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ACHA PEACE BULLETIN
http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/ACHAPeaceBulletin
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A publication of Association for Communal
Harmony in Asia (ACHA)
www.asiapeace.org & www.indiapakistanpeace.org
Editor:
Pritam K. Rohila, PhD asiapeace@comcast.net
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Volume XI, No. 11, November 15, 2007, Next Issue, December 15, 2007
Pakistan Turmoil
______________________________________________________________________________
CONTENTS
EDITORIAL
*Turmoil in Pakistan, Pritam K. Rohila, Ph.D.
AWARDS
*The Anupama
Jayaraman Memorial Award, 2008 for young women journalists in India
BOOKS
*South Asian Cooperation and the Role of the Punjabs, Tridivesh Singh Maini
*Contested Lands: Israel-Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka, S. Bose
EVENTS
*December 1-2, Islamabad, Pakistan: INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS
*December 9, Union, NJ, USA: BANGLADESH 1971
LETTERS
TO EDITOR
*Pakistan : Breaking the cycle, Mike Ghouse
PEACE
& HARMONY EDUCATION & TRAINING
*December 23-25, Rajsamand,
Rajasthan, India: CHALLENGES OF VIOLENCE,
HUNGER AND POVERTY
*December 26-28, Rajsamand,
Rajasthan, India: NONVIOLENCE TRAINING CAMP
PEACE & HARMONY EDUCATION RESOURCES
*Every
Child, Every
FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS FROM PAKISTAN
*Dr Parvez Hassan, an eminent lawyer, who was arrested on Nov 5.
*Farooq Tariq is General Secretary of Labour
Party Pakistan, not arrested yet
SRI LANKA UPDATE
*International
attention is essential to address human suffering, Jehan
Perera
______________________________________________________________________________
EDITORIAL
*Turmoil in Pakistan, Pritam
K. Rohila, Ph.D. pritamrohila@yahoo.com
Pakistan today stands on the brink of anarchy.
Government security forces seem to be helpless against the resurgent Taliban
and extremist elements in Waziristan and parts of the Northwest Frontier.
Suicide
attacks have spread even to Rawalpindi and Islamabad. Their number has increased from about four a
year in the preceding five years to 44 so far this year. Militant violence has
claimed about 2,500 lives in the current year.
The
grip of the army on political, civil and economic life continues to become
tighter, while the living conditions of people, especially in rural areas goes
on spiraling downward.
After
eight years of three-steps-back for each
progressive-looking-pronouncement,
President Musharraf has staged a coup against himself. He has declared
Emergency, suspended the Constitution, fired Supreme Court justices,
blackmailed some justices into submitting to his agenda, gagged the media, and
arrested a large number of opponents.
These
political maneuvers to cling to power have pushed the country further toward
the edge. And to add insult to
injury, on November 10, President Musharraf amended the Pakistan Army Act 1952
to empower the army to arrest, investigate and try civilians in military courts.
The
situation has attracted widespread condemnation. In spite of the heavy
crackdown there have been protests throughout Pakistan. Marches and demonstrations have been organized in many
foreign countries as well.
Foreign
governments as well as many international organizations including the United
Nations have expressed their displeasure. The Commonwealth has given a 10-day
deadline to Pakistan to restore its constitution and lift other
emergency measures or face suspension from the 53-nation grouping.
International
investors withdrew as much as 20 percent of their equity investments from
Karachi Stock Exchange in just first four trading days after the declaration of
Emergency. Also the Moody’s and the Standard and Poor’s Ratings Services have
downgraded Pakistan’s credit worthiness.
Even
Cassidy & Associates, a lobbying firm which had won a $1.2 million annual
contract from the Pakistan government only last month, on November 7, declared,
“Recent developments in Pakistan have made it difficult to effectively fulfill
our mission on behalf of the Embassy of Pakistan. These dramatic changes have
forced us to most respectfully withdraw our representation of the embassy
effective today.”
It
is remarkable that all this has happened when peace reigns on the country’s
eastern borders and authorities on the other side are reluctant even to
criticize their Pakistani counterparts.
