Monthly e-newsletter from Focus on the Global South, India – May 2009: Volume VI No. 05

Content summary:

The earlier Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Government was a bit of a paradox. And this paradox surprisingly helped it back to power. The coalition won 261 seats in the 15th Lok Sabha elections, bringing it within striking distance of a simple majority. So how does a Government that implemented policies that resulted in job-losses,accentuated the agrarian crisis, produced a blatantly pro corporate Special Economic Zone Act and directed a right ward shift in foreign policy get this mandate? The electorate clearly rejected the alliance led by the religious right wing: the BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA). And they did not see the Left led Third Front as a viable alternative either. The Congress Party made effective use of people oriented policies they had formulated and implemented under pressure from the Left such as the NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act), the Forest Rights bill, Right to Information bill and a massive loan waiver for farmers; all which stood it in good stead. It also ran a very positive campaign that captured the imagination of both rural and urban India and the youth in general.As the Sri Lankan Government revels in its military victory against the LTTE, fundamental questions about the Tamil peoples legitimate democratic aspirations still remain. As also the possible fall out in
terms of violent reactions. The Government will also have to deal with charges of violating humanitarian law when the UN Human Rights Council meets in Geneva next week. An article by former diplomat MK Bhadrakumar looks back at India’s role in propping up LTTE chief
Prabhakaran and the implications of his death.
An editorial by the Hindu newspaper mentions that although the Maoists can be faulted for acting hastily and unilaterally, the anti-democratic attitude of General Katawal towards civilian control in general and the peace process specifically lies at the root of the present crisis in Nepal. Jatin Desai says that maybe a regional South Asian approach can help combat the threat of militancy in Pakistan. A news website called newsclick that attempts to counter the dominance of the corporate media was recently launched. Monitor that space for alternate analysis.
Focus on the Global South, India, Mumbai office has shifted to a new address, which is mentioned at the end of the newsletter
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Contents:
1. NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS
1.a. Launch of News Click: a news and commentary website
1.b. National Conference on ‘Resisting commodification of Forests;
Establishing community governance over forest resources’

2. STATEMENTS/REPORTS
2.a. Update on SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation)
2.b. Indian Muslim Leaders Condemn Taliban’s ‘Jizya’ On Sikhs in
Pakistan, Joint Statement of Indian Muslim leaders
2.c. Report on solidarity protest in Bombay for Dr. Binayak Sen, 14 May 2009
2.d Hindi Editorial: Nepal must step back from the brink

3. ARTICLES
3.a. Pakistan at war with Taliban – by Jatin Desai
3.b The rise and fall of Prabhakaran – by M K Bhadrakumar

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1. NEWS AND ANNOUCEMENTS
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1.a. NEWSCLICK: Launching a news and commentary website

Friends,

Some of us have been working for the last few months to launch a new
website to provide an alternate view to that of the dominant global
media. It has articles, interviews, videos and attempts to address
issues that the corporate media does not address. It has has an
exciting new application (app) that allows you to provide swings (in
%) and predict the 2009 elections. This can be done either state-wise
or at an all India level.

There are a number of videos of discussions/interviews with Aijaz
Ahmad, Jayati Ghosh. CP Chandrasekhar, Shankar Raghuraman. More are in
the pipeline including one interview with Nandita Das on her new film
Firaq. Topics covered range from Palestine and Israel after Gaza, the
new Obam Administration, the financial meltdown and impact on India
and the Elections 2009. These are all NewsClick.in production.

Remember, it is only through your support we can keep the site alive.
So please visit us and circulate this to your friends if you like the
site.
http://www.newsclick.in/

With best wishes,
Prabir Purkayastha, SP Shukla, Seema Mustafa, D.Raghunandan, Amit Sen
Gupta, Sudhanva Deshpande
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1.b.
Stop commodification of forests Protect Livelihoods Save Forest Resources

National Conference on ‘Resisting commodification of Forests; Establishing community governance over forest resources’ Venue: Dehradun
Dates: 10-12 June 2009

