Pakistan’s deepening political crisis

The Supreme Court ruling to bar the opposition leader Nawaz Sharif and his brother Shahbaz Sharif from elected office has plunged Pakistan into political turmoil once again. It is the last thing the country needed as it reels from the Taliban’s offensive in Swat on one hand and India’s aggressive diplomacy and US pressure over the Mumbai attacks on the other.

The optimism that enveloped the country following the elections last year and the return of genuine democratic rule is nowhere to be seen. The task of restoring autonomy to institutions such as the judiciary should have begun with the reinstatement of Iftikhar Mohammed Choudhury as Chief Justice. Instead, the failure to honour the Murree declaration severely harmed the spirit of political unity. The verdict of a Musharraf-appointed Supreme Court, whose legitimacy is constantly under question, has set the discord that began over differences on restoring the judiciary along an irrevocable path. Mr Nawaz Sharif has already denounced the court ruling as politically motivated by saying, “It’s an edict, not a verdict.”

Allegations by the PML-N of PPP’s offer of a business deal to Mr Shahbaz Sharif granting amnesty in return for legitimising the Supreme Court and dropping the demand for the restoration of the judiciary has further damaged the PPP’s credibility and commitment to empowering democratic institutions. The deployment of police to disallow the convening of the Punjab provincial assembly, where Mr Shahbaz Sharif is chief minister, has only highlighted the PPP’s unwillingness to uphold democratic norms. Lawyers throughout Pakistan have condemned the decision, calling it a ‘presidential’ verdict and protesting in large numbers at the Mall in Lahore and outside the locked Pakistani parliament in Islamabad.

Pakistan is unfortunately heading for the divisive politics of the 1990’s that created the justification for military rule. Mr Zardari’s contentious decision to assume the post of president has only deepened the mistrust between the two major parties, especially since he has not shown any inclination to curtail the extra-constitutional powers invested in the post during Musharraf’s reign. At a time when the political establishment needs to stand united to root out the menace of rising religious fundamentalism and other challenges facing the country, the recent events do not bode well for democracy’s future. Mr Zardari has repeatedly raised a call to the spirit of ‘reconciliation’, but he has increasingly taken steps to isolate and vanquish the PML-N in the political arena. A year later, democracy’s early promise once again lies battered.

This appeared as an editorial in The Daily Word, the paper at the Asian College of Journalism.

The tribal mall

MARKET AND COMMUNITY: The Jolarpet haat is not just about buying and selling

Jolarpet’s weekly haat has a striking resemblance to the modern mall – without the frills, of course. Set in a large clearing off the main highway, its temporary lanes and alleys boast a staggering quantity and variety of material. Cheap apparel hangs from wooden canopies, beside an army of mirrors and combs. Tomatoes, onions and all kinds of vegetables rest on the ground, enduring clouds of dust whipped up by shoppers walking by. Cosmetics are another ubiquitous sight, hugely in demand. On the fringes on the market, near the highway, a Vivel stall lurks, waiting to ambush.

S. Kannan, 71, retired as a railway mechanic and receives a monthly pension of Rs 6000. He sells vegetables at the haat, working only one day of the week. The occupation gives him a chance to socialise and interact with other people of the area. “There is not much money in this,” he says. “But I get a chance to meet people and get away from the boredom and loneliness of old age.”

Hafez on the other hand has only recently returned after spending ten years in Bombay. He had shunned the anonymity of urban life fuelled by a desire to lead a more rooted existence. “I wanted to speak Tamil again,” he said. He shares his stall with his next-door neighbour Rafiq, and they sell mostly vegetables. Rafiq remarked that the sales were very good. “It is five o’clock now. By eight o’clock, everything on this table will disappear. For the next three hours, I wouldn’t able to share even a word with you.”

Both Rafiq and Hafez, who were running a middle-size stall, seemed content. Every day, they are able to earn Rs 250 each, and in festival season, anywhere from Rs 400 to Rs 500. Whereas overt government intervention and regulation account for the oppressive plight of the Indian farmer, the freedom of the market was liberating for Hafez. “I could easily set up shop here. There are no restrictions, as long as you don’t encroach on anybody else’s space.”

