Reality and rhetoric
PRIME Minister Imran Khan’s statement in Lahore on Monday must signal the start of a campaign that needs to be conducted on a war footing.
The premier said that Pakistan would not start a military conflict with India — his words providing some much-needed relief to the ears amid weeks of nonstop sabre-rattling rhetoric churned out by commentators of various hues and intensity.
To Mr Khan’s credit, this was not the first time he has spoken of the dangers of imposing a war on the subcontinent.
In his latest remarks about how war was more a problem than a solution, he has only reiterated previously expressed views about the evils that a military conflict between the two nuclear-armed countries could let loose in the region and beyond.
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This has been the gist of his diplomatic drive to make the world pay attention to the Kashmir crisis and the tensions it has sparked in the region.
In contrast, the general thrust of pro-war opinion in India, and also in Pakistan, is itself an urgent reminder to the international community of just how easily a group of people can be made to yield to agents that promote violence as a means of deciding a question.
Experts are warning that Pakistan and India have never appeared closer to a war than when they confirmed their respective nuclear capabilities in 1998.
The credit or blame for this impression can be squarely placed on the shoulders of the unabashed promoters of boyish bravado.
Vividly imagined scenarios — of a limited skirmish, of a conventional battle involving fighting on several fronts, and of a full-blown, devastating nuclear climax — have all been paraded before our eyes ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi embarked on his latest adventure in Kashmir.
The total annihilation of fellow human beings that warmongers build their grandiose delusions of triumph on ought to be enough to leave any reasonable soul wary of violent confrontation.
But these tales have been spun with quite a lot of pride, with sections of the media in India as well as in Pakistan skilfully playing the role of agent provocateur, egged on at times by the careless and even reckless remarks of public officials.
There have been attempts to neutralise such vitriol by reminding all of the ugly face of war — but these have, by and large, been drowned out in the din of pro-war rhetoric.
Mr Khan’s statement could go a long way in combating the war hysteria generated in the name of patriotism.
Theoretically at least, all that is now required is a reciprocal message from an unfortunately bellicose India.
It must provide reassurance that the two countries are as capable of avoiding an armed conflict as enthusiastic groups of people in their respective jurisdictions have unfortunately been at beating the drums of war.
Torture in custody
DIFFERING only in a few particulars, suspicious custodial deaths continue to occur in a sickening, never-ending loop. Three cases have again surfaced of individuals dying during their detention by police — the Punjab force in all these instances. In Rahim Yar Khan, a man suspected of theft died on Sunday allegedly as a result of custodial torture. Three cops have been booked for murder. Yet another death allegedly on the same grounds occurred on Sunday in Lahore when one of nine men, found detained a few days ago in a secret torture cell, succumbed to the terrible injuries he had sustained during his ‘interrogation’. Several policemen have been booked for murder. Then on Monday, yet another unfortunate man died in similar circumstances; an FIR has been filed against six cops. That these deaths occurred despite the IG Punjab having issued express instructions against custodial torture, and conducted surprise visits to some police stations to gauge the situation there, speaks to a much deeper malaise.
Changing mindsets rooted in custom and/or privilege can be exceedingly difficult, even when backed by the law. Custodial torture is one of the many ways this challenge is starkly illustrated in Pakistan. Punjab police is governed by the Police Order, 2002 (amended in 2013), which stipulates up to five years’ imprisonment for officers found guilty of inflicting “torture and violence to any person” in their custody. Earlier, the provincial law-enforcement agency worked under the Police Act, 1861. This was a colonial relic, designed to bring the ‘natives’ to heel; consider that it includes the word “torture” only in the context of enabling an officer to arrest anyone inflicting cruelty on an animal. Nevertheless, despite a more modern law, the old ways continue — and torture remains the primary tool of investigation. This is partly because accountability mechanisms stipulated in the 2002 legislation have not yet been established; and continued political interference reinforces the culture of impunity, precluding the Punjab police from evolving into a more neutral, democratic force. A year-long National Commission for Human Rights inquiry found that government authorities themselves documented at least 1,424 cases of torture by the police between 2006 and 2012 in Faisalabad district alone. The Punjab law minister in January disclosed that the government is considering changes in the police act to make it more ‘people-friendly’. One substantial step towards this objective would be to punish, as per the law, any cop guilty of torturing people in his custody.
Preserving history
SITUATED in Karachi’s Soldier Bazaar neighbourhood, the Shri Panchmukhi Hanuman Mandir is believed to be 1,500 years old — one of the oldest temples in Pakistan, holding special religious significance for the Hindu community, as well as for all history and archaeology enthusiasts in the country and beyond. In its recent history, the temple has stood tall against land grabbers, battled encroachments and endured extreme weather conditions. It underwent a partial facelift a few years ago, funded by the donations of the Hindu community and other members of the public, after its roof began caving in. Now, recent construction at the site has unearthed several artefacts, including statues of idols, which might help shed new light in determining the temple’s provenance. One can only hope that the federal and provincial governments understand the significance of such relics and will make efforts to preserve them, or eventually shift them to museums, with the help of experts. The present government has frequently spoken about its desire to facilitate religious tourism in the country, even amidst worsening ties with our neighbouring country. The restoration and preservation of ancient temples — particularly this mandir, which hosts an eight-foot-tall statue of Hanuman that according to lore sprang from the ground some time after Ram passed through the land during his exile — would certainly help towards those efforts.
Unfortunately, Pakistan’s history — and particularly its pre-Islamic history — is often neglected due to the absence of state interest in preserving history and making it more accessible to the public, and perhaps also in part due to a lack of intellectual curiosity on the part of the public. Perhaps the most glaring example of this is how one of the world’s oldest settlements, Mehrgarh in Balochistan, a precursor to the Indus Valley and Harappa civilisations, is a virtual no-go zone for tourists, with little work being done on it. Most museums in the country are in a state of neglect, largely empty, with only the ghosts of the past for company.