Indian Media and Indo-Pak Relations
A.Siddique

Given its all embracing reach and capability to shape perceptions and opinions, the modern day media plays a major role in influencing the conduct of foreign policy by any nation. In the context of Indo-Pak politics, where the two countries, with passage of time, have evolved archaic positions, media’s role to inject new perspective for breaking the mould and to create a positive ambience for positive engagement hardly needs any elaboration. It is however disconcerting to observe the servile manner in which the Indian media has joined in Indian Government’s propaganda war against Pakistan. Handling of two incidents in the month of July by the Indian media is instructive in understanding the phenomenon.
The Mumbai blasts, occurring on 11 July rocked the city by targeting seven trains in which over 200 people lost their lives. No group claimed responsibility for the attack but Indian media started quoting un-named ‘official sources’ to hold Pakistan responsible for the wanton act of terrorism without offering any evidence. By 13 July the veiled suggestions of Pakistan’s involvement in the carnage had made way for a high pitched shrieking propaganda campaign. Two themes were singularly manifest in this tirade; “Pakistan has a hand in Mumbai blasts” and “peace process may be affected”. A wide array of Indian media blindly went the whole hog in pursuing these laid down thrust lines, obviously set by the MFA, without questioning the rationale or asking for the basis of formulating such damaging accusations. The stage having been set the Indian Prime Minister addressed a press conference on 14 Jul and alleged that the blasts had been carried out by “by terrorists with support from across the border”; alleging that “we are also certain that these terror modules are instigated, inspired and supported by elements across the border without which they cannot act with such devastating effects”. Indian Prime Minister avoided direct name calling but India’s media was not constrained by such diplomatic nuances and implicitly indulged in Pakistan bashing.
What poignantly stood out during this media onslaught was that none of the Indian papers or TV Channels took trouble to question the authorities’ version of the occurrence. No investigative reporter highlighted the gaping holes in the Indian case extolling the long sustained theme of “cross-border-terrorism”; worn threadbare through excessive exploitation. No one challenged the total absence of evidence which could have pointed to Pakistan’s culpability in the despicable episode. None among the Indian media chose to question the assessment and expertise of the Indian experts who changed their stance thrice regarding the nature of explosives used in the blast; a vital input in any blast related investigations. Initially the media quoting intelligence sources assessed it to be RDX linked to Pakistan. Later the version got changed to gelatin sticks and ultimately it was confirmed to be ammonium nitrate. Ammonium nitrate is commercially available in the form of Urea fertilizer and pointed unambiguously at the indigenous facet of India’s homegrown terrorism.
Indian media also ignored to adequately underscore the indigenous causes of terrorism particularly the communal divide which is an outcome of the rising Hindutva forces and is emerging as the major factor precipitating acts of terrorism in India. The Indian media also failed to bring out the dismal treatment and discrimination meted out to the Muslims of India where they are sliding on all social progress indicators. There was nary a discussion regarding the feelings of hopelessness which is forcing educated Muslim youth to resort to terrorism to get even with the system and any suggestions for measures to bring this much neglected lot into the mainstream of the Indian politics.
The second event speaking of blind adherence of Indian media to the official brief occurred in the last week of July when it was reported that a Pakistani serving major was among three ‘intruders’ killed while attempting to infiltrate into IHK in the Gurez Sector. The officer was identified as Major Haider Turkey belonging to the Ninth Battalion of the Baluch Regiment of the Pakistan army. “The killing of the Pakistan Army officer who was a resident of Gujranwala in Pakistan’s Punjab has clearly established the role of Pakistan Army in infiltration,” said an Indian Army Spokesman. The Indian media gobbled the story hook, line and sinker, without taking the trouble of verifying the facts and went about Pakistan bashing; highlighting Pakistan Army’s involvement in fomenting trouble in the IHK. There were no efforts by the media to ascertain details as to how the officer was identified and whether any verification of the serious charge had taken place. Within no time the entire gamut of Indian electronic channels were airing the story with print media lapping it up with relish. However it was soon realized that this was too blatant a lie to be sustained. As Pakistan Army refuted the Indian charge it became apparent that in an effort to win the propaganda war the Indian spin doctors had gone beyond the limits of credibility. As the unconfirmed report was cleared by the senior officers at the 15 Corps the media had no hesitation to flash it within seconds; no questions asked nor the facts verified. Even as the charge has been retracted there is no word on who was behind making such an outlandish claim.
