Thu 5 Jul 2007
Even a straightforward reading of the numbers leaves a bitter taste. Military-linked commerce is responsible for some 4% of GDP. Its total commercial assets are worth some $4 billion. If the value of real-estate is included then the figure, according to Siddiqa, exceeds $20 billion. Out of 100 commercial projects run by army, navy and air-force conglomerates, only nine are listed on the stock exchange: the others do not need to report to any statutory or other public authority. Requests to come before parliamentary committees tend to be ignored, or referred to the ministry of defence or army headquarters, which between them act as a kind of apex body for many of the conglomerates.
July 5th, 2007 at 9:53 pm
SUBJECT: Pakistan: the army as the state
Your editorial is factually incorrect, has several errors in it, is biased and presents only one side of the picture. The author’s biased analysis has serious flaws and has factual errors in it. The sad fact is that many of your readers may read this dribble.Your story shows a lack of historical knowledge of Pakistan and only peripheral knowledge of the political process of Pakistan. Someone needs to do his/her homework.
The author’s biased analysis has serious flaws and factual errors in it. The sad fact is that many of your readers may read your dribble. The Chinese army and even the US army has similar assets.
For all of President Musharraf’s faults, Pakistan is forging ahead with a 7% growth rate and record foreign reserves. Pakistan is the fourth largest state in the world, and a nuclear state advancing at a phenomenal rate of economic growth. She has motorways that can only be the envy of South Asia, and is building bullet trains and huge new cities in Baluchistan and Sindh. Pakistan is attracting huge investments in automobile and technology. Just in the past few weeks Dubai based companies are investing $26 Billion Dollars in two islands. Pakistan’s FTA with China will be a boon to Pakistani and Chinese industrialists who are setting up 6 Chinese industrial zones in Pakistan to build and then export Chinese goods from Pakistani soil.
Pakistan will move ahead and is moving ahead.
July 5th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Pakistan ‘is a top failed state’
Pakistan and Afghanistan are among the world’s top 10 most vulnerable states, according to a new study.
The report - compiled by the US Foreign Policy magazine and the US-based Fund for Peace think-tank - ranked 146 nations according to their viability.
Judged according to 12 criteria, including human flight and economic decline, states range from the most failed, Sudan, to the least, Norway.
Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka are rated 19th, 20th and 25th respectively.
The top 60 positions in the list were occupied almost exclusively by African, Middle Eastern, and Asian countries.
India was ranked 93rd, Bhutan came 39th and the Maldives were not mentioned.
Internal conflicts
The second annual “failed states index” was based on “tens of thousands of articles” from different sources gathered over several months in 2005 and reviewed by experts, its authors said.
FAILED STATES 2006 - TOP 10
1. Sudan (3)*
2. DR Congo (2)*
3. Ivory Coast (1)*
4. Iraq (4)*
5. Zimbabwe (15)*
6. Chad (7)*
(Tie) Somalia(5)*
8. Haiti (10)*
9. Pakistan (34)*
10 Afghanistan (11)*
Position in 2005 report
Each nation was given an overall score based on the 12 criteria:
* mounting demographic pressures
* massive movement of refugees and internally displaced peoples
* legacy of vengeance - seeking group grievance
* chronic and sustained human flight
* uneven economic development along group lines
* sharp and/or severe economic decline
* criminalisation and delegitimisation of the state
* progressive deterioration of public services
* widespread violation of human rights
* security apparatus as “state within a state”
* rise of factionalised elites
* intervention of other states or external actors
Pakistan’s ‘plunge’
Pakistan moved from 34th last year to ninth in the new report - one of the sharpest changes in the overall score of any country on the list.
The contributing factors were Pakistan’s inability to police the tribal areas near the Afghan border, the devastating earthquake last October in Kashmir and rising ethnic tensions, the report said.
Afghanistan, ranked 10th, faces different problems from Iraq, which despite the presence of US-led troops came fourth, the report said.
Educated exiled Afghans had been slow to go home following the ousting of the Taleban in 2001, but poor refugees had returned from Pakistan and Iran in large numbers, the study said.
“The result is a capital city busting at the seams but short of trained administrators.”
The authors cite India as an example of a state which has pulled back from the brink, saying that in the 1970s analysts predicted dire consequences as a result of population growth, economic mismanagement, poverty and corruption.
