Dysfunctional Justice of Pakistan: New Age Islam's Selection, 27 May 2017
New
Age Islam Edit Bureau
27 May 2017
• Dysfunctional Justice of Pakistan
By Daily Times
• Building Bridges in a Troubled Region
By Akbar Ahmed
• Nuclear Deterrence and Regional Security
By S M Hali
• Baloch and Sindhis Share Historic Ties
By Shaikh Abdul Rasheed
• More Power to Women
By Shahnawaz Sarmad
• Challenges in Iran
By Talat Farooq
• Politics and Justice
By A.G. Noorani
• Trump’s Maiden Visit To KSA
By Khalid Chandio
• Foreign Policy Straitjacket
By Abbas Nasir
Compiled By New Age Islam Edit Bureau
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Dysfunctional Justice of Pakistan
By DailyTimes
26-May-17
The case of Khadija Siddiqui is a stark reminder of Pakistan’s dysfunctional justice system that seeks to disempower the ordinary citizen, while failing to secure fundamental rights. A young woman was stabbed 23 times in broad daylight by a classmate yet was unable to prove her case, despite the attack being video recorded.
After two months of imprisonment a sessions court granted the attacker — the son of an influential lawyer — post-arrest bail. The criminal justice system was subverted once again as the lawyers’ community unfortunately refused to stand by the rule of law, and protected one of their own. This is a clear sign of how in this country society’s stronger sections can literally get away with (attempted) murder, and the weaker party has to desperately knock doors and is still denied justice. Despite grandiose statements issued by honourable judges of the superior courts, flashed as media headlines, this is the reality in today’s Pakistan.
The citizenry continues to suffer inexcusable delays as well as the absence of justice itself. In fact, there has been many an instance where the accused were exonerated posthumously. The superior courts and the executive must focus on improving the justice system if it is not to collapse entirely.
The silver lining in the horrific case of Khadija Siddiqui has been the crucial role of the media in taking up her cause and publicising it. Without consistent media reporting and noise — this brave young woman would not have been able to share her ordeal and her resolve not to surrender her quest for justice may have faltered. The Lahore High Court and the Punjab government took notices of legal delays.
However, taking notice is not enough in a system where judicial and executive officials fail to act swiftly under the law. Needless to say, our justice system needs a total overhaul and it remains criminal that Pakistanis have to suffer at the hands of an antiquated, essentially colonial legal system in the 21st century. Our elected governments need to be reminded time and again to deliver on this front. In fact, what Pakistan needs is a broad-based social movement for reform of institutions of justice not populist shenanigans and opportunistic politics in the name of Insaf and fighting corruption.*
Source: dailytimes.com.pk/editorial/26-May-17/dysfunctional-justice
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Building Bridges in a Troubled Region
By Akbar Ahmed
27-May-17
I first met Magnus Marsden in the 1990s in Cambridge, where I had been the Iqbal Chair of Pakistan Studies and based at Selwyn College. I was impressed by this aspiring anthropologist and student sharing a mutual interest in the tribal regions of Pakistan and Afghanistan. Marsden and I would frequently interact and engage in conversations about the tribal peoples who lived on either side of the international border. Given his commitment, seriousness, and empathy for the people he would study, even at that young age, I knew he would make a name for himself in the field.
Two decades later, Marsden has lived up to all the expectations I had of him. He is today a professor of social anthropology at the University of Sussex and Director of Sussex Asia Centre. Besides, he is acknowledged as a top anthropologist in one of the world’s most important regions, and working to humanize the people of Afghanistan and Pakistan and their efforts to engage in the global economy.
While Afghan traders play an active role in the Pakistani economy — buying and selling products like tangerines, cloth, and carpets, and relying upon access to the port in Karachi — they remain apprehensive about entering Pakistan for business
As a teenager in the 1980s and early 1990s, through his exposure to the coverage which the Afghan Mujahideen were receiving in the West and the attention drawn to Pakistan through our two cricket championship victories, Marsden began to develop a strong interest in Islam and the Pakistan/Afghanistan border region. After teaching English for a year in northern Pakistan in 1995 and studying anthropology at the University of Cambridge, Marsden went on to earn his PhD in anthropology, writing on Islam in Central and South Asia and the lived experience of Islam in northern Pakistan, particularly in Chitral. He then proceeded to study this region in a post-Cold War context. This experience opened the path to his latest project, focused on Afghan trading networks and the lived experience of being an Afghan trader in Afghanistan, throughout South and Central Asia, in Europe, and elsewhere around the world.