Dear comrades,

For centuries the forest people of India have been struggling to reestablish their sovereign rights over forests, which were taken away by the colonial British government in the 18th century. Since then many historic movements were carried out by the forest people against
the eminent domain of the State. These struggles, spread over different regions, continued even after independence, since the forest people were yet to achieve freedom from the eminent domain of the State and the elites.
Now, more than 60 years after Independence, the forest people have got a sense of freedom with the enactment of the Scheduled Tribes and Other Forest Dwellers (Recognition of Rights) Act or the Forest Rights Act (FRA) 2006 which was passed by the Indian Parliament in December 2006. Despite many shortcomings and apprehensions in the process of
enactment and implementation of this historic act, it is a very important event in the forest peoples’ struggle.
The State and the elites who have had total control of forest resources for such a long period will not cede their domain easily and instead will do everything to stop the implementation process to ensure that the act only remains on paper. Moreover, even the civil administration barring some exceptions is not been very keen in implementing the act since it will create new power structures in the forest areas.
Political parties, generally speaking are apathetic to the empowerment of forest communities. So, among these diverse problems in effective implementation each problem has to be tackled specifically at different stage. One needs to keep in mind, while deciding specific
and overall strategies for implementation, that the conflict between the forest people and forest and civil bureaucracy and that with the elites is inevitable in this process. Such conflicts should be resolved within the democratic premise thorough a militant & continuous mass movement.The irony in the implementation of the FRA is evident from the fact that the Chhattisgarh Government which has been advertising that it has settled maximum claims under the Act, is also the one which created the maximum inter-community friction by its anti-Act position that only tribals (STs) will be given rights under the FRA. On the other hand, states such as Uttar Pradesh, under pressure from forest communities and movements, have decided to go by the spirit of the Act, keeping the Forest Department out of the implementation of the FRA.
This will be a long-term struggle and no shortcuts are possible. The long term goal of movements should be to establish community governance over forests. This is inherent in the FRA and this is the main challenge for the movement groups. Active members in the movement along with the ever-growing conscious communities will have to develop
the appropriate framework of community governance, based on specific situation of each forest region and its history.
The NFFPFW in its Second General Conference, held in October 2006 at Ranchi had adopted these important political resolutions on which future strategies would be developed
1. Establishment of community governance over forest resources 2. To resist  commodification of forest resources

Since the conference, some initiatives have been taken in some areas in Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Uttrakhand.These two political questions are closely linked and cannot be
separated from each other. This will be the basic premise on which the forest rights movement and the movement for environmental justice will have to come together to build a larger mass movement to protect the resources and to protect the livelihood & cultural rights of the natural resource dependent people. This is the main challenge before the movement groups.
The Ranchi conference also decided that in order to meet this challenge effectively and successfully, it is essential to strengthen community leadership. Members from the forest community would lead the long-term struggle from the front and not be passive participants.
This is a critical juncture for the movement and it is imperative that active members of the movement and friends and sympathisers collectively decide on effective strategies to strengthen the long-term relationship of the forest rights movement and environmental
justice movement with other peoples’ movements. In the absence of a proper coordination among these diverse movements, capitalist and market forces are still in a dominant position in controlling the  forests and other natural resources resulting in an exacerbation of
the environmental crisis. In the guise of resolving this crisis, these forces are strengthening their profiteering through various free market bilateral and multilateral negotiations.
At the same time working people are getting organised; protesting and resisting against the capitalist onslaught all over the world. Whether it is the WTO negotiations or the G-20 meetings in London to resolve the financial crisis, there are protests being organised across the world.
The climate crisis represents yet another opportunity for the market forces to make profits. But at the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Bali in 2007 and earlier this year at the 2009 World Social Forum (WSF) in Belem, Brazil, forest people, working people and groups from the environment justice movement came
together to raise their united voices against capitalist destruction of natural and human resources.
India is now in the process of electing the 15th Lok Sabha. There is uncertainty over who will form the Government. It is quite evident that the next Government will not be a stable one despite statements to the contrary by various political parties. It is also evident that
given the history and experience of the major national and regional parties, free market policies will continue in the new regime.
In such a situation it will be the responsibility of the movement groups to put pressure on the government to implement pro-people policies. This will ensure more political space for the peoples’ movements.
This national conference is being organized to discuss these serious issues and to plan a comprehensive strategy for future actions. The constituent organisations of NFFPFW and other movement based organizations working in the forest rights campaign will be participating in this conference along with many other friends and support groups.

Your participation will be very crucial to make the programme a success. The details of agenda and other logistics will be sent to you shortly.
Please send your confirmation to us at the earliest.
We look forward to welcoming you in Dehradun. Dehradun acquires special significant at this juncture as it is India’s forests capital.It is also the capital of Uttarakhand, whose 65% of the area is notified as forest lands.
The three-day conference will be held at Radha Guest House,Niranjanpur, Opp Sabzi Mandi, Dehradun.

With warm wishes and in solidarity,

Munnilal (Convenor, NFFPFW), Ashok Chowdhary (Founding Member,
NFFPFW), Roma (NFFPFW Kaimoor region and Special Invitee State Level
Monitoring Committee on FRA, UP), Budhinarayan (Kaimoor Kshetra Mahila
Majdoor Kisan Sangarsh Samiti, Member State Level Monitoring
Committee, UP), Matadyal (Patha Dalit Adhikar Manch), Nathu Kol
(Member State Level Monitoring Committee, UP), Ganga Arya (Vangram
Bhoo Adhikar Manch, Uttrakhand), Ramchander Rana (Tharu Adivasi Mahila
Majdoor Kisan Manch, Member SLMC, UP), Noor Alam (Vangujjar Kalyan
Samiti, Uttrakhand), Ch. Bashir Ahmed Khatana (All India Nomadic
Gujjar Association, J&K), Shanta Bhatacharjee (Gramin Majdoor Union,
UP), Guman Singh (Himalaya Niti Abhiyan), Renu (Bhoo Adhikar Manch,
Jaunpur), Rajnish (Vikalp Social Organization), Prithvi Singh (Ghad
Kshetra Majdoor Morcha), Vinod Pathak (Human Rights Law Centre)
Contact: Regional Coordination Centre, NFFPFW, c/o Uttarakhand Mahila
Manch, Sarawati Vihar, Kala Gaon, (Near Homeguard Commandant Office),
Haridwar Bye-pass, Dehradun, Uttarakhand