The Indian intellectual has been deeply antagonistic towards the market. But for Hafez, this free nature of the haat meant he did not have to deal with the bureaucracy. There were no bribes to pay, no sahibs to appease. “It was easy, really. Rafiq needed someone to partner him, and it worked out all right for both of us,” he said. When asked whether they faced any discrimination, both of them replied with a vehement ‘no’. Rafiq said, “When the customer buys here, he doesn’t mostly know who I am. For some of our regular customers, it is not important at all. All they are interested is in good quality vegetables.”

The haat is not just a place for buying and selling, it is also a social hub. Here, beyond the routine monetary transactions and the hustle-bustle, conversations abound and lasting emotional ties are forged. Though the market may not ultimately dissolve identities, it certainly dilutes them. And in places like Jolarpet, the haat is an extremely cosmopolitan place where people from all communities participate.

This piece appeared in the Covering Deprivation issue of The Word, the paper at the Asian College of Journalism.

Surging South

Alarm bells are ringing for the Hindi heartland. UP and Bihar face serious questions before they can be relevant on the national stage

LEADING THE WAY: By most yardsticks, the South is way ahead

For the last month, I’ve been travelling across much of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. For somebody who often spent vacations in obscure towns in Uttar Pradesh where the suitability of a town is often measured by comparing crime statistics, the southern part of this country is a revelation. Better roads, decent public transport, a semblance of order, hardly any undercurrents of violence on the street – this is all very far away from the ubiquitous misery and constant state of unrest in the Hindi heartland.

I’ll let the stats do the talking. The four southern states contribute one-third of India’s tax revenues. Contrast this with UP and Bihar who despite accounting for 25% of the population contribute just above 10%. The electrification in Tamil Nadu and Kerala is in the high eighties and nineties. For UP and Bihar, an abysmal 42.8% and 27.7% respectively. Literacy is a no-contest – Kerala 89.9%, Tamil Nadu 74.2%, UP 61.6%, Bihar 54.1%. Any yardstick of social and economic development we take, HIV awareness, media exposure, vaccination coverage, household size, the result is the same – the South is way ahead.

Throughout our Covering Deprivation tour in Vellore district, what struck most of us was the quality of the roads. Even in the remotest parts of the state, as you turn away from the highway, there are paved roads which are easily navigable. While anybody who has travelled way into Eastern UP is sufficiently acquainted with the dustbowls that account for highways. The stats bear us out here too. Tamil Nadu is half the area of UP, yet has 75% of that mammoth state’s highway length.

Chennai, Hyderabad and Bangalore are a league away from the wretchedness of Lucknow, Bhopal and Patna. Even Chennai’s understated material opulence may perhaps be a sign of greater social equity. The harsh gulf between destitution and obscene wealth that is part of the perennial landscape of Delhi, Bombay and Calcutta is less visible.

This is not to say that the South does not have its problems. Of course, it does. Caste, as we saw on our Covering Deprivation tour, remains a major problem as everywhere else in India. But the fact that very different questions are being asked of the polity here is instructive. Voting patterns on the basis of identity are far from extinct, but the elected representatives also know that a minimum level of performance will have to be shown. The question is of better performance, not of occasional, providential government intervention.

The writing is on the wall – the Hindi heartland is in trouble. Even the xenophobic sentiment exploited by Raj Thackeray and his ilk is a pointer to the stark failure of these states in giving their inhabitants a sustainable livelihood. So what does this mean for those two non-performing monoliths – UP and Bihar? They have a monumental challenge ahead of them, if they are to remain relevant to the nation, not just a festering sore. For far too long, they have been trapped in an endless quagmire of violence and destitution. While railing against Raj Thackeray, they must also radically change their political culture and demand performance from those they elect.

This piece appeared in the Covering Deprivation issue of The Word, the paper at the Asian College of Journalism.

