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Content Copyright © jWorldTimes.com

Jahangir World Times

Published: August 2014

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Muslims Fiddle While

Palestine Burns - EditorialIf the Jew has the right over the land of Palestine, Why is there no right of Arabs over Spain?,The object of British imperialism is something very different, It is not concerned with orange

orchards or “The Land of Milk and Honey”

Gaza - Holocaust Version 2014 Friday, August 01, 2014

The Poet of the East, Allama Iqbal, while exposing the nefarious designs of the imperialistic powers inhis poem “Syria and Palestine” warned Muslims that objective of these tyrants is not to occupy thenatural resources owned by Muslims, but they want to make Muslims so acquiescent that no Muslimnation could become a superpower ever. This was inevitable for them to continue with their despotic

rule over the world. To implement their agenda, they could even massacre the Muslims.

This is the very reality that we have been, and are still, witnessing across the Muslim world comprising57 countries. Sometimes, unending sufferings of the Kashmiris on hands of Indian forces make usmoan, while sometimes genocide of Bosnian Muslims also tears the fibres of our brains apart. With rueour hearts are laden on the ordeals of the the Syrians and the Iraqis. But, the virtual 'reign of terror',imposed on the innocent Palestinians by the brutish Israelis, is beyond description. Nevertheless,Palestine issue is probably the only example in the world that not only tears the veils of civility andhumaneness from the faces of the so-called civilized world, but also exposes the felonies of those whohave ruled the Muslim world.

There is no denying the fact that the imperialists have always adopted the policy of “Divide and Rule”.In earlier part of the twentieth century, this policy was there in all its manifestations, when to ensurethe collapse of the Ottoman Empire — which allied with Germany in World War I — the then BritishHigh Commissioner to Egypt, Sir Henry McMahon, conspired with Husayn ibn Ali, the patriarch of theHashemite family and Ottoman governor of Makkah and Medina, to revolt against the Ottomans. Inexchange of Arabs' support for Britain in the War, the establishment of an independent Arab stateunder Hashemite rule in the Arab provinces of the Ottoman Empire, including Palestine, wasguaranteed by the British government. This revolt, led by Husayn's son Faysal and T. E. Lawrence(Lawrence of Arabia), defeated the Ottomans, and Britain took control over much of this area. Later,

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the British not only backed off their commitment, they also made possible the creation of a Jewish statei.e. Israel. This was the start of miseries that still torment the Palestinians.

It is useless to flag the dead horse of the world conscience and of the UN because they are the abettorsin, and are equally responsible for, this genocide of the Palestinians. Since the launch of recent Israelioffensive, hundreds of innocent people including children have lost their lives. Playgrounds and evenhospitals have been bombed. But, perhaps, it's not enough to awaken the Muslims, let alone the UN or

other world bodies. The OIC and Arab League, the so-called representative bodies of Muslim Ummah,have been meek and docile, to say the least.

When it comes to protect American interests in Syria or other parts of the Middle East, these“representatives” seem ever more vigilant, but they bury their heads in sand when Palestinians orSyrians are brutally murdered.

Isn't it shameful for us that every part of the world, save Ukraine, where there are insurgencies orterrorist activities, belongs to Muslims? Wasn't the recent Arab uprising in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya

part of a greater game to protect the American, and ultimately Jewish, interests in the region? Isn't itironic that in spite of occupying almost one-third membership of the UN, even a single veto power isnot vested in Muslims?

In today's Muslim world, only Iran has the guts to condemn, and challenge, Israel — MahmoudAhmadinejad has been known for his ferocious tirades against Israel. But, rest of the Muslim leadershaven't yet spoken even a single word against Israel's Gaza onslaught rather they are pressing Hamas toagree on an unconditional truce. But, for how long?

Soon a day will come when in the words of Iqbal:

“The withered leaves and weeds will pass, and all its sweepings old;

For there, again, will martyr blood in roses red unfold.” Adeel Niaz

Letters to the EditorFor feedback and suggestions, please write to us at: [email protected]; [email protected]


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Operation Zarb-i-Azb

Thank God the charade of peace talks with the militants is finally over and a fully-fledged operation in North Waziristan has begun. As a nation, while standing squarely behind our brave soldiers, we musthave realistic expectations of Zarb-i-Azb.

The greatest achievement after the success of the operation would be the denial of physical space orsanctuary to the Taliban, from where they could plan their murderous attacks on the heartlandofPakistan.

We should not expect a quick end to the operation. The Taliban have spread throughout the countryand many more battles have yet to be fought against them.We must be mentally prepared to be in this war of survival for a long haul, decades perhaps.

Equally important would be for our intelligentsia and media to wage a war of ideas against the

retrograde worldview of the Taliban. A national counter-narrative based upon enlightenment and peaceful coexistence has to be developed against the dark and intolerant narrative of the Taliban, whichis unfortunately accepted by major segments of our society.Akbar Jan Marwat

Islamabad

Are Palestinians doomed forever? Today, human rights are vociferously advocated across the globe. But, we are still witnessing

brutalities unimaginable even in Stone Age. Palestine is bleeding and smouldering, Gaza is being pelted with Israeli rockets killing scores of men, women and children, and making thousands ofPalestinians crippled for all their lives. Palestinians are being killed so brutally that an unbiased personwould definitely condemn Israel not only for its atrocities but for all of its perpetual persecution ofinnocuous Palestinians.

We should demand answers for two questions from the so-called civilized world: First, when the‘champions’ of human rights like US, UK, Germany and Japan would sincerely force Israel to halt its

blatant violation of human rights. Second, when we will see unity among ranks of Muslim World.Why, despite being spread in 57 states, we as Muslim Ummah haves failed to get justice for thePalestinians.It is the time for our leadership to unite and take pragmatic, gallant and resilient measures to counter

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ever-growing threat of selective persecution of Muslims across the world. In this regard, Governmentsof Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey, Indonesia along with OIC and Arab League must comeforward and take a lead besides using their diplomatic, financial, militarily and other clouts.Syed Asghar Ali

Sanghar

Fee reimbursement

The prime minister has initiated the fee reimbursement scheme for master’s, MPhil, and PhD students.This scheme is focused on enhancing opportunities for access to higher education, especially totalented, ambitious and financially-constrained students belonging to remote and far-flung areas of thecountry.Actually MS, MPhil and PhD contain research work and it requires a lot of time.

The eligibility criteria should be lenient.

It should be applicable up to five years minimum so that the majority of youths can be encouraged andtake advantage of this scheme. I request the prime minister and authorities concerned to look into thematter.Suhail Ahmed Shaikh

Larkana

Jeremiad Against SPSC Besides FPSC, the Constitution of Pakistan provides for a public service commission for each

province. Provincial service commissions are tasked to recruit the most competent candidates to the posts in various government departments through competitive exams.

Unfortunately, in Sindh, the efficiency and transparency of SPSC have unequivocally been under thecloud with its pathetic performance. An eye-opening instance of such ineptness and belatedness is theCCE the advertisement of which was published in September 2013, but SPSC is still in hibernation andis oblivious to the outcries of the candidates who are getting over-aged. Besides this tardiness, anumber of sensitive slots are filled on the basis of nepotism, cronyism and backdoor influence by the

politicians or by offering hefty bribes. This slaughters the meritocracy, and dashes the highexpectations of the deserving youth.I call upon all the concerned authorities to bring to book all those responsible for this state of affairs..Farrukh Aziz,

Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad

Need for Media Ethics Media is the most powerful entity in today’s world. It controls the minds of the masses and has thecapacity to convert a hero into villain and vice versa. Pakistan, regrettably, is a country where strategiesare not formulated, rules are not followed and individual interests are always preferred over nationalinterests. Our successive governments have issued licenses even to intellectually mediocre persons tocontrol minds of the masses without proper regulatory body. We did not even bother to think that howit will affect the new generation.

Indeed, our media organizations and anchorpersons are king-makers. Can we imagine what will happenif a person with little communication skills anchored the shows?

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TV channels broadcast live every incident and display torture, dead bodies, blood and fire. Such scenesand stories may help media organizations earn more money, but what they give to the masses? Nothingmuch!

We need to set limits for our media and we should bridle it in a positive way.Rohail Ali Ahmed

Lahore

Fairness in Rescue Programmes IDPs have resorted to altruism and have sacrificed their pleasures for their countrymen after themilitary launched Operation Zard-e-Azb to eradicate militancy from Pakistan, are spiralling around inthe abyss of despair. Very contritely, once again the atmosphere has been overly deluged with the senseof provincialism and IDPs were denied entry into Punjab and Sindh.