The Indo-Pak relations are witnessing an unprecedented thaw in which channels of communications are opening up and emphasis is on enhancing people to people contact to generate good will for tackling the core issue. In this environment the media has a role cut out for itself to create a positive ambience in which the composite dialogue process can be taken forward. It however is disturbing to observe that instead of following an independent and professional attitude, in India-Pakistan affairs, the Indian media tone is always set by the ‘official line’. An official claim is reported as news, instead of attributing it as a claim and without subjecting it to any verification and cross checking. Given this propensity a bad situation is made worse when the media does not challenge the official line in a professional manner. This tendency is particularly manifest in the electronic channels which, on official cue, can launch a propaganda tirade within seconds. In this regard the Indian capability to rein in the dissenting voices is strong because every channel beaming programs in India has to uplink from within the country.
In domains of print and electronic, Indian media has emerged as a powerful resource which can play a very positive role in bridging the gap between hype and reality – a factor which has become a major hurdle in advancing the Indo-Pak relations. It can lead the way by creating an atmosphere of hope and goodwill in which the two countries can bury the hatchet of the past and work towards solving complex problems which have trapped the two nations in a vicious state of confrontation. This can come about only when, instead of becoming a mouthpiece for thoughtless propaganda machine, it becomes more discriminating, critical and challenging in its assessment and projection of the ‘official line’.

Pakistan’s Effort to Cleanse Foreign Terrorism from its Soil
Khalid Khokhar

IT is beyond doubt that timely unearthing of the plot to blow up 10 civilian planes flying between the UK and the US averted a horrible human tragedy. The credit goes to Pakistan which is playing a very important role in the global anti-terrorism war. Pakistan has undoubtedly done a marvelous job by nabbing key person of the network identified as British national Rashid Rauf who gave vital information that helped Britain to disrupt the plot. It has proven Pakistan’s reliability and sincerity in weeding out the menace of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations. At the same time, it renounces the venomous tirade unleashed by India against Pakistan, accusing her of abetting cross-border terrorism. Pakistan rejected Indian parrot-like allegations of cross border terrorism and asked for any evidence. If India has some firm and concrete evidence of Pakistan’s involvement in the terrorist acts, it should come out openly and then expect the world community to stand by it. In any court of Justice, it is impossible to proceed in the absence of evidence, especially to cooperate with any country that is making allegations and has a history of not cooperating. It was generally anticipated that the nabbing of foreign terrorists inside Pakistan will put an end to India’s ferocious propaganda, but on the contrary India accused Pakistan as a “fountain-head of global terrorism”. It is beyond comprehension to note that if a person with dual nationality commits some activity, even then blame comes on Pakistan. The allegation of involvement of a charity funneling Earthquake relief funds had helped finance the alleged airline terror plan, was unfounded and misconstrued. Basically, it was aimed to malign Pakistan and to cast a shadow on the efforts made by Pakistan to uncover and foil this terrorist plot. Although there was no extradition treaty between Pakistan and the United Kingdom, a six-member team of British counter-terrorism officials has arrived Pakistan and is seeking custody of Rashid Rauf for further investigation as part of “Operation Overt”.