Let
us hope and pray that good sense will prevail upon President Musharraf and he
abrogates the Emergency, releases all those arrested in its wake, restores the
Supreme Court, reinstates the judges and other officials who refused to submit
to the new dispensation, end curbs on the media, and returns the country to
civilian rule. Until then, those who
aspire for peace and progress in South Asia
will have to work harder to help safeguard the future of Pakistan.
AWARDS
*The Anupama Jayaraman Memorial Award,
2008
The Jayaraman family and the Network of
Women in Media, India (NWMI) jointly announce the Anupama Jayaraman Memorial Award for young women journalists in
India, for the year 2008.
Set up in the memory of Anupama Jayaraman, the Award is meant to encourage and honour young women journalists who, like her, believe in
meaningful journalism and have the courage and determination to write on issues
relating to human rights and social justice in English, Kannada and Marathi.
The Award will include a citation and a check for Rs.
15,000.
Nominations must be submitted by November 25, 2007,
to Openspace, 125/1, 15th Cross,
5th Main, 2nd Block, R.T.
Nagar, Bangalore -560032. More
info from award.aj@gmail.com or 080-23534797
BOOKS
*South
Asian Cooperation and the Role of the Punjabs, Tridivesh Singh Maini.
Review
by Priyashree Andley,
Institute for Peace and Conflict Studies
...Tridivesh Singh Maini's South
Asian Cooperation and the Role of The Punjabs,
suggests means to strengthen cooperation between India and Pakistan in particular, and in the South Asian region in
general. The author emphasizes the importance of border provinces for resolving
disputes between countries because they share a common cultural heritage and
can reap mutual economic benefits...
The
author suggests a functional and developmental model for integration in South Asia that lays the stress on greater political
cooperation and equitable distribution of economic gains. These models attempt
to concretize economic and political relations before resolving the conflict.
The African regional groupings follow these models, but they too have their
weaknesses...
The
author also highlights the role of non-governmental consultative committees to
encourage cooperation in agriculture, removing trade barriers, improving
infrastructure at the Wagah post, and allowing free movement of commercial and
private vehicles...
*Contested Lands: Israel-Palestine, Kashmir, Bosnia, Cyprus, and Sri Lanka, Sumantra Bose
Review by Barry Lenser
http://www.kashmirwatch.com/showheadlines.php?subaction=showfull&id=1193305936&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&var0news=value0news
Sumantra Bose laudably deploys Contested Lands as a platform for
reconciliation, not indictment. His even-handed treatment of five irredentist
hotspots, from Bosnia to Kashmir, seems the work of a noble diplomat in academic clothing. Bose
is a Professor of International and Comparative Politics at the London School
of Economics, and his credentials show. The comprehensible histories of each
conflict and the analyses of their global ramifications bear a scholar’s
prints. But his rejection of narrow blame gaming is altogether exceptional,
especially in light of the volatile subject matter and the obviously political
nature of his post...
In (his) peace-seeking
proposals, Bose most thoroughly unveils his passions and intellectual acumen.
He concedes the entrenched difficulty of such clashes (“intractable but not
insoluble” is his characterization) and, accordingly, calls for solutions
rooted in equitable pragmatism. These measures typically entail territorial
autonomy for ethno-national peoples, “consociational”
(i.e. structural power-sharing and allocation of certain resources) elements of
government, and incentives for cross-border interplay (economic, cultural,
etc.). The endgames are sensible of their own fragility and wholly sensitive to
the myriad demands from vested parties. Here Bose is at his peak, propounding
fluently on theories of government and displaying a stalwart grasp of the
ground realities in each case...
EVENTS
*December 1-2, Islamabad, Pakistan: INDIA-PAKISTAN RELATIONS: PROSPECTS
AND CHALLENGES aims to analyze the significant issue pertaining to peace
building in South Asia, with particular reference to the on-going peace dialogue
between India and Pakistan, at Preston
University, Islamabad. Registration fee is Rs. 1,000.