Email: nffpfwnz@gmail.com, vangram@gmail.com
Phone no: 09412990913, 09412348071
Postal Address: c/o NFFPFW (North Zone), 18, Ruchipura, Majra,
Dehradun, Uttrakhand

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2. STATEMENTS/REPORTS
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2.a
Update on SCO (Shanghai Cooperation Organisation)

On Expansion

There has always been a serious consideration for the expansion of the SCO in all the previous summits, where Russia has been more vocal in granting full membership status to the observer countries.
A meeting of the Defence Ministers of the SCO member countries held in the last week of April in Moscow decided to invite observer states —India, Iran, Pakistan and Mongolia — to take part in military activities of the six-member organisation, which unites Russia ,
China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. The decision to invite the observer states to SCO war games is once again a part of Russia’s e fforts to facilitate their eventual integration in the organisation as full members. The SCO expansion has
been an issue of heated debate ever since the organisation’s establishment in 2001. Russia has strongly supported India’s membership, while China effectively blocked it by insisting on
simultaneous admission of India and Pakistan. Moscow also favoured Iran’s membership, while Beijing was not in favour of it. A compromise was worked out in 2005 when India, Iran and Pakistan were granted observer status in the SCO. Mongolia became observer somewhat earlier,while Afghanistan received the informal status of a special guest. In
2006 the SCO announced a temporary moratorium on the admission of new
members till it works out criteria and procedures for further expansion.
Meanwhile, diplomatic efforts to facilitate the SCO expansion continued. At the summit meeting in Dushanbe in September 2008 the SCO agreed to promote closer interaction with the observer nations. Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev said the observers would be invited to participate in the organisation’s Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS), as well as in the meeting of transport and trade ministers. The SCO leaders also decided to hold special meetings with the heads of state of the observer nations on the sidelines of the SCO annual
summits.
The work with the observer states will be elevated to a qualitatively higher plane and will be organised so as to allow their views to be taken into consideration, the SCO leaders said in the communique on their summit in Dushanbe.
The SCO leaders further agreed to set up a working group to study political, legal, organisational and financial aspects of the organisation’s enlargement as a step towards lifting their moratorium on admission of new members.
In an effort to extend the SCO’s regional and global reach, the Dushanbe summit instituted the status of dialogue partner in addition to the institute of observers. The SCO leaders approved the rules and procedures for granting the new status to international organisations
and individual countries.
The invitation to the observer states to join the defence and security activities of the SCO is a further step towards their greater integration into the organisation. While Pakistan and Iran are likely to embrace the offer, as both countries have long been campaigning for
upgrading their status to full membership, the reaction of India is awaited. Till now India has been reluctant to become involved in the SCO security arrangements. The SCO essentially is not a military block like NATO, although, it has been steadily expanding its security and
military agenda. In August 2007 the alliance held its first large-scale military exercises involving thousands of troops, hundreds of tanks and dozens of aircraft. It has since been decided to stage joint war games every other year.

On Afghanistan
The Special Conference on Afghanistan, held in Moscow on March 27th, reflected the growing clout of Russia and the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation in the region. The conference was organised by the SCO, which comprises six full members — Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan — and four observers, India,
Iran, Pakistan and Mongolia. It was remarkable for a broad range of
participants from outside the organisation. They included U.N.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Secretary-General of the Organisation
for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Mark Perrin de
Brichambaut; U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central
Asian Affairs Patrick Moon; and NATO Deputy Secretary-General Martin
Howard. There were also representatives from the Group of Eight
countries, the European Union and the Organisation of the Islamic
Conference. Afghanistan was represented by Foreign Minister Rangin
Dagdar Spanta. Altogether, 36 countries sent their Foreign Ministers
and other officials to the conference.

It was for the first time the SCO drew so much attention from the
world, said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s special envoy Satinder
Lambah, who underlined the non-confrontational character of the
conference, describing it as a smooth operation. It was also for the
first time that senior officials from the U.S. and NATO were invited
to an SCO meeting. Moreover, they formally recognised the SCO as a
major player in efforts to bring peace and stability to Afghanistan.

A unanimously adopted joint declaration said: “The participants also
noted that the SCO was one of the appropriate fora for a wide dialogue
with participation of partners on the Afghanistan-related issues in
the context of joint efforts of the international community and
Afghanistan and for practical interaction between Afghanistan and its
neighbouring states in combating terrorism, drug trafficking and
organised crime.”