Now, they say, India today has turned itself around and might have the edge over China (ranked 57) in the long run.
Pauline Baker, president of the Fund for Peace, told the Associated Press news agency that India had greater social mobility and was more decentralised than its more populous neighbour.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/4964934.stm
July 5th, 2007 at 11:12 pm
Moin, if Pakistan is progressing so nicely, why its position in the CPI index, published by Transparency International, has not improved since Musharraf’s coup?
Pakistan’s growth is like that of India. As in India, income disparity is at an alarming position in Pakistan, according to the latest UN Gini index.
July 5th, 2007 at 11:17 pm
Moin Ansari,
Do you wish to elaborate on what “factual errors” there are? Are they numerical, as in what percentage of the GDP is actually military-controlled, or is it a mistake in spelling someone’s name or something?
The lady has worked for the Pakistani government for 11 years and still doesn’t know Pakistani history? Either your history is really mysterious or you should re-evaluate the criterion with which you hire civil servants!
July 6th, 2007 at 1:18 am
Moin Ansari,
I think the readers of this forum would have benefited more if you could actually point out the historical inaccuracies or flaws that you claim exist in the referenced article.
Your patriotic fervor is laudable but should be backed up with facts that buttress your claims.
And, please clarify Pakistan is the fourth largest state in what sense. The only criterion I could think of is population and even there, Pakistan is sixth.
July 6th, 2007 at 2:12 am
Dear all,
I have no full trust in those resarch, data and reports. Many reports are just riddles and based on fuzzy math. All these agencies have their global political, buisness and economic agenda and they have, I believe, some hidden mission to fullfil through biased data collection and reporting.
One example, Bangldesh including other like countries, according to state department or some other report, has very bad record of physical violence against women or women abuses. This number is falsy exaggerated as they might get this report from immigration data. Here the women apply for legal status and make false cases of abuses to get them legalized. There are manyfold other ways of collecting biased data. Many are just stastical myth. That’s why Mark Twain said, “There are lies, there damn lies and moreover, there are statistics.”
Pakistan has failed as military state but India has failed through its 60 years’ so esteemed but corruption breeder democracy. Many economic, health and developmental indices show India failed measurably than Burma, Pakistan, Shrilanka, Maldives, and never to be compared with countries like Malayasia, Singapoore, China etc.
Just a few days ago there was a news, according to some quality study, India ranked the most bottom postition for standard of living of citizens, among all the countries of the world except some african countries.
So, I don’t get the head and tail of many such studies. For the last consecutive 5 years Bangladesh was the most corrupt country of the world according to Prof. Muazaffar’s TIB report. And that report also identified LRGD ministry as the most corrupt ministry. I’m astonished to see Mr. Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan now looks like the most honest minister and politician of the country. He is out of touch and feel of the current earth-quake like shake of anti-corruption drive the country is going through. So, where is Prof. Ahmed now? Was his report truthful or it was a concoted story to serve the purpose of some exotic agenda. Anyway, he has stigmatized our nation!
Thanks.
July 6th, 2007 at 2:46 am
I think primary reason for the expanding military commercial complexes are what the author has already touched upon - military run commercial entities run better than public ones. Do you remember our BD Jute Mills Corp (BJMC), BD Textile Mills Corp (BTMC) and thier dismal failure? So PK government wants to invest in public industrial/commercial ventures, only good managers turned to be the ex-generals. This club has track record of producing better commercial results than their cousins in Industry ministry,so out comes more funding for more project. At the end of the day, one needs to look at whether these military commercial industries are making money or not… if they are , all hail to the generals, if not.. they’ll be eventually shut down.
July 6th, 2007 at 6:45 am
Banglarman,
Unfortunately the picture is not as simple as that. You’ve painted a static picture, in which ill-trained bureaucrats are trumped by better-trained (or less badly trained) generals. Now suppose these state-run enterprises get competitors from the private sector. What’s to stop them from using state power to run these competitors off the field? In that scenario, is it still beneficial to the people?
Of course this can happen with both bureaucrats and generals, since both belong to the state. But generals are also supposed to ensure security to all without distinction. Will they do so to their competitors? Isn’t there a conflict of interest there?
