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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Shireen M Mazari
As a Pakistani I am outraged at the killing of an innocent Pakistani (given that his guilt was never proven) by the Indian state and then twenty days later the dumping of his body at Wagah border -- what else can one call this concluding action on the part of the Indian state?
However, I am more angry at my own government for its lack of care regarding its citizens arrested by other countries, especially India, but also the US. Just a few days earlier, we had Mr Ansar Burney making a sickening drama about the release of an Indian prisoner, who later admitted he was a spy, when he did not have the basic decency to at least show up to receive Pakistani Khalid Mahmood's body at Wagah. For that matter, no official government representative was present to receive the body. Nor was there any demarche issued from the Foreign Office to the Indian High Commissioner. Is international publicity and kudos all that matters to our politicians and bureaucrats? Even more distressing is the state of our human rights champions who have yet to take up the cases like Khalid Mahmood's even as they make much of Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails. And what of our High Commission in New Delhi? Why were they so inactive on this count? Now one is being told that PTV, the state's propagandist network, refused to take up and project the issues raised by the killing of Khalid Mahmood. Utterly shameful, when you think of the publicity Ansar Burney garnered for himself in the case of the Indian spy's release.
So for those of our leaders who have already declared their intent to cosy up to India, regardless of issues like Kashmir, let the killing of cricket fan Khalid Mahmood be a warning about the chasm that exists between our over- enthusiastic passion for embracing India and India's continuing suspicions and hostility towards Pakistan. A more realpolitik approach to dealing with India would stand us in much better stead. Let us learn our lesson from the price we are paying as a result of coming to the aid and assistance of the US with simply no preconditions or sober considerations -- post-9/11.
As for India, apart from the killing of Mahmood, there are countless stories of Pakistani prisoners being tortured in Indian prisons without any charges being proven -- but there is a seeming apathy on the part of our state and human rights activists. That is why I suppose "disappearances" and renditions are so easy here in Pakistan -- it reflects a mindset that lays little store by the dignity and human rights of ordinary citizens. Coming back to the gap that prevails in how we perceive India and their perception of us, see the hurt many in Pakistan expressed when we discovered that India had invited over a hundred foreign dignitaries and defence attaches to witness their forthcoming exercises in the Rajasthan Desert commencing from March 19. But we forgot to read the word "from friendly countries" in the Indian statement. Clearly, Pakistan is not seen as a friendly country by India despite our bending over backwards on all issues. So our new leaders may want to rethink their desire to forget about Kashmir in order to satisfy India! Of course, we should continue our dialogue, but let us not outpace India in concessions on the ground -- as we have done with the US at a time when it needs us far more than we need them.
Which brings me to the whole issue of maintaining some sobriety and self-control in our external interactions, and resisting a proclivity towards effusiveness. Presently, we seem to be fair game for friends and foes. The latest salvo is from a Turkish general in terms of our nuclear assets. We know that Turkey is a staunch US ally in NATO, but we have emotively bound ourselves to the Turkish people for decades -- and have lent unquestioning support for the cause of the Turkish Cypriots when, apart from Bangladesh, almost all the world spurned them. If the Turks had any concerns regarding Pakistan, did they have to express them publicly at an international conference organised by the Turkish military? Incidentally, at this conference the Turks also chose to invite a BJP-linked scholar to talk on Kashmir -- so, obviously, there are new undercurrents in the Pakistan-Turkey relationship that should be a cause for concern in Islamabad. After all, it was not too long ago that the Turkish government was also found hosting a US-funded conference to discuss the whole issue of the "Durand Line."
Finally, there is the US and its continuing absurdities vis-a-vis Pakistan. Apart from witnessing the most intrusive political behaviour on the part of the present US ambassador as she continues to rush from one political leader to another -- and obviously she is not discussing their health or the weather -- we have had US personnel arriving one after another to convince us on all manner of issues. One such visitor, Harlan Ullman, gave an intriguing analysis -- as only an American can. Declaring that Pakistan's case was not well understood in Washington (perhaps we should evaluate how our publicists are spending our money on the Hill), he then added that regardless of what we do, we can neither change the US mindset nor get any money since they do not have it now! Obviously only another American can understand what was being implied here!
