Issue 64 Vol III, May 31, 2008

A N A L Y S I S

Managing a coalition
Ishtiaq Ahmed

THE coalition government of Yousaf Raza Gilani has suffered a major setback after the PML-N decided to withdraw from it. The Feb 18 elections in which the people roundly rejected the authoritarianism of President Musharraf and the two former rivals, the PPP and PML-N, closed ranks to establish a national government was undoubtedly an event of great historical dimensions. Such a development was the consummation of several months of political agitation and legal contestation between the establishment and the spontaneous movement for constitutionalism, the rule of law and democracy, that had emerged in the wake of the March 9, 2007 virtual dismissal of Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry by President Musharraf. The democratic forces won the day and many of us began to believe that Pakistan has finally made a decisive break with its directionless politics.

It is important to figure out who is responsible for the current crisis. I don't think there should be any doubt that the PPP-PML-N alliance was based on a principled commitment to restore all the judges that had been deposed when Musharraf imposed the emergency on Nov 3, 2007. Of course, Nawaz Sharif was crystal clear on this matter while many from the PPP also came out categorically in favour of the restitution of the deposed judges, but Zardari remained circumspect and spoke in vague terms about it.

His conduct in general since Ms Bhutto's tragic death has been most intriguing. As soon as he took over the helm of affairs a whole bunch of sycophants began to sing his praise as a great healer, visionary and statesman.

We will never know exactly what was agreed between Zardari and Nawaz Sharif but the Murree Declaration did include an explicit commitment to restore all the deposed judges back to their positions. Since then rounds and rounds of negotiations have led nowhere on evolving a mechanism to realise this commitment.

Zardari's objection to restoring the judges is that when he was imprisoned they never considered his prayers about his innocence and also did not grant his request to attend the funeral of a nephew. Therefore, he does not have any reason to put his faith in such judges. Now, this is a perfectly valid standpoint if it is consist with his stand on related issues.

How come he has been so keen to seek rapprochement with the MQM and its fugitive leader Altaf Husain? The judges may be guilty of not looking upon his case with sympathy but anybody who knows Pakistan even superficially would be aware of the fact that the MQM was created by the ISI with a specific purpose to weaken the PPP. The violence that ravaged Karachi and other places in Sindh during the 1990s is all too well known and does not need elaboration. And many have accused that party of also being directly involved in the violence of May 12, 2007.

It is obvious that Zardari practices selective reconciliation and adjustment in his political moves. There was absolutely no reason ever to believe that he was not buried neck-deep in massive corruption and irregularities. That President Musharraf let him get off the hook by dropping all charges against him through presidential fiat, all for the sake of stability and consolidation of democracy, is an argument that can make sense only to the Bush administration.

However, to be very honest the deal had originally been brokered by the United States between Benazir Bhutto and Musharraf. However, one can really question if after her assassination such a deal is relevant any more. Already before her death Ms Bhutto had identified three men in Musharraf's close circle allegedly planning her murder. When that actually transpired, the same view was expressed by some of her party stalwarts. They rejected the government's story that Taliban leader Baitullah Mahsud had ordered her assassination. They even asked for a UN investigation of her assassination.

Till such time that Zardari makes an unequivocal statement to the effect that he no longer doubts the establishment's theory of the Taliban being the culprits in her murder there can be no moral basis for getting cosy with Musharraf. It is totally callous and immoral to be bound by a deal that has become meaningless after Ms Bhutto's assassination. To most of us it was very clear that during his long detention in Pakistan Zardari had entered into some deal with the establishment that would benefit him as long as he toed their line when the occasion demanded.

It is not possible that all the corruption charges against him were false or inculpating evidence could not be found to prove him guilty. Had the government really wanted to punish him they would have invented evidence as they have done in other cases too. After all, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's trial and subsequent execution was carried out on very questionable grounds and evidence, which now even one of the judges who took part in it, admits.

On the other hand, one cannot help noticing that Nawaz Sharif has shown greater political sagacity by deciding to withdraw from the coalition, but not to bring it down. The PML-N will continue to support it from the outside. In the longer run Sharif will stand to gain from holding his ground. However, a future elected government formed entirely by Sharif can be a disaster of another sort. He has the guts and pugnacity to assume a defiant posture vis-à-vis the military establishment, but in the past has also abused his parliamentary majority to try to impose an undemocratic regime founded on dogmas.