More info from Dr. Sohail Mahmood, Preston University, 85, Street 3, H-8/1, Islamabad
- 44000, Pakistan, Phone: +92 51 111-707-808 (office); Fax: 092- 051-4430648, Cell:
+92 345 511 79 21, E-Mail: mahmood.sohail@gmail.com
*December 9, Union, NJ, USA: BANGLADESH 1971: INTOLERANCE, VIOLENCE AND
GENOCIDE, a program about the all but
forgotten Massacre of Bengali people is sponsored by Kean
University Master of Arts in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, at 4:00 p.m. in the
University Center Little Theatre. It will feature distinguished scholars from
various universities, eyewitness and survivors, and family member of the
victims of the genocide and will also have books, articles and videos on
display in the pre-function lobby during the happy hour from 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. The program is open to all. More info from http://cie.kean.edu/~bdgenostudy & bdgenostudy@gmail.com
LETTERS TO EDITOR
*Pakistan : Breaking the cycle, Mike Ghouse, November 11, 2007
There
is a paradigm shift in making. The US Foreign policy thinking is toying with
the idea of supporting the Pakistan people as opposed to the Pakistan
Government, i.e., from Musharraf Policy to Pakistan Policy. The only way to put
bad policies out of circulation is to advance pragmatic sustainable ideas.
The hallmark of democracy is to give value to opinions, and the sign of
civility is to debate, as to how an idea is good in the long haul, at the end
of the game, all will own the idea, as the idea would have developed with input
from participating members. The best policy is "our policy" and not
"my policy". Let's work on our language to be inclusive and goal oriented.
An acknowledgement is being made about our failed policies in Iran, Afghanistan and else where. A new policy may be taking
shape that is going to be people centered, and Insha
Allah, it should bring some positive results to our interests and the interests
of Pakistan.
Any policy equation that has one party taking advantage of the other will
boomerang. That is the moment you are down, the one that you took advantage of
before is ready to jump on you. Any such advantage is deleterious to lasting
peace or sustaining the relationship and thus, the cycle continues. Only the
one with power can break that cycle with a full sense of justice, justice for
one and all, other wise it will fail.
President Musharraf, like many other generals, monarchs and dictators made an
assumption of eternity of one's life. It is embarrassing to hear President
Bush, Senator Biden and others repeat "He is
going to take the uniform down" - it is like stripping him in public.
President Musharraf is clean, he has a good heart and a soul, he means good for
Pakistan and he has not robbed her wealth. However, he
needs to be in touch with the public, he has shielded himself with Chamchas (Yes men) who adore him and tell him "sir,
every thing is going just the way you wanted", don't worry, we will show
them, we have the power" kind of talk. It is these people that will cause
a loss of a potentially a good leader to Pakistan. President Musharraf should listen to the
heroes of Pakistan, the ones who are risking their lives on the
street to restore the nation to her people. They lawyers and the journalists,
they will speak the truth, although they may be motivated by politics of other
kind.
President Musharraf can restore his grace and dignity by going to the Pakistani
Public and assuring them that he is not for life and that he has made mistakes,
which he will restore the court system and he will let the media report with
full freedom, and the emergency will be lifted. His intentions are good and he
is not afraid of any inquiry. He has got to lay out the plan what he is going
to do.
If he can do that, I am certain, the public trust in him will increase and he
will have a say in the future of Pakistan. The Pakistani public is moderate and will
honor him for being truthful. He has got to do that, or else, he will be made
to do it. If he fails to do that, he will be asked to strip and he will have no
choice but to oblige, one item at a time and then he may have to seek asylum at
Crawford Ranch.