In the wake of such inhuman and un-Islamic behaviour, it is incumbent upon us to help these penury-marred people. It is now the paramount duty of our media houses to give commensurate coverage for

propagating the idea of espousing these displaced families.Sohail Mandokhel

Mursenzai Zhob

Pathetic State of NTS Affairs National Testing Service (NTS) has been the most respected and the most credible testing agency inPakistan. Previously, it was known for its transparency.But, presently, it has once again failed miserably in ensuring merit. Recently, a second levelrecruitment test for the vacant posts in Employees' Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) was held underthe supervision of NTS. I took the test and I am a witness to the eye-opening facts. The pre-testarrangements exuded the deliberate mishandling on the part of NTS. At the first instance, allowing thecandidates to keep mobile phones with themselves was the step which guided the later stages oforganized maladministration by the NTS. This step proved to be of enormous help to the candidates inunfairly attempting the paper.

Secondly, the invigilators, usually hired by NTS, instead of monitoring the exam process themselvesassigned the task of vigilance to the teachers of computer centre who seemed to be less experiencedand lacking know-how of invigilating the exam. And last but not least, the seat plan also reflected asense of irresponsibility as seats were arranged too close to one another without even little spaces in

between them which further facilitated the candidates to resort to cheating. Such a hugemismanagement is quite regrettable indicating that merit and transparency has become a far cry for

NTS.Abdul Waheed Mirbahar

Pano Akil, District Sukkur

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World's Top 10 StoriesA Vicious Step!, Climate Pangs , Headway in Islamic Finance, Surge of the Rightwing , Things

Fall Apart, A Pure Feat, Gaza Bleeds Again , Something is Fishy, Another Feather in CM’s Cap,

The Real Joga Bonito!


A Vicious Step! On June 20, Sindh sealed its borders to stop the influx of internally displaced persons (IDPs) after themilitary operation in North Waziristan.

Climate Pangs

On June 23, it was revealed that May 2014 was so hot that it set a new record for the planet, markingthe warmest May over land and water since record-keeping began in 1880.

Headway in Islamic Finance

On June 25, Britain became the first Western country to sell an Islamic bond, attracting 2.3 billion pounds, more than 10 times the amount it was looking to sell.

Surge of the Rightwing

On June 27, European Union leaders picked former Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean Claude Junckerto become the bloc’s new chief executive.

Things Fall Apart On June 29, ISIS militants fighting in Iraq and Syria announced the establishment of a ‘caliphate’ andits chief Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi as “the caliph” and “leader for Muslims everywhere”.

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A Pure Feat On July 02, Pakistan’s first-ever highest altitude meteorological climate station was installed at the K2Base Camp — the Boltoro in the Karakorum that has started giving the real — time data.

Gaza Bleeds Again

On July 06, the Israel military carried out 10 air strikes on Gaza in response to persistent rocket fireinto southern Israel as hopes faded of a renewed truce with its Islamist foe Hamas.

Something is Fishy On July 11, former PM Yousuf Raza Gillani revealed that during his government an understanding wasreached with the establishment that President Musharraf would be given an honourable exit, if heresigned.

Another Feather in CM’s Cap On July 13, Chief Minister Punjab Mian Shahbaz Sharif inaugurated the signal-free Azadi Chowkflyover that was completed in a record period of 165 days.

The Real Joga Bonito! On July 13, Substitute Goetze’s stunning extra-time winner helped Germany grab their fourth WorldCup crown after a 1-0 victory over Argentina at the Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro.

Boko HaramNigeria's Canker Worm


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Boko Haram is among the most vicious terrorist groups operating in North Africa. It has caused havocin Nigeria — Africa's most populous country — through a wave of bombings, assassinations andabductions. The region is home to some of the worst extremists in the world. This militant group wantsto institute sharia system in Nigeria.

Boko Haram promotes a version of Islam which makes it 'haram”, or forbidden, for Muslims to take part in any political or social activity associated with Western society. This includes voting in elections

wearing shirts and trousers or receiving a secular education. The group regards the Nigerian state as being run by non-believers. It is responsible for more than 4,000 deaths in 2014, according to the Nigeria Security Tracker.Boko Haram has also stepped up its campaign against Western education, which it believes corruptsthe moral values of Muslims, especially girls, by attacking two boarding schools - in Yobe in Marchand in Chibok in April.

Activities in 2014

January 26, 2014 - At least 45 were killed in a market in Kawuri in Borno after Boko Haram militantsopen fire.

February 11, 2014 - At least 23 people were killed when Boko Haram militants torch houses in thevillage of Konduga, according to the governor of Borno state.

April 14, 2014 - Boko Haram militants kidnap approximately 276 teenage girls from a boarding schoolin Chibok in Borno. Officials there say some of the girls were able to escape.

May 5, 2014 - In a video statement, a man claiming to be Shekau said, “I abducted your girls. I will sellthem in the market, by Allah. Allah says I should sell. He commands me to sell. I will sell women. Isell women.”

May 13, 2014 - Hundreds of Boko Haram militants stormed three villages in the state of Borno.

May 22, 2014 - The UN Security Council added Boko Haram to its sanctions list.

June 3-4, 2014 - Hundreds of people are killed in raids by Boko Haram Islamic militants in the state ofBorno.

June 18-22, 2014 - Boko Haram militants held the village of Kummabza in Borno state, northeastern Nigeria, hostage for four days. They abduct 60 females, including children, and kill 30 men in the raid.

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Are we sliding to World War IIIThe world is going through a period of turmoil and uprisings. Armed troops have taken over

territory in Eastern Europe. First-world navies are jockeying for territorial waters in the South

China Sea. Barbarous rebel forces are overrunning regime troops in Iraq and Syria. Afghanistan

has been ruined by the US. South America is also not immune to it. Iran-Saudi rivalry is also

touching new heights. Nationalist regimes in Asia are also at the helm. This all presents a bleakpicture. Succinctly, the world peace is in extreme danger.


A century ago, the world was in such turmoil that all it took was a single bullet to trigger the GreatWar. Are we again in such a fragile state? Can it happen again? Can we imagine the modern Westernworld being set on fire? Or are the similarities between then and now overstated? Let's find the answersto these questions.

TIME FOR WAR?

It's easy to overlook the large swathes of our planet which are actually now at peace. South and NorthAmerica, Western and Central Europe, southern Africa, Australia, South and Southeast Asia; war

between nation-states is less frequent today than it was 100 years ago.

Only one year ago, things were looking much better.

Against all expectations, the past 12 months have produced cascading failures in internationaldiplomacy. This collapse has been captured recently in an annual “Global Peace Index”, produced bythe Australia-based Institute for Economics and Peace. It claims the recent deterioration in world

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affairs has been the most serious since the end of World War II.

China has been butting-heads with Japan, Vietnam, South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines over itsterritorial ambitions. Iraq is suddenly on the brink of collapse, and Russia has strolled into Crimea with

barely a murmur of dissent.

Thailand's newborn constitutional government has again been toppled by a

military coup and North Korea continues to push itself forward in a desperate bidto be taken seriously as a world power.

And all the while a war has been waged around the globe against growingextremist influences. US Special Forces have raided Libya and Somalia in aneffort to kill or neutralise key commanders. The drone strikes in Yemen andother areas of the Middle East continue, unabated.The terrorists also have had their fair share of victories. Al-Shabaab's massacre ata Kenyan shopping mall killed 67 and drew the attention of the world. More than300 schoolgirls were kidnapped in Nigeria by the Boko Haram. Then there wasthe attack on the US Embassy in Libya which killed the US Ambassador.The use of “hard power” is making a comeback. It's an ugly thing, supposedly arelic of an uglier past abandoned by modern states in favour of diplomacy … Itnever really went away.

THE HEAT IS ON It was against a similar backdrop of international tensions and ambitions that a

bullet claimed the life of Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

It was a regional act over just one regional issue: The “Black Hand” politicalmovement was upset that Austria was acting to prevent the formation of a unified“Greater Serbia” on its borders.

From Libya to Yemen, Iraq to Indonesia, the United States finds itself forced to be ready to respond to such regional issues.

The separation between Somalia and China may seem remote.

But so did the link between Serbia and Germany in 1914.

NEVER AGAIN?

War in the 21st century is nothing like that of a century ago.

The fight is no longer on Winston Churchill's seas and oceans. It is rarely in theair. There have been no battles on the beaches, or landing grounds since Iraq in1991. The fighting is all in the fields and streets — and in the hills.