A PPP-PML-N coalition government would have been the best guarantee against extremism of one sort or another, but now that hope has been dashed. It is another sad day in Pakistan's long history of sad days. But in the most immediate period, the thing to worry about is that the rumour that Zardari is planning to get himself elected to the National Assembly through a bye-election with a view to becoming prime minister no longer seems far-fetched.

[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. Courtesy NEWS PAKISTAN]

BACK

Sikhism: symbols and spirit
Jagpal Singh Tiwana writes from Halifax

WE have been getting reports that Punjab is lagging behind in education. Government schools are in bad shape. Teachers show little interest in imparting education and play truant. Many have fired proxy teachers to do their part of the job. Rural schools are in awful conditions; lack of buildings, and other infrastructure and even toilets and drinking water. Punjab is way behind in this respect. Students drop out and turn to drugs.

On the other hand education is fast turning to be a big business, a money spinner. Yet in between some public spirited persons are building up worthwhile institutions to flll the gap.

We have one such mission, the Kalgidhar Society. It is headed not by a semi-literate sant or baba, but by educated people, Iqbal Singh, a former Director Agriculture, and Dr. Khem Singh, a former vice chancellor Punjab Agriculture University, Ludhiana. Akal Academy, its educational wing, is a co-educational English medium public school affiliated with the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE), the largest educational board of government of India.

Akal Academy is the vision of Sant Attar Singh (1866-1927), who was a votary of modern scientific education duly tempered with spirituality especially accessible to the rural folks who have no such facilities. Sant Attar  Singh  inspired Sant Teja Singh  (1877-1965), the former Principal of Khalsa College, Amritsar (1904-1906) to acquire the most modern scientific education from the West (1906-1913). After coming back to India with rich experience of Western education, Sant Teja Singh started searching for a suitable place to set up an institution to fulfill the vision of Sant Attar Singh. Finally with the help of Iqbal Singh, he bought land in Baru, a village in Himachal Pradesh. Sant Teja Singh entrusted the responsibility of managing and developing the activities at Baru Sahib to him.  In due course, roads were built; vehicles began to ply and by 1975, six rooms were constructed.

Finally in 1987-88, the Akal Academy had its beginning with just five students. Over the years, the academy grew at an incredible pace to its present size. It is now an 11-storey building and has 1538 boys and girls on its rolls. Of these, 200 are overseas students; 100 from the US alone. 350 students are getting free education. A few of them belong to those families of the survivors of 1984 carnage, who have not yet been settled, children of martyrs of Punjab, children from underprivileged communities (Vanjara) in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh besides Nanak Panthis from Uttar Pradesh.

Akal Academy gradually shaped itself into major institution has  currently has 23 branches,  17 academies in Punjab, 3 in U.P., 2 in H.P. and 1 in Haryana. Some 23,000 students are receiving quality education besides being groomed in Gurmat. Inspired by these children, grown ups are renouncing vices and approximately five lakh have turned over new leaves in the lives.

Admissions are on merit, open to all irrespective of caste, color or religion. There are quite a large number of Hindu students in the academies. The Academy has hired Hindu teachers. English is the medium of Instruction, but there is also a Hindi medium school at Baru Sahib since 1995. The secular policy of the Kalgidhar Society is much appreciated by the Hindu chief ministers of the neighbouring states. They either come themselves or send their representatives to attend academy functions. On 23 February, 2008 when Chief Minister of Haryana  Bhupinder Singh Hooda visited the academy at Ratia  and  declared the construction of RCC road from Academy to main Ratia Fatehabad Road.

Turban Controversy

Yet an unfortunate development has caused a set back to the secular image of the Academies. Principal of the Akal Academy at Cheema in Sangrur imposed fine Rs. 10 a day if a Hindu student did not wear a turban. Hindus of the area strongly resented it. They said symbols of one religion should not be imposed on people from other faiths. About 150 Hindu parents withdrew their children from the school. They lodged a complaint against the new policy with deputy commissioner and threatened to go to High Court. BJP, which is a partner with the Akalis in government in Punjab, refused to help.

