence but the attempt on the life of prominent Shia leader Agha Ziauddin
sparked off violent riots in Gilgit since early this year with the fire
spreading to other parts of NAs. Fresh violence was ignited after a
passenger bus was ambushed near Chilas killing five passengers and injuring
six others. Law-enforcement agencies have detained 43 activists of different
religious parties for their alleged involvement in the last month sectarian
violence. Today, different interpretations of the same faith (Ismailis
consider themselves as distinct from other Shias) have bifurcated the
society into hard-line groups. Although people of differing shades of faiths
normally cohabit side by side in peace and harmony, yet petty issues are
ignited by vested interests to underscore Pakistan’s sincerest efforts in
eradicating extremism from the region. Nevertheless, it is beyond
comprehension that any person who kills any other person on sectarian
ground, Is he a Muslim? A Muslim cannot commit such kind of act. It is a
conspiracy to ignite sectarian violence in the Northern Areas. Sectarian
terrorism has to be eliminated as it is weakening Pakistan. Pakistan would
have to play vital role to face the modern-day challenges and addressing the
matters related to Muslim Ummah. The incidents at Bari Imam and Karachi are
not terror related events. They are sectarian motivated terrorism in which
both the sects of Shiite and Sunni are pitched against each other.
Therefore, Pakistan is dealing sternly to curb this menace and is striving
to overcome extremism.
Gilgit may be geographically far from the country’s power centres but its
deteriorating law and order situation calls for serious thought on the part
of policy think tanks in Islamabad. The Government officials are holding
meetings with public representatives and members of the Northern Areas
Legislative Council (NALC) to work out a durable plan to curb extremism and
control the law and order situation. In order to put a stop to the sectarian
clashes, government has warned their employees in the Northern Areas of
stern action if they are found dabbling in sectarian politics. It is high
time the honorable President and the Prime Minister appoint a high-powered
committee (as was constituted in the case of Balochistan issue) to find a
durable political solution to the conflict. A clean up operation to clean
the political mess should go hand in hand with the cleaning up the city from
weapons and firearms.
The Northern Areas of Pakistan (NA) are home to a diverse set of cultures
and people, where narrow sectarian and parochial conflicts has flourished in
the absence of basic educational facilities marked by lack of any
significant developmental activity. Gilgit has a history of sectarian
violence but the attempt on the life of prominent Shia leader Agha Ziauddin
sparked off violent riots in Gilgit since early this year with the fire
spreading to other parts of NAs. Today, the entire population is divided on
the lines of belief and faith (sect). Different interpretations of the same
faith (Ismailis consider themselves as distinct from other Shias) have
bifurcated the society into hard-line groups. Although people of differing
shades of faiths normally cohabit side by side in peace and harmony, yet
petty issues are ignited by Indian RAW operative only to underscore
Pakistan’s sincerest efforts in eradicating terrorism from the region.
Since 1948, the Government of India has had a lucidly thought over and
openly articulated strategy to gain control of NA. The Government of India
is in constant interaction with the leaders of the nationalist parties of
the NA and extend to them political, moral and diplomatic support in their
cause. Indian intelligence operatives are always on the lookout to
capitalize on even minor internal strife. The issue of sectarian violence
occurred in 1988, was blown out of proportion to score a point against
Pakistan. India also alleged that Pakistan has been sending thousands of
Sunni tribesmen to disrupt the demographic edge of Shia populace of the
area. The nationalist’ groups in this region, “Northern Areas Thinkers’
Forum”, which advocates the formation of independent statehood for Baltistan,
Gilgit, and Dardistan, has the backing of Indian RAW element present in
Afghanistan. Like wise the issue of minority Shia Muslim residents demanding
a separate course in Islamic Studies in state-run schools and colleges, was
bitterly criticized by the nationalist leaders.
External involvement, a weak judicial system, proliferation of small arms,
and mushrooming of sectarian madrassas are cited as the major reasons for
the current sectarian situation in Pakistan. The vested interest has flooded
in a lot of weapons in the region. The weapons smugglers making the most of
the current fiasco, smuggling in huge caches of lethal weapons. One wonders
how these merchants of death manage to have this free access to the region,
given the tight security cordon that should be in place.