Mike Ghouse is a speaker,
thinker, writer and a moderator. He is president of the www.FoundationforPluralism.com and is a frequent guest on talk
radio and local television network discussing interfaith, political and civic
issues. He is the founding president of the www.WorldMuslimCongress.com
with a simple theme: "Good for Muslims and good for the world." His
personal Website is www.MikeGhouse.net and his
articles can be found on the Websites mentioned above and in his Blogs: http://MikeGhouseforAmerica.Blogspot.com
and http://MikeGhouse.Sulekha.com Mike
is a Dallasite(Texas, USA) for
nearly three decades and Carrollton is his
home town. He can be reached at MikeGhouse@gmail.com
PEACE & HARMONY EDUCATION & TRAINING
*December 23-25, Rajsamand, Rajasthan, India:
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUES ON CHALLENGES OF VIOLENCE, HUNGER AND POVERTY: EVOLVING
SUSTAINABLE COUNTER MEASURES is being organized under the auspices of Jain Acharya Mahapragya and Yuvacharya Mahashraman, by Anuvrat Global Organization (ANUVIBHA www.anuvibha.in anuvibha@sify.com), at the Children’s Peace Palace. The program will
consist of plenary sessions and workshops. Registration fee including board an
dodging is $100. More info from V. Sarkar at vsarkar1@earthlink.net
*December 26-28, Rajsamand, Rajasthan, India:
1ST INTERNATIONAL
NONVIOLENCE TRAINING CAMP, being organized
under the auspices of Jain Acharya Mahapragya and Yuvacharya Mahashraman, by Anuvrat Global
Organization (ANUVIBHA www.anuvibha.in anuvibha@sify.com), at the Children’s Peace Palace. egistration
fee including board an dodging is $100.
More info from V. Sarkar at vsarkar1@earthlink.net
PEACE &
HARMONY EDUCATION RESOURCES
*Every Child, Every Day is a brochure
jointly created by the Peace Education Action Committee of Psychologists for
Social Responsibility, and the Peace and Education Working Group of APA
Division 48 (The Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence), to
inform school board members and administrators about programs for violence
prevention, conflict resolution education, and social and emotional
learning. Complimentary single copies of
the brochure may be ordered from the Psychologists for Social Responsibility office
(phone: 202-543-5347; e-mail: psysr@psysr.org).
There is a small charge for additional copies.
FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS FROM PAKISTAN
*Dr
Parvez Hassan (asiapeace@yahoogroups.com post, November 12, 2007)
Dr Parvez Hassan is an eminent lawyer. He was arrested on Nov 5.
They herded lawyers in the police bus – about 35 of us – knew nothing about
where we were being taken after our arrest at the Lahore High Court on 5
November 2007. Speculation mounted in discussions in the bus but it was soon
overtaken by the rumour/news received on some mobile
telephones with the lawyers that General Musharaf had
been removed and placed under house arrest. The hatred for Musharaf
seemed so intense that this appeared the best news of the day although with the
reported take over by General Kiani, it was sadly a
case of "from the fire into the frying pan".
The first thing when we arrived at the Sabzazar
Police Station (further out of Lahore near Allama Iqbal Town) was that we were unlocked out of the police bus and searched. All
mobile phones were confiscated. I do not use, have or carry a mobile phone and
by this time the expectation, subtly fed to us, was that we would be taken from
Sabzazar to jails in Bahawalpur, Sahiwal or Mianwali. I am a heart patient: I had a heart attack in
2004 and doctors at the Punjab Institute of Cardiology in Lahore then operated me to place three stents in my heart blood vessels. I have been regimented
since to taking several medicines, morning and evening. Some of these are
important for the thinning of the blood to prevent strokes. When I saw the
prospect of being held incommunicado without information to my family, I wanted
desperately to reach out for my medicines.
Courtesy a colleague on the bus, I hurriedly used his mobile before getting out
of the bus to be searched in the police station to inform my Secretary in the
office about the Sabzazar Police Station minutes
before the mobile was confiscated by the Police Station. Otherwise, no one
could have found out where we were being held. The only redeeming thing for the
whole day turned out to be that the Police Station allowed the medicines to be
delivered to me in the cell when my son, Omar, rushed to bring these to Sabzazar.
The cell in Sabzazar was an unclean, filthy room with
a toilet and tap in the middle with a 4 foot wall around it. The 35 of us were
all jam-packed, once again, into this room which was actually meant for fewer
people. Having been a political activist with the Tehrik-i-Istiqlal
and, later, with the Tehrik-e-Insaf as its first
Secretary General, I well know and have been exposed to the conditions of our
police stations and jails. In criticizing the conditions for the detainees, one
is not asking for 5 star comfort but what I am suggesting is that 60 years
after our independence, the conditions in our police stations and jails have
not matched the worldwide developments towards the dignity of human beings
increasingly recognized through international Magna Cartas
such as the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, and
the International Covenants on Human Rights, 1966 and the human rights
provisions in our own national Constitution. It is a measure of our national
shame that even enemy prisoners of war (POWs) receive better treatment under
the Geneva Conventions than do our detainees in our police stations and jails.
