Strategic Depth at Home

``Without denying the potential benefits of reversing “strategic depth” policies, the reversal of strategic depth in foreign policy must be matched by concrete changes in the strategic depth at home front.``

## DUHHHH......

Is deadly prose like this the reason why Chowk staff had to post this article three times before it finally became readable?

Needs a few more attempts, IMHO :)

Re: Sameer

A good topical article. Musharraf has been ahead of the curve since he came to power in 1999. 9-11 only fast forwarded his actions. If you look at a time line of Musharraf`s decisons/policies since he came to power, you will see that he is following a well established framework.

His first task was to stablize the Pak economy; next he undermined the institutional power of the bureaucracy through the abolition of the DMG system. His devolution plan is aimed at erdicating the power of the feudals in the country and his policies on religious groups was already pre-planned, but 9-11 pushed them in the fore-front. Pak foreign policy, which was a brilliant faux pas was changed and the debate on the ideological moorings of the state were settled in clear terms - Pakistan is not a theocracy.

Musharraf has been ahead of the curve in the sense that he, unlike the country, clearly foresaw the pitfalls and took action to avoid them. Musharraf is a nationalist and unlike our past political leaders not influenced by emotionalism and false national pride.

Ciao

In Pakistan:-

Men should wear burqas and alcohol should be legalised. Also, ban cricket.

See, no curves?

(Friendly neighbour)

``...In spite of the terrible situation prevailing in the much-trumpeted Islamic Pakistan, exaggeration of the women exploitation in highly advanced and civilized countries is often used as a mean to prove that Islam gives Muslim women a place of honor and a far better deal in day-to-day life...``

Actually, almost every Pakistani professional woman I know (of varied generations) will visit Pakistan for limited professional engagements, but are unwilling to return on a permanent basis. Some of the pertinent reasons are that they don`t know if they will find employment opportunities in their fields, and they have established themselves in the West professionally, politically, socially (organizing within Pakistani communities) and economically. Some also cite the issue of literal physical and psychic space; that they are mobile, are reasonably protected in courts of law, can own and bequeath property independently, etc.

Great piece, Sameer! I especially appreciated your citing of the various grassroots movements powered by women; Women in Black, Mothers of the Disappeared, The Bejing Conference, etc...

In American feminist circles, there is an old debate that continues to be had; that women should be paid for housework; that the maintenance of the domestic sphere has been devalued and delegitimised as ``labor``, and are dependent thusly on familial structures for income.

regards

``The media and establishment of Pakistani men blame India for most acts of violence on its soil and their counterparts in India do the same. ``

Moreover, most pakis, the true inheritors of Gandhi`s principle of nonviolence, also blame india for attacks WITHIN india. India staged attacks on the kashmir assembly, parliament, outside USIS, calcutta, kidnapped Pearl, hijacked its own plane to force the release of Maulana Azhar & Sheikh Omar (the last gem from the Generallissmo himself).

From today`s Post:

//

Saeed said attacks outside the U.S. cultural center in Calcutta, the Indian Parliament in New Delhi and a legislative assembly in Kashmir were aimed at provoking India into taking action against Pakistan. Extremist organizers -- some with ties to Saeed -- hoped Musharraf would be forced to back away from his public stand against militant activities, Saeed told police.

Saeed is affiliated with the Jaish-i-Muhammad militant group fighting in the disputed Himalayan border region of Kashmir. Police officials said they could not verify any connection between Saeed`s organization and supporters and the attacks in India. But authorities said he provided detailed information about the incidents and some of the perpetrators.

//

Musharraf has no credibility with indians and so long as he is in power no peace is possible.

Attn: Chwok Staff

Please delete half of the ``article``. One half is whole, as good as one half and good enough. The sentence ``Will Musharraf act?`` at midpoint is the end of it.

Sorry folks, it is not my mistake.

``It is no longer doubtful that Pervez Musharraf acted out of compulsion rather than conviction, reversing Afghanistan and Kashmir policies during the last 5 months.``

I am not quite sure I agree with this.