The endless war in Darfur

The recent announcement of ceasefire by the Sudanese government has failed to bring about peace in the ravaged region

On November 12 this year, Sudan President Omar Hassan al-Bashir offered a ceasefire and promised to disarm militias, in a move to end the nearly 6-year-old Darfur conflict. He announced his “agreement to an immediate, unconditional ceasefire between the armed forces and the warring factions, provided that an effective monitoring mechanism be put into action and be observed by all involved parties.”

This came in the wake of charges filed by the chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, seeking Al-Bashir’s arrest. Ocampo filed 10 charges – three counts of genocide, five of crimes against humanity and two of murder and accused Al-Bashir of masterminding a campaign to get rid of the African tribes in Darfur. Thus, the conciliatory move by Al-Bashir was aimed evading a seemingly imminent arrest warrant, to be issued by the ICC. The ICC has already issued arrest warrants against Ahmed Harun, minister of humanitarian affairs, and janjaweed commander Ali Kushayb, for crimes in Darfur.

The Darfur conflict started in February 2003 and has rapidly developed into one of the most violent military confrontations on the African continent. In the last five years, 300,000 people have been killed, more than 2 million displaced and about 120,000 have fled into neighbouring Chad. The conflict is basically between African insurgents and the government-backed Arab militias.

There are two major rebel forces fighting against the government in Khartoum. One is the politically moderate Sudan Liberation Movement (SLM), based mostly on the Fur and Masaleet tribes. The other is the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM), based mostly on the Zaghawa tribe and with radical Islamist connections. It is linked with the radical Popular Patriotic Congress led by the veteran Islamist Hassan al-Turabi, who was formerly aligned with the NIF, which came to power in 1989.

The two rebel forces, who claim to be collaborating militarily, have been fighting the Sudanese army forces and the government-backed militia, the Janjaweed. The Janjaweed has conducted an ethnic cleansing campaign in rebel villages throughout the region, destroying nearly 2,700 villages. Sheik Suleiman, a civil community representative, told the Guardian in an interview on 24 November 2008, “I saw the killing with my own eyes. I saw the Janjaweed chain men up, make them kneel on the ground and then shoot them – 150 of them.”

Mass rape is another tactic employed by the Janjaweed to assert its domination within a region. Business Daily Africa quoted a victim saying, “They rape women in front of their mothers and fathers. Maybe around 20 men rape one woman. These things are normal for us in Darfur.” The first step in any lasting solution for peace lies in the disarming and dissolution of the Janjaweed militia, which has been an unwavering demand of the rebel groups. President Omar al-Bashir said the recent ceasefire will include steps to disarm the Janjaweed.

The United States has imposed economic sanctions and asked for support for an international arms embargo to end what President George W Bush called “genocide” in Darfur. Washington has regularly denounced Khartoum for its role in the conflict and lent verbal support to human rights campaigners.

Yet, little has been done by way of direct action. Since September 11, Sudan began increasing its sharing of ‘counterterror’ intelligence with the U.S. The U.S. State Department praised Khartoum for taking “significant steps to cooperate in the war on terrorism.” In 2001, the Bush administration rejected the Sudan Peace Act, which would have financed support for anti-Khartoum forces. Instead, it signed a toothless, watered-down version the next year.

In 2007, a U.S. administration spokesperson said, “The United States will maintain its strong support for countries on the front lines in the war on terrorism, especially Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sudan.” In 2008, the U.S. publicly announced its offer to normalize relations with Khartoum, fuelled by a desire to gain a foothold in Sudan’s booming oil industry.

Oil is the reason why China has sprung to the defence of the Sudan President Omar al-Bashir, expressing “grave concern” at the ICC’s moves to arrest him. 70 per cent of Sudan’s oil is exported to China, which gets one-third of its oil imports from Africa. In a reaction to these policies, five Chinese workers, employees of the China National Petroleum Corporation, were kidnapped and killed, suspected to be the handiwork of Darfur rebel groups. China has financed close to $1.3 billion of infrastructure projects in Sudan, it remains the biggest supplier of weapons to the Sudanese government.