This marked a volte-face of the U.S. view of the SCO as a hostile bloc
and rival in Central Asia. Mr. Patrick Moon, was all praise for the
SCO’s efforts in Afghanistan. “These are positive steps and we will
look at where we might be able to contribute,” he said of a joint
action plan adopted by the SCO and Afghanistan at the Moscow
conference.

The plan sets the stage for the SCO playing a high-profile role in
Afghanistan. Russia and other SCO members have long argued that
Afghanistan’s neighbours should have a stronger role in dealing with
the grave security threats emanating from that country. Afghan drug
traffic has become the most serious threat to the security of Russia
and countries of Central Asia. The efforts being taken to fight this
evil are insufficient, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the
conference, calling on the U.S.-NATO coalition forces to step up
anti-narcotics efforts.

The SCO-Afghanistan Action Plan calls for joint operations in
combating terrorism, drug trafficking and organised crime; for
involving Afghanistan, in a phased manner, in the SCO-wide
collaboration in fighting terrorism in the region; and for inviting
relevant Afghan bodies to take part in joint law-enforcement exercises
by the SCO. It also provides for stepping up the training of drug
agencies, combating laundering of drug money and improving border
controls. These measures should help to set up anti-narcotics,
anti-terrorism and anti-laundering security belts around Afghanistan.
The plan reads like a road map for bringing Afghanistan into the SCO
fold.

Interestingly, India’s envoy, in his address, directly appealed for
granting SCO membership to Afghanistan. “Afghanistan’s membership of
SAARC and other groups such as the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
will renew and reinforce Afghanistan’s linkages with the countries of
the region,” he said. Afghanistan joined SAARC in 2007, but it is
neither a member nor observer in the SCO, though it is part of the
SCO-Afghanistan Contact Group established in November 2005 to provide
a mechanism for SCO member-states to jointly contribute to
reconstruction and stability in Afghanistan. Afghan President Hamid
Karzai attended all SCO summits in recent years.

The idea of Afghanistan joining the SCO would be anathema to the U.S.,
and President Barack Obama’s proposal to create a NATO-dominated
contact group with Afghanistan as part of his new strategy for the
region is seen as an attempt to dilute the influence of the SCO, even
as he has invited its members to the new group. However, at the Moscow
conference the U.S. envoy joined the other delegates in vowing support
for the SCO-Afghanistan Action Plan. The declaration said the
participants in the Moscow conference “expressed the intent to explore
the possibility of aiding [the] implementation of the Action Plan.”

Analysts linked the dramatic shift in Washington’s position, in favour
of sharing its responsibility for Afghanistan’s security with the SCO,
to the failure of the U.S.-led military operation. The U.S. and other
NATO countries have already secured transit routes across Russia and
the Central Asian states for non-military supplies to their forces in
Afghanistan, and Moscow suggested it could allow shipment of military
cargoes as well.

The Moscow conference was a diplomatic coup for Russia and the SCO.
Coming just over a month after Kyrgyzstan decided to shut a major U.S.
airbase, the Afghanistan conference reiterated the SCO’s position that
while it is opposed to the expansion of U.S. military interests in
Central Asia, it is willing to expand cooperation with the U.S. and
NATO in Afghanistan, even as none of the SCO members is prepared to
send troops to Afghanistan. The conference reinforced the SCO as the
leading regional security force.

(For more updates on the SCO watch this space after the next annual
Summit to be held in June 2009 in Yekaterenburg, Russia)

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2.b.
Indian Muslim Leaders Condemn Taliban’s ‘Jizya’ On Sikhs in Pakistan
Joint Statement of Indian Muslim leaders
May 02, 2009
New Delhi, India

Pakistani Taliban’s treatment of Sikhs in tribal areas is illegal and
barbaric

We, religious, political and community leaders of the Indian Muslims,
are alarmed at the reports coming out of Pakistan’s tribal areas about
the Pakistani Taliban’s kidnapping, extortion of huge amounts of money
from their Sikh compatriots as “Jizya” and demolition of the houses
and shops of those who fail to pay the demanded sums.

We would like to say that Jizya is a tax paid in an Islamic state for
exemption from military service by healthy non-Muslim adults who are
free to follow their vocations without restriction or fear, and that
there is no other tax payable by them after paying this tax, unlike
Muslims who have to pay various taxes including Zakat and have to
perform military service as well.

Jizya was payable by non-Muslims only in lands conquered by Muslims
like Egypt, Syria and Iraq but not in unconquered areas like Madina
where during the time of the Holy Prophet no Jizya was ever imposed on
non-Muslim citizens who enjoyed equal rights and duties under the
Constitution of Madina. For many centuries Jizya has not been levied
by Muslim states and today even the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and
Islamic Republic of Iran do not levy Jizya on non-Muslims for the
simple reason that non-Muslims in these states pay all taxes payable
by others. Prominent Islamic scholars of the modern times like Shaikh
Yusuf Al-Qaradawi are of the view that Jizya should not be imposed now
as non-Muslims are equal citizens of Muslim states and pay all taxes
paid by other citizens and shoulder all the duties.