It's ideology that never surrenders.

Some dismiss the recent resurgence of terrorists in the Middle East as more about local politics thanworld affairs. But the bombing of the Boston Marathon last year shows such extremist attitudes are still

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a real and present danger.

But the “asymmetric” threat posed by the likes of al Qaeda is aimed at the West's way of life. Victorythere is a matter of instilling, and leveraging, fear. And in exploiting growing discontent.

That war will likely never end.

If a modern prophet ever ends up marching down the Washington Mall, it will be at the head of aninternal uprising: Not an Arabic invasion force.But the world is, once again, a troubled place.

Is turmoil the New World Order? Or, once again in Churchill's words: Will a New World, with all its power and might, step forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old?

12 HOTSPOTS AND THE DANGERS THEY POSE

1) Ukraine The chill of the Cold War is back in the air. Russian bombers are again trailing their coats close to USand British borders. Warships and submarines are picking up their deadly dance where they left offmore than two decades ago.

Even so, the Crimea crisis which sparked it all is already over. Russia possesses it. The West is doinglittle about it.

Having been there and done that, Russia seems to have a good sense about what it can get away with.Other, newer powers may not.

2) The China Seas

Oil and gas are a common cause for war. And both are found in plenty among the scattered islands ofSouth and East Asia. But now fish stocks are at the top of this race for resource control.

China is using a 900-year-old map from the height of its ancient empire as justification for claimingwaters far from its modern shores. Nearby nations enjoying the benefits of a world defined by theoutcome of World War II see things differently.

Beijing has moved from the passivity of 'peaceful rise' rhetoric, through the more assertive diplomacyof 2010 to now, where hard-power behaviour at sea and in the air simply asserts China's control.

3) Syria Since the hugely expensive exercises in Afghanistan and Iraq, the word “intervention” has beenanathema in the West. But the prevalent hope was that the turmoil would somehow remain contained

by Syria's borders.

ISIS has proven that hope unfounded.

Now, Syria looks set to follow the path of Afghanistan and Iraq into lawlessness and chaos.

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4) Iraq It's a blazing beacon to the failure of the West's recent wars. It's also the last thing President Obamaneeded on his plate. Tens of thousands of lives have been lost and billions of dollars up-ended into the

battlefields of Iraq. Now the nation seems to be lurching towards fragmentation, without an effectivearmy or a functional government to lead it.

It's largely America's own fault. The problem was created by the US initially through the invasion of

Iraq which toppled Saddam. Then the US military disengagement opened up space for civil war between armed militant groups that had initially mobilised to fight the US occupation.What arises from the ashes will determine the direction of the Middle East for decades to come. Will it

be a hard-line Islamic Caliphate? Or can balance be found under strengthened, secular state?

5) Afghanistan Now Afghanistan fears being left similarly high-and-dry once the final US forces are pulled out incoming years. Will its US-trained military and police prove any more reliant in the face of fanaticalTaliban fighters than those of Iraq when presented with ISIS?

But, there's no post-Afghanistan peace dividend to be harvested.

Even President Obama appears to have quietly conceded this concern. In recent weeks he approved atwo-year extension for fighting forces to remain operational in the nation's war-torn valleys. 2014 wassupposed to be the last year on the ground. It certainly didn't hurt al-Qaeda — it now larger and moredecentralised than it was on September 11, 2001.

Afghanistan has been a melting pot of world politics for hundreds of years. This isn't likely to end anytime soon.

6) Iran Even though this nation has been pushing for decades to develop its own nuclear weapons, it seems tohave recently restrained its territorial ambitions. Instead, it appears to be seeking strength against theturmoil of its own region.

Such an entity would only escalate the fractious politics of Islamic nations. Only Saudi Arabia hasseemed able to maintain any real sense of stability in the region. But, for how long?

7) Yemen The fractious politics have not left the Constitutional Republic of Yemen untouched, even though it isfar from the battlefields of Syria and Iraq. Al-Qaeda-linked militants recently attacked the presidential

palace and tried to assassinate the defence minister. US drone strikes against remote jihadist basessporadically reach the news. Yemen is now just another explosive element in the increasingly unstable

powder-keg of the Middle East.

8) North Korea Nuclear blasts and missile tests; this state keeps thrusting itself back into the news. Just recently thecountry threatened war in response to the pending release of a comedy in the United States about itsleader, Kim Jong-un. North Korea has been regularly playing a game of brinkmanship with SouthKorea and Japan.

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9) Egypt Egypt has already succumbed to a debilitating scenario. Vying political and religious factions made therecent attempt at a valid government virtually unviable. The military has since stepped in, and all thedramas associated with martial law have come back into play. As one of the more powerful and

populated nations of the Middle East, what happens here has direct implications for its neighboursspanning two continents.

10) LibyaSince the long-term rule of Muammar Gaddafi was toppled in a NATO-supported Civil War in 2011,the seemingly inevitable march of Islamic extremists has brought a renewed jihad to this oil-richMediterranean state. The new democratic government has, once again, found itself in gridlock. Militiashave stepped into the power vacuum and Western interests are increasingly coming under attack.

11) Nigeria Africa's second-biggest economy faces an uncertain future as increasingly militant religious extremistgroups unleash turmoil upon an already fragile political system. Defections and extraordinary spendinghas become a feature of the lead-up to elections next year, but the nation remains wracked over the fateof nearly 400 schoolgirls abducted by extremists opposed to their education.

12) Somalia War-torn Somalia is still struggling to repair its religious and racial divides after decades of internalstruggle. Into this void has moved al-Shabaab, a clan-based militant group which boasts of ties with alQaeda. This organisation claimed responsibility for a murderous attack on a shopping mall in nearbyKenya last year. In return, it has itself become the target of US Navy SEAL and drone raids.

India's Role in the Nuclear RaceIn an editorial last month (July 05, 2014), The New York Times lamented “India's role in the

nuclear race” in South Asia and questioned the double standards being applied in a country-

specific preferential treatment to it by the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a 48-member body

established in 1974 after India's first nuclear test to ensure that civilian trade in nuclear

materials is not diverted for military purposes, as was done by India itself in pursuing a

clandestine nuclear-weapon program with materials and equipment that it acquired from

Canada and the US ostensibly for peaceful purposes.


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Those who have researched into India's nuclear program know the fallacy of conventional perspectiveson the development of Indian nuclear deterrence – that the Indian nuclear programme entailed'exclusively peaceful uses' during the Nehru era and that the nuclear weapons capability was initiated

by Shastri government after the first Chinese nuclear test in 1964. There is incontrovertible evidence

now that Dr. Homi Bhabha, the architect of India's nuclear programme, had with Nehru's approvalalready built a nuclear weapon development strategy within the framework of India's civilian nuclear

programme.

On their coming to power in Delhi in 1998, the BJP sought to resurrect the legend of greater India andlost no time to implement its militaristic and communal agenda by a series of actions that onlyaggravated the security environment in our region. The BJP agenda publicly announced its intentions“to exercise the nuclear option and induct nuclear weapons, occupy Azad Kashmir and to demolishmosques to build Hindu temples.” In April 1998, Pakistan's prime minister addressed a letter to the G-8heads of state and government drawing their attention to India's threatening nuclear designs and the

consequences that would ensue from its induction of nuclear weapons.

India's five nuclear tests on May 11 and 13, 1998 proved us completely right. We knew at that time that peace was hanging by a slender thread in South Asia. In the absence of any assurances or securityguarantees, we had no choice but to take measures to protect our freedom and independence. Our testslater in the month (five on May 28 and one on May 30) restored the regional strategic balance servingthe larger interest of peace and stability in South Asia. The world did recognize that it was not Pakistan

but India which “inducted” the nuclear dimension into the volatile security environment of South Asia.

The UN Security Council resolution 1172 of 6 June 1998, which inter alia, condemned the tests and

called for a roll back by both countries of their nuclear capabilities, clearly recognised that the testswere conducted first by India and then by Pakistan. It is also known to the world that since thenegotiations for the NPT in 1968, every single non-proliferation initiative came from Pakistan.Irrespective of who inducted the nuclear dimension into the security environment of South Asia, it is areality now.

If the turbulent history of this region has any lessons, world's engagement in this region must have beenaimed at promoting strategic balance rather than disturbing it. A stable nuclear security order is whatwe need in South Asia. Any measures that contribute to lowering of nuclear threshold and fueling of anunnecessary arms race between the two nuclear-armed neighbours are no service to the people of this

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region. India's triad-based nuclear doctrine, its aggressive 'Cold Start' strategy and its introduction ofanti-ballistic missile system constitute 'overkill' for the region's stability.