We slept on the hard dirty floor in our court dresses without access to any
cover of blankets in the cool and mosquito-infested night. The space was so
over-crowded that when I got up from a brief nap, I found a young lawyer using
my legs as a pillow.
But the mood was optimistic and the spirits high. We soon went into telling
jokes and reciting poetry and found a Master of Ceremonies who directed the
order of our presentations. Much of the humour –
mostly obscene – was in respect of General Pervez Musharaf and if there were any (spy) bugs in the room, many
of the 35 lawyers could easily be hauled up under anti-obscenity statutes!
The most eloquent and, for me, the most moving presentation was from a young
lawyer who proudly declared that 5 November 2007 was the most important day of
his life because he had decided, on this date, that he would never appear
before a PCO Judge. He was equally proud to announce that, acting on this
resolve, he had only that morning returned a (huge) fee of Rs.
4,000 to a client whose case he would no longer handle. This was the most
humbling experience for me. That morning, I too had acted on the same resolve
to return the professional fee of over Rs. one (1) crore paid to me by clients whose cases I would no longer
argue because of the PCO Judges. But I felt that my gesture after 37 years of a
busy professional life did not match the sacrifice of this young struggling
lawyer. I wish all other lawyers see similar light on the start of their
careers.
My bonding with the 35 colleagues at Sabzazar came to
an end early on 6 November 2007 when because of the dedicated and worried
efforts of my architect son, Omar, and nephew, Jawad,
I was released from Sabzazar Police Station on
grounds of age (66) and a medical condition duly certified by the country's
leading cardiologist, Dr. Shaharyar Sheikh. I should
also acknowledge the humane response to my medical problems by the efficient
SHO of the Sabzazar Police Station, Qamar Abbas, and his deputy, Atif.
*Not
arrested yet but facing dangerous situation: The day seventh in under ground
life, Farooq Tariq (punjab_ngos_coordination_council@yahoogroups.com
post, Nov
12, 2007)
Farooq Tariq is General Secretary of Labour Party Pakistan www.laborpakistan.org & www.jeddojuhd.com, and can be reached by email at labourpartypk@yahoo.com
The day seventh passed without my arrest despite several attempt by the police. During the last three days, we were able to hold a meeting of the leading members of Labour Party Pakistan, gave interviews to private television channels and to a private team working for CNN. We were able to fax a daily news to most of the news papers in Pakistan.
Comrade Rabia Shahzadi advocate from LPP was on front pages of many papers after she threw stones on police who was tear gassing the Lahore High Court premises on Monday 5th November. A show of retaliation among the young advocates inspired many.
Unfortunately, Labour Party Pakistan chairperson Nisar Shah Advocate was arrested in Islamabad on 7th November along some party activists after he led a demonstration of lawyers despite all the police threats. Nisar Shah is an advocate of High Court. He had practices for 10 years in Karachi....
During the last three days of my underground life from 7TH November to 10th today till this morning , I was able to stay three nights at friend house with utmost security measures. I wan not on line from the house and did not made a single telephone contact from any number and sim from the house. I was walking to a marker around a kilometer to make telephone contacts and to open the mail for few minutes.
I would on my black berry and download all the emails at this place within minutes and then off the air.
Immediately after the first encounter on the police on 6th November, When I was just saved, I changed my name on the telephone line. I would call only very close comrades and friends from different sims within these days. This has helped to secure me for the time being.
On 8th November, while I was walking back to my place while I had covered my head with cap and to some extent my face with growing beard, suddenly one police van stopped next to me and it was red traffic signal. The police officer looked at my face with a full glimpse for few seconds. I thought he is trying to recognize my face that he might have seen some where. I was afraid that he will now come out. I had planned to run in case he comes out. In the mean time my face was just blank and I did not give him any impression of being afraid or saying him hello that I know him. I tread him with a full confidence of not knowing him at all. The drama was over in 20 seconds and I walked normally as I nothing has happened. As he moved away, I changed the rout immediately and started running in the next street to move away to another street.