This knowledge he distils in to his recent book, Trading Worlds: Afghan Merchants Across Modern Frontiers (Hurst 2016). Marsden works to show the human side of Afghan trade and to counter the common stereotypes facing Afghan traders and the Afghan people more broadly through his rich, detailed ethnographic research. Noting that much of the international coverage of Afghanistan focuses on tribal and ethnic divisions and portrays the Afghan people as backward and insular, Marsden aims to convey the sophistication of Afghan traders and their interactions with cultural environments around the world. Analyzing common experiences for Afghan traders engaging in international trade and recounting first-hand stories of Afghan traders living around the world, Marsden establishes a strong, nuanced basis for understanding this key element of the Afghan economy and society.
Marsden strongly emphasizes the diplomatic, bridge-building role Afghan traders’ play at home and abroad, transforming their role beyond that of conducting mere economic transactions to actually affecting the affairs of the regions in which they work. He looks at how Afghan traders stand at the nexus of many different cultures working in London, remarking, “They sell cloth made in France to West African communities, fish imported from the Pacific Ocean to West Indians, and Kenyan Halal meat to British Muslims.” Marsden also discusses the important role Afghan traders have played in bringing together populations which had been separated by the political tensions of the Cold War and the post-Soviet world, shaping modern Central Asian affairs. On this point, he writes, “The traders explored in this book connected markets and trading spaces that were part of very different types of political economies, including those of Peshawar, Dubai, Dushanbe, Moscow, and London.”
On a broader note, Marsden’s field research also demonstrates the importance of actively interacting with others and getting to know people on their own terms. Were one to just ask a casual observer about Afghan traders, they may cast them as being singularly focused on raising a profit, shifty as to their Muslim faith and Afghan identity, or even as drug dealers. Yet, Marsden refuses to buy into this narrative and demonstrates that, in fact, the global community of Afghan traders is far more nuanced and complex.
Marsden makes it clear though that Afghan traders, despite their important role in regional and global affairs and their ability to overcome great obstacles, do sometimes remain at the mercy of the social, economic, and political tensions which dominate the region. In fact, as Marsden’s research finds, while they play an active role in buying and selling Pakistani products such as tangerines, cloth, and carpets, and rely upon access to the port in Karachi, in turn supporting our own economy, many Afghan traders are apprehensive about entering Pakistan on business. Often, their trade convoys are ransacked and those trading such products as cement will be attacked by people working to reduce competition against our own cement production. Furthermore, we still continue to view Afghans as primitive, warring peoples.
To improve our own relations with Afghanistan and support peace in our own backyard, this book and this message needs to be heard. In fact, if we take the time to listen to the scholars and peace builders of the world, like Magnus Marsden, and learn from their humanism, perhaps we can begin to treat not only Afghan traders, but outsiders and minority groups in our own nation with the dignity and respect they inherently deserve.
Source: dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/27-May-17/building-bridges-in-a-troubled-region
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Nuclear Deterrence and Regional Security
By S M Hali
27-May-17
Nearly two decades after Pakistan crossed the nuclear threshold on a day that has since been commemorated as Yaum-e-Takbir, it may be appropriate to ask whether Pakistan is more secure today than it was in the past.
India had embarked upon its military nuclear programme in 1974 with its first nuclear test at Pokhran. Pakistan had no option but to follow suit because of the threat India’s nuclear programme posed to the region. In May 1998, India again tested nuclear devices following which it went into a jingoistic fever, intimidating its western neighbour with dire consequences. This forced Pakistan to come out of its nuclear closet on May 28, 1998.
Pakistan is keen to keep the Indian Ocean de-nuclearised but it is also eager to acquire civil nuclear energy to meet its energy requirements
One would have assumed that following Pakistan’s declaration of its nuclear assets, India would have rested on its laurels but its defence planners aspired to develop the nuclear triad: aerial, surface and sub-surface based nuclear weapons.
India’s martial strategies including the Cold Start Doctrine are Pakistan-centric. Since its war doctrine, based on the German strategy of Blitzkrieg, was designed to rapidly strike Pakistan with quick response forces and decimate Pakistan before it could deploy its nukes, Pakistan had to devise a counter strategy by developing battlefield tactical nuclear weapons. India has cried hoarse regarding the security of Pakistan’s tactical nuclear weapons, stating that these weapons would be prone to snatch-and-grab by miscreants. Meanwhile, India has been developing its own Prahaar and Shaurya tactical nuclear missiles.
To make matters more precarious, India now seems bent on introducing nuclear weaponry in the seas, which would exacerbate the South Asian security environment. Taking lessons from Indian strategic thinker K M Pannikar and US Naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan — that is, the key to world domination in the 21st century would lie in control of the Indian Ocean — India has been nuclearising the seas at a rapid pace. It is being egged on in this quest by the US, which perceives India to be able to counter growing Chinese presence in the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean. Besides using its own brand of gunboat diplomacy, the US is supporting India’s nuclearisation process by sustaining its dream of joining the Nuclear Suppliers’ Group (NSG).
