Friends, not Foes

President Barack Obama continues to demonstrate that he is eager to live up to his promise of ushering in a brand new era and building a world that is not as hostile and as deeply divided as the present one. In an interview with the Al-Arabiya television network, he told the Muslim world that Americans were 'not your enemy'. He spoke earnestly of returning to the warmer relationship with the Muslim world that existed two or three decades ago. Mr Obama also urged Israel and Palestine to return to the negotiating table, warning that conflict would not benefit the people of either land. In a still more dramatic indication of a visible policy shift, indeed a virtual U-turn on the route followed by former President Bush, President Obama offered Iran a handshake if it 'unclenched its fist'.

The fact that Obama chose an Arab news channel to give his first interview as president is in itself significant. Clearly he sees building a warmer relationship with the Muslim world as a key priority. So far, the new US president has shown he intends to keep up the momentum he built during his election campaign. In this, he has proved inaccurate those who had predicted he would focus essentially on domestic policy during his early days in office. The Obama team seems to be aware of the importance of creating greater harmony as a means of battling terror. There are reports that the president, while waiting to move into the Oval Office, made it a point to read all kinds of books on the Middle East and the Muslim world, including those penned by writers who hold no sympathies with the US. This is an immensely positive sign. In his interview, Obama demonstrated a considerable understanding of the Muslim world and in fact made it a point to mention that he had spent time in Indonesia as a means to establish a better understanding with Muslims everywhere. His suggestion that the US work together with the Russians and the Arabs to build peace in Palestine also shows a less arrogant approach than that adopted in the past. A settlement in Palestine would of course go a very long way in settling the tensions and hatred that fuel terrorism.

Should the US president succeed in turning the vision he brings to Washington into policy measures that can help end the acrimony we see everywhere, he would have staged a true revolution. Already, there are signals, as Obama noted in his interview, that Al-Qaeda leaders are wary of Washington's new chief. Like many of us, they perhaps wonder what his plans are and where he intends to take the world. Throughout his career, the sometimes enigmatic Barrack Hussein Obama has been known as a man who keeps his cards close to his chest. But for the present, the deal he seems to be offering is one that should not be turned down. Barack Obama is quite evidently a man on a mission. He has made it a point to demonstrate that the biases and prejudices of the past have been flung out of White House windows. We must hope his offer of a closer embrace is accepted by key leaders, so that the process of bridging the dangerous gulf that divides the world can begin immediately.

Suicide bombing rises in Pakistan

Pakistan suffered the sharpest rise in suicide attacks – 12.9 per cent of all attacks between July 2007 and June 2008, up from 3.14 per cent in the previous 12-month period

A significant shift in the incidence of suicide bombing has taken place away from Iraq and towards Pakistan and Afghanistan over the last three years, according to a newly published report by the Combating Terrorism Centre (CTC), an independent research institute at the West Point military academy in the US.
Assaf Moghadan, an associate professor at CTC, found that Pakistan suffered the sharpest rise in suicide attacks – 12.9 per cent of all attacks between July 2007 and June 2008, up from 3.14 per cent in the previous 12-month period.
Moghadan examined the 1,944 suicide attacks that took place between 1981 and June 2008 and found that between July 2007 and June 2008 – the last one-year period for which data on suicide attacks is available – 58.2 per cent of attacks took place in Iraq and 36.6 per cent in Afghanistan and Pakistan, compared with 69.3 per cent in Iraq and 25.1 per cent in Afghanistan and Pakistan the year before.
Grim as they are, the statistics yield one significant positive finding – the prediction that 2008 should see a fall in the number of suicide attacks in the first time for a decade.
The report said for the first time in a decade the last 12 months saw a considerable decrease in the incidents of suicide attacks in most other parts of the world.
During the first half of last year, 198 suicide attacks took place, suggesting a total of less than 400 for 2008, Moghadan writes in the January issue of CTC Sentinel. This compares to 535 for 2007, the deadliest toll in the last nine years.
However, he warns: ‘It is far too early for the United States and its allies to become complacent about the potential trend. While it is true that the occurrence of suicide attacks – especially in Iraq – has decreased, the United States and its friends should be wary of a further increase of this tactic where Salafi-jihadis are establishing a new foothold or are maintaining a viable presence.’
Most suicide attacks are carried out by Salafi-jihadi groups, which emerged from the war fought by Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the early 1980s.

Doubts have been raised........

Doubts have been raised about police reports of a foiled attack on India’s capital blamed on Pakistani militants, with newspapers wondering if the whole episode might have been staged.

The controversy is an unwelcome distraction from India’s efforts to bring to book Pakistanis it blames for November’s attack on Mumbai.

Police on Sunday said they killed two militants after a car chase in Noida city on the outskirts of New Delhi on the eve of Republic Day. AK-47 rifles, grenades and a Pakistani passport were recovered, according to officials.

But the story sounded to some newspapers too good to be true. The militants not only conveniently carried Pakistani identification, they also asked for directions outside Delhi with an AK-47 poking out of a bag, and then confessed before dying.

The incident came amid heightened tension with Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks late last year. A brutal attack on the capital could have the potential to push the two nuclear-armed neighbours closer to the brink.

“(The doubts) hurt India’s credibility more now than ever before, especially as India is now under international focus and trying to tell the world to act against terrorism after attacks on Mumbai,” retired Major-General Ashok Mehta.

Indians even have a phrase for these kind of suspicions -- fake encounters -- when police are accused of killing suspected criminals in cold blood and passing the incidents off as gunbattles to reap either fame or cash rewards.“Doubts have always persisted about fake encounters and killings in India, but everything looks suspicious in this case,” Mehta, a security analyst, said.Surprisingly, India’s foreign ministry and home ministry have both been silent on the case.

The doubts highlight a problem for India -- that many people doubt the credibility of police accounts just as the Indian government is trying to show the world that Pakistan is behind militant attacks on its soil.

While similar incidents have been reported on the eve of many Republic Days, they did not have the same impact pre-Mumbai.

Now the stakes are higher, given the potential of incidents like these, real or fake, to raise diplomatic tension.One newspaper expressed doubts about the timing of Sunday’s incident.

“We would have been a wee bit surprised had the police not produced some ‘terrorists’ -- slain or alive -- in the run-up to the Republic Day,” the Mail Today said.

“For the past many years encounters and arrests have been regular as the official ceremony on these occasions.”

The Times of India raised several suspicions, from conflicting police versions to the fact two previous encounters had taken place in the same isolated spot in less than 10 months.

The militants not only advertised their intentions with a gun-laden bag, they also asked for directions from a tea-seller -- who just happened to be a police informer, the paper said.

Indian security experts say there is no doubt that Indian police are dealing every week with militant cells. “The problem is credibility of the police and the fact that nobody believes the police these days,” Julio Ribeiro, former Mumbai police commissioner, told Reuters.

India’s human rights commission is investigating a previous gunbattle in New Delhi last year against two suspected Islamist militants after media alleged it could have been faked.

In Sunday’s incident, the police came from one of India’s most lawless and corrupt states, Uttar Pradesh.“These encounters are very murky,” said Ajai Sahni, executive director at the Institute for Conflict Management.“The fact that it happened in UP raises more doubts, but that doesn’t mean it was a fake encounter.”

PDH survey and status of women

WE as a nation shy away from the specifics. That is why numerical data is not our forte. We generalise the information available and reach sweeping conclusions.

This also explains why holding a census or organising surveys is never the first priority of governments even though policymaking tends to be lopsided without accurate statistics.

With the national census — it should have been held last year — in the doldrums, the findings of the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07 should normally come as a boon to the planners. The PDHS report has now been made public and contains a wealth of information not only on the country’s demographic and health profile but also other related issues. True, it cannot replace the national census but conducted by the National Institute of Population Studies with assistance from USAID, Unicef and UNFPA, this survey should somewhat help fill the gap in knowledge in vital areas.

