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Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan
Washington conference stresses long-term Pak-US relationship
* Lisa Curtis says lawyers movement and judges issue acted as catalyst for democratic rule
* Professor Hafeez says Muslims have trouble understanding Christian culture in US
* Says Pakistan is not going to war with anyone and should reduce defence spending
* Husain Haqqani says suicide bombers are not future of Pakistan
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: The annual daylong session of the Pakistani-American Congress that ended here on Wednesday reached consensus that US-Pakistan relations need to be built on a strategic, long-term basis and freed from the day-to-day, quid-pro-quo basis that has characterised them in the past.
The meeting, which saw delegates arriving from various parts of the country, was addressed by a number of South Asia experts, a senior State Department official and newly-arrived ambassador of Pakistan Husain Haqqani. While the first half of the annual event was held at a local hotel, the second session moved to Capitol Hill where a number of congressman came to greet the umbrella group of Pakistani organisations, assuring Pakistan of their support and encouraging Pakistani-Americans to remain involved in the political life of this country.
Catalyst:Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation, the prime conservative think tank in the capital, told the conference that the lawyers movement and the judges issue had acted as a catalyst for democratic rule. There would have been no elections without the lawyers movement, she added. The elections had also proved that Pakistanis want a democratic government and not the rule of religious zealots. She said the gains made through the February 18 democratic exercise are at risk today and political leaders need to rise above themselves, exhibit statesmanship and get things moving forward. She was afraid the ongoing power struggle in Islamabad is distracting the country from dealing with the economy. Inflation, she pointed out, is in double digits and power outages run rampant. The Taliban are extending their outreach and influence, which must be resisted. She said Washington should stay out of Pakistans internal politics as well as exercise patience. The Pakistani people do not want another bout of military rule, but neither do they want another election, she pointed out.
Marvin Weinbaum of the Middle East Institute shared the concerns voiced by Curtis and saw ominous signs on the political horizon in Pakistan. He was afraid that if things go badly, other forces might try to take advantage of the situation. And if it reaches a point where the military has to restore order, some will welcome it initially as they did in 1999 but that is not the road that can lead Pakistan to democracy or lasting economic, political and social stability. Pakistani-American relations, he pointed out, have hit a rough patch and things have not been what they should be for an honest partnership. The US has made errors of judgement, including a failure to understand the people of Pakistan. The Pakistani national interest does not always coincide with that of the United States and there is need by both sides to appreciate that. The US is viewed in Pakistan as part of the effort to distort or derail the results of the election. What needs to be understood is that US-Pakistan relations are good for both sides. The US can no longer just walk away as it did at the end of the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. This is a different era, he noted.
Culture problems: Prof Hafeez Malik of Villanova University, Pennsylvania, who founded the first American institute of Pakistan studies nearly 50 years ago, told the conference that the American culture is essentially a Christian culture and Muslims do not quite know how to adjust themselves in it. They have been feeling their way around but they need to settle in comfortably as they live here. He said no government in Pakistan since 1947 has had a nation-building policy. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto came the closest to formulating one, but he was not allowed to live. There has been no significant industrial development in the country and there has been a complete neglect of infrastructure development, while criminal neglect had been shown towards education. The Pakistani universities are an intellectual wasteland and the degrees they award are not comparable with degrees awarded by other universities of the world. There is no proper medical care for the people, even for those who have the money. Political instability has become chronic. There is no mechanism in the country to control corruption. When civilian governments become unpopular, people clamour for military intervention. This vicious cycle, Malik said, has to be broken.
Malik said the government has no money to open new schools. As for madrassa education, it is a basic tradition of Muslim societies. However, some of them are not really the best institutions of Islamic learning. Elementary textbooks, taught at some, are a century old. These madrassas do not train jihadis or impart military training, but they certainly develop a certain mindset in their students, which is not in line with contemporary requirements. It is a mindset that inculcates intolerance, not only of non-Muslims, but also of other Muslims.
No war: He said it was a pity that the government spends billions on buying arms when there is no need for them, as Pakistan is not going to go to war with anyone, nor anyone is going to go to war with Pakistan. He noted that every war since 1947 has been a war in which the initiative was Pakistans. India, he said, has no interest in going to war against Pakistan, as it merely wants to contain its neighbour. As Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, it is an old story. He held the Benazir Bhutto government responsible for the birth of the Taliban and the Pakistani intelligence establishment of nurturing the movement and financing the Taliban government itself, once for three months in running. He called Karzai the mayor of Kabul who does not have the capability of carrying out the threat he has recently hurled at Pakistan.