July 6th, 2007 at 7:37 am
A full general is worth 500 million - an interview with the author
http://www.despardes.com/oscartango/080605.html
Also a good review
http://www.despardes.com/oscartango/2007/20070601-pk-mly-inc.html
July 6th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
Ansari above epitomises the kind of self-defeating, non-critical patriotism that has been the bane of Pakistan (and frankly, almost all Muslim countries) since the colonial empires fell apart. Criticising your country becomes not an act of patriotism, but rather one of sedition. In countries like this, how can you have democracy, whose oxygen is constant criticism and vigilance of the government from opposition and segments of society? If we don’t learn the value of criticism as patriotism but instead dismiss all as “not knowing history” or “kono uddessho achey”, how will we ever give a meaningful voice to all citizens?
July 7th, 2007 at 12:24 pm
Great, one of those gleeful ‘you’re doing more rubbishly than we are, according to XX and XX decontextualised white development indices’ cascades.
July 8th, 2007 at 12:57 am
This post should not be taken as ‘gee Pakistan is doing worse that Bangladesh, yippeee’. Nor should we get into a debate about how accurate Ayesha Siddiqa has been in her study. Rather, we should think of it as what could happen to Bangladesh if we are not careful.
The biggest risk from 1/11 is not that we’re going to end up with another dictator. That risk is present, but it has probably lessened now. The biggest risk is that the army will become a state within a state, with no accountability to anyone other than their own financial interest.
Pakistan is in serious mess, and the army has contributed a lot to it. When we compare ourselves with Pakistan, we either fear that Moeen/Masud is just a Musharraf in the making, or we find comfort in the fact that our army is not as ‘bad’ as Pakistan’s. Well, our army may not be fighting proxy wars in and outside the country, but unless the next civilian government has a genuine popular mandate, we may still become like Pakistan as described in this book.
That, I believe, is the lesson from the post.
July 8th, 2007 at 2:15 pm
Pakistan is going through its most troublesome period in what is indeed a very troublesome and often bloody and violent history. What we are currently witnessing now with an insurgency in Balochistan, a radical Islamist uprising (with heavy undertones of Pashtun nationalism) in Waziristan, the chief justice crisis, violence in Karachi and the current Lal Masjid bloodshed might be part of a process which will utimately lead to the dissolution of Pakistan. The military’s strength is that is it the strongest and most organized entity in a country lacking such things and therefore has often assumed power. However the military is not immune to corruption and many generals are accused of using their military service to acquire personal wealth including the building of lavish homes after retirement, the confiscation of agricultural land to be used as golf courses for offices and so on.
Moin Ansari’s surname strongly indicates that he might be a Mohajir, a group many of whose members have strong grievances against the Punjabi-dominated military.
In terms of Bangladesh, I feel that the recent military takeover is more similar to Turkish coups where professional soldiers did what they felt was necessary for the country and then eventually left power, but not before creating constitutions or institutions that they felt would preserve stability, than coups in Arab states or Pakistan where generals took over and acquired personal power and personal financial self-aggrandizement.
July 8th, 2007 at 2:31 pm
Anthony, it seems to me that the problem in Pakistan is not just Musharraf. We tend to personalize the situation and almost always lose context. Musharraf exists because the army in Pakistan, as an institution, dominates and rules that country. If it wasnt Musharraf, it would have been another general. In fact, it is quite likely that if Musharraf falls (that is, loses favor with the army establishment as may indeed happen this summer), he will be replaced by another general. The army has been the dominant institution in Pakistan since its founding - individual generals have come and gone (and some have been blown up).
The danger in Bangladesh is that the army, which is already quite dominent, will again dominate all political and economic levers. This outcome is quite likely and is well on its way to becoming reality. The army is very likely to get significant backing from civil society. Just as is the case in Pakistan, civil society has very little to lose and a lot to gain with an all powerful army in Bangladesh. The real damage will be to the vast majority of Bangladeshis who have little stake in the bounty that civil society and the army will share amongst them.
The army in Bangladesh, in the current situation, is already unaccountable. With all the cheering going on at the sight of seeing politicians go to jail, its hard to actually focus on the long term impact of such methods. The short term benefit and satisfaction of seeing corrupt politicians rounded up will be dwarfed by the long term damage caused to the rule of law and the growth of accountable institutions in Bangladesh. I think it sets a bad precedence to welcome army intervention in fixing the civil ills of Bangladesh and it also is wishful thinking to expect the army to clean things up and return to the barracks.
