Int’l help needed to fight terrorism
Mohammad A. Suhail

President Pervez Musharraf has reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to fight terrorism and extremism to the best of its abilities. At the same time he called upon the international community to help and assist Pakistan to combat this menace that have caused problems for the country after the defeat of Soviet forces in Afghanistan. He was addressing the Oxford Union Debating Society of the Oxford University.

Dilating on the history of terrorism in the region, he said “Mujahideen, who were brought, trained and financed by the West to fight Soviet troops, joined together to form Al Qaeda after the withdrawal of the invading troops.” What is more, “the Taliban from religious schools were also recruited, financed and armed by the United States and the West, and supported by Pakistan against the Soviet forces.”

It is a well known fact that after the Soviet defeat the West hurriedly packed its baggage and left Afghanistan. Pakistan was in a helpless situation. It had to deal with 30,000 Mujahideen and over four million Afghan refugees. In this background it is becomes quite evident that terrorism is not a “Pakistani phenomenon but an import to the country. Therefore the entire international community is to blame for this global menace that has threatened international peace and security.

He flayed attempts by those who criticize Pakistan as an extremist country. While vast majority of people of Pakistan are moderate and tolerant, there are handful of people that are involved in terrorist and militant activities. Pakistan has adopted a holistic strategy to fight terrorism and extremism, as it firmly believes that military action alone is not the answer and will not wipe out terrorism. The fight against terrorism cannot meet with success unless the problem of extremism is adequately addressed. For this reason it is giving enough attention to the other equally important ‘aspects of addressing the underlying causes’ of this phenomenon.” While going after the terrorists on its own soil and extending full cooperation in international efforts to combat terror, Pakistan is doing something which is clearly in its own interest.

Thus “Pakistan is fighting terrorism in its own national interest. It also happens to be in the interest of the global community and so, therefore, we are collaborating with the United States and the West. Pakistan is perhaps the only country which has fully understood the environment that had undergone a change with focus shifting from al-Qaeda to Taliban and introduction of new phenomenon of Talibanisation” which can be described a state of mind.

However unlike other countries, Pakistan is pursuing a comprehensive approach in dealing with the terrorist threat understanding the actual environments prevailing in the country. Although it has deployed 75000 troops on its western borders to check the activities of al-Qaeda and Taliban activists as well as other extremists in the country, it recognizes the fact that “military action is not an end in itself, as it does not and cannot provide an enduring solution to extremism.”

While military force may be applied against terrorists as a short term measure, but long term measures are necessary against extremism, which is clearly a ‘thought process’ and cannot be handled through military means only. “Other instruments must also be used to tackle the issue of terrorism and extremism in its entirety. “Military (intervention) only buys you time for using other instruments to get to the core of the problems.” It is therefore important to adopt a long-term approach of addressing political disputes, removing grievances and addressing the socio-economic issues.

Clearly, war on terrorism has to be a continuing process. As a short term measure military operations are required to frustrate terrorists’ designs, but in the long-term some kind of mechanism should be devised paying due attention to the causes that provide the “terrorists the peg to exploit the sentiments of ordinary people regarding genuine grievances.” International community must realize that global war on terrorism cannot be won without “focusing on the long-festering political disputes, perceived or real humiliation, sense of alienation and deprivation, under-development, poverty and other socio-economic issues facing the Muslim world.”

It is in this context that Pakistan has been calling upon the international community especially the United States and the West to help and assist Pakistan in fighting this menace. It is also urging them to help facilitate “just solutions to longstanding disputes like Palestine and Kashmir to eliminate the root causes that have been a major source of generating extremism in Muslim societies. At the same time, “It is important to help Afghanistan and Iraq move towards stability, security and peace, as the conditions prevailing in the two war-torn countries ‘were causing deep anxiety among Muslims everywhere in the world.”

It is a matter of record that Pakistan’s armed forces have arrested over 700 al-Qaeda and Taliban fugitives. No other country in the world has done what Pakistan has done. In this regard President Musharraf pointed out: "We’ve taken over their sanctuaries. Where they were in the hundreds, now they are only in the dozens around in the mountains and we are chasing them…Which country in the world has arrested 700 al-Qaeda people, all the important ones?”

But, it needs to be emphasized that Pakistan has done it for its own sake, as disorder and havoc caused by acts of terror is not in country’s best interests. “Pakistan would seek to promote economic growth and respect for the rule of law while undercutting militant and extremists. Such a renaissance would enable Pakistanis to understand the true peace-loving nature of Islam. It is quite evident that peace is a precondition in order for the country to stay on the path of economic progress.



Have the terrorists won?
Adnan Gill

Almost immediately, the primitive instinct of self-preservation kicked in. Fearing reprisals, I was franticly calling and sending instant messages to family and friends advising them to stay indoors and avoid crowds as most of them happened to be Muslims and/or dark skinned.

An even more disturbing fact is that instead of feeling grief for the untimely death of the New York Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle, I was relieved to have learnt the pilot’s identity.

Initial reports of the crash had all the hallmarks of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The crash rattled America’s nerves so bad that within 10 minutes of the crash, NORAD scrambled fighter jets over several major American cities. US Coast Guard positioned several patrol boats and a Coast Guard cuter in the East River. While, literally, hundreds of first responders harmoniously took to their rehearsed duties. The drama and anxieties about a possible terrorist strike were mounting by each minute. As soon as the drama climaxed, to everyone’s relief, it fizzled away with news about the identity of the pilot.