We wish to make it clear that the imposition of the so-called Jizya is
nothing more than extortion by an armed and lawless gang which does
not constitute a sovereign government or state or even an organ
thereof. Moreover, Pakistan’s tribal areas are not “conquered lands”
as their non-Muslim population has been living there for centuries.
These areas were part of the British India and became part of the new
State of Pakistan as a result of peaceful transfer of power on
Partition.

As regards the huge amounts in millions reported to be demanded, these
are arbitrary and exorbitant as the amount of annual Jizya paid by
non-Muslims in early Islam was merely one to one and a half dinar,
which is 4.24 gram to 6.36 grams of gold. Moreover, this tax was
payable only at the end of the year and not in advance.

We regard this as an act of injustice incompatible with the letter and
spirit of Islam and the international covenants accepted by all Muslim
states.

We demand that the Pakistani authorities must take earliest steps to
retrieve the extorted sums and pay them back to their affected
non-Muslim citizens and facilitate their peaceful return to their
homes and properties in their traditional homelands and give them all
due protection.

Maulana Mufti Mukarram Ahmad – Shahi Imam, Jama Masjid Fatehpuri, Delhi
Hafiz Muhammad Yahya – President, All India Jamiat Ahl-e Hadees
Maulana Abdul Hameed Nomani – Secretary, Jamiat Ulama-e Hind
Syed Shahabuddin – Former PM & ex-President, All India Muslim Majlis-e
Mushawarat
Prof Tahir Mahmood – Member Law Commission of India
Mujtaba Farooq – Secretary, Jamaat-e Islami Hind
Maulana Ataur Rahman Qasmi – President, Shah Waliullah Institute, Delhi
Maulana Waris Mazhari – Editor, Monthly Tarjuman, Delhi
Dr Zafar Mahmood – President, Zakat Foundation of India
Dr SQR Ilyas – Member, Muslim Personal Law Board
Dr Zafarul-Islam Khan – President, All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat
Mirza Yawar Baig – President of Yawar Baig & Associates
Shahnawaz Ali Raihan – Secretary, Students Islamic Organisation

Issued at New Delhi on 2 May 2009
Issued by the All India Muslim Majlis-e Mushawarat, Delhi
For media comments only please contact zik@zik.in or phone 09811142151

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2.c
Report on solidarity protest in Bombay for Dr. Binayak Sen
Jyoti Punwani
14 May 2009
India

After a very long time, Mumbai witnessed a meeting where people stood
for two hours to support a person they had never seen, who was not
even a Mumbaikar. The meeting on May 14 to protest Dr Binayak Sen’s
two-year-long imprisonment under the Chhattisgarh Special Public
Security Act was part of a nation-wide, and even international
protest. For Mumbai it was a unique and significant event because of
two factors: the participation of diverse groups and activists, from
Far Left to Gandhians; and more important, the enthusiastic presence
of many many youngsters, who came not as part of any party diktat, but
as individuals who have been moved by Dr Binayak Sen’s story.

The event was preceded by an hour-long march by the activists donning
T-shirts with messages demanding release of Dr. Sen with black tapes
over their mouths and displaying placards and banners. The marchers
distributed flyers on the way to inquisitive and empathetic
passers-by.

The format of the meeting too was unique – it was more a cultural
protest, with song and poetry. There were just three speeches, two of
them very brief, by Dr Sen’s brother Dipankar, and filmmaker Anand
PAtwardhan. Dipankar who lives in Belgium but is down here for the
Supreme Court hearing on Binayak Sen’s bail petition, spoke of how he
advised his brother to come away to Belgium rather than stay on in
Chhattisgarh, after reports of his imminent arrest appeared in the
papers in 2007. Dr Binayak’s reply was characteristic of the man: “My
patients travel two days to come to me for treatment; I cannot forsake
them.’’ So he surrendered to the police, confident that he would soon
be out. Its two years now.

Anand Patwardhan spoke of the trial proceedings that he had witnessed
last month, where Dr Sen spoke out about his heart condition. The
judge got angry, but the next day, ordered a medical examination.
Perhaps the pressure built up by the presence of outsiders at the
trial helped, said Anand.

Only Dr Amar Jesani, well-known medical activist, spoke at length,
about the irony of a doctor who chooses to serve the poor rather than
pursue lucrative career languishing in jail, but doctors for whom
medicine is just a business, getting honours.

The cultural programme began with songs by two young students of
famous singer Neela Bhagwat. Neela herself performed solo a while
later. They sang Kabir, and songs of communal harmony. And enthralled
the audience. The programme also saw songs by Suhas Ahuja and the
Republican Panther Troupe.