Since Pakistan's actions in the nuclear and missile fields at each stage are force majeure in response toIndia's escalatory steps, an element of mutuality in restraint and responsibility is required for nuclearand conventional stabilization in our region. Pakistan has been pursuing credible minimum deterrenceas its doctrinaire policy and remains opposed to a nuclear and conventional arms race in the region. It

continues to seek the establishment of a strategic restraint regime with India involving threeinterlocking elements: conflict resolution, nuclear and missile restraint, and conventional balance.

It is no less ironic that the NSG which was set up in response to the first act of nuclear

proliferation by India's first nuclear test in 1974 should now be rewarding it in violation of the

non-proliferation regime that it claims to champion.

India however remains averse to these proposals and keeps citing its extra-regional concerns while itsforce potential remains Pakistan-specific. Obviously, in the face of India's fast developing capabilitiesincluding its dangerous weapon-inductions, aggressive doctrines and devious nuclear cooperationarrangements enabling diversion of nuclear material for military purposes, equally dangerous options inresponse also become inevitable.

It is this reality that the NYT has now editorially flagged to question India's special waiver-basedeligibility for NSG membership. Recalling that India has long sought to carve out a special exceptionfor itself in the nuclear sphere, The New York Times urges the NSG not to accept India's bid formembership until “it proves itself willing to take a leading role in halting the spread of the world'smost lethal weapons. One way to do that would be by opening negotiations with Pakistan and China toend the dangerous regional nuclear arms race.” It is a sound advice.

In effect, the NYT endorses Pakistan's stand for a criteria-based approach in the NSG. It is also atimely reminder to world's major powers, especially the US, to understand the gravity of the damagethey are doing to the cause of peace and stability in this region by giving India country-specific nuclearwaivers. Despite the new opportunities that Narendra Modi's India now offers to these powers forlucrative defence and energy contracts, they must not accede to India's NSG membership until it meetscertain non-proliferation benchmarks and resumes talks with its regional rivals on nuclear restraints.

This also brings into ominous focus the US-India nuclear deal and the subsequent carte blanche thatIndia has received in the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) for access to nuclear technology in violationof equitably applicable criteria. India is also seeking exemptions in any future Fissile Material Treaty(FMT) similar to those it has been granted under the iniquitous US-India deal which enables India to

keep its eight "civil" nuclear reactors and the breeder program outside IAEA safeguards which can produce a significant amount of weapon-grade plutonium.

Pakistan, for obvious reasons is opposed to any exemptions in a future FMT and remains concernedover NSG's preferential treatment to India in terms of its access to nuclear technology in violation ofthe global non-proliferation regime. It has been urging Washington to revisit its discriminatory nucleardeal with India. Unless it is matched with a similar arrangement with Pakistan, the Indo-US nuclearnexus will seriously undermine the cause of peace and stability in this region.It is no less ironic that the NSG which was set up in response to the first act of nuclear proliferation byIndia's first nuclear test in 1974 should now be rewarding it in violation of the non-proliferation regime

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that it claims to champion. Given the consensus rule anyone of these 48 nations could have blockedthis decision. The fact that they did not do so was because their profit motives got the better of their

principles or they simply lacked the courage of their convictions.

Since the group operates on consensus, the NSG membership would give India a veto over decisionmaking, including any future decision involving Pakistan, which at the moment is not being consideredfor membership. The NSG must rectify its lopsided approach and allow a criteria-based treatment to

Pakistan at par with India. Its discriminatory approach does not serve the cause of peace and stability inthe region and also weakens the US-sponsored global nuclear security process.

The writer is a former foreign secretary

Shamshad Ahmad

The Future of CHINESE MODEL

GOVERNANCEThe leadership turnover in China has taken place in a shifting political situation. There have

been increased calls for more political accountability and multi-candidate elections, broader

media freedom and financial reform. We need to watch this closely. The behaviour of Chinese

leadership for change will determine whether China will continue its phenomenal 'rise' or will it

be hampered by the intransigence on part of its leadership.


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Let's take a closer look at the context:

The Arab Spring has prompted many to ask whether China will be the next to be swept along in a waveof popular unrest. Indeed, the Chinese leadership, both incumbent and previous, have been watchingthe situation closely. This is justified considering that President Xi Jinping assumed power at a timewhen social media had become a real force. These new forms of communication played a phenomenalrole in the Arab uprisings. Now, half a billion Chinese are registered on Sina Weibo; a website much

like Twitter. This online platform has served “netizens” to voice their complaints ranging fromgovernance malfunctions and corruption to food and environmental issues.

This raises inevitable questions. Is the bid for democratic reform a matter of time? Might the predictionof an “end of history” and of a uniform move in the direction of liberal democracy make a comeback?Or, might there be other sustainable alternatives?

Under the current Chinese model — with a meritocratic bureaucracy and self-enforced leadershipturnover — people are materially better off. This has happened in a short period of time, generating agreat deal of optimism. Yet, there are two things to consider:

(i) Whether the Chinese governance model can still be preserved in the long term

(ii) Whether it is sustainable in a world of greater connectivity and deepening global interdependence

The 'Chinese model' is built around a long tradition of meritocratic recruitment, civil serviceexaminations, high emphasis on education and deference to technocratic authority. Some of thesefactors may be a source of dynamism that may give the Chinese state the capacity to adapt to changingcircumstances.Yet, weaknesses abound. The dignity of Chinese citizens is violated by land seizures and unfaircompensation. Forced relocation to make way for development projects is common. China also facesserious healthcare, environmental and demographic challenges. Water and air pollution, for instancedepict the price of China's meteoric rise.

In this context, rapid growth may buy social peace for the time being; but in the long run, publicoutrage may be more difficult to contain. The growth of a middle class inevitably leads to shiftingvalues and demands.

A government based on dignity

The sustainability of any political order depends on the guarantee of human dignity for all people, at all

times and under all circumstances. Dignity here means much more than just the absence of humiliationIts nine-fold metric consists of an accountable government, reason, security, human rightstransparency, justice, opportunity, innovation and inclusiveness. It is also more inclusive than just theinsistence on “political freedom” which is central to current forms of liberal democracy.

Adopting sensible and inclusive reforms provides guard against various forms of disenfranchisementRather than being utopian or idealistic, such steps are pragmatic and serve realist state interests.Addressing dignity is not a question of political concessions or liberal bias, but of meeting fundamentahuman needs.Therefore, sustainable reforms do not have to imply a transition to mainstream liberal democracy

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Rather than insisting that Western-type liberal democracy is the ultimate form of governance, we needto envisage alternative and feasible governance models that go beyond aspiring for 'freedom' and

prioritize human dignity.China has a long way to go. Public policy fails to address issues of social welfare and protection ofhuman rights. Some people are held accountable; but this comes from the top-down and rules arehardly enforced uniformly. China has a dynamic economy that has lifted many people out of poverty,

but stark disparities remain and inequality rates are at levels comparable to those of Russia and the

Philippines.

Learning from others

This 'dignity deficit' could be China's Achilles' heel. Armed with social media, the young people ofTunisia, Egypt and Libya revolted because their governments failed to respect and ensure the collectivedignity of their citizens. The accumulation of collective dignity deficits were bound to translate into alevel of frustration and discontent that ultimately could not be contained. If China is different, it is

because it is able to deliver on economic development for the time being, even if wealth is unevenlydistributed. But the winds of change are bound to blow eastward.

Thus, it is not only economic reform that is urgent, but reforms targeting corruption and addressing thewider popular call for fairness too are direly needed. The Third Plenum did open a new era of politicachanges in the sense that it altered some of the domestic institutional structure by establishing the

National Security Committee and the Central Reform Leading Group, mandated to guide the nationasecurity and economic policy. Such institutional changes are simply tectonic as they will recalibrate theinternal political forces, making the two bodies operate under the authority of the party's Politburo andits standing committee.

Social unrest still remains a possibility. This should encourage the leadership to proceed toconsequential reforms and changes in a way that may not necessarily lead to the culmination of aWestern-type liberal democracy. The alternative may rest in a tactful yet significant and dignity-drivenevolution of the present system.

Exclusive Interview: Aamir Hasan"I must say that OMG can be a very good choice for females because it offers a scheduled job."

Former Chief Instructor Common Training Programme (CTP); DG Intellectual Property

Organization (IPO) Pakistan


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Jahangir's World Times (JWT): How do you see the importance of Office Management Group

(OMG) in Pakistan's bureaucratic structure?

