Sri Lankan Government Protests Over Miliband’s Participation in Tamil Forum

The Sri Lankan Government had lodged a strong protest against the participation of British Foreign Minister David Miliband in the Global Tamil Forum (GTF) conference held in London recently. The report added that Sri Lanka Foreign Minister Rohitha Bogollagama summoned the acting British High Commissioner in Sri Lanka Mark Gooding to the Foreign Ministry to express his utmost dissatisfaction and concern regarding Miliband's conduct.

The Sri Lankan Foreign Ministry had expressed its deepest concern and the government's protest against the association of the British foreign minister in the entire process at the forum. The action of the foreign minister of Sri Lanka was an exercise in diplomatic restraint. One can argue that the participation of British foreign minister in a conference of a Tamil or a Sinhalese organization in London cannot be taken as a violation of rights of another country. No other country has the moral or legal right to oppose such participation.

Battle Against LTTE
However, the Sri Lankan Government's perspective on this incident, in which the British Foreign Minister David Miliband participated in the Global Tamil Forum conference, which was known to have close linked with Tamil rebels, should be viewed in the context of the long drawn out 30-year war in the country in which large numbers of human beings were murdered by the inhuman Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization.

At a time when the Sri Lankan Government was fighting a battle against the LTTE, the British Government did not act in a manner that suggested it was in favor of the military action carried out by Sri Lanka.

Bogollagama's Interpretation
One can imagine that there is a large margin of difference in the British foreign minister participating in a forum of any other nationality or organization with exceptions to his involvement with the Global Tamil Forum. One cannot accept the premise that the British foreign minister was ignorant of the fact that the LTTE outfit which was even declared by the United States as one of the world's cruelest terrorist organizations was a segment of the Global Tamil Forum. Therefore, Rohitha Bogollagama's interpretation that David Miliband's action similar to supporting future terrorist objectives cannot be considered as wrong.

It is no secret that during the war between the Sri Lankan Government and the LTTE, the British Government's indifference in fact was a loud call for the war to be stopped and safeguard the LTTE. Although the UK did not directly enunciate this idea, the end result of the efforts of the British Government to stop the ongoing war would have definitely resulted in protecting the LTTE leadership and their organization.

Objective of LTTE
The main objective of the LTTE was to create an Eelam State, a concept that world Tamil organizations have still not abandoned. No one can deny that they would have deviated from this objective even for a while. This is because at the time of the death of LTTE leader Prabhakaran because of Army assaults, Kumaran Pathmanathan, one of the foremost characters who funded the movement, made a statement which caused concern in many world capitals. The statement attributed to Kumaran Pathmanathan is that "Even if Prabhakaran dies we are there for the organization" This statement of KP shows the indignation of the Tamils.

Therefore, if there is such an LTTE leader living in any part of the world, no onr can deny his relationship with the Global Tamil Forum. It has to be emphasized that the protest registered by the Sri Lankan Government against the British foreign minister's participation in the forum cannot be regarded as one that crosses the borders of diplomatic propriety.

India-Pakistan Talks: A Review

A number of problems between Pakistan and India have been awaiting solution since the partition of the Indian-Pakistani subcontinent. Major problems among these are Kashmir, Sir Creek, distribution of water, Siachen Glacier, and now terrorism is also a problem that has contributed to widening of the gulf between the two countries.

In addition to leadership-level talks between the two countries, dialogues were also held at ministerial and secretaries level between the two countries during the last 63 years to solve the problems. During the course of time, wars were also fought, which broadened the gulf of mistrust further, and the Mumbai attacks in the year 2008 pushed the level of mistrust to an extreme end.

The latest, the foreign secretary-level talks between Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao and her Pakistani counterpart Salman Bashir was held after a long time, which ended without any positive results. The Pakistani Government is making efforts to resolve the Kashmir issue and other disputes. However, the Indian Government's stance was limited to talks on terrorism only. Now, these talks again proved meaningless and serving no purpose, and became a thing of the past like those held previously.

Salman Bashir declined to hand over the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks, Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, to India, saying that it is futile to link the Hafiz Saeed issue with the dialogue process. Meanwhile, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao raised the terrorism issue at the talks with Salman Bashir and demanded the arrest of Hafiz Saeed because India has been the victims of terrorism attacks from the Pakistani side since a long time. India also entrusted to Pakistan a dossier of the list of 40 terrorists, but whether Pakistan would make any comment on it, is doubtful.

The manner in which the two sides were engaged in filling the blanks shows that the dialogue was held without much preparation. Those who consider this to be another failure of India's foreign policy cannot be totally dismissed. This is because our rival country, which had made India agree to talks even if that meant coming to New Delhi, seems to have been successful in claiming this to be a diplomatic victory. It could achieve this feat without changing its viewpoint after 26 November 2008.

Ministerial Level Talks
The first session of Pakistan-India ministerial level talks was held on 27 December 1962 in Rawalpindi. Pakistan was represented by Foreign Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and India by its Foreign Minister Suran Singh. These six-phase talks concerning the Kashmir issue remained inconclusive. The second phase of these talks was held in New Delhi from 16 to 19 January 1963, while the third phase from 8 to 11 February ended inconclusive in Karachi. However, it was decided to hold one more meeting in Calcutta (Kolkata) to find new ways for solution to the problem. Hence, the fourth phase of talks kicked off on 11 March in Calcutta where the proposal of Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was agreed on, saying the Kashmir problem should be solved on the basis of economy and not religion. Yet, no permanent solution to the problem was reached, and it was decided to take the matter forward and holding of another session of talks was agreed.

Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru once again emphasized on solution to the Kashmir and other issues. The fifth phase of ministerial-level talks began in Karachi on 22 April 1963, which ended without yielding any results. The sixth and last phase of these talks began in New Delhi on 15 May 1963, which proved unsuccessful on 16 May when Pakistan suggested making the Kashmir an international issue. In this way, these ministerial-level talks comprising six phases concluded without yielding any results.

There had been no ministerial or diplomatic contact between the two countries for almost seven years; rather, India attacked Pakistan in 1971, resulting in disintegration of the country into two parts (inception of Bangladesh); Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto and the Indian prime minister signed Shimla Pact thereafter.

On 31 July 1971, the Pakistan-India diplomatic staff held bilateral negotiations at Rawalpindi to bring the political situation to normalcy. On 29 November 1974, the diplomats from the two countries held negotiations at New Delhi to remove ban from the bilateral trade, imposed in 1965. On 24 January 1975, Pakistan and India signed a trade agreement at Islamabad. Negotiations on Pakistan-India trade were arranged at Karachi from 12 to 13 January 1976.

The Indian cricket team, after a 17-year gap, came to Pakistan on a two-month long tour on 24 April 1978. On 4 February 1980, Indian Foreign Secretary R.D. Sethi along with a four-member delegation came to Pakistan to hand over Indira Gandhi's letter to President Ziaul Haque, in which meetings with Pakistani Foreign Secretary S. Shah Nawaz for bringing relationships of both the countries to normalcy and situation of Afghanistan were discussed.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Ghulam Ishaq Khan and his Indian counterpart Narasimha Rao held a two-phase meeting on 10 June 1981, in which discussions were made on the international situation and the bilateral relationships. Pakistan and India held negotiations on No-War Pact and bilateral relationships on 30 January 1982.

Pakistani Foreign Minister Yaqub Khan held a 50-minute meeting with his Indian counterpart Bali Ram Bhagat to discuss bilateral relationships. The second round of this meeting was held in New Delhi on the issue of Siachen Glacier.

In October 1978, the two countries arranged negotiations at Islamabad on the Wooler Barrage dispute. On 31 December 1988, multiphase meetings were held between Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto and her Indian counterpart Rajiv Gandhi. On 1 January 1989, Benazir Bhutto and Rajiv Gandhi signed three bilateral accords: No attack on each another, solution of bilateral taxation dispute, and cultural cooperation.

Secretary-Level Negotiations
The first round of the secretary-level negotiations between the two countries was held at Islamabad on 17 July 1990, in which Foreign Secretary Tanvir Ahmed Khan represented Pakistan, while Indian Foreign Secretary Machkana Darbe represented his country. These negotiations were of seven phases. The second round was held in New Delhi from 10 to 11 August 1990, third round in Islamabad between Pakistani Foreign Secretary Sheheryar Khan and his Indian counterpart Machkana Darbe and J.N. Dixit from 18 to 20 December 1990 and seventh round in Islamabad from 2 to 3 January 1994.

In these negotiations, which were held after a 17-month gap, nuclear nonproliferation, Kashmir, and Siachen disputes and reduction of weapons were discussed. However, these negotiations didn't bear any fruit. On 28 March 1997, Pakistan-India negotiations at the foreign secretary-level resumed in New Delhi after the lapse of three years. Shamshad Ahmed Khan represented Pakistan, while Salman Haider represented India. The second round of these talks was held in Islamabad from June 19 to 22 1997.

Negotiations at the foreign secretary-level restarted at Islamabad on 15 October 1998 after a gap of 13 months, in which Shamshad Khan represented Pakistan, while Raghunath participated from the Indian side. Discussions were made for the restoration of confidence building environment. As a result of these meetings, Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee visited Pakistan in 1999.

In 2003, the Pakistan-India contacts were restored at the foreign secretary-level, in which the India forwarded 12 suggestions for confidence building and stress was laid on the reopening of land, water and air routes. Pakistan showed positive response to almost all of the suggestions. However, it partially rejected one of the suggestions, and also imposed some conditions.