Pakistan is fighting the global war on terrorism not only in support of U.S. goals but also for Pakistan’s national interest and is determined to clean-up its tribal areas before the trouble spills over into the settled areas. In fact, it was the fear of “spilling over effect” which made Pakistan enter into close cooperation with the United States in the global war against terrorism immediately after September 11, 2001. Pakistan has made positive and substantive contribution in the fight against terrorism. Pakistan Army has conducted more than 86 military operations against terrorists in Waziristan, and has killed 400-500 militants including 200 foreigners. Pakistan has handed over as many as 800 al Qaeda operatives into US custody including some high value targets in the al Qaeda leadership such as Khaled Sheikh Mohammad, Abu Zubaydah, Abu Faraj al-Libbi and most recently, Mustafa Setmariam Nasar (Abu Musab al-Suri) - a Syrian with dual Spanish nationality. Despite security concerns on our eastern border, Pakistan has deployed more than 80,000 troops along the Pak-Afghan border to tighten the net against Al-Qaeda. Due to targeted military operations, all known terrorist bases in Waziristan have been busted, and they are on the run. There have been sporadic arrests of al-Qaeda militants who presumably have fled from South Waziristan because of these military operations. More than two dozen suspects have been arrested in the wake of the latest UK airport terror plan. In a separate incident, 29 suspected Taliban fighters have been arrested in a raid on a hospital in southwestern Pakistan, where they were getting treatment after being brought from Afghanistan.
In order to address the scourge of terrorism, Pakistan has replaced its strategy of military operation with a “political process” in Waziristan by forming 45-member grand tribal jirga. As per latest agreement, the Grand Jirga has committed to ensure that armed militants would not attack security forces and would desist from harbouring foreign elements to carry out activities across the border. The Government has released 54 militants and removed two checkpoints as a goodwill gesture to restore peace in the region while insurgents freed four paramilitary soldiers. The ongoing political process under NWFP Governor Lt-Gen (Rtd) Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai is paying dividends and the situation in the Waziristan area has shown marked improvement. The government is directing all-out effort to ensure that no foreign terrorist should use this territory for any terrorist activity. Pakistanis are religious moderates and undoubtedly favours progression, enlightenment and moderation. They support President Musharraf's stated thesis of "Enlightened Moderation”.


Sardars and the Tide of Time
Momin Iftikhar

The death of Nawab Akbar Bugti, tragic as it may appear, has served to focus spotlight upon the institution of Baloch Sardars, which in its medieval mold has refused to transform in line with the dictates of the times. Such diehard attitude is not in subservience to any honor bound traditions or justified by a commitment of service and duty to their tribesmen but is driven by an urge to perpetuate Sardars’ hereditary hold on unbridled power, wealth and authority. Times have changed but the old guard primarily composed of the troika; Mengal, Marri and Bugti Sardars, continue to remain in a mental frame of an era gone by. Their warped mindset is still attuned to a medieval way of life where they hold power of life and death over their followers. Lacking an understanding to conform to realities, by design or by default, has obviously placed them on collision course with the tide of changing times.
Sardari system in Baluchistan was abolished in early sixties but successive Governments failed to translate the same on ground due to ruthless resistance by Baloch Sardars. It is a manifestation of contempt for the state authority that Sardars maintain personal militias equipped with modern weapons blatantly and brazenly and challenge the writ of the state as a matter of right. It is heart rending as to how they can trod upon, most inhumanely, on the fundamental rights of their followers, claiming authority drawn from traditions and custom of the Baloch. It may sound unbelievable but while dispensing justice they can still order people to walk on fire to prove innocence, grant hand of women as compensation in feuds and levy fines amounting to lacs on perceived misdemeanor at personal discretion. They, manifestly, are a tyrannical relic of an oppressive past, which needs to accommodate change or become extinct in the process.
The British treated Baluchistan markedly different than Punjab or Sind in establishing their systems of revenue collection and administrative writ. Their interest here was not primarily economic but rather of a military and geographical nature. They were interested in defining the western frontiers of their empire, station garrisons to defend these frontiers and to find safe passage through the area in case of military expeditions to Afghanistan. By 1854 the Khan of Kalat had accepted the British suzerainty for an annual salary of Rs. 50000. In 1876 the Khan and all his sardars signed a treaty accepting the British as the final arbitrator of their internal disputes, paving the way for the implementation of the Sandeman System of administration. Sandeman system changed the status of the Khan and the Baloch sardars to that of the paid agents of the British Crown.