But as is the case with many surveys of this nature in Pakistan, can one vouch for the accuracy of all the data so assiduously collected? Not that the survey was not conscientiously conducted. The problem would lie at the respondents’ end. Given the low level of literacy, absence of a tradition of documenting and maintaining records and a disinclination to share personal information with strangers, the interviewers’ task would not have been an easy one, especially when gathering information through verbal autopsies — a new device to authenticate data on maternal mortality.

Hence it becomes difficult to determine which information contained in the report should be accepted as valid and which should be received with healthy scepticism. What is perplexing is the basic contradiction between the dismal picture of the status of women that emerges from the survey and the rosy findings about the falling birth rate and increasing contraceptive use. Normally an improvement in the standing of women leads to a slowdown in the population growth.

According to PDHS, the population growth rate has declined to 1.9 per cent (from 2.4 per cent in 1990), total fertility rate — that is the average number of children a woman has in her reproductive years — stands at 4.1 (from 5.4 children in 1990), and the contraceptive prevalence rate is 30 per cent (up from nine per cent in 1990). Infant mortality rate has declined to 78 deaths per 1,000 live births (86 in 1990) and under-five mortality stands at 94 per 1,000 births (103 in 1990).

But the flip side is that the data does not indicate any convincing evidence that the status of women in Pakistan has improved substantially. With a sex ratio of 102 men to 100 women Pakistan cannot really claim to have given a fair deal to its female population. Biologically, women are known to outlive men if they enjoy in equal measure the quality of life available to men. That is why in all developed states where gender discrimination is minimal women outnumber men and have a longer life expectancy.

In terms of education, it is true that more girls are now being enrolled in school today than before. But progress is slow and two-thirds of them still remain out of school. The authors of the survey categorically state, “Education can redirect the attitudes and behaviours of population towards improvement in the quality of life … Therefore its relationship to population growth cannot be underestimated.”

It is now well established that education is inversely linked to the number of children a woman has. The longer the period a girl spends in school, the smaller her family size. The PDHS states the TFR is 2.5 children lower among women with a higher education level than their uneducated sisters.

Employment is another major determinant of family size. Women who work outside their homes receive wider exposure and have a steady income that gives them a sense of control over their own lives. The survey found only a quarter of women in employment which again is a low labour participation ratio. It has improved over the years — several decades ago it was barely three per cent — but is still not really something to write home about.

The key chapter in the context of the status of women is the one on adult and maternal mortality. Written by Farid Midhet and Sadiqua Jafarey (the latter an experienced and senior gynaecologist) this section observes, “MMR is believed to be the most sensitive indicator of women’s status in a society and the quality and accessibility of maternal health services available to women. A maternal death is not merely the result of treatment failure; rather it is the outcome of a complex interplay between a myriad social, cultural and economic factors…. [it] reflects the failure of society to look after the life and health of its mothers.”

It is significant that these two writers question in couched terms the MMR of 276 per 100,000 live births cited by the survey. “It is possible that the above factors have resulted in an underestimate of maternal mortality,” they write. Many cultural factors could account for underestimating the MMR. Given the fact that an overwhelming majority of births are not attended by a skilled birth attendant, most expectant mothers do not receive antenatal care, and death resulting from abortion by unskilled practitioners is not reported correctly, it is difficult to believe that the maternal mortality ratio has registered such a steep fall from the 500 being cited a few years ago.

The gender-specific preference of women for children — very few women without sons wished to limit their family size — is a major indicator of where we stand. Boys are still the first choice of an overwhelming majority of parents. This accounts for the many large families.

Can society claim to care for its female members when women giving their reason for not using contraceptives say, “up to God” (28.4 per cent), “husband opposed” (9.9 per cent) and “religious prohibition” (three per cent)? The most telling statement on the status of women in Pakistan is the pattern of contraceptive use. Against 8.2 per cent female sterilisation only 0.1 per cent men opt for this method.

What Pukhtoons think

There are many Pakhtun who argue that some elite state intelligence agencies and the Taliban, as of Swat for example, are 'natural allies' and feed on each other. The Taliban want a besieged and helpless population whom they can rule with impunity. The ISI, they claim, is facilitating this rule and in return the Taliban create chaos and violence. Some may ask the obvious question: why would any one want chaos and violence in the area?

Two arguments are put forward by many Pakhtuns in this regard. Some refer to the well-known but often-discredited theory of strategic depth, which envisions that Afghanistan will become the fifth province of Pakistan and that the central Asian Islamic states will become its client states. Thus Pakistan will become a robust regional power vis-a-vis India in South Asia and acquire a leadership role in the Muslim world. Therefore, by having a region close to Afghanistan which is full of violence and chaos is a way of preventing the US, India and Iran from establishing a firm foothold in the area. Also, US and NATO forces are in Afghanistan, which means that it is important to have a kind of a buffer between Afghanistan and the rest of Pakistan. Furthermore, many American think-tanks are of the view that a chaotic FATA is bad for both US and NATO forces because it allows the militants a haven to launch attacks inside Afghanistan, and then retreat back to Pakistan.

There are of course many other Pakhtuns who do not give credence to the theory of strategic depth. Their view is that if the conflict in FATA were to end and the region became peaceful, the flow of dollars from America would stop. There are also Pakhtuns who believe that foreign intelligence agencies such as RAW, Mossad or the CIA are involved in the violence. But they too primarily blame local state actors and their pursuit of the doctrine of strategic depth or of an unhindered flow of aid money from America as primary motives for what is happening in the area. They are just not ready to accept that the Taliban can and are able to occupy large parts of Pakistan without the tacit consent or support of these state actors. Of course, one has to only look at the past and see that it is a part of the public record that people like Nek Mohammad were welcomed with open arms by the then Peshawar corps commander or that some Taliban leaders were given funds in exchange for changing their ways – and which they did not!

One man said: "Look at the ease with which the Taliban have been occupying Waziristan for years and now Swat. How is that possible given that we have one of the largest and well-trained armies in the world?"

What I have written in my article are views gained from travelling very recently across NWFP and parts of FATA. I spoke to internally displaced people of FATA in NWFP, daily wage-earners, public transport drivers, shop-keepers, low-ranking government employees, journalists, lawyers, students, teachers and housewives. Almost everywhere people were resentful of the military leadership and the ISI and held them responsible for the brutal excesses of the Taliban. They were not even willing to give the benefit of the doubt to the ISI. Many people said that if the ISI was sincere with the Pakhtuns it must target-kill the entire Taliban leadership just like the Taliban have done in the case of over 200 tribal leaders and must restore the writ of the government in the Taliban-occupied areas.

I would humbly request the army chief and the ISI director-general to pay heed to what the people of NWFP and FATA are saying and to act to remove their grievances. This is crucial both for both Pakhtun society as well as for the survival of the state. It should be remembered that although an ethnic minority, the Pakhtuns are better integrated in the state structure than other minorities such as the Baloch or Sindhis. They have served the nation with their blood in times of war and also in other state-related duties. If the current violence is left unchecked, and given the perception – right or wrong – among many Pakhtun that certain state institutions are behind it or are acquiescing in it, the further integration of the community with the rest of the country will be put at risk.

Last, but by no means least, I would also request fellow citizens to build up pressure on the government and the military to decisively deal with the Taliban and restore the government's writ in FATA and NWFP. The armed forces are financed by taxpayers hard-earned money and we all have a right to demand that the army provide us security and protect us from extremists who want to butcher us and destroy are way of life.