Also, in addition to this, four suggestions were presented from Pakistan's side: Increase in the number of delegation staff and starting Lahore-Amritsar bus service in place of increase in number of buses on Lahore-Delhi route were suggested. On 6 January 2004, a meeting was held between General Pervez Musharraf and Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee during the SAARC leaders' conference in Islamabad where both of them agreed to hold purposeful negotiations in February for restoration of relationships.

As a result, negotiations at the secretary-level were held from 15 to 17 February 2004 in Islamabad, which broke down the three-year deadlock. The second round of these talks started in Islamabad from 27 to 28 December 2004, in which Foreign Secretary Riaz H. Kokar represented Pakistan, and from the Indian side Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran forwarded 20 suggestions for restoration of confidence over strategic and regional issues and the Kashmir dispute.

This peace process fell in jeopardy after the seven bomb explosions in Mumbai trains on 11 July 2006, in which approximately 200 people were killed. As expected, India put the responsibility of the explosions on Pakistan and talks at the foreign secretary-level were halted. And it is also said that the Pakistani diplomatic staff was deported from India. However, the deferment lasted for a very little duration and, once again, negotiations started at the foreign secretary-level in New Delhi from 14 to 15 February 2006. In the third phase of this meeting, the Khokhrapar Monabao border was opened on 1 February 2007.

An agreement was signed in March 2007 to prepare combined mechanism against terrorism. However, important, complicated and solution-seeking issues between the two countries remained unresolved. And most importantly, India kept rolling back on its own 12 suggestions that it had forwarded for confidence restoration in October 2003.

During the SAARC Council of Ministers meeting on 7 December 2007 in New Delhi, Pakistani Caretaker Foreign Minister Inamul Haq met his Indian counterpart Pranab Mukherjee and emphasized on negotiations. Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee visited Pakistan from 21 to 22 May 2008, and another meeting was held in Islamabad for the evaluation of the fourth round of Pakistan-India negotiations.

On 27 June 2008, Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi visited India and invited his counterpart for negotiations, after which the fifth phase of negotiations at the foreign secretary-level started on 21 July 2008. Under these negotiations, friendly cooperation in various sectors was ensured and discussions were made on suggestions of availability of resources for easy issuance of visas and increasing people-to-people contacts.

Pakistan and India agreed for confidence rebuilding over the Kashmir dispute and steps for amalgamation of the divided families. However, no agreements over the Kashmir dispute and other issues came to forth.

Disastrous Point
26 November 2008 proved to be a very fatal day for the Pakistan-India peace process when approximately 170 people lost their lives in the massive terrorist activities in the Indian city of Mumbai. India held Pakistan responsible for these activities and one again the negotiation process suspended. And now India is laying stress on negotiations only over the agenda of terrorism.

And news published in various dailies show the bias that India at the moment does not want to deviate from its stance and talk about other issues. One this occasion, we are recalling/remembering these words of the Indian prime minister, which he had spoken on 12 July 2001 for war: "If India and Pakistan remain busy in peaceful and sincere bilateral negotiations for removing mutual differences, then none of the problems could linger unresolved."
Assessment
If the responsible people sitting on the negotiations tables recall these words of Vajpayee, without any doubt, peaceful environment will be established in the region, which will guarantee development of all.

The most important aspect of the 25 February talks is that Pakistan's foreign secretary came here and our foreign secretary talked to him. Even if both of them repeated their old allegations full of resentment, at least it broke the silence. It should be noted here that during the time when formal talks between the governments remain stopped, politicians on both sides spread much more hatred among their people. Before leaving, Pakistani foreign secretary extended an invitation to the Indian foreign secretary to come there. We must continue this sequence.

To conclude, I am also recalling a quote of Jawaharlal Nehru, which he had uttered soon after independence: "A prosperous and secure Pakistan would benefit India; with which (Pakistan) we can establish close and friendly relations." In the light of these words, India should not miss this opportunity at any cost. And it (India) should take such steps that help Pakistan become a stable and prosperous country, so that it also has positive impact on India.

Need For Change in Egypt

Renowned nuclear expert and former International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohammad El Baradi has announced to take part in the politics of Egypt. He was accorded a warm welcome, last Friday, when he reached Cairo, after getting relieved from IAEA. The people raised slogans of democratic change in Egypt.

It is cleared here that, like many other Muslim countries, Egypt too has so called democracy, but after the assassination of President Anwar-us-Sadaat, in October 1981, Hosni Mubarak became the president of Egypt and is still holding that position. Following the footsteps of his successor, he is happy to maintain cordial relations with USA and diplomatic relations with Israel.

The Egyptian people want a change in this policy as well as that of their President, but their "hard-line democratic system" imposed by Jamal Abdul Nassir in the country, doesn't allow any change in the country at the moment.

Pro-Islam Movement
The Egyptian people are sensing the possibilities of change, in the form of El Baradi, which are feeble at the moment, but may gain strength in future. Last week, Mohammad El Baradi, after pronouncing his candidature for the President, met the spiritual leader of Akhwan-ul-Muslameen, the biggest pro-Islam movement of Egypt. Akhwan-ul-Muslameen has 88 out 554 seats in the Egyptian Parliament. Mohammad El Baradi started his campaign after a meeting with sheikh of Al Azhar University.

Country's Future
Fifteen political groups of Egyptian opposition have announced their support for El Baradi, including Amar Musa, chief of Akhwan-ul-Muslameen and Arab League, in spite of the fact that he had intended to take part in presidential election in 2009.

Amar Musa, while addressing the American university of Cairo, said that every body wants a change, we are concerned about the country's future, and desire for change and struggle for it, is our right. Whether El Baradi, is elected President of Egypt or not, it is important at the moment that he will bring breathe of fresh air in the presently suffocated political environment.

Global Tamil Forum Conference

The Global Tamil Forum (GTF) has called on the Tamil Diaspora to support the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) that has stepped forward to lead the community at a time when it is being subjected to continuing miseries and hardships.

Joint Statement
Following is the statement released by Ganeshalingam, secretary general of the Global Tamil Forum:

The political journey of the Tamil community has never been a bed of roses. Yet, despite the road to our freedom being thorny and strewn with roadblocks, we have never failed to persevere.

Former Federal Party leader S.J.V. Chelvanayagam launched the political struggle of the Tamil community through a non-violent approach. After his death, Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leader Prabhakaran led a combined politico-military offensive to sustain the struggle to win Tamil rights. At present, only the TNA is in a position to take on the mantle of leadership and continue the struggle on behalf of the Tamil community. It is an undeniable fact that the Tamil Diaspora has remained a potent link with all these three forces which have successively led the demand for Tamil rights.

Tamil Community's Leadership
At present, it is only the TNA that is equipped and able to give leadership to the Tamil community that finds itself deeper in crisis. Therefore, the Tamil Diaspora should come forward to extend their total support to the TNA on whom the Tamil community's leadership has fallen.
Since the Tamil Eelam political atmosphere is in a destitute condition the Tamil Diaspora needs to strengthen the hands of the TNA and come under one umbrella. The Tamil Diaspora supported the LTTE economically to prosecute its armed struggle for the last 30 years so as to help win the political aspirations of the Tamils.

The Tamil Diaspora contributed to help the LTTE to emerge as a strong organization comprising three armed forces. When several elements in the past attempted to destroy LTTE organization it was the Tamil Diaspora that was in the forefront to thwart such attempts by staging powerful demonstrations and rallies. Their contribution is indispensable to continue our political efforts to win back our homeland. As such I call upon all expatriate Tamils to stand united to help achieve the political aspirations of our brethren in Sri Lanka.

Unpatriotic Forces Betrayed
It is true that the political journey of the Eelam Tamils has faced an array of defeats and disappointments in the past. Our community has been crushed as a result of betrayals committed in the past by various unpatriotic forces.

In whichever direction we turn, there are plots and betrayals being heaped upon our people. We know that we are not the root cause of all these unfortunate acts. Several countries and forces in the world are carrying out all forms of subversive suppression upon our community and they have often succeeded in their attempts.

Participants at the Global Tamil Forum said: "We are now facing a future that is potent with danger and need to be constantly alert to what's happening around us. Our race should not become a victim of the conspiracies plotted by external forces. Our combatants and politicians should stand up together against all elements which seek to undermine our objectives and destroy us. We must be on maximum alert therefore as we continue our struggle."

Political Change Needed
Considering this overall backdrop to our present position, let us, therefore, help the TNA to assume full leadership on behalf of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Let us stand shoulder to shoulder with the TNA and open the path for a prosperous future for our kith and kin living in our Eelam homeland.

Simultaneously, participants at the Global Tamil Forum will also make every effort to help bring relief to our people held in welfare camps and to create for them a bright future through a political change. We, the Tamil Diaspora, must work hand in hand to accomplish this task.

India-Pakistan Dialogue: No Success Achieved Again

Even after conveying its repeated reluctance for talks to Pakistan, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh held meeting with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari at Yekaterinburg (Russia) and later with Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani at Sharm el-Sheikh.

In the wake of 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attack, India took a clear stand that unless and until Pakistan does not dismantle the terrorist infrastructure on its soil and hand over the conspirators of the Mumbai attack to India, or prosecute them in Pakistan, India will not hold composite dialogue with the same.