Indian articulation of its ambition is vividly depicted in its Naval Strategy Document of 2015. Various steps taken by India in the near past to nuclearise the Indian Ocean comprise building or acquiring nuclear-powered submarines and conventional sub surface platforms equipped with nuclear warheads among other weapon systems. These include the INS Chakra, an Akula class submarine leased from Russia. An Advanced Technology Vessel (ATV) Project has been underway since 1999, under the joint supervision of the Indian Navy, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), and the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). This project produced its first nuclear ballistic missile submarine, the INS Arihant. The submarine has completed its critical diving tests and undergone test launch of unarmed ballistic missiles.
The hulls of another two SSBNs, including INS Aridhaman, have already been completed and these vessels are expected to be launched in 2017. In March 2016, India had conducted a test of the K-4, an intermediate range nuclear-capable submarine-launched ballistic missile, from the INS Arihant in the Bay of Bengal. The K-4 and the projected K-5 will thus become parts of its nuclear triad, enabling India to have second strike nuclear capability.
The INS Chakra, the first nuclear attack submarine in the Indian fleet, was commissioned in the Indian Navy in April 2012. Additionally, the Indo-Russian joint production has helped India acquire the Talwar class frigates. The new frigates of this kind are armed with eight Brahmos missiles, capable of carrying nuclear warheads. This missile can be launched from submarines, surface ships, land and air, thereby, providing additional strength to Indian nuclear arsenal.
The Indian Navy’s area of operation includes the Arabian Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Bay of Bengal. These waters include numerous sea lines of communication (SLOC) chokepoints such as the Strait of Hormuz, Bab El Mandeb, and the Malacca Straits. With its advanced naval platforms, India will be able to deny the SLOCs for other littoral states while keeping its own routes open.
Pakistan is keen to keep the Indian Ocean denuclearised but at the same time it is eager to acquire civil nuclear energy to meet its requirements for power. If Pakistan is to be made truly secure, it must set its own house in order, while simultaneously exposing Indian designs to subvert the peace and tranquillity of South Asia and the Indian Ocean.
Source: dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/27-May-17/nuclear-deterrence-and-regional-security
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Baloch and Sindhis Share Historic Ties
By Shaikh Abdul Rasheed
27-May-17
In the last two months alone, there have been three incidents in Balochistan where labourers belonging to Sindh working on various development projects were killed by unidentified assailants. These targeted killings seem to be a deliberate attempt to create fissures in friendly relations between the two ethnic groups.
In the aftermath of these killings, a clash was reported between Baloch and Sindhi students at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, on May 20. As many as 35 students from both groups were injured in the incident.
There have been occasions in history when relations between the two groups had been unpleasant, but they have enjoyed cordial ties in the recent past. The two groups are not just located in geographic proximity but they also share political, cultural and historical traits. Since Pakistan’s independence, both groups have been victims of bad political and financial policies of respective federal governments. Therefore, Sindhis and Baloch have been carrying out unswerving struggle for achieving the irrespective political and economic rights or in protest against exploitation of their natural resources and violent measures by state institutions. Sometimes, there have been tactical differences in their struggle but the goal has always been the same.
The fact is that ethnically Sindhis and Baloch are very much intermingled over the years. Baloch are approximately 3.6 percent of Pakistan's population — about 50 percent of them live in Balochistan and 40 percent are settled in Sindh.
Similarly, a large number of ethnic Sindhis are settled in Balochistan. Because of this, several ethnic Baloch tribes have become an integral part of the Sindhi population. These tribes own most of the agricultural land and have also established large agriculture-related businesses. Peasant cultivators on almost all land owned by Baloch and Sindhis are ethnic Baloch. Alongside, a significant number of Baloch work as labourers in factories, industries and construction companies in Sindh. Fortunately, there has not been a single incident of targeted killings of Baloch on ethnic basis in the province.
There have been four nationalist movements in Balochistan since Pakistan's independence. All of these featured conflict with the central government over control of land and resources. The first movement took place owing to issues surrounding the 1948 annexation of Kalat state; the second insurgency occurred during General Ayub Khan's tenure in 1962-69; third, that was on a larger scale, occurred between 1974 and 77following the dismissal of National Awami Party- and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-led elected government in the province. The fourth uprising began after Akbar Khan Bugti was killed in a security operation in August 2006.
According to Abdul Khalique Junejo, chairman of the Jeay Sindh Mahaz, Sindhi people in general and Sindhi nationalists in particular have always supported the Baloch people's struggle for rights. After Zulfikar Ali Bhutto dismissed the NAP-JUI government and launched a military operation in the province, Jeay Sindh Students Federation, under the guidance of Sain G M Syed, had observed a week of protest throughout Sindh and sent telegrams of support to the then NAP Balochistan leader Mir Ahmed Nawaz Bugti. Similarly, Sindhi people had treated the Bugti’s murder as an attack on one of their own. The whole of Sindh had erupted in protest.