``Independent analysts are quick to point out that credit for facing up to extremist factions and calling their bluff should not be given to Musharraf alone. Measures taken to curb fundamentalism should be seen as the calculated response of a practical man to forces beyond his control, rather than the actions of a messiah destined to lead Pakistan out of the morass of intellectual poverty it is currently enmeshed in. Reforms are just surface gloss and underneath it all the nexus of army and extremism stands firm. Read between the lines, they say, this is yet another elaborate conspiracy to keep power in the hands of the khakis, a last grand plan as the century changes to keep us trapped firmly in the old one. Ask someone with a greater interest in playstations than political science though, and you’ll get a simpler answer… when push came to shove he made the right choice…for us.`` (Shandana Minhas, The Friday Times)

The original devolution plan of the current NRB included giving 50% of the local seats to women. This was later changed at the wishes of the political leadership, because they indicated that there wouldn`t be enough women candidates available. This turned out to be true, since a large portion of even the 33% seats were single candidate races.

The current govt. has done more for women than any govt. I can think of. The percentage of women in the cabinet is by far the highest ever. Women are in control of the powerful ministeries of law and education. Women, for the first time, have large executive power in local assemblies. National Assembly and Provincial Assembly seats have been increased greatly for women. These are things that haven`t even be done in Western nations.

Instead of criticizing the current govt., their steps need to be appreciated. One cannot bring about social change just with a stroke of a pen. If it were that easy, than all Musharraf would have to do would be to sign a few documents. A women`s revolution requires education, empowerment, etc. Most of all, it requires female leadership. All of this is going to be a slow process, but I think the current govt. has laid the seeds.

before we all go gagging and gaga-gaga over mushy dude, maybe the following article would help. Keep in mind the the author has writen a lot before on these events and he has been proved to be right. His analysis is very dry and curt and to the point (i.e deviod of all flowery prose) indeed it can be illuminating. Read this article along with the editorials and other articles coming out of the The Friday Times stable and see the world is not all that rosy.

Title: The Daniel Pearl Case: Questions And Answers

Synopsis and question the article raises:

Is Daniel Pearl alive or dead? Who is Omar Sheikh? What made Pak suspect him? When was he actually arrested? Did Musharraf know? Who are the main suspects? ...

to be found at

http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?sid=1&fname=raman&fodname=20020218&secname=

``While ranting and raving to promote feminine cause is admirabe, a fair evaluation and assessment of the emancipated society is required.

Emancipation has brought untold miseries to families of the west.``(Behram Asthband)

This is the most ridiculous statement I have ever read on Chowk -- from a Parsi Mulla.

SameerJB
Good and humane idea and truly pathbreaking if it happened. I would say make it 100% if you wish, but bechare bachelorsahib Vajpayee has enough on his hands dealing with the hard bargaining of Indian women leaders, without having to deal with the hard bargaining of Pakistani women leaders as well:)

Behram

First of all let me welcome you to the `hood-the mullah-hood, that is. Your post elevated my curiosity as to why a Parsi looks at the things the way we do. I have also been urging people to scrutinize the system of values that is being shoved down our throats, like never before. I wrote the following note somewhere else. Please respond to the question why?

CHARACTER AND VALUES

.....But recently I have been thinking differently about the values that are known as Western Values like pluralism, democracy, secularism, freedom and liberty etc.


I think it is time that we start scrutinizing the western system of values very closely before we make a case for our people. Never before, the two worlds, West and rest, have been exposed so nakedly to each other as is after 9/11. We see that slow genocide of Iraqi and North Koreans through embargoes is still going on as we speak. Palestinian homes, businesses, and lives are still being razed to ground; settlements, the main bone of contention are still being built. Dissent is being controlled all around the globe. Despots, and dictators are still being supported against their own people, who in turn are using state apparatus to suppress dissent, political entities, and opponents. I have used the word ``still`` several times in my last sentences, for a reason. The reason being that the PEOPLE of West in general and United States in particular were always given the benefit of doubt that they do not know what their governments are doing around the world. But now they do. What is excuse now?