Aamir Hasan (AH): I think OMG is a key occupational group in Pakistan's bureaucratic structure. It isso because the OMG officers start their career as Section Officer at the federal secretariat — the spineof the federal government. They also have exposure to policymaking right from the beginning. Theinitial experience of working in the capital with the ministries becomes a constant source of help foryoung officers who would later become joint secretaries or even federal secretaries. In addition, OMGalso offers variety of postings in the federal secretariat, autonomous bodies and in embassies. So, it’s ahighly important pillar of our bureaucratic structure.

JWT: How OMG is attractive for females because most of them feel confused while prioritizingthe occupational groups?

AH: First of all, let me make it very clear that my views are based on my own experience as ChiefInstructor Common Training Programme (CTP). I don't, in any case, want to discourage femaleaspirants but highlighting some realities is necessary here.

Naturally, everyone is ambitious about life and same is true for the females too, but I have noticed thatmany ambitious females, who are in field jobs, can't strike a balance between their official duties andfamily life. I know many brilliant female officers who are doing challenging jobs, but they either do not

get married or their family life remains disturbed. For instance, if a female in Foreign Service ofPakistan is posted in China, then what his husband will do in China? He simply cannot follow his wifewherever she is posted. Similarly, in PAS and PSP, there is hardly any scheduled working, and afemale officer can be called anytime; so her children and family suffer a lot.

Furthermore, if a female is in a profession that imparts to her a high social status, then she will have toespouse a man of equal social standing; otherwise her life could become too complex. Hence, beforegoing into Civil Services or any other career, females must consider this family life factor.

Now, as far as female aspirants are concerned, I must say that OMG can be a very good choice for

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them because it offers a scheduled job, a settled life in Islamabad. It's my personal experience becausemy wife is also from the OMG and right now she is the youngest officer in grade 21.

JWT: Being former chief instructor of, hence privy to, Common Training Programme (CTP),

what, do you think, were its important strengths?

AH: Well, CTP is basically designed for the grooming of young officers. In Civil Service Academy

(CSA), majority of officers hail from humble background so their exposure and level of self-confidenceis enhanced through this programme. Regular practice of debates and making presentations, performingleadership roles in different functions are ensured at the CSA along with a special focus on polishingofficers' communication skills. Furthermore, to further strengthen the CTP, local case studies are also

being included which prove very beneficial to the officers. These, to me, are the strengths of the CTP.

JWT: If you were the DG CSA today, what changes would you have made to the CTP?

AH: I must say the present DG CSA is more competent then I. And, I'm sure she would be bringingabout a number of changes to ameliorate the training system. And, as you asked, if I am made DG CSAtoday, I will introduce two major changes. First, I will make it more practical by engaging officers intofield assignments instead of theoretical work. Second, my focus will be on ethical grooming of theofficers.

JWT: A view, which is gaining ground nowadays, is that final allocations to occupational groups

should be made after the accomplishment of CTP keeping in view the officers' true talent, calibre

and skills. How do you see it?

AH: In initial years of CTP, the officers were allocated according to their performance in this programme and the young officers also took it seriously. But, because of favouritism and some otherills, it was discontinued. I personally support this view. However, it should be in place only after wehave developed the desired institutional strength so that no fingers could be pointed at the veracity ofthe allocations.

JWT: Why CSA hasn't yet acquired institutional strength like Pakistan Military Academy

(PMA), Kakul has?

AH: Good question. Actually, in army best officers are assigned the task of training the new recruits. Infact, most of our army chiefs had served in various training institutions and they also feel a sense of

pride in it. Unfortunately, in case of civil services, we haven't been able to develop such a culture. I joined the CSA as a faculty member by choice; because teaching is my passion. But same is not the

case with every faculty member. For instance, if an officer wants to live in Lahore, he would prefer to join the CSA. Moreover, the officers not in the good books of government get sidelined and are postedto training institutions. Such factors have hampered the prospects of CSA becoming a prestigioustraining institution.

Naturally, everyone is ambitious about life and same is true for the females too, but I have

noticed many ambitious females, who are in field jobs, can't strike a balance between their

official duties and family life.

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JWT: What reforms are inevitable to make our civil service more effective and more efficient?

AH: It's a broad topic and requires detailed elaboration; but I will try to sum it up in a few words. Firstof all, our bureaucracy must be depoliticized. Secondly, the officers must have security of their tenure

but there must be a robust system of checks and balances in place as well. The presently-availableforum for this purpose — Services Tribunal — is literally ineffective. And lastly, the remuneration

packages must be made comparable with the market. These reforms can bring a tremendous, positivechange in the Civil Service of Pakistan.

JWT: You have been a Community Welfare Attaché (CWA) in Kuwait for some years. How

would you describe your experience?

AH: Actually, I served for almost four years in Kuwait. It is just a small city-state and at that timethere were only one hundred and twenty thousand Pakistanis. So, everybody had access to the embassy

and they expected a lot from CWA. However, all of our mainstream political parties have their presence in Kuwait in form of community welfare organizations. During my tenure as CWA, Iunderstood that if one works impartially, then everybody will cooperate because all Pakistanicommunity welfare organizations had been very supportive to me.

I would like to tell you that once about 1500 Pakistanis came to Kuwait on work visa. They were thevictims of a fraudulent offer because the firm which hired them did not, at all, exist. They allapproached the embassy for help. By the grace of Allah Almighty, and by the support of myambassador and all Pakistani community welfare organizations, I convinced the Kuwait; authorities tolegalize their stay and to not put any penalty on those who want to go back to Pakistan. I feel, it was

my greatest achievement as CWA.

JWT: Is the registration of intellectual property rights an integral part of the enforcement, or

does the enforcement arise after registration?

AH: The stage of enforcement arises after registration. In IPO, we deal, basically, with three types ofintellectual properties: trademarks, copyrights and patents. But we cannot take action unless acomplaint is formally launched with us or FIA or Police. We are not, in effect, an enforcement agencyFor enforcement, we are dependent on FIA, Police and Customs.

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JWT: Pakistan's total mango production exceeds a million ton mark, but we can export hardly

ten per cent of it. Is it so because we don't have registered trademarks of mangoes?

AH: For the registration of mangoes, a separate law namely Geographical Indication's Law is in placeBut, in Pakistan, we haven't made legislation in this regard. We are working vigorously on that. We areconsulting all the stakeholders including Ministry of Commerce, TDAP and World IntellectualProperty Organization (WIPO). Once our parliament approves the respective draft laws, we shall place

separate registries not only for mangoes but also for Peshawari Chappal, Sargodha Kinoo and manyother Pakistani products. And it will an impetus to growth of our exports.

For feedback: [email protected]

Waqas Iqba

SEEING IN IRAQ THE FUTUREOF AFGHANISTAN

The current chaos in Iraq is largely attributed to the ill-conceived US invasion of Iraq, the dismantling of

the Ba'athist state apparatus and the hasty withdrawal of American troops. But, Iraq was not ready

enough to assume control of its own security situation when the US decided to withdraw forces in

December 2011. The wisdom of that decision will long be debated, but having made it, the United States

is now understandably reluctant to undo it. In Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) has

crafted one of the best success stories in recent history. Is a similar manoeuvre on the cards in

Afghanistan? Will Afghanistan see a similar turn of events after US drawdown?


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The ISIS has rampaged through western Iraq and a few thousand kilometres away is Afghanistan wherethe International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are withdrawing, with Americans contemplatingless than 10,000 troops on ground. The Iraqi and Afghan landscapes have festering ethnic and sectariandivides in common.

Even as the Obama administration sorts through a galaxy of unattractive options, none of which isguaranteed to provide stability, it would be well-advised not to overlook one of the biggest strategic

lessons of the Iraqi deterioration. The prospect of the Afghan Taliban and its al Qaeda peers mountinga similar offensive against the regime in Kabul are an alarming reality. While Iraq and Afghanistan areof course vastly different in terms of demographics, history and terrain, the parallels emerging betweenthem in terms of security implications and political process are too important to ignore.

An extremist militant group rising quickly and taking over large swathes of the country; a governmentfocusing more on retribution and vengeance than reconciliation and governance; and a supposedlywell-trained army essentially disintegrating in the face of real conflict; all of these characteristicsdescribe the situation in Iraq, but all may be equally descriptive of Afghanistan in only a few shortyears.

