VOLUME 4 ISSUE NO.

74

NOVEMBER 2014
BI-WEEKLY

ROSHNI

A Bi-Lingual News Magazine from the Capital Region to the South Asian Community

RoshniOnline.com
info@roshnionline.com

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LUCKY DRIVER

Funny Jokes
LUCKY SON
Once there was a farmer. He had two
teenage sons. This farmer had just
inherited some of money from his
brother's recent death. He couldn't
decide which son he could send to
college, since he could only afford to
send one.
This farmer also had two ducks.
These ducks were retarded. They
were only two ducks on the farm that
weren't normal. He told his sons that
whoever could get the most money for
the duck would go to college.
The sons went out in attempt to collect
as much money as they could. The
first son was walking down the street
when he passed a man working in the
yard. The man asked him if the duck
was for sale, for the man loved the
taste of ducks. He offered the son 10
dollars for his duck. The son decided
this was very good, so he took it. He
decided his brother wouldn't be able
to get close to his success.
The second son was walkingand
thinking about what to do with the
duck when it broke the leash. The
duck ran out into the street and was hit
by a car. The lady that hit it jumped
from her car and started apologizing
profusely. The son insisted it was ok,
but the lady said she would pay for the
duck. She was in a hurry, so she gave
him 25 dollars and sped off.
When the sons got home, the farmer
asked the first son what he got. He
proudly displayed the 10 dollars. The
farmer was impressed. He asked the
second son the same thing.
"That's nothing. I got 25 dollars for
nothing."

A police officer pulls over a driver and informs him that he has just won
$5,000 in a safety competition, all because he is wearing his seat belt.
"What are you going to do with the prize money?" the officer asks.
The man responds, "I guess I'll go to driving school and get my license."
His wife says, "Officer, don't listen to him. He's a smart aleck when he's
drunk."
The guy in the back seat pops up out from under the blanket and says, "I
knew we wouldn't get far in this stolen car."
Just then a knock comes from the trunk and a voice calls out, "Are we over
the border yet?

PRIVATE BABY
Q: Which part of the military do babies
join?
A: The infantry.

HOSTAGE SITUATION
Terrorists take a group of lawyers
hostage. They ask for a ransom of
$20 million and threaten to release
one lawyer at a time if not given what
they ask for.

MURDEROUS NEIGHBOR STOP OR SLOW DOWN

A judge asks a defendant to please
stand. "You are charged with
murdering a garbage man with a
chain saw."
From the back of the courtroom a man
shouts, "You lying ......!"
"Silence in the court!" The judge turns
to the defendant again and says, "You
are also charged with killing a
paperboy with a shovel."
The man shout again.
"Quiet!" yelled the judge. "You are
also charged with killing a mailman
with an electric drill."
"You cheap son of a... " the spectator
starts to shout.
The judge thunders back, " I will hold
you in contempt! What is the reason
for your outbursts?"
"I've lived next to that lying bastard for
10 years now, but do you think he ever
had a tool when I needed to borrow
one?"

ROSHNI Issue No.74

19

November 2014

A car slows down at a stop sign and

keeps driving. A cop sees him and
pulls him over.
The cop asks, "Why didn't you stop?"
The man says, "I slowed down."
The cop pulls out his nightstick and
starts beating him. "Now," the cop
says, "do you want me to stop or slow
down?

ROSHNI Issue No.74

18

November 2014

Prophet-SW replied in the affirmative.

They said: We take this as the life
expectancy of your-SW Ummah, as
its numerical value is 71. Are there
any more revelations of this kind?
The Holy Prophet-SW replied, Yes.
Alif-Lam-Mim Sad. Hayye calculated
it as 161 years and asked: Are any
more? The Holy Prophet-SW replied:
Yes Alif-Lam-Ra. They again
calculated and said that it came out to
be 231 years, and inquired if there
were any more of such Letters. The
Holy Prophet-SW replied in the
affirmative and told them more
Letters: Alif-Lam-Mim-Ra. Hayye
said that the value now became 371
years and in a state of confusion
added that they did not believe in such
things. It is a common practice with
the Shiites today to rely upon the
Letters and their numerical values.
Some heretics copy the same. This
practice is nothing but ignorance and
a replica of Jewish traditions carried
on only by those with perverted hearts
in order to beguile people. Their aim is
to distort beliefs in different ways
through Jews who launched it with the
intention harming Islam. Thus the
sects Maruriah, Mutazilah and
Rafidhi came into existence. Often
ignorant people and lately heretics
indulge in such interpretations to their
own detriment, whereas Allah-SWT
only knows the real meaning of these
Isolated Letters. Unless He-SWT
Himself decides to inform someone,
no one can dare know. It does not,
however, mean that even the Holy
Prophet-SW did not know, because
Allah-SWT declares in the Quran: It
is for Us-SWT to explain it and make it
clear. (75:19). In the light of this Ayah,
no part of Quran could possi-bly have
been left unexplained to the Holy
Prophet-SW.
In short, no one merely relying on
linguistic skills can gain any access to
the secrets of these Isolated Letters
unless and until Allah-SWT reveals
Himself. It also indicates that not only
the Holy Prophet-SW himself, but
also his-SW devout fol-lowers get
their share of Prophetic beneficence.
The most chosen ones are blessed
with this knowledge directly from HisSWT Presence (Ilm-e Ladduni). To
acquire such knowledge is possible
only through an unexplainable