The only way Bangladesh will become a functional democracy is for the people to build the institutions neccessary to sustain democracy. That requires long term commitment and a civic culture that respects the rule of law at all levels of society. This is not a simple task in a country like Bangladesh. It will take time and may not happen in our lifetimes - but it is a task worth undertaking by those who have the resources on behalf of those who do not. But, there is no path to that goal with the army, an inherently undemocratic institution, at the reigns of power. That path leads the way of Pakistan - a fate we fought to resist a generation ago.
So I weep for Bangladesh at this time. I sincerely hope I am not in the minority.
July 8th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
AsifY,
Couldn’t make the time earlier for the reply…
On posting #8, you are correct there could be a conflict of interest resulting in unfair advantage towards monopoly . HOwever, I’d like to point out that these practices occur due to improper loopholes of law and/or weak institutions regardless of democratic or military rule.This unfair monopoly happens through lobbying and/or friends in high places. In US healthcare reform towards public coverage, pharmaceutical lobby is the primary blocker of this reform. Don’t forget that despite of “democratic” governments in BD, ever wondered why all newly purchased govt vehicles were all Nissan OR why a 75k Tk CNG eventually turned to be 3 lakh Tk because they had to be passed through a single PSI ( preshipment inspection) company?
P.S. Give some slack to Ansari (#10), I wouldn’t like Pakistanis disussing/downplaying BD in their blog :)..
Note that the original article was written by a Pakistani for her country. Up until last GOP loss in US, it was unpatriotic to question the premise of going to Iraq war. Even now, some questions on 9/11, war on terror and foreign policies are not only unpatriotic but simply untouchable. So such “self-defeating, non-critical patriotism” is not only limited to Pakistan or to “all muslim”.
July 8th, 2007 at 10:42 pm
Banglarman,
Thanks for taking the time to respond. You are absolutely correct that monopoly situations occur in both forms of government. My point was that simply moving from one to other does not guarantee public welfare, it just ensures that factories are better run for the minority it benefits.
No, I disagree with you on that. Yes, the same patriotism could be seen on the American RIGHT, but on the American Left there was no lack of vocal critics of this administration since “Mission Accomplished”. And while people were labelled “unpatriotic”, there was a lot of voices that said exactly what I have said: that criticism is patriotism. In the Muslim world, my voice is that of the minority.
At random, let’s talk about Saad Eddine Ebrahim, the noted Egyptian sociologist, who got thrown into prison for “anti-state activities” simply for speaking against Mubarak’s son as the successor. Ebrahim’s example is hardly isolated wouldn’t you agree? Show me one American who has been thrown into jail for criticising (verbally or in written form) the administration’s policies.
July 9th, 2007 at 5:07 am
Mash,
Yes, democracy needs long-term commitment and a civic culture for its flourishing; Army is not supposed to offer it on a platter. However, how long it would take for Bangladesh to attain democracy in this way? Have people so much patience in this age of information?? Will the Bangladeshi public wait generation after generation, like the Indians, only to find out the bankruptcy of the so-called ‘democracy???
I think its more practical, rather, for the people of Bangladesh to make the most for themselves ‘deconstructing’ the body politic by seizing the opportunity in the wake of the unearthing, of the ‘hidden content’ of the leaders, by the promoters of 1/11.
July 9th, 2007 at 6:38 am
And what Bitterboy said about Mannan Bhuiyan being very comfi in this corruption investigation turmoil, I ask him, is Dr. Ahmed supposed to hound all the ministers, secretaries and staff of those ministries reported to practice corruption, or is it the Anti Corruption Commission that should take some action? It’s like asking the Pathologist to get you cured from gonorrhea.
July 9th, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Ahbab Aziz, the problem has precisely been “people of Bangladesh to make the most for themselves” in a winner-takes-all environment of the past.
I take it as axiomatic that democracy is the form of government that offers the best chance of a better life to a larger cross-section of society. We can argue till the cows come home about, as you put it, the “bankruptcy of the so-called ‘democracy’” without any conclusion. I took it to be a given on its face that the so-called CTG wants to bring about “democracy” in Bangladesh. If the goal is otherwise, well, I guess the public ought to be told.