Similar to Iraq, Afghanistan has an ethnic, well-organized and well-funded insurgent group poised toretake significant amounts of territory once US troops leave.The genesis of the crisis in Iraq has its roots in Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's reluctance in exercisinginclusive governance. The Kurds, 17 per cent of the population, remained at the periphery — only to

become more and more assertive. Further, Maliki never really made the effort required to draw Sunniswho make up approximately 30 per cent of the population, into the fold.

In Afghanistan, ethnic fault lines have proven, historically, more difficult to negotiate than sectariandivides. However, the Afghan parliament has a fair representation of ethnic groups. The army, thoughdominated by the Pashtuns and Tajiks, is quite representative.

There can be no doubt that the Taliban, having seized power once before in Kabul, are only biding timeuntil they can do so again. Much like the ISIS, the Taliban take advantage of the limits of federalinfluence and govern by fear and aggression. It is only a matter of time before the Taliban, newlyemboldened by the recent prisoner swap that freed five militants, takes control of southern Afghanistanand challenges Kabul's authority.

Compounding this situation is the shaky and corrupted political process under way, which makes Iraqlook like a well-functioning democracy. In a variation of Mr Maliki's sectarian tendencies, outgoingAfghan President Hamid Karzai has done little to unite Afghanistan's many tribal factions during his 12

years in office, instead often fomenting discontent. There is little reason to believe that the newAfghanistan President will make it a priority. As a result, Afghanistan could become even more

politically divided than Iraq is today.

Perhaps the biggest wild card in Afghanistan's future is the Afghan National Army. Much like the Iraqiarmy, the Afghan army will be charged with maintaining the security situation once the United Statesdeparts. And much like the Iraqis, the Afghans have been trained by the United States. While theAfghans may be courageous soldiers, there have been numerous reports of lacklustre performances; somuch so that their abilities in actual combat situations remain uncertain. In addition, Afghanistan hasnever had a real national fighting force, meaning there are few examples and fewer role models for

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current soldiers to emulate.

Given all this, it is not difficult to look at the situation in Iraq and see Afghanistan's future. Indeed, witha resurgent Taliban, political instability in Kabul, an untested army and if the United States continueswith its plan to drawdown forces at the end of 2014, especially without an agreement in place for theretention of American security personnel, a future similar to Iraq's may be inevitable.

Afghanistan's future clearly hangs in the balance. The US troop presence and the stalemate between theANSF and the Taliban prevent the slide into an Iraq-like situation for now, but the ingredients for long-term instability remain firmly in place. However, unlike Iraq, this bleak Afghan future need notnecessarily become reality. The United States still has an opportunity to avoid making the samemistakes it made in Iraq.

To accomplish this, the United States needs to redouble its efforts at training the Afghan army todevelop it into a legitimate fighting force. It needs to put diplomatic pressure on the new president toembark on a unification and reconciliation process. And most important, it needs to plan for awithdrawal based on appropriate benchmarks and conditions, not on a political timetable.

Election to European ParliamentThe EU citizens, in recent elections to the European Parliament (EP), sent a strong and clear

message to the European leaders to take a lesson from their low turnout and their choices to

move to the extreme sides of the political spectrum. The EP election results reflected political and

social trends of recent years in the EU. Although the general outlook of the EP with its 751 seatshas not changed much as compared to the 2009 elections, the voting rate for parties of the far

right has visibly increased across the Union.


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The EU leaders too have experienced a virtual earthquake as the strength of rightwing political forcesdemonstrated itself in major countries like Britain and France. The National Front (FN), led by MarineLe Pen, took first place in the EP elections in France with 24.95% of the vote. In the UK, theEurosceptic UK Independence Party (UKIP) won the elections with 27%. Likewise, the extreme right-wing Danish People's Party (Dansk Folkeparti) in Denmark emerged victorious with 26%. In Austriathe Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ) took third place with 19%. Also, in Hungary, the far-right JobbikParty with a 14% share of the vote managed to become the runner-up in elections there. While the

Coalition of the Radical Left (Syriza), which opposed austerity measures, won the elections with 26%in Greece, the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn has the opportunity to send three parliamentarians to theEP with 9% of the vote.

This swing to the right was not entirely unanticipated as ruling parties were well aware that there has been substantial dissatisfaction among the various populations, as a result of the deep economicrecession that has affected some countries. Indeed, for some time now, there has been grumbling insome countries about immigration from other EU member states; and there has also beendissatisfaction in France in particular about continuing movement of nationals into Europe from MiddleEastern countries as turmoil continues there, particularly in Syria, as well as from some African states.

Where there has been relative economic stability, as in Germany, negative results have notcharacterized the ruling coalition's support, and in particular Mrs Angela Merkel's ChristianDemocratic Party. On the other hand, in France for some time now, public opinion polls have showncontinuing dissatisfaction with President Francois Hollande's French Socialist Party as, in the opinionof a large portion of the electorate, he has failed to come to terms with the depressed economy of thecountry.

And in effect, it represents a growing sentiment that if major decisions affecting the people areincreasingly being centralised within a European institutional framework, then choices about whoshould be the major functionaries of that framework should be directly made by the nationalelectorates.

The elections have coincided with the imminent appointment of a new President of the EuropeanCommission over which there has been some substantial squabbling, one of the main points ofopposition groupings in the European Parliament being that this appointment should be made not bythe heads of states and governments functioning as a kind of quasi-cabinet, but by the parliament itselfAnd here the argument is that, as the parliament has evolved in constitutional strength, the presidencyof the commission should now reflect the wishes of the popularly elected parliament.

For now, the effects of a far-right tendency can be considered limited. For instance, the EU referendum

and migration debates led by David Cameron after the economic crisis in Britain caused the rise ofUKIP's votes and voters in Germany showed similar reflexes in the previous general elections at theend of 2013.

In this sense, the results and turnout of the EP election remind us of the current problems whichurgently require a response and prioritization by the EU. In order to deal effectively with the main issuemade use of by populism, the ongoing economic crisis, areas such as unemployment and developmentneed to be placed at the top these priorities. This is because EU citizens are pessimistic about theeconomic crisis and think that “the worst has not come yet”.

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In this context, besides concrete steps which need to be taken, it is important to overcome the issue ofdemocratic deficit in the institutional structure of the EU and to open up healthy channels of dialogueamong EU citizens as well. In short, it seems that “the populist rhetoric of the far-right parties must becountered with a new, more assertive agenda for building a competitive, secure and credible Europewhich is responsive to its citizens' concerns but still able to play an important role in its neighborhoodand on the global stage”, as stated by Shada Islam from Friends of Europe.

It is also to be noted that the recent electoral demonstration of unpopularity of some of the leadinggovernments of the EU comes at a time when the EU has collectively been making a series of decisionsabout the character of the integration arrangement as far as membership is concerned. The cosyrelationship among the original six of what was then the European Community has been giving way toan increasing membership, encompassing countries which reflect a larger conception of Europe thanwas perceived as possible during the Cold War. There is now a major discrepancy in size between theoriginal six and the present membership that includes small entities like Malta and Cyprus, as well asformer members of the Soviet system such as Poland and Hungary and the smaller entities like Latviaand Estonia which Russia had originally seen as parts of its sphere of influence.

THINGS FALL APART IN IRAQThe pace and rapidity with which the fragile state-building process in Iraq has imploded is almost

unbelievable. Observers around the world are stunned by the speed and scope of the assaults on

every major city in the upper Tigris River Valley — including Mosul, Iraq's second-largest city — by

the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS). The group has been marching on to establish an Islamic

caliphate in Iraq with such swiftness that it achieved its aim in just a few days.


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The collapse of the Iraqi government's troops in Mosul and other northern cities in the face ofresistance has been the predictable culmination of a long deterioration, brought on by the government's

politicization of its security forces. For more than five years, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and hisministers have presided over the packing of the Iraqi military and police with their own Shiite loyalistswhile sidelining many effective commanders who led Iraqi troops in the battlefield gains of 2007-2010a period during which al Qaeda in Iraq (the forerunner of the ISIS) was brought to the brink ofextinction.

On the other hand, it is also an undeniable fact that the overwhelming intervention of the US and itsallies in Iraq has fatigued the political and social framework of the country to the point of enervation.The US committed grave mistake from the start. But, committing new mistakes will not right thewrong. The bull-headed Bush administration concocted this Mesopotamia mayhem against the adviceof some of its smartest allies, including the Germans and French — not to mention the sincere but quiereservations of China — and persisted with its folly in full glare of the embarrassing absence of the UNSecurity Council approval that it had desperately sought. Barack Obama also carried on the Bushlegacy.