Now lets see. The invasion and capture of Iraq (Arab lands); all done by countries who were secular, democratic, and plural. The attack on Egypt on Suez canal issue; all countries were secular and democratic. The South Africa-was democratic/secular yet apartheid. Israel- democratic/secular yet apartheid. The countries who supported and still help to maitain status quo in Palestine all secular/democratic. Two nuclear explosions which inihilated 100s of thousands-done by a country which is/was democratic/secular. Suppressing dissent by force in Ireland; by a country which is secular/democratic. India; murder of 80,000 people of its minority; secular/democratic. India:secular/democratic yet apartheid. The cause of misery of almost whole South America; secular and democratic countries of West and North America. The cause of misery of whole continent of Africa; the secular/democratic countries of West; Neocolonialism through globalization; by the countries that are secular and democratic. . ……… and the list just goes on and on……Now the question is, should we give the people of West the benefit of doubt now.


Now remember that, character is an expression of values. We should ruthlessly scrutinize those values, which brings about this character. We must question how Western leaders utter the words like ``freedom``, ``democracy``, ``liberties`` while their one hand is on the shoulders of some despot (democratic despot in case of India) from the third world at the rostrum. The people of West now know. Why they look the other way. Is it because of the character, their values have given to them?


So we must also question the pygmies, the salesmen, the pimps of their value system, among us, why the dichotomy now. Now when their people know. Do these people (salesmen) really want to uplift the dignity and the state of our women or they just want to strip their clothes off to establish a culture of khullay khao tay nangay nahao as they did in India. Do these people really want to establish the rule of law or they are just facilitating the establishment of global neocolonialism by siding with the despots. Character is an expression of values. And we must question the values and not the character.

Sameerjb

Has Pervez Musharraf really acted out of compulsion? So how do you explain his moves before September 11th? I mean either you are blind or I am, but I still don`t understand why he was busy banning sectarian organizations on 14th August? Was devolution post 9/11, was the guaranteed 33% of seats for women on local level post 9/11? Was Moin`s famous comment to NYtimes about a `secular` Pakistan before 9/11? What has changed? The rhetoric coming out of the establishment has been a constant... to create a Moderate, progressive Muslim state. 9/11 and American war on terrorism has provided the opportunity to the establishment to act on its conviction. The vision was there... At the millenium summit Musharraf said the same thing as he has emphasized in Post 9/11 period .. Let us talk on facts and not repeat the bigoted Indian rhetoric and lies simply to be accepted on Chowk. You sir could be a great writer and an asset for Pakistan had you some character to stand up for what is the truth, but you will not because you can`t resist the temptation of self loathing which has become the sure fire method of the (pseudo)-intellectuals of your brand to gain acceptance in India and South Asia ... perhaps exemplified by our own very dear chowk staff.

You are right about women`s rights undoubtedly. Namik Kemal, the famous poet, had realized in the mid nineteenth century when he said that the reason West is progressing and we are not is because we haven`t allowed women to get out of their houses and succeed.

-YLH

Dear Interactor,

``However, in a democratic society, which abides by the rule of law, only those who understand the law rise to be leaders.

Are you saying that women cannot understand the rule of law?

``This applies to everyone, irrespective of their gender. It is a non-responsible proposition to make provisions for a specific gender, no matter what the historical prejiduces are. Reverse discrimination is also discrimination.``



In a democractic society, all citizens who have fair, legally ensured and protected access to political processes not only rise to be leaders, but are responsible, educated citizens who elect competent leaders. I am sure that you would argue that for example, it is just that fundamentalist candidates that represent fundamentalist constituencies are voted or not voted into positions of leadership. Why is this not applicable to women, Christians, Ahmedis, IN DIRECT PROPORTION to the percentage of Pakistanis who are women or who happen to support policies that undo the historical economic and political injustices that have taken place under the guise of ``Islamic interpretation``?

``While ranting and raving to promote feminine cause is admirabe, a fair evaluation and assessment of the emancipated society is required. Emancipation has brought untold miseries to families of the west.``

On what studies have you based these generalizations? Who are these ``fair`` evaluators?

What is your definition of ``misery``? From what perspective do you define ``misery``? Does your definition of misery coincide with women and men who live in the West? Be careful; value judgements and chauvinism are not considered part of fair evaluations.

``Over 60% of first time marriages end up in divorce.``

Please supply the evidence. Also, do not make the assumption that any marriage is better than a troubled or unsatisfactory marriage.