Dialogue Process
The process of dialogue with Pakistan was set in after the Lahore bus journey by Atal Behari Vajpayee, who was the prime minister then, and the meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif was arranged, but the Musharraf-sponsored Kargil conflict and the army camp in Pakistan dashed all hopes toward this end. Later, the Agra Summit failed and the process of dialogue remained suspended for a long time.
Finally, the talk process could be resumed during the term of Vajpayee as prime minister. After the attack on the Indian Parliament, roads, rail, and air links with Pakistan could be restored. Later, during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government's term, the bus service and trade between the two Kashmirs resumed.
Nevertheless, Pakistan from the very beginning stuck to its wont of harping on Kashmir. From the times of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, his daughter Benazir Bhutto, later Musharraf and currently Pakistani leaders persisted with their agenda of harping on the Kashmir issue. Now, under the US pressure, the New Delhi talks at the foreign secretary-level began in the midst of mutual apprehensions and with their respective stands.
Indian External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna maintains that terrorism should be the main issue in the India-Pakistan dialogue. It is a clear stand of the Indian Government that if improvement is to be brought about in the India-Pakistan relations, then there should be an atmosphere free of terror between the countries. However, Pakistan has been constantly trying to avoid the terrorism issue in the dialogue process.

Latest Talks Failed
The visiting Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir on 24 February declined to hand over the mastermind of the Mumbai attacks, Hafiz Saeed, to India, saying that it is futile to link the Hafiz Mohammad Saeed issue with the dialogue process. Meanwhile, Indian Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao raised the terrorism issue at the talks with Salman Bashir and demanded the arrest of Sayeed because India has been the victims of terrorism attacks from the Pakistani side since a long time. India also entrusted to Pakistan a dossier of the list of 40 terrorists, but whether Pakistan would make any comment on it, is doubtful.
In connection with the Mumbai attack, Pakistan also admitted in its various documents that the attack was sponsored and launched from Pakistan. The links of the recent explosion at Pune are connected with terrorist kingpins based in Karachi. Not only that Pakistani infiltration is accelerating in Jammu and Kashmir and terrorist attacks are also increasing.

Violating Cease-Fire
In an encounter with militants at Sopore on 24 February, two soldiers and a captain of the Indian Army were killed. The same day, Pakistani troops violated the cease-fire and opened heavy firing in the Samba sector in which one Border Security Force personnel was wounded. Earlier, Taliban in Pakistan beheaded two Sikhs in the tribal area and abducted another Sikh.
A wave of terror has spread among Sikhs living in Pakistan in the wake of such incidents. It is astonishing that whenever India-Pakistan talks are held or take place, firing by Pakistani troops at the border has increased.
Zardari has once again spoken in terms of raising the Kashmir issue in the fresh India-Pakistan dialogue, and told Pakistani Army Chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani that the Pakistani Army was strong enough to face the Indian challenge.
Whenever, any Pakistan leader or bureaucrat visits India, Hurriyat leaders arrive in Delhi to meet him. Hurriyat leader Ali Shah Gilani met Salman Bashir and asked him to raise the Kashmir issue as the main issue instead of river water issue at the renewed India-Pakistan talks.

Neglecting Terror Issue
Keeping in view all this, union Home Minister P. Chidambaram was not optimistic about the talks at the secretary level. The truth is Pakistan is unwilling to realize that terrorism is dangerous for both countries. Although a democratic order exists in that country at present, the fact remains that it cannot do anything without the consent of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the military. These two are the obstacles in the India-Pakistan relations.
This time around, differences cropped up between the two sides. Therefore, no joint statement was issued. Instead, Pakistan raised the Baluchistan issue and things remained unchanged on the whole, and the position is, "they came, held talks, and left."

Pranab Mukherjee's General Budget

There are many a thing in the general budget presented by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on 26 February, as were expected by economists. At the same time, there are other areas where despite having taken harsh decisions, softness has been employed in the budget proposals.
There was a general opinion that the government may withdraw stimulus packages. Even the Economic Survey, 2009-10 had hinted at the same. Yet, avoiding withdrawal of the package immediately, there is a proposal to withdraw these packages gradually and slowly. This made the industrialist community heave a sigh of relief.

The economic survey portrays the growth rate for this fiscal year at 8.7 percent. Yet the finance minister, going far ahead of it, has thrown many encouraging hints maintaining that the achievement of 10 percent growth rate is not much beyond our reach. Even during the new fiscal year, the growth rate is expected to be at 9 percent. The budget proposes to enhance allocations for the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA) and Rajiv Awas Yojana, heavily. Continuance of one percent subsidy on the rate of interest for the home loans for yet another year carries good news for both homebuyers and the builders. It would certainly help the reality sector to come out of the grip of recession.

Education Sector
By allotting Rs.310.36 billion for school education, the government has taken a step toward reform in primary and secondary education providing free education. Yet, there is no hint whatever at reining in the institutions of higher learnings and private technical and training institutions which charge exorbitant fees. Reining in these institutions to bring down their fee structure is extremely necessary to enable the common man to aspire for high education.
By increasing the allocation by 75 percent for urban development it has been pegged Rs.54 billion. Though, a mention has been made to improve infrastructure in urban and rural sectors and a huge amount of Rs.1.735 trillion has been earmarked yet, the government appears to be inclined more toward urban development. The government has stressed the need of paying attention to public expenditure and providing resources yet, there is no mention whatsoever of any concrete measure for the same.

Step Toward Privatization
The announcement of earning Rs.250 billion through disinvestments, is yet another step toward privatization. Yet, one wonders how the government would deal with issues like employment of those working in this sector and other issues. Empirically speaking, earlier experience of the government in this regard has not been much successful. Yet the decision to provide services to the economically weaker sections of the society is an appropriate one.
It is only for conjecture how far would the initiatives taken toward power and energy sector be successful and effective, because despite best efforts of the government in this sector, there has been no worthwhile improvement and the progress has been rather slow. The finance minister also made a mention of initiation of measures to check inflation and price rise. Yet, until concrete results of such announcement are visible, it is difficult to appreciate them.

Revamping of Income Tax Slabs
The most significant and entirely unexpected decision in the budget is the revamping of income tax slabs, which aims at providing relief to the middle class. Under the new slab, structure, those earning up to Rs.500,000 a year would pay income tax at the rate of 10 percent, earlier it was 20 percent. The decision would provide relief to 60 percent of taxpayers. However, the common man has been further burdened by the increases in the prices of diesel and petrol.

It would have its impact on public transport and freight section. This would nullify the measures the government's efforts in chocking price rise and may further escalate prices of essential commodities and consumer goods. It was however, already expected by the people. On the whole, the budget proposals, if not laudable, contain some good decisions, which were not being expected of the government.

Highlights of Budget

* Taxes on big cars and SUVs increased 2 percent to 22 percent
* Basic duty of 5percent on crude oil restored
* Tax on cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco up
* Rs 26,000 crore revenue loss due to cut in direct taxes
* Partial roll back of reduction in central excise duty
* IT returns forms for individual tax payers to be further simplified
* Expenditure in 2010-11 estimated at 11,l8,749 crore
* Fiscal deficit estimated at 5.5 percent in 2010-11; 1 percent improvement over 2009-10
* 46 percent of plan allocations in 2010-11 will be for infra
* Implementation of direct tax code from April 2011
* FDI flows in April-Dec 2009 $20.9 billion
* National Social Security Fund created for workers in unorganized sector
* National Clean Energy Fund to be established
* Exclusive skill development program for textile sector
* Banking facilities to be provided to all habitations with a population of 2,000 and more
* New fertilizer policy from April 2010
* Toy balloons, water filters, refrigerators, mobile equipment, set top boxes, CDs cheaper

Malaysia, China Expand Bilateral Trade Ties

Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Liu Jian said that the Malaysia-China relations in recent years have indeed entered a best period in the diplomatic history of both nations. He added that after the mutual visits by the two national leaders to each other's country, the bilateral ties between Malaysia and China have turned even better.

Therefore, both nations should take such opportunity to follow through and create more favorable conditions for both nations to push the bilateral exchange and cooperation in the economic, cultural and other fields to a new high.In accepting Nanyang Siang Pau's exclusive interview, Ambassador Liu Jian said that in this New Year, the Chinese Embassy in Malaysia would focus on coming out with programs to advance the friendly bilateral ties between the two countries.

The first item on Ambassador Liu's to-do list is in the expansion of trade and related investment between the two nations. The Chinese envoy said that in 2009, the Malaysia-China bi-lateral trade volume has reach $50 billion (about M$ 170.1 billion ringgit). This bilateral trade volume accounted for China's one-fourths trade volume with ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations). It was a heavy percentage.

Economic and Trade Supplement
Ambassador Liu said that on economic and trade, Malaysia and China could supplement each other's need. Both nations could promote the diversification of trade and deepen economic and trade exchanges. He disclosed that at this juncture, when more and more Chinese enterprises were keen to "explore the outside world", the Chinese authorities would continue to encourage large Chinese enterprises to invest in Malaysia. He said that at present stage, many Chinese provincial and municipal leaders have already begun to promote work in this area. At the same time, China also welcomed Malaysian companies to continue their investment in China. When Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib made his first official visit to China in his capacity as the Prime Minister in June 2009, both countries have agreed on three agreements and one memorandum of understanding. Ambassador Liu Jian was one of the backstage contributors toward cementing these agreements between the two countries.
The first important agreement signed between Malaysia and China as witnessed by Malaysian Prime Minister Najib and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao was the "Malaysia-China Joint Action Plan on Strategic Cooperation." The second agreement was the "Abolition of Visa Agreement" which covers regulations on the travel of holders of diplomatic and official or service passports. These personnel will no longer be required to get visas for travel to China or Malaysia. The third document signed between the two countries was the "Marine Science and Technology Cooperation Agreement." The memorandum of understanding signed was the" Malaysia-China Postal Cooperation MoU (Memorandum of Understanding)."