The area I was staying was full police petrol all the time for many reasons. But It was only two times That I will come out of my place and walk to different net cafes for the email checking and writings. Although, my friend house had all the modern multi media facilities, but we had agreed that I will not be on line from the house.
We had also chalked out an escape plan in case of police at the house. He has told me several ways to leave the house from back doors. But I suggested that if police comes from the back sides as well, I will court arrest without resistance. We also discussed that while escaping from the back doors, I will try to do the room as no one was living here. I must tell you that I carry no bag, no cloths, wherever I go, I borrow cloths for the night from my friends and in the meantime, I get my cloth washed to wear it again next morning.
My friend knew that in many normal cases, when ever police come to house and do not find the person, they want to arrest, they take the house boss, the house made or any house adult apart from the women. My friend still took the risk and did not for a single moment tried to make me aware that he is doing something extra ordinary in my case.
The good news within three days was the changing attitude of Benazir Bhutto about the present with the present military regime. She has tried in exile to deal for a power sharing formula with military regime. But while in Pakistan, there was suicidal attack on her rally leaving over 200 dead. There was a massive negative campaign by the chief minister of Punjab against Benazir Bhutto during the time. Then Musharraf announced the emergency on 3rd November without her consent apparently. Most of the arrested advocates were from her party. It was all two much. While the first three days, arrests were made of any PPP activists but it all changed with Benazir coming openly against the military regime on emergency.
Her changing attitude was welcome by us in press releases and I announced in the media that LPP will participate with the long March planned for 13th November by PPP from Lahore to Islamabad. Although we had a severe criticism of her polices during the last months, because of soft corner about the regime, but we did go for the so-called conspiracies theories about Benazir and Musharraf being friends but hypocritically opposing each other to restore the respect of Benazir as a popular leader and the one who fight for democracy in any case.
Benazir oppositional statements against the regime have meant arrests of hundreds of PPP activists and their houses raided all over. It meant that Musharraf loosing friends and the opposition is growing.
On 9th November, when we would have been holding our fourth national conference, seven of us traveled hours to meet each other for a meeting at safe place to chart out our future strategies. We faxed press releases, invited a team of television team working for several channels including CNN to interview us and film how we are working in underground. They had made a contact with a friend to make a film of the activist working in under ground. They filmed our deserted but functioning office in the center of Lahore and they came to us. We have to take extra ordinary safety measures to bring them safely to the place we were working. After the filming of our activities within a room and a chat with us and not of the area or the house, we decided to leave the place immediately to avoid any unpleasant incident. But these two were our trusted friends for long time.
Earlier on day, I went to my home for 15 minutes after my partner Shahnaz told me that my son Abdullah is missing me very much. This was done after making sure that no one from the police in uniform or in plain cloths are around the place. I was here after seven days even I was in the same city Lahore. They were all happy and in absolute high spirit. No complaints and no hard talk. My son (7) asked me to stay home but When I explained what would happened, he still did not agree and told me that I will speak to you. But my daughter Mashal told me it will be ok and you can leave. In all seven days, I spoke once a day with my partner on telephone briefly. I changed my cloths and left happily.
I have changed my outlook after I was to a hairdressing person on 8th November after the chance meeting with a police officer. Although I had not many hairs anyhow but now it is totally different. It had not make much difference to my outlook but I had to do something, may be to satisfy myself alone.
There was some pleasant moments on 8th November afternoon when BBC and CNN were back to the air in Pakistan for the time being. I say Lucy Dousset of BBC broadcasting live programme from Islamabad. She only comes to a country with a grave situation and her arrival is an indication of the seriousness of the situation. I was happy to see LPP chairperson chanting slogans in Islamabad before his arrest. They tried to interview Asma Jahanghir at her place where is detained but only could speak for a few moment before they were whisked away by police. I got a message from Asma yesterday that I be in underground in any case and organize the movement.