``There is sexual promiscuity amongst teenagers. Although the ratios might be a little less, this has been noted to be true for the desi families as well.``

Again I would like to know the credible sources of evidence. Teenage movies do not count as evidence. In fact, in my interactions with Americans of all ages and both genders have proven your notions to be false.

``The writer`s claim {Their natural instincts related to producing and nurturing desire peace, which leads to better opportunities for communications, reason and resolution during crisis situations}is bogus and erroneous. We have to look no further than the emancipated women of the west, where family lives are in turmoil.``

Be specific. What are your notions based on? Evidence that would support Sameer`s statement that women do organize around themes of inclusion, resolution and well being in America would be the organizations Sakhi, Upna Ghar, and Mannavi; three grassroots womens orgs. serve the Bangladeshi, Indian, Sri Lankan, and Pakistani communities in New York, New Jersey and Chicago. These organizations include lawyers, social workers, etc. who provide safe housing, free legal counsel and employment assistance to wives in abusive marriages, undocumented workers in exploitative work situations, and networking spaces for South Asian women. I am not even citing the various Non-For-Profit and Union organizations that desi women have been working in for better working conditions and incomes for working class South Asian men and women.

Of all the examples that Sameer cited of women organizing along lines of resolution and linkages, your example is ``Cleopatra``? Forgive me, but you are missing the point by a universe.

``Further, the bogus notion that {Better livelihood through progress and production is more important to them for continuity of species than use of force particularly when it leads to loss of production and slowing down progress} is not supported with any empirical evidence``.



Please provide the the GNP figures and incomes for the unpaid domestic labor women perform daily in their homes.

``Also stating that {Involving women is practical because a woman`s vision of peace....}. Well, history will disagree with such a notion. Let us revisit the histroy where-in women were equally if not more cunning than men, starting from of Cleopatra........ Manipulation, deviousness, cunningness, etc. are also some of the characteristics of women. It is rather unfair to single out men`s vices only. Women have been equally bad.``



Please read the article again. Sameer has brought up numerous examples of grassroots groups in which women have organized across lines of race, ethnicity and class in response to violent political climates.

Aside from the Cleopatra stereotypes (really; are Blacks ``Darkies who like to sing and dance all day?``) please provide a single contemporary example in which men are subjected to comparable economic, political, religious and social contexts-I`d like to see how women have institutionalized the inequity of men as certain Muslim countries have women.

``Having said that I still believe that humanity will be served better with men and women working side by side. We must continue to promote women isuues to better themselves, but please...not at men`s expense.``



Why is it always assumed that affirmative action in support of groups of people who have been eggregiously and historically disenfranchised from the benefits of being an equal citizen will be to the detriment of the hegemonic group? In America, we have the fantasy that some white men fear; that they will no longer control a system that benefits and profits them. They are always the ones crying ``reverse discrimination``. We can all talk about creating just societies; to actually facillitate one requires relinquishing injustly stolen privillege.

In the end, thank you for an interesting article.

The timing of this topic is very appropriate. A variety of election reforms are being suggested and implemented by NRB in addition to Musharraf acting under compulsion on other issues.

Such bold initiative can not be asked forcefully under democratic system because elected representatives and their governments work according to compromise paradigm. Such issues could be raised, through, within the context of constitution and Law and order issues.

Why raise the bar for Pervez Musharraf? Because in dictatorial or authoritarian system, power is more concentrated with an individual or a small group of individuals. It is like playing bridge against a person who knows the hands of all players because he deals with cards facing up. Under such conditions, rules of game change. Since he knows your hand, you have the right to dictate his order of playing each trick. Moreover, it is a matter of track record.

Moreover, familiarity with the track record of Pervez Musharraf is equally important. Insuring him requires higher premium due to military takeover, his previous dubious statements about Afghanistan and Kashmir, his mistake of closing the door to further bilateral negotiation at Agra Summit, his planning and executing of Kargil when economy was weak and also without air cover thus bringing India and Pakistan on the verge of an allout war and so on.

I have tried to underwrite an insurance policy for him with this article being the first installment of the premium.

Next few posts are cut and paste of article from Pakistani newspapers, I used to write this piece as well as good reading from Dr. Farzana Bari. You may notice the lifting up of data and information from some articles.

