Grand Trunk Road

This is his third colum about his recent trips to the Bajaur and Mohmand tribal agencies.

Seven months ago I visited Bajaur and Mohmand agencies. As my taxi driver headed from Peshawar, the capital of North-West Frontier Province, he was played some Pashtu music on the car’s CD. Quickly, though, he changed it for jihadi songs.¹

I have a feeling that the members of the press have given up trying to glean any meaning from Zardari’s contradictory statements and are simply amusing themselves finding appropriate facial expressions to match the tone of his interview of the day. Here’s the picture that was on the top of the “Musharraf is a relic of the past” story in The News– angry, crazy Zardari:

The News, May 23, 2008

“So like my little daughter Bakhtawar would say, if you move, I move”¹

Today, a Daily Times column reporting more conciliatory statements by him features a happier (but still kind of crazy-looking) Zardari:

The Daily Times, May 25, 2008

“Making the impossible possible is the job of a politician”²

¹ “People want govt to throw out Musharraf: Zardari.” The News. May 23, 2008.
² “PPP Has Working Relationship with Musharraf: Zardari.” The Daily Times. May 25, 2008.

A fighter and a financier by Syed Saleem Shahzad in the Asia Times
Army in Waziristan better equipped, more relaxed by Iqbal Khattak in the Daily Times
Yet Another Deal editorial in The News
Why Pakistan Plays ‘Lets Make a Deal’ by Daniel Markey at the Council of Foreign Relations
Gen Petraeus urges support for Pakistan in counterterrorism Associated Press of Pakistan
Is a Pakistan Truce Good for the United States? interview with Daniel Markey of Council of Foreign Relations

Joshua Foust, at Registan, has a long and informative article about the historical background of negotiations between the central government and FATA tribal leaders. The article also makes an interesting point about the similarities between the proposals for collective punishment in the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, 2008 and the 1903 Frontier Crimes Regulation passed by the British:

In 1903, the British passed the Frontier Crimes Regulation. Its text isn’t online or even accessible outside a few university libraries, but reports of its effects are widespread. Recent stories about the expansion of Shari’a courts in Swat, Dir, Kohistan, and Chitral all note the similarities of a collective punishment regime to the FCR. The provision is seen as a “throwback” to the old British system of governance, in which an entire community could be held accountable for the actions of individual members.

Here’s another summary of US reactions to the FATA negotiations, this time by Khalid Hasan in the Daily Times:

Admiral Michael Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a Senate appropriations subcommittee that senior military and intelligence officials believe that the next near-term attack on the United States would most likely come from Al Qaeda forces regrouping in Pakistan along the Afghan border. “It’s a very difficult problem because this is sovereign territory” belonging to Pakistan, Mullen added.

This headline is kind of funny: “US urges Pakistan to nab Taliban chief, in test of anti-terror zeal”. An excerpt:

Asked by a lawmaker how Washington would gauge any counter terrorism success notched by Pakistan, Negroponte said “one of the metrics” was a lessening of cross border attacks into Afghanistan.

“Another would be if you saw the government operating effectively against some of these militant extremists, like for example bringing Baitullah Mehsud, the head of this extremist group in South Waziristan, capturing him and bringing him to justice, which is what should happen to him,” Negroponte said.

Hasan, Khaild. (May 22, 2008). Negroponte sets out ‘metrics’ of effective Pakistan action in FATA. Daily Times.
(May 22, 2008). US urges Pakistan to nab Taliban chief, in test of anti-terror zeal. AFP.

There has not been an official statement from Washington regarding the peace pact between the NWFP government and Maulana Fazlullah in Swat, but both the White House and Congress are extremely critical of the federal government’s negotiations in Waziristan in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) which have been going on in parallel. This response is summarized comprehensively by Anwar Iqbal in an article in today’s Dawn⁴:

At a special hearing on Fata at the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, Republican and Democratic lawmakers put their differences aside in urging the administration to use its influence and persuade Pakistan to call off the talks.

The US media and think tanks are already opposing the talks and questioning Washington’s wisdom in providing military and economic assistance to a government which is making peace overtures to America’s enemies.

The article also contains a statement John Kerry which really highlights the differences between the US and Pakistan in their policy aims for the tribal areas:

In the Senate, Senator John Kerry, a former Democratic presidential candidate, initiated the debate on Pakistan’s peace talks with the tribal militants when he recalled that during his meetings with Pakistan’s new leaders in February, he realised they had a very different understanding of the nature of the terrorist threat in Fata than the United States.
“In two days of meetings, Osama bin Laden’s name was hardly ever mentioned. Instead, the Pakistanis are focused on confronting a growing domestic Pashtun insurgency led by Baitullah Mehsud,” he said

There is a brief summary of negative reactions to the Swat deal at the end of this CBS News article¹:

Washington was officially reserving judgment on the deal. The Associated Press reported that State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, when pressed for comment Wednesday, said simply: “We’ll see.”

This ABC News article² has a similar statement from former Clinton chief counter-terrorism advisor, Richard Clarke:

“While the deal sounds good, it’s likely to be implemented badly,” said Richard Clarke, an ABC News consultant and former White House counterterrorism chief. “What this means is that the United States will continue to be threatened by an al Qaeda that has a safe haven where it can attract people from around the world, be trained and equipped and sent out to the United States and other countries around the world.”

The NWFP government is very conscious of the need to put as good a spin on the truce as possible. The NWFP Minister for Information and Inter-Provincial Coordination, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, urged members of the media³ to write favourable editorials highlighting the positive results of the agreement.

The interesting thing about Hussain’s remarks was his insistence on the differences between Swat and FATA:

The Information Minister said the situation of Swat was different from the restive areas of FATA and international community, which is expressing some concerns over the pact, will accept it with passage of time as it in the interest of every body.