Back in 2002-2003, over 80 per cent of Americans believed the big lies spread by the Bushadministration and its neo-con allies that Iraq had nuclear weapons and was behind 9/11 attacks andOsama bin Laden. But the time proved that Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction and no ties to AlQaeda.One would think the neoconservatives who engineered the Iraq War would hide their heads in shame

Not so. Former vice-president Dick Cheney, the real power in the Bush administration, just claimedPresident Barack Obama was responsible for the growing mess in Iraq.

The pressure on Obama now is to re-enter Iraq with US forces that are all but pulled out. It will beimpossible for Obama to resist completely. But his instinct is to rebid with a minimum and re-exit thatforce as soon as feasible.

“Obama is a wimp allowing America's foes to run rampant across the Mideast and Eastern Europe,”growled Cheney. He wants US troops to reoccupy Iraq, and maybe Syria. Cheney's blustering wasapplauded by another over-the-hill dotard, Republican Party leader Senator John McCain.

President Barack Obama had the wisdom to pull most US forces out of Iraq, though at least 5,000-7,000 military personnel remain in civilian attire in the vast US embassy complex in Baghdad and twomajor air bases. Hundreds more Americans remain, running Iraq's oil industry.

Saddam Hussein nationalised Iraq's oil and kicked out its foreign owners. As soon as he was deposed

the US and other foreign oil firms moved back in to pump Iraq's black gold.

Obama is now being pushed by the US rightwing media, led by the Wall Street Journal, to re-

invade Iraq and deepen the war in Syria, not to mention Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, and

Africa. The Republicans are baying for war and calling Obama a coward.

Now, Obama faces an awesome decision. As Baghdad's army wavers before militants' assaults, he isunder pressure to use US airpower to blunt the Baathist advance. Besides killing many civilians, suchattacks would outrage Saudi Arabia and much of the Muslim world. Obama knows that America mustnot be seen as the champion of Iraq's one sect against the minority.

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This report basically explores attitudes in five South Asian countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India Nepal and Pakistan.

It focuses on two river systems: the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna and the Indus-Kabul basins. All thecountries face similar challenges relating to these rivers. For instance, both basins are reliant on thesummer monsoon as well as some upstream mountain snowmelt, leading to concerns about seasonalsupply, flooding and water storage. However, different narratives prevail across the region. Witharound 90 per cent of water used in agriculture, the relationship between food and water is seen as

paramount in all countries. The linkages between water, energy and food are most clearly identified inIndia, where the provision of subsidized or free electricity to farmers to pump groundwater forirrigation is seen as unsustainable. In Nepal and Pakistan, the relationship between water and energy isseen through the prism of unfulfilled hydro-power potential, while in Bangladesh the focus is oninfrastructure in India – the Farraka barrage in particular — and the consequent reduction in waterflows to its downstream neighbour.

Water has differing impacts on regional relations. Between India and Pakistan, and Pakistan andAfghanistan, water disputes exacerbate already strained bilateral relations. For Bangladesh and NepalIndian approaches to water are a primary source of distrust. Conspiracy theories and blames are

prevalent throughout South Asia — Afghanistan blames Pakistan and Iran for its water problems, while Nepal, Bangladesh and Pakistan blame India. Within India and Pakistan, water shortages are also blamed on the actions taken by upstream provinces or federal states. This culture of blame reflects theabsence of trust that plagues interregional relationships and makes river-sharing arrangements

particularly difficult to negotiate. In spite of the shared river systems and interdependencies, SouthAsian governments have signed few bilateral water agreements; and no regional ones.

Of the agreements currently in place, aside from the Ganges Treaty between India and Bangladesh andthe Mahakali Treaty between India and Nepal, the rest were signed in the 1950s and 1960s beforeterms such as 'water stress' had been formally coined. The Indus Waters Treaty, for example, took

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seven years of negotiations and was signed in 1960 when the population of India and Pakistancombined was just a third of today's 1.4 billion. Despite these criticisms, respondents generally rateexisting water treaties between countries more positively than their respective overarching bilateralrelationships, suggesting that even a sub-optimal treaty is better than none.

Part of the problem is the zero-sum way in which water relations are viewed throughout the region.Agreements imply the division of a volume of water between two countries or the provision of a

minimum flow at certain times of year. This, in turn, implies that one party will be worse off than in a pre-agreement status quo.Water is highly politicized in the region, with strong links to food security and the livelihoods of thelarge proportion of the populations dependent on agriculture. This plays out through the varioussystems of democracy across South Asia, meaning that trans-boundary water issues are increasinglydealt within the domain of national security. There is little perception of water as a 'shared challenge'Rather, sentiments towards other riparians are coloured by nationalist standpoints, focusing on pastinjustice or perceived hostile intentions. These factors mean that negotiations as they are currentlyconfigured stand little chance of success, enhancing distrust if they fail. The Indus Waters Treaty isgenerally seen as one of the most positive aspects of the relationship between India and Pakistangarnering support for its proven ability to resolve disputes and for its 50-year survival through politicatension and war. Suggestions for its improvement chime with wider recommendations for futureagreements in the region. They include revision to take into account new challenges such as the impactof climate change as well as falling groundwater levels, and to provide for engagement withstakeholders such as the river communities themselves.

Although most South Asians continue to live in rural areas, urbanization is an emerging cross-regionalchallenge. The urban population of South Asia is expected to double over the next two decades. Theexisting focus on water as a source of irrigation means that water management systems are ill-placed toadapt to the changing demand patterns. The share of water consumption will shift to cities in thecoming decades, sharpening the imperative of improving already inadequate urban water management.

This is not a simple story of upstream riparian hegemony versus downstream complainants. Even themost water-secure country, Nepal, suffers severe water shortages during the dry season owing toinsufficient storage capacity, resulting in most water flowing to downstream countries. MidstreamAfghanistan suffers from the same problem, which is blamed on conflict and deforestationDownstream Bangladesh has more available water per person than India, Pakistan or Afghanistan butcannot store and redistribute its flood rains.

Throughout the region, the notion of water as a scarce resource — and therefore one whose use should be priced or regulated — is continually challenged by notions that water is a 'human right' or an infinite

gift from God. Scaling up awareness campaigns on water usage has proved difficult across the regionand in all sectors. Many civil society respondents felt that water should be conceived as a 'commonresource' rather than as a commodity or economic good. In India, there is a widespread sense that the'Western model' of water provision has failed, and support for greater community self-reliance

Nevertheless, private-sector delivery was widely welcomed, especially in India, as long as it worked.

Domestic water-sharing remains contentious, particularly in India and Pakistan where there arelongstanding internal disputes between states and provinces. And if domestic allocations andmanagement are so difficult, how can countries expect to resolve disputes with their neighbours?

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Numerous interlocutors across the region criticized their Afghanistan's lack of domestic 'vision' forwater. The approaches of different ministries frequently conflict — for instance, while water ministriesmay devise good water conservation policies, other ministries may have contradictory priorities forwater use and incentives that exacerbate inefficiency. These problems have been complicated by adecentralization of power. The power of regional parties has increased in India since independenceand in Pakistan too power has shifted towards the provinces. Nepal is also discussing implementing afederal system.

This lack of vision and coordination affects trans-boundary water relations. Moreover, in the absenceof any sense of how countries aim to utilize their water, international negotiations are framed inabstract terms without a sense of why each country requires a particular volume of water.

If South Asia's worsening water conditions are to be addressed through cooperation rather thancompetition, its countries will need to adopt a new approach. The outlook on current trends suggeststhat local grievances over water availability and quality will spread and intensify. Unless watergovernance is improved with far greater coordination of relevant policies in agriculture, energy andenvironment, localized conflicts over water usage are as likely as trans-boundary disputes to underminestability.

India has, recently, elected its first majority government in 30 years. The difficulty of decision-makingwithin coalition governments was identified as an important impediment both to better localmanagement and to trans-boundary water relations. In India, this impediment has now been removed

presenting a window of opportunity for a new approach.

For some bilateral relationships, cooperation on water could become a source of mutual benefit andimproved security. There are numerous examples of cooperation between upstream and downstreamcommunities to create win-win solutions. In South Asia, one clear example is the arrangement betweenBhutan and India whereby India pays for hydroelectricity generated in Bhutan.

Domestic water management and trans-boundary water relations are inseparable parts of the same problem. In this respect, there are several potential possibilities for changing the trans-boundary waternarrative.