And there was a string of Hindi and Marathi poets, full of
revolutionary fire and satire. All were greeted with highly
appreciative applause.

The event was closed with the performance by the redoubtable folk
singer Sambhaji Bhagat and his troupe presenting a profoundly
stirring, and yet thoroughly entertaining, musical narration.
It was a memorable and inspiring evening; only marred by the constant
thought that the man in whose honour it had been held, was ill and
suffering in jail, uncertain whether he would be allowed the medical
treatment he needed.

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2.d : The Hindu Editorial 05.05.2009

Nepal must step back from the brink

The political crisis in Nepal has taken a dangerous turn with the
resignation of Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda.’ The
immediate trigger was President Ram Baran Yadav’s decision to reject a
resolution of the Maoist-led cabinet dismissing the Nepal Army chief,
Rookmangud Katawal, for insubordination. Although the Maoists can be
faulted for acting hastily and unilaterally, the anti-democratic
attitude of General Katawal towards civilian control in general and
the peace process specifically lies at the root of the crisis. Nepal
established its democracy through a political process that ended a
decade-long civil war and abolished the country’s hated monarchy.
Integration of Maoist combatants drawn from the People’s Liberation
Army (PLA) into a reformed and democratised national army was a key
principle to which all parties agreed when the struggle against King
Gyanendra was at its peak. But now that the republic has been
established and the task of framing Nepal’s constitution is under way,
the Nepali Congress and even the Unified Marxists-Leninists have been
dragging their feet on this question. But most damaging of all has
been the stand taken by General Katawal.

In defiance of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the army chief
pushed ahead with inducting thousands of new recruits, unilaterally
extended the tenure of eight senior generals, and withdrew the army
from the National Games on account of the PLA’s participation. No
democracy can tolerate such insubordination from its army chief.
Worse, General Katawal lobbied for support with foreign countries and
there was even talk of a coup d’etat. Although he exploited the
constitutional provision designating the President as the
‘commander-in-chief’ as a fig leaf for his machinations, it is a
settled principle of parliamentary democracy that a non-executive head
of state cannot exercise any powers in this regard independent of
Cabinet advice. So blinded are the UML and the Nepali Congress by
their opposition to the Maoists that they have applauded Mr. Yadav for
his action, which has introduced a dangerous dynamic into
civil-military relations in Nepal’s fledgling democracy. Unless the
standoff is ended, the peace process could collapse. What all parties,
including the Maoists, must do is to act soberly and responsibly to
re-establish a working arrangement that allows Prachanda to remain
Prime Minister, General Katawal to serve out his remaining four months
as army chief, and the core principle of integration to remain intact.

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3. ARTICLES
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3.a.
Pakistan at war with Taliban
May 10, 2009
Jatin Desai

It’s a war like situation in the Malkand division, which includes the
scenic Swat valley, and Buner in the North West Frontier Province
(NWFP) of the Pakistan. The Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani said that
the Pakistan Army had been called out for an all-out operation against
militant extremists in the region. The peace accord reached between
Awami National Party led NWFP government and Sufi Mohammad of
Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi (TNSM) has virtually become
defunct.

The peace accord was reached in February 2009. It was also discussed
in the National Assembly (NA) of Pakistan before it was signed by
President Asif Ali Zardari. Only Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) led by
Aftaf Hussain opposed the accord. Few individual members also opposed
accord in the NA. The understanding was that following the accord the
Sufi Mohammad will prevail upon his son-in-law and local chief of
Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Mulla Fazlullah to lay down the arms. ANP
chief and grand son of Khan Abdul Gafar Khan ‘frontier Gandhi’ had
told us in the last week of February at Frontier House in Islamabad
that laying down of arms is a pre-condition and if they do not then
they will act firmly. The accord was reached in the background of
militants creating havoc in the Swat valley. They burnt schools giving
education to girls. Brutality was at its helm. People were fed up with
the violence and killing. The economy suffered badly. Swat valley is
known as “Switzerland of Pakistan”. Prior to militancy, more than
1,800 taxis used to ply and they used to earn around Rs. 1,000/- per
day. But, since militancy most of the taxis are forcefully taken over
by Talibanis. Around ten lakh people have fled the war torn Malkand
division so far. Most of the educated and liberal families have fled
to the Peshawar, Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore.

Taliban forces became unstoppable after the peace accord. They
ventured into the new area of Buner, only 100 km from the federal
capital of Islamabad. The international community watched this news
with a shock. The possibility of nuclear arsenals falling into the
hands of Taliban scared the world community. Pressure mounted on the
Pakistan. First Hillary Clinton, secretary of state and then President
Barrack Obama categorically told Pakistan to act firmly against
Taliban and linked aid with the action against militants. Obama also
advised Pakistan not to look towards India but to look towards growing
militancy within Pakistan. Growing pressure from the international
community and from the people of Pakistan compelled the government of
Pakistan to begin army operation in the troubled region.