association with the Being or HisSWT Attributes, outside the pale of

human effort and striving. And those
firmly grounded in knowledge say that
the entire Quran is from Al-lah-SWT
and we believe in it. According to the
commentators this refers to the Ahl-eSunnah, who accept the
interpretations endorsed by the
C o mp a n i o n s -R A U , t h e p i o u s
precursors and the consensus of
Ummah. These people rely entirely
upon the Muhkamat as the main axis
and acknowledge their lack of
knowl-edge regarding the
Mutashabihat, leaving them to AllahSWT.Indeed only those are guided
who have a sound mind and a pure
nature and who do not make false
claims to knowledge, because such
an attitude is arch ignorance.
O our Rabb-SWT ! Indeed
Allah-SWT never fails to keep HisSWT promise.
Those who cherish guidance as AllahSWTs Blessing and always seek HisSWT Protec-tion saying: O AllahSWT ! Cause not our hearts to stray
after You-SWT have guided us and
blessed us with the Book and the
capability t o believe in both
Muhkamat and Mutashabihat. In
short guidance depends upon the well
being of the heart and only those
actions are rewarded which are
performed with utmost sincerity.
To safeguard Din, it is imperative to
pay attention to the purification of
one's heart. It is heart breaking to see
this important aspect being ignored
today. Neither do we see reformers
with illuminated hearts, nor earnest
seekers of this wealth. It appears as if
this market has run out of business
and all those once actively involved in
it have departed, leaving behind a
world inhabited by wild roaming in
human garb.
Yet it must be remembered that the
world would never be without people
having enlightened hearts, because
that would mark its end. According to
the Holy Prophet-SW, the Qiyamah
will befall when there will be no one
saying Allah-SWT Allah-SWT , that
is, there will be none whose heart is
engaged in Allah-SWTs Zikr.
Pronouncing Allah-SWTs Name
orally carries no value unless

ROSHNI Issue No.74

17

November 2014

endorsed by the heart, nor does it

avert Allah-SWTs Wrath. Therefore,
it is indispensable to search for
people with purified hearts, as their
company is life-giving. So the
righteous always pray to Allah-SWT
for His-SWT Mercy. This Mercy is not
mere affluence and riches, but the
company of the Aulia, where AllahSWTs Blessings descend, and are
dissipat ed. It also denotes
steadfastness in Din. Only the
company of His-SWT friends is the
source of His-SWT Mercy.
Allah-SWT is the Greatest Bestower
and will surely summon everyone
before Him-SWT on the Day of
Resurrection. And it is also absolutely
sure that He-SWT never breaks HisSWT Word. Whereas it does not befit
His-SWT Grace not to honour a
promise of re-ward, the nonconformists (M'utazilah) believe that
the promise of retribution will also be
kept. However, besides faithlessness
and polytheism, which He-SWT has
vowed not to forgive, no sin is grave
enough for His-SWT Mercy. Just as
punishment is conditional to lack of
re pe ntance, so it is to absence of
m e r c yand forgiveness. Therefore, if
H e - SWT forgives out of Mercy, it
s h a l l certainly not be a breach of
promis e.

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Muhammad-SW enlightened the

entire universe with this truth. In the
face of all the logical and traditional
evidence available, anyone who
rejects Unity or any Attribute of AllahSWT , or worships anyone other than
Him-SWT , is certainly a non-believer.
And it is obvious that by rejecting the
evidence, the non-believer is inviting
a tor-menting doom as Allah-SWT
prevails over everything and is quick
at reprisals.
Besides, among His-SWT Attributes
is the quality that nothing in the
heavens and the earth can escape
His-SWT vigilance and grasp. HeSWT is so absolutely Powerful that
He-SWT fashions a baby, as He-SWT
pleases, in its mother's womb. It will
be a boy or a girl, fair or dark, beautiful
or ugly, He-SWT decides Alone. The
mother bearing the baby is not aware
of what is developing inside her
womb, but Allah-SWT is fully aware of
everything, as He-SWT Himself is the
Maker. Thus it is impossible to hide
anything from the Almighty, or to
evade His-SWT sphere of control. In
other words, a non-believer cannot
escape under any circumstances.
Allah-SWT , Who-SWT is the Creator,
the Provider and the Sustainer, both
here and in Akhirah, deserves to be
worshipped. It must be clearly
understood that there is no god
except Him-SWT . He-SWT prevails
over everything and is the Wise.
It is He-SWT who has sentand
none except the men of
understanding will heed.
It is Allah-SWT Who-SWT revealed
unto His-SWT bondsman the Quran
with some firmly con-structed Ayat
that are unambiguous and free from
all obscurity. A person who is familiar
with the language will have no
difficulty or confusion in
under-standing t he obvious
meanings of the word or in their
interpretation. Take for example; "Say
you: come, I shall recite what your
Rabb-SWT has forbidden to you..."
6:151, or other such Ayat: As one
ponders over them, the meaning and

the propriety is easily understood.

Washing Of Feet
As an example, Tafsir-e-Mazhari has
cited the Ayah referring to the
washing of the feet in ablution: O you
who believe! When you stand up for
Salat, wash your faces and your
hands up to the elbows and wipe your
heads and wash your feet up to the
ankles. (7:6) Wash your feet up to
the ankles, clearly states the extent to
which feet must be washed. The word
feet is grammatically coupled with
face and hands and not with
heads. If it is read in con-junction
with heads, it would mean to wipe
the heads to the ankles, which will be
a totally wrong interpretation. The
Shiite scholars claim that K'ab stands
for the raised upper part of the foot, so
both the feet must be wiped up to the
risen part. But this meaning of K'ab is
against the obvious usage. By
consensus, the meaning of K'ab is
ankle, and since there are two ankles
in a foot, therefore, the ankles would
be the extent of washing and not
wiping the feet.
In short, firmly constructed Ayat are
those whose meanings are clear and
definite. These Ayat provide the basis
for all teachings. There are other Ayat,
which are symbolic. Unless explained
by the Holy Prophet-SW, no linguist
can have an access to the real intent
of these no matter how serious his
thought might be.
The Ayat, which have been directly
explained by the Holy Prophet-SW,
are termed as Mujammil (abridged)
such as those relating to Salat, Zakat,
Hajj and usury. And those Ayat that
have not been so explained are called
Mutashabihat (symbolic). These
pertain to matters not directly related
to practice such as the Isolated
Letters Alif-Lam-Mim or, for example,
the Ayah The Beneficent established
on the Throne. To believe in these is
mandatory because they are true.
The understanding of such symbolic
Ayat is, however, given to people of
cognition through intuition or by
Divine teachings, like Prophet Adam-