Sikhs abroad are fighting for their right to wear turbans and other symbols of their religion like kadas [iron bangle] and kirpans [sword] in schools and at jobs. In UK and USA, they have changed laws to accommodate human and religious rights of the Sikhs.

British Experience:

A Sikh girl, Sarika Singh, is kicked out of the Aberdare Girls Comprehensive School in south Wales when she wears a kada. Should she accept the school regulation on uniform as the Hindu students are forced to do in Akal Academies?

In British's army, turban was not allowed as part of uniform at one time, but they changed the army uniform code to allow Sikhs to wear turbans.

In Britain, some schools did not allow turbaned Sikh students. Sikh took the issue to courts. Case went up to the House of Lords; The Lords gave a favorable decision on appeal (1983).

In 1976 the British amended their law to permit Sikh motorcyclists not to wear helmets as Sikhs did not want to remove turbans. The Employment Act 1989 recognised Sikh construction workers' right to wear turbans in place of hard hats.

Canadian Experience:

A Canadian Sikh, Gian Singh Aujala, won a case against Pinkerton Security when he was sacked for changing his appearance. Now Sikh security guards can wear turbans with their uniforms.

In 1986, an Edmonton boy, Suneel Singh Tuli, was allowed to wear Kirpan at school after a ruling by the Human Rights Commission.

Another pupil at Peel School was also involved in a kirpan case that dragged on for two years before he was allowed to wear it.

In 2001 an elementary school principal in Quebec ordered 12-year old Gurbaj Singh Multani to remove his kirpan. Gurbaj Singh went to the court. On March 2, 2006, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled 8-0 that a total ban of kirpan in schools violates the Charter of Rights because it infringes on the Charter's guarantees of religious freedom. School authorities in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario permit students to wear kirpans.

When turbaned Sikh Baltej Singh Dhillon joined RCMP (Canadian police), there was Canada wide opposition against allowing a change in Canadian police uniform. Barbara Sparrow, a member of parliament from Calgary, presented a petition signed by 68,582 people to the Canadian Parliament in October 1989, demanding that the RCMP should remain a "Canadian institution" by retaining its uniform.

Sikhs were also snubbed by the Royal Canadian Legion, which barred Ram Raghbir Singh Chahal from attending a Legion functions unless he removed his turban. Further humiliation came as the Legion refused to allow veteran Sikhs to participate in the remembrance parade. The issue was referred to the Human Rights Commission and ex-police officials challenged the Commission’s ruling in court. The controversy raged from January to June 1994.

The turbaned Sikh Member of Parliament, G. S. Malhi, raised the issue in Parliament in June 1994, calling the Sikhs' exclusion from the remembrance parade. "a sad day for Canada". After almost five years of struggle, the court ruled in favour of Sikh Mounties’ right to wear turban.

Sikh boxer Pardeep Singh Nagra was not allowed to fight by the Canadian Amateur Boxing Association (CABA) due to his beard, but S.

Nagra went to Ontario Superior Court which ruled in his favor in Jan.

2000. CABA had to amend its uniform rule, Sikh motorcyclists are not required to take off turbans and wear helmets in B.C and Manitoba, but recently lost the case in Ontario.

American Experience:

In Livingston, California, baptized Sikh Children were not allowed with turbans and chhoti kirpan. California Senate amended the law to allow Sikh students to wear a kirpan of appropriate size. Turbans in American schools is not a problem.

Danish Experience:

On October 24, 2006, the Eastern High Court of Denmark upheld the   earlier ruling of the Copenhagen City Court by which wearing of  Kirpan by a Sikh was declared illegal.

Sant Teja Singh, founder of the Akal Academy, Baru Sahib had his advanced education in Western universities in the first decade of the 20th century. Even at that time they all amended their uniform code and did not impose their tradition on him esp. the Cambridge University. When he received his degree he was the only one with a turban and gown, but no cap.

It is quite encouraging to know that Hindu student’s right to wear patka instead of a Turban got good support from some important Sikh organizations such as SGPC, Dal Khalsa, World Sikh Organization and right thinking individuals like Lok Bhalai leader Balwant Singh Ramoonwalia and Gurdarshan Singh from Melbourne, Australia.