If democracy is not suitable for Bangladesh, what form of government do you think Bangladesh should strive for? A “benevolent” dictatorship? “guided democracy” a la Ayub Khan? Feudalism? open military rule? military rule a la Turkey?
I am old fashioned in that I believe economic development, protection of individual rights from the massive power of the state, and fundamental freedoms (speech, assembly, religion, movement, etc. - see Bangladesh constitution or the Bill of Rights) are, and should be, the right of every person - and any form of government that de jure or de facto curtails any of the above is bankrupt.
July 9th, 2007 at 1:03 pm
Post # 18:
If I may put in my 2 cents.
“is Dr. Ahmed supposed to hound all the ministers, secretaries and staff of those ministries reported to practice corruption, or is it the Anti Corruption Commission that should take some action?” ………….
Fighting corruption is every one’s responsibility. More so it is Dr. Ahmed’s responsibility because at the moment he is the head of the country. He ought to give the strategic direction (at macro level) that should be implemented by other heads of departments like ACC at micro level.
As for the analogy you have given, in my opinion, it is not a true analogy. While medicine is a highly specialized trait where even a slightest difference can matter a life, in case of corruption, any tom dick and harry can identify a stealing or bribe as such. Possibly at general level we all have the understanding of what a corruption is. Specially given the fact that we are all bearing the burnt of corruption in our day to day life.
If a Princeton Grad do not understand what a corruption is, them may God help us.
Thanks
LTT.
July 9th, 2007 at 1:32 pm
there is a write up of a ‘dont make the same mistakes and pakistan’ conference in this weeks probe if anyone is interested.
im banking on 3 factors preventing any decrease in the public support element of this ctg. neither of thses factors are particularly praiseworthy, but we are who we are.
1) BD forces accustomed to the UN role
2) Our great leader not really having half the chops of Musharraf.
3) deshis are quite easily aroused and politicised should any great stupidity take place.
July 9th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
Fugstar,
I hope you’ve written to Probe magazine as well, since Pakistan seems to make mistakes by “white indicators” only and is the “fourth-largest” country in the world by “brown indicators” which you seem to BELIEVE are better contextualised.
Here are my reasons for thinking that we might go the Pakistan way:
1) BD forces are accustomed to the UN role, which Pakistani ones are as well. If you really think the UN role is unpraiseworthy, then let’s have some criticism for Pakistani policy-makers now and then eh?
2) Our great leader(s) have more chops than Musharraf (prove your statement, and I’ll prove mine).
3) Deshis are stoic and have never read Sylvia Plath or they would have known that people have a natural love for the military boot (prove your bizarre macro-statement and I’ll prove mine.)
Analysis of Bangladeshi civil-military relations is the need of the hour. Just repeating mindless generalizations about the Bangladeshi military and public is cliche, a colonial hangover, a Pakistan-era hangover (oh look, Pakistanis are less emotional/more rational than us: Ayub-speak bullshit!), utterly useless and lastly, false.
July 10th, 2007 at 5:02 am
@ #20.
Some misunderstanding is certainly let on loose. As bitterboy quipped about Dr. Mozaffer Ahmed, heading TIB, I came up with a reaction. Please don’t confuse Dr. Ahmed as the CA of CTG.
It’s true, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do something about corruption, can tip off the “Authority”, but that is what I was talking about. Dr. Mozaffer Ahmed published a report on rampant corruption in Ministry of Local Government, now his research should be perused by the authority who can pursue the case to bring the involved individuals to justice.
Your frustration about a Princeton Grad’s inability in comprehension of corruption is another shock. Who is this Princeton’s Blacksheep?
July 10th, 2007 at 5:26 am
LTT, let’s talk truth, I think its clear that post #18 was referring to Professor Muzaffer Ahmad of TIB, not Fakhruddin Ahmed
And AsifY, finally someone else who appreciates Sylvia Plath like I do!
It’s a shame that she left the oven on, eh?
Finally, I’ve heard of “colonial angst”, but what is all this “Pakistani angst”? I think it’s time for some to face the reality that Bangladesh is no longer East Pakistan. The war is over - we kicked ass
July 10th, 2007 at 7:59 am
Mash,
I say we open a blog and publish a new poem bashing Ted Hughes for every week of the year!
