Boston University April 14, 2011 Beena Sarwar Days of Hope And
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Boston University April 14, 2011 Beena Sarwar Days of Hope and Challenge: Understanding the Middle East and South/Central Asia Thank you all for being here, I feel honoured to be at this gathering. I would like to thank American Friends Service Committee and Joseph Gerson for inviting me. I first came across AFSC when I met Joseph at an anti-nuclear conference in Hiroshima, Japan, in 1998. We have stayed in touch since, sharing information and analyses about issues related to peace and anti-war activism. I feel particularly honoured and humbled to share this space with Noam Chomsky who is of course is a veteran of the global struggle for justice and peace. His ideas and analyses inspire millions not only in America but around the world. I look forward to hearing him speak this evening. I remember the prolonged standing ovation he received in Pakistan in October 2001, when he entered a packed hall to deliver the Eqbal Ahmad memorial lecture series. Eqbal Ahmad, as some of you may know, was the prominent Pakistani political analyst and thinker although to compartmentalise him within national confines seems a bit unfair, given his involvement in freedom struggles around the world, starting with the anti-Vietnam war movement in America in the 1960s. He was one of the Harrisburg Eight as the group of activists came to be known who were accused of conspiring to kidnap Kissinger. I mention these linkages to illustrate the global nature of our joint struggle for justice and peace not only in our home countries elsewhere. Globalisation isn't just about capitalism. It has its advantages for those struggling against the negative effects of capitalism. Very briefly about myself and my work – I work with the Jang Group as Editor of Aman ki Asha (a peace initiative between India and Pakistan started by the Jang Group and Times of India, the two largest media groups of the two countries) - www.amankiasha.com. I also work with Citizens for Democracy, a group started in Karachi, in Dec 2010, as a platform for secular, liberal voices in Pakistan, coming together on a one-point agenda against the use and abuse of the `blasphemy laws' and religion in politics in general. www.citizensfordemocracy.wordpress.com WIDER PICTURE What gives me hope in these dire times is not just how people are coming together for justice and peace, but their growing realisation about the need to strengthen democratic political systems and the rule of law. I'm not going to touch upon the Mid East situation here, as I'm sure Prof Chomsky will address that in depth. I will however say that it saddens me to know that Pakistani mercenaries are involved in the brutal suppression of dissent in Bahrain and elsewhere, and I hope that the situation does not continue. The common challenge we face – besides the economic challenges and the rising gap between the rich and the poor - is the rise of rightwing, militant, fascist ideologies. There are militant anti-abortionists, Tea partiers and KKK supporters in America's south and mid-west. There are Hindu hardliners in India who threaten those who celebrate Valentines Day. There are the Nazi revivalists in Europe and white supremacists in England. There are the Zionists who want to deny the Palestinians space to live or breathe. And there are Muslim militants who in the name of religion are creating havoc particularly in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and striking in other countries too. The challenges posed by religious or cultural hardliners are particularly strong in countries with weak democracies where there are tensions between modernisation and cultural norms. In Pakistan, hundreds of women are killed every year on the pretext of `honour' – often a co-accused man is also punished. In Bangladesh last month a 14-year old girl died after she was whipped, or lashed following, an order by community elders led by a priest. Some 503 women reportedly have been subjected to public flogging since the year 2000. Gender violence is common in countries across the Middle East too, as well as in India – where an additional aspect of gender violence is female foeticide. According to the Indian government, 10 million girls have been killed, either before or immediately after birth, by their parents over the past couple of decades despite a law banning scan tests to reveal the foetus' gender. The United Nations says an estimated 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India (A cry still unheard: The Menace of Female Foeticide in India, April 7, 2011, http://jurisonline.in/2011/04/a-cry-still-unheard-the-menace- of-female-foeticide-in-india/) So while no religion or community has a monopoly on such behaviour, in most cases the violence remains contained within a particular community or country. However, in the case of the Taliban or Al Qaeda, the ideology has crossed these barriers and poses a threat to other societies as well. I was just at a `trialogue' in