Ambassador Husain Haqqani said the time has come when all who are engaged in the war against terrorism need to do more. "The Government of Pakistan is in the process of putting in place a strategic plan. We expect our friends in Afghanistan and the United States and those in NATO to work with us rather than anyone raising voice against one another," he added. He said there can be and there are disagreements between friends but these disagreements are not like disagreements with enemies. "When allies disagree, their pattern of disagreement is different from disagreement between enemies." He said it must be remembered that the Pak-Afghan common border is a 1,000 miles long and while there are 970 security checkpoints on the Pakistan side, there are just 100 of them on the Afghan side. "Instead of saying that Pakistan is not doing enough, it is time to start saying that everybody there has not done enough and everybody can do more. Pakistan, he emphasised, will fight terrorism, not because the US offers it economic and military aid for doing so, but because it is a battle for Pakistan's very soul.
Not future: Haqqani said suicide bombers are not Pakistans future. Terrorism must, therefore, be eliminated. Afghanistan is a friend and an ally. Pakistan respects the elected leadership of Afghanistan and expects Afghanistan to do the same for Pakistan. He said Pakistan has worked out a multi-pronged strategy to deal with its volatile northwestern region. The people of the area have to be brought on board in the war against terrorism. FATA needs to acquire true representation and become part of the national mainstream. Pakistan is negotiating with tribal leaders, not terrorists, but the swamp has to be drained to identify the troublemakers. There would be no appeasement, he promised. He said Pakistan is determined to ensure that no attacks are carried out from FATA areas into Pakistan, Afghanistan or around the world. Foreign fighters would be expelled and the laws of Pakistan would have to be respected. As for the military strategy, there would need to be real time intelligence-sharing between the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan. An ambitious socio-economic strategy for the development and uplift of the FATA region has been worked out. Economic opportunity zones are be set up, which would transform the area and the thinking of the people. He pointed out that terrorists do not represent Islamic values. On the other hand, they distort the faith in whose name they commit horrible acts. The US, he concluded, should look at Pakistan as a friend and partner and the relationship as long-term.
Washington conference stresses long-term Pak-US relationship
* Lisa Curtis says lawyers movement and judges issue acted as catalyst for democratic rule
* Professor Hafeez says Muslims have trouble understanding Christian culture in US
* Says Pakistan is not going to war with anyone and should reduce defence spending
* Husain Haqqani says suicide bombers are not future of Pakistan
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: The annual daylong session of the Pakistani-American Congress that ended here on Wednesday reached consensus that US-Pakistan relations need to be built on a strategic, long-term basis and freed from the day-to-day, quid-pro-quo basis that has characterised them in the past.
The meeting, which saw delegates arriving from various parts of the country, was addressed by a number of South Asia experts, a senior State Department official and newly-arrived ambassador of Pakistan Husain Haqqani. While the first half of the annual event was held at a local hotel, the second session moved to Capitol Hill where a number of congressman came to greet the umbrella group of Pakistani organisations, assuring Pakistan of their support and encouraging Pakistani-Americans to remain involved in the political life of this country.
Catalyst:Lisa Curtis of the Heritage Foundation, the prime conservative think tank in the capital, told the conference that the lawyers movement and the judges issue had acted as a catalyst for democratic rule. There would have been no elections without the lawyers movement, she added. The elections had also proved that Pakistanis want a democratic government and not the rule of religious zealots. She said the gains made through the February 18 democratic exercise are at risk today and political leaders need to rise above themselves, exhibit statesmanship and get things moving forward. She was afraid the ongoing power struggle in Islamabad is distracting the country from dealing with the economy. Inflation, she pointed out, is in double digits and power outages run rampant. The Taliban are extending their outreach and influence, which must be resisted. She said Washington should stay out of Pakistans internal politics as well as exercise patience. The Pakistani people do not want another bout of military rule, but neither do they want another election, she pointed out.
Marvin Weinbaum of the Middle East Institute shared the concerns voiced by Curtis and saw ominous signs on the political horizon in Pakistan. He was afraid that if things go badly, other forces might try to take advantage of the situation. And if it reaches a point where the military has to restore order, some will welcome it initially as they did in 1999 but that is not the road that can lead Pakistan to democracy or lasting economic, political and social stability. Pakistani-American relations, he pointed out, have hit a rough patch and things have not been what they should be for an honest partnership. The US has made errors of judgement, including a failure to understand the people of Pakistan. The Pakistani national interest does not always coincide with that of the United States and there is need by both sides to appreciate that. The US is viewed in Pakistan as part of the effort to distort or derail the results of the election. What needs to be understood is that US-Pakistan relations are good for both sides. The US can no longer just walk away as it did at the end of the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan. This is a different era, he noted.