I do hope you’ve realised that she was mentioned only to show the inherent ridiculousness of such generalizations.
Re: “angst”, let me just point out that I said “hangover”. It’s like a teetotaller to mix the two up.:D “Angst” implies nostalgic remembrance of the colonising power, be it British or Pakistani. “Hangover” implies using the leftover language of the coloniser, without necessarily believing in the coloniser’s project (a belief that I did not impute to Fugstar). We see it everyday from our policymakers with all their talk of “irrational Bangladeshis”, “emotional Bangladeshis” and (thankfully rarely nowadays) “effeminate bangalis” so on and so forth.
In the immortal words of Ms. Sylvia Plath: we DID kick ass!
July 10th, 2007 at 12:55 pm
1) oops. are they as dependant for experience, equipment, good name and finance on performing the UN role as we are? (i need to find out). hmm criticism…not protecting dr fazlur rahman enough from the conservatives back in the day, buggering up nascent bangladesh, handing innocent people like moazzam beg to the americans with a ‘terrorist’ label.
2) Musharraf’s tour of the west last year was a trail blazer, the jon stewart performance and the production of in the line of power. Dude i’m not loving him up, and true to say he has had more time and scope to move and show initiative than our good general who is not allowing himself the scope. The circumstances of Musharafs coming into power were a lot more personally endangering too, he explains it as a personal necessity.
3) The hard end of the boot. Thats true, its what i hear more and more of recently, discipline and what not. But i think the real primary need is good leadership, other things will follow.
I’m not a military geek who knows armaments, but the social balance is different between the military (less gear, possibly less arrogance/confidence, less near past combat experience and political interference and financial over indulgence, repeated hesitantcy about getting involved until 1/11) and the people in desh (a more politically restive immediate social memory, less regionalised politics, anti ershad movment).
Anyone know enough about other countries for another comparison? (thailand, indonesia) It will bring out some different colors and reduce the likely hood of mislabelling the reasons behind peoples angst.
also, are parallels between the NSF?!? and the new dr qureishi party worth making?
July 12th, 2007 at 11:09 am
Ah, our leader(s) don’t have Musharraf’s chop. Literally. Our leaders, the whole collection of them - the President, CA, two top generals, the head of ACC, the most vocal advisor - they’re all clean shaved. Hell, Gen Moeen is even bald.
July 22nd, 2007 at 6:12 pm
[...] - many of their policy objectives are helped along by the Pakistan military, an institution that controls much of Pakistani society and is in no danger of collapsing. In this atmosphere, the occasional [...]
November 24th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
Pakistan has now become immune to “prophecies of doom”. Pakistanis are sick of “do more” lectures from a 3rd rate country that piggy-backs on superpowers to get a kick out of beating up vulnerable populations.
2 million Muslim kids died destroying the USSR. Today, Pakistan is suffering because of the failed policies of Britain and the USA. The blowback faced by many is because of the short sighted policies of London and Washington.
Your selective amnesia is amazing. Pakistan was used by the USA in the First Afghan War against the USSR. India at the time was on the losing side of the battle and the USSR was not only defeated, it imploded.
Analysts see major cavities. Today there is an overwhelming body of evidence that a similar fate faces “India.” India’s major problem is not a nuclear armed Pakistan, or 160 million belligerent Pakistanis or even 160 million Bangledeshis or the 160 million Indian Muslims. India’s problem is the 40 million Hindu White widows, and the Dalits and Naxalite insurrection that threatens to destroy the heart of midland. While the urban penury competes with rural poverty the plutocratic, dynastic democrats, the extremist rightists, and the megalomaniacs (Nero’s) dream of a global power, the heart of India is in pain and destitution.
Congress has taken notice, and last month passed a resolution calling for the United States to work with India to address the problem of untouchability by “encouraging US businesses and other US organisations working in India to take every possible measure to ensure Dalits are included and are not discriminated against in their programming”.
“It is now time for this Congress to speak out about this ancient and particularly abhorrent form of persecution and segregation — even if it is occurring in a country considered to be one of America’s closest allies,’’ Rep Trent Franks, R-Ariz., said during a speech last spring on the House floor. Franks went on to call Dalits “one of the most oppressed peoples on Earth.’’