Situation in Swat

A soldier stands guard on the main road that leads to the troubled area of the Swat valley

Seven people were killed and several others injured as spate of violence continued while another school was blown up in volatile Swat valley on Monday.
The government has slapped curfew in Nengolai, Bara, Koza Banadai, Shakar Dara, and Charbagh towns for indefinite period and issued ‘shot at sight’ order for violating the curfew.
The government took the decision after Tehrik Taliban Swat chapter issued list of forty ‘wanted to Taliban’ persons including ministers, members of National and NWFP assemblies, leaders of different political parties including ANP, PPP-P, PML-Q, and local government functionaries.
Military sources said the troops have launched ground assault against Taliban militants in Charbagh and Manglawar tehsils and is targeting hideouts and bunkers of militants with artillery, mortars and small weapons.
Three civilians were killed and near a dozen were injured during artillery and mortar fire in the curfew-plagued areas of Swat. Two persons were killed in Manglawar when a misfired shell hit their houses. A woman and nine other inmates including children were injured after their house was destroyed by a shell fell on their house in Charbagh.
Locals said four unidentified bullet-ridden bodies were also seen laying in the nearby fields in Nengolai area of Kabal. But no body can lift them due to the constant curfew in the area.
Swat militant chief Maulana Fazlullah through his illegal FM radio said that those people, who have justified military operations and are responsible for the killings of our men and civilians in Swat would be tried in Shariah courts.
However, those people whose names were included in the list have downed played the Fazlullah’s warning, saying they were not scared of any threat.
‘We will not present before any illegal court. We are ready for any sacrifice and go to any extent for the safety of lives and properties of our people,’ ministers, MPs, government functionaries and political leaders said on Monday in their reaction to Taliban warning.
The militants blew up a government-run boys high school in Odigram near Mingora early on Friday morning and also attacked a girls school in the Mingora city but the timely action of the security forces forced them to flee.

8,000 dead: is the world aware?

THE statistics are numbing and mind-boggling and should make any Pakistani sit up: in 2008 the country saw 2,148 terrorist attacks, which caused 6,825 casualties — 2,267 of them fatal.

Suicide attacks alone killed nearly 1,000 people — 967 to be precise — and wounded or maimed for life over 2,000. Of the 63 suicide attacks countrywide, the highest — 32 — occurred in the NWFP, killing and wounding over 1,000 Pakistanis; 10 in Punjab (201, dead, 580 injured), and 16 in Fata (263 dead, 497 injured).

Compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, these statistics do not include those who fell in ‘operational attacks’. According to the think-tanks’ report for 2008, more than 5,500 people were killed or injured in operational attacks (a minimum of 3,182 dead and 2,267 wounded).

What is scary is the steady rise over the years in the number of terrorist attacks and the consequent increase in casualties. In 2006, terrorist attacks left 907 dead and 1,543 injured; in 2007 there was a quantum jump in the figure for the dead — 3,448.

If to those killed in acts of terrorism we add those who died in operational attacks, sectarian and factional clashes and US drone attacks, the total number of civilians and security personnel killed in 2008 comes to a morbid 8,000, with the number of the injured approaching 10,000. The grand total for 2008, thus, comes to 18,000 Pakistani people getting killed or injured in acts of political violence.

Is the world aware of this Pakistani trauma? Going by the doubts cast on our commitment to fight terrorism and the ‘do more’ litany one doubts if we have been able to inform the world what this country and its people have been going through for years. In fact, it appears as if, barring US Vice President Joe Biden and Senator Richard Lugar in America and Foreign Secretary David Miliband in Britain, very few top personalities in the policymaking apparatus in the western world seem to be aware of Pakistan’s plight and the scourge which terrorism has become for us Pakistanis in our daily lives.

Our post-Mumbai diplomatic effort has not been all disaster. It did indeed succeed in convincing the world diplomatic community that Islamabad was not involved in the Mumbai crime. However, Pakistan’s advocacy of its case was characterised by diffidence. It failed to show our justifiable anger over India’s attempt to obfuscate the issue, and often we appeared to be pleading rather than telling.

Has India suffered anything even remotely resembling Pakistan’s trauma as seen in the cold statistics above? The answer is no, but the world evidently doesn’t think so. What the world does is to view the situation in terms of the ‘safe haven’ which is supposed to exist in Fata and elsewhere for the Taliban. That deprives us of the sympathy we deserve.

Luckily for Pakistan, and thanks to the Indian leaders’ obsessions, New Delhi bungled the job from its point of view. India, it became obvious to the world, was seeking international help not against terrorism but for advancing its national interests at Pakistan’s expense. It could have garnered world sympathy if in the aftermath of the Mumbai crisis New Delhi had worked patiently, curbed its anti-Pakistan instincts, focused on terrorism and refrained from launching a diplomatic and media drive aimed at isolating Pakistan. Instead it went over to an unthinking offensive that backfired, Miliband’s plain-speaking coming as a shock to India.

Pakistan must stay the course. The anti-American lobby’s slogans are catchy but hollow. Pulling out of the war on terror could do incalculable damage to Pakistan’s security concerns and come as a godsend for our enemies. Prejudices have no place in the conduct of war and foreign policy. Pakistan cannot afford to be without allies, even if the behaviour of some of our allies doesn’t come up to our expectations, just as ours doesn’t up to theirs. With the change in the White House, we need to exercise greater care and watch. Initial moves aren’t discouraging. The Biden-Lugar bill isn’t everything, but it does show an inkling of the new administration’s mind.

IT is education that is under attack in Swat and not just schools for girls. To prove this point, militants — intriguingly, they act in the secrecy of night and under the cover of curfew — blew up five schools on Monday in the valley. This was, so to say, in response to the federal information minister’s stern warning in the National Assembly that attacks on girls’ schools will not be 'tolerated.' The attacks can also be interpreted as confirming that Maulvi Fazlullah meant business when his deputy announced last month that female education would be banned in Swat from Jan 15. This is a pity. It has grave implications both for the government’s writ in areas under attack from the militants and for the future of education in Pakistan which is already bleak. If the government with the help of a massive army presence has failed to provide protection to the people of Swat from anti-state elements, it is something to worry about. It certainly does not help infuse public confidence in the state machinery. Moreover, the government’s failure to counter specifically the Taliban’s proclaimed policy of targeting girls’ schools points to the apathy of our rulers towards the education sector and their indifference towards the need for the empowerment of women in our society.
This approach should cause serious concern in all circles that are committed to the development of an enlightened Pakistan. One cannot be certain how much importance the administration attaches to education. Some statistics are revealing. If the militants have torched or blown up 180 or so schools while occupying another five of them, the security forces have set up their bases in 18 schools displacing over 7,000 male and female students. It seems that education is the first casualty when two sides are locked in a tussle. Taking a leaf from the book of our governments since 1947, the militants have adopted a policy of destroying education to ensure that people cease to think and thus help anti-people regimes perpetuate themselves in office. Moreover, it is not just girls’ schools that have been targeted in Swat. Over 42 per cent of the institutions destroyed had boys on their rolls. Learning from the famous dictum ‘When you educate a man you educate an individual, when you educate a woman you educate a family’ the militants have shrewdly sought a more effective way of annihilating the education base in Swat.
Another message to clearly emanate from the destruction of schools is in respect of the status of women. Nearly 80,000, by one count, girls have been deprived of education while 8,000 women teachers are without a job. With decrees banning women from leaving their homes, can one expect any improvement in the status of women?

BBC Under Fire!

The BBC faced more pressure to broadcast a charity appeal for funds for people in Gaza, as the Archbishop of Canterbury joined the row and more than 50 lawmakers signed a motion condemning the move.
The publicly-funded British broadcaster is refusing to air an appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee, made up of charities including the British Red Cross and Oxfam, because it says it could compromise the BBC's impartiality.
The BBC also questions whether aid can be delivered efficiently in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians say over 1,300 died during Israel's 22-day offensive, despite ministers saying this is not an issue.
The decision drew fierce criticism from British Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government Saturday, while thousands of people protested in central London over the move.
The leader of Anglicans worldwide, Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, said Sunday: ‘My feeling is that the BBC should broadcast an appeal.’
The second most senior Anglican clergyman, Archbishop of York John Sentamu, has also said the row is not about impartiality, but humanity.
‘This is not an appeal by Hamas asking for arms but by the Disasters Emergency Committee asking for relief,’ Sentamu said. ‘By declining their request, the BBC has already taken sides and foresaken impartiality.’
A total of 51 lawmakers have backed a parliamentary motion saying they are ‘astonished’ by the BBC's move and calling the BBC's explanations for its decision ‘unconvincing and incoherent’.
BBC director-general Mark Thompson said Saturday that it has ‘a duty to ensure that nothing risks undermining our impartiality. It is to protect that impartiality that we have made this difficult decision.’