Apparently, I wasn’t the only one elated to have learnt about the pilot’s identity; even the whole American media seemed to have sighed a breath of relief. In what appears to be a maddening rush, joining the media chorus, even the New York mayor Michael Bloomberg in a news conference declared the plane crash to be an accident, as he appropriately patted the first responders on the back for a job well-done.

As if we wanted to be in denial, we desperately glued to our TV sets in a hope that any moment our leaders would declare the crash to be an accident. And the leaders didn’t disappoint us. Our hopes were so strong that we didn’t spare even a moment to contemplate other possibilities, like if the accident could have been an attempted suicide or a possible murder? Barely six hours later, a day that had started with revisiting the traumatic 9/11 memory lanes, it concluded with a comforting ease, that we survived another day without experiencing another terrorist attack.

Is this the state-of-mind of a nation that is winning the war on terror? Or have the terrorists already won the war of nerves? We have become a nation of paranoia, where dark skinned citizens are forced to disembark airplanes for merely passing a cell phone to each other, and the possibility of terrorism is immediately and unanimously ruled out upon learning the identity of the Caucasian pilot of a crashed plane.

President Bush, close to 3,000 brave American soldiers, and thousands upon thousands of Iraqi civilians have been sacrificed to the Gods of your so-called war on terror, but that hasn’t even given us a rudimentary sense of security. How about we look for political solutions to snuff out the ambers of terrorism?



World’s 47th Corrupt Country
Amjed Jaaved

In its annual report on quality of governance, the World Bank has ranked India forty-seventh in the list of 200 countries surveyed for the level of corruption, quality of governance and enforcement of rule of law. The Bank’s director of global governance, Daniel Kaufmann has predicted that India’s fast growth rate of eight per cent will falter unless the rampant corruption is curbed.
Kaufman pointed out that concomitant growth of corruption pari passu with fast economic growth was a lame excuse. He pointed out that several countries (smaller than India) like Slovenia, Botswana, Estonia, Tanzania, Ghana, Mozambique and Nigeria had made substantially arrested corruption and demonstrated improved governance. India could emulate them in improving her score on level of governance. sThe report observes that rule of law is a sine qua non of democracies. But, India has a poor record of enforcing the rule of law.
There are several stages of economic growth. Attaining eight per cent growth is no guarantee for self-sustained high growth in future years. To avoid slow-down in existing level of economic growth, India should launch an all-out war against corruption in various sectors of her economy.
Kaufmann elaborated those widespread practices of graft eventually slow growth in the long term (above 10 years). Corruption leads to poor enforcement of the rule of law, weakens regulatory systems, adds to political instability and makes the government less effective. The cumulative effect of these factors worsening of the quality of governance in a country.
It is significant to note that, despite its tall claims, India has not been able to reduce corruption during the past year. Earlier, Transparency International, in its annual report (London, October 18, 2005) had ranked India 88th in the list of 159 countries surveyed for the level of corruption.
The organisation had observed that there was a correlation between poverty and corruption. The nations perceived as the most corrupt ranked among the world's poorest, which showed how corruption and poverty fed off each other.
The Transparency International conducts its surveys in cooperation with Indian NGOs like ORG-Marg Research. The survey reflects how various classes of Indian people view government’s performance in various sectors. The survey tries to quantify the over-all amount of bribes paid to various government departments. Indian police is generally perceived to be the most corrupt. However, corruption is accepted as a ubiquitous feature of other law-enforcing or nation-building departments.
The critics in Indian media are rueful at India's current rating. They point out that the survey draws inferences from a limited number of households contacted through questionnaires. They assert that India truly deserves the number one position on the corruption scale.
According to analysts, the mechanisms of public accountability in India have collapsed. Corruption has become a serious socio-political malady as politicians, bureaucracy and armed forces act in tandem to receive kickbacks. The anti-corruption cases, filed in courts, drag on for years without any results. To quote a few cases: (a) There was no conviction in Bofors-gun case (Rs 64 crore), because of lethargic investigation (the case was filed on January 22, 1990 and charge sheet served on October 22, 1999). Among the accused were Rajiv Gandhi, S K Bhatnagar, W N Chaddha, Octavio, and Ardbo. The key players in the scam died before the court's decision. (b) No recoveries could be made in the HDW submarine case (Rs 32.5 crore).The CBI later recommended closure of this case. (c) No progress on the Taj-heritage corridor case, Purulia-arms-drop case and stamp-paper case.
Indian Express dated November 11, 2003 had reported that the stamp-paper co-accused Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police (ASI) drew salary of Rs 9,000, but his assets valued over Rs 100 crore. He built six plush hotels during his association of six years with the main accused Abdul Karim Telgi. The ASI was arrested on June 13 and charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. Investigations by the Special Investigating Team (SIT) probing the stamp scam had found that the ASI Kamath accepted Rs 72 lakh from the scam kingpin, Abdul Karim Telgi, on behalf of IGP Sridhar Vagal.
The problem is that the modus operandi of corruption ensures that it is invisible and unaccounted for. There are widespread complaints that the politicians exercise underhand influence on bureaucracy to mint money.
World Governance Survey has rightly observed that in India ‘Right from birth to death, nothing happens without bribery and corruption.People can neither live nor die with dignity’