ROSHNI Issue No.74

16

November 2014

AS was blessed with the knowledge

of all names. But it must be
remem-bered that gleaning from the
Prophetic knowledge is impossible
without spiri-tual manifestations. It
happens occasionally; when words
and speech fail! Therefore, it is an
impossible task for the common man.
The right course of action regarding
the interpretation of these symbolic
Ayat is to check them against the
clearly constructed ones. Where
there is a conflict, the perceived
interpretation must be rejected
outrightly leaving no room for any
argument. For example, the Quran
categorically declares with regard to
Prophet 'Isa-AS: He-AS was no more
than a man whom We-SWT favoured
43:59; Isa-AS is like Adam-AS in the
sight of Allah-SWT , He-SWT created
him (Aadam-AS) from dust. 3:59.
Now if from the Mutashabihat like
Kalimatu Allah-SWT (Allah-SWT s
Word) and Ruh Minhu (spirit from
Him-SWT ) anyone tries to prove that
Prophet Isa-AS is a partner in Divinity
or is Allah-SWTs son, he will be
totally wrong. These Ayat were
re-vealed to the Holy Prophet-SW
when a delegation from the Christians
colony of Najran waited on him-SW.
The Holy Prophet-SW proved that the
belief in trinity was false. Thoroughly
confounded, they asked the Holy
Prophet-SW Don't you call Prophet
'Isa-AS
as Kalimatu Allah-SWT
(Allah-SWT s word). He-SW replied:
Undoubt-edly; Well then it proves
his-AS Divinity, they added. The Holy
Prophet-SW told them that the people
who have perverted hearts and are
devoid of pious nature pursue the
Mutashabihat and interpret them
according to their own vain de-sires.
Letters And Numerals
The commentators quote an incident
that the Jews tried to calculate the life
span of the Muslim Ummah by the
numerical values of the Letters. The
Jewish scholars, Hayye ibn Akhtab
and K'ab bin Ashraf etc called on the
Holy Prophet-SW and said: We have
come to know that Alif-Lam-Mim has
been revealed to you. The Holy

RELIGION

Asrar At-Tanzil

The English Tafseer of Quran

By: Ameer Muhammad Akram Awan

Surah Name: Aal-e-Imran Meaning:The Family of Imran

Continued from issue number 73

abbana la tuzigh quloobana

baAAda ith hadaytana wahab
lana min ladunka rahmatan
innaka anta alwahhab(u)
O our Rabb-SWT ! Let not our hearts
deviate after you have guided us; and
bestow upon us mercy from YourSWT Presence. Surely it is You-SWT
Who-SWT is the Bestower.
Rabbana innaka jamiAAu a(l)nnasi
liyawmin la rayba feehi inna Allaha la
yukhlifu almeeAAad(a)
Our Rabb-SWT ! Surely You-SWT
will gather mankind on a Day of which
there is no doubt. Indeed Allah-SWT
never fails to keep His-SWT promise.

SECRETS OF REVELATION:
Alif, Lam, Mim. Allah-SWT ! There
is no Ilaaha but He-SWT the Almighty,
the Wise.
Surah AI-Baqarah ended with the
prayer for victory and sway over the
non-believers. This Surah discusses
the nature of dealings and
interactions with them, as if the same
topic is being carried further.
To begin with, the difference between
a believer and a non-believer is
explained. Those believing in Unity
and the Divine Attributes are the
believers and those who repudiate
these are the non-believers. In other
words, mankind is divided into two
groups of people in this world, namely
the believers and the non-believers.
This division along ideological lines
can also be termed as two nations
theory. The believers are essentially a
single entity whereas disbelief has
further sub-divisions but basically all
non-believers constitute a single
nation.

Unity has been presented here as a

declaration of Allah-SWTs Unity, that
no one besides Him-SWT has the
right to be worshiped. Alif-Lam-Mim
are the Isolated Letters symbolizing
some profound meanings known only
to Allah-SWT and His-SWT ProphetSW. However, a devout follower with
a strong spiritual connection with the
Holy Prophet-SW may be blessed
with knowledge directly from AllahSWT and he may discern their
meanings to a certain extent. The
meanings so perceived will, however,
not be practicable for others who will
still have to believe these Letters to be
known only to Allah-SWT and HisSWT Prophet-SW.
Next is the declaration of Divinity and
Unity of Allah-SWT , which is
supported by the logical evidence that
Allah-SWT is Himself Ever-Living and
the Sustainer of the entire universe.
Nothing can survive without the
support of His-SWT Omnipotence-.
Worship is a demonstration of
extreme humility and worthlessness,
which is only for the One-SWT WhoSWT is the Greatest and Most Perfect
by all stan-dards, and above all
needs. A creation, which is dependent
for its own survival whether, an idol or
an angel, a lofty mountain or a river, a
saint or a Prophet-AS can never
deserve to be worshipped. Worship is
only for the One-SWT Who has
always been and shall always be, and
that is none save Allah-SWT .
This fundamental evidence is
supported by a secondary argument.
Unity is not only revealed in the Quran
or by the Holy Prophet-SW but has
been elementary in all the preceding

ROSHNI Issue No.74

15

November 2014

Scriptures. All the Prophets-AS and

Messengers-AS of Allah-SWT invited
mankind to believe in the same reality.
The Message brought by the first
human being and Allah-SWTs
Prophet Aadam-AS was La Ilaha
illAllah-SWT , (there is no god but
Allah-SWT ). Centuries later, the
same reality was reasserted by
Prophet Nuh-AS and after a wide
stretch of time, by Prophet IbrahimAS. His-AS son Prophet Ismail-AS
carried the same Message. The same
call was given by Prophets Musa-AS
and Harun-AS well as Prophet 'IsaAS. Finally the Holy Prophet-SW is
conveying the ancient Message of
Unity and there is nothing new about
it. Indeed, the declaration of AllahSWT s Unity and Divinity by more or
less a hundred and twenty four
thousand chosen personages spread
over a long period of time, in different
dialects and eras, is itself a proof of
the authenticity of the Message. Its
credibility gets further reinforced and
strengthened when the characters of
these noble souls are taken into
account. They were not only
paragons of morality themselves, but
also educated mankind about ethical
standards. They were righteous,
truthful and trustworthy. The lives of
these exalted souls were pure,
absolutely free of any evil. They lived
centuries apart from each other so by
any worldly means or resources it was
impossible that they could have
communicated Message from one to
another. Certainly they all received
the Revelation being Allah-SWTs
Messengers-AS and were told by
Allah-SWT to spread the word of
Unity. Finally the raising of Prophet

