Sawraj Singh

THE deepening crisis in Pakistan increases the possibility of the Indian subcontinent becoming a battle field for the third World war. No part of Pakistan is now safe from attacks of the Taliban. They have attacked the military head quarters in Rawalpindi, close to Islamabad which can be considered as the most important center of power for the present regime. This attack also belies the Western impression that influence of the Taliban is limited to the tribal area west of the River Sindh because the Taliban claimed that the attackers were Punjabis. Punjab is considered the leading and the dominant part of Pakistan. Therefore, it can be said that now the whole Pakistan is involved in the Afghanistan war.

Historically and geographically Afghanistan has been a part of the Indian subcontinent. Even in the pre historical mythology one can see evidence of Afghanistan’s relationship with the
can see evidence of Afghanistan’s relationship with the subcontinent. In Mahabharta, Gandhari mother of the Kaurvas was from Kandhar region of Afghanistan. It was a common practice in Mahabharta and Ramayna to call the women by the region of their origin. Dropadi, wife of the Pandvas was also called Panchali and Kakai, stepmother of Rama was also named after the Kakai region of the western Punjab. Mohammad Gauri and Ahmed Shah Abdali who invaded India many times were both from Afghanistan. Dost Mohamed Khan fought along the Sikhs against the British in the second Anglo-Sikh war. The Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan can be considered the Western extension of the Himalayas.

Now Pakistan has been drawn into the Afghanistan war. India can also be dragged into this war. India can be involved in two ways. The first possibility is that the radical Islamists come into power in Pakistan as they came into power in Iran. The fundamentalist Muslims consider India as one of their enemies; therefore they can start a war with India. The second possibility is that a war starts between India and China. Such a war can start in a disputed region such as Arunachal Pardesh. It appears that both the countries are hardening their stand on Arunachal Pardesh. America is backing India’s stand in Arunachal Pardesh. The American Ambassador in India has openly come out on the Indian side. America may see India China war as an opportunity to curtail the growing influence of China who it now considers its main rival for global hegemony.

The Islamic radicals are also looking at their struggle in the context of America – China rivalry. The Taliban sent a message to the summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization that they want to free this area from the American influence. China also took the message seriously and gave the message a wide publicity. India did not attend the summit as an observer, either it was not invited or chose not to attend. The possible alignment for a third World war at this stage seems to be America, Israel and India on one side and China, Russia and the Islamic countries on the other side.
China is also giving signals that if a war starts between India and China then it will be different than the 1962 war which was limited to a border conflict. This time it can be on a much bigger scale. An article in China Daily suggested that China can help different nations in India which are struggling for national liberation. The article said that India is country which has twenty different nations who have been forced together therefore; these nations want to be independent.

At this time there is a big disparity in the overall strength of China and India. Therefore, India is dependent on the American might to help it to face China. However, America is becoming weaker every day. America continues to lose both economically and militarily. After the Second World War, America had not been able to win any major war. The present recession has shown that the American economy is unlikely to recover to the previous dominant state. India cannot count on American support in its war with China.

I feel that India should turn to its time tested friend Russia and let Russia help India out of a very difficult situation in which India finds it self today. India should also advance the concept of a South Asian Economic Alliance on the pattern of the European Union. Such an alliance may help to bring all the countries in the region together and avoid the war.

[Sawraj Singh, M.D. F.I.C.S. Chairman Washington State Network for Human Rights]

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Fellowship for Dr Sawraj Singh

THE American Society For Laser Medicine and Surgery awarded Fellowship to Dr. Sawraj Singh, a well-known laser surgeon in the central area of Washington state. Dr. Sawraj Singh is a pioneer in the field of laser surgery and has been running the Laser Clinic of Central Washington in Ellensburg, since 1988. This clinic serves people in the Central Washington area. In 2001, the state of Washington recognized the services provided by Dr. Sawraj Singh by issuing him the Certificate of Need.

Dr. Sawraj Singh is a well-known person throughout the world. Besides being a laser surgeon, he is also a well-known writer and a human rights activist. He writes both in English and his mother tongue Punjabi. His writings have also been translated to almost all major languages of the world and are being read by millions of people.

Dr. Sawraj Singh has received many awards. In 2005, he was included in the book Roshni, the Light of South Asia, among the 100 most well-known people of Indian origin living in America. In 2007, he was awarded “Bharat Gaurav” (Pride of India) Award in New Delhi, India, and “Glory of India” Award in London, UK. In 2009, he was awarded “Punjab Gaurav” (Pride of Punjab) Award in Ludhiana, Punjab and “Punjab Rattan” (Gem of Punjab) in Jalandhar, Punjab. In 2009, he was also awarded “Humanitarian Physicians” Award by the NAACP in Yakima, WA. In 1996, Dr. Sawraj Singh was awarded by the late Mr. Shankar Dyal Sharma, President of India, in the Rashtarpati Bhawan (Presidential house in New Delhi).

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Worsening situation in Afghanistan

MATTHEW HOH, a former Marine who fought in Iraq, joined the State Department after leaving the military and was a diplomat in a Taliban stronghold in Afghanistan has become the first U.S. official to resign in protest of the Afghan war. He said he believes the war is simply fueling the insurgency.

"I have lost understanding of and confidence in the strategic purposes of the United States' presence in Afghanistan," Hoh wrote in his resignation letter, dated Sept. 10 but published early Tuesday. "I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end."

Richard Holbrooke, the administration's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, disagreed that the war "wasn't worth the fight," but did agree with much of Hoh's analysis.

Matthew Hoh, 36, was the senior State Department official in Afghanistan's Zabul province, a hotbed for Taliban militants, until he resigned last month.

His background in both civil and military fields may have seemed the perfect fit for President Barack Obama's administration as it steps up its counter-insurgency efforts.

But in a September 10 letter to the State Department's personnel chief, Mr Hoh wrote: "I have lost understanding of, and confidence in, the strategic purposes of the US's presence in Afghanistan.
"I have doubts and reservations about our current strategy and planned future strategy, but my resignation is based not upon how we are pursuing this war, but why and to what end," added the former Marine Corps captain.

The resignation sent ripples all the way to the White House, and government officials scrambled to convince Hoh to stay, concerned that he could become a prominent critic of the fledgling administration's Afghanistan policy.

Hoh was offered a senior job at the US embassy in Kabul, which he turned down, and was flown to Washington to meet one-on-one with the US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.

"We took his letter very seriously, because he was a good officer," Mr Holbrooke said. He initially convinced Mr Hoh -- who had also served in uniform at the Pentagon and as a civilian in Iraq -- that by remaining in government, he could more effectively change US policy.

But the diplomat changed his mind a week later and again tended his resignation, which then became final. Staying on "wasn't the right thing to do", he told the Post.

As Mr Obama weighs whether to send more troops, Mr Hoh said he had decided to speak out. "I'm not some peacenik, pot-smoking hippie who wants everyone to be in love," he said. "I want people in Iowa, people in Arkansas, people in Arizona, to call their congressman and say, 'Listen, I don't think this is right'."

Meanwhile, the EU has expressed its despair at the lack of democratic development in Afghanistan despite years of US and European assistance, in a report cited by the Financial Times.

Political reform and corruption-free government were almost non-existent in some areas, and the situation was deteriorating. "We are not only faced with a critical security situation. Progress on political reform, governance and state-building is too slow, and in some parts of the country almost non-existent," the report said.

Carl Bildt, the Foreign Minister of Sweden, which holds the EU presidency, told the paper: "If we don't put in place some sort of functioning state in Afghanistan, some system of governance, then all our other efforts will fail. There is a new recognition of that."

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