Strong Business Opponent
Chinese Ambassador to Malaysia Liu Jian opined that Malaysian businesses should not hold the concern that once the ASEAN-China Free Trade Zone was fully implemented, Malaysia's domestic enterprises could not face the strong competitors coming from China and that it the process the Malaysian enterprises would be "swallowed" by the Chinese enterprises. He added that all nations should look at the bigger picture and the overall situation of the Free Trade Area Agreement and avoid "losing the big issues just because we focus on smaller ones."
The Chinese envoy said that it was based on common interest that China and ASEAN countries worked to achieve this ASEAN-China Free Trade Area. He said China and ASEAN countries have spent ten years to prepare for the free trade area. He added that the reduction of tariffs between China and ASEAN would be done year by year gradually.
Therefore, the implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area would not bring much economic and trade impact to all countries concerned. Ambassador Liu said, "The full implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area will be carried out in two stages. The first stage of implementation is between China and the few founding members of ASEAN. By 2015, the full ASEAN-China Free Trade Area will then be expanded to cover all the newer ASEAN nations." This was what Ambassador Liu Jian said when he accepted the interview with Nanyang Siang Pau.
When asked to comment on the dilemma faced by the Malaysian SMEs (Small and Medium Size Enterprises) as the direct result of the implementation of China-ASEAN Free Trade Area agreement in Malaysia, Ambassador Liu Jian said that if what the Malaysian enterprises produced were similar to the products of what the Chinese enterprises came out, it was quite normal for Malaysian enterprises to have such concern and fear. However, he added that we should all look at the overall situation and should not allow the smaller issues to block out the bigger issues as well as the bi-lateral trade benefits in the long run.
Setting Up Bank's Branch When asked to comment on the internationalization of Chinese currency Renminbi (RMB), Ambassador Liu Jian that it would be a long process to get it done. First of all, China must begin with carrying out such process with neighboring countries surrounding China. He also hoped that after the establishment of Bank of China in Malaysia, the Industrial and Commerce Bank of China could also open a branch in Malaysia as planned.
He hoped that the setting up of this second Chinese bank in Malaysia could be materialized within this year. He commented that on the setting up of this second bank in Malaysia as far as China was concerned everything was ready. He believed there should not be any procedural problem on this.

Closer Cooperation in Education
Ambassador Liu Jian hoped that in this New Year, the educational cooperation between Malaysia and China could move closer. He said that there were about one million Chinese students studying in Malaysia. There were also about 2,000 Malaysian students doing their courses in China. He said the number of Chinese and Malaysian students pursuing courses in each other's county respectively were on the increase.
Ambassador Liu Jian stressed that the mutual recognition of university degrees from both nations would require the joint efforts of two nations. He suggested that the governments and local community from both countries should encourage and assist Malaysian students and Chinese students to study in each other's country, including the provision of scholarships to the students concerned.The US envoy to Malaysia was happy to note that a Confucius Institute has already been established at the University of Malaya. He hoped that more Confucius Institute could be established in other Malaysian universities so that Chinese language teaching and learning could be provided to more Malaysian students for them to understand the Chinese culture.On the development of bi-lateral tourism, Ambassador Liu Jian said that Chinese was in the process to expand its tourism market and domestic demand for it. He expected China would soon have a vigorous tourism development and that would also encourage more Chinese tourists to visit Malaysia.

Goals To Become Advanced Nations
US Ambassador to Malaysia Liu Jian described the ASEAN -China Free Trade Area as a very important first step for China and ASEAN countries to implement. He said that through this Free Trade Area agreement, "Asian power" could be enhanced. He said that through this Free Trade Area, Malaysia, China, and other ASEAN countries could have an additional economic development channel to strengthen respective trade.
He said that when we added 10 ASEAN countries plus China together, the total market has a potential market for 1.9 billion people. Therefore, the potential market development toward that direction was very huge. It could become one of the world new economies comparable to the European Union and the North American economic bloc.
Ambassador Liu Jian opined that the implementation of the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area would enable the trade between Malaysia and China to further expand. It would also create new cooperation opportunities between the two nations in agriculture and other sectors.
Ambassador Liu Jian said that China should enter the well-off society by 2020; Malaysia also has its Vision 2020 goal to become a developed nation. Therefore, it could be said that Malaysia and China share similar goal to become advanced countries. He said the two nations should further explore new cooperation points and opportunities to face a brighter future ahead of Malaysia and China.

Passable Budget

In this age of economic challenges, it is difficult for any finance minister to come true on everybody's expectations, but it seems that Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee tried to do exactly the same, and as a result he restricted himself to someone who presented a passable budget. Indian economy is not going to get any noteworthy momentum through this budget, because there are not even indications of any revolutionary changes in any sector, so much so that steps have also not been taken in the expected direction of economic reforms.

Initiative for Fundamental Change
After all, for how long they would continue to give with one hand and take it away with the other through budget? It is also becoming clear now that if an initiative for fundamental change is made through one budget, it is ignored in the next budget, exactly in the manner as allocation is increased under some heads and reduced under others.
Sometimes, they try to please one class, and sometimes another class. The same exercise was done this time too, but perhaps halfheartedly. Had it not been so, mere Rs. 4 billion would not have been allocated in the name of Green Revolution.

Struggling With Severe Price Hike
It is difficult to understand why Green Revolution has been kept restricted to only the country's eastern part? Is it that other parts of the country apart from Bihar, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Eastern Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Orissa are overflowing with food grain?
The question also is what would be achieved with mere Rs.4 billion? This much sum is not enough even for one state. At a time when the country is struggling with severe price hike because of shortage of food grain, making symbolic and limited efforts for green revolution is a matter of concern. Similarly, negligible increase in defense budget is also beyond understanding.

Old and New Programs
The contours of the general budget are telling us that the kind of efforts that should have been made to rein in price rise have not been made. Undoubtedly, we should worry about the present, but not paying attention to the future could prove to be fatal. Is it not surprising that no concrete efforts have been made to control inflation when there is every likelihood of rise in it? The finance minister has made efforts to control fiscal deficit and has hoped that it would be reduced, but the economy is not dependent on honest intentions of rulers.
It is not necessary that the situations take the same shape as is being thought, especially looking at the fact that agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy and agriculture is still dependent on rains. There is no surprise about it that the finance minister wished that the rain gods would shower their blessings. We cannot be pleased with the fact that the allocation for some old and new programs has been increased, because we have not yet been able to create a system that would also properly implement what the government says. This budget provides less relief and causes more concern, because there are some sectors that appear to be neglected, as before.

Pakistan's Negative Attitude in Fresh Talks With India

The beginning of secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan is a positive development, but not getting any concrete result out of it, as usual, is a negative aspect. The Pakistani delegation must have known well about India's complaints, but even then it did not come to India for talks with any positive message from its side. Our delegation headed by Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao deserves to be commended that it sat down for talks with full preparations. Not just one but three dossiers were handed over to Pakistan.

Terror Issue
The first dossier was about the Mumbai terror attack, while the second one was about the threat by terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri, and the third one about absconding Indian criminals hiding in Pakistan. We can be reassured that the post of Indian foreign secretary is being held by a skilled woman diplomat. She rightly raised the Pune explosion issue before the Pakistani delegation. While there was a lot with Indian delegation to give and say to the Pakistani delegation, it seemed as if the Pakistani delegation had come here to "pass time".
To irritate Indians, Pakistan again sang the Kashmir tune. Pakistani Foreign Secretary Salman Bashir went to the extent of repeating that India had a hand behind terrorism in Baluchistan. It is another matter though that they did not have any proof to substantiate the same.

Impact of Pune Explosion
After the death of 15 persons in the Pune explosion, India could have refused to talk, but still it favored talks. These talks were proof of India's goodwill. Yes, the Pune explosion did have an impact in the sense that the entire dialogue was converted into brief talks.

The main issue and regrettable fact is that Pakistan is not doing anything in the direction of stopping terrorism directed against India. When Nirupama Rao must have said that both countries would keep in touch in the future, Salman Bashir obviously must have been very pleased because for Pakistan, the show of talks is more important. After returning to Pakistan, Bashir would, perhaps, publicize that India is compelled to talk and there would be talks in the future.

Maintaining Positive Attitude
It should be noted here that the Indian Government had decided to hold talks again with Pakistan with a positive attitude, but this positive attitude could be maintained only if we continue to exert adequate pressure on Pakistan. Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attack, is openly holding rallies in Pakistan and issuing threats against India, but the Pakistani Government cannot see this truth.
The Indian delegation has done the right thing by also raising this issue during the talks. India would have to reply to Pakistan's pack of lies by always speaking the truth. Some day, it would be ashamed. Some day it would improve. We must continue to talk with this hope.

Fiscal Discipline, End of Corruption To Make India World Leader

In the annual economic survey presented in the Parliament on 25 February giving an indication of new spurt in economy, it has been said that in the next four years, India would become the fastest-growing economy of the world. At the moment, it is the second fastest-growing economy of the world, after China.

