INTERNATIONAL
Friday, August 13, 2010
Page 15
No Ramadan respite as unrest rocks Kashmir
JAFARABAD: Flood affected villagers ferry their household belongings to safer ground in Jafarabad, Pakistan yesterday. —AP
Pakistan president makes first visit to flood zone Warning of possible more devastation SUKKUR: Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari flew in to a flood-hit area yesterday for a first look at the two-week-old crisis after criticism over his trips abroad and his government’s perceived slack response. The floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours, have swamped Pakistan’s Indus river basin, killing more than 1,600 people, forcing two million from their homes and disrupting the lives of about 14 million people, or 8 percent of the population. The deluge, which began two weeks ago, has caused extensive damage to the country’s main crops, agriculture officials said, after the United Nations appealed for $459 million in emergency aid and warned of a wave of deaths if help didn’t arrive. Agriculture is a mainstay of the economy and the United Nations has estimated rehabilitation costs will run into the billions of dollars. The International Monetary Fund has warned of major economic harm and the Finance Ministry said the country would miss this year’s 4.5 percent gross domestic product growth target though it was not clear by how much. Zardari, widower of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, set off on much-criticised visits to meet the
leaders of Britain and France as the floods were beginning. Two days after returning home, he flew to city of Sukkur on the banks of the swollen Indus river in the southern province of Sindh to inspect the destruction and aid efforts. “President Zardari is visiting the one-mile (2 km) long Sukkur barrage. From here he will visit a flood victims’ camp,” said presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar. Security was tight with only state media allowed access. Several barrages have been built across the river to divert water into irrigation canals and the flood waters have been building up alarmingly behind them. Ahmed Kamal, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority, said water levels may rise dangerously on Friday and again early next week along stretches of the Indus in the central province of Punjab and in Sindh. “There can be further devastation,” he told reporters. The meteorological office forecast scattered rain with a chance of thunderstorms across much of the country. The government is still assessing the extent of the damage but a spokesman for U.N. humanitarian efforts said a third of the country had been affected. Hundreds of roads and bridges have been destroyed from northern mountains to the plains of
the south. Countless villages have been inundated, crops destroyed and livestock lost. People have been jostling for food at distribution points throughout the disaster area, with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, when hungry people break their fast at dusk with a special meal, adding to people’s anxiety. “The government ... should provide clean water and clean food to the people,” said Mohammad Ali, a bread maker scrambling for supplies in the northwest. “Ramadan has arrived, but we see no sign of the government giving us any of these things.” The wheat, cotton and sugar crops have all suffered significant damage and the United Nations has warned of a second wave of death from disease and food shortages unless help for the displaced arrived quickly. Pakistan’s main stock market has lost more than 5 percent since the floods began and ended flat in thin trade yesterday as investors fretted about the economic costs, in particular the impact on inflation, dealers said. The military, which has ruled for more than half of Pakistan’s 63-year history, has taken the lead in aid efforts, reinforcing the faith many people have in the armed forces and highlighting the ineffectiveness of civilian governments. — Reuters
SRINAGAR: The fasting month of Ramadan looks set to be one of curfews, protests and hardship for Muslims in Indian Kashmir, which is experiencing a wave of popular unrest directed against Indian rule. For two months, violent demonstrations have rocked the troubled Himalayan region. Around 50 protesters and onlookers have been killed. Each fatality has fuelled fresh anger, in what Kashmir’s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has acknowledged is a “cycle of violence”. The constant round of protests, strikes and curfews has all but shut down daily commerce in the mainly Muslim Kashmir Valley, hurting small traders and making shopping for basic provisions a major challenge. With Ramadan starting yesterday, residents have been advised to stockpile essentials in preparation for a difficult month. Muslim clerics in Kashmir have in the past used the Ramadan period to preach peace and reconciliation, but with emotions running high over the dozens of deaths of protesters, that message is likely to be muted. “We have planned protests during Ramadan against Indian rule and the innocent killings,” said Syed Ali Geelani, who heads a hardline faction of the region’s main separatist alliance. Geelani, who would