China looks at Africa strategically as a continent that has resources that it needs to drive its economy forward. Trade between China and Africa will grow to $100 billion this year. China broke ground on a $120 million headquarters for the African Union, the chief organization of African nations this month. Wu Bangguo, one of China’s top leaders, called the gift “another example of the growing friendship between China and Africa.”

The International Crisis Group correctly summarizes the operative factors behind international policy in relation to the conflict, “The sad reality is that Darfur simply does not matter enough, and Sudan matters too much, for the international community to do more to stop the atrocities.”

Meanwhile, claims of peace after the ceasefire by the Sudanese government have been contradicted. On December 2, 15 human right organisations, including Human Rights Watch and Save Darfur Coalition, said in a report that continued attacks on civilians showed the emptiness of Khartoum’s promises for the ravaged region. The 22 page report, titled “Rhetoric vs. Reality: The Situation in Darfur,” documents the lack of progress in Darfur in recent months regarding security, the humanitarian situation, the deployment of peacekeepers, and domestic justice. “The situation in Darfur is far from what the world would define as ‘normal’,” said Julia Fromholz, director of the Crimes Against Humanity Program at Human Rights First. “Millions of people are living under daily threat of violence and are dependent on humanitarian aid that is hindered or entirely blocked by ongoing insecurity and endless bureaucratic hurdles.”

The report describes the ongoing insecurity in Darfur. Even in November, following the government’s declaration of a “unilateral, unconditional ceasefire,” the Sudanese army continued to bomb villages in North and West Darfur. “Once again, the Sudanese government is talking peace with diplomats and journalists while waging war in Darfur,” said Save Darfur Coalition President Jerry Fowler. “And once again, civilians are bearing the brunt of the violence.”

UN’s top humanitarian official admitted that Darfur was getting more dangerous. “The longer this conflict goes on, the more dangerous it becomes in terms of the ability to return to normality as it was before,” John Holmes, UN emergency relief coordinator, told a news conference after a six-day visit to Sudan.

UN officials estimate that up to 4.7 million people receive aid in the world’s biggest humanitarian relief operation, set to cost one billion dollars in 2009. UN officials say security in Darfur has worsened considerably in 2008, with 11 humanitarian workers killed, 172 assaults on humanitarian premises, 261 vehicles hijacked and 170 staff temporarily abducted so far this year.

The United Nations/African Union peacekeeping force (UNAMID) remains at less than 50 percent of its mandated strength and has repeatedly come under attack. The Sudanese government has once again recommitted to fulfilling its obligations to facilitate the force, but these commitments have yet to be tested. At a local level, government forces and authorities consistently hamper the ability of the force to protect civilians, through obstruction, bureaucracy, and even violent attacks.

Sudanese authorities have also announced a series of steps ostensibly designed to improve domestic justice for crimes in Darfur, including a new prosecutor for Darfur.  However, to date the prosecutor has only considered three cases, and no fresh prosecutions in relation to major atrocities have begun.

“Above all what we need to see in Darfur is a rapid political progress, a rapid political settlement… only that will enable the kind of progress we want to make in terms of development in Darfur,” Holmes, the UN emergency relief coordinator, said.

This piece appeared in the op-ed section of The Word, the paper at the Asian College of Journalism.

President Barack Obama

It is impossible not to think of Martin Luther King today, as the dream that he so powerfully articulated finds its realization in reality.

I offer two excerpts from his speeches in Oslo after winning the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize.

On the ability of individuals to influence the course of history -

“I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsom and jetsom in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.”

And the prophecy with which he saw the significance of the Civil Rights Movement -

“In the past ten years unarmed gallant men and women of the United States have given living testimony to the moral power and efficacy of nonviolence. By the thousands, faceless, anonymous, relentless young people, black and white, have temporarily left the ivory towers of learning for the barricades of bias. Their courageous and disciplined activities have come as a refreshing oasis in a desert sweltering with the heat of injustice. They have taken our whole nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in the formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. One day all of America will be proud of their achievements.”

On days like this, it is possible to believe again in essential human goodness.

Undecided Voters

As the US presidential campaign reaches its final stages, David Sedaris in The New Yorker wonders whether they exist -

“I look at these people and can’t quite believe that they exist. Are they professional actors? I wonder. Or are they simply laymen who want a lot of attention?