Drones and Diplomacy

DURING his presidential campaign, Barack Obama repeatedly warned that his administration would take out “high-value terrorist targets” if Pakistan did not act first. Presumably, although he did not make this clear, the area Obama had in mind was Fata; however, he did emphasise the strikes would be against ‘high-value’, ‘important’ or ‘key’ figures of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Three days into Obama’s presidency, we have the first evidence of how his promise will translate into action. Drone attacks in South and North Waziristan have killed at least 14 people, including what the media now routinely refers to as ‘foreign militants’. The New York Times, however, has reported that “American officials in Washington said there were no immediate signs that the strikes on Friday had killed any senior Qaeda leaders.” Shortly after the strikes, President Obama convened his first National Security Council meeting on Pakistan and Afghanistan and over the next few days he is expected to review President Bush’s counter-terrorism measures in the region, including the authorisation of unilateral American special forces raids inside Pakistan. At the moment, the signs emanating from Washington all point towards the adoption of a tougher line on Pakistan’s contribution to the fight against militancy and terrorism.

How does the military facet of Obama’s policy towards Pakistan fit in with the diplomatic facet, which Obama has entrusted to the high-profile Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the special envoy for Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke? An early assessment suggests the following: military action will continue in Fata while the US waits to see if Pakistan ‘does more’; aid to the Pakistan armed forces will gradually be tied to concrete results against militants; development aid and other financial contributions will initially be stepped up, with further increases dangled as a ‘reward’ for genuine gains against militants in Fata; and behind-the-scenes diplomatic manoeuvring will occur to see what can be brought on the table for debate on improvement in Pak-India relations.

What isn’t clear is how the Pakistani security establishment will react to all of this. It isn’t hard to see how the Pakistan Army may view Obama’s plans as mere window dressing of the Bush policy of dangling the occasional carrot while mostly relying on the stick. Since August, of the 38 drone strikes in Pakistan that have killed nearly 150 people an overwhelmingly number have occurred in South and North Waziristan. The militants have responded by killing dozens of alleged US spies in the area. However, the Pakistan Army has remained focused on the northern tip of Fata — Bajaur, Khyber and Mohmand — and shown little interest in mounting fresh operations in the southern end, where the Waziristan agencies are located. Such differences do not bode well for diplomacy trumping the military option.

BBC assailed over refusal to show Gaza appeal

The BBC faced intense criticism on Saturday from the British government and campaigners after refusing to broadcast a charity appeal to raise emergency funds for people in the Gaza Strip.

The BBC is worried that broadcasting the appeal could compromise its impartiality and questions whether aid can be delivered efficiently in Gaza, where Palestinians say over 1,300 people died during Israel’s 22-day military offensive.

But the decision has provoked fierce criticism from Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government and Muslim groups.

International Development Secretary Douglas Alexander has urged the BBC — which is publicly funded — to reconsider its decision.“I think the British public can distinguish between support for humanitarian aid and perceived partiality in a conflict,” he told BBC radio on Saturday.“I really struggle to see, in the face of the immense human suffering in Gaza at the moment, that this is in any way a credible argument.”The Muslim Council of Britain said the BBC’s decision not to show the appeal was “a serious dereliction of its public duty”.Its secretary-general Muhammad Abdul Bari added: “The excuses given by the BBC are simply untenable and the governors need to act quickly before the corporation’s image is irretrievably tarnished.”The BBC’s chief operating officer Caroline Thomson said that maintaining the BBC’s impartiality was “clearly in conflicts as controversial as this... a real issue for us”

Border Security Force (BSF) soldiers patrol the border at the

India-Pakistan International Border Post

AS one should have expected, the terrorist attack in Mumbai on Nov 26 caused the government and people of India not only anguish but intense anger.

The anger was directed at Pakistan because of the suspicion that the perpetrators had been linked to certain militant organisations such as the Lashkar-i-Taiba and Jamaatud Dawa based in this country.

Construing the attack as an act of war, Indian officials (prime minister, defence minister, foreign minister) initially spoke of retaliation and strikes. They asserted also that if the attackers were ‘non-state actors’, it was still Pakistan’s responsibility to locate and interrogate their sponsors, procure evidence of their guilt, prosecute them and award them the penalties they merit. It would also have to eradicate all terrorist organisations operating within its borders.

The government and media in Pakistan matched India’s tough talk with some of their own. Resounding declarations of the resolve to fight back followed. The National Assembly passed a unanimous resolution to the same effect. Preparation for war appeared to be under way. Military personnel on leave were called back, and it was said that troops would move from the tribal areas to the eastern border with India.

The Pakistani response caused Indian officials to have second thoughts. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared that war with Pakistan would be out of the question, and that it was not being contemplated.

Pakistan had banned Lashkar-i-Taiba several years ago, and it has now banned Jamaatud Dawa and detained a large number of its activists. India would prefer that some of these detained individuals to be turned over to its authorities for prosecution, but this option is not acceptable to Pakistan.

Plans for their trial in Pakistan’s own courts have not as yet surfaced. As a result India’s dissatisfaction with Pakistan’s response to its grievance remains unabated and so does the tension between the two countries.

Further action against those who have been detained is fraught with complications. The arrests were made under the Maintenance of Public Order Act which is one of the preventive detention laws in force in the country. Detention under any of these laws does not mean that the person arrested is necessarily presumed to be guilty of a crime.

The history of Pakistan is replete with instances of reputable and well-respected politicians, opposed to the government of the day, being placed in preventive detention.

The act of prosecuting the Jamaatud Dawa militants will signify that the government believes they have been undertaking, or otherwise aiding, terrorist acts. It will also imply acceptance of the Indian allegation that elements based in Pakistan are involved in terrorism in India.
It should be noted also that the government’s prosecution of these persons will invite severe criticism within the country. It will be said that the government has knuckled under India’s pressure.

Pakistan had been asking India to provide hard evidence against the persons it suspects and has now said that India has done so although the likelihood of it being circumstantial evidence (intercepts of telephone conversations and confessions of a man, now accepted by Islamabad as being a Pakistani national and who has been in the custody of Indian police for weeks) may not bear scrutiny in a court of law.

India cannot come up with ‘hard’ evidence such as eyewitness reports if the suspects hatched their conspiracies and made their preparations while sitting somewhere in Pakistan.

It expects Pakistani investigators to procure the needed evidence through their interrogations, possibly including resort to torture. This they may or may not be able to do. The tension between the two countries may then remain.
Can we expect that relations between them will some day become cordial and mutually cooperative, and may we ask what such relations are like? First, it means that while the two governments may not see eye to eye on all issues, there is no conflict of vital interests between them.

Next, cordial relations entail freer movement of persons, merchandise and capital between them, meaning that Indians may set up stores on the Mall and Anarkali in Lahore and factories in Sheikhupura and Gujranwala, and Pakistanis may be free to do the same in places of their choosing in India.

We may then ask if the dominant forces in Pakistan and India — politicians, the military, higher bureaucracy, captains of business and industry, great landowners — desire such an outcome.

Indian businessmen and industrialists may welcome the opportunity to expand their ventures to Pakistan. The Indian bureaucracy may not feel strongly on the subject. There are no great landlords in India. It is likely that the ruling politicians and generals have little interest in improving relations with Pakistan; they stand to gain more if they can present Pakistan as an irritant or even as a threat to their national security. They may conceivably favour amity with Pakistan if it can be had without having to make concessions to Pakistan on Kashmir.

Politicians in Pakistan know that they cannot take Kashmir away from India by force of arms, and that India will not hand it over to them on a silver platter. Yet, they are not willing to let go of the issue. That being the case, there is no real prospect of any significant improvement in government-to-government relations. The landed aristocrats and the higher bureaucracy are not likely to be affected by any shifts in India-Pakistan relations.

