Nearpeer Press Pack March 2020 PDF

Nearpeer CSS Monthly Press Pack January 2020
Nearpeer CSS Monthly Press Pack January 2020
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Nearpeer CSS Monthly Press Pack March 2020
How to use this document?
T his document was compiled by the CSS wing of Nearpeer to help CSS aspirants by
providing them with all the important articles of last month from local as well as
international newspapers.
This will serve as an important guide in preparation as well as revision of not only current
affairs but many other compulsory and optional subjects such as Islamic Studies, Pakistan
Affairs, Sociology, Gender Studies, International Relations and Political Science.
This issue is designed to help the you in the following ways:
1- It will help you with catching up with all the happenings of the last month
2- It contains analyses of various issues of importance. Analyses is as important as knowing
the content of news
3- A diverse range of articles are selected from among local as well as international newspapers
and journals, so now you know you do not have to go through old archives of old newspapers
4- This will also serve as a quick revision guide for aspirants just before the exams
5- Candidates can use this issue in order to brush up their analytical as well as comprehension
skills
6- Additionally, they can also use it to improve their vocabulary and its usage
All the Best!
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Contents
Destination Unknown ............................................................................................................ 5

Get Ready for Closed Borders and Crashing Markets (Foreign Policy Magazine) .................. 6
Where the Money Goes ......................................................................................................... 9
Millions in India Could End Up in Modi’s New Detention Camps ....................................... 11
What Happened in Delhi Was a Pogrom .............................................................................. 14
Honour in Shame ................................................................................................................ 16
FATF Grey List ................................................................................................................... 17
Afghan Reconciliation ......................................................................................................... 18
Making CPEC Work ........................................................................................................... 20
Trump in India .................................................................................................................... 22
State of Economy ................................................................................................................ 23
Why Pakistan Loses its Best? .............................................................................................. 25
State of Pakistan is Under Siege by the Elite ....................................................................... 27
What We the Taliban Want? ................................................................................................ 28
The Real Objective of Mob Violence Against Muslims in India .......................................... 30
How the Indian Government Watched Delhi Burn ............................................................... 34
In Afghanistan, Peace is Finally in Sight ............................................................................. 36
India's Media is Failing in its Democratic Duty ................................................................... 39
The Trump plan threatens the status quo at al-Haram al-Sharif ............................................ 40
Controversial NAB .............................................................................................................. 42
Indo – US Arms Deal .......................................................................................................... 43
Some Coronavirus Facts ...................................................................................................... 44
A Grunt’s View of U.N. Leadership .................................................................................... 46
How Afghans Can Work Together to End the War .............................................................. 47
The Role of Media as Fifth Pillar of the State ...................................................................... 49
Losing Madinah .................................................................................................................. 51
Corona Virus Cases (Dawn Editorial) .................................................................................. 52
Aser’s Call By: Zebeida Mustafa (Dawn) ............................................................................ 53
Present Limitations to India’s Nuclear Triad By: Sheher Bano Khan (Daily Times) ............ 55
Similarities between Trump-Modi Policies and their Actions By: Irfan Mahar (Daily Times)
........................................................................................................................................... 56
Political Crisis in Malaysia (Daily Times Editorial) ............................................................. 58
Riots in Delhi (Dawn Editorial) ........................................................................................... 59
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Destination Unknown Abdullah Abdullah. For example, Dostum,

an ethnic Uzbek, has backed Abdullah
By: Afiya Zia Abdullah, as has the Hazara-dominated
party. A similar situation had emerged after
here is considerable excitement in the previous election but then the US had
T Pakistan, especially in ‘official

quarters’ over the Afghan peace deal.
From taking (some) credit for the
impending deal to the vindication of
brokered a deal between Ashraf Ghani and
Abdullah Abdullah.
This time around, no one is sure if

Islamabad’s stand, there has been Washington will play such a role, which is
considerable celebration that is bound to why already there are some naysayers who
grow louder with time. are conjuring up scenarios similar to the
1990s — violence, bloodshed, infighting and
However, at the same time there is a quieter a central government reduced to Kabul.
wave of concern over the uncertainty that Worse still, the 1990s brought infighting
faces Afghanistan and what it will mean for within the Afghan elites to a point where the
Pakistan. This is less obvious at the state warring factions destroyed the capital city as
level — a government trying hard to gain they fought each other.
international approval is not going to point
out the slips between the deal and peace — But perhaps such a scenario may not be as
where the mood is one of celebration. But the certain and as close as some fear. Hard as it
lack of official acknowledgment does not is to predict the White House under Trump,
mean that the less savoury aspects should be it would still be in its interest to make efforts
ignored altogether. to broker a post-election government in
Kabul.
Earlier, this disquiet about the future was
about the ability of the Afghan Taliban and For one, so far the US seems committed to an
Kabul to reach a deal; now it is about intra-Afghan dialogue and this will only be
whether and how this phase will begin. For possible if there is a government in Kabul for
the dispute over the presidential election in the Taliban to have a dialogue with. In a
Afghanistan is heating up; the election rapidly changing scenario, it has been
commission may have declared Ashraf reported that the Ghani government will
Ghani the president but his main contender announce a negotiating team to talk to the
Abdullah Abdullah has refused to accept this Taliban. But there are no indications how the
result. opposing side will welcome the move, while
the Afghan Taliban have already said that
For the moment, it seems as if there is going they will not accept a team which is not
to be no ‘peaceful’ transfer of power — and inclusive.
this will have lasting implications for the
peace talks and not just for the existing This is reason enough for Washington to
political dispensation that was put in place push the contenders in Kabul to come to an
post the invasion of Afghanistan, as the deal agreement. Indeed, the US is the only power
with the US is to be followed by an intra- which has the clout to do so.
Afghan dialogue..
Second, for the moment, the US is also not
The first is of considerable importance, for contemplating a complete withdrawal from
the power elite that was and had invested in Afghanistan ala the Soviet Union. It has been
the post-Taliban setup now stands divided, reported repeatedly that the deal with the
with the non-Pakhtun leaders backing Afghan Taliban has included American
control of bases where troops, or operatives,
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will continue to be based although their exact In other words, while there is great
role in the country remains unclear. uncertainty about what the coming days will
hold, Afghanistan’s spiralling into violence
The continued US presence means continued may not be as immediate as some are
support/facilitation for a peace process, assuming. Indeed, it would do the doomsday
which again means outside pressure for a soothsayers well to remember that there are
government in Kabul recognised by all those many variables in the situation in
who stood against the Taliban post 9/11. Afghanistan and it’s hard to account for each
one of them while predicting what will
But it is not just Kabul which can be happen in the coming days. The past can and
influenced by Washington. The behaviour of always does provide some hints as to what
the Afghan Taliban will also be dependent to the future may hold but it rarely ever repeats
some extent on the US. The latter too, will be itself in its entirety. We would do well to
interested in pursuing a dialogue and keeping remember that.
the violence within acceptable limits (if one
can be crass enough to assume there is a level
of violence that is acceptable) because it
would be keen to ensure the American forces
present are under no pressure or compulsion
to step outside the bases in Afghanistan.
More than that, it has taken the Afghan

Taliban nearly two decades to get the
international legitimacy they craved by
having the US engage directly with them.
Earlier, Washington always pushed for them
to talk to Kabul first which led to little or no
progress in the peace talks.
The carrot of the continuous engagement

with the US will provide the only check
perhaps on the Afghan Taliban not only in
terms of violence but also their stand on Get Ready for Closed Borders and
human rights issues, especially their Crashing Markets
treatment of women.
(Foreign Policy Magazine)
In other words, peace, or its complete
G
breakdown, in Afghanistan is heavily lobal stock markets dropped steeply
dependent on America’s continued on Monday amid fears that the
engagement and presence in the country. coronavirus could be having wider
economic impact than thought. Meanwhile
And this will not just be limited to the the World Health Organization (WHO)
military presence; the money provided by the announced Monday morning that a global
US will play an important role too. Indeed, pandemic of the coronavirus hasn’t yet
the chaos and collapse everyone keeps arrived—but is highly possible. That’s an
expecting and predicting in Afghanistan may opinion increasingly shared by
not emerge till Washington’s withdrawal epidemiologists, especially as outbreaks
militarily and financially. And at the struck multiple countries over the past week:
moment, there is little indication that either South Korea, Iran, and Italy. Cases of
is going to happen very soon. transmission with no traceable link to the
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origin of COVID-19 in China are becoming economy is already on fire. Foreign firms are
more common. Frighteningly, deaths are already scrambling to replace broken links in
emerging in countries with few reported supply chains, some of which are threatening
cases, suggesting a much wider undetected critical sectors. Despite the fall today,
pattern of infection. markets may not yet be pricing in the risk in
full, and further tumbles should be expected
If this happens, no other story will be more if the lack of containment becomes clear.
important in 2020. It’s been many years since (China’s rigged stock market, on the other
the world faced outbreaks of this scale. The hand, is rising thanks to government efforts.)
Hong Kong flu outbreak of 1968 killed
approximately 1 million people worldwide, The economic devastation wrought in China
and appears to have been considerably less was worsened by the virus’s breakout just
lethal than the coronavirus. It’s not yet before the Lunar New Year, which left
certain what the virus’ case fatality rate—the hundreds of millions of people stranded away
percentage of those infected who die—is, but from their workplace—but office and factory
it looks to be at the level of the Spanish flu in shutdowns are still very likely. In theory,
1918, which killed more than 50 million remote work can replace some of this, but
people. Medical technology has come a long Chinese demand is already causing key
way since then—but so has globalization and systems to crash for lack of capability.
population growth.
That’s a taste of what’s to come for the rest
China was first to be hit, so it gives the rest of the world. True, democratic countries may
of the world some idea of what might be not resort to the absolutism of China
coming. What does that look like? internally—look at the South Korean city of
Daegu, where compliance with a “special
1. A shutdown world zone” is voluntary and largely followed.
Italy’s new “red zone” is stricter than South
After putting more than 700 million people Korea’s, but not of the same scale or
under travel restrictions, 150 million of them fierceness. Even countries that have already
under complete lockdown at home, China is normalized restricting their own citizens,
now trying to ease limitations in order to get such as India, may not have the capability to
people back to work before the economy do so. Public events, however, are going to
crumples in on itself like a failed soufflé. But be severely threatened—potentially
the messaging has been distinctly mixed, including critical elections.
with attempts to end the cordon sanitaire
around Wuhan lasting just three hours—and But when it comes to international travel,
the streets of Beijing and Shanghai are still there’s little to restrain the impulse to shut
deserted. down potential threats—as the end of most
other nations’ flights to China has shown.
The economic effects of the shutdown in That will come despite the near universal
China are already beginning to bite—which consensus from experts that such measures
is one reason the leadership is pushing for don’t work. It’ll be easier the more isolated
factories to reopen. China’s small firms are the country is already—Iran is already an
already on the brink of collapse, while sales easier target than South Korea or Italy
have crumbled. Ships are leaving China’s because existing links are smaller. As the
ports 90 percent empty. virus spreads, however, expect international
travel to become difficult to impossible for
All this will get much worse—and it won’t weeks or months. Any event that involves
just be China hurting. One wing of the global people coming from all corners of the world
is also likely to be postponed or canceled, as
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has already happened with conferences with control organizations has been a bright spot
a significant East Asian component. in international cooperation, even if that
historically involved putting the West before
2. Panic buying the rest. But there’s been little of that
following the coronavirus, where conspiracy
Shortages have not been as bad as feared in theories have dominated media in many
China, with produce and water reaching even countries—whether aimed at China or at the
the worst-stricken areas—in large part thanks United States. The Chinese government,
to the heroic work of delivery personnel. But meanwhile, has turned down offers of aid
Hong Kong, despite only a small number of from the United States and doubled down on
cases, has seen empty shelves in many stores nationalist, anti-American rhetoric. On
for weeks as residents rush to buy staples WeChat, conspiracy theories claiming the
such as toilet paper. Supermarkets have been virus originated in the United States are
ransacked by panicky buyers in Italy. going undeleted by censors, while
Worldwide, masks and other medical nationalistic troll Zhao Lijian recently took
equipment are in increasingly short supply. up his role as spokesperson for the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs.
That pattern will replicate as worries
spread—especially in areas, like Hong Kong The further spread of the virus will also
and Italy, where trust in the government’s sharpen attitudes toward China. For existing
ability to deliver is small. In Hong Kong’s sycophants like Cambodian Prime Minister
case, that’s because of the continuing Hun Sen or Pakistani Prime Minister Imran
protests against authorities believed to be in Khan, it’s been a chance to cozy up further to
China’s pocket; in Italy’s, it’s a persistent Beijing. For aspiring authoritarians, China’s
mistrust in incompetent officialdom, supposed efficiency—regardless of
especially when disasters are involved. As statistical doubts—will be cited as a model.
supply chains snap, panic buying is likely to And for those distrustful of China or fearful
be worsened by real shortages. of its rise, the cover-up that gave the virus
time to spread will be enough to pin the
3. Racism and division blame for the outbreak squarely on the
Communist Party.
Even when the coronavirus was primarily
confined to China, anti-Asian racism still 4. Systematic failure
grew worldwide. That ranged from
indiscriminate bans against Chinese passport All of these scenarios play into and worsen
holders to street attacks to threatened each other. Shutdowns spur fear. Fear
pogroms and “patrols” by far-right groups in distorts markets and wrecks productivity.
some countries. In China, persecution has Division harms international cooperation and
centered around people from Hubei province, prompts travel bans. The most dangerous
the virus’s epicenter. In China’s neighboring scenarios are those where the impact of the
countries, it has been focused on Chinese virus causes entire systems to collapse.
diaspora groups. And in Europe and
America, every Asian-appearing person has The world has already seen what that looks
become a potential target. like in Wuhan, where the virus has totally
overwhelmed an already fragile health care
Natural disasters sometimes have a way of system. That’s producing an unknown
bringing countries together—such as the number of excess deaths not caused by the
Greek-Turkish earthquake diplomacy of virus itself but by the lack of hospital beds,
1999. The role of WHO and other disease
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resources, or ambulances to deal with other Andersen, Niels Johannesen and Bob
health issues. Rijkers, with the support of the World
Bank’s own economists, including its (now
And although China is still relatively poor former) chief economist Penny Goldberg.
per capita, the country has enormous reserves According to reports, the paper had also gone
of wealth and manpower. Nations such as through numerous reviews that helped
India or Indonesia, with huge populations improve and organise its findings.
and considerably fewer resources, may have
an even harder time. If ordinary services, The findings were damning. Using data from
from health care to banking, break down, the offshore banks in places like Switzerland,
knock-on effects will be calamitous. Luxembourg, the Cayman Islands, Hong
Kong and Singapore, the researchers traced
None of this is inevitable. People are what happened when aid disbursements were
remarkably resilient, adaptive, and made to some of the world’s most aid-
cooperative in times of crisis. Vaccines may dependent countries. Around the same time
come sooner than expected, and the arrival of that the money was released, the researchers
summer may help slow the virus’s spread. noted there was an increase in the number of
The case fatality rate is far higher in deposits in those offshore accounts. The
overwhelmed Wuhan than in cases outside of same correlation was found over almost a
the immediate disaster zone, and even lower decade of economic data, by tracking aid
outside China itself. Public education can do disbursements from more than 20 different
even more to fight the virus than quarantines countries.
and restrictions can — if the world’s leaders
step up and treat the risks involved seriously. The writing, then, was on the wall. The aid
And that’s a big if. that the World Bank was giving to some of
the world’s poorest countries appeared to be
going directly into offshore accounts. The
finding also meant that the early
Where the Money Goes transmission of these funds ensured that
local elites did not have to make tax
By: Rafia Zakaria payments on money that appeared to be
stolen from the people. Particularly bad were
countries whose GDP was made up with
development aid.
I t has been a tumultuous month at the

World Bank. The bank’s armies of
analysts and economists routinely
produce research on topics ranging from best
practices to a variety of development issues
There are, according to the paper itself, some
alternative explanations to the sudden
increase in activity of these offshore
accounts. It is possible that countries with
to how to promote gender equality in less developed credit markets moved the
emerging economies. Indeed, the vast money to offshore accounts where it could be
majority of papers and research it produces kept until it was allotted to various
apply to certain niches of analysis; they are development projects. It is also possible, the
launched and read without much ado, let economists noted, that large national
alone controversy. organisations maintained these offshore
accounts and utilised them as a way to be
This was not the case with a recent working more, rather than less, present.
paper. Entitled Elite Capture of Foreign Aid:
Evidence from Offshore Bank Accounts, it All these caveats notwithstanding, the
was authored by economists Jørgen Juel conclusion of the paper has turned out to be
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controversial and damning. One obvious What the World Bank is going to do may
problem is that the raison d’être of the World determine the course of aid in this century.
Bank’s existence is to help the world’s There are already compelling critiques of
poorest populations, the very people from how the structure and means of aid
whom aid was being stolen and dumped into disbursements do not lead to development
this or that offshore account. If the paper is successes or lift people out of poverty. This
taken at its word, it means that aid new paper adds even more fuel to the fire,
disbursements do little to nothing for the suggesting that the entire architecture of aid
poor, and often go directly into the already needs to be reconsidered.
heavy pockets of corrupt economic elites.
Economists do not talk often about morality.
The convulsions this one paper has produced In this case, however, the data also reveals
in one of the world’s largest aid and that economic elites in developing countries
development organisations is speculated to believe stealing to be an entirely acceptable
have led to Penny Goldberg’s resignation, proposition, fodder to fuel the expensive
after holding the position of chief economist tastes of autocrats’ wives and other highly
at the bank for only a brief 15 months. The positioned people. If the money is being
Economist accused the World Bank’s bosses stolen with such regularity by so many and
of suppressing the paper’s publication. It is over such a long period, it follows that those
indeed true that the paper’s release seemed to who govern the world’s poorest make no
have been delayed; then it was published by bones about taking what is meant for others.
one of its authors on his own website, before This last bit is not the World Bank’s
finally being uploaded on the World Bank’s problem, but it is something to think about.
website for the public to access.
Morality aside, the paper and the resignation
The controversy does not detract from the of the chief economist, along with
damning findings made by the paper. allegations made in the media, all mean that
Though not included in the report, some significant changes are around the
Pakistanis, long dependent on aid, know corner. Evil middlemen — we know so many
quite well ‘where the money goes’. Indeed, who have stolen with impunity — may soon
the political cataclysms of the country’s have far fewer opportunities to steal. Of
recent history have all been dependent on course, the very poor will continue to lose
findings via Panama Papers, WikiLeaks and out; they never got what was meant for them,
other sources, which have revealed the extent and perhaps they never will.
of corruption and graft among the country’s
political elites.
At the same time, it is quite another thing

altogether when the World Bank itself
publishes research suggesting that its own
aid disbursals can lead to as much as a 75 per
cent increase in offshore account holdings.
Indeed, if the bank wants to take its own
work and findings seriously, it must change
the course of its actions. When it publishes
such research, in sum, it amounts to an
admission that their most important work is
a complete failure.
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These detention centers are the front lines of

a widening battle across India that could see
citizenship revoked for millions of people,
stoking long-simmering religious tensions
and hurting the country’s image among
foreign investors. Recent nationwide protests
against a related religion-based citizenship
law show the high stakes for Modi, who is
facing criticism for focusing on elevating the
role of Hinduism at the expense of an
economy growing at the slowest pace since
2009.
The new detention camp is located 130

kilometers (80 miles) from Guwahati,
Assam’s largest city. Guwahati has been
gripped by ongoing protests over the
Millions in India Could End Up in contentious issue of citizenship.
Modi’s New Detention Camps
The camp is spread over 2.5 hectares (6
(Bloomberg) acres). It will house both male and female
detainees and come equipped with a hospital
and a school.
I n a river valley near the Himalayas,