To put them in perspective, I think of being on an airplane. The flight attendant comes down the aisle with her food cart and, eventually, parks it beside my seat. “Can I interest you in the chicken?” she asks. “Or would you prefer the platter of shit with bits of broken glass in it?”

To be undecided in this election is to pause for a moment and then ask how the chicken is cooked.

Taking into account that they elected Bush twice, it is not wholly implausible that Americans have a taste for shit and broken glass.

The Last Dictator

Musharraf’s exit must be used as a platform to secure democracy’s long-term future in Pakistan

The imminent impeachment of Pervez Musharraf will be a significant step forward in strengthening democratic rule in Pakistan. The euphoria over the election victory of the PPP and PML-N had dwindled sharply after the failure to implement the Murree declaration. The exit of the PML-N from the government had further exacerbated fears that the democratic forces would fail to work together, and play into Musharraf’s hands.

In this gloomy scenario, Zardari’s announcement to move impeachment proceedings against Musharraf has considerably lifted spirits. It is not completely clear what prompted this clean break. Zardari was probably unnerved by Sharif’s soaring popularity, fuelled by his commitment to restore the judges and his consistent opposition to Musharraf. The PPP, and especially Zardari, were on the other hand were increasingly seen to have secretly aligned with Musharraf. There was constant speculation about a tie-up with the PML-Q as it appeared that Sharif’s patience would soon run out. Zardari also realised that public perception of his apparent proximity with Musharraf was also increasingly becoming a political liability.

It looks fairly certain that Musharraf will go. The army, under General Ashfaq Kayani, seems unwilling to support him. Another Emergency, replicating the events of November 3, is unlikely. Kayani has shown no inclination so far to meddle in political affairs. The Army has learnt its lesson, it is aware that dissolution of Parliament will be catastrophic. Within the top echelons of the military, there is an increasing clamour for Musharraf’s exit. Sections of the PML-Q have decided to back the impeachment motion. The PPP-PML (N) alliance has the numbers to oust Musharraf. It would be surprising, if subsequent events establish a case to the contrary.

With Musharraf’s ouster, the short-term future of Pakistani democracy would be secured. The larger question still remains – what needs to be done for the long run? Electoral democracy in Pakistan has always functioned as a form of feudal elitism. There are no political leaders in Pakistan comparable to grassroots politicians in India, such as Mayawati or Lalu Prasad Yadav. This space has come to be occupied by the religious parties, which could explain the swift rise of fundamentalism in Pakistan. The major political parties, the PPP and the PML-N, must take steps to address these concerns and ensure wider representation. A policy of affirmative action needs to be evolved to check antagonistic sentiment towards the state, especially among ethnic groups such as Balochs and tribal groups. Comprehensive development also must take place in these under-developed areas.

The future of democracy in Pakistan would also depend on the current regime’s ability to build sustainable democratic institutions. The restoration of the judges would be a major statement in declaring the independent nature of the judiciary in Pakistan. Further safeguards in the Constitution to protect the judiciary from the executive would be welcome. The courts must function in an autonomous manner, free from the threat of political interference. Steps must also be taken to formulate an independent Election Commission that is able to conduct free and fair elections on a regular basis. The Supreme Court and the Election Commission must become inviolate institutions for civil rights and electoral democracy to be upheld.

Pakistan’s political establishment must not lose sight of the larger picture, following the atmosphere of pervading triumphalism that is likely after Musharraf’s exit. While celebrating the fall of a military dictator, they must also ensure that he will be the last one.

The mythology of the paper clip in Norwegian imagination

In 1989, a giant paper clip about 7 meters high was erected on a college campus near Oslo. This was a tribute to Johan Vaaler, a Norwegian patent clerk and inventor. In 1899, Vaaler designed a paper clip without being aware of the existence of a superior version by the Gem Manufacturing Company in Britain. Vaaler also applied for patents in Germany in 1899 and in the United States in 1901. However by 1907, the Gem brand of paper clips had achieved pre-eminence as the perfect paper clip that “will hold securely your letters, documents or memoranda without perforation and mutilation until you wish to release them.” Vaaler’s invention, which lacked the two loops and was thus inferior, went nowhere. He died soon after in 1910, with no idea of his impending place in history.