Hope for the best but prepare for the worst

Abdel Aziz Aluwaisheg
Email: aluwaisheg@gmail.com

hile traveling in Saudi Arabia

lately, I have encountered
occasional shortages of
gasoline at petrol stations. For
outsiders, it is hard to imagine gasoline
shortages in Saudi Arabia, the largest
oil exporter in the world. When those
shortages occur in the Eastern
Province, Saudi Arabias main oil
producing region, it is doubly ironic. In
some cases, you could see cars
abandoned alongside the road after
they and petrol stations had run out of
gas.
Shortages do not usually last a long
time, and probably should be expected
in a vast country like Saudi Arabia,
where it may be difficult to keep enough
supplies at hand in remote gas station.
When shortages lasted longer, Saudi
Arabia resorted to importing gasoline,
another irony.
When you face this problem in the
middle of nowhere, at night, it focuses
your mind on the complexities of oil
supply and the possibility that one day
in the future we may not have any. Oil
may turn out to be just a fleeting
phenomenon in the long history of
Arabia, when for the most part people
traveled across its great deserts without
cars.
Rationally, of course, we know that
exhausting Saudi Arabias vast oil
reserves could take several decades.
Given the level of proven reserves and
the amount of oil pumped daily, it could
last theoretically for another six
decades.
It is true that new reserves may be
discovered, but you cannot rely on that
possibility. It is also true that there are
many marginal wells and underground
fields that could be tapped if the price is
right, or if a technological breakthrough
could take place. Eventually, even
marginal wells and shale oil will run dry.
We along with rest of the world will move
on to other sources of energy.
Equally devastating is when oil prices
drop signifi cantly, due to new
discoveries, technological
breakthroughs or devel oping
alternative energy sources. While for
the rest of the world oil is just another

source of energy, and as such lower

prices are welcome, for us it is a lifeline.
The rest of the world talks about end of
oil as a positive prospect, but here it is
the end of life. Oil here is the engine of
our economic growth. Not just oil
extraction and refining, but the
manufacture of petrochemicals also
relies on it.
Oil is also the main source of export
earnings. In the past six years (20082013), oil exports accounted for 85 to 89
percent of total export earnings. Most
alarming is the fact that oil is by far the
main source of government revenue; in
the past six years, oil revenue
represented between 90 and 93
percent of government revenue. In
other words, our free health care,
education and welfare systems, which
we take for granted, are financed by
those oil revenues. So are roads,
airports and other infrastructure.
Funding for internal and external
security and foreign aid depends to a
large extent on oil revenue.
In short, our lifestyle and future wellbeing are closely intertwined with the
health and vagaries of oil markets.
Since the future is fraught with
uncertainties, we need to accelerate
plans for alternative sources of
revenue.
The recent drop in oil prices, about 25
percent since June 2014, highlighted
th e pr os pec ts f or di m i ni s hi n g
government revenues due to price
fluctuations. Last week, the IMF
released a new report expecting GCC
countries to lose as much as $175
billion dollars if oil prices reached $75 a
barrel and stayed there for a while. It
believes that these losses could shave
8 basis points (almost one percentage
point) off expected economic growth
rates in GCC countries. Previously, it
had expected GCC economic growth to
reach 4.5 percent in 2015, but is now
revising that estimate downwards.
That loss would significantly affect
current account balances and reduce
expected combined budget surpluses
from $275 to $100. Based on these
pessimistic scenarios, which are in

ROSHNI Issue No.74

14

November 2014

dispute, the IMF has now revised its

expectations for the trajectory of
government deficits in Saudi Arabia.
Previously, it did not expect deficits
before 2018 or 2019. Now, it thinks they
are likely in 2015, if oil prices continued
their downward slide and public
spending continued at current levels.
Some GCC countries can continue
spending at current levels for a while,
because they have a financial buffer
provided by previous budget surpluses.
However, such approach could not be
sustained for long, especially in
countries where monetary reserves are
low.
OPEC believes that recent price drops
are temporary, which is most likely, with
no long-term ill effects. But some Wall
Street banks expect the worst; last
week, Goldman Sachs revised its
forecasts downwards and now expects
a target of $85 for Brent price in the first
quarter of 2015, and $75 in the rest of
2015.
OPEC officials are especially keen to
calm the markets. The organizations
secretary-general said last week, at an
oil conference in London, that oil supply
an d d em a nd w o u l d r e tu r n to
equilibrium, adding, We dont see
really fundamental changes in the
supply side or the demand
sideUnfortunately, everybody is
panicking. The press is panicking,
consumers are panicking. That
equilibrium, he referred to, may exist for
medium run. But for the short run, we
have seen how prices fell by 25 percent
since June. The long run is uncertain.
As such we should be concerned, not
just about prices, but how to make
supplies last until we develop other
sources of income, economic base, and
export earnings.
While we hope for the best, prudence
requires us to prepare for the worst.
However, it is important not to panic. I
argued in my last weeks column that we
still have some options to deal with the
problem. However, we may not have
that luxury in the future.
I argued against across-the-board
budget cuts, but for targeted cuts that
reduce waste, especially in the energy
sector, which eats up a big portion of
public spending.