Purobi Hajong walks her two children to
school each day past the vast, muddy
construction site of India’s first standalone
detention center for people who don’t meet
It was built at a cost of about 465 million
rupees ($6.5 million). The tea-growing state
of Assam is one of India’s poorest, and its
new citizenship rules. She’s afraid she’ll growth has been among the lowest in the
soon be held inside. country.
“I always live in fear that someone will come Upon completion, the camp will have the
to my home to pull me out from here and put capacity to house as many as 3,000 people.
me in there,” Hajong said, pointing to the That’s a small fraction of the 1.9 million left
nearly completed structure in her village in off the state’s citizenship list so far.
the northeastern state of Assam. “I pray to
god not to give me that fate. I can’t survive It’s surrounded by a high boundary wall with
without my family.” built-in watchtowers. Conditions in existing
facilities have been widely criticized for
Surrounded by a high boundary wall with overcrowding and poor hygiene.
watchtowers, the center will be able to hold
3,000 people found to be “foreigners” Street signs along the road in Matia point in
illegally staying in Assam by the state the direction of the detention center. The
government, which is controlled by Prime small town is mostly home to farmers and
Minister Narendra Modi’s ruling Bharatiya laborers.
Janata Party. It’s pushing other states to
follow suit, and has broken ground on five Modi’s BJP, which won re-election last year
similar facilities stretching from Karnataka in a landslide, has long viewed India’s
in the south to Punjab in the north. secular character as capitulation to religious
minorities such as Muslims, who make up
14% of the nation’s 1.3 billion people. The
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party sees its agenda as righting historical new law will help her: Since she’s told state
wrongs imposed upon the Hindu majority, authorities that she’s lived in India her whole
including by Muslim rulers who built iconic life, she can’t suddenly say her ancestors
structures like the Taj Mahal centuries ago — come from a neighboring country.
a strategy it hopes will let it win elections for
decades. “I am an Indian — I had given all the
documents,” she said. “I’m clueless how my
Citizenship is a key part of that effort. Home name was dropped from the list.”
Minister Amit Shah — Modi’s right-hand
man — described undocumented migrants Millions of others in India could soon face
from neighboring Muslim-majority the same problem.
Bangladesh as “termites” during a campaign
rally in 2019. Applying a standard 5% error rate to India’s
population, basic mistakes in the process
Assam has so far been the only state to start could leave at least 65 million people
determining citizenship claims. Under a stateless nationwide, more than the
process monitored by the Supreme Court, it population of Italy, according to Niranjan
has assessed who was born in the state and Sahoo, a senior fellow at the New Delhi-
who might be a migrant from across the based Observer Research Foundation, who
border in Bangladesh. has written books on political polarization.
The whole exercise could cost as much as
But the process has been a mess. Assam’s 700 billion rupees, roughly the size of the
citizenship list, which effectively left 1.9 annual federal health budget, he added.
million people stateless when it was
published in August, has been plagued by “It would further polarize society and polity
basic clerical errors and mistaken identities, like never before,” Sahoo said.
leaving families divided and those without
adequate documents vulnerable to India is not alone among nations that turn
harassment and worse. citizenship from a pathway to inclusion into
an instrument of exclusion, according to
Proving citizenship in India isn’t easy. Christoph Sperfeldt, senior research fellow at
People must show a chain of ancestry going the Peter McMullin Centre on Statelessness
back several generations with documents at the University of Melbourne. He pointed
including refugee registration certificates, to Myanmar’s treatment of its Rohingya
birth certificates, land and tenancy records, population, which led to a genocide case at
and court papers. the Hague.
It’s also having some unintended “These examples should be a warning sign of
consequences for the BJP: Hindus are also the potentially dangerous flow-on effects of
getting excluded from the citizenship rolls, such exclusionary laws and policies,”
including Hajong and some other villagers in Sperfeldt said. “What began in Assam and is
Assam who spoke with Bloomberg. In light now being extended to the rest of India is a
of this problem, Modi’s government last year significant threat to what has often been
passed the Citizenship Amendment Act, described as a foundational right:
allowing non-Muslims from neighboring citizenship.”
countries to seek citizenship.
The prime minister received tacit
The move spurred protests all over India, international support for his government’s
some of which turned deadly, including in hard-line actions, with U.S. President Donald
Assam. Hajong, 30, also doesn’t believe the Trump declining to discuss the citizenship
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law in New Delhi on Tuesday, even as the She was one of about 970 people in the state
Indian capital erupted in deadly protests just declared “foreigners” after lacking proper
kilometers from where the two leaders met. citizenship credentials or being identified as
“We did talk about religious freedom,” suspected “illegal immigrants” by the border
Trump said, but when pressed on the new law unit of Assam Police. Detainees were kept in
replied: “I want to leave that to India.” dormitories with as many as 40 people to a
room, Khatun said. They were forced to use
Modi’s government has given conflicting crowded toilets with little privacy and
signals on how hard it would push for the weren’t provided enough food to stave off
citizenship registry, which it campaigned on their persistent hunger.
last year. Shah last year promised Parliament
the government would push ahead with the “It is like chickens raised in a poultry farm,”
registry, but this month he said it’s still said Khatun, 46. “It was better to die.”
weighing the decision. He can go ahead with
it under the 2003 Citizenship Amendment Khatun won her release in December thanks
Act, which was passed by a previous BJP-led to a Supreme Court order along with 128
government. others who had served more than three years
in prison. But her saga isn’t over: She and
The home ministry has not responded yet to four of her children have been excluded from
a written request for comments. The Assam’s latest citizenship list.
government has previously stated that
Muslims don’t need to worry about the “I don’t know what our future holds,” Khatun
registry, saying it’s “not about any religion at said. “We are living in fear.”
all.”
The Assam government has denied claims
“When the NRC is announced at the national that conditions in the jail are bad, according
level, then rules and instructions will be to a statement in Parliament in November.
made for it in such a way that no one will face
any trouble,” the government said in a Q&A. The problem of overcrowding, however, may
“The government has no intention of get a whole lot worse: Nobody in India,
harassing its citizens or putting them in including Assam authorities, knows what
trouble.” will happen to those left off the citizenship
rolls.
At the same time, the administration has said
it won’t repeal the Citizenship Amendment Six months after Assam released its
Act due to the protests. Shah in January told citizenship register, notices have yet to be
a rally that the bill “doesn’t take away sent to those who didn’t make the cut. That
citizenship of any person but only gives in turn delays the process for them to appeal
Indian citizenship to six persecuted the exclusion, according to a senior
minorities.” The Supreme Court is set to government official from the state, who
consider the law’s constitutional validity in asked not to be identified because they
the coming weeks. weren’t authorized to speak with the media.
Furthermore, the central government hasn’t
In Assam, those who have been detained over decided what to do with people ultimately
citizenship claims have felt oppressed. declared foreigners, and hasn’t told state
Halima Khatun is settling back into her life a governments how to implement the new
month after spending close to four years in citizenship law, the official said.
the Kokrajhar detention center — one of six
in the state located within existing jails. “The process will render millions of people
stateless across the country,” said Abdul
www.nearpeer.org 13
Kalam Azad, an Assam-based independent flee her burning home—and more than 200
human rights researcher, who was part of a people, mostly Muslims, were injured.
team that visited jails to see conditions of
detainees. “Keeping them in detention The Delhi police, who report directly to
centers is a nightmarish thought.” Home Minister Amit Shah, either stood idly
by or escorted the mobs. Videos of police
In India’s citizenship drive, women are more breaking CCTV cameras and taunting prone
vulnerable to exclusion. Many are illiterate and bleeding Muslim men while filming
and don’t have documents in their name to them with their smartphones circulated on
establish blood ties with their families. It social media. The violence echoed that of
costs money and time to track down the 2002, when Modi was chief minister of
documents, and gender discrimination is Gujarat and authorities there did nothing to
commonplace: Men often get identity papers, stem carnage that killed some 1,000 people,
while many women do not. the majority of them Muslims. It also brought
back memories of the revenge killings of at
Momiran Nessa is another resident in Assam least 3,000 Sikhs in Delhi after the
who is seeking to rebuild her life after assassination of former Prime Minister Indira
spending 10 years in detention. Nessa lost a Gandhi by two of her Sikh bodyguards in
baby while in the camp when she was seven 1984.
months pregnant, while her husband died two
months before her release. She and two of her In all these cases, mobs targeting a single
sons were not included on the citizenship list. religious group were allowed to run riot,
unchecked by police. This is the definition of
“I suffered so much in jail — I know what a pogrom.
hell is,” said Nessa, 44, who lives in a tiny
makeshift hut with no electricity or water. “I More than an echo of the past, the recent
now spend my days worrying about our violence in Delhi is a lesson aimed at Indian
future.” citizens who, since December, have dared to
resist the transformation of the secular
Republic of India into a Hindu state, a
transformation accelerated by Modi’s
What Happened in Delhi Was a reelection last May.
Pogrom In August, Modi’s government revoked the

special status of the state of Jammu and
(The Atlantic) Kashmir that allowed the state to make its
own laws, rounded up elected leaders and
T he violence unleashed against

Muslims in Delhi by armed Hindu
mobs during President Donald
Trump’s visit to India is a portent and a
lesson. As Trump sat down to dine with
thousands of citizens, and put them in
detention, where they languish still. Kashmir
was put under an internet lockdown that was
only partially lifted five months later to allow
access to a carefully curated set of sites
India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, on handpicked by the government. Also in
Tuesday, Hindus in the same city were August, the conclusion of a National Citizens
beating and shooting Muslims, and Muslims Registry (NRC) in the northeastern state of
were fighting back, trying to defend their Assam resulted in some 2 million people,
homes and businesses from looters and mostly Muslims, being stripped of Indian
arsonists. More than 40 people were killed— citizenship after failing to produce sufficient
including an 85-year-old woman too frail to documents to prove their nationality. What
brought these geographically distant
www.nearpeer.org 14
developments home to Indians in Delhi was freedom” that he either didn’t know or didn’t
Shah’s promise, in November, to implement care what was happening in the country.
the NRC nationwide, followed by the
December ratification by both houses of Arvind Kejriwal, the newly reelected chief
India’s Parliament of a Citizenship minister of Delhi, proved himself powerless
Amendment Act that fast-tracks Indian to contain the violence in his city. Too weak
citizenship for non-Muslims from Pakistan, to put himself physically on the line—as
Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. The new law Mahatma Gandhi or Jawaharlal Nehru did
opens the door to legal discrimination against not hesitate to do when Hindus and Muslims
Muslims. clashed during the fraught years before
India’s independence—his appeal to bring in
These existential threats to the the army to ensure public safety was refused
constitutionally guaranteed equality of by Modi’s government. On Tuesday,
Indian citizens regardless of religion, and the February 25, Justice S. Muralidhar of Delhi’s
specter of legions of newly stateless persons high court summoned police to berate them
stripped of their citizenship, prompted many for failing to file a complaint against Mishra
Indians—Muslims, but also students and and two other BJP politicians whose hate
other alarmed citizens—to engage in speech had fired up the mob. The next day,
peaceful protests. They waved the Indian Muralidhar was transferred out of Delhi to a
tricolor flag, sang the national anthem, and court in the Indian state of Punjab. That same
recited the preamble to the country’s day, India’s Supreme Court deferred hearing
constitution. petitions on the violence that rocked India’s
capital to the Delhi high court, now bereft of
For a moment it seemed the Modi Muralidhar.
government had gone too far. On February 8,
after waging a hateful campaign that The message from the BJP is clear: Elect
included a rally at which people chanted whomever you like. We are still in power.
“Shoot the traitors,” referring to protesters, Call the police; they work for us. Appeal to
the Bharatiya Janata Party, or BJP, suffered the courts; we’ll neutralize any judges who
defeat in Delhi’s legislative-assembly don’t toe our line. Continue to dissent, and
election. Shah admitted that the hateful we will set the mob on you.
rhetoric had hurt rather than helped. But the
remedy, it appears, was to take hate to a new Modi’s 2014 electoral victory was initially
level. hailed as the triumph of a free-market
reformist who may have erred during the
On Sunday, February 23, the BJP’s Kapil riots of 2002 but who had made up for it since
Mishra, who lost his seat in the recent Delhi with a proven economic track record in
election, focused his ire on a sit-in by Muslim Gujarat. That image of Modi remained
women in the north of Delhi that was largely intact during his first term in office
blocking a road. If authorities didn’t clear the despite ominous signs to the contrary,
road of demonstrators before Trump left including multiple lynchings of Muslims by
India, Mishra warned, his supporters would emboldened Hindus on the suspicion of
clear it after the U.S. president’s departure. eating beef and the hounding, even the
Loath to wait, the mob set to work within assassination, of journalists and free-thinkers
minutes, quickly moving into the adjacent by Hindu extremists that went unpunished.
neighborhoods, beating and killing Muslims Most ominous of all was the appointment by
and looting and burning their property. It the BJP of the rabidly anti-Muslim Hindu
little mattered that the American president cleric Yogi Adityanath as chief minister of
was still in town: Trump conveyed in his India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh,
praise of Modi’s defense of “religious after the party won legislative elections there
www.nearpeer.org 15
in 2017. Dressed in saffron robes, Adityanath

had peddled the notion that Muslim men
were plotting to steal away Hindu women by
means of “love jihad,” had mounted a private
army of militants called the Hindu Yuva
Vahini, and had threatened to drown in the
sea anyone who refused to perform a yogic
salutation to the sun. Since his appointment
as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh,
Adityanath has presided over a reign of terror
against Muslims in his state. Ambitious BJP
politicians such as Kapil Mishra are merely
following Adityanath’s example of what it
takes to rise within the ranks of their party.
Modi’s image as a pragmatic, business-

oriented leader who has eschewed Hindu
extremism now lies in tatters. India’s Honour in Shame
economy is expected to grow at a rate of just
5 percent this year, its lowest rate in 11 years. (Dawn Editorial)
The poverty rate in India is rising again.
A
More than one-third of India’s more than 1.3 recent report by the Sindh Police has
billion people are from the ages of 15 to 24. put into perspective the extent to
They have little hope of finding a job. The which our society — including the
sex ratio in India remains skewed in favor of criminal justice system itself — continues to
boys; girls are considered a drag on a justify, condone and encourage violence
family’s resources. A reservoir of frustrated against women under the guise of tradition
young men in India yearn to feel empowered, and faith. According to the report, in the past
to have purpose in their lives, to take revenge five years, 510 women and 259 men have
for their thwarted dreams. Many Hindu youth been murdered in cold blood on the pretext
have been radicalized. The Rashtriya of ‘honour’ across the province. Out of the
Swayamsevak Sangh—a paramilitary total number of cases, 649 reached the
organization affiliated with the BJP that is police. However, only 19 cases — a paltry
explicitly modeled on the Nazis, and of 2pc — resulted in awarding of punishment to
which Modi has been a member since the age perpetrators. The courts acquitted the
of 8—has indoctrinated and trained suspects in 136 other cases, while the
thousands. remaining 494 cases still await trial. Though
these figures might reflect only a fraction of
All it takes in Modi’s India to marshal a mob, the actual number of such murders, they are
as Kapil Mishra demonstrated this week in enough to expose our hypocrisy. We have
Delhi, is a word. And all it takes to turn the laws but little to no implementation. Those
mob’s rampage into a pogrom against a who make these laws are often found
religious minority is the complicity of police advocating for or even participating in the
and state authorities. Yet, across India, brave very ‘traditions’ that violate women’s right
citizens continue to occupy public spaces in to life and bodily autonomy. Members of the
peaceful protest. They know that all they public want rule of law, yet many end up
have left to save their democratic republic is pardoning family members who murder
one another. They know that, any day, the female relatives. Worse still are those who
mob can come for them too. twist a religion that considers murder as
www.nearpeer.org 16
among the greatest of sins in order to justify FATF Grey List

killing women.
(Dawn Editorial)
It is hardly surprising, then, that this
dissonance reflects in the anti-‘honour’
killing law enacted in 2016. Though a major
achievement in symbolic terms, as a legal
instrument, it represents only an incremental
step towards justice for those killed in the
I t seems that, despite the seriousness with
which Pakistan had committed itself to
complying with FATF standards, the
global financial watchdog is still not
convinced of its progress and requires more
name of ‘honour’. The criminal amendment action on some of the targets that it says have
still permits family members of victims to not been achieved.
‘forgive’ their killers, while leaving it at the
courts’ discretion to award punishment The taskforce has indicated that Pakistan will
despite such pardons. Such a loophole — one have to satisfactorily address all 27 points of
among many — allows for the subjective the action plan by June, otherwise stricter
interpretation and application of the law by action could be taken. For a while, there were
police officers, prosecutors and judges alike. government officials who were hopeful that
The report highlights these legal lacunae, Pakistan would be removed from the grey
along with faulty investigations, as well as list, although some ministers did strike a
collusion between prosecutors, witnesses cautious note, reminding people that the
and suspects, as being the main reasons outcome of the February talks was not a
behind the low conviction rate in ‘honour’ foregone conclusion. It turns out that the
killings. optimists did not win the day.
Besides, passing legislation is hardly enough Certainly, the task before Pakistan has been
to effect change in societal attitudes and gargantuan, and the fact that it has still met
break the vicious cycle of gender-based several FATF conditions should be
violence. Apart from improving the law and appreciated. But the difficult part is clearly
sensitising agents of the justice system, there not over; the top tiers of government must
is a dire need for comprehensive community now take a hard, honest look at all the hurdles
outreach to combat the tacit acceptance of in the way of meeting the global body’s
such ‘traditions’ in our society. In this expectations and ensure that these are
regard, the media — particularly the Sindhi removed quickly.
media — has played a commendable role,
first by exposing and then continuing to A perception had been created that the arrest
shine a spotlight on such grotesque crimes. of UN-designated terrorist Hafiz Saeed,
But the media’s job is only to inform, and would pave the way for Pakistan to be
change is only possible if the state removed from the list but this has not
proactively assumes its responsibility to happened.
vigorously prosecute and punish perpetrators
as well as their abettors. Continued apathy in Clearly, the gaps in the implementation of
this regard only serves to endorse anti- the action plan have overshadowed the
women practices such ‘honour’ killings, progress that the government wished to
which are in total violation of fundamental project. Now the country needs, and
rights enshrined in our Constitution. deserves, clarity on exactly what is
happening on the FATF front.
www.nearpeer.org 17
The FATF statement released after the