From ``The News``

Gender bias

Hafizur Rahman

A report says the Islamabad chapter of the Women`s Action Forum (WAF) is being resuscitated. There is no mention in the report why and how it was allowed to die in the first place. Maybe the bureaucratic atmosphere of the capital was stifling. WAF is an almost militant organization, ready to take on the police if the need arises, as it demonstrated in Lahore some years ago. It is not like APWA, the goody-goody body which is dependent on government`s goodwill for its welfare work. WAF knows how to fight.

One of our misfortunes is that in normal civilian times political issues tend to overshadow everything else. We forget that when we talk of women`s problems we are talking about half the population. An even greater misfortune is the general outlook towards the female half of Pakistan. Women who try to bring to the fore the question of women`s rights and privileges are roundly condemned by the powerful orthodox religious circles as immoral and un-Islamic.

The trouble with Pakistan`s aware and educated women (who are in a majority in WAF) is that their enlightened minds do not accept the traditional interpretation of the Shariat on matters concerning women. They would like a revival of ijtehaad (as advocated by Allama Iqbal) to re-examine such issues in the light of modern needs. But they can`t be openly critical for fear of being labeled as heretics. Like men they too have been influenced by the liberal and egalitarian concept of justice coming from the West. While men too feel the same way about tradition, but since they are not affected they don`t have to speak out their thoughts. In the case of women the dilemma persists.

But apart from what the religious orthodoxy prescribes by way of women`s rights as compared to those of men, and by way of punishments under the Hudood laws, we certainly cannot claim even by half that, as a nation, we are seriously concerned about the treatment of women in Pakistan. It`s almost like our attitude towards the minorities.

An occasional Nawabpur shakes the entire country. The nation`s conscience is smitten and the press goes overboard in condemning the incident. (Though not PTV which is smug in the thought that unless the act of publicly shaming a woman in the nude is presided over by a federal minister, it doesn`t have to cover it.) But then we find that Nawabpur was no solitary aberration. Since then, more Nawabpurs have followed (just as there have been Shantinagars and Bahawalpurs in the case of Christians) but we just shrug them off as ``another of those nude women things.``

A popular Urdu daily reported recently (I translate) ``In various prisons in the country nearly a thousand innocent women, falsely implicated in cases under the Hudood Ordinance, are incarcerated. A reliable authority in the Women’s Division who said that all these women belonged to the lower strata of society, from backward rural areas mostly stated this. Their contact with the world outside the jail gets completely broken, and then the prison officials consider it their prerogative to submit them to all sorts of indignities, even fornication and rape.``

These women find themselves imprisoned because, in most of unlawful sex under the Hudood Ordinance, the male culprits go scot-free but the women get prosecuted - I don`t know by what strange process of law. And the height of cruelty and insensitivity is that if a woman becomes pregnant after being raped, her crime is proved by the fact of the pregnancy, while to indict the rapist the required evidence of witnesses to the act is not available.

What a terrible situation to prevail in the much-trumpeted ``Islamised`` Pakistan. And yet we go out of our way to show how women in the highly advanced and civilized countries are exploited and insultingly treated, and how Islam gives Muslim women a place of honor and a far better deal in day-to-day life.

I am not being emotional when I say that the men of this country, Muslims most of them, should hang themselves with shame at this state of affairs, not merely hang down their heads. What a fine way to prove the superiority of Islamic law to the outside world! There is only a difference of degrees between the universally condemned Taliban and us? This is one of the outcomes of the so-called eleven-year golden Islamic era in Pakistan.

There was another report about women`s affairs from another Urdu daily, though not so grim and heart-rending. It says that out of the total of more than 1,90,000 federal government employees in the country the number of women is a little over 9,000, of whom half are working in education. The paper avers that the male colleagues of these women put up various kinds of hurdles in the way of promotion of female officials, and the latter are sort of obliged to retire after reaching Grade-20.

I know it is not easy to accelerate the absorption of more and more women in government jobs. The feeding process is not adequate, and most women who do get academically qualified for service like to get married and settle down to domestic security rather than try to obtain economic security through employment. I also know that for a long, long time the percentage of women government servants is not going to be anywhere near the optimum fifty percent, perhaps never.