Mingora is an important town of Swat. Today it has become a ghost
town. Hundreds of residents including many journalists have fled to
safer places. The Talibanis had imposed their brand of shariat in the
region. Flogging of a young woman terrified the world. Hara Chowk
(green square) is a main area of Mingora. But people changed the name
of square to Khuni Chowk (murderous square) as at this square Talibans
used to hang the bodies of ‘criminals’ and ‘dissidents’. According to
Pakistan government, the number of militants in the Swat valley was
around 4,000 and 12,000 to 14,000 troops are deployed in the Swat
valley.

The Af-Pak policy of Obama was followed by more Drone attacks in the
NWFP and Afghanistan. Recently, more than 100 people including few
women and children died in the Drone, an unmanned aircraft, attack in
the two villages of Farah province of Afghanistan. The Drone attack on
the militants in the NWFP continues. They take off from their
Afghanistan base. The Pakistan government is critical of Drone attack
but the attack continues. In a way, the reality is it is an attack on
the sovereign state. But, USA carries lot of influence on the Pakistan
government. So, these criticisms do not mean anything. The criticisms
are hollow and just to please their own constituency.

In Afghanistan, Taliban first introduced their own brand of shariat.
The Islam of Taliban is different from the South Asian Islam, which is
inclusive. The Sufi influence is visible in South Asian Islam and
that’s why it stands for peaceful co-existence. The Taliban Islam is
influenced by Arabic Islam and Wahabism. The recent incidences of
suicide bombings and attack on police academy, Lahore; diplomatic area
in Islamabad and mosque in Jamrud is the result of coming together of
three militants leaders viz. Mulla Fazlullah, Gul Bahadur and Mulla
Nasir. They vowed to strike US and allies nation.

Pakistani friends told me during the recent visit that the influence
of Taliban is visible even in a city like Karachi. Members of civil
society and women organizations have become vocal against the
militancy. They want the forward march of fundamentalist forces to be
stopped. For the first time, the army is serious against the Taliban.
Following army operation, militants fled from Buner and are confined
into Swat.

It seems the aggressive forward advance was an eye opener for the
Pakistan government coupled with domestic public alarm and
international pressure in general and US in particular compelled the
government and army to go all-out against Taliban.

It’s a two-pronged strategy. At the one hand the army is taking action
and at the other hand Drone attacks are increasing in numbers. In this
war many innocents have lost their lives. Son of Sufi Mohammad was
also killed in the army operation in the Dir. Some of the areas of
Pakistan adjoining Afghanistan have become the most dangerous place to
live in.

The threat of militancy is threatening the whole region. Regional
approach is required to combat it. The genuine peace process between
India and Pakistan has the potential to marginalize the militancy. The
common people of Pakistan and India want peace between two countries.
The spread of Sufism and South Asian identity has the potential to
isolate the philosophy of hatred and violence.

==============================================================

3.b

The rise and fall of Prabhakaran

By M K Bhadrakumar

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam supremo Velupillai Prabhakaran’s
death circa May 19, 2009, in circumstances we will never quite get to
know, concludes a morality play.

As the curtain comes down and we leave the theater, the spectacle
continues to haunt us. We feel a deep unease and can’t quite figure
out the reason. Something rankles somewhere. And then we realize we
have blood on our hands..

Not only our hands, but our whole body and deeper down, our conscience
– what remains of it after the mundane battles of our day-to-day life
– are also dripping with blood.

Prabhakaran’s blood. No, it is not only Prabhakaran’s, but also of
70,000 Sri Lankan Tamils who have perished in the unspeakable violence
through the past quarter century.

All the pujas we may perform to our favorite Hindu god, Lord Ganesh,
for good luck each morning religiously so that we march ahead in our
life from success to success cannot wash away the guilt we are bearing
– the curse of the 70,000 dead souls.

Our children and grandchildren will surely inherit the great curse.
What a bitter legacy!

A long time ago, we created Prabhakaran. We picked him up as an urchin
from nowhere. What we found charming about him was that he was so
thoroughly apolitical – almost innocent about politics. He was a
simpleton in many ways, who had a passion for weapons and the military
regimen. He suited our needs perfectly.

Which was to humiliate the Junius Richard Jayewardene government in
Sri Lanka and teach it a hard lesson about the dangers of being
disrespectful to India’s status as the pre-eminent power in the Indian
Ocean. Jayewardene was too Western-oriented and behaved as if he never
read about the Monroe Doctrine when he read history in Oxford. We
didn’t like at all his dalliance with the Israelis and the Americans
in our very backyard.

So, we fostered Prabhakaran and built him up as a prick on
Jayewardene’s vanities – like Sikh leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale
of the Deccans.

Then, as time passed, we decided that he had outlived his utility as
we had come to develop an entirely different outlook towards the
pro-Western orientation of the Colombo government by that time. Our
egotistic leader in Delhi who detested Jayewardene was no more in
power and the new soft-spoken leader didn’t share his predecessor’s
strong political antipathies.