Jailed Bosnian Serb war criminal sues

British government

former Serb general convicted of

war crimes who had his neck
slashed open by prisoners in a
British jail has launched a 120,000
lawsuit against the Government.
Radislav Krstic, serving a 35-year
sentence after being convicted of
Europe's worst massacre since the Second
World War, said he has been left
physically and mentally scarred after the
2010 attack.
He claims that the Government failed to
protect him from the razor attack, carried
out by three Muslim inmates at top
security Wakefield Prison.
The Serbs were the deadly enemies of
Bosnian Muslims during the Yugoslav
civil war in the 1990s. At least one of
Krstic's attackers is said to be a Bosnian
Muslim.
He said that he has been haunted by
recurring flashbacks since the incident
and is seeking damages for his injuries
and for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
When Krstic, an amputee, was moved to
Woodhill Prison following the attack, he
claims he was assaulted by a Muslim
inmate who 'kicked him in his remaining
leg'.
His barrister, Adam Sandell, told a judge
that 'no one has ever apologised to Mr
Krstic', who has since been transferred to
serve out his jail term in Poland.
Krstic, 66, who watched the court
proceedings today via video link, claims
the authorities at Wakefield Prison
negligently failed to take 'all reasonable
steps' to protect him.
That was despite the fact that the jail is a
'high security prison housing some of the
UK's most dangerous male lifers', said Mr
Sandell.
Lawyers for the Ministry of Justice are
defending the case, insisting that prison
staff did what they could to protect the
war criminal.
They say he was at no greater risk in the
prison system than a paedophile would
be.

Stephanie Linning for MailOnline

Government barrister, Oliver Sanders,
al so suggest ed t hat Krsti c ha d
'exaggerated the consequences of the
attack in terms of his PTSD'.
Krstic was convicted for his part in the
massacre of more than 8,000 Bosnian
Muslim men and boys who had been
rounded up in the UN's supposedly safe
haven of Srebrenica in July 1995.
At the time he was one of the most
powerful men in the Bosnian Serb army,
second only to General Ratko Mladic,
who is still on the run from war crimes
investigators.
He was arrested in a daring joint SAS and
U.S. Navy SEAL snatch in Bosnia in
December 1998.
In 2001 he became the first man to be
convicted of genocide by the War Crimes
Tribunal in the Hague and was sentenced
to 46 years in prison.
This was overturned on appeal and
replaced by a 35-year sentence for aiding
and abetting genocide.
Mr Sandell said his client was in his cell
when three Muslim attackers stormed in
and slashed at him with a 'razor-blade
attached to a toothbrush handle'.
He said: 'They held Mr Krstic down and
cut his head and neck with their weapon,
he understood that the prisoners were
trying to kill him.
'The three prisoners then left, saying,
"he's finished", meaning that they
believed he would die from the injuries
they had inflicted on him.'
Krstic had lost part of his right leg in a
mine blast during the Bosnian war and
was less able to defend himself, he added.
But Mr Sandell said that nothing he had
experienced in the war zone compared
with the mental torment left by the prison
attack.
He said: 'He has a poor prognosis; it is
unlikely that there will be anything other
than a modest improvement in his
disorder with the further passage of time.'

ROSHNI Issue No.74

13

November 2014

He added that the ex-general was lucky to

escape with his life and was marked with
'severe facial scarring'.
His three attackers were tried and
convicted of wounding with intent over
the razor attack in February 2011.
Mr Sandell said there had been a 'glaring'
risk of an attack occurring at Wakefield
Prison - given Krstic's high-profile status
and the wide publicity surrounding his
case.
There were also numerous 'red flag
incidents' in the months before the attack
which should have triggered heightened
vigilance by prison staff, said the
barrister.
He added: 'His offences were exceptional
and they put him at risk from certain other
prisoners.
'But this risk was not exceptional and was
in fact no different from the risk from
other prisoners faced by numerous sex
offenders and prisoners who have
committed violent or sexual offences
against children'.
Judge Antonio Bueno QC, sitting at
Central London County Court, has now
reserved judgment and will rule on the
case at a later date.

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Turkeys missile maneuver

Lale Kemal

urkey's NATO membership has

increasingly come under
question in the face of its Syrian
policy in general and on a radical
terrorist group, in particular, as it has
signaled a departure from that of the
alliance. Ankara has continued to put
conditions on the nature of its
participation in a US-led
Western/Arab coalition staging air
strikes against the Islamic State in
Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), which
renamed itself the Islamic State (IS)
after declaring a caliphate in the
territories that it has occupied in Iraq
and Syria. Another area that came
into question regarding Turkey's
adherence to NATO's security
policies was Turkey's selection of a
Chinese system for its longstanding
project to acquire missile systems
back in 2013.
Since then, NATO has been putting
pressure on Ankara, saying that
Chinese systems will not be
compatible with alliance systems. It
will also create a security problem for
both NATO and Turkey, since the
Turkish air defense network is tied to
the alliance, NATO also reminds
Turkey.
President Recep Tayyip Erdog(an, in
his capacity as prime minister at the
time, put his stamp of approval on the
select ion of China Precisio n
Machinery Import-Export Corporation
(CPMIEC) over the HQ-9 surface-toair missile (SAM) system as a means
of acquiring long-range air and
missile systems (the T-Loramids
project).
The French and Italian partnership,
the Eurosam consortium, was the
runner-up (with its SAMP/T system),
and the US Raytheon/Lockheed
Martin team was the third-ranked
bidder for the T-Loramids project with
the Patriot system.
Erdog(an at the time stated that
Turkey's preference for China was
due to the fact that CPMIEC came up
with the lowest price of $3.4 billion in
addition to providing for a high
technology transfer that would enable
Turkey to gain knowledge on the

manufacture of highly advanced

missiles. Yet senior Turkish defense
experts are of the opinion that any
missile deal with China will both be
more costly than the stated price and
that a program with this country
carries the danger that Chinese
missiles produced with Ankara will not
be more than a stand-alone system.
This is because NATO will not allow
them to operate with the alliance air
defense network.
Ankara has begun to realize that it
should find a way to stop the talks with
China for the T-Loramids project. But
while doing so, Ankara also knows
that it should not upset Beijing.
One way of halting talks with China
would be to develop a new missile
project, cancel T-Loramids and open
a new tender. According to this
scenario, China can also be invited to
bid in the new tender for a longerrange, more advanced missile
project. And it can be eliminated from
this new tender during the process of
selecting from among the
competitors.
The first sign of the above-mentioned
scenario, I guess, was given when
President Erdog(an stated on his way
back from the NATO summit in Wales
in September that Turkey has begun
contract talks with Eurosam regarding
the T-Loramids project. The move
f ol lo we d di sag re emen t s ove r
technology transfer issues with
CPMIEC. Erdog(an, however, added
that talks with CPMIEC on the same
project were also continuing.
There have been some
disagreements that occurred during
talks with China over joint production
as well as know-how issues. Despite
this, talks with China continue, but
Eurosam, the runner-up in the project,
came up with new offers. Turkey will
make a decision in accordance with
the offers that will best serve Turkish
interests," Erdog(an told journalists
on his return from the NATO summit in
Wales.
"It is very important for Turkey to take
part in the production process of the