deliberations in Paris contains language
more specific than did previous statements.
It says Pakistan needs to make “significant

and sustainable progress especially in
prosecuting and penalising” terror financing,
and should such progress not be made, the
watchdog would take action “which could
include the FATF calling on its members and
urging all jurisdiction to advise their
[financial institutions] to give special
attention to business relations and
transactions with Pakistan.”
The question for the country’s economy in

the next four months is: what does “special
attention” mean here? What are its Afghan Reconciliation
ramifications?
By: Muhammad Amir Rana
Despite having touted all the progress that (Dawn)
has been made thus far, including a high-
profile arrest on terror-financing grounds,
and despite that fact that Pakistan enjoys the
confidence of the US in delivering a peace
plan for Afghanistan and has an ally in China
that is the president of the watchdog body, it
T he results of the 2019 Afghan
presidential elections have further
complicated the prospects for
achieving intra-Afghan political
reconciliation. They have pushed down the
is obvious the danger of blacklisting has not hope that the newly elected regime would be
gone away, and the authorities are still able to form an inclusive team to talk to the
struggling to implement the entire action Afghan Taliban. While the election
plan. authorities have declared the incumbent
president Ashraf Ghani as the winner,
The stakes are higher, as are the challenges runner-up Dr Abdullah Abdullah has not
confronting the government. It is time to for only rejected the results but also announced
the government to make clear where the he will form his own parallel government.
operational difficulties lie and expedite its
efforts to satisfy FATF demands. Without The persisting political turmoil in Kabul has
this, Pakistan’s progress will never be increased just a week before the
viewed as enough. announcement of a deal is expected between
the US negotiation team and the Taliban.
Many anticipate that the much-awaited deal
will bring to the fore the crucial process of
nation-building in a war-torn country, where
all Afghan stakeholders will not only have to
build consensus on a permanent,
comprehensive ceasefire, but also
reconstruct a new social contract for their
country. However, the deepening political
crisis in Afghanistan can slacken the peace
www.nearpeer.org 18
process, causing a delay in the the pressure will be put on Pakistan both by
announcement of the deal. It will increase the international community and the
frustration among the external stakeholders factionalised political Afghan elite.
and facilitators (mainly the US) who want to
end the decades-old conflict, which is A couple of years earlier, a scenario-building
consuming their financial resources and exercise was carried out to get a picture of
political capital. Pak-Afghan bilateral ties in 2030. One
scenario was that if foreign troops left
The Afghan Taliban deputy and Haqqani Afghanistan without accomplishing their
Network chief Sirajuddin Haqqani hinted at mission, the Afghan power elites and Taliban
the Taliban’s internal difference over the would not be able to bring stability to the
peace process in an opinion piece published country. In that case, Afghanistan’s
in The New York Times. However, their immediate neighbours would have little
differences are not as severe as the trust leverage over Afghan stakeholders to force
deficit among their opponents including them to build consensus.
Afghan and international stakeholders.
Political chaos in Kabul is an advantage for Bilateral relations between Afghanistan and
the Taliban, which they will use to bolster Pakistan would further deteriorate, thus
their bargaining position while dealing with increasing the animosity between the two
the US and fellow Afghan stakeholders. It is nations to India’s advantage. It would be a
not yet certain how Washington will respond nightmare for Pakistan as it would increase
to the simmering controversy over election border tensions and insecurity, and
results. negatively impact trade and people-to-
people contact between the two nations. The
For Pakistan, this is a delicate situation as it nightmare for the international community
has played a critical role in facilitating US- mainly the US, China and Russia would be
Taliban talks, hoping that the process would that the Taliban’s power would grow and
help reduce pressure from its western border. international terrorist groups become
Facilitating the peace process was also influential. In such a scenario, China and
essential for Pakistan to put its economy Russia would prefer to put their weight
back on the road including through earning behind the most definite contender(s) of
the confidence of Washington and European power.
capitals. However, protracted political
turmoil in Afghanistan could shatter many of That was a pessimistic scenario and indicated
Pakistan’s hopes. that the political compulsions had become so
strong that imagining a scenario where the
Even if US intervention resolves election- Afghans as a state and society could
related controversies, building consensus for overcome their differences was difficult.
a broad-based negotiation team will be an
uphill task. The formation phase of the In the current environment, what are the
negotiation team may take longer than options left for Pakistan? Complete
expected, as it is also not clear whether or not detachment from the emerging situation in
it will be conditioned on the US troops’ Afghanistan is one option. This can be
withdrawal. However, a prolonged process interpreted as maintaining a neutral position
could increase internal pressure on the before and during the complicated process of
Taliban leadership to adopt an alternative intra-Afghan talks. This would be an ideal
approach and declare their parallel but awkward position because of
government, or emirate, which is already complications that could emerge during the
functioning in the peripheries and rural areas withdrawal of foreign forces and the
of the country. In such a situation, much of dialogue process. The US would have to rely
www.nearpeer.org 19
on Pakistan to use its influence over the Making CPEC Work

Taliban and a few other political actors in
Afghanistan. By: Ikram Sehgal (Daily Times)
Secondly, there is no guarantee that Russia,
Iran, and particularly India, would maintain
a neutral position. India and Iran have their
proxies and favourites in Afghanistan, whom
T he CPEC is a collection of
infrastructure projects for Pakistan
(current size $45 billion, expected
size $62 billion). With the key projects being
they will not abandon. Pakistan will be an Gwadar Port, planned to be a central hub in
easy target of such ‘favourites’ if the the connectivity scheme. Starting in
dialogue is deadlocked. Pakistan will have to November 2016, Chinese cargo with
maintain and further diversify its relations transported overland was shipped to Africa
with Afghan stakeholders other than the and West Asia. Transport projects for $11
Taliban. billion connects Gwadar Port to Kashgar
with connections to Central Asia and to the
If the exit process is caught in complications, Chinese ports in the East. Eastern Alignment
the US can review its approach. But for the involves upgrading of existing 1152 km
global community, the most critical aspect highway between Karachi and Lahore and
would be long-term economic assistance linking with an upgraded Karakorum
pledges to help Afghan power elites develop Highway (KKH) which enters China at the
viable economic growth structures. This Khunjerab Pass, while the Western
factor will also dominate the intra-Afghan Alignment connects Gwadar to D.I. Khan to
dialogue. It remains to be seen how Afghan Hasan Abdal and to the KKH. The Energy
stakeholders, who have divergent interests, Infrastructure includes $33 billion worth of
will deal with this challenge. It is expected electricity plants and transmission lines.
they will build pressure on Pakistan Electricity is based mainly on fossil fuels, but
regarding the transit trade agreement and also hydro, solar and wind energy. Early
could demand easy access to ports. If harvest projects included 4000MW while
Pakistan-India relations remain tense, it another 6000MW added in 2018-19. Ten
would not be easy for Pakistan to make any Special Economic Zones in different parts of
concession. the country, out of which three have been
identified in Faisalabad, Hattar and Dhabeji
The processes of withdrawal and dialogue for the first round. The SEZs provide tax
will be lengthy with all their complexities, holidays and concessions of various sorts to
but their completion will see the real test for attract Chinese investors.
Pak-Afghan ties. Pakistan should have a
blueprint for the future and prepare the Dr. Abdul Hafeez Shaikh says that China’s
ground for a long-term strategic and objectives for BRI and CPEC are (1) to
economic cooperation treaty with extend Chinese surplus capacity and
Afghanistan. This is important in order for influence to Asia and parts of Europe. (2) to
both countries to emerge from the Indian- develop Western China, integrate it
centric strategic hangover and develop their economically with Mainland China, and
independent bilateral relationship. complement Western Development Plan for
Xinjiang, Tibet and Qinghai. (3) create an
alternative to the current shipping route via
the Malacca Straits and the South China
Sea.60% of China’s oil comes from the
Middle East, mostly from this route to the
Eastern ports of Tianjin and Shanghai. The
www.nearpeer.org 20
current distance on this route is about FDI, exports, jobs), then mega benefits will
11,000km.From Gwadar to Kashgar it is not be realised.
3,000 km, from there to Tianjin another 4000
km, thus the combined distance is There is considerable debate and legitimate
considerably less than the current route, concerns on Equitable Distribution of
bringing down shipping costs, and hedging Benefits from CPEC. With CPEC generating
against the risks of a single route. additional incomes. Some questions relevant
for welfare economics, national cohesion,
High quality dialogue and consultation, and for a broader ownership of CPEC as a
awareness of local constrains and opponent’s whole. How will these additional incomes be
tactics, and pre-emptive steps and safeguards distributed across regions and income
are required for preservation and classes? Where will the money on new
enhancement of the harmonious relationship infrastructure go? Who will get the new
jobs? Who will make the profits? In short:
Making CPEC work will involve costs. Who will really benefit? Take for example
These costs will be incurred on land, the thousands of trucks expected to transport
equipment, interest and employees. How to goods: Who will produce these trucks? How
ensure that the benefits are not meager but will business be allocated? Who will own the
mega? If the projects are costly, their trucks? How will the money from the truck
execution inefficient, their capacity under owners flow to the rest of the economy?
utilised, their links to the rest of the economy What if all the truckers belong to a single
minimal, and they generate political discord region? Or two institutions? Or three
within the society, the net benefits can easily families? Or four chief ministers? The
be meager or even negative like during longer-term success of CPEC will require
construction the costs are minimised, the employment, profits, business deals and
leakages checked, corruption reduced and government revenue.
procurement kept transparent. Once the
projects are operational they must be According to Dr. Shaikh the most touted
managed on international standards. Clearly, period of high income growth in Pakistan in
the Pakistan Railways – as it is run now – the 1960s was accompanied by income
cannot be entrusted this formidable task. The disparities with grave consequences both for
same people who have presided over the the government and the country.
failure of our past economic zones cannot be
counted on to manage the new zones The loans taken for the CPEC projects will
differently. Our way of resource allocation have to be repaid; principal and interest. The
and implementation of our Annual interest rate charged by China varies by type
Development Plans do not auger well for the of project. For some loans specific to Gwadar
CPEC projects. Going from meager to mega Port and city, the rate is zero. For many
benefits infrastructure created must be infrastructure loans the rate is between 1.4
utilised to the fullest, and that means and 2.4 %. For power projects on more
leveraging these facilities to open new commercial terms the rates are 5-6 %.
markets (Central Asia, Africa, Europe), and Assuming that $100 billion have to be
invite new players, i.e., starting with China returned as principal and interest over the
but aiming for China-Plus. CPEC simply next 20 years, an allocation of about $4-5
servicing the activities for China. The billion per year would be required. These
benefits will not be realised to the fullest. For borrowings will add to the external debt of
mega benefits, we must enhance exports and Pakistan and potentially weigh heavily on
getting other investors to join. If CPEC is not the overall macro economy. An isolated
leveraged to forge new alliances, Pakistan economy with chronic
partnerships and business relations (more underperformance of exports and FDI can
www.nearpeer.org 21
find its vulnerability enhanced. Thus it is In civilian that CPEC benefits can be
critical that the project design, procurement exaggerated by the partisans and dismissed
and execution are first rate and combined by the skeptics. Will CPEC be a transaction
with prudent Government debt management or a platform for transformation, Dr Abdul
to allow the repayment of these loans. Hafeez Shaikh says. The choice will be ours
– alone.
Dr. Shaikh agrees that not everyone is
thrilled with CPEC. A little more than a year
ago the newly appointed Head of The
Institute of Business Administration (IBA)
called it a “figment of imagination”. Some
countries would like to subvert CPEC for
their national, regional or global aspirations.
Domestic opponents are motivated by
politics, ideology, grievances or money.
Some citizens have fair concerns on the cost
of loans, on equitable sharing of benefits or
excessive reliance on a single country.
Pakistan is a country of jalsas and dharnas,
of opinions freely expressed in papers and on
TV. There is room for misunderstanding to
be created between China and Pakistan.
Chinese concerns are related to security.
High quality dialogue and consultation,
awareness of local constrains and opponent’s Trump in India
tactics, and pre-emptive steps and safeguards
are required for preservation and (Dawn Editorial)
enhancement of the harmonious relationship.
In spite of China’s phenomenal performance,

says Dr. Shaikh, our proximity to it and the
enormous goodwill and the obvious desire of
D onald Trump and Narendra Modi are
alike in many ways.
Both are political outsiders who have

managed to reach the top of their respective
the Chinese leadership, we have not fully
benefitted from the rise of China. We should systems through a blend of right-wing
not just be looking for capital from China but populism and maverick ideas.
also learning from their experience, and
those of the other achievers. There are 13 Both have pushed majoritarian agendas at the
countries that have experienced growth rates expense of minorities.
of over seven per cent for 25 years in the post
War period. What lessons can we draw from Perhaps this explains the bonhomie and
these success stories? Five common features back-slapping between them, which was on
– points of resemblance – stand out. These vivid display at a cricket stadium in the
countries: fully exploited the world Indian city of Ahmedabad on Monday,
economy; maintained macroeconomic where Prime Minister Modi pulled out all the
stability; mustered high rates of savings and stops for the ‘Namaste Trump’ event.
investment; let markets allocate resources;
and had committed and capable Gaudy and full of clichés — much lke the
governments. politics of both men — the event was seen
reciprocating the ‘Howdy Modi’ episode in
Houston last year, where a crowd of non-
www.nearpeer.org 22
resident Indians eagerly lapped up what If Mr Trump really wishes to see stability in
Messrs Modi and Trump had to offer. the subcontinent, he needs to tell his Indian
friends that they must reduce their hostile
Mr Modi and company have taken other posture where Pakistan is concerned.
steps to ensure President Trump only gets to
see ‘shining’ India, covering up the warts and This country has offered numerous times to
all that make up the ‘real’ India. open channels of dialogue with New Delhi,
only to be rebuffed by the other side.
For example, a wall has been built to hide an
Ahmedabad slum from the US leader’s view, Also, the US leader should communicate that
while monkeys in the Gujarat city have also the situation in occupied Kashmir is
been rounded up. A report says some 45 unacceptable, and peace in South Asia will
simians have been bundled off to parts not be possible until a just solution to the
unknown to ensure they don’t appear in front issue has been found.
of Mr Trump’s aircraft.
On a more serious note, Mr Modi the

politician has come a long way since he was State of Economy
barred in 2005 from entering the US for his
role in the anti-Muslim Gujarat pogrom of By: Syed Bakhtiar Kazmi (Dawn)
2002, when he was the state’s chief minister.
Today, the president of the US calls him a

“tremendously successful leader”; never
mind the fact that the demons of Gujarat have
been summoned again by the Sangh Parivar
T he debate on the economy between
the government zealots and the
resistance, the moniker given to the
opposition circles by diehards of the
government rank and file on social media, is
to terrorise India’s Muslims, this time as Mr getting to be rather boring, if not horribly
Modi sits in the prime ministerial chair. tiresome. And the atmosphere is super
charged, if not hysterical, to say the least.
The fact is that the anti-Muslim atmosphere
in India — epitomised by the passage of In the ensuing confusion, laymen like me are
divisive legislation, as well as the stifling left wondering who is right and who is
situation in held Kashmir — will largely be wrong; notwithstanding that in the current
ignored by the US as what matters the most highly polarised political environment we as
is the market, in this case a market of over a a nation have forgone our sense to
billion people. distinguish between right and wrong, and are
simply toeing the respective party line
Moreover, despite all the glib talk of two unquestioningly.
‘great democracies’, the fact is that
Washington indulges New Delhi as an Asian Nonetheless, even if for the sake of argument
bulwark against China, America’s rival for only — albeit deep down we all know that if
great power status. the economy tanks the rest won’t matter —
let’s make an attempt to muddle through this
Mr Trump also mentioned in his speech that puzzlement.
he had a “very good” relationship with
Pakistan, and that he hoped for peace in The government at least has a plan,
South Asia. irrespective of whether or not it is imported,
rather, thrust upon it. But let’s be honest,
isn’t it even better that the numero uno
www.nearpeer.org 23
institution recognised and respected the investment and workers’ remittances

world over for developing and approving projected to rise to $5bn and $27bn
plans for saving nations facing a financial respectively in that year, and there is a risk
crisis, and that too for decades, was nice that the Article IV consultation at the end of
enough to develop a programme for us? 2024 will find that “the growth outlook
remains favourable, but ... that policy
And that is not all. They, the IMF, also take implementation weakened recently and
pains to review the programme every quarter macroeconomic vulnerabilities are re-
to ensure we don’t go off track; what else can emerging”.
we want? The second review has just been
completed and the IMF is pleased to note that Okay, it is conceded that GDP growth was
“All end-December performance criteria only 1.9 per cent this year and will fall to
were met, and structural benchmarks have 1.2pc next year and 2.2m people will be laid
been completed.” So there! off.
Let’s also not forget that the previous Admittedly, the circular debt has increased to
government had imported an almost similar a whopping Rs1800bn and the government is
plan in 2013 and bragged about passing the clueless about how to handle that. The state-
quarterly reviews all the way till the twelfth owned enterprises continue to bleed and the
and final review concluded on Sept 28, 2016, government has failed to restructure or
which found that “Pakistan’s Fund- privatise the loss-making units.
supported programme has helped the country
restore macroeconomic stability, reduce And let us not forget the hot money; high
vulnerabilities, and make progress in interest rates to attract hot money have
tackling key structural challenges”. exposed the economy to serious risks.
Inflation is uncontrollable, and the IMF is
So is the ‘resistance’ criticising for the sake wrong about its inflation outlook, and the
of criticism only; simply making noise since country has sunk deeper into the debt trap.
they have nothing better to crib about? That Industry is in a state of recession, and capital
would appear to be the case, since how can investment is conspicuous by its absence. In
the IMF be wrong?! And did not the fact, even our backbone, agriculture, is on a
‘resistance’ sleep in the very same bed? serious downward trajectory.
But in the best interest of Pakistan, and being Is anything left? If so please feel free to add
magnanimous at the same time, let’s accept to the list.
all the criticism being dumped on the state of
the economy with the sole purpose of Finally, let us also sidestep the blame game;
separating the wheat from the chaff. whoever did it is not important, only the way
forward matters.
Fine, the IMF is right until it is wrong; just
three to four months after the conclusion of So where is Plan B?
the last programme in 2016, all hell broke
loose and Pakistan was facing a double It is easy to say that exports have to grow, tax
deficit whammy. And since admittedly there recovery should increase, the currency
is not much difference in the current and the should stabilise, GDP should rise to over
previous programmes, the likelihood of 5pc, and what not, and all of that should
history repeating itself cannot be ignored. happen simultaneously and immediately. But
Undeniably, the IMF projects that external where is the magic wand? What is Plan B?
debt will increase to $138 billion by June
2024, and that too with foreign direct
www.nearpeer.org 24
Either come up with a Plan B or let’s stop accurate definitions, clearly stated
criticising the IMF-approved plan which the assumptions, and logical deductive proof —
government continues to diligently pursue the very stuff that makes mathematics the
and hope that it works this time around. queen of sciences and the mother of physics.
Everything in the modern world from
Essentially, in all the noise out there, very spacecraft and internet to pharmaceuticals
worryingly, no one appears to have a Plan B. and chewing gum owes itself to such
rigorous mental training.
Below is a story for all who wonder why