So, we arm-twisted Prabhakaran to tone down and fall in line with our
changed priorities. But we didn’t realize that by then he had become a
full-grown adult.

He resisted our blackmail and pressure tactics. When we pressured him
even more and tried to collar him, he struck back. He dispatched
assassins to India and killed our beloved leader. And he became our
eternal enemy.

Yet, we couldn’t do anything to harm him. He had already become so
strong – an uncrowned king among his people. So we waited. We are a
patient lot. Who can match us in infinite patience, given our 5,000
years of history? Our cosmic religion gives us a unique wisdom to be
patient and stoic and to bide our time.

And then, the opportune time came. We promptly moved in for the kill
by aligning ourselves with Prabhakaran’s enemies. We armed them and
trained them in better skills to kill. We guided them with good
intelligence. We plugged all escape routes for Prabhakaran. And then,
we patiently waited as the noose tightened around Prabhakaran’s neck.

Today he is no more. Believe it or not, we had no role in his death.
How and when he died shall forever remain an enigma wrapped in a
mystery. We will of course never divulge what we know.

All that matters is that the world woke up to the death only after the
May 13 polling in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Otherwise, the
parliamentary election results may have gone haywire against us.
Strange are the ways of the Indian democracy.

We have had our revenge. Nothing else matters for the present.

What lies ahead? We will continue to make noises about a “political
solution” to the Tamil problem that Prabhakaran championed through
violent means.

Of course, let there be no doubt that we will periodically render
humanitarian assistance to the hundreds of thousands of Tamil
civilians who have been herded into camps and may languish there till
the dust settles down. We will demonstrate that we are indeed capable
of the milk of human kindness. After all, the Sri Lankan Tamils are
part of our historical consciousness.

But we must also be realistic. We know in our heart of hearts that the
scope for a political solution in the fashion in which our leaders
seem to suggest publicly is virtually nil.

The Sinhalese will never allow the world to dictate to them a
political solution. More so, they will promptly and conclusively
rebuff any attempt by us to seek a role in what they will now onward
insist as strictly their internal affair.

Always remember that Sri Lanka is one of the last bastions of
Theravada Buddhism and preserving that legacy is the Sinhalese
people’s precious tryst with destiny. At least, that is how they feel.
We have to accept the weight of their cultural nationalism.

They see Sri Lanka as the land of the Sinhalese. How could they allow
us Indians who wiped out Buddhism with such ferocity from the
sub-continent interfere with their keen sense of destiny as the
custodians of that very same great religion? Never, never.

If we try to pressure the Sinhalese, they will approach the Chinese or
the Pakistanis to balance our pressure. They are capable of doing
that.

The Sinhalese are a gifted people. We all know few can never match
their terrific skills in media management. They have always lived by
their wits.

Equally, they are fantastic practitioners of diplomacy. We suspect
that they may in fact have an edge over us on this front, for, unlike
us who are dissimulating from day to day as if we’re a responsible
regional power, and dissipating our energies in pastimes such as
hunting down Somali pirates in distant seas, they are a highly focused
lot.

They have the grit because they are fighting for the preservation of
their country’s future identity as a Buddhist nation.

Only last week, they showed their diplomatic skill by getting the
Russians and the Chinese to stall a move in the United Nations
Security Council to pressure them.

The Europeans fancy they can try the Sinhalese for war crimes. What naivety!

We asked the Sinhalese in private many a time how they proposed to
navigate their way in the coming period. They wouldn’t divulge.

But we know that it is not as if they have no solution of their own to
the Tamil problem, either. We know they already have a blueprint.

See, they have already solved the Tamil problem in the eastern
provinces of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara. The Tamils are no
more the majority community in those provinces.

Similarly, from tomorrow, they will commence a concerted, steady
colonization program of the northern provinces where Prabhakaran
reigned supreme for two decades. They will ensure incrementally that
the northern regions no more remain as Tamil provinces.

The Tamils will be made into a minority community in their own
northern homelands. They will have to live among the newly created
Sinhalese settlements in those regions to the north of Elephant Pass.

All this will indeed be within Sri Lanka’s “federal structure”. Sri
Lanka will continue to adhere to parliamentary democracy.

Give them a decade at the most. The Tamil problem will become a relic
of the bloody history of the Indian sub-continent.

The Sinhalese are good friends of India. Our elite and their elite
speak the same idiom. We both speak English well, play golf and like
chilled beer. We should, therefore, wish them well.

As for the blood on our hands, true, it is a blessed nuisance. But
this is not the first time in our history that we’re having blood on
our hands.

Trust our words. No lasting harm will be done. Blood doesn’t leave stains.

Ambassador M K Bhadrakumar was a career diplomat in the Indian Foreign
Service. His assignments included the Soviet Union, South Korea, Sri
Lanka, Germany, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Kuwait and Turkey.
=======================================================
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