Dawn Editorial 27 October 2020

Growing acrimony

THE rally by the opposition alliance Pakistan Democratic Movement in Quetta on Sunday confirmed fears that the political situation is escalating dangerously in the country. The government and opposition are now locked in a treacherous spiral with each day sending political temperatures soaring. At the Quetta rally, former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif once again criticised the political role of the establishment by directly addressing the army chief and DG ISI. Maryam Nawaz also delivered a scathing speech and passionately argued for the recovery of the missing persons, an issue that resonates across Balochistan. In retaliation, the federal information minister said that the PDM had become part of an “axis of evil” which included Israel and India. These incendiary accusations by government spokespersons — often bordering on the infantile — are fuelling an already combustible situation. This cannot bode well.
The opposition alliance has a long list of grievances that converge on one major theme — that the 2018 elections were manipulated by the security establishment to bring the PTI to power. It now blames the government for persecuting its members through politically motivated cases and incarcerations. The government refuses to engage with the opposition saying the latter is only interested in relief for itself. There is no overlap between these extreme positions and the PDM is building up momentum for a long march to Islamabad in a few months. On display is the worst that our system has to offer — bad governance, flawed accountability, weak institutions and constant, unending turbulence. The reason why all this sounds so familiar is because we have seen this cycle of instability repeatedly over the decades. In the absence of any institutional mechanism to resolve seemingly intractable political disputes, politicians have resorted to upping the ante till one party blinks. The problem with this mode of conflict resolution has been that often no one ends up being the victor. The establishment has time and again walked in to break up warring sides and take centre stage itself. This has ensured that the Pakistani democratic project remains weak.
We are again in almost the same situation. Prime Minister Imran Khan has done himself, and his government, no favours by refusing to engage with the opposition. His attitude remains rigid and uncompromising. His spokespersons reflect this intransigence by pouring scorn on their opponents and using insults and crude language to demean them. The establishment too is in a tight spot because it has now been made to participate in the fracas instead of refereeing it. The unfortunate incidents in Karachi have shown the state crossing many red lines. The opposition too is being irresponsible with some statements targeting individuals within the establishment. The only way to defuse this dangerous situation is for all concerned to step back and break the spiral of events before it is too late and space for compromise disappears.

 

 

Inflammatory words

FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron believes that “Islamists want our future”. He had no qualms about saying this in public as he vowed not to “give up cartoons” though he knew full well how incendiary his remarks could prove to be. Such loud sentiments are appalling. They follow the killing of a teacher who is reported to have shown his students controversial depictions of the Holy Prophet (PBUH).
There can be no justification for murder but neither can the extremist actions of a few be made the basis of tarring an entire community — by a national leader no less. Where is the healing touch that is so sorely needed to curb the “tyranny and fanaticism” that Mr Macron spoke of? Surely, the idea is to overcome divisions and to lay the ground for a peaceful coexistence that is so necessary in a multicultural milieu. The law should always follow its course, but communities must not be pitted against one another.
Read: Imran accuses Macron of maligning Islam
The best course for the French government would be to defuse tensions between religious groups. The provocative remarks are exactly the tonic that extremists need to propel their ideological war. And this is precisely what the Pakistani leadership has been trying to convey across the din of protest that Mr Macron’s words have created.
For centuries, France has led nations across the world in their quest for a better world, for liberty, equality and brotherhood. From the intricacies of art to the pursuit of revolution and politics, Mr Macron is the custodian of one of the world’s richest historical legacies. It is the betrayal of this heritage that Prime Minister Imran Khan and his Foreign office are talking about when they question the French president’s remarks, and call his words an “encouragement to Islamophobia”. Mr Khan said this was the time the French leader could have provided a “healing touch and denied space to extremists”.
Mr Khan and other Muslim leaders would do well to launch a drive to find allies who can help build up a strong defence against forces of extremism, going beyond the exercise of force. With the passage of time, a growing number of politicians all over the world have been swayed by the power of faith-based sentiment. This has increasingly threatened those who want to keep religion out of politics. A holistic campaign to fight extremist thought and action could well be worth the effort, both abroad and at home.

 

 

Tyranny in IHK

THE Black Day being observed by Pakistan today should serve to remind the world of India’s invasion of Kashmir this day 73 years ago and the merciless continuation of its brutal occupation of the territory. A question often asked concerns Pakistan’s locus standi in the Kashmir dispute. Even a cursory look at the history of the Kashmir dispute will show that Pakistan is one of the two original parties to the dispute and that India is the last party which crashed into it without an internationally recognised and valid diplomatic and military initiative. Pakistan’s position is above board. On Aug 15, 1947, the Maharaja of Kashmir signed a standstill agreement with Pakistan, giving it the control of railways and post. Simultaneously, the Pakistani flag went up in Srinagar. Then, following the massacre of the Muslims of Poonch by the maharaja’s state machinery, Pakistani tribesmen intervened; the maharaja fled Kashmir’s capital and signed an instrument of accession with India. It is on the basis of this fraudulent instrument of accession signed by a fugitive ruler that India sent its army into Kashmir. India is thus the last party to the issue and has based its claim to Kashmir on a sheet of paper having no validity in law.
Strangely, it is India which went to the UN as an aggrieved party, and, ironically, it is India which has consistently acted in violation of the world body’s resolutions calling for a plebiscite in Kashmir. Last year, it heaped contempt on the UN by abolishing Kashmir’s special status and changed the law to pave the way for Indian nationals to settle in Kashmir with a view to altering the territory’s demography. India’s bigoted Hindutva leadership should know that Israel, far more prosperous and resourceful than the poverty-stricken country that is India, has failed to create a Jewish majority in the occupied territories. The fascist Hindutva leadership should give up its bunker mentality and flee India-held Kashmir.

 

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