Pakistan sorely loses out in the modern
world, why its universities consistently fail
to keep our best and brightest, and why
there’s no genuine culture of learning and
research. While it’s about just one person,
there are countless stories of others who
returned to Pakistan but eventually gave up.
Around 1994-1995, I received a handwritten

letter from someone saying he was deeply
interested in studying theoretical physics. It
was signed by some Amer Iqbal. Filled with
neatly written formulae, it seemed
moderately interesting but little more. I
replied, suggesting he visit.
Why Pakistan Loses its Best?
Weeks later, a tall lad in his late teens walked
By: Pervez Hoodbhoy (Dawn) into my office at Quaid-e-Azam University.
I was then teaching a subject called quantum
field theory whose comprehension requires
wo weeks ago Pakistan’s only well-
T
years of mathematical preparation. The boy
known mathematician left for the seemed bright but I said he wouldn’t be able
Western world. He has no plans to to follow my course. I was wrong. He rapidly
return. Since the country has almost no real self-studied the needed background and, to
mathematicians — a bare half a dozen or less my amazement, was soon picking out my
— the loss was huge. But who cares? occasional mistakes on the blackboard.
Preoccupied by politics of the boot, busy
gorging imported luxury products, and Delighted, I suggested MIT for a PhD.
feverishly preparing for travel to the Although all its departments are extremely
hereafter, our moribund culture is indifferent competitive, MIT’s departments of
to math or physics. theoretical physics and mathematics can be
terrifying. Even with 100 per cent perfect
But in living and vibrant cultures, both new GRE scores and excellent grades, overseas
and old, mathematicians and theoretical candidates have a hard time getting in and
physicists are seen very differently. In then surviving. Fortunately, I had colleagues
millennia past, Pythagoras and Plato were on the MIT faculty with whom I had either
cult leaders who saw in geometry the collaborated on research or who had been on
wondrous key unlocking the universe’s my PhD committee. After an initial hiccup it
secrets. They demanded from their students all worked out and Amer was on his way.
www.nearpeer.org 25
The rest is history. His PhD research and a But it was his exposing a mega-scandal that
series of brilliant papers soon established ended everything. Readers are referred to my
Amer in high academia. MIT’s Professor Dawn article, ‘Our ghost mathematicians’,
Jeffrey Goldstone — of Goldstone Boson which tells how at least Rs638 million were
fame (the Higgs Boson or so-called God paid in fake salaries at AS-SMS. I began the
Particle derives from the Goldstone Boson) article saying: “To be named below are
— is also famously frugal for words. But in several persons who would have ended up
a corridor encounter about 20 years ago, he behind bars in any country where there is rule
somehow strung together enough of them to of law. Several others — whether complicit
gruffly bark a “thank you” at me for sending or negligent — would be shamed, reviled and
Amer to MIT. At the next stage, Steven removed from their current official positions.
Weinberg — who co-shared the 1979 Nobel Knowing that nothing will happen here in
Prize with Abdus Salam and Sheldon Pakistan, this is still a story I must tell.”
Glashow — invited him for post-doctoral
research at the University of Texas (Austin). That story was told and indeed nothing
happened — except that Amer’s contract was
The young man was flowering. During short not renewed. One hears that HEC has
subsequent visits to the United States from launched a scam investigation. But
Pakistan, he was co-authoring papers with committees are made to whitewash crimes,
the world’s outstanding mathematicians not to catch crooks.
(Okounkov, Yau, etc) and famous string-
theory physicists (Vafa, Zwiebach, etc). Nevertheless, the truth filtered out. Days
Only practitioners in the super stratified later my Dawn article was picked up by
world of high science can understand what BBC. Its diligent researchers located several
this really means. Amer Iqbal is still the sole European ‘ghost mathematicians’ from 10
Pakistani invited to lecture at high-level years ago as well as the former director of
meetings on problems at the interface of AS-SMS who ran away with the loot (of
theoretical physics and mathematics. course, he denies it). In essence this BBC
report (accessible at
None of this cut much ice with his colleagues https://www.bbc.com/urdu/pakistan-
in Pakistani institutions. Six years of 50490259) corroborated Amer’s
teaching and research at Lums (2009-2015) extraordinary 456-page investigative report.
ended with Amer’s forced resignation and Earlier posted on the AS-SMS official
unceremonious exit. Some of his peers — website, it was removed last month.
jealous intellectual midgets — were Presumably this is to protect others complicit
threatened by his academic stature and in the heist at AS-SMS.
conspired against him. Lums has never
explained why he was fired. Pakistan’s universities — all of them — are
cesspools of political filth and intrigue. In a
The next stint — at the Abdus Salam School system with perverted values and
for Mathematical Sciences (AS-SMS) in nonsensical selection criteria, duffers who
Lahore — lasted another five years and fail at all else become lauded university
ended no better. Instead of a regular professors. Today they rule the roost. Even if
appointment, he was given a year-to-year Pakistan somehow attracts back its best and
contract, a situation leaving appointees brightest from foreign lands, they will soon
vulnerable and forced to curry favour with leave unless our universities can be made to
higher ups. For Amer that was out of the respect the rule of law and operate on
question. principles of strict merit, fair play and
transparency. It is hard to see how any of
www.nearpeer.org 26
these conditions can be met in the near “This group then only supports their
future. brothers, friends and relatives to flourish
unfairly, at the expense of everyone else,” he
said.
State of Pakistan is Under Siege Karamat Ali said that the poor and labour
class have had enough of the condescending
by the Elite rich doing philanthropy while denying
people their basic rights. “The population of
By: Samaa poor people in this country is so large that if
they spat together, the elite would drown,” he
said.
W e only have 10 years to overhaul

the system, labour rights
campaigner Karamat Ali said
during a session of the Adab Festival on
“Since they have power and a stake in
policies, they get the State to ban labour
unions,” he said, bolstering his case that
Saturday. unions, which according to him now only
make for 1% of the entire labour force, could
The session titled ‘Is The Top 1% (Elite) The not hinder institutional operations. He said
Problem in Pakistan’ discussed the economic that because the elite cannot have anyone
system and how it has been designed to standing up to their flawed structure, they
perpetuate elitism. Panellists argued that this lobby against labour rights, especially the
has, therefore, institutionalised the belief that latter’s right to form a union.
every economic or political activity can only
benefit the elite. CEO of Cordoba Ventures, Malik Ahmad
Jalal, said that times were changing and
Also on the panel was Dr Ishrat Husain, a while we should now be talking about digital
former State Bank of Pakistan governor, who age and its ideas and concepts, “we are
has written extensively on the topic of elitists discussing the problems of the bygone
capturing the State. He said the only way to industrial age”.
help the poor is by taxing the elite. “Our
system is that of collusion and connivance,” “The elite will always be there, no matter the
said Dr Hussain. system, egalitarian or elitist,” he claimed,
arguing that even in religion and spirituality,
He believes the elite have taken the State one sees a hierarchal order and it is not
hostage. “You see, the rich have the assets essentially the problem. The problem, to
and land to capitalise on, while the poor only him, is people thinking they can get away
have their labour, which, for the most part, is with anything because of their position or
unskilled,” he said, stressing the need for power.
land reforms.
Jalal said wars were even fought between
He said that a small chunk of the corporate elites but the laymen never had a say. “You
sector, bureaucracy, military and intellectual see better and more competent elite winning
elites exercise their influence, right or wrong, against a less competent elite.”
over 97% of the people, taking it hostage and
the system only helps them further their Another former SBP governor, Dr Shamshad
interests. Akhter, and Ahsan Mehanti, the CEO of Arif
Habib Commodities, were also on the panel.
www.nearpeer.org 27
Akhter said that labour unions were among more than four decades, precious Afghan
the exploitative parties that hinder the lives have been lost every day. Everyone has
potential productivity of labour. lost somebody they loved. Everyone is tired
of war. I am convinced that the killing and
Mehanti said that there is no way for the maiming must stop.
corporations to evade taxes now. With the
FATF regulations under consideration, We did not choose our war with the foreign
corporations are paying up to 50% in taxes coalition led by the United States. We were
under various heads, he said. forced to defend ourselves. The withdrawal
of foreign forces has been our first and
Incumbent State Bank Governor Reza Baqir foremost demand. That we today stand at the
was supposed to be on the panel but did not threshold of a peace agreement with the
show up. United States is no small milestone.
Our negotiation team, led by my colleagues

Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar and Sher
Mohammed Abas Stanekzai, has worked
tirelessly for the past 18 months with the
American negotiators to make an agreement
possible. We stuck with the talks despite
recurring disquiet and upset within our ranks
over the intensified bombing campaign
against our villages by the United States and
the flip-flopping and ever-moving goal posts
of the American side.
Even when President Trump called off the

talks, we kept the door to peace open because
we Afghans suffer the most from the
continuation of the war. No peace agreement,
following on the heels of such intensive talks,
What We the Taliban Want? comes without mutual compromises. That
we stuck with such turbulent talks with the
By: Sirajuddin Haqqani (The New enemy we have fought bitterly for two
York Times) decades, even as death rained from the sky,
testifies to our commitment to ending the
hostilities and bringing peace to our country.
W
hen our representatives started
negotiating with the United States
in 2018, our confidence that the We are aware of the concerns and questions
talks would yield results was close to zero. in and outside Afghanistan about the kind of
We did not trust American intentions after 18 government we would have after the foreign
years of war and several previous attempts at troops withdraw. My response to such
negotiation that had proved futile. concerns is that it will depend on a consensus
among Afghans. We should not let our
Nevertheless, we decided to try once more. worries get in the way of a process of genuine
The long war has exacted a terrible cost from discussion and deliberation free for the first
everyone. We thought it unwise to dismiss time from foreign domination and
any potential opportunity for peace no matter interference.
how meager the prospects of its success. For
www.nearpeer.org 28
It is important that no one front-loads this community will be crucial to stabilizing and
process with predetermined outcomes and developing Afghanistan.
preconditions. We are committed to working
with other parties in a consultative manner of We are ready to work on the basis of mutual
genuine respect to agree on a new, inclusive respect with our international partners on
political system in which the voice of every long-term peace-building and reconstruction.
Afghan is reflected and where no Afghan After the United States withdraws its troops,
feels excluded. it can play a constructive role in the postwar
development and reconstruction of
I am confident that, liberated from foreign Afghanistan.
domination and interference, we together
will find a way to build an Islamic system in We acknowledge the importance of
which all Afghans have equal rights, where maintaining friendly relations with all
the rights of women that are granted by Islam countries and take their concerns seriously.
— from the right to education to the right to Afghanistan cannot afford to live in isolation.
work — are protected, and where merit is the The new Afghanistan will be a responsible
basis for equal opportunity. member of the international community.
We are also aware of concerns about the We will remain committed to all
potential of Afghanistan being used by international conventions as long as they are
disruptive groups to threaten regional and compatible with Islamic principles. And we
world security. But these concerns are expect other countries to respect the
inflated: Reports about foreign groups in sovereignty and stability of our country and
Afghanistan are politically motivated consider it as a ground for cooperation rather
exaggerations by the warmongering players than competition and conflict.
on all sides of the war.
More immediately, there will be the
It is not in the interest of any Afghan to allow challenge of putting into effect our
such groups to hijack our country and turn it agreement with the United States. A degree
into a battleground. We have already of trust has been built through our talks with
suffered enough from foreign interventions. the American negotiators in Doha, Qatar, but
We will take all measures in partnership with just as the United States does not trust us
other Afghans to make sure the new completely, we too are very far from fully
Afghanistan is a bastion of stability and that trusting it.
nobody feels threatened on our soil.
We are about to sign an agreement with the
We are conscious of the immense challenges United States and we are fully committed to
ahead. Perhaps our biggest challenge is to carrying out its every single provision, in
ensure that various Afghan groups work hard letter and spirit. Achieving the potential of
and sincerely toward defining our common the agreement, ensuring its success and
future. I am confident that it is possible. If we earning lasting peace will depend on an
can reach an agreement with a foreign equally scrupulous observance by the United
enemy, we must be able to resolve intra- States of each of its commitments. Only then
Afghan disagreements through talks. can we have complete trust and lay the
foundation for cooperation — or even a
Another challenge will be keeping the partnership — in the future.
international community interested and
positively engaged during the transition to My fellow Afghans will soon celebrate this
peace and after the withdrawal of foreign historic agreement. Once it is entirely
troops. The support of the international fulfilled, Afghans will see the departure of all
www.nearpeer.org 29
foreign troops. As we arrive at this milestone, state of Assam, which forced people
I believe it is not a distant dream that we will to verify or forfeit their citizenship. And in
soon see the day when we will come together Delhi on Sunday, a member of Modi’s party
with all our Afghan brothers and sisters, start called on the police to get tough with
moving toward lasting peace and lay the protesters, or watch his followers do so.
foundation of a new Afghanistan. Several days later, Modi, who was hosting
President Donald Trump when the violence
We would then celebrate a new beginning broke out, belatedly called for the restoration
that invites all our compatriots to return from of “peace and normalcy.”
their exile to our country — to our shared
home where everybody would have the right To discuss the volatile situation in Delhi, I
to live with dignity, in peace. spoke by phone with Raghu Karnad, a
journalist and the author of the book
The Real Objective of Mob “Farthest Field: An Indian Story of the
Second World War.” He was in northeastern
Violence Against Muslims in India Delhi this week, where he and several other
journalists barely managed to escape a mob.
(The New Yorker) During our conversation, which has been
edited for length and clarity, we discussed his
D uring the past several days, more

than thirty people have been killed in
mob violence primarily targeting
Muslims in the Indian capital of New Delhi.
At the center of the conflict is the Citizenship
experiences reporting on the violence, how
the Modi government capitalizes on the
conflict between Hindus and Muslims, and
the difficulty of finding accurate reporting in
India.
Amendment Act (C.A.A.), a law passed by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu What have your experiences been like the
majoritarian government that creates a path past several days?
to citizenship for immigrants of different
faiths—unless they happen to be Muslim. Its Wherever you go in the country, something
passage sparked demonstrations across the seems to crop up with this protest movement.
country, many of which have been met by I went to the northeastern part of the city on
force from police and right-wing groups. Tuesday, to try and assess for myself what
Indian journalists have chronicled police was happening there. What was evident
inaction as Muslims’ property has been through the afternoon was that gangs of
destroyed and Muslim residents have been young, angry men had been let loose on very
beaten. There have also been reports of marginal, vulnerable neighborhoods, and
police officers beating Muslims, including that police were either doing a very poor job
the imam of a local mosque. Many of the or refraining from controlling them. The
Hindu mobs have chanted “Jai Shri Ram,” or word that was used most was “clash”—that
“Victory to Lord Ram,” a favored slogan of young Hindu and Muslim men were
Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (B.J.P.). “clashing,” and committing violence and
vandalism on each other’s property. What
Modi, who took office in 2014, has in recent happens increasingly with events like this in
months moved aggressively to restrict the India is that an intensely polarized and rapid-
rights of Muslim residents. Before the acting media machine makes it impossible to
passage of the C.A.A., in December, 2019, discern what is really happening, or what the
Modi’s government revoked the autonomy of facts on the ground are. Even if you work in
India’s only Muslim-majority the press, it is getting harder and harder to
state, Kashmir, and implemented the distinguish what an image is actually
National Register of Citizens (N.R.C.) in the showing you. Was the video that has been
www.nearpeer.org 30
sent to you that is supposed to show one question is why the police and the
community attacking another what it claims government allow the riots to take place,
to be? Or is it something completely because it is clearly in their capacity to stop
different? It became necessary for me to go them. It’s also why it was interesting for me
down there and take the temperature of the to go late in the evening, when a lot of
place myself. journalists had drifted back to their
newsrooms to file their stories and hand over
I want to go back to the news environment, footage, and to find that the police were
but what did you mean by “let loose”? literally standing by as gangs of young men
Because it is very hard to understand how continued to set homes on fire.
much of this is planned and how much is
spontaneous. I understand the point you are making
about the most important question not
What was visible and obvious was that young being who did what but, rather, why it is
men who were Hindu and young men who allowed to happen. But, just to clarify: If
were Muslim were in confrontation, and gangs of Muslim youths were burning
there was an immediate dispute about which Hindu temples, I assume the police would
group was better armed, and whether it was not let that occur, correct?
the Hindus who were carrying firearms or the
Muslims who were carrying firearms, Yes, that’s definitely correct. And that was a
whether it was the Hindus setting fire to case that was proven at the very start of this
shops or the Muslims setting fire to shops. If protest movement, which went national
you have lived in India for long enough, or when groups of mostly Muslim protesters at
been a journalist here long enough, you try to a university called Jamia started a protest
tune that particular question out. Communal which became unruly, and they set fire to
riots have been the permanent black eye on buses, and they were repaid for that with the
the face of Indian democracy, and it is only police storming the university and intruding
because we reduce them immediately to into the university library to assault and
whether more Hindus were killed or more arrest students.
Muslims were killed, and which community
was the guilty party, that the real question There is some contingency that depends on
that never gets enough attention is why which government is in power and which
authorities fail to act in the moment to stop government controls the police. When we are
those riots. And that was exactly the salient talking about Delhi in the present day, the
question yesterday. control of the police is with the Home
Ministry, which is in the central government,
This is the capital of India. These regions are and what has been very clear is that the right
somewhat on the periphery, but you can jump of citizens—including, especially, Muslim
on the metro and be there in thirty minutes citizens—to protest, even peacefully, is
from the center of Delhi. The police were barely being respected. I think I am just
obviously there in large numbers, and they trying to avoid saying the obvious here. At
were occasionally intervening and mostly the end of the day, there was plenty of
standing by, and it is increasingly clear that evidence that the violence continued and the
they were sometimes slipping into young men allowed to remain on the street,
participating into the violence themselves. and allowed to remain armed, were Hindu
We have images of police destroying security activists.
cameras and standing by while young men
collect debris to pelt each other, and there are The reason the Delhi police are controlled
also allegations that the police did some of by the Home Ministry is that it is the
the throwing themselves. The principal capital, correct?
www.nearpeer.org 31
Yes, they are controlled by the central Do you have a sense, looking at the larger
government and not by the state government. political context, why this was allowed to
happen during Trump’s visit? Was it
And the Home Minister is Amit Shah, who coincidental, or was some larger point
is maybe Modi’s closest adviser and a being made?
hardcore supporter of his policies. Do you
have some sense of what low-level police The larger picture is much easier to describe
were being told from their superiors? right now. What happened yesterday, to my
mind, is the culmination of a fairly explicit
I was making many attempts to speak to effort to reframe India’s protest movement
policemen because, for safety, we were from one as Indian citizens challenging the
trying to move from one area to another and government into being a battle between
one police station to another, and mostly they Muslims and Hindus. That’s been in the
were refusing to answer any questions at all, cards for a while. The Modi government has
including any questions about the violence. had its share of setbacks in the last six
One policeman told me something years—there have been some economic-
interesting, which was that that day might policy snafus, as well as larger and smaller
have been chosen because so much of the political losses in state elections. But they
Delhi police force was drawn off into the have dominated in their narrative that India
security arrangements for Donald Trump, had opted out of the Gandhian or Nehruvian
and, therefore, in these areas, the police were era and into a new Hindu-nationalist period,
going to be understaffed, which would allow and that Hindu nationalists had the mandate
these mobs a freer hand. That may have been to begin rewriting what India is.
a factor, but that certainly doesn’t explain the
extent to which the police seemed to be And that had not been substantially
standing by. One thing the police were never challenged until a few months ago, with this
going to say is what orders they received, and protest movement. It is regrettable that the
from whom. But, by that time, I was protest movement has been labelled the anti-
personally watching a group of young men C.A.A. movement, or the anti-N.R.C.
shouting Hindu religious slogans and movement, because it is clear from the
trashing vehicles while police stood by. For protesters that it represents a much broader
what I witnessed, it was clear that a lot of the emotion, and a much more affirmative
violence was not going to be suppressed. emotion, about a unified country, as well as
an affirmation for India’s constitution as it is
The evening ended for me when I and a pair right now. That kind of challenge is one that
of other journalists had to take flight from a the Modi government has never faced—nor
mob ourselves. We were with a group of has it faced as many people in the streets as
policemen who were carrying we have seen in the last weeks. It is probably
semiautomatics, and there were at least half a the largest popular civic movement in at least
dozen of them. We thought at least that as thirty years in this country.
journalists we were in a fairly secure
position. But when the mob turned and We saw groups of Indian Muslims holding
approached us, and were jeering, saying, in up Indian flags yesterday. Is what you are
Hindi, “Are you media people or saying essentially that the government has
Muslims?”—and using a derogatory phrase been more uncomfortable with protests
for Muslims—the police officer just like that, and would prefer more typical
signalled that we should run, and he would Hindu-versus-Muslim tensions, and would
do his best to hold them, but that our safety prefer the debate be about that, rather
was in our own hands. So we took to our than Indian citizenship and Indian
heels. democracy?
www.nearpeer.org 32
Yes, I think that’s true. What is new about part of their slum go up in flames told me that
this movement is that it has armored itself the gang belonged to a Hindu-activist group.
with national icons, like the flag and the
national anthem and the preamble to the There were these other slum dwellers
Indian constitution, which have been part of standing nearby who were Hindus, and they
the chorus of the protests. So the had not been attacked. They said the mob had
government’s main line of attack against told them, “As long as you say ‘Jai Shri Ram’
critics of the government—that they are you’ll be fine, or you’ll be saved.” But this
“anti-national”—hasn’t been able to stick as slum dweller was talking to me, and he said,
well against large groups of people singing “The thing is that they set the Muslims’
the national anthem. So then there has been a homes on fire, and then they left. But now
new effort to recharacterize the movement, this fire is burning in the middle of our
not as one of Muslims trying to defend their community, and it’s going to burn, spread,
citizenship rights but as a movement of and catch, and it could burn down the houses
Muslims disrupting the peace and subverting of non-Muslims, like us, as well.” And then
national security. It’s been fairly explicit he said, “And, the thing is, we don’t even
with the language and tone and statements of have a water supply out here to put out the
B.J.P. leaders that they would prefer to fire.” And I thought that was very poignant,
address this as a “communal” issue, which is because it underscored just how much
the phrase we use for religious divides—a damage it does to these communities to allow
communal matter between Hindus and this kind of violence to take place. We’re
Muslims, rather than a secular, larger, looking at an enormous scale of damage, and
constitutional matter between citizens and a these are people for whom even a wooden
particular government agenda. cart being set on fire can mean a family is
reduced from poverty into penury.
How would you describe the feelings of
Muslim communities in Delhi right now? It also reminds me of what we saw in
Assam, where this registry was primarily
Those areas of Delhi have seen a lot of riots intended to target Muslims, but, then,
and pogroms in the past. They are especially because of bureaucratic reasons, it ended
vulnerable, and especially economically up leaving a bunch of Hindus off the list,
marginalized. There is an area in northeast too, and they are now terrified about what
Delhi that is called Nasbandi Colony, which it’s going to mean for them. Communal
means “vasectomy colony,” because the politics can have victims beyond the
people who were resettled there from slums intended targets.
in the center of Delhi were resettled only in
exchange for being sterilized. That’s the Absolutely. In fact, in Assam, the majority of
level of how marginalized that area is. the people who ended up excluded from the
list turned out to be Hindus. And so, after this
This was during the so-called Emergency, enormously laborious and costly campaign
forty years ago? and exercise, the final N.R.C. list was
rejected by every political party in the state.
Yeah, that happened during the Emergency, The final list didn’t serve the B.J.P., either,
and that is when Nasbandi Colony was because Hindus were left out. Looking at
formed. The moment that sticks in my mind what happened in Delhi yesterday just leaves
from last night is when I was standing by a you reeling at the thought of the cost that
group of huts that were going up in flames very poor Indians have to pay, regardless of
and that had just been set on fire by a rioting what their religion is.
gang. The slum dwellers who were watching
www.nearpeer.org 33
You alluded earlier to this idea that it was