Gilgit has a history of sectarian violence but any person who kills any
other person on sectarian ground is not a Muslim. A Muslim cannot commit
such kind of act. It is a conspiracy to ignite sectarian violence in the
Northern Areas. Sectarian terrorism has to be eliminated as it is weakening
Pakistan. Pakistan would have to play vital role to face the modern time
challenges and addressing the matters related to Muslim Ummah. The incidents
like Bari Imam and Karachi are not terror related events. They are sectarian
motivated terrorism in which both the sects of Shiite and Sunni are pitched
against each other. Therefore, Pakistan has to curb this menace. On war
against terrorism, Pakistan has taken effective steps to address this issue.
Now the government is striving to overcome extremism.
It is significant that, for decades, the country’s Shia and Sunni sects
lived side by side without any major problems. The people of the Northern
Areas have lived peacefully, inter-married and even joined hands to improve
their lot on a self-help basis. Actually, the roots of sectarian killing lie
not in religious differences, but in political and social developments
within Pakistan and the region. They are intimately tied up with the
country’s wider problem of militancy and extremism. In order to counter
extremism and to bring this region at par with the rest of the country, the
Government has announced a comprehensive package for the uplift of people
and development of the Northern Areas. Under the package, the strength of
Northern Areas Legislative Council (NALC) has been increased from the
present twenty-nine to thirty-two members. Another important part of the
package is delegation of administrative and financial powers from the
Federal Capital, Islamabad to the Northern Areas administration. An
Appellate Court for the Northern Areas is also being established,
implementing the decision of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. These measures
would meet the long-standing demand of the people of the area. A special
additional development fund of five hundred million rupees for the Northern
Areas, has been announced by the Government, for the current financial year.
This amount will be utilized for schemes covering water supply, women
vocational centers, small roads, transmission and distribution of
electricity, establishment of TV rebroadcast station at seven locations. The
package announced by the President has been widely welcomed by the people of
Northern Areas. They thanked the President for his keen interest in the
uplift of Northern Areas and hoped that these measures would go a long way
not only in rooting out extremism but also in the socio-economic uplift of
the people of Northern Areas.
Unsafe Indian N-reactors
Faruk Ashrafeen
Pakistan expressed its strong resentment against Indian Prime Minister’s
remarks on the security of Pakistan’s nuclear programme and strategic assets
last month. Dr Manmohan Singh accused Pakistan of being an irresponsible
nuclear state, and feared there was danger of extremists seizing power and
taking control of nuclear assets, as “reckless proliferation” has been
witnessed. He said he was worried about the security of Pakistan’s nuclear
assets should President Pervez Musharraf be replaced. “I have to be
realistic enough to recognize the role that terrorist elements have played
in the last few years in the history of Pakistan. Taliban was the creation
of Pakistan extremists, the Wahabi Islam which has flourished, thousands and
thousands of schools, the madrassas were set up to preach this jehad based
on hatred of other religions”, he said.
Reacting sharply Pakistan issued a warning to the neighborhood, saying no
one has the right to create doubts about Pakistan’s nuclear programme. The
Foreign Office spokesman also issued a strong rejoinder to India, saying
“Pakistan’s nuclear programme and strategic assets are secure, under strict
and multi-layered custodial controls.” An elaborate command and control
mechanism, institutionalized in the shape of the National Command Authority
has been in place since 2000. “We have studied the models of command and
control systems elsewhere and out multi-layered security structures are at
par with the most stringent international systems and practices.”
Experts see change in the tone of Indian government. World nuclear analysts
however pinpoint Pakistan’s nuclear safety measures are more reliable than
those of India’s. There have been a number of reports suggest nuclear leaks
in India, while there is no single incident regarding Pakistan. Facts
indicate that Pakistan’s civilian nuclear safety standards are much superior
to that of India, according to a special report published in national
English daily. To bolster the prevailing security measures further, says the
report, Pakistan Atomic Energy Commisison (IAEA) has instituted a
Directorate of Safety (DOS) recently focused at conducting safety audits of
all PAEC establishments. The directorate which was created during the
previous fiscal year will coordinate interactions between Pakistan Nuclear
Regulatory Authority (PNRA) and the relevant projects and establishments of
PAEC. During the last year DOS personnel performed preliminary inspection
audit of KANUPP Radiation Protection and Waste Management Systems. In
addition, CENUM, INMOL Lahore, AEMC, KIRAN Karachi and PINUM Faisalabad
projects were also visited to evaluate medical emergencies response
standards.