Berlin, a closed-door conference between parliamentarians, journalists and academics of Afghanistan, India and Pakistan organised by the Fredrich Ebert Foundation (an NGO linked to the Social Democratic Party). There was a consensus that the biggest threat facing all our countries is what is termed as `terrorism' or armed militancy based on Islamic ideology. Islam is a religion of peace, which forbids most strictly taking an innocent life or your own life, and which defines `the greater jehad' as the struggle to overcome your own weaknesses. But those committing violence in the name of Islam have their own version of the religion, which they use to indoctrinate potential suicide bombers and armed militants. I don't want to go into the post-colonial, post-Cold War, neo-capitalist factors and policies behind this factor, except to remind us that it was American foreign policy, supported by Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, that transformed the Afghan war of national liberation into a religious struggle in the fight against the `godless communism', as Eqbal Ahmad said in his prescient talk `Terrorism, theirs and ours', at the University of Colorado, Boulder, October 12, 1998. PAKISTAN I would like to put Pakistan in the context of this situation. This is a country where, since it was born in 1947, no legitimately elected government has yet been allowed to complete its tenure. SLIDE: Pakistan - A political timeline - 1947-58 – the formative years (1948 – war with India) - 1958-71 - Military coup; Army rule (Ayub, then Yahya), constitution abrogated (1965, 1971, war with India) - 1971-1977 – the Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto years – 1973 Constitution - 1977-1988 - Military coup; Army rule -The Zia years - 1988 -1999 – `Democracy' Musical Chairs - 1988: Benazir Bhutto comes to power after elections following Gen Zia's death - 1990: Nawaz Sharif elected to power after Benazir govt dismissed - 1993: Benazir Bhutto elected after Sharif govt dismissed - 1996: Nawaz Sharif elected to power after Benazir govt dismissed - 1999: Army Chief Musharraf takes over power, sends Sharif govt sent packing - (1999 – war with India in Kargil) - 1999-2008 – Military coup; Army rule -The Musharraf years - 2002 – controlled elections held (political leaders in exile); new elections due in 2007 - 2008 - present– Democracy again, for how long? So Pakistan has never had an uninterrupted democratic, electoral process. No legitimately elected government has been allowed to complete its tenure. In addition, Pakistan's geo-politically strategic location has led to its becoming a proxy battleground for various international players – America, Saudi Arabia, Iran, to name some. This foreign interference, coupled by the greed of unelected leaders for power, has seriously damaged democracy and the democratic process in Pakistan. The so–called Islamic laws imposed by Gen. Zia, coupled with the indoctrination, training and arms provided to the jihadis or militants during the Afghan war contributed to a veritable army of indoctrinated militants who now want to occupy power and impose their version of religion on the entire state. The current situation looks grim. To many in Pakistan and around the world, the country seems to be on an irreversible downward slide. I argue that is not the case, and that there are many positives we can further build upon. It is also essential to strengthen Pakistani parliamentary politics and the rule of law. HOPE ELECTIONS Firstly, despite all the indoctrination and conditioning, Pakistanis have always voted on factors other than religion – the electorate has never yet voted the religious parties into power. POLITICAL DIALOGUE Second, for the first time, there has been no political victimization following a change in government. Former enemies sit next to each other in parliament, which would have been unimaginable ten years ago. (The issue of missing persons continues to be of concern, but the government is addressing it, it has set up a commission, which has finalized its report). There is an active caucus of women Parliamentarians on Peace and Reconciliation, incorporating parliamentarians from all political parties. MEDIA, JUDICIARY, PARLIAMENT Pakistan has a vibrant media, an independent judiciary, and a functioning parliament that has already taken some significant steps towards reversing the policies and legacies left by past military dictators. PROVINCIAL AUTONOMY Major achievements of this government include the unanimous passage of the 18th and 19th Constitutional amendments striking down the power of the President to dissolve Parliament (imposed by military dictator Gen. Zia ul Haq), and the passage of the 7th National Finance Commission through which resources are transferred to the provinces LEGISLATION – WOMEN, CHILDREN, WORKERS Parliament has also passed important legislation to protect women and children and workers, who now have the right to seek legal remedies against dismissal and can no longer be dismissed without case, as in past.