The Pakistani military establishment will probably doubt the wisdom of the enterprise of improving relations with India. If not only peace but amity and goodwill reign between them, the military’s primacy in the Pakistani scheme of things will decline.

Freer trade and investments do not suit Pakistani businessmen and manufacturers because their products will then not compete well with those of India. One may argue that the continuation of a moderate degree of tension between the two countries works to the advantage of the Pakistani generals and barons of commerce and industry.

It may be said that ‘people’ on both sides — tourists, shoppers, pilgrims — do have a stake in the easing of relations between their two countries. But it so happens that the ‘people’ are not the ones who make high policy in either country. Moreover, public opinion can be very fickle, and propagandists can easily change popular passion from mutual affection to hatred and conflict.

Most Pakistanis Have Poor Health Services

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has estimated that the out-of-pocket health expenditure in Pakistan stands at 71 per cent — the highest in the Eastern Mediterranean region — and a burden for the poor.

The unregulated private sector delivers a high proportion of health services and there is a great discrepancy in the quality of services.

Those who can only afford to pay a little usually get the poorest quality of the services, says a World Health Organisation review on health inequalities in Pakistan. In rural areas, the very poor women and men avail government services as they can afford only those. They visit private doctors as a last resort, and sometimes because of a referral made by the government doctor, reveals the report.

With Pakistan experimenting with the outsourcing of public sector health facilities, there is little debate about whether such initiatives are likely to increase inequities. The Rahim Yar Khan model in which the basic health units are handed over to a non-governmental organisation that has expertise in rural development has demonstrated that it can increase utilisation rates for health facilities, but correcting any inequities is not usually on the agenda of the NGOs, says the report.

Indicators of inequality in health and social status are only a starting point for assessing inequity. The link between women’s status in society and her condition explains why there is high mortality and morbidity in women in Pakistan. It is associated with delay in access to health services, restrictions on women’s mobility, domestic violence, mental stress emanating from male unemployment, armed conflict and deaths due to armed conflict, and the high workload placed on women. When customary practices place serious restrictions on women, and they live in a near perpetual state of insecurity, and when lawgivers have no sense of people’s rights, the challenge is to capture these deeply entrenched realities as determinants of the inequities that prevail.

With regard to rural-urban inequalities, rural areas where three-quarters of the people live are poorer and have far fewer health and educational facilities than urban areas. In rural areas, health indicators such as infant mortality and maternal mortality are higher, the report says.A focus on urban-rural differences is not enough. It is important that inequities within the rural and urban sectors are also highlighted.

For example, nearly 50 per cent of population of Karachi lives in squatter settlements, the report reveals.Literacy for women is a key to the health of her family, but the gap in gross primary school enrolment for girls (77 per cent) and for boys (94 per cent) is the largest such gender differential in the region. Dropout rates in public primary schools are much higher among girls and increasing compared to those of the boys.

The WHO report says a portrait of the “average” Pakistani woman indicates that she is illiterate and has five children, of whom those under three years old are malnourished. She works 15 hours a day and is anaemic and gives birth to low-weight babies.Although its position has improved somewhat, the low rank of Pakistan on the gender-related development index (ranked 105 of 136 countries) and the gender empowerment measure (ranked 66 of 75 countries) indicates the extent of gender disparity in Pakistan.

The Khyber Steam Safari - I

Apart from finding the Al Qaeda, the International Community is also interested in another aspect of the Tribal Areas; Tourism. However, they don't get a lot of chances for it. "Train Safari" from Peshawar to Landi Kotal in the Tribal Areas is a unique travel expereince to have. I got the oppurtunity few years back to travel with "History" which i want to share with you...

The “Great Game” is being played between the World powers on the chess board of central and south Asia. Russian influence is present in Afghanistan and British think there is a big possibility of Russian invasion into India. The most obvious routes for this possibility will be either through Khyber or Bolan Pass. Therefore it is suggested that strategic railways be built in both of these passes to thwart any Russian invasion.
In 1878, second Anglo-Afghan war (1878-1880) takes place and it makes it all the while more important to lay a railway track through western passes of India. In 1879 a reconnaissance survey is conducted with an aim to find the feasibility of laying railways through Khyber Pass. Many years pass without any action on the ground. Finally the construction starts in 1905 from a place called Kacha Garhi between Peshawar and Jamrud. The track makes progress westwards and 32 km of track is laid by 1907.
In the meantime, international situation changes and an alliance takes place between Russia and Afghanistan. Russia agrees to consider Afghanistan out of its circle of influence countries. This makes British consider Russia as no longer a threat. This also stops the work on Khyber Pass Railway. In 1909, several kilometers of permanent way and bridges are uprooted from Khyber Pass and sent to other areas of India to be used there.
As it goes with the World politics, international situation changes again and the third Anglo-Afghan war of May 1919 brings life back to Khyber Pass Railway project. Colonel Gordon Hearn is now assigned to the work of surveying and recommending the best route through Khyber Pass. Until now all surveys recommended a meter gauge (1000 mm) track. Gordon Hearn proposes and demonstrates by a masterly survey that broad-gauge (1676 mm) line can be laid through the pass. Construction restarts in 1920 and the section from Jamrud to Landi Kotal, opens on November 3, 1925. In early September 1925, several weeks before the railway was properly completed, the first piece of track was laid into Landi Kotal station, but the end spike was left out. Victor Bayley, the engineer entrusted with the construction of Khyber Railway has a 10 year old daughter called ‘Missy Sahib’ drove it in with 3 hammer blows. Then Bayley and his wife ‘Lady Sahib’ blew the whistle and drove the shunting engine pushing assorted wagons and a brake van into the station. This was a very low-key private affair, not officially sanctioned, and took place even before the extensive 10-track layout at Landi Kotal was put in. Bayley was in bad health at this time and left the Pass shortly afterwards for hospital and eventual convalescence in the UK. He missed the official opening ceremony with the Vice Regal train (but without the Viceroy) in November.

The Inaugural Train though Khyber Pass:On November 4, 1925, Mrs. Victor Bayley, wife of the British engineer entrusted with the construction of Khyber Railway drives the first train through Khyber Pass.

There are two stories as to why Mrs. Victor Bailey drove the first train through the pass.
1. It was decided by the British government that Victor Bayley will run the inaugural train as recognition of his great work at the project but he died three months before the inauguration. His wife then honored the driving of train on her husband’s behalf.
2. According to second version, as the track was being laid, the locals of the Khyber Agency did not allow the train to move on it. However, knowing the traditional respect the Pathans have for women, Victory Bayley, asked his wife to drive the first train in the Khyber Agency. It has been reported that she drew long hair so that she could be identified as a women from a distance.

Landi Kotal to Landi Khana: On April 3, 1926 another portion of 8 km track is opened up to Landi Khana which fall just 3 km short of the actual frontier post of Torkham. The photo in sepia to the left is from April 27, 1932. It shows a tunnel on Khyber Pass railway alongwith (now highway) N5 which runs alongside the track. On December 15, 1932 the Landi Kotal to Landi Khana section of railway was closed down at the insistence of Afghan Government.

The Cost of Construction: The cost of building Khyber Pass railway was accounted as Rupees 485000 per kilometer in 1926. despite this exorbitant cost of construction, Khyber Pass has never seen heavy rail traffic. At best there were only 2 trains per week here. Scenery wise Khyber Pass is not an eye catch either but the feature that sets it apart from other railways in the region is the engineering aspect of it.

Engineering Features: The Khyber Pass railway has a ruling gradient of 3 percent between Jamrud and Landi Kotal. There is a rise of nearly 2000 feet in 34 kilometers, and a drop of 872 feet in the next 8 kilometers to Landi Khana, where in many places the gradient stiffens to 1 in 25. There are 4 reversing stations, 34 tunnels with an aggregate length of more than 4 kilometers, 92 bridges and culverts, and 4 locomotive watering stations. And during the construction, three million cubic yards of materials mainly rock, were moved in the cuttings and embankments.

Reversing Stations: Reversing stations are an important feature of Khyber Pass. Since it is not easy to bend a train here due to tight space, trains switch tracks and engines change their roles. The trailing engine becomes the lead and vice versa at the reversing stations.