According to the report out of 15 Indian nuclear reactors remain
unsafeguarded, most prominent among them remains the nuclear reactor at
Tarapur. The said nuclear power plant was built by the US Company, General
Electric, after an agreement reached in 1962 and completed 25 years of safe
operational life. For last 15 years it continues to operate teetering at the
brink of a nuclear catastrophe. And since India is not a signatory of the
NPT, which grants immunity only to 5 countries from the IAEA inspections,
this site and several others despite being serious international concerns
have not been inspected thus far.
Another horrible example of India’s nuclear instability is its Kalpakkam
complex which being located at the coast of the Indian ocean was virtually
swept away by the Asian Tsunami the last and 61 lives perished only in the
complex’s residential area. The complex, which is sixteen to twenty feet
above the sea level, was flooded by the waves 30 to 40 feet high. While the
said fortunately one of the reactors which was operational at the time was
shut down by the emergency power outage and hence averted a nuclear disaster
of great magnitude.
Incidentally Indian nuclear weapons programme in itself was a breach of its
promise to continue its civilian nuclear programme as the fuel used was
procured from Canada for carrying out peaceful and civilian activities. A
clear act of nuclear proliferation allegation of which India so vociferously
tries to frame Pakistan with. In 1874 the then Indian prime minister Indira
Gandhi acting on the recommendation of the then head of Indian Atomic Energy
Commission Raja Ramana order to conduct detonation of a nuclear device which
India so mockingly dubbed as smiling Buddha. The same act was repeated in
1998, which unnecessarily dragged Pakistan out of its nuclear ambiguity due
to post-Pokhran Indian bullying yet another example of psychological nuclear
proliferation.
Meanwhile PAECs DOS has also developed a Site Coordination Centre at
CHASNUPP to continuously monitor the plant events. The team of IAEA
International Regulatory Review Team (IRRT) comprising Richard Wassman of
USNRC and Lyn Bevington was also granted access to CHASNUPP from 4-5
December 2003 to observe the Inspection and Emergency Planning and
Preparedness activities of PNRA. IAEA Operational Safety Review Team (OSART)
also visited CHASNUPP1 at the invitation of Pakistan from January 12, 2004
to January 30, 2004 to conduct operational safety review of Chashma Nuclear
Power Plant.
DOSs other responsibilities and achievements include the development and
maintenance of the database of Heavy Electrical and Mechanical Equipment (HEME),
advisory services to PAEA establishments, observations of the refueling
outage and developing PAEC’s responses to the international legal documents
and concepts like the IAEA draft documents. DOS’s performance thus far, has
been lauded by numerous international groups.
Similarly Pakistan has developed an impressive Command, Control, Computers
and Information (C4I) system for its weapons programme under a very
professional and well-regulated Nuclear Command Authority. Experts believe
that if even after taking such tough precautions and steps the world
considers and actual nuclear proliferators like India with such an unstable
civilian nuclear programme more responsible than India then this Indian
success should be attributed not to its quality control but to the
propaganda establishment.
During the recent visit of Indian PM Manmohan Singh to Washington the US
President announced the willingness of the US to cooperate with India in its
civilian nuclear programme subject to the Congress approval. If carried out
this cooperation would imply a direct breach of the NPT and the agreements
of the Nuclear Supplier Groups which prohibit any of the supplier country
from extending nuclear commerce to the countries which are not ready to open
their civilian sites to the inspection of IAEA.
Furthermore the provision of nuclear fuel to India would be tantamount to
the creation of more fissile material so ripe to the access of international
terror network in view of India’s crumbling nuclear edifice. Meanwhile this
one exception may later become a rule in itself. India also has not been
able to make any exceptional cases of nuclear of corruption public. While
Indian crows about it as a proof of its nuclear safety standards experts
believe that given the shabby condition the Indian programme is in and the
rampant corruption in the country this is nothing but papering over the
cracks already visible through the propaganda. Some of the experts meanwhile
also believe that the discrepancy of the west’s attitude towards India and
Pakistan might be due to the latter’s being a Muslim country against which
an unspoken international apartheid exists. Pakistan however has vowed to
continue to struggle block any developments which can make the region more
ripe to proliferation. |