very hard to know what was actually going
on. It seems that there is an abundance of
fake news and edited videos circulating
through apps like WhatsApp. You also
have a certain amount of conformity,
where a bunch of journalistic institutions
in India see challenging the ruling party as
either something you shouldn’t do or
something that people don’t want to do for
ideological reasons. Do you think about
these things as distinct problems?
I think your analysis is bang on, and I think

they are related problems. I admire the Indian
press still, and I think that there are
newspapers in India that are some of the best
newspapers in the world, and are already
beginning to separate the wheat from the
chaff and produce a clear narrative of what How the Indian Government
happened yesterday. The problem is that, by Watched Delhi Burn
the time they’re able to do that, the digital
ecosystems have already been flooded with (The New Yorker)
information that’s hard to distinguish from
misinformation, while corporate news
networks, which are particularly aligned with
the ruling establishment and the B.J.P.—
some of them have been owned by B.J.P.
M.P.s—are only too happy to play on and
T wo things happened in Delhi on
Tuesday, and the gulf between them
illustrated India’s wild, alarming
swerve from normalcy. At the Presidential
palace, Donald Trump concluded a two-day
exploit the ambiguity of this or are trying, visit by attending a ceremonial dinner: an
very intentionally, to spread disinformation evening of gold-leaf-crusted mandarin
while they have the opportunity to do that. oranges, wild Himalayan morels, and gifts of
Kashmiri silk carpets. Half a dozen miles
So the value of sorting out a clearer narrative, away, northeast Delhi was convulsed with
even by the next morning, is kind of violence. Since Sunday, mobs had been
perplexing and really troubling for those of destroying the shops and homes of Muslims,
us who are attempting to do that. I’m glad I vandalizing mosques, and assaulting
went in the evening rather than in the Muslims on the streets. In their chants of “Jai
afternoon, because I think that, while the Shri Ram,” praising a Hindu deity, their
violence was in full swing that afternoon, it loyalties were clear. The attackers were
was too easy for every side to find the image Hindu nationalists, part of a right wing that
and find the video clip that vindicated their has been empowered by Prime Minister
politics, their ideology, or their industry. And Narendra Modi’s government; many of them
by the evening, it was clear that many people were even members of his party. The Delhi
had been wounded and killed—Hindus had police, who are supervised by Modi’s home
been killed and Muslims had been killed. But minister, seemed to side with the mobs; one
in some areas it was much clearer that the video caught cops smashing CCTV cameras,
authorities were only playing a role in while another showed them helping men
protecting and enabling only pro- gather stones to throw. Several reports said
government mobs to stay on the streets.
www.nearpeer.org 34
that policemen stood by while the attackers out protesters and Muslims have acted of
went about their business. In a few spurts, their own volition, outside the Party’s
Muslims retaliated, and the streets witnessed control. But the B.J.P.’s habitual rhetoric—
periods of full-scale clashes. A policeman stirring up hatred, advocating force, calling
was killed, and an intelligence officer was opponents “traitors”—not only incites mob
murdered and dumped in a drain. At least savagery but also gives attackers the
thirty-eight people have died: shot, beaten, confidence that they’ll never be prosecuted.
burned. At the Trump banquet, the Navy (Vigilantes who, while insisting that the cow
band played “Can You Feel the Love is sacred to Hindus, have been lynching
Tonight.” Muslims and lower-caste Hindus on the
suspicion of smuggling cows or owning beef
The mayhem came after a winter of protest. are operating out of a similar sense of
Since early December, millions of Indians security.) When the state knows that its right-
have assembled across the country to object wing affiliates will carry out the kind of
to a new law that promises fast-tracked violence that it cannot and should not pursue,
Indian citizenship to Pakistani, Afghan, and then all it has to do is nothing.
Bangladeshi refugees of every major South
Asian faith except Islam. The law is limited The slyness of this tactic is not without
in its scope but momentous in how overtly it precedent. In 2002, when Modi was the chief
separates Indianness from Islam. It’s a move minister of Gujarat, a weeks-long pogrom
characteristic of Modi’s Bharatiya Janata against Muslims left as many as two
Party (B.J.P.) and its allied groups, who thousand people dead. Then, too, the police
regard India’s two hundred million Muslims assisted the mobs of Hindu nationalists—or,
as an undesirable part of an ideal Hindu at best, did little to stop their rampage. Two
nation. The protesters against the law have, witnesses later recalled that Modi had
in nearly every case, been peaceful, but their instructed the police to stand down while the
sit-ins and marches have been met with force brutality unfolded. One of those witnesses
by the government: tear gas, house raids, was found dead in his car the following year,
arbitrary detentions, police brutality, Internet while the other was sentenced to life in
shutdowns. In speeches, Modi’s colleagues prison, last June, in a decades-old murder
have suggested that dissenters should be case that was suddenly resurrected. Modi
shot. was cleared of complicity in the 2002 riots
by an investigative team appointed by the
The B.J.P.’s top leaders—the Prime Minister Supreme Court. But he is known to hold the
included—seem to excel at creating reins of power so tightly, and to govern so
conditions in which violence can unfold. On absolutely, that it’s difficult to believe that
Sunday, in Delhi, a local B.J.P. politician Gujarat or Delhi could burn under his gaze
named Kapil Mishra gave an ultimatum to without his sanction.
the police: clear the roads of protesters or
allow his followers to do so. His speech was This arm’s-length orchestration of anarchy
inflammatory, but he faced no trouble from has, in the past few days, made for some
his party; the B.J.P. has a record of tolerating, surreal scenes. Television journalists went
and even rewarding, members who threaten out to work wearing cricket helmets, for
to take the law into their own hands. (Yogi safety; videos showed Muslim slums on fire;
Adityanath, a Hindu cleric who regularly and the death toll climbed. Yet Ajit Doval,
delivers hate-filled speeches and whose India’s national-security adviser, visited
supporters burned a train in 2007, is now a northeast Delhi on Wednesday and said,
B.J.P. chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, “Everything is normal. People of all
India’s most populous state.) The communities are living in peace and love.” In
government can claim that the gangs seeking the Delhi High Court, on Wednesday, the
www.nearpeer.org 35
deputy commissioner of police claimed that In Afghanistan, Peace is Finally in

he had not seen any footage of Mishra’s
incendiary speech, even though it had been Sight
the spark applied to the tinder. Modi’s home
minister, in charge of law and order, made no
(Al – Jazeera)
statements. Modi himself restricted his
comments to just two tweets; in fact, he
stayed away from the customary joint press
conference at the end of Trump’s visit,
leaving the American President to field
L ast Friday, a week-long "reduction in
violence" took effect across
Afghanistan as a result of extensive
negotiations between the United States and
the Taliban. This "reduction in violence", if
questions about the turmoil. “He wants
people to have religious freedom, and very successful, will be followed by the signing of
strongly,” Trump said, of Modi. On an agreement between the two parties on
Thursday, Modi’s Solicitor General told the February 29, in which the US will announce
High Court that it was “not conducive” to a withdrawal schedule for its troops in
investigate B.J.P. politicians for hate exchange for guarantees from the Taliban
speech—even though his government has that it will no longer allow Afghan territory
kept a few key Kashmiri politicians under to be used as a launchpad for attacks that
house arrest for more than six months, threaten global security.
arguing that they’re liable to stir unrest. On
Thursday, after paramilitary troops were If and when such an agreement is reached,
deployed, and after northeast Delhi had Afghanistan can finally enter the crucial
somewhat quieted, the B.J.P. blamed phase of intra-Afghan negotiations and take
opposition parties for instigating the steps towards agreeing on a political
violence. settlement that would end the country's
decades-long conflict for good.
This process, however, is not going to be

In 2002, a Reuters photo became emblematic easy.
of the riots, showing a Muslim tailor, his shirt
flecked with blood, imploring security forces Thorny issues on the road to peace
with folded hands to rescue him from a mob
that was surrounding his house. This week, After signing a deal with the US, the Taliban
another Reuters image emerged, of a Muslim will be facing the mammoth task of
man on all fours, bloodied and bowed, trying convincing their constituents and supporters,
to shield his head from the dozen or so men who are the source of the group's power, to
encircling him and beating him with staves. support intra-Afghan talks, which will
His manner is abject, desperate. There are no necessitate direct negotiations with a
police in sight. The photo stands for what government they do not recognise as
now seems to be the fate of India’s legitimate. In particular, they have to
minorities, as designed by the B.J.P.: to find convince their commanders and fighters,
being heavily outnumbered a matter of life who may defect to the ISIL (ISIS) group as a
and death; to cower in perpetual fear; and to result of this deal.
know that the state will bring no relief,
because it’s the state that’s choreographing Meanwhile, the US will be tasked with
the fear in the first place. convincing a reluctant Afghan government to
give peace a chance and negotiate with the
enemy. In order for that to happen, the
government in Kabul will first need to
www.nearpeer.org 36
resolve the election crisis in which it is complicated the issues at hand and led to
currently engulfed. more polarised negotiating positions.
Last week, Afghanistan's incumbent History is now being repeated as several

President Ashraf Ghani was declared the states are already competing with each other
winner of the September 28 presidential to host future intra-Afghan talks.
election. His rival and Afghanistan's chief
executive, Abdullah Abdullah, however, Third-party governments have the capacity
contested the much-delayed results and to help peace talks significantly and play a
announced that he would be setting up a rival constructive role in resolving complex
government. The government in Kabul conflicts like the one in Afghanistan.
cannot negotiate with the Taliban while its Nevertheless, they sometimes try to use such
legitimacy is disputed. So, the rivalry negotiations to score political points at home,
between Abdullah and Ghani needs to be harming the peace process.
resolved and a government perceived as
legitimate by all Afghan citizens needs to be Today, most governments appear to be
formed before any intra-Afghan talks can go obsessed with the intra-Afghan dialogue
forward. Today's news that both have agreed taking the form of yet another grand
to enter talks is promising. conference that will provide immediate
results and allow them to tell voters at home
All this makes it hard to estimate how long it that they helped resolve the Afghan crisis.
will take for the warring parties to take their Such a conference, however, cannot provide
seats at the negotiating table. However, both solutions to Afghanistan's myriad problems.
the government and the Taliban, as well as What is needed to help the country move
Afghan civil society, can turn any delay in forward is a multitude of intra-Afghan talks -
the start of the negotiations to their advantage meetings between key political players, local
by using this time to begin the process to and provincial figures and civil society
foster an array of substantive ideas and leaders of all levels. This can help build trust
alternatives for Afghanistan’s post- among local communities across
settlement future, which has been a missing Afghanistan and deliver a political settlement
element in current security-focused that can ensure sustainable peace.
negotiations.
States that are genuinely interested in
International community must move supporting the Afghan peace process should,
intra-Afghan talks forward therefore, give up on their dreams of hosting
yet another glossy "peace conference" that
would allow them to be under the spotlight
Despite multiple obstacles and issues, the
and instead help the Afghan people to hold
start of intra-Afghan talks is more likely now
talks that would incrementally build trust and
than ever before. The international
maximise the probability of a durable
community needs to swiftly agree on a plan
political settlement.
to help the negotiations move forward.
They should stop competing with each other
In the past 18 months, we witnessed a race
and, instead, work together. They can either
between several governments to host US-
form a partnership to move the talks forward
Taliban negotiations. While it was in Qatar
in unison or allow the party that can
that the talks eventually reached a successful
contribute the most to the process to take the
conclusion, the UAE and Saudi Arabia tried
lead. Currently, the strongest and most
to stage and facilitate negotiations. This
obvious candidates for hosting the intra-
rivalry wasted time and resources,
www.nearpeer.org 37
Afghan talks are Germany, Uzbekistan, discretion by hosting the negotiations

Indonesia, Norway and Qatar. between the US and the Taliban. It also
successfully brought the Taliban to the
Germany is a strong candidate for hosting negotiating table by agreeing to host the
intra-Afghan talks. The 2001 Bonn armed group's political commission in Doha.
Agreement laid the foundation of the Islamic In the eyes of the Taliban, Qatar would be an
Republic of Afghanistan as we know it today. ideal host for intra-Afghan talks. Kabul,
Due to it being the second-largest aid donor however, will still need some persuasion that
and troop contributor to the country after the the Taliban presence in Doha does not equate
US, it can convince the Kabul government to to it being their home turf.
take a seat at the negotiating table and be
constructive. Yet that very strength is also Another option would be to form a genuine,
Germany's weakness as, in the eyes of the coordinated partnership between multiple
Taliban, it is seen as a partial actor aligned nations to allow them to facilitate the
with the Afghan government. talks through a single, independent and
impartial body. While the talks can take
Uzbekistan, meanwhile, would be the first place in any location, in order to circumvent
choice of some of the former members and the restrictions placed on the Taliban, this
supporters of the Northern Alliance, a body can base itself in Doha and have
collective of armed groups that fought another office in Kabul.
against the Taliban government in the late
1990s, for hosting the talks. Other parties are Clearly, for any of these scenarios to come to
unlikely to choose the country as host, fruition, the international community should
however, as it is too close to the conflict and immediately decide on a game plan and start
can easily get drawn in. building on the momentum generated by the
planned signing ceremony this Saturday.
Indonesia is another strong candidate for
hosting intra-Afghan talks. The country has
no geostrategic interest in the region and has
much to offer to the process, given its diverse
experience in sub-national conflict
management in Banda Aceh, East Timor and
elsewhere.
Although it may not be the first choice for

either side, Norway has a longer history of
engagement with the Taliban than any other
country and it has maintained its support for
the Afghan government. In addition,
Norway has substantial experience and
expertise in complex, multi-party peace
facilitation; it has recently helped the
Colombian government make peace with the
FARC and has been acting as a third-party
facilitator in negotiations between the
Philippine government and the NDFP.
Qatar has no geo-strategic interests in

