EDITORIAL: Aziz should break the deadlock with Afghanistan
Prime Minister Shaukat Azizââ¬â¢s visit to Afghanistan should remind him that he is on record as taking credit for increasing Pakistanââ¬â¢s trade with Kabul beyond the billion dollar mark. So he should make a determined effort to break the deadlock with Kabul that has developed despite the fact that President Hamid Karzai has been to Pakistan nine times and the president and the prime minister of Pakistan have been to Kabul six times in as many years. Unfortunately, the presidents on both sides have exchanged some very tough accusations in the recent past. Since Mr Aziz has economic contacts close to his heart we hope that he will try to reach a better equation with Mr Karzai.
It is a good omen that President Karzai invited him when the two were last together in Turkmenistan, a neighbour that holds the key to the energy requirements and economic prosperity of both countries. Kabul desperately needs to think of making money by breaking out of its old mould of being closed to the economically interconnected world. It has to do this not out of smuggling by its warlords or exporting drugs but by being a transit territory for the trade of all of South Asia with Central Asia. Afghanistan is already a member of SAARC and needs to think beyond its national fixity of view over the Durand Line. If the promise of SAARC is properly realised then many borders should become irrelevant in any case.
Unfortunately, because of the relentless accusations made by Kabul against Pakistan of harbouring Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists on its territory, Pakistan has decided to fence the Durand Line selectively and then mine it so that the alleged terrorists are not able to cross over from one side to the other. But everyone knows that if the Taliban are actually operating across the border then ââ¬Ëselective fencingââ¬â¢ will hardly do much to stop them. Also, the international reaction to mining has been negative, given the fact that civilians cross the border regularly with goods that may be considered contraband but in actual fact are essential to their survival. Mining can quickly start killing these people to add to the number of thousands of innocent civilians crippled by mines during the Afghan wars of the past.
Afghanistanââ¬â¢s nationalism is, in some complicated way, linked to a denial and rejection of the Durand Line. All nationalisms tend to be collective fantasies but the Afghan-Pushtun nationalism is based on a dream of some day reuniting the Pushtun tribes of Pakistanââ¬â¢s Tribal Areas with the population of Southern Afghanistan. It is essentially an Afghan-Pushtun feeling and may not engage the Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks of the North. Therefore Pakistan, which tends to speak on behalf of the ââ¬ËPushtun brothersââ¬â¢ of Afghanistan, must become more tactful while dealing with its small neighbour. A lot of national interest rides on good relations with it although governments in Islamabad have inclined to think that it is easy to dominate Afghanistan.
The truth is that while it is important for Afghanistan to pay due regard to the security interests of Pakistan it is not advisable on the part of Pakistan to exploit this compulsion too much. Afghanistan is landlocked and is dependent on Pakistan for its imports and exports. There is a precedent of Pakistan trying to use the transit trade to get Afghanistan to do the needful, but it is also true that this leverage has worked less and less with the passage of time. For instance, after Iran promised to provide Afghanistan with a transit route to the Indian Ocean in addition to waiving the port duties on Afghan imports, Pakistan had to waive duties on Afghan transit goods too.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz should also take a new look at Indiaââ¬â¢s relations with Afghanistan, distancing himself a little from a lingering view held by some military thinkers in Pakistan. Starting in the 1950s, India has been building good relations with Afghanistan based on the contacts that the British Raj had established in Kabul. Later, as Pakistan went through its difficulties with Kabul, these links were further strengthened. During the jihad against the Soviet Union, New Delhi was the most crowded place of refuge for leftist and communist Afghans. In fact, during Pakistanââ¬â¢s search for ââ¬Ëstrategic depthââ¬â¢ in Afghanistan, all those arrayed against the Taliban had their retreat in New Delhi, including President Karzai himself.
As a starting point, Pakistan should consider accepting Indiaââ¬â¢s locus standi in Afghanistan, but also of Uzbekistan in the north and Iran in the West. In fact in the more holistic economic vision which Mr Aziz should be able to comprehend, Afghanistan is a crucial link in future cooperative relations between India and Pakistan. All three states are bound together by their economic future, by the pipelines that will run from Central Asia to South Asia through Afghanistan in parallel to the one that will run from Iran to South Asia. *
SECOND EDITORIAL: Madrassas: bitter taste of defeat
The deadline ran out on December 30. But not a single seminary in the federal capital filled in and returned a form from the Federal Education Ministry seeking information about the seminariesââ¬â¢ sources of funding and educational plans. The seminary alliance Wafaqul Madaris was required to submit details of the degrees each seminary had issued in 2006 and each madrassa had to submit an affidavit by its principal that it was ready to introduce formal subjects such as English, mathematics, social studies/Pakistan studies and general science at the primary, middle and secondary level; and English, economics, computer science and Pakistan studies at the intermediate level to integrate religious education with the formal education system.
Clearly, President Pervez Musharrafââ¬â¢s much-curtailed Madrassa Reforms Project has run aground. Not even his own government has found it possible to agree with his obviously sensible proposal to upgrade madrassa education with the help of generous financially help from the government. The clerics running the seminaries have ignored the offer of money, clearly implying that they have enough of it and to spare. They have also refused to submit names of the clerics running the schools and have refused to disclose their sources of funding. In the most democratic and civilised country of the world, no privately run institution could get away with non-disclosure of income. But in Pakistan, it is the breakdown of the sovereignty of the state coupled with the opportunist politics of guided democracy by the military that allows this practice to go on. *
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\01\05\story_5-1-2007_pg3_1
Prime Minister Shaukat Azizââ¬â¢s visit to Afghanistan should remind him that he is on record as taking credit for increasing Pakistanââ¬â¢s trade with Kabul beyond the billion dollar mark. So he should make a determined effort to break the deadlock with Kabul that has developed despite the fact that President Hamid Karzai has been to Pakistan nine times and the president and the prime minister of Pakistan have been to Kabul six times in as many years. Unfortunately, the presidents on both sides have exchanged some very tough accusations in the recent past. Since Mr Aziz has economic contacts close to his heart we hope that he will try to reach a better equation with Mr Karzai.