ROSHNI Issue No.74

12

November 2014

missiles," he added.
As a matter of fact, a response to my
question was given recently by I.smail
Demir, undersecretary of the
Undersecretariat for the Defense
Industry (SSM), the country's stateowned main body for arms
acquisition. It was confusing, but at
the same hinted that the scenario was
being put in place for Turkey to
eliminate China from the project.
Demir revealed that the SSM has also
been talking to Eurosam, not for TLoramids but for the acquisition of a
longer-range missile that involves
different layers of defense, although
he did not elaborate further. He did,
however, add that the SSM is
continuing talks with China for the TLoramids project.
Despite my persistent questions,
Demir has fallen short of elaborating
further on what exactly he meant,
since up until now we know about only
one such project, namely, TLoramids. But now Demir is talking
about the existence of a separate
project for the development of longerrange, advanced missiles that he said
Ankara has been talking to Eurosam
about.
Turkish defense industry sources
confirmed to me that in addition to TLoramids the SSM has developed
another project for more advanced
missiles.
This new SSM project is being kept
confidential, but could be conducted
in addition to T-Loramids.
However, a Western defense source
in Ankara told me that they thought it
highly likely that Turkey would instead
abandon the T-Loramids project and
re place i t wit h t he new codevelopment project.
The SSM will probably open a new
tender, perhaps before the end of
2014, for the new co-development
project. China is expected to be
invited to participate in this tender,
too.
It now appears that by developing a
new, longer range, more advanced
missile project, Ankara will avoid
looking like it is backing down on the
T-Loramids project with China in the
face of NATO pressure. But this new
project is also intended to facilitate
Ankara's plans to abandon the
Chinese system during a new tender.

Relevance of Constitution Day

n November 4, 1972, we
adopted the Constitution of
the People's Republic of
Bangladesh.
Each year, November 4 passes
unnoticed, uncelebrated. However
much the constitution cuts across the
political divide as a statement of
enduring values, we have failed to
grasp its significance and also failed
to dedicate the day as Constitution
Day. It is a pity to find this date
disappearing from our consciousness
and conspicuously missing in the list
of designated national days.
Our inadequacy in comprehending
the significance of this date in our civil
life prevents us from according it a
national status like other nations (in
the US, Constitution Day is an official
holiday). Beyond our commitment to
republicanism, the importance of
Constitution Day is vividly focused
when viewed against our national
track record, which had been defiled
by military takeovers. Should the
government headed by Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina dedicate
November 4 as Constitution Day, it
cert ai nl y w oul d be a ro bust
articulation of our commitment to
constitutionalism. This date so

Syed Badrul Haque

dedicated will serve as the most
potent reminder to the political parties
of the operable parameters of power
as everyday basis of government,
and of the fact that the government is
run with due regard to such limitations
as imposed by the constitution.
Admittedly, our civil society has not
evolved enough to automatically
discourage any move to overthrow a
constitutional government elected
under a democratic dispensation.
Because of this inherent weakness
our civil society had to weather spells
of extra constitutional ambitions,
albeit intermittently, in the 43 years of
our independence. Constitutional
rule, however, proved its resilience by
its triumphant return and flourished on
the basis of people's consent.
In a land like ours, where awareness
of the constitution is wafer-thin and
there are so many immature
politicians, Constitution Day, in its
exclusivity, should be an eminent
occasion to inform the citizens about
the constitution with regard to
governance, and about their rights
and their obligations to this state.
The message of the Day shall have to

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ROSHNI Issue No.74

11

November 2014

be highlighted not only on the date of

its observance but also in a
continuous campaign till such time
the citizens become familiar with the
constitution. Obviously, the prime
responsibility shall rest with both the
print and the electronic media. On a
broader perspective the Day's
consciousness constructed on a
strong basis of constitutional values
should inspire the civil society not to
bow to those who reject freedom and
democracy.
In our political culture, passages of
cynicism and doubt have haunted the
national psyche at intervals since our
independence. Surely, the debates
that centre around our constitution
and other issues of national
importance will continue. But they
ought to be inspired with the great
task of national upliftment. It is
unfortunate that we have collectively
failed to commemorate our
Constitution Day for over four
decades. Its inauguration should
indeed be a gift to the nation.

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Memoirs of a Saudi Ph.D. student

e all have days when we

dont feel like doing anything
w i t ho ut an y ap pa re nt
reason. For the past two weeks, this
writer is facing the same situation.
Initially, I was down with flu. After
recovering from the illness, the days
that followed proved to be strange as I
felt like doing nothing and literally
dragged my feet at whatever I did.
I had started acting like a zombie.
Going to work, start working like a
soulless robot and failing to avoid
those obvious glitches that resulted
due to my mental state. I was, in fact,
felt exhausted to do anything.
My supervisor started questioning my
performance and told me precisely
that the job that usually took 10
minutes was taking too much time. As
a sophisticated Ph.D. student, I
should have come up with a strong
justification for the decline in my
performance but I did not say
anything. Of course, what would have
I said?