Growth Rate
Analysts believe that in the coming years, India would leave behind China in this matter. This is also being confirmed by development-related figures of the economy. Despite recession, the country's economy registered a growth of 6.7-percent during 2008-09. During 2009-10, the growth rate is expected to be around 7 to 7.5-percent, and during 2010-11, it is estimated to be around 8 to 8.5-percent.
The government would have to strengthen its fiscal condition so that the county's economy could become the fastest-growing economy of the world, and would have to give proper direction to government spending. Apart from this, it would also have to review the big dose of concessions given to industries to deal with global recession, and to provide momentum to the economy.
Most industries have not only as come out of recession now, they are also growing with considerable speed. Such industries do not need any kind of stimulus now, but those industries that have not yet fully recovered from recession do need it partially. After some time, when their condition improves, these incentives could also be withdrawn. Some incentive certainly needs to be given to those industries where the pace of investment is still slow.

Improve Infrastructure Facilities
To become the fastest-growing economy of the world, it is also very necessary to improve infrastructure facilities in urban and rural areas, and to end corruption at administrative level. We cannot imagine development without infrastructure facilities i.e. electricity, roads, and rail. There is no doubt at all that if the country could be freed from rampant corruption prevailing at the government level, we would not only become the biggest economic power of the world, but could also become a global superpower in other fields as well. Some of our people have amassed illegal wealth in the Swiss banks in huge quantities.
With that, we could not only repay all our foreign debt, but would also be in a position to lend money to others. If that happens, we would be able to easily deal with the curse of price rise and poverty.

Ensure Security of Sri Lankan Opposition MPs

The Sri Lankan Government has suddenly withdrawn the personal bodyguards of opposition MPs (Members of Parliament). The government has made this sudden and drastic move immediately after the announcement of the general election and even as the submission of party nominations are in progress.
Opposition MPs have lodged complaints with the elections commissioner regarding this affair. The commissioner of elections has openly told them that he was not even remotely connected with this action by the government to withdraw the body guards of the opposition MPs.

Objective of Sudden Action
Opposition parties charge that the objective of this sudden action taken by the government at a time when the election campaign was gathering momentum has seriously impeded their freedom of movement and was a huge obstacle to their election campaigns. They charge that the placing of this obstacle at this specific juncture by the government was intended to suppress their election campaign work so that the government propaganda machinery could derive political mileage out of it. But Minister Anura Priyadharsahana Yapa says the government does not have any ulterior motives and added that the withdrawal of MP's body guards was not illegal.
If the withdrawal of the security for these MP's is legally correct, what need is there in that case to only withdraw the security of only opposition members and not of the premier, cabinet ministers, speaker and all government MPs. We would also do well to remember that excepting for one or two MPs in the government, the rest hold ministerial portfolios either with full cabinet status or as non cabinet ministers. The action resorted to by the government in this context can thus be seen to be primarily detrimental only to the political activities of opposition MPs, they explain.

Enjoying Limitless Powers
The government which always proudly claims that it has completely eradicated terrorism in the country never hesitates to extend emergency regulations in the Parliament every month. This clearly proves that it wants to continue to enjoy the limitless powers which are at its disposal.
If the government could argue that a security threat still prevails in the country, how can it justify its claims that the MPs who vote for the passage of emergency regulation in the Parliament are not exposed to the very same level of threats to their security?
Further, at this juncture, could the withdrawal of the bodyguards of opposition parliamentarians without any prior notice be justified by the government?
Democratic People's Front leader Mano Ganeshan and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress leader Rauff Hakeem have filed action in the Supreme Court in this connection, challenging the slashing of their security by the government. After having heard the case the Supreme Court ordered the government to provide them with adequate security. The government responded to the order favorably. But now, of a sudden, their security has been withdrawn arbitrarily without the Supreme Court being consulted or informed about the move.
The government also argues that the withdrawal of the security of MPs all of a sudden at a time when the parliamentary elections are approaching is a usual practice. That argument holds no water.

The Consequences
We do not have any precedent of a similar move taken by any previous government in any past election period. How then could the government withdraw the security of key opposition leaders, and thus seriously jeopardize their personal safety. This is why such an action by the government has received wide condemnation.
We wish to take this opportunity to emphatically state that the action taken by the government to deprive opposition MPs of their security will certainly lead to drastic consequences as far as their personal security is concerned. The government should restore the withdrawn security to the opposition MPs until the new Parliament is elected. The demand is a reasonable one.

Thai Government To Survive Red-Shirted Coming Onslaught

The period 16 February to 26 February, the date set for the court to give its verdict on the case regarding the seizure of the 78-billion-baht frozen assets of Police Lieutenant Colonel Thaksin Shinawatra and his family, is the 10 days of danger. In related developments, four major incidents which were seen as the signs of real "danger" for the Aphisit Wetchachiwa government happened during the past weekend. The prime minister's motorcade was disrupted by ill-intention motorists twice on the Yommarat expressway ramp. An M79 grenade was fired into the Rajamangala University's Phra Nakhon campus. Three pounds of C-4 explosive was discovered near the Supreme Court's Division for Political Post Holders where the assets seizure case will be decided.

Attacking Government Security System
Security agencies have assessed the situation that the threat to the government's security is classified as the "red code," which is the highest level and there are four groups who are suspected of being involved in the M79 grenade attack and the planting of the C-4 explosive as follows:
1. A government-supported group who was assigned to create a violent situation to "justify" the imposition of the Internal Security Act or martial law to control the anti-government protesters in Bangkok and surrounding areas.
2. A certain military group who wants to stage a "coup d'etat" to seize the power from the government. This is because a violent situation will lead to the seizure of power by military force and setting up of an interim government.
3. The red-shirted group which has been broken apart into small uncontrollable factions. Among them there are those who believe in the use of "violence" and are skillful in using weapons. These people want to show off their prowess and potential to the government.
4. A group who wants to create a chaos to preempt the court's decision of the assets seizure case.

Unrest Situation
However, the security agencies have assumed that the incidents which can lead to an unrest situation will solely be triggered by the antigovernment elements. This includes the rallies of the red-clad protesters in 38 provinces, activities of the opposition MPs under the support of Thaksin, and the coming no-confidence House debate by the Phuea Thai Party. Amid the coup rumors, activities and big rallies of the red-shirted group are designed to give support to the Phuea Thai Party and members of the Thai Rak Thai House No 111 (banned politicians of the now defunct Thai Rak Thai Party). Particularly, the red-clad protesters will hold big rallies during the no-confidence debate against the government. They also plan to lead the masses to surround the "Parliament."
At the same time, the red-shirted group upcountry will launch their people's revolutionary (Red-in-the-Whole-Land) strategy by staging rallies to surround the city halls and important government offices in the provinces. Meanwhile, the rallies in Bangkok will be held at Sanam Luang grounds, along Ratchadamnoen Avenue, the Equestrian Plaza, and around Government House.

Tough Time Ahead
However, authorities have anticipated that the number of participants of the rallies should not exceed 60,000. The number of the protesters will be the highest only on the first day of the rallies and decline after that just like when it happened during the "Songkran bloodshed" in the capital in mid-April 2009. Cautions must be taken against any attempts among the red-shirted groups to "create a situation" leading to more violence.
The security agencies are still of the opinion that financial support is the main factor that determines the success of the red-shirted groups' attempts to trigger violence, number of rally participants, and how long the rallies will last.
After all, they still firmly believe that the government, security agencies, and armed forces are capable of coping with the situation as long as the government of Aphisit and the military stand together side by side and the silent-power groups of students and majority of the people in Bangkok do not joint the red-shirt movement. It will probably be difficult to topple the Aphisit government solely by red-shirt people from the provinces!

Indian Government Rejects Conditional Maoist Cease-Fire Offer

Nearly two-and-half years ago, a special one-day meeting of Chhattisgarh Assembly was convened on the issue of Naxallite (Maoist guerillas) menace. But the peculiarity of the session was that it was kept secret from media. Later, Chief Minister Raman Singh gave the reason for this secrecy, saying that Naxallites would not come to know who said what in the meeting. This was the terror of Naxallites, who hold sway in 16 out of 20 districts i.e. three-fourth of the state.

Rise in Maoist Violence
Not only Chhattisgarh, a dozen states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Bihar, and Andhra Pradesh are trembling with this fear. They kill policemen, citizens, children, and women at will. They talk to media without fear and extort money at gunpoint. Recent figures show that incidents of Naxallite violence have outnumbered terrorist incidents in Kashmir and the northeast.
Home Minister P. Chidambaram admits that the government has failed to assess the strength and intentions of Naxallites. In this situation, if Naxallites have offered a 72-day cease-fire, there is no need to be enthusiastic about it. This is also their ploy.

Future Preparations
Just recently, they have killed four-dozen security force personnel and innocent citizens in West Bengal and Bihar. For the first time, the fedarl government is appearing serious on this issue and is getting ready to take action in affected states, keeping political enmity aside.
There are clear signs that the Army would also be involved in this attack. Aware of the government's intentions, Naxallites want time for self-protection and future preparations, and, therefore, they have imposed the condition that security forces should be withdrawn from affected areas before talks. We hope that the government would not get caught in such a trap.

How To Tackle?
The government has rightly announced that no condition would be accepted for talks and Naxallites would have to give it in writing that they would abjure violence. Obviously, Naxallites would hesitate to take such a step because for one, it is against their guerilla strategy, and second, it will loosen their grip on their cadres.
The situations are telling us that they could only be crushed through use of force. In this situation, it should be taken care of that Naxallites are not able to use innocent Adivasis (aboriginal people) as their shield.

ICG Report on Pakistan

The International Crisis Group (ICG) has issued a news report, a piece of information or line that the Pakistan Army can again take over the government. The group has emphasized on bringing reforms in the corrupt bureaucracy and said that if the rumors and anger created by political elements and corrupt bureaucracy were not handled, the Army can find justification to occupy the government.