In return for this cessation of sovereignty, the sardars were provided with privy purses covering all their expenses, family needs, personal staff, body guards, tours, hospitality, maintenance of their residences, marriages and all family ceremonies etc. Under the new system Sardars were made responsible for organizing the law and order apparatus within their designated areas of responsibility. They were now empowered to organize Levies Corps by recruiting tribal personnel and receiving their pays from the British, leaving them with the discretion of paying whatever salary they deemed necessary or none at all to their tribal members, if they so wished. As the sardars were the extension of the British authority, Sandeman System bestowed unlimited powers concerning their ability to impose whatever revenue they deemed appropriate in their tribal area. Their privileges included the right to extract and sell contraband liquor, to impose wage-less labor on whoever they chose and to keep the women who were involved in disputes regarding marriage, divorce, abduction, seduction and rape. Assisted by Levies, paid for by the British, Sardars perfected a system of total submission of their tribal members, causing grave economic exploitation and political degeneration of the Baloch society.
Since the British had no economic interest tied in Balochistan, to consolidate the authority of Sardars, they promoted the most repressive form of the Jagirdari system. The Baloch were left with no propriety rights and simply constituted landless labor chafing under the unwritten code of tribal customs introduced and perpetuated by the Sardars. The land was collectively given to a tribe as a whole in which the Sardar established an intricate hierarchy of revenue collection and his own law enforcement apparatus constituting the tumandars, the muqaddams, the naibs and the maliks. These intermediaries freed the Sardar from the worries of day to day administration and concentrate on his leisure seeking inclinations outside the Spartan environments of harsh Baloch landscape. In economic terms, the system led to stagnation of the agriculture growth since the surpluses produced by the system were not recycled to improve the infrastructure, methods nor the environment. The result is that Sardar, detached from the cycle of production has become a mere parasite whose splurging of the profits is inhibiting the flow of benefits to the peasants who till the soil with their sweat and blood.
It is apparent that Sardars’ supreme interest is to consolidate their stranglehold over the agricultural land and the mining resources of Balochistan without sharing with the Baloch people. To this end they wouldn’t refrain from using the Baloch Nationalism card to create unrest; even to the extent of promoting insurgency.
To further their class interests the sardars want to freeze their respective communities into a time warp in the name of defending ‘true Balochi ethos’. According to them Baloch don’t need the schools because reading is in contradiction to the sacred tribal custom of illiteracy; besides schools are being constructed so that the Punjabi Army might use them for accommodation. They don’t need hospitals and dispensaries, since it would expose their womenfolk to unscrupulous practices of seeing a doctor and would usher in the foreign influence. Besides if their forefathers had lived without such encumbrances so could they! The roads are an affront to the nomadic traditions of the Baloch and would facilitate the outsiders’ ingress into their safe havens. That, the national institution of Pakistan army is a Punjabi instrument to exploit the Baloch abundant natural resources at the bayonet point. Besides the establishment of cantonments is to consolidate the hold of Punjabis over the natural resources of the Baloch and consolidate their repressive hold over them. In short the Balochs have to ravel in their ignorance, poverty, pestilence and disease just to sustain the ethnocentric Sardari system
Baloch nationalism, brandished by the Sardars, has its political, economic and human facets and needs to conform to the ground realities and the limitations that flow out of it. It is a pity that the sardars who are the stumbling block to progress of the Region are attempting to hijack the direction of the legitimate Baloch aspirations and using it for securing their class interests. The Sardari System is a legacy of the Sandeman system of British subjugation of Baluchistan. It is the root of underdevelopment of this Province with its tentacles sunk deep into the body-politic. It needs to be rooted out with attendant political care and through firm handling. The institution of Sardars can’t revel into a false sense of guaranteed perpetuity; it has to change or face extinction. As the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti suggests, the forces of change have already begun their inevitable march and Sardars have to adopt to circumstances or succumb to the relentless tide of time.