Catch Sidings: Besides reversing stations, track at numerous places is also provided with the runway train catch sidings. One such catch siding is shown in the photo on the right (above).
The Khyber Railways is the last of the great railway constructions undertaken on the frontier during the British Raj. From 1947 onwards, Pakistan Railway continued a weekly passenger service through Khyber Pass. The service ran free of charge simply as a gesture to prove to the fiercely independent tribesmen that the line, in-spite of them, was open and the Pakistan Government was the boss. The regular service in Khyber Pass stopped in 1982 due to the lack of commercial patronage.
Due to axle load limitations, diesel engines cannot run on this track. Therefore Khyber Pass railway to date is served by steam locomotion only.
Khyber Steam Safari. At present a tourist train called the ‘Khyber Steam Safari’ is operated here by a privately owned tourist company. The train runs few times a year on scheduled days as well as it can be chartered too.

:Information Provided about Engine:

:Checks:
The train completes a journey of fifty kilometres from Peshawar to Landi Kotal in the semi-autonomous Tribal Agency of "Khyber" in about five hours. The engines of the train are always under strict scrutiny and checks are made constantly even a few minutes before departure to make sure they are in proper working order as the Old Parts of the Engine are not Manufactured anywhere in the World now

:From Desolate Land to the Mountains:
In the beginning, the train passes through the less busy areas surrounding Peshawar. The people used the railway track as dumping ground for rubbish because of its inactivity.

The Khyber Steam Safari - II

The Front Seat !
A couple of diehards also sit in front of the engine to enjoy themselves.

:The Mountains and the Forts:
There is a sudden change in the landscape when somebody enters the Tribal Areas from Peshawar. Instead of concrete buildings, one would find huge walls made of mud that fortify the houses from outside elements.

:Bagpipes:
At the first Stop (Jamrud), we were welcomed by a band playing Bag-pipes.

:A Unique Opportunity:
Almost sixty Western Tourists on the train had had the unique opportunity to go through a land which they would never have been able to see on their own.

:The Winding Train Roars as it Makes its Way:
Seventy to Eighty people are appointed to take care of the railway track. There are a total of eighteen tunnels and dozens of bridges on the line.

The Khyber Steam Safari - III

:Tappa and Safar:

As part of the Safari trip, arrangements for music and the Khattak Dance were also made

:Better than What we Imagined:
Wendy Phillips from Great Britain remarked that the whole trip was much better than what they had imagined it to be


:Historical Pictures at the Khyber Rifles Mess:
After a visit to the Michni Checkpost, the tourists were served at the Khyber Rifles Mess.

:Jamrud Station:
Many tourists got of the train at Jamrud to have a look around while they were themselves being looked upon by local young boys

:Attraction of the Tribal Areas:
Despite popular demand, the Safari Trip does not operate for many days or months at a time because of safety concerns. But there is a pull in the Tribal Areas and the Safari that attracts tourists again and again.

The Early Years of NWFP

There had existed for many years a school of thought which considered that the administration of the Frontier was too important a matter to form merely a portion of the duty and responsibility of the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab. The experiences of 1897 brought the subject again to the fore and in 1901, after much discussion and deliberation and in the face of considerable opposition and genuine misgiving in some quarters, Lord Curzon's scheme for the creation of the North West Frontier Province as a separate administration, under a chief commissioner specially selected by the Governor-General, was introduced.

In geographical outline the new province can be readily likened to an outstretched hand, the five settled districts of Hazara (cis-Indus), Peshawar, Kohat, Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan lying in the palm, while the thumb and four fingers stretched out to occupy and close against aggression (from) the five gateways of the Malakand (with Chitral), the Khyber, Kurram, Tochi and Gomal. Incidentally, the clenching of the hand exercises pressure upon the turbulent tribal areas lying between the fingers. (Soon after the decision) the construction of roads and railways was undertaken, to ensure that the regular troops of the Peshawar Division and the Frontier brigades could be rapidly moved to any threatened point. It was part of Lord Kitchener's general scheme of army reorganisation, that the Punjab Frontier Force lost its old corporate existence and its units took their places as part of the new model Indian Army, all portions of which were in future to take their share of service on the Frontier.

The seven peaceful years with which the new administration began bore useful fruit. Though too short a period to work a complete or lasting change in the warlike habits of the people, it was long enough to dispel to some extent the suspicion of our aggressive intentions engendered by the events of the (18)80s and '90s. It also served to introduce the trans-border tribesman to the possibilities of hitherto undreamt of prosperity from peaceful trade, while the extension of canal irrigation from the Swat and Kabul rivers gave opening to many of them to settle down as British subjects to the agricultural development of land newly made cultivable.

The Gulf arms trade between 1907 and 1910 revolutionized the military position on the Frontier. 1907 did not mark the beginning of the change; the importation of rifles and ammunition of European manufacture had begun soon after the Frontier rising of 1897, but ten years later the re-armament of the tribes with weapons far more effective than those possessed by our own militias and military police had proceeded to an extent which could not longer be disregarded and a climax was reached when a single consignment of 30,000 Martini Henrys was run through from the Gulf to Kandahar.

Just when the Frontier had entered wholesale upon this enterprise the Government of India stepped in with the naval and military blockade, which "spoilt sport" to such an extent as nearly to bring about another Frontier war. In 1910 the Adam Khel Afridis of the Kohat Pass were in a very embittered frame of mind owing to their financial losses from the blockade. With the ingenuousness that is a refreshing, if at times annoying, characteristic of the Pathan, they demanded that Government should compensate them. This demand, and the situation generally, was firmly dealt with and by 1911 the Gulf arms trade was to all intents and purposes killed. The re-armament of the tribes however had been effected. The relative position of our forces and theirs could never again be the same. Where formerly a dozen partially trained border police with Martini Henrys could safely be sent out to meet a raiding gang of 30 or 40, strong detachments of 50 were now required.

Between 1909 and 1913 the militias were re-armed, the border military police gave way to the better armed and better trained Frontier Constabulary and the system was inaugurated of issuing rifles to villagers for their own protection and to enable them to co-operate with the Government forces in the defence of the border. Where a tribe under the political control of our own officers (was) concerned, the evil (was) generally kept within bounds. But what if the fugitive from justice (sought) refuge beyond the Durand Line? This was one of the unexpected results of the demarcation of that line.

In the end however, by one means or another, the gangs which found a home beyond the Durand Line and thence pursued this monstrous trade, were killed, captured and broken up, and it was not until the period of tribal disturbance which followed the Third Afghan War that the evil again attained to anything like the same dimensions as in the years which preceded the Great War.

With all these difficulties and drawbacks the years which preceded the Great War were none the less years of progress. In no direction was this more marked than in the spread of education. The most notable step was the inauguration, under the close personal guidance of Sir George Roos-Keppel, of an Islamia College, very much on the same lines as the Gordon College at Khartum. The college buildings, erected in these years, stand on the open plain between Peshawar and Jamrud. Where all else is shuttered and barred and defended by armed men it needs no protection beyond such as a few chowkidars can afford....

The Walled City - Peshawar

The older portion of Peshawar is a walled city, to which the British added their own Cantonment guarded by barbed wires. This old city answers to a traditional Central Asian concept of a high citadel dominating the widely-scattered houses of the generality of people. The city wall surrounded the habitation of common men. The extent of the city must have varied in historic times. But the citadel is most certainly marked by Bala Hisar that still crowns the highest spot of the city. During the Sikh period its extent was delimited by General Avitabile, the Sikh Governor, who built a mud wall surrounding the city. Under the British nearly the whole of the enclosure wall had been built of pucca brick. The gates of the walled city afford an important evidence to study the development of the old city of Peshawar. These divide the walled town into three areas.