Afghanistan. It has already proven that it can
facilitate successful peace talks with utmost
www.nearpeer.org 38
India's Media is Failing in its Without being formally censored or

compelled by other means to comply with
Democratic Duty official diktats, these media houses have
simply stopped doing their job. They have
By: Siddharth Varadarajan (Al – stopped asking difficult questions about the
Jazeera) government and its policies. They are in awe
of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his
T he protests in India against the senior ministers and are reluctant to be

Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), critical of them.
which grants a fast track to citizenship
for certain religious-minority immigrants, Many, sadly, have become mouthpieces of
have underlined the importance of not just official propaganda. Some do not think twice
the democratic process, which includes the about promoting religious polarisation and
right to peaceful protest, but also the role of even hatred in pursuit of the political agenda
the media in covering the government's of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
response to the protesters.
There is also a major section of the media
I work as a journalist in India and am happy which is reluctant to be seen rocking the boat
and proud to be part of what I regard as a free mainly because their proprietors have
press in the country. The website I helped business interests that could be jeopardised.
found four years ago, The Wire, shines a It is commonplace for governments at the
critical light - a pretty harsh one - on the central and state level to use official
government, on politics and on big business. advertising as a lever of influence on the
And there are others like us. media. But there is also a darker side: With
most investigative agencies functioning at
Sure, the politicians and ministers and the beck and call of ruling politicians,
captains of industry do not like what we do proprietors fear becoming the target of a
and have made their displeasure known in vendetta if their reporters are seen as taking
various ways; but show me a democracy on the establishment.
where the government loves the media and
chances are the media is not doing its job. For those of us still willing to do our job,
there are indirect financial pressures, of
So why is it then that India - a country with a course, but also legal tactics aimed at
free press and an independent judiciary - silencing critical coverage. Defamation laws
does so badly on global indices measuring are misused to embroil editors and reporters
media freedom? In 2019, the country slipped in frivolous cases that can take us years to
two places down to 140 out of 180 in the shake off. At one time, The Wire was facing
World Press Freedom index compiled by 14 defamation suits filed by governing party
Reporters Without Borders. How do we politicians and their family members,
reconcile the fact that there is a constitution, businessmen and even a godman - a high-
laws guaranteeing press freedom, and media profile guru - known to be close to the
platforms fiercely doing their job, with establishment. Total damages currently
India's falling rank? being sought in these bogus cases against us
run to over one billion dollars.
What has happened over the past few years is
that a major section of the media has crossed In the past few months, the government has
over to the dark side. sought new ways to get a grip on the
country's scrappy digital media. It has
announced new restrictions on foreign
investment in digital media, including
www.nearpeer.org 39
approval on a case-by-case basis, and is also The Trump plan threatens the
proposing to introduce a compulsory
registration process for news and current status quo at al-Haram al-Sharif
affairs websites.
By: Ofer Zalzberg (Al – Jazeera)
A new tactic, which affects not just media
A
freedom but the freedom of speech and part from its many other faults and
communication of ordinary citizens, is the its overall one-sidedness, and despite
imposition of bans on the usage of the its authors' claims to the contrary, the
internet and social media. In Jammu and US plan for Israel-Palestine, unveiled at the
Kashmir, a "temporary" ban on social media end of January, proposes perilous changes to
has lasted more than 200 days now. the historical status quo at Jerusalem's Holy
Esplanade.
Broadband internet remains banned and
limited data internet access was permitted The 14-hectare (35-acre) compound, known
after a two-month hiatus but only for low- to Jews as Temple Mount and to Muslims as
speed access to "whitelisted" sites. al-Haram al-Sharif, is Judaism's holiest site
and Islam's third-most sacred after Mecca
The latest assault on freedom of speech is the and Medina. The contested site, which is
government's decision to charge Kashmiris home to both the Dome of the Rock and Al-
who access the internet via VPNs under the Aqsa Mosque, is currently supervised by
draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Jordan's Islamic Waqf according to an
Act. Given the growing interface between unwritten Ottoman-era arrangement. Per the
social media and news media, this arrangement, Muslims are allowed to pray at
clampdown can only have a further chilling the site, while non-Muslims are only allowed
effect on press freedom. entry as tourists.
While the media in India has always had to In its plan, titled Peace to Prosperity, the
contend with unfriendly politicians in the Trump administration pays lip service to this
past, they could, with the exception of the arrangement, saying "the status quo at the
1975-1977 Emergency, at least count on the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif should
support of the country's judges if the going continue uninterrupted". Despite this,
got tough. What makes the current phase so however, it calls for three major changes that
dangerous is both the Modi government's would, in practice, undo the centuries-old
level of intolerance and the reluctance of the arrangement completely: transferring the site
courts to defend free speech and press to Israeli sovereignty, rescinding Jordan's
freedom. custodianship over it, and ending the ban on
non-Muslim prayer.
The press freedom we have in India should
no longer be taken for granted. And it is only The plan aims to end Muslim control over the
if we use our freedom - fiercely and site, merely promising to guarantee Muslim
fearlessly - that we can stave off future worshippers' free access to it. It also
assaults on it. seemingly attempts to do away with Jordan's
custodianship of the compound, making no
mention of it, a move that flies in the face of
Israel's commitment in the 1994 Israel-
Jordan peace treaty to "give high priority to
the Jordanian historic role in these
shrines". The plan instead describes Israel as
a custodian of Jerusalem's holy sites.
www.nearpeer.org 40
The plan calls for freedom of worship at the contrary," he said at a media briefing. "So
Holy Esplanade, saying: "[p]eople of every there's nothing in the […] plan that would
faith should be permitted to pray on the impose any alteration of the status quo that's
Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, in a manner not subject to agreement of all the parties".
that is fully respectful to their religion, taking
into account the times of each religion's In theory, Friedman's remarks provide some
prayers and holidays, as well as other clarification, suggesting Washington will
religious factors". This seemingly benign insist that any change allowing for non-
notion - that there ought to be freedom of Muslim prayer should occur only as part of
worship at the site - masks an attempt to an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement. In
make a major alteration to the historical practice, however, his comments leave room
status quo. for ambiguity as "the status quo, in the
manner that it is observed today" - in both
Regardless of what the notion means in Jordanian and Palestinian eyes - is already an
practice - separate Jewish and Muslim eroded version of the historical arrangement.
devotions or side-by-side prayer - the mere
possibility of separate prayer times triggers Over the years, Israel has increasingly
visceral Palestinian fears that Al-Aqsa allowed Jewish prayer and imposed greater
Mosque will one day undergo a forced limitations on the Waqf's independence.
partitioning akin to the one imposed on Growing numbers of religious Jews have
Hebron's Ibrahimi Mosque by Israeli visited the site, many of whom are part of
authorities in 1994. Temple movements - activist groups seeking
to promote Jewish worship at and Israeli
The Trump plan is unlikely to ever serve as control over the holy site with the ultimate
the basis for negotiations between Israel and aim of erecting a Third Temple.
the Palestinians, let alone a comprehensive
peace deal. The Palestine Liberation They make up a small minority of Israeli
Organisation and Hamas refused to engage Jews, but Israel's police has given them
with it long before its announcement. Some significant leeway, tolerating low-profile
Arab states made somewhat supportive prayer as well as discreet study of religious
statements about it right after its publication texts and conduct of rites of passage, while
but these were soon overtaken by a chorus of blocking open and loud prayer.
disapproval from around the world. The Arab
League and Organisation of Islamic With Waqf support, Palestinians have
Cooperation also rejected the plan in early regained access over three sections of the
February. compound turning them into prayer halls.
This happened most recently at a building
The plan, however, can still cause near Bab al-Rahma which was shut down by
considerable damage. Israelis could invoke it Israeli authorities in 2003.
as setting forth new default parameters for
how the site will be governed in the absence In light of all this, it is clear that there are
of an Israeli-Palestinian deal. major differences between committing to the
ever-changing status quo today and the
Following the Muslim world's rejection of historical arrangement.
the plan's attempt to alter the status quo at the
Holy Esplanade, US Ambassador to Israel Tellingly, Public Security Minister Gilad
David Friedman sought to clarify Erdan, who is responsible for the police
Washington's stance on the issue. "The status policies at the holy site, seems to
quo, in the manner that it is observed today, publicly encourage ongoing Jewish prayer at
will continue absent an agreement to the the site, in contravention of the prayer ban.
www.nearpeer.org 41
Moreover, Temple activists have already

been invoking the plan's language to argue
for doing away with the non-Muslim prayer
ban. The Students for the Temple Mount, for
example, launched a media campaign within
two days of the plan's release, titled "The
Time Has Come: Sovereignty and Freedom
of Worship at the Temple Mount for Jews
Now!", quoting the Trump plan's statement
in support of Jewish prayer.
There are many reasons to reject the plan,

including its departure from international
norms, its blatant bias, and its treatment of
Palestinians in Israel as second-class
citizens. But the positions it espouses on
Jerusalem's Holy Esplanade present a Controversial NAB
particular danger.
(Dawn Editorial)
By calling into question the status quo and
I
legitimising exclusivist Israeli positions, it f the National Accountability Bureau has
risks making any future resolution ever more earned anything since its creation by a
elusive. It empowers forces working to military dictator two decades ago, it is
shatter the ban on non-Muslim worship on public censure and mistrust. The anti-
the site and increases the possibility of corruption watchdog has over time become
another episode of religiously motivated perhaps the most disliked agency in the
violence in Jerusalem. country. Although the law was amended
slightly last year, NAB still retains its powers
The US is assertively seeking backing for its to arrest people on mere complaints and
plan, including from Arab states. Should allegations of corruption and financial
President Trump be re-elected in November, wrongdoings. The truth is that NAB has
his administration may well embark on a hardly any ‘success’ to its credit to prove that
more sustained effort to do so. Those hoping it is adept at investigating white-collar crime
for a peaceful and sustainable resolution to — the task it has been entrusted with and that
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should not just is the justification for its existence. Had the
withhold their support for it serving as the accountability law not provided for ‘plea
basis for negotiations, but actively oppose it. bargain’ deals with the suspects and allowed
NAB investigators to adopt a controversial,
highhanded approach, it would have nothing
to flaunt.
The recent hearings of two corruption cases

against former prime minister Shahid
Khaqan Abbasi and former planning minister
Ahsan Iqbal are evidence of how flawed the
accountability law is. The politicians’ cases
amply demonstrate that NAB does not open
corruption inquiries on the basis of solid
proof. Nor do its investigators care about
www.nearpeer.org 42
actual probes. Little wonder then that most Indo – US Arms Deal
cases continue to linger in the accountability
courts for want of proper evidence for years. (Dawn Editorial)
In granting bail to the two former public
representatives the other day, the Islamabad
O
ne of the more troubling outcomes of
High Court laid bare the many faults in US President Donald Trump’s just-
NAB’s investigation process. Chief Justice concluded visit to India is a
Athar Minallah raised some important multibillion-dollar arms deal reached
questions about the bureau’s policy between Washington and New Delhi.
regarding the arrest of individuals — even According to media reports, the deal is said
when they were fully cooperating with the to involve attack helicopters and is
investigators in the probe against them — reportedly valued at $3bn. While the deal
and blatant violations of the suspects’ will no doubt be music to the ears of the
constitutional rights. Apparently, NAB American arms industry, for those who want
investigators have made no headway against peace in South Asia this is an unfortunate
Mr Abbasi who was arrested almost seven development. Pakistan has voiced concern
months back in the controversial LNG case. over the deal, with the Foreign Office
Officials involved in the case also have spokesperson commenting that “we have
shown little understanding of how alerted the international community several
international business deals are done. Nor times about India’s aggressive designs. ...”
could they satisfy the judge on why it was Indeed, the Balakot misadventure last year
necessary to arrest suspects, especially if — foiled due to the alertness of the PAF —
they happened to have been elected public was just one example of India’s bellicose
leaders. posture towards this country. As the military
spokesman told the media on Thursday,
The NAB actions against opposition India has violated the Line of Control nearly
politicians in the last couple of years, on the 400 times last year. Certainly these are not
basis of flimsy evidence, has reinforced the actions responsible states indulge in, and it is
belief that the agency is being used by the unfortunate that the US is pampering India as
powers that be to make them fall in line. One a counterweight to China, without
can recall the way in which Pervez considering New Delhi’s bullying attitude in
Musharraf used the body to carve out the South Asia.
‘Patriot’ group from the PPP after the 2002
elections. That is not all. Recent NAB cases At the height of the Cold War, India was a
against bureaucrats and businessmen and the firm Soviet client, buying Moscow’s arms
alleged pressure on them to turn approver and following its geopolitical lead. However,
against previous rulers have probably with the fall of communism and with the US
damaged investor confidence more than the establishing itself as the world’s sole
government’s flawed policies to stabilise the superpower, India saw it fit to make inroads
economy. It is because of these reasons that with the Americans. That development,
many are calling for the reform of the coupled with Washington’s intense rivalry
accountability law and anti-corruption with Beijing, has resulted in the US
watchdog. In fact, NAB lost its credibility cultivating India as an Asian counterbalance
quite a while back and needs to be shut down. to China. However, while both the US and
India champion their status as ‘great
democracies’, as the events over the past few
days have shown, those who run India today
are wedded to thoroughly undemocratic
principles. Not only is the Hindutva-inspired
www.nearpeer.org 43
administration bent upon demonising and from, how it spreads and how to prevent it in
oppressing India’s minorities, particularly its one’s personal capacity. Since there are a lot
Muslims, the fanatical elements in New of misconceptions around the disease,
Delhi have also threatened Pakistan separating valid from invalid information
numerous times in the recent past. Such can help the already anxious population in
threats have come from senior Indian the country.
military as well as civilian officials. Hence,
in such a scenario, when the US chooses to The World Health Organization (WHO) has
empower the Indian war machine, Pakistan prepared and shared some key facts and
has very legitimate concerns. The deal will considerations in this regard which can be
only further spur the arms race in South Asia communicated in simple terms to the public.
and scuttle any chances for peace. The US Although continuously working to update its
should take a more responsible and balanced own findings, the WHO has set some basic
approach in this region, especially when two facts right for everyone to consult and benefit
nuclear-armed states are involved, and India from.
must not be allowed to bully and browbeat
neighbouring states using American The coronavirus comes from a large family
weapons. of viruses which, like other viruses, is
contracted by animals. In humans many
types of coronaviruses are known, and which
cause respiratory infections. These infections
range from the common cold to acute
diseases such as the Middle East Respiratory
Syndrome (MERS) and Severe Acute
Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). COVID-19
is the most recently discovered infection that
comes from the same family.
The most common symptoms of COVID 19

are fever, runny nose, sore throat, diarrhea,
nasal congestion and tiredness. Some people
may not show symptoms until the virus has
progressed by about 50 percent. The
symptoms are usually mild and kickstart
gradually. Most of the infected persons
recover from COVID-19 without having
Some Coronavirus Facts received any special medical attention. The
older population and people with underlying
By: Dr. Hassan Dawood (The medical conditions such as high blood
News International) pressure, cardiac problems or diabetes are
more at risk. Up till now about two percent
of people with this disease have died.
T he much talked about Coronavirus

Disease (COVID-19) needs some
serious and valid communication
strategy to create awareness among the
general population.
The virus can be spread from people who
already have caught the virus. It spreads from
human to human through small droplets
passed by nose or mouth via cough or
The government has to do its bit to exhales by the COVID-19 infected person.
communicate about where this virus came The droplets reach the objects and surfaces
nearby and is then caught by other people
www.nearpeer.org 44
who touch the same objects and surfaces, Strictly avoid touching your eyes, nose and
while touching their nose, eyes or mouth. It mouth.
is important to stay three meters away from
any person who is sick. It is, however, Ensure good food safety standards by
unknown how long they live on the surfaces. handling raw meat, milk or animal organs
with care to avoid any possible
COVID-19 is worse than the normal contamination. Follow good respiratory and
influenza because unlike the latter, there is general hygiene. Lastly and most
no vaccine available to fight off COVID-19. importantly, if you catch the virus, keep
It spreads quicker than the normal influenza, away from others. Since its spread is faster
that is why it can turn into an outbreak. Each than other viruses, this is the best you can do
COVID-19 infected person can infect two to to prevent its transmission to others.
three persons as compared to the seasonal flu
which on average can be transmitted to about By large, scientific evidence does not support
one person. Another difference is that of the any of the myths about COVID-19 which are
disease’ incubation period; which for most talked about in Pakistan: companion
COVID-19 is about 2-14 days while for animals or pets such as cats and dogs have
influenza it’s about 2-3 days. not been found infected or transmitters of the
virus that causes COVID-19. It is also safe to
It can be said that COVID-19 is worse than receive a package from an affected country
influenza but less bad than SARS and MERS because the likelihood of an infected person
due to their quite high mortality rates. contaminating commercial goods is low and
the risk of catching the virus that causes
We can take several preventive measures COVID-19 from a package that has been
unless the menace is controlled. Restricting moved, travelled, and exposed to different
international travel for about 3-4 weeks can conditions and temperature is also low. To
lower the chances of catching the virus. date, there is no vaccine and no specific
Avoiding travel to affected areas – China, antiviral medication to prevent or treat
South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Italy and COVID-2019. However, those affected
Iran – can also minimize the risk of getting should receive care to relieve symptoms.
affected. Cars can be used for domestic travel Antibiotics do not work against viruses, they
instead of using planes and trains. The key only work on bacterial infections. COVID-
here is to avoid contact with bigger crowds. 19 is caused by a virus, so antibiotics do not
Wearing masks and keeping away from a work
sick person can also help prevent the
transmission. In the instance of having fever, cough and
difficulty breathing, immediately seek
Another sensible step is to get a flu vaccine medical care to reduce the risk of developing
which will reduce the burden on health a more serious infection. Be continuously
services if the outbreak turns into a wider aware of your surroundings and take
epidemic. The survival time of the virus is preventive measures to avoid catching the
not known, but studies suggest that it virus that causes COVID-19.
behaves like other viruses – and so may
survive for hours or up to several days Knowing all this, it is understandable that we
depending on the type, temperature and may feel stressed and anxious about the
environment of the surface. If you think that situation. It is always good to get the facts to
the surface or object is infected, you may help us accurately determine our risks so that
clean it with simple disinfectant or alcohol- one can take precautions. In this age of
based rub or wash them with soap and water. excess information, it is important to be
www.nearpeer.org 45
rightly informed of the situation and take For instance, 60 percent of undersecretaries
appropriate measures to protect ourselves. general viewed the reform of the U.N. peace
and security sector favorably. Only 18 to 21
A Grunt’s View of U.N. percent of lower-ranking professional staff
agreed. It’s a similar story for development
Leadership reforms. Some 70 percent of
undersecretaries general viewed the reform
(Foreign Policy Magazine) favorably. Only 18 to 23 percent of low-
ranking professional staff viewed it
T he vast majority of U.N. workers—89

percent—say they are proud to work
for their international organization,
which keeps the peace in far-flung war
zones, tends to natural and humanitarian
favorably.
Unsurprisingly, 90 to 91 percent of assistant

secretaries general and undersecretaries
general thought they were open to adopting
disasters, and promotes the global response good ideas whether they were proposed by
to issues such as climate change and senior or junior staff.
pandemics.
The more junior professionals may quibble.
But drill down deeper into the lower ranks of
the U.N. Secretariat and you will find far less Only 50 percent of entry-level professional
confidence in the leadership’s ability to staffers—designated P-1s—believed that
position the world body to confront the good ideas were adopted regardless of who
challenges ahead. When he came into office put them forward. Only a small percentage of
just over three years ago, U.N. Secretary- employees—9 percent—from that same
General António Guterres undertook a major group felt it was safe to challenge the status
reform of the U.N. Secretariat, restructuring quo in the U.N. Secretariat. Some 60 percent
divisions that deal with peace and security, of undersecretaries general disagreed. But
development and management. they got little support from their deputies.
Only 38 percent of assistant secretaries
So, how has that been going? Depends who general felt it was safe to challenge the status
you ask. quo.
According to a recent internal U.N. staff There was plenty of good news in the
survey—which we are highlighting as survey—which was based on responses from
Foreign Policy’s Document of the Week— 18,742 U.N. employees. In 2019, 79 percent
the U.N. top brass provided a rosier picture of U.N. workers saw a “clear link” between
of the reforms they were leading than those their jobs and the broader goals of the U.N.
who were tasked with carrying them out. agency they served, an improvement over
2017. Eighty-three percent felt comfortable
For instance, 75 percent of the U.N.’s most asking their superiors for help when they
senior officials—undersecretaries general— struggled with their work. But the U.N. saw
saw initial improvements from the a decline over the past two years in the
management reforms. Drill down into the percentage of workers—from 64 to 59
lower ranks of professional staff and you will percent—who said they felt valued as a staff
see that only 24 to 27 percent agree. member. There was also a drop in the
percentage of workers—from 72 to 69
The picture is only gloomier for reforms in percent—who felt that men and women were
the fields of development and peace and treated equally in the workplace.
security.
www.nearpeer.org 46
A majority of respondents—58 percent— the warring sides for the first time. In
said they would prefer to keep their jobs at February, the government of Afghanistan
the U.N. even if they were offered a agreed to stop its operations against the
“comparable position with similar pay and Taliban for seven days to facilitate the first
benefits elsewhere.” But that figure dipped formal negotiations between Kabul and the
slightly, from 61 percent in 2017. insurgents. The Afghan government and the
American forces abided by the agreement.
There were reports of several attacks by the
Taliban on the Afghan civilians and security
forces, but violence certainly decreased
during this period.
Negotiations between an inclusive Afghan

government-led team with the Taliban offer
us a historic opportunity to end the war. If
these talks are going to deliver peace, both
the Afghan government and the Taliban
urgently need to think more clearly about
their coming talks and what they envision as
the potential outcomes.
In October, President Ashraf Ghani of