Almost all nationalist parties in Sindh have condemned state agencies’ vicious and ghastly acts in Balochistan and expressed solidarity with the victims from different platforms like political rallies, seminars and conferences. In April 2009, when Baloch leaders Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, Sher Muhammad Baloch and Lala Munir Baloch were killed brutally in Turbat, leaders of Sindhi nationalist parties like Shafi Muhammad Burfat, Chairman Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz; Dr Qadir Magsi, chairman Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party; and Bashir Khan Qureshi, chairman Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz had issued strong condemnations. They had announced a three-day mourning in Sindh to express solidarity with the Baloch people.
In 2009, when Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, Sher Muhammad Baloch and Lala Munir Baloch were killed brutally in Turbat, Sindhi nationalists announced a three-day mourning to express solidarity with the Baloch people
Sindhis have worked in coordination with Baloch for their respective rights on international forums as well. In August 2016, activists of UK-based Baloch and Sindhi groups had held a demonstration in front of the Chinese embassy in London against the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and human rights violations in Balochistan and Sindh. The protest was jointly organised by the World Sindhi Congress, Sindhi Baloch Forum, Baloch National Movement, Baloch Republican Party, Baloch Human Rights Council-UK, Baloch Students and Youth Association, and Baloch Students' Organisation. The protesters had said Baloch and Sindhis believed the CPEC will strengthen and lengthen their subjugation, which they could not allow this.
The foregoing makes it clear that there is no reason why the Baloch people would or should engage in violence against Sindhi workers. If they are involved in these barbaric incidents then it is their serious mistake, because they stand to lose moral, intellectual and political support of Sindhi people, as well as Sindhi nationalists, for their struggle for rights.
I am sure the recent incidents of targeted killings are a nefarious work of hidden hands. Afghanistan and India have reportedly been involved in sponsoring terrorist activities in Pakistan. Indian or Afghan intelligence agencies' involvement in these incidents with an objective to entangle the two ethnic groups in violent clashes cannot be ruled out.
Source: dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/27-May-17/baloch-and-sindhis-share-historic-ties
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More Power to Women
By Shahnawaz Sarmad
27-May-17
The results of the 2017 census are expected to come by the end of July. Future policies, including those concerning rights of women, will be devised based on facts and figures extracted from the census rather than on guesstimates.
Women in Pakistan are playing a key role in every walk of life. Today they are more concerned about building a career and becoming financially independent. A real transition can be observed in the priorities of Pakistani women in recent decades as the desire for job security is replacing the earlier concept of security associated with marriage.
Luckily they are getting broad chances as well, which definitely is a result of a longstanding struggle for equal opportunities. Gone are the days when women were only associated with certain professions like teaching and healthcare. Women are in every field now. One of the emerging avenues for them to pursue a career is in security and emergency services. From fighter pilots in the Pakistan Air Force to officials in the Bomb Disposal Squad, and from corporals in the Counter Terrorism Department to officers in Police Departments — women are extending their services for protecting the lives of Pakistanis by fighting criminals, terrorists and anti-social elements. Women’s role is crucially important in the Police Department because the frequency of public interaction needed in this department is higher than in any other department.
The current ratio of women in police forces across the country is no more than one or two percent. This abysmally low share can in no way be sufficient to deal with the needs of women citizens.
Many cases in which women are victims are rarely registered because they’re reluctant to visit police stations due to unsupportive, discouraging, and, sometimes, humiliating attitude of male police officials. Social fear and stigma adds more disinclination that keeps vulnerable victims of rape, domestic violence, harassment and other incidents of violence away from the police. Police regulations bar male police staff from searching or detaining women, and yet the number of women in police services is far from enough to deal with women in such incidents.
The current ratio of women in the police force is negligible compared to their share in the population. To offset gender imbalance in the police force, there is a serious need to induct more women.
Keeping this in view, I did some research and found out that according to a 2015 report of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative police forces were in a relatively better position in the Punjab, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan.
Punjab has seen an increase in induction of women as sub-Inspectors in recent years. For the first time in the history of Punjab police, 76 women joined the force last year as SIs. Another batch of 32SIs is ready to join the combat operations by October this year.
Major reforms were brought into induction and training patterns of Punjab police during current IGP Punjab Usman Khatak’s tenure as the additional IG training. The newly inducted women officials now undergo rigorous training, including an Elite Commando course considered to be the toughest in police, even for men. This course has the same reputation as that of the SSG trainings conducted by the Army.
The current ratio of women in police forces across the country is no more than one or two percent. This abysmally low share can in no way be sufficient to deal with the needs of women complainants
While working on a documentary, I got a chance to interview some of the Punjab police women officers and found them optimistic about future of women in the force. ASP Aisha Butt noted:“Any change in society is resisted at first, but gradually it becomes a part of the culture and is accepted. Same is the case with induction of women in police department, which has been thought to be a male-only profession. Females are joining this department by choice now, and they have the ability and courage to deal with challenges associated with the job.”