Corruption in Bureaucracy
The group has particularly targeted the Pakistani bureaucracy and suggested that the bureaucracy should be brought in the sphere of accountability. The dangers being faced by the government are due to inadequate salaries, political interference and corruption without any proper accountability in the civil bureaucracy. Samina Ahmed claims that such reasons provide the Army an opportunity to interfere in the democratic process.
The International Crisis Group has warned by releasing this information that the Army would get a justification for capture the power. Every year the group issues reports on various occasions, but this time it has targeted such an institution at an occasion that can provide a complete the so-called justification for the Army to take control of the government.
In the recent months, the government, opposition and judiciary have belittled themselves by engaging in one dispute or another. Only the Army and judiciary were left, but the International Crisis Group delivered this service as well. We will wait, and appreciate, if Samina Ahmed issues a report on the imbalances in the Army as well.
Now that the report has come out and bureaucracy is being targeted, let's discuss the issue openly. The International Crisis Group has rightly brought the corrupt bureaucracy into the attention by issuing its report, but the Army has never felt the need of taking power merely on the basis of the bureaucracy's corruption; in fact, the bureaucracy his made to do wrongs by the corrupt and incompetent politicians, and then a wave of anxiety hits society; but who is responsible for this? The corrupt and inept politicians? Or, the strong and powerful hands that use them [politicians]? And these hands don't need any justification, but they themselves create justifications.
Was there any justification for the Army to take over power on October 12, 1999; still the Army took control of the government, and it continued for nine years. But when the Army rule ended in the year 2008, it came to light that the government had created a nine-year-long history of malpractices, mismanagement and corruption.
Corrupt politicians are always [and frequently] blamed for plots and permits, while the dollars have increased after the departure of General (retired) Pervez Musharraf. In his rule, the plots, permits were distributed, and divided, but General (retired) Pervez Musharraf himself admitted to have sold humans, 15,000 per head.

Policy of Accountability
The ICG has informed that the bureaucracy is receiving inadequate salaries; this piece of news surprised me much. The salary is, by the way, a bit little but the ICG forgot to mention the facilities that the bureaucrats receive with their "little salaries": more than one vehicle, a driver, servants, house, electricity and telephone bills, many allowances, medical facilities in the country and abroad, and much more. It can safely be said that the salary is little, but the things that they receive in the name of allowances are not less than the earning or profit of a big businessman.
As a police officer out it, "I cannot have a chicken in my salary, but the constables and inspectors of our police station eat a chicken daily." Needless to say that little salary is the major reason for misappropriation. As regards accountability, the suggestion to bring bureaucracy in the ambit of accountability is right. But the ICG knows that whenever an attempt is made to bring the politicians, rulers or bureaucracy in the domain of accountability, what happens: the NRO (National Reconciliation Ordinance) is a pain in the neck!
Whenever there is an allegation in any part of the world, the minister resigns. But here, the convicts and respondents (in court cases) are leading a honorable life under the umbrella of NRO.
The policy of accountability should be for everyone, whether the Army, police, parliamentarians, government, opposition, consulars, nazims, etc, otherwise there are a lot of excuses for interference. Someone has rightly said: muddying the waters is easy when needed.
The ICG report that has analyzed the Pakistani situation, has tried to make the very point that the Army interferes as a result of mismanagement and corruption. The question is that why is the corruption and misappropriation let prosper?

Lacking Sense of Belonging
If one sees the whole affair, it becomes clear that the Pakistani people have been deprived of the sense of belonging to Pakistan. When the hearts and minds of the nation lack this concept, then the same happens. One may light the fire, do corruption, enter the corridors of power or relinquish power, the nation would not care. Because the majority knows they have no concern with the country's exchequer. The amounts, allocated in the budget, would remain nobody's share if we don't receive that.
The ICG and other organizations may be right, but the purpose of their release, their timing and methodology are based on ill-intentions. Set aside the reports of this organization, the Pakistani nations will have to make joint efforts to solve the problems. This country should not only save itself from the faults of some people or institutions but also the nations should also keep itself aloof from the affairs.

Japan Seeks UN Security Council Permanent Membership

The five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) -- the United States, the United Kingdom, France, China, and Russia -- have one thing in common, i.e., all of them are nuclear-capable countries. In this way, it would not be wrong to liken the United Nations to a nuclear club.
No doubt, many disagreements are visible in the thinking of the members of this club because of their regional interests. Because of privilege of veto, mutual differences emerge on a number of issues. And as every member country has a button of the destruction of the world, the possibility of any clash as a result of disagreement over any issue is making this world an insecure place.

Lingering Problems of World
It is on the record that the right to veto has always increased the lingering problems of the world. Although the UNSC is an organization that should take decisions on most of the issues keeping in view international interests, the decisions taken on the basis of regional affairs, political conflicts, and interests of big powers have adversely affected the credibility of this forum.
The vetoes of United States and Russia on the Kashmir and Palestine issues in southwestern Asia are examples toward this end. Because of these decisions, the Kashmiri people have been deprived of their right to self-determination and Palestinians are the victims of the Israeli aggression even in their own country.
It is surprising that the permanent members of the UNSC do not seem to be willing with regard to accommodating any other country in their group. It would not be surprising if they were just indifferent to a backward country of the Third World on this issue, but a country like Japan is remonstrant of being ignored by these countries (five permanent UNSC members) in spite of his economic power.
Japan, which spends more than the fund, jointly allocated by Russia, the United Kingdom, France, and China for the United Nations, is not considered eligible for the permanent seat of the United Nations, although Japan's permanent membership as a nonatomic, democratic country can boost the credibility of the Security Council's image in Asia and throughout the entire world.

Independent Thinking
Japan expressed its desire to join of the United Nations in 1952. However, it was formally given the UN membership in 1956, and ever since it has been seeking the permanent membership of the Security Council on permanent basis. Behind this desire is the Japan leadership thinking that they developed after the Second World War in order to remove the impression about the country with regard to the Second World War and Pacific War; the country's leadership wants to have an independent thinking about various issues of the world and to cooperate and participate in the resolution of the prevailing issues as a peace-loving country.
This natural desire of Japan is not inappropriate because it has a more moderate attitude when compared to other candidates for the Security Council permanent seat, including Germany, Brazil, and India.
In the past, Russia and China had been opposing Japan's permanent membership; it is due to the sour diplomatic relations between China and Japan in the past and the issue of Russian occupation of certain Japanese islands.
To this end, Japan has already presented a good formula, which calls for inclusion of two new members each from Asia and Africa, and one member each from Latin America and Europe in the Security Council.
In addition, Japan has also offered the option in the formula that the countries, nominated by the General Assembly by two-thirds votes, will be able to become permanent members of the Security Council.

Tangible Measures
In this respect, the double standard of the United States are also meaningful because it is Japan's ally on one hand and has set up military bases in Japan, while on the other, the United States avoids taking tangible measures and just gives a lip service to the issue of Japan's permanent membership issue. This is a deplorable aspect of the US policy.
The recent change in Japan's foreign policy with reference to the United States may convince the latter on some breakthrough to do something practical in this regard. Set aside political and diplomatic aspects, a moderate country like Japan -- which is the second largest donor of the United Nations voluntary operations throughout the world -- deserves to be given a permanent seat in the Security Council even on moral grounds.

Judicial Justice for Former Prime Minister Thaksin

A system means power. The ruling system means the ruling power. The dictatorial system means then the ruling power belonging to a small group of people. The democratic system means the ruling power belonging to the people -- the majority in the society. Under the democratic system, the power belongs to the people, is used by the people, and for the people. It is necessary that the creation of democracy must begin with letting the people be the owners of the ruling power. It is not that the process must start with having a constitution first or using law to create democracy because that cannot be done.

Believing Law or Constitution
From the past to present, the Thai society has been misled into believing that law or constitution is needed as a tool to create democracy. However, the truth is that constitution and law are merely tools for safeguarding a regime of the powers that be who wrote the Constitution and laws. King Rama VII gave his absolute governing power to the Thai people and the People's Party, not to any individual or any group of individuals. But the mistake made by the People's Party was that it was unable to keep the ruling power for the people.
The power was seized by a small group of bureaucrats who have been using constitution as the tool to keep the power in their hands, causing damages to the country to the extent that the monarch was so depressed and eventually decided to abdicate the throne. Since then Siam, which was later renamed as Thailand, has been under the dictatorial system with the King as Head of the State. Constitution has been used as the tool to fool the people in the society that Thailand has been governed by the democratic system with the King as head of the State.

Exploitation of Constitution
Laws and constitutions have always been exploited by the minority. The ruling power has never been truly in the hands of the majority of the people. The people never have a taste of the absolute freedoms. Only the rulers have plenty of rights and freedoms and legal and political equalities.
The opportunity for the majority of the people to enjoy equality under the democratic system has not yet arisen. On the contrary, the high class in the society can do whatever they like. They can even legally occupy mountains, have more political rights, and enjoy more happiness than the people. They have everything more than the people in general.

Legality and International Justice
The rule of law and the principles of legality and international justice have not been put into practice in the Thai society. We enforce the law letter by letter without considering the purpose of the law and consequence of action. We tend to place little significance on reality and justice. For example, a husband was sentenced to two-year imprisonment without probation for giving consent to his wife to enter into an illegal contract.
A prime minister was removed from office for his appearance on a TV cooking show. In particular, the immediate problem is that all the Thai laws and constitutions were drafted and promulgated by a small group of people. Law enforcement is a tool of the powers that be to support their ruling regime rather than safeguarding justice in the society. Meanwhile, the majority of the Thai people still wrongly understand that abiding by the laws of the dictatorial regime is a symbol of democracy. That is totally wrong. People are always forced to bow to dictatorial laws.

