Issue 55 Vol III, January 15, 2008

F O C U S

Punjab turns Pervasi
Gobind Thukral

LAST week, the Akali BJP government hosted with great funfair, the Punjab Pervasi Samelan. It left no stone unturned to welcome around 250 Punjabis who had left the Indian shores and made some mark in the respective fields in various countries of Europe, North America [Canada and America] and many other countries. Music, songs, dance and plenty of good food and endless glasses of Scotch whisky greeted them wherever these NRI Punjabis went. The entire political leadership and state government’s top brass was in attendance as we normally do when we receive marriage parties. Most of them were state guests and were treated with warmth for which Punjabis are identified. They were naturally very happy, meeting ministers, having audience with the chief minister and hugged by who- so- who of Punjab. Media through interviews and photo sessions filled if any gap was left to uplift their spirits.

These are our NRI Punjabi brothers and sisters [not many, of course] were presented a vision of Punjab at a five star hotel in the lush green Chandigarh. Young Sukhbir Singh Badal, acting president of the Akali Dal and a person who hopes to succeed his father Parkash Singh Badal, sooner or later and who had honed his skills with the help of battery of officers, left nothing to chance while presenting his dream of Punjab.

In Sukhbir’s perception, the problems faced by NRIs include lack of airports in Punjab, bad roads and power cuts. “All this would change. Work at most projects will start immediately and will be concluded within three years. We shall take care of every problem, including the shortage of power for which the state would soon be producing 5,000 MW. We will become a power surplus state and sell power to other states like the Sheikhs sell oil”. Leaving it at that for NRIs to ponder and invest in Punjab.

Akali government has also promised metro rail in Ludhiana and Amritsar and six lining of some other roads besides to spend Rs 4,000 crore on improving canal system. It would require some Rs 20,000 crore in next four years to complete all this.

Also, “NRIs will reach home in one or two hours after landing in Mohali or Amritsar. About 30 to 40 per cent buses on Punjab roads will be air-conditioned by the year-end and 70 to 70 per cent by next year”. He also had a solution for the badly planned towns of Punjab. “In future no constriction will be allowed in any of the seven town planning authorities, unless it conforms to a master plan being prepared by a Singapore-based company called Jurong International”. He declared, “Our mission is to the bridge the gap between the Indian Punjab and the world Punjab. And today Punjab is the land of opportunities. Foreign countries do not need investment. It is Punjab that needs investment. If you invest now you will get the benefit.”

It was indeed impressive show. The chief minister his meetings with NRIs wanted them to help Punjab grow. He too had right kind of concerns; education, power, roads and electricity. Other ministers like Finance minister Manpreet Badal admitting that the financial situation was bad but not crisis-ridden. He appealed to the NRIs to contribute their bit towards the financial well-being of their motherland. Yet Capt Kanwaljit Singh, cooperation minister who did find the situation optimistic maintained that the financial and agrarian crisis in Punjab required careful handling. Presenting a realistic position was important so that the NRIs could take a well-informed decision and did their duty towards the state by providing expertise and financial investment. It was interesting to know that the public relations minister Bikramjit Singh Majithia was promising to build a data base and directory of Punjabi media in foreign lands. Some of these newspapers, magazines and radio and television programmes have kept Punjabi language alive and people connected. No mean service.

If the purpose of this festival was to attract big investment, then Punjab must be ready to face some disappointment. Parliamentarians, Ujjal Dosanjh from Canada and Varinder Sharma from England or Rajinder Takhar, a minister in Ontario state of Canada who called spade a spade felt that not more than five per cent amongst the NRIs have any money to invest. Dosanjh said, “The present level of infra structure; roads, power and education does not inspire. We are rather very sad. Punjab is slipping badly on governance. Otherwise what is the need of setting up separate police stations for NRIs? Also how come so far the government has not done enough to review the cases of 1300 persons of Punjab origin who are proclaimed offenders?”  Many others like five time M.P from Toronto area in Canada Gurbaksh Malhi shared the concern of the immigrants Punjabis. Nina Gill member of European Parliament wanted Punjab do something urgent in the field of education or else it would lag behind. Nevertheless, they offered all help they could. In fact, many offered clear plans, though at small level to help education in villages or water supply or sanitation systems.

But the festival had one unique contribution of linking the Punjabis all across the globe and helped them understand Punjab and its difficult situation. Many wished that Sukhbir should have also presented before them how he was going to realise his dream. “It is easy to weave dreams and sell them to gullible public. But if a realistic picture is presented, that can be useful for such conferences,” was a pithy comment from Varinder Sharma. There was also justified criticism that it was more or less an Akali show where even BJP was just tagged and other political parities like Congress and the Communists totally ignored.