SI Anam Rehmat said, “Women are dealing with all kinds of cases in police stations and people believe that a woman will listen to them more attentively, especially women feel more comfortable when a female officer is dealing with them.”
As per a recent news report, Punjab government has deployed SI Ghazala Sharif as first-ever female SHO in Lahore. This surely is going to be one of the many steps in changing the current situation where there are not enough female officials to deal with women complainants.
Unfortunately, the ratio of women in the PSP officers has not yet seen much of an improvement. Only 25 women have yet been inducted as Assistant Superintendents of the Police so far. PSP officers hold key administrative and decision making positions. Such a low ratio in decisive positions limits opportunities of upward mobility for women. It is hard to imagine a constructive and sustainable change in Pakistan without equal representation of women in decision making processes at all levels, especially in law enforcement. Women’s access to means of economic prosperity will only have a positive impact on Pakistani society.
Source: dailytimes.com.pk/opinion/27-May-17/more-power-to-women
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Challenges in Iran
By Talat Farooq
May 27, 2017
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, a centrist, was re-elected last Saturday (May 20), to a second term by winning 57 percent of the votes in an election that had a high turnout of about 70 percent. He defeated his hard-line rival, Ebrahim Raisi, who had the backing of the allied security forces and the ruling clergy.
This landslide victory, which Rouhani did not get in his first term, should help his pursuit of domestic reforms, continued engagement with the West and build-up of the nuclear deal that he and his cabinet clinched through negotiations with the world powers. The deal constrains Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for international sanctions relief.
The economy will be on top of Rouhani’s second-term agenda because despite the easing of sanctions, economic benefits have yet to touch the daily lives of average Iranians. Unemployment remains high among the youth even though oil exports have rebounded and inflation is back at single-digits.
Rouhani will likely face domestic challenges in implementing his reformist agenda. Although victory has tilted the political balance towards reformists in the short term, Raisi secured a vote tally high enough to remain politically relevant. His success in winning hard-liners’ support could put him in a good position to run in 2021 when Rouhani will not be eligible for another term.
A Raisi-supporter cleric warned Rouhani that he should not forget that “more than 16 million people did not vote for him. So he should respect their right to criticise him”. Raisi may also be favoured as a possible successor to the 77-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini, who holds the position for life. Rouhani’s domestic and foreign policy reforms will be anything but a cake-walk.
On the foreign policy front, unless there’s a fundamental change in Iran-US relations, the weight of continued US unilateral sanctions regime will remain a major obstacle in the way of much needed foreign investment which the sanctions make complicated or illegal.
The nature of the relationship will determine geo-political realities. At a press conference in Riyadh last week, US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said that the focal point of President Trump’s visit to Saudi Arabia was to minimise Iranian- backed terrorism threat in the region.
Interestingly, Tillerson appeared to keep the door open by saying Trump might eventually talk to Rouhani as he has never “shut off the phone to anybody who wants to have a productive conversation”. However, Trump’s speech in Riyadh on May 21 reflected no such flexibility.
Addressing 55 Muslim leaders, President Trump identified Iran as an autocratic state and seemed close to calling for regime change, despite the Iranian presidential election – generally regarded as fair – only a couple of days previously. Denouncing Hezbollah, he put the US squarely on the side of Sunnis against the Shias in the devastating sectarian proxy war in the region. Could this be a ‘Trump Doctrine’ for the Middle East? If so, it is bound to widen divisions and escalate tensions without doing anything for peace.
In Saudi Arabia, Trump also emphasised the importance of finding a solution to the years-long civil war in Yemen, where Saudi Arabia supports the government while Tehran backs the rebel Houthi group. The question is: Can there be conflict resolution in the Middle East without involving Iran?
The US would do well to remember its own post 9/11 role in strengthening Iran’s regional position by dislodging the anti-Iran Taliban in 2001, doing away with Saddam Hussain in 2003 and then arming and training hundreds of fighters belonging to Shia militias in Iraq with ties to Iran. These were unintended consequences of short-sighted American foreign policy choices for sure, but were very real nonetheless.
With Rouhani back in power, Trump and his team should work towards a less rigid approach that can minimise long-term mutual distrust. The Iranian leader has promised to work towards removing the remaining non-nuclear sanctions, but critics argue that it will not be easy with Trump repeatedly describing the deal as “one of the worst ever signed”.
The complexity of the issue was reflected in the Trump administration’s re-authorisation of waivers from sanctions targeting Iran’s oil exports this week and then imposing new sanctions on four entities and three individuals connected with Iran’s ballistic-missile programme.
The Iran nuclear deal showed that Iranians are open to negotiated settlement of disputes. The US must avoid exacerbating regional tensions in the Muslim world and appeasing Israel by openly taking sides. This will only strengthen the hands of the hardliners in Iran.