Birth of New Law
It is impossible for a dictatorial regime to write a law for the benefit of other people. "A law will serve only the class of the people who wrote it." This is a rule in this world. Therefore, a regime or power must come before law. Law does not give birth to power but power gives birth to law. Bad law can be changed. The sovereign power must belong only to the people in order to write a democratic constitution for the people. The law and constitution of a dictatorial regime can never bring about democracy.
The amendments to constitution of 2007 will have no meaning for the creation of democracy. Thai politicians and democracy fighters are therefore urged not to blindly serve bureaucraticism anymore. Please wake up from slumber and be conscious. Today we have joins hands to build up democracy so that the Thai society can survive. The last and very important factor for the building up of democracy is that the ruling power must belong to the people or is acceptable to the people.

People's Representatives
The principle is that government must be an elected government. The ruling power, including the legislative, administrative, and judicial powers, must be acceptable to the people. All of the abovementioned problems of the Thai democracy stem from the fact that the sovereign power does not belong to the people. In order to make the ruling power acceptable, the principle of voting or the so-called direct democracy must be applied in such forms as referendum or representative democracy or the election of representatives of the people. This is the principle of the elected government, which is acceptable to the people. The important point is that the people's representatives must enact laws to serve the people, not any particular group of individuals.
The government must serve the people. Courts must truly administer justice to the people. So far, the problems encountering Thailand were caused by the breach of the principle of ruling the country. For instances, the constitutional independent organizations can exercise the administrative power independently from the Legislative, Administrative, and Judicial Branches. Such a practice is considered as undemocratic because the people's sovereign power is used to push the ruling power into the hands of a small group of people. Any power independent from the sovereign power of the people is against the principle of democracy and has to be abolished. In the case of Thailand, the judicial power has not yet linked to the sovereign power of the people. The appointments of court presidents do not need approvals from the people's representatives in the upper or lower houses. Even the parliament cannot check and examine the legality and compliance with the rule of law of the court's adjudication of cases.

Favor of Defendant
Since courts are the examiners of other people, in principle, they must be examined to see if they use the power justly. For example, the court voted five to four in favor of sentencing former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to two-year imprisonment without probation just because he had given consent to his wife to enter into an illegal contract in the case where there was no damaged party. The nine judges should be examined to see if they had complied with section 184 of the Criminal Procedure Code which required them to convene a meeting before casting their votes one by one.
The court's president was the last person to vote in the case. If the voting result was a tie, the court president was compelled by law to vote in favor of the defendant. Shouldn't the Thai court be checked to find out if it had made any mistakes? Is the exercise of the judicial power really free from external influence? A democratic court system must be accountable. In the future, it might be necessary to use the jury system so as to ensure democracy.

Atrocities Against Sikhs in Pakistan

In Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan, the Taliban killed two Sikhs by beheading them, which has exposed how hollow the Pakistani Government's claims are. The Taliban have already imposed Jazia tax (tax on non-Muslims) on Sikhs.
Every Sikh has to pay Rs1000 annually to practice his religion. These Sikhs are Pakistani citizens and have been living there from before partition. Until 2009, there were more than 10,000 Sikhs in this region, who have left their homes and shifted to cities like Peshawar after the Jazia tax was imposed. Now, only around 500 Sikhs remain in the tribal areas because of the Taliban's terror rule.

India's Initiative
Indian Home Minister P. Chidambaram has stated that Sikhs who had gone abroad during the phase of militancy in Punjab and wish to abandon militancy like Kashmiri militants can be considered to stage a return to the national mainstream. Chidambaram's observation can be termed a welcome statement though it cannot be said whether it can be implemented.
Its chief reason is that the attitude of successive union governments, especially of the Congress-led governments, toward Sikh issues has been cynical all through in the past. Hence Sikhs cannot expect much of the claims made by the federal government.
The Indian Government has condemned the killing of Sikhs by the Taliban and has strongly criticized Pakistan. Democratic politics is also on the boil on this issue. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked why the Indian Government did not do anything when these people were abducted. It is but natural for India to be angry with this kind of brutal killing, but it should not be termed as the government's diplomatic failure. These Sikhs are Pakistani citizens and the Indian Government cannot do anything about abduction of Pakistani citizens in Pakistan. It is the Pakistani Government's failure that its laws have no value in its own country. The world community should exert pressure on Pakistan to give guarantee of security to the minorities in that country.

Militancy in Punjab
In 1980s and 1990s, militancy in Punjab was at its peak. Sikhs took up arms at the behest of foreign countries, yet the then Congress-led federal government can be held entirely responsible for meting out injustice to the struggle. Then, Indira Gandhi was at the helm of affairs and she never liked such political parties that posed a challenge to the stable federal government by speaking in terms of granting more powers to the state governments.
In Indira Gandhi's views, the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) was a political party to which she desired to impart a lesson. It was such mindset that led to militancy in Punjab.
The phase of militancy in the state was linked to the attack on the Golden Temple, Amritsar, assassination of Indira Gandhi, and killings of Sikhs. In reality, all these incidents are interconnected.
During militancy in the state, Sikh youth migrated to foreign countries because of terrorism in the state. Since then Sikhs have never been meted out justice in any case. The Congress leaders responsible for the killings of Sikhs have not been punished so far.
Recently, terrorist activities in India's Punjab have intensified. Several arrests and recovery of arms and explosives indicate that Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence is again trying to incite Sikh separatists. The religious tax shows how safe Sikhs are in Pakistan, which provides shelter and encouragement to terrorist organizations and still advocates the rights of Sikhs.

Golden Temple Targeted
Indira Gandhi targeted the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the most sacred religious seat of the Sikh community, by razing the Akal Takht, the highest temporal seat of Sikhs. The Indian Army killed thousands of innocent Sikhs.
It was as a reaction to the attack that Indira Gandhi was assassinated. In the wake of her assassination, Sikhs were murdered in a well-planned manner.

Fulfilling Sikhs' Desire
It has been repeatedly demanded that Sikhs settled abroad desire to return to India and join the national mainstream. The blacklist should, therefore, be scrapped. Nevertheless, the blacklist continues to be kept intact.
If even moderate Sikhs are not allowed to return to India, how can it be expected that hard-liner Sikhs would be provided an opportunity to stage a comeback to the country and join the national mainstream.
The issue of safety of Sikhs could also be raised in the India-Pakistan talks to be held this week. Pakistani citizens' security is an internal matter of that country and respecting that position is in India's interest, otherwise Pakistan, which is supposedly concerned about the Indian Muslims' safety would get a chance to raise that point. If India wants the security of Pakistani Sikhs, it should provide visa and citizenship to those who want to come and settle here.

Global Contradictions Over Lankan Politics

Waves of political violence which threatened the country during the presidential election have now translated into a political tug-of-war. This, which commenced just after the election peaked on 26 January when a special battalion commanded by Major General Sumith Manawadu besieged the Cinnamon Lakeside Hotel in Colombo, is now on the boil.
The shockwaves let loose in Southern Sri Lanka following the arrest of General Sarath Fonseka at his office by the military police on o8 February continue to reverberate throughout the country.
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna leader Somawansa Amerasinghe, who was with Sarath Fonseka at the time of his arrest said 15 military police personnel stormed Fonseka's office and arrested him while the hotel was surrounded by the Army. The arrest that took place while President Mahinda Rajapaksa was in Russia and opposition leader Ranil Wickremesinghe was in India not only triggered a state of tension in Southern Sri Lanka but widened the chasm of ill-will that existed between the government and Western countries.

Victory Over LTTE
We would do well to remember that the arrest of Sarath Fonseka will impact dramatically since he was the Army commander that took the war against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to victory.
The government is actively engaged in effecting extensive changes in the Army hierarchy as well as in the police. These structural changes that began with the conclusion of the presidential election on 26 January continued until Sarath Fonseka was arrested.
Approximately 40 high officials of the Army and 208 officials from the police were transferred. Fourteen other Army officials were sent on compulsory retirement in accordance with Army regulations introduced in 1992.
This was only the second time in the country's history that such a large number of Army officials have been sent home under compulsory retirement. Such compulsory retirement was enforced in 1999 too. Services of several front line commanders were terminated in that year. They were forced into premature retirement on the basis of military considerations but the recent spates of terminations were imposed for political reasons.
Following the "Unceasing Waves" operation launched by the LTTE in 1993 a large number of Army officials were sent on compulsory retirement on the orders of former President Chandrika Kumaratunge by the then Army Chief Srilal Weerasuriya. Lionel Balagalle, who was the chief of defense staff at that time, had terminated the services of seven Army officials after trying them in a military court.
Transformation in the entire Army structure is underway now. Consequent to Sarath Fonseka's arrest, there have been demonstrations in several parts of Southern Sri Lanka on 10 and 11 February. The demonstrations broke out into open clashes in several areas.