Culture problems: Prof Hafeez Malik of Villanova University, Pennsylvania, who founded the first American institute of Pakistan studies nearly 50 years ago, told the conference that the American culture is essentially a Christian culture and Muslims do not quite know how to adjust themselves in it. They have been feeling their way around but they need to settle in comfortably as they live here. He said no government in Pakistan since 1947 has had a nation-building policy. Zulfikar Ali Bhutto came the closest to formulating one, but he was not allowed to live. There has been no significant industrial development in the country and there has been a complete neglect of infrastructure development, while criminal neglect had been shown towards education. The Pakistani universities are an intellectual wasteland and the degrees they award are not comparable with degrees awarded by other universities of the world. There is no proper medical care for the people, even for those who have the money. Political instability has become chronic. There is no mechanism in the country to control corruption. When civilian governments become unpopular, people clamour for military intervention. This vicious cycle, Malik said, has to be broken.
Malik said the government has no money to open new schools. As for madrassa education, it is a basic tradition of Muslim societies. However, some of them are not really the best institutions of Islamic learning. Elementary textbooks, taught at some, are a century old. These madrassas do not train jihadis or impart military training, but they certainly develop a certain mindset in their students, which is not in line with contemporary requirements. It is a mindset that inculcates intolerance, not only of non-Muslims, but also of other Muslims.
No war: He said it was a pity that the government spends billions on buying arms when there is no need for them, as Pakistan is not going to go to war with anyone, nor anyone is going to go to war with Pakistan. He noted that every war since 1947 has been a war in which the initiative was Pakistans. India, he said, has no interest in going to war against Pakistan, as it merely wants to contain its neighbour. As Pakistan-Afghanistan relations, it is an old story. He held the Benazir Bhutto government responsible for the birth of the Taliban and the Pakistani intelligence establishment of nurturing the movement and financing the Taliban government itself, once for three months in running. He called Karzai the mayor of Kabul who does not have the capability of carrying out the threat he has recently hurled at Pakistan.
Ambassador Husain Haqqani said the time has come when all who are engaged in the war against terrorism need to do more. "The Government of Pakistan is in the process of putting in place a strategic plan. We expect our friends in Afghanistan and the United States and those in NATO to work with us rather than anyone raising voice against one another," he added. He said there can be and there are disagreements between friends but these disagreements are not like disagreements with enemies. "When allies disagree, their pattern of disagreement is different from disagreement between enemies." He said it must be remembered that the Pak-Afghan common border is a 1,000 miles long and while there are 970 security checkpoints on the Pakistan side, there are just 100 of them on the Afghan side. "Instead of saying that Pakistan is not doing enough, it is time to start saying that everybody there has not done enough and everybody can do more. Pakistan, he emphasised, will fight terrorism, not because the US offers it economic and military aid for doing so, but because it is a battle for Pakistan's very soul.
Not future: Haqqani said suicide bombers are not Pakistans future. Terrorism must, therefore, be eliminated. Afghanistan is a friend and an ally. Pakistan respects the elected leadership of Afghanistan and expects Afghanistan to do the same for Pakistan. He said Pakistan has worked out a multi-pronged strategy to deal with its volatile northwestern region. The people of the area have to be brought on board in the war against terrorism. FATA needs to acquire true representation and become part of the national mainstream. Pakistan is negotiating with tribal leaders, not terrorists, but the swamp has to be drained to identify the troublemakers. There would be no appeasement, he promised. He said Pakistan is determined to ensure that no attacks are carried out from FATA areas into Pakistan, Afghanistan or around the world. Foreign fighters would be expelled and the laws of Pakistan would have to be respected. As for the military strategy, there would need to be real time intelligence-sharing between the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan. An ambitious socio-economic strategy for the development and uplift of the FATA region has been worked out. Economic opportunity zones are be set up, which would transform the area and the thinking of the people. He pointed out that terrorists do not represent Islamic values. On the other hand, they distort the faith in whose name they commit horrible acts. The US, he concluded, should look at Pakistan as a friend and partner and the relationship as long-term.