Afghanistan published a plan articulating his
vision for peace. He laid out the steps for
peace from talks with the United States and
NATO about the withdrawal of their forces
How Afghans Can Work Together and a subsequent counterterrorism
to End the War framework. The plan includes the creation of
an inclusive Afghan team to negotiate with
By: Aref Dostyar (The New York the Taliban and talking to regional and global
partners to ensure national security and
Times) cooperation to develop the Afghan economy
in “post-peace agreement” Afghanistan.
O
n Saturday, the United States and the
Taliban will sign an agreement that President Ghani also put forth the path to
will pave the way for talks between resolving long-term local grievances caused
the Taliban and a team of negotiators led by by feelings of exclusion from political
the Afghan government in March. There is processes or low levels of accessibility to law
hope, at last, of respite from the long war. enforcement and justice. Furthermore, the
plan aims to strengthen national public
The Afghan government deserves credit for institutions to maintain order and deliver
planting the seeds of peace two years ago by essential services to the people.
offering unconditional talks to the Taliban
and announcing a unilateral cease-fire that and worrying lack of clarity, and their
blossomed into a three-day pause in intentions remain inscrutable. They insist
hostilities in June 2018. that they want the violence to stop, but they
agreed to only a seven-day “reduction in
Kabul continued to reach out to the Taliban violence” and refuse to accept a cease-fire
and sent some officials in July to an informal until after official peace negotiations, the
peace dialogue in Doha that brought together parameters of which remain undefined.
www.nearpeer.org 47
The Taliban have also been extremely vague But it is a shortsighted and problematic
about their proposed policies on human approach.
rights, the relationship of the Afghan
government to its people and the future of The opponents in negotiations, at best,
relationships between Kabul and the world. compromise on superficial bargaining
positions rather than on their core interests.
The details are absolutely crucial. The In the Afghan context, it focuses on a
Taliban have spoken about agreeing with division of government positions among
human rights based on Islamic law. Will their certain people or groups of people instead of
interpretation be aligned with the positions of building a sustainable system for political
its founder Mullah Omar, or will it align with inclusion of all Afghans.
something that progressive scholars of Islam
would approve? They are entirely silent And it is difficult to understand what one can
about this. afford to compromise on. Development?
Social and political freedoms? People’s right
The Taliban say that their proposed to food and education? Can one agree to
governance system is one that is “based on halfway rights for women?
consensus among people.” But they have not
clarified whether they agree that all men and In Kabul, the “defensive model” plays out as
women of age have the right to vote and a feeling of defensiveness, a compelling urge
whether they would accept peaceful to guard against a dreadful past when the
transitions of power based on free elections Taliban ruled Afghanistan. It stems from a
through secret ballots. sense that the ideals and achievements of the
past two decades are under attack by the
The insurgents have not explained whether Taliban, and that fear is based on the
they would accept the Constitution of the regressive and ultra-Orthodox positions the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, which is Taliban demonstrated when they were in
informed by the core ideas of Islam and power in the 1990s.
explicitly prohibits the promulgation of any
laws contravening the tenets and provisions Perhaps a better approach for the Afghan
of Islam. The people of Afghanistan deserve talks to succeed and deliver a just and lasting
to hear the Taliban’s positions clearly on peace could be that both groups take a
these and many other questions. transformative approach. Negotiators from
both sides should meet to create the blueprint
These uncertainties and the absence of trust of the future by building upon the
of the Taliban have created certain attitudes achievements of the past two decades. They
toward the peace talks among pro- must find common ground based on
government factions, particularly among arguments that reflect the realities of the new
some political parties who seek a share of Afghanistan.
power and a new generation of politicians
who don’t want to lose their hard-fought For such fruitful discussions, the two sides
gains. should distinguish between questions that
will be resolved in formal talks and questions
The most common of these attitudes are the that can be resolved through informal talks.
“compromise model” and the “defensive They need to build an effective mechanism
model.” The “compromise model” sees a for addressing the right questions in the right
degree of compromise with the Taliban as a settings.
prerequisite to successful peace negotiations,
and it is implicitly and explicitly propagated Questions such as an agreement on the venue
by some international peace experts as well. and timeline of talks, and clearing of
www.nearpeer.org 48
roadblocks to peace along the way should be The Role of Media as Fifth Pillar
discussed informally. Issues such as return of
refugees, reintegration, prisoners, sanctions, of the State
political inclusion and agreement on policies
to strengthen the Islamic Republic of
By: Syed Fawad Ali Shah ( Daily
Afghanistan should be discussed formally. Times)
P
Finally, the language surrounding the peace rint and electronic media are the fifth
process should be agreed upon, because it pillar of the state. It is used by a state
affects the negotiations. The coming for the education of its population,
negotiations between Kabul and the Taliban raising morale of the troops in war, character
are described by some as “intra-Afghan building of the nation, and promotion and
peace negotiations” and by some as preservation of national heritage. It is used by
“negotiations between the Islamic Republic nations to invade other nations’ culture.
and the Taliban.” Some countries use it for mentally preparing
its nation for war.
The term “Islamic Republic” refers to the
Islamic Republic of Afghanistan as it stands Media in the advanced world is used as an
today with a Constitution and a Parliament. It agent of pursuing its foreign and domestic
must not be confused with the Taliban’s policies. Today CNN, Fox News and ABC
implied system of some sort of an Islamic news networks are effectively extending US
emirate. The idea of Afghanistan as an foreign policy to the entire world. Hollywood
Islamic republic is nonnegotiable, while is exporting US culture and justifying its
there is openness to reforms among most invasions in the name of US national
Afghans. security. Burgers, jeans, pizzas and soda
water have become worldwide modern
It is normal for groups on opposite sides of trends due to their aggressive marketing
peace negotiations to joust ahead of time through these mediums. In other words,
about what narratives to promote by using globalization achieved its zenith due to
certain language or what to include on the aggressive marketing of US products through
agenda. That is the reality of a protracted its media.
war.
India since Parturition has invested on its
But it is important to maintain the ability to media making it an effective tool for
think clearly, strategically and constructively promoting its culture, religion and ideology.
in the midst of the complexities of the peace Indian news channels, dramas and movies
process. These are confusing times for many leave no stone unturned for the promotion of
Afghans, but the political jigsaw presents the their national dress, Hindustan, Hindu
first glimpses of hope for a better future. religion and Maha Bharat.
Media in the advanced world is used as an

agent of pursuing its foreign and domestic
policies.
Pakistan was created in the slogan of creation

of state where the people can lead their lives
according to the teachings of Islam. This
theme was followed in the constitutions of
1956, 1962 and 1973 as Directive Principles
www.nearpeer.org 49
of the Constitution. Today in the year 2020, religious harmony. Our media, contrary to
when I tried to equate the ideals of Directive the above, report fissures for disturbing
Policy starting from Article 29 to Article 40 harmony ranging from forced conversions to
of the Constitution of the 1973 of the Islamic promoting fake news of blasphemy.
Republic of Pakistan; the article wise
scenario is as under; 6. Eradication of social evils:
1. Islamic way of life: According to a recent report, Pakistan is at

the top of the countries watching
Islam and Islamic way of life are not being pornography on the internet in the world.
promoted by our media in accordance with This is made possible due to the provision of
the constitution. Media is busy promoting the world`s cheapest rates of internet services
western dresses while English language and to the Pakistani customers by our cellular
yellow journalism practices have become the companies. The effort of the cellular
order of the day. companies is abetted by PEMRA which
neither itself is blocking the objectionable
2. Discouragement of prejudices: material on the internet nor making the
cellular companies accountable for the
Media is seen promoting parochial, regional, offence. The character of a nation defines the
provincial, racial, tribal and sectarian divide worth of a nation in the community of
among the nation in the name of talk shows, nations.
interviews, and telecast of live speeches
without considering national interests. To cut things short, I fail to understand that
whether media in Pakistan is the fifth pillar
3. Protection of Family etc. of the state or not? If it is then like the rest of
the world it should work for the promotion of
The theme of almost all the dramas telecasted our culture, harmony and national interest. If
on our media is about divorce, second it is not then the government has to take steps
marriage, joint family system, extra marital for charging the media under the relevant
affairs and western and Indian dresses. provisions of law for violation of the
Decent families cannot sit together to watch constitution.
dramas on our media.
4. Full participation of women in national

life:
Islam has given respectable status to women

in society. The role of women in our media
like the western media is restricted to a
showpiece. Women appear on television
without taking dupattas and are presented as
a tool for appeasing men.
5. Protection of Minorities:
Protection of minorities is one of the

covenant features of Islam and also has been
incorporated in the constitution. Media in the
rest of the world is used for creation of
www.nearpeer.org 50
Losing Madinah of Arabia” has now become a tourist

attraction. The House of Saud also emerged
By: Dr. Farid A Malik from that rebellion. While Turkey, Iran,
Malaysia and Pakistan have rejected the
Trump Peace Plan, Saudi Arabia and the
R ecep Tayyip Erdogan, President of

Turkey, is the first leader of the
Islamic world to highlight his fears of
losing Madinah to the Israeli onslaught.
Unless contained, the evil designs of
United Arab Emirates have supported it,
paving the way for Jewish takeover of the
West Bank.
Benjamin Netanyahu are not a secret. He Golda Meir, the then PM of Israel, had a
faces strict resistance in his own country. In sleepless night when Majid-e-Aqsa was
the elections last year there were no clear burnt under the Jewish occupation. She was
winners. Most Israelis are also fatigued of fearing a serious Arab reaction followed by
unending resistance to the annexation of the the movement of troops but to her surprise,
Palestinian land. The Intifada continues since nothing happened. The Arab leadership was
December 1987. in deep slumber. It emboldened the Jewish
state. After the Camp David Peace accord
The recently announced Trump Peace Plan is with Egypt it was all over for the Palestinian
in fact an instrument for surrender. It favours cause. The two-state doctrine has now been
Israel as parts of the occupied West Bank of buried under the Arab callousness.
Jerusalem are being handed over to the
Jewish state. One by one, the Arab hold over Erdogan has created hope for the Islamic
important Islamic centres is diminishing world. The treaties-Treaty of Serves 1920,
mainly due to their internal weaknesses. The Treaty of Lausanne 1923-thatwere signed to
Organisation of Islamic Conference has been dismember the Ottoman Empire and contain
reduced to a debating society. Turkey are now coming to an end. According
to international law no treaty is binding after
The city of Madinah is the nucleus of Islam. hundred years of its enactment. The wind of
It is the city of “nur” (light), it is called change is about to blow to end the era of the
“Munawara”. There is no city in the world to Lawrence of Arabia. What will happen to his
match its wonders. It is said that Prophet guerrillas only time will tell. Meanwhile, the
Mohammad (pbuh) prayed that his ummah president of Turkey addressed the joint
develop love for the city. The first revolution session of parliament on February 14, 2020;
took place in Madinah, which created the there was standing ovation for him. Dual
“welfare state” that dominated the world for citizenship is also being discussed, as it used
centuries. While Prime Minister Imran Khan to be in the days of the Ottoman Empire.
desires to follow the model of Riyasat-e- Shams Tabriz could travel from Multan to
Madinah, Erdogan is talking about his fears Konya to guide the father of the modern
of losing it. The big question being:is Sufism. Maulana Jalal-ud-Din Muhammad
Madinah safe under the House of Saud? Rumi, under his tutelage.
Naturally, the Turks are concerned as the Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) after moving to
Ottoman Empire took good care of the city of Madinah signed a written agreement with the
the prophet (pbuh). It was under their rule prominent Jewish tribes settled there. It was
that the Green Dome of Masjid-e-Nabavi was the first written consensual document of its
built with pious hands. There was a train link time, signed in 622 AD, about 600 years
with Istanbul, the seat of power of the last before the Magna Carta. It was called the
caliph of Islam. The Hejaz Railway that was Agreement of Madinah (Maisak-e-
destroyed by the guerrillas of the “Lawrence Madinah). Even after the great victory of
Mecca the prophet (pbuh) did not return to
www.nearpeer.org 51
the land of his ancestors. He departed for his Corona Virus Cases
heavenly adobe from Madinah to be buried
there. There is no city in the world as open (Dawn Editorial)
minded and welcoming as the chosen city of
the prophet (pbuh).
When the Jewish tribes of Madinah did not

abide by the written agreement they were
I t was perhaps only a matter of time
before Pakistan joined the ranks of
countries hit by the coronavirus.
On Wednesday, the federal health ministry

expelled from the city. Perhaps the wounds
of this expulsion by the prophet (pbuh) have confirmed the first two cases of COVID-19
not healed after centuries. While the — in Karachi and Islamabad — prompting
Palestinians have agreed to coexist, the the authorities to close schools in parts of the
Zionists have not. A similar movement country.
seems to be developing in India under the
RSS controlled Narendra Modi, the PM of The national health authorities had been
the once secular democracy. While most vigilant over the last few weeks, for instance,
monarchies were allowed to continue in a by shutting off the border with Iran (where
ceremonial role, the Ottoman Empire was the number of cases has risen to nearly 250)
dismembered. In the absence of a central and checking international flight passengers
figure, the ummah lost its nucleus from at airports for symptoms.
which they have still not recovered. Muslims
of the Indian subcontinent went as volunteers Now that the highly infectious virus is in the
to defend their caliph. Till today Muslims country, they must double their efforts to
from India and now Pakistan are held in very contain its spread — a huge challenge
high esteem in the Republic of Turkey. The indeed.
Allied Forces-Britain, France, Italy and
Australia-all ganged up against the Turks. For one, state-of-the-art quarantine and
There was great resistance. At Gallipoli, treatment facilities are needed in virtually all
Kamal Ataturk won a great victory but the districts with special instructions to
rebellion in non-Turkish areas weakened the healthcare staff on how to manage COVID-
resistance. It was a proverbial stab in the 19 patients.
back. It is now time of indemnity to get rid of
the back stabbers. The ummah has to be At present, there are only five quarantine
unified for its survival. facilities in the country — two in Islamabad,
two in Rawalpindi and one in Karachi. This
A lot of harm has already been done. Instead is clearly not enough to deal with a potential
of crying over the losses it is time to regroup outbreak.
and plan for a better future. Turkey under a
democratically elected president means Suspected patients being transported to these
business. Conspiracies in Syria and Yemen facilities from the rural areas will have plenty
have been repulsed. Iraq and Afghanistan are of time along the way to transmit the virus to
on the mend. Focus must now be on the others.
nucleus of Islam, the unmatched city of
Madinah Munawara from where the nur The pace of diagnosis should also be speeded
started to spread all over the world. Its loss up, while equipping at least some of the more
will be devastating. Muslims of the world reputed health facilities to test patients for
must unite before it is too late. COVID-19 would ease the burden on the
National Institute of Health that is currently
conducting most of the diagnostic tests.
www.nearpeer.org 52
It is true that the situation does not call for

panic, as the special assistant to the prime
minister on health has said. But whether
“things are under control” can only be
assessed in the days to come, as Pakistan
grapples with the virus in the midst of a
dilapidated healthcare system.
To contain the virus and discourage the

public from believing in conspiracy theories,
the authorities would have to run a robust
awareness campaign about the infection,
give updated information about new cases,
and share its plans to combat the illness.
The fact is that the government cannot afford

to slacken its efforts.
Aser’s Call
According to WHO, COVID-19 has affected By: Zebeida Mustafa (Dawn)
over 80,000 people in approximately 40
countries. New cases may be on the wane in
China, where the virus originated, but the
infection continues to spread in other
countries, with South Korea reporting the
most cases outside China.
T he 2019 Annual Status of Education
Report (Aser) launched recently is the
ninth in the series. No other
knowledge assessment exercise in Pakistan
of this nature has been so sustained. Though
there was a gap, its overall performance has
The global outbreak should put even more
still been good. It serves as a reliable
pressure on the authorities here to mobilise
yardstick to measure the quality of learning
all layers of the public health system to
in the country especially in the rural areas
address the situation.
where the majority of the population lives.
This means that all levels of the healthcare
It is a pity that the authorities do not feel the
system — national, provincial and district —
need to audit their own performance. Nor do
will have to work in tandem under a clear,
they feel compelled to look for solutions to
comprehensive, globally accepted strategy.
the problems identified by Aser.
Anything less could be a recipe for
disaster— and Pakistan, with its myriad
The document, which reproduces some
health challenges, such as the resurgence of
important findings from the last five reports,
polio, has so far not proved itself adept at
records slow and uneven progress. School
tackling crises.
enrolment has grown from 79 to 83 per cent
since 2014, though not evenly across the
country. But as Baela Raza Jamil, the CEO
of Idara-i-Taleem-o-Agahi, who flagshipped
Aser, warns, “there is little room for
complacency”. And all would agree.
It broke my heart to see Sindh, my province,