It is a good omen that President Karzai invited him when the two were last together in Turkmenistan, a neighbour that holds the key to the energy requirements and economic prosperity of both countries. Kabul desperately needs to think of making money by breaking out of its old mould of being closed to the economically interconnected world. It has to do this not out of smuggling by its warlords or exporting drugs but by being a transit territory for the trade of all of South Asia with Central Asia. Afghanistan is already a member of SAARC and needs to think beyond its national fixity of view over the Durand Line. If the promise of SAARC is properly realised then many borders should become irrelevant in any case.
Unfortunately, because of the relentless accusations made by Kabul against Pakistan of harbouring Al Qaeda and Taliban terrorists on its territory, Pakistan has decided to fence the Durand Line selectively and then mine it so that the alleged terrorists are not able to cross over from one side to the other. But everyone knows that if the Taliban are actually operating across the border then ââ¬Ëselective fencingââ¬â¢ will hardly do much to stop them. Also, the international reaction to mining has been negative, given the fact that civilians cross the border regularly with goods that may be considered contraband but in actual fact are essential to their survival. Mining can quickly start killing these people to add to the number of thousands of innocent civilians crippled by mines during the Afghan wars of the past.
Afghanistanââ¬â¢s nationalism is, in some complicated way, linked to a denial and rejection of the Durand Line. All nationalisms tend to be collective fantasies but the Afghan-Pushtun nationalism is based on a dream of some day reuniting the Pushtun tribes of Pakistanââ¬â¢s Tribal Areas with the population of Southern Afghanistan. It is essentially an Afghan-Pushtun feeling and may not engage the Tajiks, Hazaras and Uzbeks of the North. Therefore Pakistan, which tends to speak on behalf of the ââ¬ËPushtun brothersââ¬â¢ of Afghanistan, must become more tactful while dealing with its small neighbour. A lot of national interest rides on good relations with it although governments in Islamabad have inclined to think that it is easy to dominate Afghanistan.
The truth is that while it is important for Afghanistan to pay due regard to the security interests of Pakistan it is not advisable on the part of Pakistan to exploit this compulsion too much. Afghanistan is landlocked and is dependent on Pakistan for its imports and exports. There is a precedent of Pakistan trying to use the transit trade to get Afghanistan to do the needful, but it is also true that this leverage has worked less and less with the passage of time. For instance, after Iran promised to provide Afghanistan with a transit route to the Indian Ocean in addition to waiving the port duties on Afghan imports, Pakistan had to waive duties on Afghan transit goods too.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz should also take a new look at Indiaââ¬â¢s relations with Afghanistan, distancing himself a little from a lingering view held by some military thinkers in Pakistan. Starting in the 1950s, India has been building good relations with Afghanistan based on the contacts that the British Raj had established in Kabul. Later, as Pakistan went through its difficulties with Kabul, these links were further strengthened. During the jihad against the Soviet Union, New Delhi was the most crowded place of refuge for leftist and communist Afghans. In fact, during Pakistanââ¬â¢s search for ââ¬Ëstrategic depthââ¬â¢ in Afghanistan, all those arrayed against the Taliban had their retreat in New Delhi, including President Karzai himself.
As a starting point, Pakistan should consider accepting Indiaââ¬â¢s locus standi in Afghanistan, but also of Uzbekistan in the north and Iran in the West. In fact in the more holistic economic vision which Mr Aziz should be able to comprehend, Afghanistan is a crucial link in future cooperative relations between India and Pakistan. All three states are bound together by their economic future, by the pipelines that will run from Central Asia to South Asia through Afghanistan in parallel to the one that will run from Iran to South Asia. *
SECOND EDITORIAL: Madrassas: bitter taste of defeat
The deadline ran out on December 30. But not a single seminary in the federal capital filled in and returned a form from the Federal Education Ministry seeking information about the seminariesââ¬â¢ sources of funding and educational plans. The seminary alliance Wafaqul Madaris was required to submit details of the degrees each seminary had issued in 2006 and each madrassa had to submit an affidavit by its principal that it was ready to introduce formal subjects such as English, mathematics, social studies/Pakistan studies and general science at the primary, middle and secondary level; and English, economics, computer science and Pakistan studies at the intermediate level to integrate religious education with the formal education system.
Clearly, President Pervez Musharrafââ¬â¢s much-curtailed Madrassa Reforms Project has run aground. Not even his own government has found it possible to agree with his obviously sensible proposal to upgrade madrassa education with the help of generous financially help from the government. The clerics running the seminaries have ignored the offer of money, clearly implying that they have enough of it and to spare. They have also refused to submit names of the clerics running the schools and have refused to disclose their sources of funding. In the most democratic and civilised country of the world, no privately run institution could get away with non-disclosure of income. But in Pakistan, it is the breakdown of the sovereignty of the state coupled with the opportunist politics of guided democracy by the military that allows this practice to go on. *
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007\01\05\story_5-1-2007_pg3_1