Gates of Peshawar City

Lahori Gate

East of the channels lie the highest ground centred around Gor Kathri with Karimpura to its north-west and Pipalmandi to its south-west. At Pipalmandi, one can still see the old Pipal trees, described by Babar. This area was certainly occupied in the pre-Muslim period. Today, besides smaller lanes and by-lanes, two broad streets traverse this area. One starting from Chowk Yadgar and goes to Gor Kathri. Near the Clock Tower, it branches off to Karimpura and finally leads to the Hashtnagari and Lahori Gates.
The other starts from Pipalmandi and proceeds towards Ganj and Ekkatut (Yakatut) gates. This pre-Muslim city is separated by the joint flow of the channels near Chowk Yadgar from Andar-Shahr, the locality in which stands the mosque of Mahabat Khan. The mohalla of Dhakki Nalbandi forms an adjunct of this part. This whole area is again a high ground with shops of jewellery and of the famous Peshawari Lungis (turbans).
The name, Andar-Shahr, i.e. inner city, is very suggestive but the way in which it is separated from the old part by a channel and its proximity to Bala Hisar suggests that it once formed a part of the citadel area, though later in the Muslim period it was cut away to accommodate the over-flow of the population from the older city.
The third area is clearly defined. Between the Kohati Darwaza channel and the Qissa Khwani channel lies Jahangirpura, where the local variety of felt caps (Swati caps... probably the old flat kausia) are made, the name of the locality probably commemorates that of the Mughal emperor Jahangir, in whose reign this area must have been developed. From here the Mughal city spread out between the two channels westward with Sar Asiya (the head of a water mill) making the limit of the extension. In this zone we also have a Mughal era well, known as Sard Chah (cold water well), very famous for its drinking water. The focus of this zone is Namakmandi. which in the old times was the hub of the grain market but now the grain shops have been transferred to Pipalmandi. From Namakmandi the streets lead to Sar Asiya Gate, Sard Chah Gate, Saraki Gate, Bajauri Gate and Dabgari (correctly Dabba-gari, box-making shops) Gate. This whole zone is on a lower level than the older pre-Muslim part of the city and extends lengthwise along the old bed of the Bara channel. To this was added another locality named after Ramdas who was a treasurer during the Sikh regime. These areas of the old city were protected by a wall, originally earthen but later strengthened by brick facing, erected during the Sikh regime, with sixteen gates.

Sarasia Gate

The old wall still runs round the city along with the gates, though renovated and some removed, marking the extent of the pre-British city. The gates are named (clockwise) as:
Kabuli Darwaza
Darwaza Andar Shahr (Asamai)
Kachehri Darwaza (Tangsali)
Reti Darwaza
Rampura Darwaza
Hashtnagari Darwaza
Lahori Darwaza
Ganj Darwaza
Darwaza Ekkatut
Kohati Darwaza
Saraki Darwaza
Sard Chah Darwaza
Sar Asiya (or Tabiban) Darwaza
Darwaza Ramdas
Dabgari Darwaza
Bajauri Darwaza

Ganj Gate

With the development of a new sense of security and promulgation of the rule of law, today the importance of these gates no longer remains. Increased traffic has demanded widening of the streets and removal of the gates. The houses and shops, which were all within the walled city, can now be seen outside and in many places the old walls have been incorporated into new houses. In the older town the residential areas were closed quarters and the shops ranged in the Katras (octagonal or square) and Sarais for reasons of safety. Such Katras and Mohallas can even now be seen in Peshawar.
Behind the Kachehri Darwaza opens Chowk (Square) Yadgar, which gives access to Katra (Octagonal in shape) Abresham (Silk-merchant's shops). To its one side opens Pipalmandi, incorporating within it smaller squares, and to the other goes Katra Bazazan. However, today the most important are the open bazars. The Kabuli Darwaza, which was renamed Edwardes Gate by Sir Herbert Edwardes, the second British Commissioner of Peshawar, after its reconstruction, leads to the famous Qissa Khwani Bazar. "This is the Piccadilly of Central Asia and the fame of the Qissa Khani or Story-Tellers Bazar is known throughout the length of the Frontier, Afghanistan and far even beyond.
Portions of walls in dilapidated condition
According to Gopal Das this open Bazar was originally built by Avitabile. It is mentioned neither by Elphinstone nor by Mohan Lal, who have described the other bazars. From here we pass on to Bazar Misgaran (Bronze ware shops), in one lane of which is hidden Peshawar's Pottery workshop. Further ahead is the Batera Bazar (Pet Shops) leading to fruit market and finally to Chowk Yadgar.

Sirki Gate

The first British Commissioner, Lt. Colonel Frederick Mackeson renamed Jahangirpura as Mackeson-ganj but the older name is still popular. The name Chowk Yadgar is after the Hastings Memorial, built in 1883, which commemorates Colonel E.C. Hastings. Today it is a centre of all political meetings. From here the bazar turns towards Gor Kathri. On our right is the Sabzimandi and in front stands the Ghanta-ghar (Clock Tower), erected in 1900 by Balmukund of Peshawar in memory of Cunningham, another Commissioner of Peshawar. From Qissa Khwani to Ghanta-ghar lies the main bazars of the old city, though today odd shops are seen in most of the streets.
Elphinstone describes a scene in the bazar:
“ When we returned, the streets were crowded with men of all nations and languages, in every variety of dress and appearance. The shops were all open. Dried fruits and nuts, bread, meat, boots, shoes, saddles, bales of cloth, hardware, ready-made clothes, and posteens, books, etc., were either displayed in tiers in front of the shops, or hung up on hooks from roof. Amongst the handsome shops were the fruiterers, (where apples, melons, plums, and even oranges, though they are rare at Peshawar, were mixed in piles with some of the Indian fruits); and the cook-shops, where everything was served in earthen dishes, painted and glazed, so as to look like China. In the streets were people crying greens, curds, etc,. and men, carrying water in leathern bags at their backs, and announcing their commodity by beating on a brazen cup, in which they give a draught to a passenger for a trifling piece of money. With these were mixed, people of the town in white turbans, some in large white or dark blue frocks, and others in sheep-skin cloaks; Persians and Afghauns, in brown woollen tunics, or flowing mantles, and caps of black sheep-skin or coloured silk; Khyberees, with the straw sandals, and the wild dress, and air of their mountains; Hindoos, uniting the peculiar features and manners of their own nation, to the long beard, and the dress of the country; and Hazaurehs, not more remarkable for their conical caps of skin, with the wool, appearing like a fringe round the edge, and for heir broad faces, and little eyes, than for the want of their beard, which is the ornament of every other face in the city”

Sard Chah Gate

The walls are still standing in many places though modern houses have either incorporated portions of the walls or are sitting tight over them. The best preserved part is to the south of the city and can be approached from the Dabgari Gardens. Many of the old gates are rebuilt in recent years and some of them even bear the date on them.
Outside the gates, old Mughal watch towers still stand. Gopal Das speaks of Burj (watch tower) Sayid Khan which can be seen just outside Ganj Gate. Starting from Darwaza Yekkatut, which was rebuilt in March 1944, we proceed eastwards and come across some shops facing the wall. Further ahead we note the repair to the wall and then a break. In sections the wall shows pucca (hardened) bricks at its outer facing and kaccha (feeble) bricks forming the core. A bastion shows a house on its top. A corner bastion is turned into a shop with a residential quarter on its top. We come to the arched gateway of Ganj, which was rebuilt in 1909. A road from this gate leads to the old graveyard and Hazarkhani.
Onwards the wall continues with some breaks. Outside the wall is the locality of Shaikhabad, where stands the famous Ziarat of Shaikh Junaid. In between is an old (now dried-up) Mughal well near a watch-tower. We reach Lahori Darwaza, which, in the mediaeval time, gave way to the main road leading eastwards. Further, the wall continues but is now encumbered with many modern structures. Outside the corner, where the wall turns, there was originally Makari Godam where Jhando ka Mela (Flag carnival) and Eid fairs were held but nowadays it houses the sprawling colony of Nishtarabad.