at the lowest rung of the education ladder. As
many as 56.2pc of Grade 5 children cannot
www.nearpeer.org 53
read a story in Urdu/Sindhi, while for 73.4pc, approach — a very rational one — will take
even a sentence in English is beyond their years before it even begins to make an
reading ability. Numbers are daunting for impact.
these children, 69.5pc of whom could not
cope with arithmetic. Then what is the way forward? I pose this
question to Baela Raza Jamil. She promptly
Aser’s work is superb, but its efforts are replies, “We need a learning revolution.”
going to waste as they have failed to be a call This entails what she calls “learning
for action. No political will is evident in solutions by non-state organisations working
official quarters to seriously address this on a single platform”. This would be a
stupendous learning crisis. That is the real radical approach — as it would take away the
need of the hour today. initiative from the government, which would
be required to pay for these solutions. Baela
What do we witness instead? Rapid changes rattles off their names. Several of these are
in the education department. For instance, well known and are doing excellent work
Sindh’s new education secretary is the supported by solid research. But they would
seventh in a month. The education minister be reaching out to not more than 2,000
— holding the additional portfolio of labour schools when there are 150,000 schools in
— is the third since 2018. Can these worthy Pakistan.
gentlemen who made their debut very
recently be expected to have any clue of what The need is to upscale these initiatives which
is needed? would help reduce their cost when applied in
massive numbers. But these are at best
They are trying to ensure that all teachers are shortcuts that have to be adopted if the crisis
in school punctually. Good. But are the is to be addressed.
teachers really teaching? More importantly,
are all of them capable of teaching? It is time The fact is that there is no substitute for good
it was realised that teachers’ presence can teachers. Hence, the focus must also be on
ensure the students’ attendance to some teachers’ training on an ongoing basis that is
extent, but that by itself will not raise absolutely essential and must be made
educational standards. mandatory for all teachers. If it is not
considered too radical, Aser should consider
Only good teachers who are conscientious testing the teachers as well. At present,
and report for duty regularly besides having information about their qualifications is
knowledge of their subject and being trained collected, but their high qualifications mean
in pedagogy can produce results. All three nothing — the rot in the education system
elements should be there in abundance. Ever has affected the teacher-training sector as
since schools were nationalised in 1972, well. The concept of lifelong learning and
excellence in teaching was thrown to the periodic testing of teachers needs to be
wind, at least in Sindh. introduced in Pakistan’s school education
system.
Shehzad Roy did the right thing by adopting
a teachers training college in Karachi to All this calls for massive funds. But
address the learning crisis. In the two schools procuring funds should not pose a challenge
he has adopted, his organisation called because Pakistan is notorious for not
Zindagi Trust has recruited good teachers to utilising its education budgetary allocations
reinforce the existing staff he inherited. The fully and allowing huge amounts to lapse
old one was by and large retained, but is year after year. Aser’s 2019 report should be
being trained intensively by professional treated as a wake-up call. One hopes all
trainers of the trust. But Shehzad Roy’s
www.nearpeer.org 54
provinces, especially Sindh, will take note of sea. In principle, it would require more than
it. one SSBN for India to ensure that at least one
such platform is deployed at sea for a
continuous period of time. The INS Arihant
has a limited capacity of an 83-megawatt
Present Limitations to India’s nuclear power plant and has a very short
refueling cycle which affects the submarine’s
Nuclear Triad speed and endurance. India, by inducting the
By: Sheher Bano Khan (Daily INS Arighat in the Arihant class is aiming to
enhance such capabilities through
Times) incorporating additional submerged
platforms as part of its deterrence patrol
I n November 2018, Indian Prime Minister

Narendra Modi proudly announced that
India’s nuclear triad was complete after
the INS Arihant, India’s first nuclear-
powered submarine, successfully completed
stratagem. The only hurdle in this scenario
would be India’s economic commitment to
the cause which remains overburdened with
other projects aiming at military
modernization. Beyond nuclear submarines
its deterrence patrol. Although it was and attack submarines, India’s desire to
considered a significant milestone in India’s replicate an America-like naval arrangement
nuclear capability, the submarine does not or the United Kingdom like submarine
considerably add up to India’s second-strike signature requires extensive financial and
capabilities. There are still various issues technical evaluation of a second strike
related to its capability, capacity and ‘deterrence patrol’ program. Hence India is
effectiveness when comprising of an still on its way to form a blue water navy.
otherwise key dimension of the nuclear triad.
Deterrence patrols also require that naval
A nuclear triad consists of a three- nuclear platforms always be in a heightened
dimensional capability of launching nuclear state of operational readiness in order to
missiles from land, air and from undersea. It assure a viable second-strike capability. The
is very easy to detect land and air launch INS Arihant is equipped with K-4 missiles
platforms with sophisticated technology and with a range of 3500 km and K-15 (Sagarika)
ground-level intelligence. In theory, an missiles with the range of 750km to 1500km.
actual nuclear deterrent for a country would In 2018 there were reports that an accident
depend upon a system that is very difficult or might have damaged
impossible to detect. Such a possibility is
offered by a nuclear-powered submarine the INS Arihant. According to the news, the
which, unlike a conventional diesel or Arihant was about to sink because its
electric submarine, has the capability to propulsion compartment was flooded
remain underwater for longer durations of because a hatch was left open by mistake.
not only weeks but even months. It becomes According to The Economic Times there
nearly impossible to detect a nuclear- exists an upsetting partition between the
powered submarine due to its military authority and the nation’s political
maneuverability and submersion capacity. leadership. Such an error, actual or
Deterrence patrol is not a short time affair as speculative, is evidence enough that there are
in order to assure continuous deterrence – via certain serious shortcomings within the
an adequate second-strike capability – it is Indian Nuclear Command Authority as the
necessary that at least one SSBN (Nuclear news of the Arihant’s absence from
powered submarine equipped with a ballistic operational duties came to the political
missile) deployed at a readiness level of council only after the Indian navy requested
continuous alert constantly remain under- the precautionary advanced deployment of
www.nearpeer.org 55
the submarine, following the Doklam Hence, unless India is able to deploy an
standoff with China. Hence, India’s political SSBN fleet with missiles capable of reaching
leadership was already faltering over one leg inter-continental ranges (such as those
of its strategic triad when it was crucial to its offered by the k-5 or k-6), its sea-based
policy goals. deterrent credibility will remain incomplete.
Such an incident reveals not only the However, all these limitations are being
professional incapability of Indian navy but readily addressed by India as it is expected to
also depicts the dangerous gaps that exist commission Arighat in 2020 and will also
within its civil-military relations, specifically conduct various long-range missiles tests in
within India’s nuclear command and control the near future to further enhance its existing
authority. naval capabilities.
Hence, training and personnel readiness are

as important as the ability of decision-makers
to foresee any ‘accidents’. If the Arihant did
not sink but still lost its operational
consistency due to a ‘minor incident’, not
being able to reconcile such a scenario
reveals much about the checks and balances
pervading throughout India’s nuclear
command hierarchy. Without Submarine
Launched Ballistic Missile (SLBM)
technology at their disposal and a faltering
management of its nuclear submarine, it
becomes an uphill task to comprehend the
overall efficiency and efficacy of such
second strike parameters.
In order to fulfill its hegemonic designs,

India aims to build six nuclear-powered Similarities between Trump-
attack submarines and long-range k-series Modi Policies and their Actions
SLBMs such as k-5 (5,000km range) and k-
6(6,000 km range) which India still seems a By: Irfan Mahar (Daily Times)
little far from acquiring. Pakistan however
has already built the Baber-3 or Hatf V-II
(submarine-launched cruise missile) with
MIRV capability in response to India’s
growing submarine capability. Even though
P resident Donald Trump calls PM
Narendra Modi the father of India;
according to him, Modi has been
successful in combining every section of
society like a father combines the whole
India successfully test-fired the K4 missile in
January 2020 presenting it as a major family through caring for the needs,
milestone, the missile range is still sub- necessities and reservations of his children.
optimal because it would require the By these words for Modi, President Trump
submarine to operate on the northeastern has raised very serious matters for the nations
fringes of the Bay of Bengal. Hence, of the world in his recent speeches.
requiring these submarines to travel round Throughout his tenure, President Trump has
the Burmese and Bangladeshi littoral waters remained centered on the idea of “American
in order to target China’s vital economic and Exceptionalism”. As evident in his
political hubs. statements, he has already expressed in one
of his recent speeches that “The future does
www.nearpeer.org 56
not belong to globalists, the future belongs to massacre of the Babri Masjid in Gujarat,
patriots”. He adds that this is the rise of India. He has been an active member of the
nationalism and fall of globalism. Though, RSS for a very long period of time. As such
whatever the ideology guiding President he remains notorious for his fascist,
Trump’s statements and strategies, it still extremist, hawkish and discriminatory
creates several complexities for the world, policies imposed on the people of India.
especially for the developing nations. In the These include his harsh policies against the
same way, PM Modi has expressed his ideas people of India-held Kashmir which are
and thoughts – as influenced by RSS glaring proof of several human rights
ideology – which are also based on a similar violations.
sense of superiority albeit based around a
predominantly Hindu inspired nationalism. PM Modi and President Trump have the
same ambitions despite the varying
Taking into account this idea of America as differences between their status,
the saviour of the world, as evident in its development levels, technology, and
penchant to intervene in any part of the economies of their respective countries.
world, the US has created its own definitions However, there are numerous similarities
of what is just and unjust. Likewise, PM within their ideologies, policies and actions
Modi’s more hands-on approach on Kashmir as they are mostly inspired by their far-right
and even to a certain extent on Gujarat more conservative electoral bases. Such
represents a similar approach couched in a types of states or individual rulers use beliefs
sort of ‘saviour’ complex. According to PM and ideologies for legitimizing their actions.
Modi, the ancient books of Hinduism give In this regard, the US has been practicing
the lesson of humanity throughout the world these policies and actions within various
that it is protected under their responsibility. parts of the world like Palestine, the Middle
In this regard, they will work in collaboration East, Afghanistan. If America is imposing
with other states that also want to protect the such injustices such a significant share of the
same cause of saving humanity as described world’s population while projecting itself as
by both President Trump and PM Modi the savior of human rights violations, then
during the Howdy-Modi gatherings in United any state with the ability to project power and
States, thus, hinting at perhaps a dangerous influence could exploit the situation against
penchant for a more interventionist approach the pretext of saving human right violations.
to the world politics. As evident, it is this same mentality that has
led to the deterioration of the security of
Now this is psychological rhetoric used by various parts of the world.
different entities to provide a moral
justification for their actions in an attempt to Similarly, Modi’s ideology has been
make their actions legal and just in front of a generating serious issues for the security of
specifically targeted audience. As such this South Asia. In this regard, PM Modi along
kind of manoeuvring, used by States and with several other RSS stalwarts have been
individual rulers via looking over the accused of spreading violence,
changing global dynamics, is all about discrimination and hatred against India’s
gaining interests, power, dominance, and marginalized communities such as Dalits,
influence. There was a period when Modi Sikhs Christians particularly Muslim and
was banned in America as well as some other other religious minorities. The recent
countries in the world. He was banned controversy embroiling the Citizenship
because of the numerous atrocities, Amendment Act (CAA) is an example of
massacres, misconducts and the spread of such violent and extremist policies which
RSS extremist ideology. He was the central have already resulted in mass agitations and
person who was allegedly involved in the strikes throughout India. The policies and
www.nearpeer.org 57
actions adopted by PM Modi have been the he would succeed him as prime minister
cause of various problems within India as when Mahathir made an unlikely alliance
well as in the region including the repeated with his party. Anwar has been in jail over
threats from BJP leaders against Pakistan. sodomy charges under the Mahthir
government. It is very likely that Dr Mahathir
When there are nuclear states being led by played a role in the collapse of the ruling
such leaders who have already fought several coalition. Also, his resignation from the top
wars over multiple issues, they require a post has made him more relevant to the
certain maturity, sense of responsibility, government and political establishment.
rationality, and understanding in their Southeast Asia’s leading statesman has time
behaviours as well as the actions of their and again said that he does not want to rule
rulers. Such kind of statements and forever and that he would transfer power
behaviours portray a picture of madness or after a few years. All eyes are on the reaction
irrationality which can generate various of his presumed successor.
problems for the peace and security of both
nations as well as regional stability. Both PM Dr Mahathir ruled Malaysia first from 1981
Modi and President Trump would do well to to 2003. The iron-fisted rule steered the
ponder over that together during their Southeast Asian country towards
forthcoming meetings in India which is development and progress, making it a
considered very important for the strategic leading economy of the region. In the post-
partnership of India as well as regional Mahathir era, Malaysia plunged into
security and stability. corruption. His predecessor Najib Razak
often accused him of being the responsible
for the mess in Malaysian politics. Razak
was, however, not innocent as his rule would
Political Crisis in Malaysia often hit headlines for corrupt practices. The
2018 election, which brought Dr Mahathir
(Daily Times Editorial) back to the power corridors, spoke of
people’s aspirations for change. Since
M alaysia is increasingly becoming

the land of political upsets. Two
years ago, Dr
Mohammad, then 92, challenged his
Mahathir
predecessor that he would contest the

assuming power, the elder statesman was
striving to regain his old pace but failed,
mostly due to internal political matters.
Recently, he arranged a summit to bring
Muslim countries on one platform on
election and win. His victory was seen as a economic issues. The summit generated
shocking surprise. Now, his resignation has good coverage in the Pakistani press owing
sent shockwaves across the region and to the fact that our prime minister could not
indeed beyond into the wider Muslim world make to it due to Saudi pressure. Malaysia
as well. His resignation, accepted by the under Dr Mahathir has supported Pakistan on
Malaysian king, has further plunged the Kashmir and FATF. We wish Malaysia well
country into a political crisis after the in these troubled times.
Malaysian United Indigenous Party left the
ruling coalition, Pakatan Harapan (Alliance
of Hope). This has stopped the transition of
power and Dr Mahathir has been asked to
stay as interim minister. The collapse of the
ruling coalition has prevented Anwar
Ibrahim from succeeding Dr Mahathir. This
is what the elder statesman wants to happen.
Two years ago, he had promised Anwar that
www.nearpeer.org 58
At the moment, the Indian state’s primary

duty should be to control the violence and
prevent it from spreading further. This, of
course, is not the first time India has been
rattled by spasms of communal bloodletting;
the slaughter of thousands of Sikhs in the
aftermath of Indira Gandhi’s assassination;
the violence following the razing of the Babri
Masjid by Sangh Parivar zealots, and the
2002 anti-Muslim pogrom in Gujarat, when
Narendra Modi was chief minister of that
state, are grim reminders of India’s history of
religious violence.
But this time things are different mainly

because the dispensation that rules New
Delhi has amidst its ranks some virulently
Riots in Delhi anti-Muslim elements, while hate material
(Dawn Editorial) can spread like wildfire through social
media.
T he images coming out of the Indian

capital are truly chilling.
In Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s India, the

country’s much-trumpeted claims of being a
Therefore, the capital needs to take stringent
steps to ensure religiously motivated
violence does not spread, and specifically
that India’s minorities are protected from
bloodthirsty mobs. It is a tad ironic that the
secular republic have been thoroughly
violence in the Indian capital was happening
exposed as the storm troopers of the Sangh
around the same time that US President
Parivar have rampaged through New Delhi.
Donald Trump was being feted at an official
At the time of writing nearly 30 deaths had
banquet at Rashtrapati Bhavan. What is more
been reported in the rioting that has been
ironic is that Mr Trump praised Mr Modi for
going on for the past few days, ostensibly
his commitment to religious freedom.
between those who oppose the new Indian
citizenship law — who are predominantly
If the BJP government’s brutal record in
Muslim — and those who favour the divisive
India-held Kashmir, its divisive legislation,
legislation — who are mostly Hindu.
and soft corner for Muslim-baiting Hindu
zealots are anything to go by, this praise is
There are reports of mosques being set afire,
wholly unearned and the global community
goons barging into Muslim homes, and
must have the courage to call out the Indian
police officers forcing injured protesters to
state for its bigotry.
chant pro-Hindutva slogans. It would be
naive to ask where the administration is in all
of this; it is clear that the state — the
Hindutva state — is part and parcel of this
ugly situation. The Delhi chief minister, who
belongs to a party opposed to the ruling BJP,
has asked for the army to be called in and
curfew to be imposed to control the situation.
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All the Best!

Destination Unknown ............................................................................................................ 5

Destination Unknown Abdullah Abdullah. For example, Dostum,

T Pakistan, especially in ‘official

This time around, no one is sure if

More than that, it has taken the Afghan

The carrot of the continuous engagement

I t has been a tumultuous month at the

At the same time, it is quite another thing

These detention centers are the front lines of

The new detention camp is located 130

I n a river valley near the Himalayas,

Pogrom In August, Modi’s government revoked the

T he violence unleashed against

in 2017. Dressed in saffron robes, Adityanath

Modi’s image as a pragmatic, business-

among the greatest of sins in order to justify FATF Grey List

The FATF statement released after the

It says Pakistan needs to make “significant

The question for the country’s economy in

on Pakistan to use its influence over the Making CPEC Work

In spite of China’s phenomenal performance,

Both are political outsiders who have

On a more serious note, Mr Modi the

Today, the president of the US calls him a

institution recognised and respected the investment and workers’ remittances

Below is a story for all who wonder why

Around 1994-1995, I received a handwritten

W e only have 10 years to overhaul

Our negotiation team, led by my colleagues

Even when President Trump called off the

D uring the past several days, more

You alluded earlier to this idea that it was

I think your analysis is bang on, and I think

deputy commissioner of police claimed that In Afghanistan, Peace is Finally in

This process, however, is not going to be

Last week, Afghanistan's incumbent History is now being repeated as several

Afghan talks are Germany, Uzbekistan, discretion by hosting the negotiations

Although it may not be the first choice for

Qatar has no geo-strategic interests in

India's Media is Failing in its Without being formally censored or

T he protests in India against the senior ministers and are reluctant to be

Moreover, Temple activists have already

There are many reasons to reject the plan,

The recent hearings of two corruption cases

The most common symptoms of COVID 19

T he much talked about Coronavirus

T he vast majority of U.N. workers—89

Unsurprisingly, 90 to 91 percent of assistant

Negotiations between an inclusive Afghan

In October, President Ashraf Ghani of

Media in the advanced world is used as an

Pakistan was created in the slogan of creation

1. Islamic way of life: According to a recent report, Pakistan is at

4. Full participation of women in national

Islam has given respectable status to women

Protection of minorities is one of the

Losing Madinah of Arabia” has now become a tourist

R ecep Tayyip Erdogan, President of