The crux of the issue was that we have to help the US in Afghanistan, because if they fail there, it will be devastating for Pakistan! Of course, it did not get through to him that fighting terrorism the US way was already devastating for Pakistan, and we need to have our own indigenous strategy which has to include publicly distancing ourselves from the US. Anyhow, what he wanted was to build support here for a joint Pakistan-US-NATO strategy. But the point that was being missed was that one can only have a joint strategy if our strategic goals are the same -- and in many Pakistanis' minds our goals for the long term are at variance with US designs for this region. So where is there the potential for a joint strategy? Also, there are some serious legal and political question marks relating to the NATO presence in this region.
Effectively, we are now at a crucial juncture in our cooperation with the US and the fallout that that is having not only on our polity but also on our own terrorist problem. Just as I was to conclude this column, news came of the two deadly terrorist attacks -- again in Lahore. Clearly, the Lahore attacks were well-planned especially since the two sites chosen were at a fair distance from each other -- thereby effectively dividing rescue services. In fact, it would appear that the Model Town target was chosen randomly, simply because it unfortunately happened to be across from Zardari House, but the FIA building was part of the targeting of the security structure of Pakistan.
It is only too apparent that our present strategy on the war on terror, devised by the US and focusing on the military, has not only failed, it has increased the violence and terrorism in Pakistan. Is it merely coincidental, that as the voices for a holistic policy to deal with the tribals have increased post the elections, the acts of terrorism have hit the urban centres with a vengeance? At the very least, as we mourn the loss of innocent Pakistanis, let us also pause and see where we are headed as we play the deadly US game in this region.
Looking out for Pakistan first
The writer is director general of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad. Email: smnews80@hotmail.com
Shireen M Mazari
As a Pakistani I am outraged at the killing of an innocent Pakistani (given that his guilt was never proven) by the Indian state and then twenty days later the dumping of his body at Wagah border -- what else can one call this concluding action on the part of the Indian state?
However, I am more angry at my own government for its lack of care regarding its citizens arrested by other countries, especially India, but also the US. Just a few days earlier, we had Mr Ansar Burney making a sickening drama about the release of an Indian prisoner, who later admitted he was a spy, when he did not have the basic decency to at least show up to receive Pakistani Khalid Mahmood's body at Wagah. For that matter, no official government representative was present to receive the body. Nor was there any demarche issued from the Foreign Office to the Indian High Commissioner. Is international publicity and kudos all that matters to our politicians and bureaucrats? Even more distressing is the state of our human rights champions who have yet to take up the cases like Khalid Mahmood's even as they make much of Indian prisoners in Pakistani jails. And what of our High Commission in New Delhi? Why were they so inactive on this count? Now one is being told that PTV, the state's propagandist network, refused to take up and project the issues raised by the killing of Khalid Mahmood. Utterly shameful, when you think of the publicity Ansar Burney garnered for himself in the case of the Indian spy's release.
So for those of our leaders who have already declared their intent to cosy up to India, regardless of issues like Kashmir, let the killing of cricket fan Khalid Mahmood be a warning about the chasm that exists between our over- enthusiastic passion for embracing India and India's continuing suspicions and hostility towards Pakistan. A more realpolitik approach to dealing with India would stand us in much better stead. Let us learn our lesson from the price we are paying as a result of coming to the aid and assistance of the US with simply no preconditions or sober considerations -- post-9/11.