Happy to see today’s papers with LPP news items welcoming the long march of PPP, condemning all the arrests, demanding an immediate release and solidarity with the striking media people. The LPP news printed in daily Waqat today is an appeal to all the trade unions, working class and peasantry to join the advocate movement. First of such appeal appearing the main news media after the emergency is imposed. We have to rely on the print media for promoting our ideas rather than on electronic media which is off the air.
I also contacted some of the main trade union leaders to be involved in the campaign. Maybe some positive response will come. Some of the trade union leaders in Karachi have already been arrested. A trade unions, left parties and radical social movement in Karachi on 7th November has condemned the imposition of emergency and decided to participate in the movement.
On 9th November, our left alliance Awami Jamhoori Thereek meeting in Lahore could not agree on a day of action but agree to mobilize the masses. One of our leading comrades attended the meeting and put forward an idea of a day of united action across Pakistan. Two of the main leaders and members central committee of AJT, Yousaf Masti Khan (National Workers Party) and Nisar Shah (Laour Party Pakistan) are already in jail. Police is raiding the houses of many AJT leaders. Bilal Minto, son of Abid Hassan Minto the president of National Workers Party and convener of AJT has spent three days in jail before he was released alongside with other 70 social activists. He is teacher at elite university Lahore University of Management and Sciences (LUMS). The arrest of the three radical teachers alongside with him sparked a movement of students at the university.
According to one press report, over 5000 have been arrested so far in the movement. There are not enough places in the jails to accommodate all the political prisoners. Temporary camps have been set up in different jails. Many private houses have been declared as sub jails to put the prisoners. The prisoners are not been allowed visits by their relatives. No private food allowed for these prisoners. While I had been a recent guest at different jails during the last three months, I could imagine very well the plight of these arrested ones. Our hearts are with them. Sacrifices for democracy and socialism will not go in vain. We will get rid of the military dictatorship soon; I am convinced by the recent developments. How? We do not know but we will do it through our mass movement and sacrifices.
SRI LANKA UPDATE
*International attention is
essential to address human suffering, Jehan Perera, jehanpc@sltnet.lk
One of the bleakest features of the present crisis in Sri
Lanka is the virtual impunity with which
some can abuse the human rights of others, and even kill them, and get away
with it. The law enforcement mechanism in the country is at a low ebb and
operate with a high degree of political interference. The ethnic
polarization that exists in society and in the decisionmaking
apparatus of the state make the problem even more resistant to a solution by
internal means alone. The sense of national paralysis that has
accompanied the rise in human rights violations has prompted the growing calls
for a greater international role in restraining the abuses of human rights in
the country.
Violent actions that cause suffering to innocent people are occurring in
different parts of the country. The common feature in them is the culprits are
rarely if ever apprehended or charged for the crime. Most often there is
doubt as to who the perpetrators are, with the government saying one thing, and
assorted non-governmental groups another. Recently, for instance, there
have been several killings of hapless Sinhalese villagers in the southernmost Hambantota district from which President Mahinda Rajapaksa comes. On
the other hand, in the northern Vavuniya district,
five Tamil youth were recently found killed. The initial suspicion has
fallen on the LTTE, but there are also strong indications that the culprits may
be different.
Reports from the north and east where major military confrontations between the
government forces and LTTE have been taking place over the past two years
highlight the sufferings and terror of the people. Virtually every day
there are reports of people being either killed or disappearing. In
addition there have been long standing and consistent reports of human rights
violations, including sexual abuse, emanating from the north and east,
especially where there has been civilian displacement and resettlement due to
war and the weakening of civilian administration. By and large the
response of successive governments has been to play down these incidents.
Government members have also made strong arguments that in a time of war with a
foe as formidable and vicious as the LTTE it is difficult to safeguard human
rights in the manner that international law requires. They have pointed
out that human rights are violated in other conflicts as well, most particularly
Iraq, and that
these are the inevitable accompaniments of a war that has been forced upon the
government by the LTTE. The implied message that comes from the
government is that victory in war demands sacrifice, and that no price is too
high to pay to defeat the LTTE once and forever. The present government
in particular appears determined not to permit considerations of human rights
block its march to victory.