Finally good senses prevailed. An agreement has been reached between the school management and Hindu parents with the help of Sangrur deputy commissioner VK Ohri. Hindu students have been exempted from wearing turbans in the current session.

[Jagpal Singh Tiwana, Dartmouth, Canada]

BACK

Panjab University struggles for central status
Eklavya Bhardwaj

THE University that has produced luminaries like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, former prime minister I. K. Gujral, historian Romila Thapar, Nobel Laureate Har Gobind Khorana, world-class cricketer Kapil Dev, and a host of others, is now in bad shape. Much of its prestige is past thing. One major reason, apart from clear vision and thrust is the lack of funds.

It is fighting for something that it rightly deserves. Thanks largely to political motivations, and short-sightedness, one of the oldest and best universities of India is struggling to gain the status of being a central university.

In March this year, the joint action committee set up by the Panjab University Teachers’ Association (PUTA) and the Students’ Council started a chain fast to press the demand for central university status. The issue has attracted public attention as PU strikes a chord in the hearts of the people of this region. Nearly everyone, except the powers that be [particularly the Akalis] strongly supports the demand, and wonder what the hitch is.

Panjab University (PU) traces its roots to Lahore where it was set up as The University of The Punjab, in 1882.  After the Partition, it had make-shift offices in various parts of Punjab. When the trifurcation of Punjab took place in 1966, the University got a semi-federal status, with the Vice President as its chancellor. As Haryana chose to focus on its own new universities, the Centre and Punjab agreed to provide the funding in 60:40 ratios.  Punjab has been faltering in its share of the budget for nearly a decade. As a result most of the departments are functioning with only fifty per cent staff and facilities. Scholarship always suffers if there is limited choice of subjects.

The Central Government recently asked the state government for its views on central status for PU. The Government is not open to the idea, say experienced analysts, as it might weaken its claim to Chandigarh.

In trying to understand the issue, we might ask if PU is justified in seeking the central status; does it have the necessary facilities and infrastructure, and how would it benefit the teachers and students. The answer to the first question is that it eminently qualifies for the status, and the demand is fair. Central status is given on many grounds, not always on excellence. For instance, in the North East certain universities have been given central status although they are relatively new and lack the basic infrastructure. This was done to encourage quality education there. It was also realised that the state governments there did not have the required funds to set up universities on their own.

Panjab University is certainly one of the top universities in India with 46 teaching and research departments, and ten Centres for teaching and research. It has 150 colleges affiliated to it, and has regional centres at Muktsar, Ludhiana, and Hoshiarpur. It was recently selected by the UGC as the "University with Potential for Excellence in Bio-Medical Sciences, and to begin with, a grant of Rs five crore has already been given.

Earlier, the University was identified as one of the six centres in the country for super-computing facilities. Wi-fi facility is available to students free of cost. The University also has a Regional Sophisticated Instrumentation Centre, Central Instrumentation Laboratory, and University Science Instrumentation Centre. The facilities are too numerous to be recorded here. Besides if Dr. Harisingh Gour University (Sagar) and University of Allahabad, which stand nowhere in comparison with Panjab University have become central universities, why should PU not be one?

The claim for central status is further strengthened by the fact that in the entire north western region there is no central university. We might recall that the national education policy, 1986 had recommended at least one central university for each state.

If central status is given, it will attract better teaching staff and students. As far as the students are concerned, the fee structure of central universities is far below PU. Besides every M Phil students gets Rs 3,000 per month, and research scholar Rs 5,000. The retiring age for the teachers is 65, which is five years more than in PU, making central universities more attractive to teachers.

It is true that central status is not necessary to achieving academic excellence; however, it certainly is helpful. The fear among the academic community and the general public is that if the central status is not given to the university, it will not only result in a brain drain to other universities, but also discourage new teaching talent.

Keeping these points in mind, the hope is that people of the region, including politicians, will join hands to strengthen the claim of the University, which is a pride of the region.

Akalis and the Punjab do not lose anything. They can spend the extra money on primary education which is in mess in Punjab. They can also have different structure for the P U in which the Punjab government continues to have its say.

BACK