As for India, apart from the killing of Mahmood, there are countless stories of Pakistani prisoners being tortured in Indian prisons without any charges being proven -- but there is a seeming apathy on the part of our state and human rights activists. That is why I suppose "disappearances" and renditions are so easy here in Pakistan -- it reflects a mindset that lays little store by the dignity and human rights of ordinary citizens. Coming back to the gap that prevails in how we perceive India and their perception of us, see the hurt many in Pakistan expressed when we discovered that India had invited over a hundred foreign dignitaries and defence attaches to witness their forthcoming exercises in the Rajasthan Desert commencing from March 19. But we forgot to read the word "from friendly countries" in the Indian statement. Clearly, Pakistan is not seen as a friendly country by India despite our bending over backwards on all issues. So our new leaders may want to rethink their desire to forget about Kashmir in order to satisfy India! Of course, we should continue our dialogue, but let us not outpace India in concessions on the ground -- as we have done with the US at a time when it needs us far more than we need them.
Which brings me to the whole issue of maintaining some sobriety and self-control in our external interactions, and resisting a proclivity towards effusiveness. Presently, we seem to be fair game for friends and foes. The latest salvo is from a Turkish general in terms of our nuclear assets. We know that Turkey is a staunch US ally in NATO, but we have emotively bound ourselves to the Turkish people for decades -- and have lent unquestioning support for the cause of the Turkish Cypriots when, apart from Bangladesh, almost all the world spurned them. If the Turks had any concerns regarding Pakistan, did they have to express them publicly at an international conference organised by the Turkish military? Incidentally, at this conference the Turks also chose to invite a BJP-linked scholar to talk on Kashmir -- so, obviously, there are new undercurrents in the Pakistan-Turkey relationship that should be a cause for concern in Islamabad. After all, it was not too long ago that the Turkish government was also found hosting a US-funded conference to discuss the whole issue of the "Durand Line."
Finally, there is the US and its continuing absurdities vis-a-vis Pakistan. Apart from witnessing the most intrusive political behaviour on the part of the present US ambassador as she continues to rush from one political leader to another -- and obviously she is not discussing their health or the weather -- we have had US personnel arriving one after another to convince us on all manner of issues. One such visitor, Harlan Ullman, gave an intriguing analysis -- as only an American can. Declaring that Pakistan's case was not well understood in Washington (perhaps we should evaluate how our publicists are spending our money on the Hill), he then added that regardless of what we do, we can neither change the US mindset nor get any money since they do not have it now! Obviously only another American can understand what was being implied here!
The crux of the issue was that we have to help the US in Afghanistan, because if they fail there, it will be devastating for Pakistan! Of course, it did not get through to him that fighting terrorism the US way was already devastating for Pakistan, and we need to have our own indigenous strategy which has to include publicly distancing ourselves from the US. Anyhow, what he wanted was to build support here for a joint Pakistan-US-NATO strategy. But the point that was being missed was that one can only have a joint strategy if our strategic goals are the same -- and in many Pakistanis' minds our goals for the long term are at variance with US designs for this region. So where is there the potential for a joint strategy? Also, there are some serious legal and political question marks relating to the NATO presence in this region.
Effectively, we are now at a crucial juncture in our cooperation with the US and the fallout that that is having not only on our polity but also on our own terrorist problem. Just as I was to conclude this column, news came of the two deadly terrorist attacks -- again in Lahore. Clearly, the Lahore attacks were well-planned especially since the two sites chosen were at a fair distance from each other -- thereby effectively dividing rescue services. In fact, it would appear that the Model Town target was chosen randomly, simply because it unfortunately happened to be across from Zardari House, but the FIA building was part of the targeting of the security structure of Pakistan.
It is only too apparent that our present strategy on the war on terror, devised by the US and focusing on the military, has not only failed, it has increased the violence and terrorism in Pakistan. Is it merely coincidental, that as the voices for a holistic policy to deal with the tribals have increased post the elections, the acts of terrorism have hit the urban centres with a vengeance? At the very least, as we mourn the loss of innocent Pakistanis, let us also pause and see where we are headed as we play the deadly US game in this region.
Looking out for Pakistan first
The writer is director general of the Institute of Strategic Studies, Islamabad. Email: smnews80@hotmail.com