But more important is the bleak picture of Punjab’s economy and thereby its fiscal poverty. Both public and private debts have risen sharply. Its small scale sector under the new liberal regime and facing repeated power cuts is gasping for breath. Agrarian crisis stares the state, but we hear those usual noises and no real solution. There are over 35 lakh young men searching for jobs. Majority have no education and no skills. Drop out rate from primary to matriculation is a whopping 70 per cent. To say that the education is in a mess is an understatement. Punjab is one of the most poorly governed states where nothing moves unless one has a sifarish or money to grease the palms. In yesterday’s number one state of India, Punjab has over 13 lakh families trying hard to claim atta and daal meant for the poor. Yet Punjab spends Rs 4,000 crore on various subsidies and fails to create those conditions that create jobs. Is good education where Mr Badal was pleading with Parvasi Punjabis is his responsibly as well. What dignity the common people can have.

BACK

Ms Bhutto's Will
Ishtiaq Ahmed

I was badly shaken by the news of the brutal assassination of Ms Benazir Bhutto. It brought back sad memories of the way Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his descendents have had to pay in blood for coming into conflict with the establishment. In the several interviews that followed on Singapore television, I was constantly asked what implications this would have for democracy and the survival of Pakistan. My response was that in her death she may have created a greater basis for the return of civilian rule and democracy.

But the news that she wrote a will that made her husband Asif Ali Zardari her successor and thus chairperson of the PPP induced a depression, from which I have not yet managed to release myself. There is another version that she has named her son Bilawal, 19, as her successor, but her husband will play that role on his behalf until Bilawal is ready to take over. Even this makes no sense.

If the reports published in the newspapers are to be believed, only portions of the will related to the PPP were read out by Zardari. The argument given for not sharing the whole text with the PPP central committee was that it contained personal matters, especially those relating to the distribution of property.

Zardari, it is reported, was surprised that he and not their son Bilawal had been nominated as her political successor. He acted wisely, and instead declared Bilawal the successor while he will be the regent until Bilawal is ready to take up the responsibility of lifelong chairperson of the PPP. Bilawal will now be called Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari.

Mr Babar Awan, a Zardari loyalist and a lawyer who has defended him in Pakistani courts, correctly argued in a BBC interview that a person should be treated as innocent until proven guilty. He asserted that the Pakistani courts failed to find evidence that could prove Zardari guilty. He was kept in jail for some 11 years, of which eight were a long spell, he said, and therefore he should be treated as innocent.

The problem with this argument is that it can boomerang. Was it not the decision of the Supreme Court, which found Z A Bhutto guilty of ordering the murder of a political opponent and ordered his execution? Should we not, then, accept that proven guilty by the highest court in Pakistan, Z A Bhutto should be considered a criminal?

Mr Awan knows, and we know, that the state machinery in Pakistan is open to manipulation and gross abuse of authority, and this has infected even the judiciary. The hanging of Z A Bhutto was judicial murder. Equally, the decision to clear Zardari could be a political acquittal. In the corridors of power in Pakistan, intrigues, conspiracies, and much worse, happen all the time.

Most recently Aitzaz Ahsan, a senior PPP leader, who is still under house arrest for leading uncompromisingly the campaign for the reinstatement of the deposed chief justice and other judges of the Supreme Court, gained national fame. Ms Bhutto did nothing to get him released before deciding to contest the elections.

She felt comfortable in the company of sycophants. But while sycophants may be in a majority in the PPP central committee it also contains people with backgrounds in trade unions and peasants' rights movement, progressive intellectuals, distinguished lawyers and many decent people. They are surely going to wonder why they should submit to the leadership of a man whose abuse of power and authority is proverbial.

As far as the forthcoming election is concerned, there is no doubt that the PPP is riding on the crest of a massive wave of public sympathy that will pay rich dividends this time in terms of seats in the legislatures. But the PPP cannot remain for long a mass party of the poor wedded to social democracy and yet represent a decadent type of feudalism when it comes to inner-party democracy and leadership.

One can even wonder if she did this in the best interest of her party or to reward Zardari for something that we will never know. She won great sympathy when her assassination took place. It is in the very nature of human beings that they do not approve of cruelty and injustice. I found taxi drivers, journalists, restaurant waiters, retired people and others in Singapore sad and hurt when the news of her death reached them. But I also noticed that the same type of people were completely bewildered when they learnt that she had declared the PPP an exclusive preserve of her immediate family. It should not be surprising if a similar reaction takes place in Pakistan at some stage.

The PPP can only survive in the 21st century as a mass party of the poor that upholds democracy and social justice if it can provide clean and honest leadership. In the era of globalisation and information revolution abuse of public office will no longer be possible to hide, and in Pakistan the free press and media have proven their mettle. On the other hand, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari has all the right to achieve leadership on merit. For that he does not need a testament from his mother.