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Sorry but I just dont feel like working
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You know, we all should have the
option not to work some days, dont
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my already ruined prestige, I just
chose to nod in agreement and
offered my apologies for my poor
performance and promised to get
back to my routine self.
He then told me casually that there
were several cases of students from
different institutions who had been
caught cheating. According to him,
those students had hired people to do
analysis/writing for them. He said that
consequences of such actions were
very serious and it could cost the
student his or her degree. As we have
been working together for almost
three years and given the fact that we
meet on a regular basis and he knows
how precisely I usually discuss all
details of my work, I knew he was not
questioning my integrity, and he also
reassured me that he was very
confident of my academic honesty
despite of my recent glitches, and that
I would be able to catch up depending
entirely on myself and on his
guidance. This incident brought back
memories of my Ph.D. upgrade report
submission when the plagiarism
detection system detected selfplagiarism in my report. Although the
plagiarism detected was from a
previous work done by myself and not
in a novel part of my work (it was in the
research context), nevertheless, the
issue was taken very seriously and I
was told that more grand issues have
very ugly consequences and that
plagiarism is a very serious academic
offense.
The truth is that although plagiarism
from previous submitted work is now
easily detected, thanks to advanced
plagiarism detection systems, but
discovering the cases of students
hiring other people to do the work for
them is a big challenge. The ugly truth
is that some of those students are
never caught and then they return to

ROSHNI Issue No.74

10

November 2014

their home countries in case they

were international students with
legitimate degrees from prestigious
institutions but they lack the
qualifications and the interpersonal
skills. Some might question that in
case of a Ph.D. how such kinds of
students survive viva voce? I really
dont have an answer to that question
but I guess that they hire other people
to train them how to bypass
supervisors and external examiners
by mastering the work and be trained
how to answer questions. It is a very
unfair game and some people do it
without any shame. People who
commit such crimes know that what
they have done is extremely wrong. It
all starts by opting for the easy way
out.
Maybe it worth reminding ourselves
that even if such acts might not be
caught, but what goes around comes
around sooner or later and such
dishonesty will never go unpunished,
if not now then definitely in the
Hereafter.

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Why Delhi needs a chief minister now

emocracy in Delhi has become

a ghost in suspended
animation waiting for the
afterlife. This situation has been
brought about by the arrant nonsense
of AAP and the manipulations by
lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung in
conjunction with the BJP. Jung has
given a new twist to the adage:
uneasy lies the head that wears a
crown.
Perhaps, somewhere in his mind, he
wants to hold on to not just this, but
also any other kingly crown that may
be offered to him. If life in power is a
gamble, it suffers vaulting ambition.
Elections
Delhi went into elections on
December 4, 2013; the electorate
was 1,19,32,067, of which 67 per cent
(75,94,485) cast their vote. No sooner
had AAP got 28 seats out of 70, as
against BJPs 32 and Congresss
eight, Kejriwal declared he had his
sights on the Maharashtra elections.
BJP refused to form a government on
December 12, Congress gave
unconditional support to AAP on
December 13. Kejriwal, with his
brazen foolishness, laid down 18
conditions for the cooperation of the
BJP and Congress (as if they cared),
wanting a referendum on the
Congress-supported AAP
configuration (another election?) on
December 18. He formed the
government on December 22 only to
resign on February 16, 2014, with the
Presidents Rule being imposed on
February 17, 2014.
It should have been clear to L-G Jung
in February that this impasse was an
unresol vable stalemate. Bot h
Congress, and later BJP at the
Centre, entered into unbridled
opportunism. For one, it was achche
din ayenge, while for the other: phir
subha kabhi toh ayegee. Eyes were
on the general elections in May,
where BJP had a clean sweep in
Delhi.
For the BJP, Delhis return to
democracy was inextricably linked to
its own electoral fortunes. BJP had
two options: call elections
immediately or attempt a minority

Rajeev Dhavan
government on the December 2013
result or invite defections or reduce
the overall figure to 63 to give it a
majority. BJP was in power at the
Centre, with the ultimate power over
Delhis fate.
Jung became their most obedient civil
servant. He seemed to enjoy the
windfall that he would reign.
Keeping Assemblies in suspension so
that the Centres favourite party could
assume power was very much a
legacy from the Indira Gandhi-era. In
Nehrus time, there was one
suspension in 1951 (Punjab).
Between 1967-77, sixteen
Assemblies were kept suspended to
encourage defection and government
formation. In only four were they
subsequently dissolved.
Administration
The Bhagwan Sahay Committee
(1972), Sarkaria Commission (1988)
and Constitution Commission (2005)
deprecated this. Shanti Bhushan was
t h e l a w m in i st er w h e n n i ne
Assemblies were dissolved in 1977.
Mrs Gandhi returned the compliment
in 1980. The Emergency provision for
all states (Article 356) was amended
in 1978 to put some discipline on
Presidents Rule to one year, with
other safeguards. Before that,
Nagaland was under the Presidents
Rule for two years, eight months and
three days.
But the provisions that re-established
Delhi as a National Capital Region in
1991 had special Emergency
provisions (Article 239AB), which
allowed the Emergency Rule for
such periods and subject to such
conditions as may be specified.
Such a rule could be for constitutional
failure or the proper administration of
the National Capital Territory if
necessary or expedient to do so".
These are draconian provisions an
invitation to the opportunist, and
ambitious. We are dealing here with
an opportunist BJP and an ambitious
L-G. The period between dissolution
and elections should not be more than
six months, although the Supreme

ROSHNI Issue No.74

November 2014

Court in 2002 declared this was

salutary and not mandatory.
Challenges
Post-Kejriwals resignation on
February 16, 2014, there was no
constitutional crisis. In 1998,
Vajpayee was the PM for 13 days,
then the elections were called. In
Delh i, only resi gnat i ons and
defections could give the BJP
nu mbe rs t o f o rm a mi no ri t y
government so that the people of
Delhi were not cheated with an
immediate election. BJP should have
been given a maximum one month or
so (say till March 31) to decide. Even if
BJP wanted to wait for the General
Election results in May where it made
a clean sweep, elections should have
been called thereafter.
The rule of the President through the
lieutenant governor cheats the
democratic process. The BJP
government at the Centre cannot use
these provisions to look for the
propitious moment when it feels: (a)
that it can achieve an electoral victory,
or (b) that it can seduce legislators
towards itself to reduce the number of
legislators so that its 32 seats become
a majority. This is how Indias politics
perpetuates democratic evil. Jung is
having a ball, dominating officers,
giving himself profile and ruling as
BJPs nominee.
Curiously by September 2014, Jung
wanted the Presidents nod to invite
the BJP minority to form government.
AAPs Yogendra Yadav rightly
accused the BJP of lusting for power.
Congress wanted the BJP to form the
government because they were not
ready for an election. This was also
BJPs strategy, i.e., to wait until the
impending elections to four states
were over. AAP claimed that Rs 4
crores were offered to its MLA on
October 21. Kejriwal challenged the
BJP to hold Delhi elections. AAP
moved the Supreme Court, which
demanded a decision, slamming the
Union Government and Jung:
"(T)hese people are trying to
hoodwink the court. Nothing since
has been done by (them)". The
so l ut i o n i s s i mp le : "R e st o re
Democracy to Delhi through elections