The 2006 study found that public health workers refuse to visit 33 per cent of Dalit villages, while mail is not delivered to the homes of 24 per cent of Dalits. The reason for the neglect, the study said, is that some in the upper castes believe lower-caste people are dirty and lack dignity in their labor as latrine cleaners, rickshaw drivers, butchers, herders and barbers.
The debate on affirmative action in India is similar to the one in the United States in terms of discrimination and ways to end it. But in India, those who experience discrimination, especially in rural areas, are the majority and are ruled by an elite. The issue here is complicated by India’s turbulent history of race, class and caste. Centuries-old customs of arranged marriages and inherited professions perpetuate caste divisions, which are further reinforced by some interpretations of Hinduism, India’s dominant religion, which sanctions the caste system.
The country’s education system also hardens caste. Lower castes largely attend public schools, which teach local languages, while private schools attended by upper castes teach English — the most important criterion to be hired at a call center, where young employees spend their nights helping customers phoning from the United States.
Sitting in a circle as they waited to hear whether they would get jobs, Kamble and the other students talked about the often harrowing discrimination they faced. “I knew there was hatred in the world and in India, when as a child I watched some upper castes refuse to sell my mother lentils and rice in the nicer part of the market because we were `dirty,’ and from a backward caste,’’ said Vivek Kumar Katara, 22, who has a master’s degree in social work focusing on helping the mentally ill. Without quotas, Katara said, “I honestly don’t know if professors would have even let me sit in the same class as upper castes”. http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/features/featuredetail.asp?file=augustfeatures302007.xml
How poor is India? Some startling statistics have just been released by a forgotten wing of Dr Singh’s own administration, the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector. Around 80 per cent of India’s working population is in this sector. Nearly 80 per cent of this group earns less than 20 rupees a day and 85 per cent of this sub group is trapped in debt. By that usual sleight of hand we have drawn an arbitrary line to define poverty: Rs 12 a day constitutes the poverty line. This encourages the illusion that 77 per cent of India is now above the poverty line. It isn’t that much above in any case. Nor is this poverty line index-linked to inflation. Twelve rupees a day buys much less today than it did three years ago. The traditional poverty groups remain where they were: 88 per cent of Scheduled Tribes and Castes, 80 per cent of “Other Backward Classes” and 85 per cent of Muslims belong to the “poor and vulnerable” class.
M. J. Akbar is Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle newspapers. He can be reached at mjakbar@asianage.com
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/ColumnistHomeNew.asp?section=mjakbar&col=yes
Once again, India is on the losing side in the war in Afghanistan. The real Afghans sick of the extremist “talibaan” and the other stooges will take power in Kabul. Soon Mr. Karzai, the Mayor of Kabul will be seeking Indian asylum again, choosing a condominium next to the Delai Lama. Afghanistan will soon be liberated again , the other traitors and non-Pashtun puppets will hang from the trees in Kabul. As the Afghans win, the Indian Consulates (the den of deceit and inequity) will once again be shut down and the Indian Embassy will again be sent packing back to old Delhi.
If the plutocrats in India do not learn their lessons, there will be another Mahmud of Ghazni and another Ahmad Shah Abdali to teach her that lesson. Missile pun intended. This time New Delhi will lose more than the peacock throne and the Kohinoor.
November 24th, 2007 at 6:10 pm
Kashmiris have lost 100,000 lives for “tehrik e ilhaq e Pakistan”. Ladakh now is a Muslim majority area. Why didn’t you go there? The people of Srinagar are under occupation, under threat of rape, killing, and forced deportation. How can a person with a knife on his/her head be able to tell the truth? They are not free to say what they want to Indian newspapers. Taking a poll in occupied Paris would have shown similar results. Occupied Srinagar is influenced by the Kashmiri traitors Abdullah and sons who sold out to India and even changed the name of their party “Plebiscite Front”. The question of an “independent” Kashmir is a red herring, a conspiracy and false trial balloon floated by India to keep it under her wraps. It is a non-starter. Selling Pashminas is a not an economy. Kashmir would be subservient to India. After Gurdaspur, a Muslim majority area was illegally given to India Kashmir’s link is to India. Why waste people’s time to ask such silly questions? The Naxalites want independence. Why doesn’t India give it to the millions.