It is obvious that the majority of Iranians do not wish to live in isolation and would rather engage with the world as a responsible nation. They must not be pushed back into the arms of the ‘Death to America’ chanting fanatics.
Given Iran’s complex government system, Rouhani will likely face the same challenges that checked his efforts towards delivering social transformation in his first term. But a larger mandate means more public support. Women in particular turned up to vote for Rouhani in great numbers as they felt their personal freedoms were under threat from Raisi whose supporters frequently accused the president of abandoning Islamic values. As if Islam starts and finishes with what a woman wears.
As a woman who has lived in Iran for some years in the mid-1990s, this writer has first-hand experience of complete strangers chiding you for ‘inappropriate Hijab’. “Khanum! Hijab-e-Toon Durast Neest”, they would say, just because a few strands of hair had managed to escape the ‘rooseri’ (scarf).
It may seem like a frivolous observation to the orthodox but for any woman with an independent soul such state-sanctioned restrictions are a violation of her privacy and self-respect. At the end of the day it is the symbolism that counts.
So many years down the line, there appears to be some relief. Watching the election coverage, it was heartening to see fully-covered Iranian women standing next to young ladies who were wearing scarves but whose beautiful strands flew freely in the air. Both sides appeared to be under less pressure to adhere to the strict code.
Let us hope that is truly the case and that Rouhani’s reformist agenda will succeed in both the economic and social arenas as well as in his foreign policy approach. A tough call perhaps, but one that can succeed with continued domestic and international support.
Source: thenews.com.pk/print/206921-Challenges-in-Iran
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Politics and Justice
By A.G. Noorani
May 27th, 2017
A DISHONEST judge perverts the course of justice — a dishonest prosecutor ensures that the course justice doesn’t even begin. Recent events in the US, concerning the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel for the Russia investigation, holds lessons for every country governed by the rule of law.
The situation could not be murkier. Respected by both Republicans and Democrats, the former FBI director was recently appointed by deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein after President Trump’s dismissal of James Comey as FBI director had created a deep, nation-wide crisis of confidence. Attorney general Jefferson Sessions had to recuse himself and hand the investigation over to his deputy after it was revealed that he had kept suspiciously silent about his meetings with the man at the centre of these intrigues, Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
Kislyak was also responsible for Michael Flynn’s short stint as national security adviser being terminated by Trump after disclosures of secret conversations with the ambassador — which he lied about — were published by the press. In conversations with then director Comey, Trump sought pledges of loyalty and assurances that he himself was not under investigation, and capped it with a word of ‘advice’ on the investigation into Flynn’s alleged misconduct — “I hope you can let this go”. Comey’s refusal brought about his dismissal. No ordinary prosecutor or investigator can do the job required of him because the threads reach the White House.
There is a long and instructive tradition of the special counsel in the US. After Watergate came the Iran-Contra and Whitewater probes. Nixon’s successor, president Carter, secured the enactment of the Ethics of Government Act, 1978. It envisaged the appointment of a special counsel by the court to which he reported. The act lapsed in 1999, but the Department of Justice issued internal regulations enabling the attorney general to appoint a special counsel.
As special counsel, Robert Mueller has a wide remit and ample authority to fulfil his duties. He is authorised “to prosecute federal crimes arising from the investigation of these matters” and “any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation”. He is especially authorised to investigate “any links and/or coordination between the Russian government and individuals associated with the campaign of President Donald Trump”. He can press criminal charges.
An impartial public prosecutor is needed to uphold the law.
In the UK, the first Labour government fell in 1924 because it withdrew a prosecution for political reasons. The minutes from a cabinet meeting on Aug 6, 1924, recorded: “No public prosecution of a political character should be undertaken without the prior sanction of the cabinet being obtained”. It was rescinded in 1931. The independent Crown Prosecution Service came into being in 1986.
Institutions and procedures may vary, but the fundamental principle remains unchanged — political considerations must not be allowed to interfere with the course of justice. India adopted a legal system based on British law. Rulings of its supreme court affirm the independence of the prosecuting agency from governmental and political influence or consideration. But the reality is its direct opposite.
Prof D.H. Bayley, author of the definitive work The Police and Political Development in India, observed that “a dual system of criminal justice” emerged. “The one of law, the other of politics … the rule of law in modern India, the frame upon which justice hangs, has been undermined by the rule of politics. Supervision in the name of democracy has eroded in the foundations upon which impartiality depends in a criminal justice system.”
The pogrom of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002 saw a near total collapse of the criminal justice system. Many a prosecutor, none too enthusiastic to begin with, turned defence counsel. There were, however, a good few notable exceptions and some important figures were brought to book.