Charges Against Fonseka
The charges leveled against Sarath Fonseka by the government are as follows:
* Engaging in political activities while in service.
* Conspiring in a plot against the president.
* Providing refuge to over 1,500 Army deserters.
* Committing fraud in arms purchases.
The government is preparing to prosecute Fonseka in a military court. But opposition parties allege that the objective of the government to try him in a military court is targeted at suppressing the opposition and expelling Sarath Fonseka from the political firmament.
It is alleged that the government is attempting to secure a large majority at the next parliamentary elections by suppressing opposition parties.
Against this backdrop, fears are being expressed that there are possibilities of Sri Lanka being converted into another Myanmar which China dominates now through the suppression of opposition political parties. Sarath Fonseka's future depends entirely on whether the West will permit this to happen or not.
As far as China is concerned, the experience is that she always abstains from expressing views openly on internal affairs relating to neighboring countries. She adopted the same strategy on the affairs of Myanmar as well. But China subsequently strengthened its ties with Myanmar through economic, military, and infrastructure assistance. When close ties between China and Myanmar were established, Myanmar expelled India and other countries which sought to exercise undue influence in her affairs. Subsequently, China came out openly in support of Myanmar.
China and Russia jointly supported Myanmar at the UN Security Council using their Veto power to full effect. Western diplomats now view developments in Sri Lanka through the prism of the Burmese precedent. The recent views expressed by the Chinese president and the Chinese foreign spokesman, on Sri Lanka, are seen as significant policy stances in the Chinese foreign policy choices.
The Asian Human Rights Organization has said that the economic development achieved in China over the last two decades and its domination over Myanmar made this country feel that its close ties with China was essential.

Change in Myanmar Government
Although China and Myanmar developed their ties on the underpinning of broad commercial interests, China subsequently began to influence Myanmar in political and foreign affairs.
China strongly backs the military junta in Myanmar to this day. Opposition parties in Myanmar were suppressed in the same manner in which China suppressed opposition at home. In short, China did not want to disturb the status quo of her financial/economic interests in Myanmar by effecting a change in the Myanmar Government.
The activities of opposition parties are totally suppressed in countries where China has a foothold, western diplomats say. Some of them contend that the changes taking place in Sri Lanka too incite similar fear in their minds.
Sri Lanka is trapped in a hive contradictions fenced in by China, India and Western nations. One of these forces will in the end succeed in getting a stranglehold over Sri Lanka. Other foreign powers will come into the equation, seeking allies within this country. Those allies could very well turn out to be the minority Tamils or the opposition alliance.

Pakistan's Hypocrisy Over Resolution of Kashmir Issue

Judging the present war of words between India and Pakistan on the foreign secretary level talks to be held in New Delhi, only a miracle can make them successful. The problem is not just that Pakistan is insisting on a composite dialogue whereas India wants terrorism to be the focal point of the talks. At the same time, Pakistan is trying to convince the world that its diplomatic skill has compelled India to climb down.

India's Alleged Interference in Balochistan
It is quite ridiculous for Pakistan to want a successful dialogue and also have the liberty to raise any issue like Kashmir, distribution of river waters, and India's alleged interference in Balochistan during the talks. Pakistan seems to be preparing for a wrestling bout rather than a dialogue. Right now, it is difficult to predict what kind of atmosphere will prevail during the talks and what issues will be raised. However, what is promising is that India has apparently abandoned its defensive attitude.
If Pakistan wants to add to India's problems on the pretext of discussions it is imperative for India to adopt the tit-for-tat policy. There is no other alternative. Even if Pakistan professes to want the Kashmir issue to be solved on priority basis, frankly speaking, Pakistan is least interested in settling the matter. Pakistan has been trying to corner India on the excuse of Kashmir only due to its weak diplomacy. Rightfully speaking India should have isolated Islamabad on the issue of Occupied Kashmir. After all, it is Pakistan that has forcefully occupied part of India's territory.

Basic Change in Kashmir Policy
India should now at least make a basic change in its Kashmir policy, which will convince the world that Pakistan is the obstacle in solving the Kashmir issue. If this is not done, Pakistan will continue to mislead the world by comparing Kashmir with Kosovo, Palestine etc. Instead of being accountable for the Kashmir problem, Pakistan has been acting arbitrarily on Occupied Kashmir, which is highly inappropriate.
Terrorist organizations have complete freedom there. Activities of Chinese companies in Occupied Kashmir are a problem that should be raised not only before Pakistan but also at an international level.

Pakistan's Discomfiture
As a matter of fact, every issue that will add to Pakistan's discomfiture should be raised. That is essential since Pakistan is demonstrating a diplomatic bias instead of heading toward a solution of problems. India should not hesitate to convey to the world that having a dialogue with a prejudiced Pakistan is sheer waste of time.
The dialogue, which is to be held between the countries, might please Pakistan and satisfy the United States. However, India is unlikely to gain much from the same.

Pakistan Faces Judicial Activism Against Executive

The tension between the executive and the judiciary seems to be declining after meeting between the prime minister and the chief justice. In accordance with the expectations, the executive have acceded to all demands of the judiciary and thus the ongoing arguments in the Supreme Court on the matter would perhaps now come to an end.
In view of many people, the executive had perhaps no other option because in a case wherein the Supreme Court is petitioner as well as jury, the chances of the acceptance of the government's viewpoint were very slight.

Appointment of Judges
During this confrontation, the numerous loyalists of the chief justice spread among the lawyers and in the courts also demonstrated their full strength. Although the Supreme Court had cancelled the official notification of the appointment of judges the same evening, the lawyers tried to observe strike throughout the country and in this effort, the judiciary also took part in performance of the constitutional duty of further strengthening the relations between the bar and the bench by extending full cooperation to the loyalists of the chief justice.
According to BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) reports, a group of lawyers appeared in courts at various places in Sindh opposing the boycott call but the judges did not sit in the courts. The executive committee of the Lahore High Court, in a meeting chaired by Chief Justice Khawaja Muhammad Sharif, decided to hear the cases of only emergent and immediate nature and instructions were issued to hear such cases in the chambers of the judges only. The rest of the cases were sacrificed for the loyalists of the chief justice.
It is pertinent to mention that the latest confrontation between the judiciary and the executive started with the elevation of Justice Khwaja Sharif to the Supreme Court and he had immediately refused to accept it. Thus, he had the status of a major party to the issue.

Institutional Strength
The foundation for rising up of the judiciary and lawyers as an institutional strength was laid during the movement that started in reaction to the confrontation between the judiciary and Pervez Musharraf in 2007. This institutional strength has, however, reached at this stage under influence of the desire of the judiciary to become a powerful party in the decisions on state affairs instead of gaining strength as an impartial institution.
During the movement for restoration of the judiciary in the Pervez Musharraf era, the leader of the movement, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, often used to say in his speeches that if the military is proud of its khaki uniform, we (the lawyers who wear black coats) are not less than anybody else. Thus, the lawyers, who did not refrain from torturing their opponents, continued increasing their street power. In the meantime, arrangements were made, under the slogans of the constitution duty of cooperation between the bar and the bench, for the lawyer leaders and the judiciary embracing each other. Perhaps, the two sides found this hug so much delightful that instead of separating, they now prefer to constantly stay attached to each other. Top institutions now also seem helpless in the face of the new power that emerged because of this prolonged hugging.

Restoration of Judiciary
Expressing his views about the 14 February strike of lawyers, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan said that in principle he was opposed to it but he did not appear in the court on that day because a decision about the strike was taken by majority of the lawyers. It means that he can go to the extreme in opposing the majority decisions of his party for adhering to his principles and can also start a long march even against his party's government for upholding the principles. But despite showing his opposition before the power that emerged as an outcome of hugging between the judiciary and lawyers, he finds himself helpless before the majority decision. The snake charmers in the ranks of lawyers have set off such flames that nobody is now safe from their heat.
During the movement for the restoration of the judiciary under the Musharraf rule, the leaders of the movement often argued that new PCO (Provisional Constitution Order) judges led by Chief Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar are product of a dictator so the court would not be able to deliver justice in the presence of such partial judges. Those judges are gone but perhaps the judges having the same opinion could be appointed to fill the seats vacated by them.
Perhaps, this is not by chance that the Supreme Court full bench gives a unanimous decision and even a single judge does not oppose that decision. Just like the military discipline demands that every command of the chief justice is taken as the final, our independent judiciary too would possibly not disappoint its loyalists. With the mutual efforts of the bar and the bench, the power of the judiciary is now taking a new shape. Who says our institutions lack the discipline?

Opposition to Presidential Notification
Whereas the majority of lawyers opposed the first presidential notification for appointment of judges, some legal snake charmers touching the extremes in opposition to the notification accused the president of even the contempt of court and treason. Over many similar other steps of the contempt of court, however, they never issued a statement. According to one of our friends, a contempt of court case for the independence of an independent judiciary is pending since long and enjoys the status of a litmus test for providing the independence of the judiciary.
During the Pervez Musharraf era, Fakharuddin G. Ibrahim had filed an application in a court for return of Nawaz Sharif. The Supreme Court had ruled that Nawaz Sharif can return to the country and no hurdle is creating in the way of his comeback. All of us had, however, seen that in spite of the judiciary being independent during the Musharraf era, the former prime minister of the country was bundled into an aircraft and sent back. The sound of this power strike on the judiciary is still echoing. Now, the judiciary can exhibit its independence by giving a verdict in that case of the contempt of court.

Lacking Independence of Judiciary
Currently, Pakistan has a democratic government. The judiciary is independent and powerful. The legal snake charmers are vigorously playing their pungi (a wind instrument used by snake charmers). The petitioner (Nawaz Sharif) is also in the country and Fakhruddin G. Ibrahim is also present.
The government officials who had committed contempt of court by sending Nawaz Sharif back to Saudi Arabia are also there and the chief justice is also the same. But the independent judiciary is missing from this case in spite of having independence.