Kohati Gate

Then we come to Hasht Nagari Darwaza but the gate is no longer in existence. The city wall is now incorporated into a number of houses and shops till we reach Rampura Darwaza, also known as Nawe (New) Darwaza. Outside the gate is the new Rampura area full of houses. The wall ahead is not traceable till we meet Reti Darwaza, named after ironworks. Onwards the shops lead to Tangsali or Kachehri Darwaza, which faces Chowk Yadgar. We follow the broken wall at places and come to Asamai or Andar Shahr Darwaza. Outside this gate is the Lady Reading Hospital. The wall now climbs up Dhakki Nalbandi and goes down to Kabuli Darwaza, which was renamed Edwardes Gate in the last century. The gate is now gone. Onwards is a cinema lane which leads to Bajori Gate, the structure is now finished. The wall continues and shows two octagonal towers until we reach Dabgari Gate, today marked by a single pillar. Further ahead the broken wall continues upto Ramdas Gate. The wall turns ahead towards Sar Asia Gate, which is an arched gateway. Further there is an octagonal corner bastion and we reach Sard Chah Gate, built in 1903. Next is the Saraki Darwaza and finally we come to Kohati Darwaza, which was rebuilt in 1941. This gate leads to the old house of Sultan Yar Muhammad Khan, which is now turned into a Mission High School.

Siachen: a global threat

Glaciers are the most sensitive indicators of climate change. The Himalayas contain the world's third largest ice mass after Antarctica and Greenland. Himalayan glaciers act as climate regulators and are also natural heads of rivers that flow down to half of humanity. Most Himalayan glaciers have been thinning and retreating at an ever accelerating rate to alarming levels for the past two decades. Worldwide, it is considered that the melting of glaciers is due to atmospheric warming but in the case of Himalayan glaciers, direct human intervention on a large scale is the most significant cause. Melting of the Himalayan glaciers is already causing varyiance in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events but its worst impact on global sea level rise is underestimated.

Rising sea-level is the most serious threat to the populations living in coastal areas. Satellite measurements since 1993 show sea-level rising at an average annual rate of about 0.3 millimeter (Inter Governmental panel for Climate Change report- 2007). At the current rate, oceans would have risen by 1400 millimeter in year 2100.

In the past it was assumed that the expansion of water due to temperature rise globally would lead significantly to sea-level rise. This idea has now been overturned according to a report by Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory of 2008, which states that sea level rise contributions by glaciers are almost double that of thermal expansion.

Statistics of the last two decades show that rise of sea-level also increases the frequency and intensity of hurricane and cyclones. The energy released by the average hurricane has increased by around 70% in the past 30 years or so. Five of the ten most expensive storms in United States history have occurred since 1990 with Katrina, for example, in 2005 inflicting over $80 billion damages to the US economy.

Economic consequences of sea level rise and its threat to global coastal community are analyzed by Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The report has attempted to estimate the exposure of the world's large port cities to coastal flooding due to sea level rise. The analysis demonstrates that most of the largest port cities are found in Asia while three major cities of the US, Miami, New York and New Orleans are also susceptible. In 2070 total population exposed to such dangers could grow to around 150 million people. The total asset exposure could grow even more dramatically, reaching US $35 trillion.

To address consequences of sea level rise, the OECD suggests effective disaster management strategies and land use practices. This may well be necessary but some obvious truths are missed. They are not aware that Himalayan glaciers -- the main source of sea level-rise are victims of a 24 year long Siachen conflict between India and Pakistan.

The Siachen glacier is melting at an unprecedented rate due to deployment of troops and establishment of permanent cantonments. In order to facilitate the troops, glacial ice has been cut and melted; cutting and melting of glacial ice through application of chemical have made it the fastest melting glacier. In earlier articles, the author highlighted dumping chemicals, metals, organic and human waste, daily leakages from 2000 gallons of kerosene oil from 250 km plastic pipeline laid by India throughout the glacier as accelerating its melting process.

Unquestionably, it is the Siachen conflict due to which the glaciers of Himalayan region are receding faster than in any other part of the world. Siachen is located on extreme north-west of India where 95% of Indian glaciers lie and India maintains large number of troops there. The Indian Army has developed various means to reach Siachen, including the highest road in the world - Delhi-Manali-Leh-Siachen route. These war specific developments are death sentences for Himalayan glaciers.

Gangotri glacier, the longest Indian glacier presents another case of melting due to human intervention. Glacier is melting at the rate of 32 meters per year, second to Siachen (110 meters per year) due to visits by 400 thousand pilgrims and mountaineers every year. Realizing the impact of human presence on glacier melting, the Indian Expert Committee on Glaciers headed by Dr. B. R. Arora in 2007 recommended that the country restrict tourist and pilgrim traffic to Gangotri and other Himalayan glaciers immediately.

Despite vociferous protests and warning by experts and civil society of South Asia to save Himalayan glaciers neither Pakistan nor India have changed their stance. The heavy economic cost (Pakistan with $ 1 million/day and India $2 million/day) to maintain troops at Siachen since 1984 continues to be a financial disaster for both countries. In the current economic crises that has affected the whole globe; the Indian Army has opened yet another military air base close to the Chinese border near Siachen in Nov 2008.

Climate change is by far the biggest threat ever encountered by humankind. It is time that the global leadership and community work with Pakistani and Indian leaders to save Himalayan glaciers by solving the long-standing Siachen dispute. Not only is this conflict adding to environmental degradation, sea level rise and changing climate pattern but it is also depriving the poor of both countries of close to one billion dollars every year that these countries spend to maintain troops there.

Whither and wither

‘Whither’ is a word concerned with direction, as in ‘whither shall we go’; and ‘wither’ is a word that speaks of decay and a loss of vitality. Both words may be applied in the context of the state of Higher Education in Pakistan. Education at any level has never been a priority of any government since partition, and so it remains today. Underfunded, under-resourced and undervalued the education of the people, young and old, which make up this nation has never merited an investment of more than 4 per cent of GDP. Higher education, the apex of educational attainment and represented by our universities is not only under-funded and under-everything-else, it is perennially tainted by scandals revolving around plagiarism, nepotism and poor management. Those of our brighter and wealthier students and their parents who want to advance educationally have for many years opted to go abroad. ‘Abroad’ offers better teachers, better facilities, an equitable marking system free of corruption and, at the end of their studies, students who go ‘abroad’ have a qualification that has international credibility which many of our home-grown qualifications do not. If you are poor and bright you have few options and ‘abroad’ isn’t one of them.

But what if ‘abroad’ were somehow to be able to come to us? What if the benefits of a foreign education system could somehow get transplanted to Pakistan? This is not such a fanciful notion, and something very like this has been in gestation for a while. The plan was to establish four world-class universities in partnership with Germany, Italy, Austria and China. In the case of the latter a rector and senior Chinese faculty members have already been selected. It was planned that the four universities would have allowed Pakistani students to obtain world-class degrees without leaving the country (and we note that Pakistani parents spend around 80 billion rupees per annum funding their children’s education abroad) and would have attracted students to Pakistan from the Middle East and beyond. The cost of the project was to have been around 160 billion the equivalent of two years parental expenditure. Prime Minister Gilani had approved the project and given the necessary go-aheads and now the entire programme is on hold, allegedly a victim of cost-cutting exercises and the need for ‘further consultation.’

A committee set up to review the project recommended slashing the budget to 72 billion, and this after the provinces have been allocated several billion rupees worth of land. The provincial governments were themselves apparently supportive of the programme. The core of the project was around science and technology and research and development areas in which we lag far behind virtually all of our neighbours. Pakistan has not established a single internationally recognized research and development programme in sixty years India and China both have hundreds. International companies like Siemens Eriksson had already expressed strong interest and we could have seen between fifteen and twenty R and D centres established in these new universities nationally. The costs of the project were not excessive, being around the same as setting up NUST, and construction costs were between 1500 and 2500 per square foot reasonable at today’s prices. We now have egg on our faces as we have to backtrack on the appointments to faculty and other staff that have already been made. Education is not cheap and quality education requires substantial investment. This looks like being yet another opportunity missed because of a failure to prioritise that which the country is most in need of high-quality higher education.