The writer is a professor of political science and a visiting senior research fellow at the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore. Email: isasia@nus.edu.sg

BACK

Iraq Imperial Plan

America has no plans to leave Iraq to the Iraqis, of whatever political hue they may be.  It would want to keep its control and exploit its oil wealth for long long time to come. This is becoming clear every day. It is another matter that the imperialists like the British in India and elsewhere had a million year plan to keep their occupation, but were forced out.

Close to the end of last year, American President Bush quietly revealed his intention to create an endless, "enduring" relationship with Iraq. In September, Gen. David Petraeus said a 50-year presence in Iraq would be a "realistic assessment." America was revealing its imperial mind clearly.  Echoing this sentiment, Republican presidential hopeful Sen. John McCain echoed the old hegemonic mindset  last week, it  "would be fine" with him if the U.S. military stayed in Iraq for "a hundred years" or even a "million years" in order to ensure a stable Iraq . Let America’s new friends like India take note.

These assertions are oblivious of the growing disillusionment of the American public with wars and occupations. Also, the political stalemate in Iraq is essentially where it was two years ago. The Financial Times reports that Iraq is so far from national reconciliation that "U.S. officers say that such a grand compromise may not be so important," abandoning the primary goal of Bush's escalation policy. There had been more violence, more killings of both Iraqis and Americans. Fifty-nine percent of Americans say the United States should "stick to a withdrawal timetable" instead of keeping "a significant number of troops in Iraq until the situation there gets better, even if that takes many years." The general assessment is that a date set for redeployment of troops out of Iraq -- nor endless occupation -- is more likely to give the needed "leverage to advance a political settlement between Iraq's warring factions."

McCain has suggested that he supports "permanent bases" in Iraq, adding that Americans would endorse such an occupation plan. His assertion is: "I don't think Americans are concerned if we're there for 100 years or 1,000 years or 10,000 years," as long as troop deaths are minimal. McCain, however, is ignoring the immense cost of occupation. Yet how would America bear the cost of the war Sen. Ted Stevens recently said that the Iraq war and war on terror are now costing "$15 billion a month." America’s own economy has entered the great depression stage and unemployment is rising each passing day. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the "higher debt and interest costs, is going to cause severe economic dislocation, which are exacerbated by war costs."

McCain is aligning himself with Bush, progressives, however, are doing the opposite. As the Los Angeles Times notes, Iraqi security forces have had only "a mixed track record" despite billions of dollars in U.S. investment. A June report from the Center for American Progress, titled Strategic Reset, called for "ceasing the unconditional arming and training of Iraq's national security forces until a political consensus and sustainable political solution is reached." "Spending billions to arm Iraq's security forces without political consensus among Iraq's leaders carries significant risks," the report states. Echoing Strategic Reset, former Democratic senator John Edwards told The New York Times last week "if elected president he would withdraw the American troops who are training the Iraqi army." "I absolutely believe this to my soul: we are there propping up their bad behavior," he said. Senators Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, Democratic presidential contestants have recognized the risks of training without political progress and reconciliation. Obama has repeatedly asserted this year that he would continue training Iraqis if political progress was made and the Iraqi forces did not act in a sectarian manner. Though less clear, Clinton also has issued similar qualifications saying she would support training "only to the extent we believe such training is working."

In September 2007, Obama released his plan to "responsibly end the war in Iraq," calling for a complete redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2009, starting immediately. He also advocates a UN-led Iraqi constitutional convention in order to forge national reconciliation and to reach compromises on federalism, oil revenue s haring, and "de-Ba'athification." As president, Obama says he would establish an "international working group" to solve the Iraqi refugee crisis.Obama opposes the establishment of permanent U.S. military bases.

In October, the Center for American Progress Action Fund had warned that heading into 2008, progressives were at risk of "drifting themselves into offering only a vague and muddled vision" for Iraq in light of declining violence levels. Progressive candidates have responded and toughened their stances on redeployment. Clinton told a New Hampshire audience that she would have "the Joint Chiefs, the Secretary of Defense, and my security advisers draw up the plans necessary to begin withdrawing our troops within 60 days" of entering office. Edwards's plan also calls for continuing "a steady redeployment until all combat troops are out in roughly nine to ten months," a quicker withdrawal than he previous emphasised on the "gradual reduction of forces and training of Iraqi forces." Obama called for a "complete redeployment of U.S. troops from Iraq by the end of 2009, starting immediately."

The foreign policy issue already framing the 2008 presidential election is the war in Iraq. The war's growing unpopularity among Americans, coupled with nightly images of civilian and soldier casualties, will only add to the candidates' need to craft a plan to win the war. On this issue, the candidates are divided between supporting the president's strategy to surge more troops into central Iraq versus establishing a timetable, complete with benchmarks, to eventually pull out U.S. forces and possibly withhold funding for the war effort. Further, there are sharp philosophical divisions among the candidates and their parties over whether Iraq symbolizes the central front in the larger war on terrorism or  an isolated civil war between sectarian factions with a long history of mutual animosity.

BACK