Past Lessons
Indeed, it may be argued that never before has Sri
Lanka had such a strong-willed government
leadership that is prepared to defy international opinion to the degree that
the present government has. President Rajapaksa’s
readiness to visit Iran
to boost trade in goods and weapons on concessionary terms is only one
manifestation of the government’s readiness to displease the western countries,
and even the sole superpower, to achieve the government’s own objectives.
So far the government has walked this tightrope but the danger exists of over
reaching.
The government is balancing global politics that pits the west on one side and
the newly emerging world powers such as China
and Iran on the
other. The manner in which it is achieving its own strategic objectives has won
the praise from nationalists who uphold the sovereignty of the state as the
highest good, and denounce any appeal to the international community as an act
of treachery. However, it is doubtful whether a relatively small and
aid-dependent country like Sri Lanka
can continue for long in a balancing act between the world’s most powerful
blocs of nations.
At this juncture it might be appropriate to go back to the past, to another era
when President Ranasinghe Premadasa
was at the helm of Sri Lankan affairs and strode like a colossus over the
political arena. He too attempted to defy the international community and
strived hard to uphold the sovereignty of the Sri Lankan state in the period
1989-93. However, he lacked two advantages that the present government
enjoys. The first is that there was no global war against terrorism that
his government could align itself to. Second, the dynamic new economic
powers of Asia, China,
India and Iran
had not yet made their presence felt as economic actors on the global
arena.
President Premadasa had to give in to western pressure
to sustain the economic aid his government required. He accepted a set of
over thirty human rights conditions that were placed on his government by one
of the the world’s leading human rights
organizations, Amnesty International. Partly as a result, the human
rights situation in the country turned around, and the era of suffering and
terror in the south of the country that accompanied the JVP insurrection of the
preceding two years came to an end. The question is what can bring the
era of suffering and terror in the north and east of the country to an end
today.
Present Developments
The value of international pressure in countering human rights abuses has been
highlighted recently in the case concerning Sri Lankan peace keepers in Haiti.
It appears that a handful of them have engaged in sexual abuse of under age
Haitian girls on a commercial basis. The Sri Lankan government’s positive
response to this charge stands in marked contrast to its position with regard
to human rights violations that take place within Sri
Lanka itself. As the UN is itself
involved in this case, the government did not simply deny the allegation and
try to get away with it, as it tends to do in the case of locally reported
violations. The fact that the government decided to cooperate fully with
the investigation suggests the value of international linkages in the
investigation and prevention of human rights violations.
The arrest of Karuna by the UK
government on immigration charges in London
earlier this month is another example of how the international community can
play a positive role in investigating and preventing human rights
violations. Some groups have been looking into the legal possibilities of
petitioning the UK
government to try him for war crimes and other international offences in what
could be a test case of western commitment to the practice of human rights in Sri
Lanka. On the one hand, Karuna’s immigration offences are not very serious and he
might merely be deported back to Sri Lanka.
On the other hand, the United Kingdom is a signatory to many international
conventions, including those that outlaw torture, that permit the UK government
to try such people from any country who come within its jurisdiction. If
he is tried by British courts, it is possible that Karuna’s
deeds when he was with the LTTE and also his actions after he broke away from
them will be brought to light. Those who are concerned about the present
state of impunity in Sri Lanka
may see both the Haiti
incident and Karuna’s arrest as opportunities to set
an example to perpetrators of human rights violations in Sri
Lanka and to demonstrate that they cannot
commit such abuses and remain untouched by international human rights
law.
The government, LTTE and other paramilitary groups must realize that a time of
reckoning is bound to come to them all, and accordingly they must carry out
their wars in accordance with international norms. A no-holds barred war,
must become costly not only to the victims, but to the perpetrators as well.
As a former champion of human rights when he was in the opposition who lobbied
the international community in Geneva,
President Mahinda Rajapaksa
cannot fail to be aware of the implications of these latest developments.
It is difficult to imagine that a person who acted with such commitment to the
protection of human rights in the bad times of the past should not be equally
concerned today.