However, nearly a quarter century after the demolition of the Babri mosque in December 1992, the prime accused in the conspiracy case are yet to be brought to book. One of them, L.K. Advani, became union home minister, in charge of the Central Bureau of Investigation that was pursuing the case. Recently, there has been a spate of cases in which Muslims were falsely charged with terrorism and spent years in prison, only to be acquitted. Their lives and those of their families were shattered.
After 2014, the National Investigation Agency under the Modi government has treated Hindus accused of terrorism with kid gloves. There is no danger of India having a Robert Mueller any time soon. In no case can one rely on executive restraint. Restraint must be imposed by law, and the law must be inscribed within the constitution. If the constitution can establish a comptroller and auditor-general, why can it not establish the office of an independent director of public prosecutions?
Source: dawn.com/news/1335675/politics-and-justice
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Trump’s Maiden Visit to KSA
By Khalid Chandio
FOR the US and its Western partners, the Middle East has been one of the most important regions of the world since the end of World War II. The last seven decades of the geo-politics in Middle East have witnessed increased US involvement in the region, including economic dealings, wars, and covert operations. The cold war era witnessed the US support for Saudi Arabia and Iran, both financial and diplomatic, for regional stability under the “Nixon Doctrine” for containing the former Soviet Union. The US traditionally considered both Iran and Saudi Arabia important for managing the Middle East region but the post-revolution Iran scenario changed the US perspective having tilted towards Saudi Arabia. The post-cold war era marked the US policy towards Middle East with significant increase in direct military involvement in the shape of first Iraq war in 1990 and then in 2003 invasion of the country. Now, the US is militarily engaged in its fight against the so-called Islamic State (IS) in Syria and Iraq.
In retrospection, the terrorist attacks of 9/11 had further increased the importance of the region for the US, but the former President Obama did upset Saudi Arabia and to some extent Israel, the two most important countries for the US always. The main reason, out of many, was Iran factor as the US concluded a nuclear deal with Iran. Under Trump, Saudis are hoping that it could be a potential era of restoration of relations. “It’s the beginning of a turning point in the relationship between the United States and the Arab and Islamic world,” Saudi Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir told reporters in Riyadh. In post-Obama era, the US approach towards Middle East would be driven by region’s two important states, i.e. Saudi Arabia and Israel, which may not be liked by Iran. President Trump had already termed the Iranian nuclear deal as “the worst deal ever negotiated” by the US during his election campaign. He also held Hilary Clinton, along with Obama; responsible for the mess created in Middle East in the form of IS creation.
Now, with him in the Oval office, he is poised to mend ways between Saudi Arabia and the US. His maiden visit to Saudi Arabia, being the first country of Muslim world, reflected this approach. Here, it is important to understand that why Trump preferred Saudi Arabia, as his first international visit after taking over as the President, over his NATO or Asia-Pacific allies. The answer is simple and that is “positive messaging” to Muslim world, which somehow or the other was not happy with the US policies in the post-9/11 era. According to Aljazeera, “Saudi Arabia backs Trump’s efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict”, which may again give “positive signals” in the Muslim world. Obviously, Saudi Arabia yields immense influence and good will among the majority of the Muslim world. Until now, American Presidents had traditionally not endorsed the Saudi culture and system of government, but Trump’s sword dance has endorsed the Saudi culture and the system, which is a good sign for the interests of the region. The two countries of the utmost importance in war on terror seem in synch.
It is noteworthy to mention here that for the “Republican Party”, the Middle East region has always been dearer. Trump knows this fact very well. Before being the President, Trump as a businessman had many deals in Saudi Arabia and Israel. So, one could say that the US-Saudi Arabia relations are poised for better understanding of each other. The US clearly understands the importance of Saudi Arabia as being considered the most influential state owing to the two holiest sites of Islam in the country. There are other factors too, i.e. Russia’s role being in line with Iran in Syria, which makes the US realize in realigning its policies, keeping in view the existing dynamics of the region lately. Though the visit by President Trump, as reported, focused on defence and commercial agreements with Saudi Arabia but the IS factor could not be ignored.
The IS factor today stands the single most driving factor in US-Saudi relationship, which would continue to dominate their bilateral dealings in the future. The US$ 110 defence deal between the two would have impacts on their bilateral dealings in the future. Both the states stand against the IS, which makes absolute sense as Saudi Arabia considers the IS threat “real” and the US support “timely”. Overall, President Trump’s first visit to Saudi Arabia has reinforced its primacy in Middle East, a region marred by many problems, ranging from political upheavals to terrorism.
Source; pakobserver.net/trumps-maiden-visit-ksa/
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Foreign Policy Straitjacket
By Abbas Nasir
May 27th, 2017
ANYWAY you spin it, what happened at the Riyadh summit was troubling if not outright outrageous and the explanation offered for what looked like a snub to Pakistan, or its elected civilian leader, would normally be unacceptable.