According to the “Indian Act of Independence”, the more than 500 states had only two choices, either join India or join Pakistan. There was no third choice. Hyderabad tried to exercise the third choice, and faced Indian Police action and elimination. Manvanagar and Junagarh acceded to Pakistan, but Indian forces occupied them. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was the last Pakistani head of state to mention Junagarh and Manvanagar. When I was growing up our Pakistani atlases showed Junagarh and Manvanagar as Pakistani territory.
The status of Kashmir is disputed. India claims that the original article of accession to India has been “lost”, if it ever existed. The article of accession was never actually presented to the United Nations. The article of accession as presented to Lord Mountbatten had serious forgery issues based on the date and where and when it was signed. Apparently Hari Sing was not present in the place where it was purportedly signed. Alister Lamb has written a book on the subject, and I have written many articles on it, even posted on the BJP website. The current president of Azad Kashmir is fully aware of the discrepancies, and started mentioning this fact on Geo TV last week and was rudely interrupted by Mr. Sheheryar. I wonder why?
If Kashmiris are being asked the question of independence than all the 500 states of the Subcontinent should be asked the same question, Awadh, Goa, etc etc. Mizuram, Nagaland, Hydrabad should all be given independence.
Lest some traitors forget, I repeat:—- “Batt keh rahay kaa Hindustaan–Kashmir Banaiga Pakistan”. Kashmir is Pakistan’s “shehrag’. Pakistan was created on the “Two Nation Theory” where as the Muslim majority areas formed Pakistan. There is no confusion about the TNT. one of our leaders said, “we will eat grass for a thousand years, if we have to, but ‘Kashmir baniaga Pakistan’ “. Everything else if nonsense. No geopolitical realities can change truth from falsehood.
November 24th, 2007 at 6:15 pm
Gujarat is severely patriarchal. Its sex-ratio is 487:1000 in the 0-4 age-group and 571 in the 5-9 group (national averages, 515 and 632). Its health indices have dropped relative to other states and are barely higher than Orissa’s. In social sector spending (as a proportion of total expenditure), Gujarat ranks a lowly 19 among India’s 21 major states. The industries that have flourished the most in Gujarat are all highly polluting: poisonous chemicals-Vapi is the world’s fourth most toxic hub — textile dyeing, shipbreaking, and diamond polishing, which turns young people blind. Gujarat hasn’t still recovered from its mill industry’s wholesale closure since the 1980s. In Gujarat, labour exploitation is extreme. On minimum wages, Gujarat ranks eighth among Indian states.
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IJ13Df01.html
November 24th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
How poor is India? Some startling statistics have just been released by a forgotten wing of Dr Singh’s own administration, the National Commission for Enterprises in the Unorganised Sector. Around 80 per cent of India’s working population is in this sector. Nearly 80 per cent of this group earns less than 20 rupees a day and 85 per cent of this sub group is trapped in debt. By that usual sleight of hand we have drawn an arbitrary line to define poverty: Rs 12 a day constitutes the poverty line. This encourages the illusion that 77 per cent of India is now above the poverty line. It isn’t that much above in any case. Nor is this poverty line index-linked to inflation. Twelve rupees a day buys much less today than it did three years ago. The traditional poverty groups remain where they were: 88 per cent of Scheduled Tribes and Castes, 80 per cent of “Other Backward Classes” and 85 per cent of Muslims belong to the “poor and vulnerable” class.
M. J. Akbar is Editor-in-Chief of the Asian Age and Deccan Chronicle newspapers. He can be reached at mjakbar@asianage.com
http://www.khaleejtimes.com/ColumnistHomeNew.asp?section=mjakbar&col=yes
Muslims constitute 25.2 per cent of the population of West Bengal, but have only 2.1 per cent of state government jobs. Kerala, which has almost the same percentage of Muslims (24.7 per cent), has given 10.4 per cent of state government jobs to the community. Assam’s ratio is similar: 30.9 per cent and 11.2 per cent. Bihar does better: it gives 7.6 per cent of state jobs to Muslims, who add up to 16.5 per cent of the population. Andhra Pradesh has the best record: 9.2 per cent of the population and 8.8 per cent of jobs. Uttar Pradesh, despite leaders who claim to be more-secular-than-thou has given only 5.1 per cent of state government jobs to an 18.5 per cent population. The situation is no better when it comes to health and education indices.
The anger in Bengal therefore is much greater than the appalling mismanagement