There is strong regional support for learning from best practice and for improvement and developmentof rainwater harvesting in both rural and urban areas. The desire for greater community participation iswidespread, particularly in relation to micro-conservation techniques.

The concept of local watershed or basin-wide management, linked to issues such as conservation and

environmental projection, also provides scope for cross-regional dialogue and knowledge-sharing.

In addition, cases of successful domestic water management indicate that the most effectivecollaborative approaches focus on water usage rather than simply water supply. What are the energyservice, food production, health, livelihood and socio-cultural needs and development expectationsinvolving water in each area or country? What changes are desired or anticipated over the next 30 yearsthat could impact water? This thinking at the domestic level could help transform a stagnant dialogueframed in terms of insurmountable conflicts of interest into regional dialogue and cooperationinitiatives based around shared challenges or even shared threats.

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Recommendations

1. Improve domestic water management

Improving water management is imperative both in itself and as a means of easing these tensions.

Enhance coordination between relevant ministries connected to water, such as those for agriculture or

mining, and ensure that policy on water is coordinated with agriculture and energy policies.

Create domestic 'visions' for water usage to enable trans-boundary negotiations to be driven by demandas well as supply.Enhance understanding of the nexus between food, energy and water to enable pricing of electricityand ideally water, to better reflect social and environmental costs.

Disseminate examples of best practice to facilitate broader understanding of what can be achieved and,importantly, how it was achieved.Shift management of water at the local level to the communities themselves. Current top-downapproaches frequently fail to meet communities' actual needs. This approach would enable a moreholistic understanding of cross-regional commonalities, encouraging a focus on sustainability, as wellas shared cultural and social approaches towards water.

2.Enhance data collection and expand data-sharing

Establish nationally accepted standards of data measurement and, in time, regionally acceptedstandards.

Improve the availability of consumption data to help guide policy-making.

Enhance data-sharing, in particular in relation to floods and droughts. Streamline processes by whichflood and drought data are cascaded to relevant local agencies.

3. Ease demand for water.

Incentivize the cultivation of less water-intensive crops.

Encourage less water-intensive methods of irrigation through pricing and/or through the promotion ofcost-efficient technologies.

4. Boost supply of water.

Where appropriate, focus on local rainwater harvesting projects.

5. Revisit existing treaties and agreements

Ensure treaties address technological advances, environmental factors and climate change.Ensure new treaties have built-in third party or mutually agreed arbitration clauses.

Courtesy: The Royal Institute of International Affairs

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Independence of KurdistanHISTORICAL OPPORTUNITY OR CONTEMPORARY OPPORTUNISM? The recent crisis

that is threatening Iraq in the form of ISIS has brought to the fore the issue of the probable

independence of Kurdistan as the newest state in the world. While the Kurds see the present

crisis as a historical opportunity to consolidate their much-desired sovereign state on the plea

that Iraq as a state has failed, others including Iran and some foreign political commentators

have viewed the drive towards independence as a form of Kurdish opportunism which belittles

the bigger problem (ISIS) in favour of a myopic focus on independence.


Independence as historical opportunity The Kurds have advanced the argument that since the Iraqi Army failed to withstand the ISIS onslaughtand the Peshmerga had to step in to defend themselves against it, the Kurds are better off pursuing their

own security as opposed to the Iraqi state whose apparatus is dysfunctional. Surely, the Peshmergahave proved to be more adept at military combat and holding it out against the ISIS as opposed to thesheepish surrender of the Iraqi Army in Mosul and Kirkuk.

The present turmoil is combined with Nuri al-Maliki's time in power where by the politics ofcentralisation have led to increased political wrangling between the KRG and the Iraqi governmentTensions over oil royalties and the non-payment of salaries to government functionaries were only

brewing when the present crisis emerged. The Kurdish move towards independence reveals mosalarmingly that the Kurds see the Iraqi state as a serious threat to be contended along with the ISIS.Though the Kurds are positioned well against the Islamists in order to defend their motherland, they are

as much concerned about the political and economic measures in place in Iraq which have undercuttheir autonomous status. In such an environment and with the Peshmerga now in control of Kirkuk, theKurds are asking the question: do we really need the Iraqi state when we can do it all by ourselves?

Furthermore, the Kurds with their de facto status in Iraq have done exceedingly well to put the paraphernalia of a modern, developed state by inviting foreign investment and developing their potentialities. Surely, a whole lot needs to be done and problems remain but compared to BaghdadErbil's record at nation-building has proceeded well compared to the ethno-sectarian nature of the Iraqistate and its politics. This can be read along with the KRG's recent repeated assertions that Kirkuk will

be made an example of ethnic coexistence with its Kurdish, Arab and Turkmen population.

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Independence as contemporary opportunism The case against the Kurdish drive towards independence is deemed as a moment of Kurdishopportunism when a far greater threat to Iraq and the wider Middle East takes shape. While the ISISmarauds its way from Syria to Iraq, the Kurdish desire for independence is seen as a narrow form ofself-serving endeavour. The Americans have argued for a consolidated, unified response to the presentcrisis urging the Kurds, Shias and Sunnis to band together against the ISIS. In this case, the recent callsfor independence risk isolating the Kurds and they stand to lose the ideational ground if they narrowlyfocus on their own independence to the detriment not only of Iraq but also the wider Middle Eastern

region. The question is: are the Kurds better off silencing the calls for independence (for themeanwhile) and concentrating on eliminating the wider threat by colluding with the Iraqi government(with or without Maliki)? Furthermore, if they collude with the Iraqi government and stave off the ISISinvasion and in the process demonstrate the strength of their military force and capacity to defendthemselves, will the Kurds then have a more compelling case for independence in front of theinternational community?

On the other hand, the independence momentum risks altering the geographical map of the MiddleEast. The Middle East is surely changing as ruling dynasties and orders have been threatened andoverturned in the most unexpected ways. The mass street protests starting from Tunisia down to Egypt

and now in Syria are symptomatic of a changing Middle East politically. Geographical changes, on theother hand, are always the most cumbersome for they involve a loss of sovereignty which most statesare reluctant to concede for obvious reasons. In this sense, the birth of Kurdistan is divisive for itinvolves risking a chain reaction for probable turmoil in the Kurdish communities in Iran, Turkey andSyria. If one section of the Kurds (in Iraq) declares independence, the others (in Iran, Turkey andSyria) are bound to follow, thus threatening regional states and their sovereignty.

Keeping the two strands in perspective, it may be argued that more than anything else the ISIS invasionhas exposed the hollow foundations of the Iraqi state and its sovereignty. An ethno-sectarian regimeunder Saddam Hussein had given way to yet another ethno-sectarian regime commanded by Nuri al-

Maliki. Though the new Iraqi dispensation provides for a power-sharing formula, power in essenceremains monopolised in the hands of the Shia majority. This surely does not bode well for thesustenance of the Iraqi state and its socio-political cohesion will continue to remain brittle unless the

political actors that constitute Iraq put the necessary measures in place to bandwagon the Sunnis andKurds alongside the Shias in a future national formation government.

The writer is an Assistant Professor at Department of International Relations, University of Karachi

[email protected]

Farhan Hanif Siddiq

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THE INAUDIBLE CRIES“Even though human life may be the most precious thing on earth, we always behave as if there

were something of higher value than human life.”

Gaza - Holocaust Version 2014

Friday, August 01, 2014

These words of Antoine de Saint-Exupery, a renowned French aristocrat, struck my mind when I saw

the heart-wrenching images of brutally-murdered Gaza children. In today's world, where abuse ormisuse of an animal may warrant punishment, how conveniently this ruthless genocide by the Israeliforces is ignored by the world. With immorality at its highest and regard for human life at its lowestthe acts of Israeli forces make a shameful example of brutality and bestiality.

The aerial bombardment of rockets by Israeli forces in July 2014 didn't begin at the spur of themoment. This crisis dates back to 1948 when the Jewish control was established over the Palestinianterritory. To date, all the terror, trauma and cruelties that the Palestinians have been subject to areactually an attempt to deprive them of their homeland.

The Palestine issue has its roots in two conflicting versions advocated by the Jews and the PalestiniansThe Jews consider this place the Holy Land that was promised to them by God whereas the Palestinians believe that their land has been grabbed by alien oppressors. The history of this land reveals that it had been inhabited and ruled by various people. However, in 636 AD, the Palestine was conquered by theArabs; this marked the beginning of almost 1400 years of Muslim presence in the region. In 1906, theZionist Congress decided that the homeland for the Jews would be Palestine. With the outbreak ofWorld War I in 1914, the Britain p

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