Friday morning’s newspapers quoted the Foreign Office spokesman as saying that the Saudi monarch apologised to ‘all’ the Muslim leaders who were scheduled to speak but were unable to do so because of time constraints.
Do you find this explanation plausible? I don’t. These sort of meetings are choreographed and rehearsed for weeks, even months, in advance, with the details worked out with military precision. Only an emergency can throw the schedule off the rails and none was reported here.
Why then will it be business as usual for the government? Well, simply because the way the foreign policy is crafted and implemented leaves the leadership more or less bereft of options. Had the prime minister not been accompanied by the media, the news may not even have become public.
But the media had reported how Mr Sharif had given final touches to his address on the flight to Riyadh and journalists were told they’d be given copies once the text had incorporated any changes the prime minister made while giving the actual speech.
Relatively independent journalists among the prime minister’s media party reported the shock and horror as the Pakistani leader was not called to the podium. In fact, the Saudi-controlled footage/live feed from the summit venue barely showed Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
However, one journalist, who remains possibly closer to the prime minister than his own shadow, in his newspaper quoted usually informed sources who said that Nawaz Sharif decided not deliver his address when he realised that the whole summit was turning out to be an Iran-bashing exercise.
If this was the case, the Pakistan Foreign Office must be utterly incompetent; if it could not see what the summit agenda was and kept the leader in the dark it should simply be wound up. No excuse will be good enough for forcing such an embarrassment on the prime minister.
However, the clarification by the Foreign Office spokesman showed matters in a different light, as the decision not to speak was clearly not taken by Pakistan. How else can one interpret the decision other than see it as a snub to the civilian leadership?
The way our foreign policy is crafted and implemented leaves the leadership more or less bereft of options.
Whatever one says of Nawaz Sharif’s close relations with Arab rulers, when his country’s parliament decided against sending Pakistani troops to join the Saudi-led coalition in the Yemen war, he honoured that advice and said no.
This did indeed created a chasm between Pakistan and its close allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, where a UAE minister went public expressing his unhappiness with Islamabad’s decision and even assumed a threatening, non-diplomatic tone.
After the change of command in the Pakistan Army and visits to Saudi Arabia and the UAE, during his addresses to the officers in different garrisons, the incumbent chief of staff Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa reportedly suggested that he had been able to reset relations with the two countries.
Around this time it was announced that the former army chief retired Gen Raheel Sharif had been given permission by the government to take up the post offered by the Saudis of military coalition head in Riyadh. Some Pakistani troops are already stationed there.
And by August this year, the Pakistani troop presence on Saudi soil may reach levels not seen since the Gulf War. Sources say all approvals are in place. These troops, one is sure, will remain in a defensive role until the ‘territorial integrity’ of the Saudi Kingdom is breached or the holy sites are imperilled.
What one needs to understand is that so far the Yemen war has been fought on Yemeni soil with heavy use of Saudi-UAE airpower and a crippling blockade where, according to human rights organisations, even humanitarian supplies have been targeted.
The Houthi rebels don’t seem to have the capability to launch counter-attacks on Saudi soil, apart from the odd opportunistic hit-and-run raid at border posts and reportedly a handful of short-range missiles; they have also never threatened holy sites and those are at least 500 kilometres from the border anyway.
One Riyadh banquet photo that generated interest on social media showed Jared Kushner (President Trump’s son-in-law-adviser, who is also his point man on Israel)sharing a table with the Saudi king’s powerful son Defence Minister Mohammad bin Salman and the latter’s prize hire, retired Gen Raheel Sharif.
Trump-led US, Israelis, the Saudis and other Gulf Arab States are actively supporting and supplying armed Syrian opposition groups, most comprising hard-line fanatical Jihadis, who are battling the brutal, dictatorial regime of Iran-backed and Russia-bolstered President Bashar al-Assad.
One of the most potent military forces in the Middle East that has even inflicted humiliation on the formidable Israel Defence Forces is Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia which is, in this tragic and bloody conflict, fighting alongside its long-term ally, the Alawite-led Syrian Baathist regime.
Hezbollah is designated as a terrorist organisation by the US and Israel, and now that view enjoys broad support among the Arab Gulf regimes too. The Saudi-led coalition may not take on the Yemen rebels as part of its mandate, but targeting terrorist groups is its raison d’être.
What if tomorrow the coalition commander and the forces under his command are tasked with taking on Hezbollah in some sector? I concede that this question is way too hypothetical to warrant an answer from any official.
But aren’t such scenarios gamed by the country’s civil and military leaders so all possible eventualities can be considered even if one or more looks highly improbable at this stage? Or does the foreign policy straitjacket leave no room for this?
Source: dawn.com/news/1335671/foreign-policy-straitjacket
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URL: https://www.newageislam.com/pakistan-press/dysfunctional-justice-pakistan-new-age/d/111302