like Indian Kashmir to accede to Pakistan, has also urged all Kashmiris to celebrate Pakistani independence day on August 14 and mark India’s independence celebrations a day later as a “black day.” Kashmir is divided between nuclear-armed rivals India and Pakistan, which both claim the region in full and have fought two wars over their territorial dispute. The last time largescale, anti-India protests hit the region, in 2008, Geelani suspended protests ahead of Ramadan and was blamed by many activists for breaking the movement’s momentum. “The separatists have done the right thing by calling for protests during Ramadan,” says Asif Ahmed, a shopkeeper. “This tempo should continue. We should not run out of steam this time.” On Tuesday, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh sought to calm tensions by urging
Kashmiris “to give peace a chance”. He held out the possibility of greater autonomy and vowed to address rampant unemployment. But his overtures were rejected by both hardline and moderate separatist groups, who want New Delhi to repeal tough emergency laws, pull troops out of civilian areas and release political prisoners. “This is the month of peace, but here I think we will be spending it under the shadow of curfews and strikes,” said Nabla Hafiz, a housewife. “Everyone is angry at the killings and the call for more protests will be heeded.” “We can’t forget the killings. If we stop protesting, that will amount to forgiving Indians,” said her husband, Hafizullah Bhat. The impasse has made daily life extremely difficult for many Kashmiris, some of whom blame both sides. “It is going to be a gloomy Ramadan. I have no money left,” said Srinagar roadside vendor Mohammed Yusuf, who has been forced to borrow money to make ends meet. “The shutdown calls only affect the poor like me,” Yusuf said, urging separatists leaders to “rethink their strategy”. Moderate separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, who is also chief cleric at Srinagar’s main mosque, the Jamia Masjid, said Kashmiris would have to pull together. “We must help each other. The rich should help the poor during Ramadan and those whose businesses have suffered,” Mirwaiz told AFP. “I also appeal to Islamic countries to send aid to Kashmiris.” The authorities have closed the Jamia Masjid on six consecutive Fridays, and Farooq-who has been under house arrest for much of the past two months-said he would defy restrictions to deliver a Ramadan sermon at the mosque this Friday. “The closing of the Jamia Masjid is an infringement of the Kashmiri peoples’ basic right to religious practice,” he said. “During the month of Ramadan, I will pray for an end to Indian repression and occupation.” According to the state finance ministry, curfews and shutdowns this year have resulted in economic losses amounting to 400 million dollars.— AFP
Afghan clerics seek return to Islamic law KABUL: Afghanistan’s largest gathering of clerics, who met to discuss reconciliation with the Taleban, has called for the revival of strict Islamic law as the country seeks ways to win militants away from a growing insurgency. About 350 of the Islamic clerics, or ulema, met for three days this week, the meeting ending with a declaration calling on President Hamid Karzai to enact sharia, or Islamic law, including punishments such as stonings, lashing, amputation and execution.
“The lack of implementation of sharia hodud (punishment) has cast a negative impact on the peace process,” said a 10-point resolution issued after the meeting. “We the ulema and preachers of Afghanistan ... earnestly ask the government not to spare any efforts in the implementation of sharia hodud.” The resolution, seen by Reuters, was sent to Karzai’s government. The ulema have a long-standing and deep influence in traditionally conservative Afghanistan
and have often stepped in to back uprisings or been used to bolster past governments. The head of a government council of religious leaders, separate to the gathering this week, has been asked to find ways to make peace with the Taleban after almost 10 years of war since the militants were ousted by US-backed Afghan forces. The head of that government council, Mawlavi Qiyamuddin Kashaf, attended the meeting of clerics and scholars this week, which included
representatives from both the majority Sunni Muslim sect and minority Shi’ites. “This (gathering) was very new for the peace efforts and the biggest yet. They will go and preach for peace in their respective regions,” Kashaf told Reuters yesterday. However, there has so far been no reaction from Karzai’s government to the council’s resolution. After years of conflict in Afghanistan, Karzai has sought to soften perceptions of his deeply religious country through programs such as moderate Islamic
schools. But at the same time he has been pushing reconciliation with the Taleban as violence continues to rise, raising concerns among some of his backers in the West. Karzai called a major tribal “peace gathering” in June to win support for his plan to offer an amnesty, cash and job incentives to Taleban foot soldiers while arranging asylum for top figures in a second country and getting their names struck off a U.N. and US blacklist. —Reuters