But what the government and the male public servants can do is to shed their prejudices and make a conscious and determined effort to let women employees feel more comfortable. My point is that there is no cause for self-satisfaction, what to say of self-congratulation, in our public and private treatment of women, despite tall talk about honoring mothers, sisters and daughters. We may flaunt our sophisticated foreign education; we may take pride in our individual positions in enlightened society; but unless we bring about a radical change in our entire thinking on the subject of women, we shall continue to carry the stigma of a backward nation.

It is no crime to be backward in material progress and technological advancement. But it is certainly both a crime and a sin to be intellectually retrogressive. That is true backwardness.

The writer is a freelance columnist

From Dawn

In the wilderness

By Tazeen Javed

I recently attended a seminar on `Paradigms of Conflict Resolution in South Asia` organized by the department of International Relations at University of Karachi. A Bangladeshi scholar Sharmina Nasreen gave some insight and suggestions about a woman`s role in times of conflict. She said that most approaches to conflict resolution and peace building have ignored issues of women. Women are battling prejudices and discrimination at every level: they are working to break the glass ceiling in the corporate world, trying to do away with various social taboos and fighting a patriarchal system at homes, schools and workplaces but this bias ismost intense in the areas of protracted wars, in brokerage of peace and management of conflicts.

The nature of conflict has changed and wars and internal conflicts affect a major part of the population including women, in many ways. The traditional role of a woman - a grieving mother or widow - does not depict reality. Women are carrying out various activities: they have become combatants in the absence of men, heads of families, workers in war munitions, war resisters, peace workers and political leaders. They are the ones who shoulder social burdens and repercussions of war but their role is not duly recognized. For instance, almost 70 per cent of the world refugee population is female but they are hardly seen in conflict resolutionary groups as playing a vital role in peace negotiations.These groups could have come up with alternative solutions had these women been included. This invisibility is largely due to the fact that they are labelled as helpless and vulnerable and their extraordinary coping abilities are ignored when compared to their male counterparts. Such negative images traditionally denied women the opportunity to have any political influence over security management issues and as a result, conflict resolution has assumed this highly gender-biased look.

This got me thinking about the fact that where women have been denied an opportunity to participate in decision-making, their families have suffered for it, and a lot of families have female heads after the loss of traditional heads of families. If their experiences in situations of violent conflict are made visible to a larger number of people and their capacity of survival in unfavorable circumstances is highlighted, it will help a great deal in mainstreaming gender issues in peace building process.

Women have been bearing the brunt of conflict and war in Afghanistan and Kashmir for 23 and 12 years respectively. It is they who, as widows,rape victims, victims of religious dictates and victims of displacement, have had to ensure that the pattern of everyday life continues. It is they who have had to provide solace to the rest of the household following the loss of a son, a father, a brother or a husband as well as shoulder the additional responsibility that falls on their shoulders as a result of the loss.

Any sustainable solution to the protracted conflict in these two regions needs a comprehensive and all inclusive framework where all factions of society from state to the individuals who are victims and the affected citizens - including women - come together and share their perspectives. It has happened in Bosnia where Bosnian and Serb Women`s Forum worked for peace. They formed contact groups and brought women together from opposing sections to discuss their experiences which helped tremendously in developing tolerance. Daughters and Mothers of Lanka and Mother`s Front in Sri Lanka are working for peace in the war torn region of northern Sri Lanka.

The inclusion of women in negotiations is important because men and women experience war differently and a woman`s contextual experience can lead to an alternative formulation of conflict resolution. Nagaland is a north eastern Indian state fighting for autonomy since 1945 and they have included womens groups during peace talks with the Indian government. Naga Mother`s Association participated in the negotiations and worked out an achievable solution plan. United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) trained a large number of women from both sides of conflict in Burundi. It laid a strong foundation for mobilizing women from opposite sides in devising a common agenda for peace. These women demanded representation at the peace negotiations and their efforts paid off in 1999 when women leaders were accorded permanent observer status. The women of Burundi are still working towards being granted full rights as participants in the peace process.

Involving women is practical because a woman`s vision of peace is more sustainable as it is based on egalitarian principals and is flexible enough to accommodate political differences. Women, by discussing their trauma, can understand and form a bond with members of opposing groups and the commonalities of their experiences can cut through ethnic, religious, tribal and social identities.