During the Nazi occupation of Norway in World War II, the Norwegians made the paper clip a symbol of national unity. The occupation regime prohibited the wearing of pins or badges with national symbols or buttons imprinted with the initials of the exiled King Haakon VII. As a response to this law, Norwegians started wearing paper clips to their lapels in a show of solidarity. They became such a powerful symbol of the resistance to the occupation, that wearing a paper clip could immediately lead to arrest.

Later, Johan Vaaler was embraced as a national hero in Norway. In 1999, one hundred years after Vaaler’s patent application in Germany, the Norwegian government issued a commemorative stamp. In 2005, the national biographical encyclopedia of Norway published a comprehensive biography of Johan Vaaler that credited him as the inventor of the modern paper clip. This, despite the fact, that the claim remains shrouded in controversy. It can almost certainly be said that Vaaler is not the inventor of the gem clip as we know it today.

Yet the story lives on, erroneously. It is a subtle reminder of how the social production of a certain mythology can be such a useful tool for nationalist self-assertion.

Israel and Palestine

David Ben -Gurion, Israel’s first premier, had said in private conversation -

Why should the Arabs make peace? If I were an Arab leader, I would never make terms with Israel. That is natural; we have taken their country. Sure, God promised to us, but what does that matter to them? Our God is not theirs. We came from Israel, true, but 2000 years ago, and what is that to them? There has been anti-Semitism, the Nazis, Hitler, Auschwitz, but was that their fault? They see only one thing : We have come here and stolen their country. Why should they accept that?

It was a week in which George Bush visited Jerusalem and reaffirmed America as ‘the oldest and best friend of Israel.’ He also stated that it is impossible to negotiate with ‘terrorists’.

I’ve been reading Sumantra Bose’s Contested Lands, a hugely educative book on the nature of conflict in the world’s most troubled regions. Among other things, it shows how the United States’ unflinching support for the illegal state of Israel has served to exacerbate the deep divisions in the Middle East. It is too late to turn back the clock, though the ideal solution would be the deportation of all the Jew settlers who have migrated to Israel with the advent of the Zionist movement in the 20th century. It is one of the world’s great injustices, and its redressal lies in the creation of a state for the Palestinian people on fair and reasonable terms.

On Sexual Harassment

The Literary Society, Ramjas College held a discussion on Gender and Sexual Harassment in collaboration with The Blank Noise Project on November 5, 2007.

The following is a piece I wrote about it, published in a university journal.

Why have so many cases of sexual harassment come up in Delhi University in the past year?

Surely, sexual harassment is not something that is peculiar to DU. It has been established beyond doubt that there is no demographic to harassers and they may come from anywhere in the social strata. My guess is, the big difference is due to the awareness about the issue created through active public discourse.

The major reason behind inviting The Blank Noise Project to Ramjas College was to continue this process of change. Blank Noise, being a public-participatory art initiative, tried to take it beyond the annals of discourse. We discussed strategies for shifting the power balance in a public domain which remains largely male-dominated. This reclaiming of the public space is an important step if we aspire to gender equality. The abdication of the public space to men is nothing but abject surrender. For it is clear, more powerful than harassment is the threat of harassment, the internalization of fear and potential aggression.

In the light of what happened at Ramjas recently, the discussion with Blank Noise acquired a new context. We had planned it a month before the issue engulfed Ramjas, which only showed how pertinent it is. Blank Noise’s emphasis was largely female-centric sexual harassment, but the interaction also went beyond gender. More than girls, we had boys speaking about experiences of sexual harassment. I thought, the unique part was that people felt comfortable enough to speak about difficult things in an audience of about a hundred people. For once, there was no shame attached to being harassed. Maybe it was a small occurrence, but also a powerful step in the process. When we find the courage to speak about it, we make it more and more evident that there is a problem. And the fight against it must go on.