This is what he had to say about the federal government’s much more controversial agreement with the followers of Baitullah Mehsud in Waziristan:

Asked about talks with militants in FATA, the Information Minister said that tribal had rendered great sacrifices during the creation and strengthening of Pakistan and said that peace can be restored in the troubled areas of FATA if the federal government take NWFP government on board in process of negotiation.

This attempt to distance the NWFP government from the FATA negotiations is not surprising since the US has taken a much firmer stance on FATA and has not yet officially commented on Swat.

¹ Bokhari, Farhan. (May 22, 2008). Pakistan Signs Truce With Militants. CBS News.
² Khan, Habibullah and Peters, Gretchen. (May 22, 2008). U.S. Officials Call Pakistan Deal ‘Bin Laden Victory’. ABC News
³ (May 22, 2008). Media, intelligentsia urged to positively highlight Swat peace pact.. Associated Press of Pakistan.
⁴Iqbal, Anwar. (May 22, 2008). US wants Baitullah arrested, talks abandoned. The Dawn:

Thant Myint-U, grandson of U Thant (the third UN Secretary-General), had an article¹ in the Telegraph last week that briefly outlined the British colonial legacy in Burma. He’s an excellent writer (I’ve been planning to read his book “The River of Lost Footsteps” for about 2 months):

When I visited Pantanaw in 2003, the town looked much like I imagine it had in the early years of the last century, with little wooden houses and shops, children playing everywhere and dirt roads lined with Tamarind trees and bouganvillea. My grandfather’s old school was still standing and I took tea with some of his former students, now well into their eighties. Distant relatives took me to see the town’s pagoda and Buddhist monasteries. A community that had first come together under British rule more than a hundred and fifty years ago had survived despite all the challenges.

With Cyclone Nargis, I’m not sure it will survive anymore.

It seems a strange time for him to mull over British-built buildings and streets at a time when much of the country has been devastated but there is something particularly depressing about the fading relics of colonialism in Pakistan, and maybe it’s the same in Burma.

¹ Myint-U, Thant. (May 11, 2008). “The Shared History of Britain and Burma”. The Telegraph.

Tariq Azizuddin, Pakistan’s ambassador to Afghanistan who had been kiddnapped for 97 days, has been returned.¹ Ismail Khan’s article on the subject in Dawn is full of quotes by an unnamed government official:

“The first couple of days were hard on him. But later his captors treated him well,” the official said.
He insisted that Mr Azizuddin’s kidnappers initially did not know who he was. “They just spotted a vehicle bearing a red registration number plate and thought that it was carrying someone important.
[...]
The official insisted that Azizuddin’s captors released him as a goodwill gesture following the prisoners’ swap between the militants and the authorities and the military pullout from the Mehsud part of South Waziristan.
“There has been no ransom paid and no special prisoner exchange in this case,” he maintained.

But, as we all know, (even the official, apparently):

Pakistani authorities have released 50 militants in return for the release of army and paramilitary personnel and some government officials.
The official who spoke to Dawn said the militants were still holding 20 to 25 paramilitary personnel and their release was still awaited. “But major hurdles have been cleared. The army has been pulled back, exchange of major prisoners has taken place and the ambassador released.

So… was he part of a prisoner exchange or not? The answer seems pretty clear.
In the meantime, a kidnapped soldier of the Bajaur Scouts was found dead² near the Pashat bazaar in Salarzai tehsil on Friday, a fact that isn’t exactly receiving a huge amount of media attention.
This article at Memri has more has more about the NWFP government’s May 11 agreement with the Taliban for the implementation of Sharia in seven of NWFP’s districts.

The paper stated that shari’a courts will be created in the seven districts, and that these courts will have the power to deliver Islam-compliant verdicts such as amputating the hands of individuals convicted of theft, administering 80 lashes or stoning for convicted rapists, or enforcing qisas - a principle that permits “like punishment” for a crime.
According to the paper, judges will be required to have knowledge of shari’a. Those who do not will be transferred to other districts of the province, and their positions will be filled by judges who do, and who have qualified at an Islamic university. Also under the deal, ulema will be appointed as assistants to the judges of the shari’a courts.

This is pretty huge, but again, not a big deal in the media.

¹Azizuddin is home after 97 days May 18, 2008 Dawn, by Ismail Khan
²Kidnapped soldier found dead May 17, 2008, Dawn
³Pakistan Takes Steps Towards Shari’a State In Seven Districts May 16, 2008, Memri

Nearly half of the UK’s 277,000 registered doctors are foreign-trained, and most of those come from India, Pakistan, South Africa, and Australia. Now the UK government is making an effort to save jobs for UK and EU trained doctors using a points system that takes into account the country of origin. Some relief may come when the points system is amended to give bonuses to high-demand areas such as general practitioners, pediatricians, anesthetics and gynecologists.

Article: Medical graduates can move to UK, but on conditions
Author: Ishani Duttagupta
Publication: The Economic Times (India)

This article profiles the Indian Panchayati Raj Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar’s efforts to have the Panchayati Raj system of local government integrated into mainstream Indian politics. Despite the 73rd amendment of the Indian Constitution, which was passed in 1993 and which formally ushered in Panchayati Raj as part of the Indian system of government, it did not even have a division, leave alone a ministry until 2004. Today, the three-tiered system now has over 2,600,000 representatives. Despite the large numbers of representatives voted in, the 73rd amendment has met with opposition across the board. According to Aiyar, “If we want to move from India prospering to Indians prospering, there is no alternative to Panchayati Raj.”

Article: One man mission
Author: Shankkar Aiyar
Publication: India Today