Action more important

I

n the midst of debate on the illegal

foreign account holders, the
names of those, who were given
amnesty a few days before the
debate, have been forgotten.
Apparently, they are from the both
main political parties, the Congress
and the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP).
Otherwise, the shouting would not
have stopped in such a short time.
One other noticeable point is that
there has not been even a cursory
mention of how the account holders
came to accumulate so much money
and what steps have been taken to
stop the practice.
Stacking money abroad is a crime.
Therefore, all those who have hidden
money in foreign countries are guilty.
The governments hesitation in
making their names public is not
understandable. Obviously, both the
Congress and the BJP are guilty and
they do not want their image to be
damaged if and when the names are
out. Both parties have a lot to hide.
The fact remains that the political
parties, which spend crores of rupees
during elections, have foreign
countries as a safe haven for
accumulating the illicit money. In this
way, they not only escape public
attention but also the amount of large
sums which they would have
otherwise paid in the shape of taxes.
The people in India should however
thank Germany which put the names
in the public domain. One German
bank got hold of the list of names
unwittingly and handed it over to the
Government of India. No intelligence
agency in the country can take credit
for the list. Why Germany gave the
names is not understandable. If it was
a pressure of sorts on New Delhi, it
has worked.
The public was understandably up in
arms when it came to know that 800
odd people have money abroad.
There must be many other names
which have not come out. The amount
of money stacked abroad is said to be
Rs 6 lakh crore.
I recall that when I was Indias High

Kuldip Nayar
Commissioner at London, the
stringency of money had made New
Delhi to write to its envoys to raise
money from Indians settled abroad. I
also made a fervent appeal to the
people of Indian origin. But I was
su rp r i se d w h en t h e G e rm an
ambassador told me that the Indians
had so much money deposited in the
Swiss banks that they could easily
finance many five-year plans.
In
any case, the government has now
names of foreign account holders.
They were reportedly received many
months ago when the Congress
government headed by Manmohan
Singh was that helm of affairs.
Because of political considerations, it
took no action against anyone.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
who promised to book the guilty in 100
days of his regime, has begun action
only after seven months of coming to
power. The Singh government sat
over the names which were received
during its regime. Why no action was
taken has not been explained by the
Congress spokespersons. The
uncomfortable questions are never
answered. The disclosure of names is
in the same category.
The Modi government too has sacred
cows. It has preferred to name some
companies in the corporate sector to
others. The three names announced
from the corporate sector are
probably of those companies which
the Modi government has not been
able to milch. Also, the concentration
on the corporate sector is meant to
divert the peoples attention from the
political world.
The effort is to convince the society
that the illicit money is the doing of the
corporate sector. This may be true
because the money spent on
elections, running into thousands of
crores of rupees comes from the
corporate sector. But this is the black
money, earned through the illicit
means. The politicians, whether in or
out of power, have to bear the guilt.
They look to the other side than when

ROSHNI Issue No.74

November 2014

the corrupt means are used to

accumulate money.
That Modi would fight against the
vested interest, who have polluted the
politics, was expected, particularly
when he talked about cleanliness
from every public platform. But
unfortunately he has not kept his
promise. He has made businessmen
and bureaucrats careful in going
about their corrupt practices. But the
corruption has in no way
lessened.Even now, it is not too late to
retrieve his reputation if Modi puts all
the names on the net. Who among
them can be prosecuted depends on
t h e e v i d e n ce g a t h e re d . T h e
disclosure of names will at least
absolve him from the responsibility of
hiding corruption from the people.
This may not be an instance of
corruption but it is quite appalling.
Some Rs 3,000 crore are estimated to
have been spent on fire crackers
during Deepavali. The money, again
in crores, during the Dasara is
separate from this amount.
A country where one third of the
population goes to bed without food is
a sad spectacle of insensitivity to the
conditions the common man faces. I
have not found the activists coming
once the streets protesting. The
society is indifferent because those
who lead the voice and mould the
public opinion are part of the problem.
They can hardly offer a solution.

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no, his clinic was open. I called up the

surgeon general of the army. He too,
Allah be praised, was available for
private appointments. Thats why the
hesitant plea: can Lahore
government doctors give their private
clinics a miss for a few days?
The terrorists are not winning.
Although this can hardly be any
consolation for the victims, the Wagah
incident is almost an admission of
failure, that this was the only
vulnerable spot they could target. The
victims are all ordinary Pakistanis
plus a few Rangers personnel. And
the terrorists are fighting for the
greater glory of Islam. Their victims
for the most part turn out to be the
le ss-pri vil ege d. Th is is t he ir
understanding of Islam. The Islamic
State in Iraq and Syria is also fighting
for the greater glory of the faith. One
tactic for which it has earned notoriety
is the beheading of real or imagined
enemies. Again, all this is being done
in the name of Islam.
In the aftermath of this incident can
we give thought to another thing? Isnt
it time we thought about curbing some
of the histrionic excesses which have
become part of the flag-lowering
ceremony at Wagah? Both the Indian
Border Security Force and our
Rangers seek to outdo each other in
exaggerated parade gestures,
doubtless their way of displaying their
resoluteness. Crowds on both sides
gather to see this spectacle and are in
turn swept by a tide of patriotic
fervour.
Is this uplifting? To a certain extent

perhaps.
perhaps. But on the whole it is in
questionable taste and gives the
impression that Pakistan and India for
all their claims of representing ancient
civilisations are caught up in some
juvenile game. The stamping of feet is
far too pronounced. Its not even
impressive in any athletic sense
because, if you take a closer look,
when the guards raise their legs they
cant keep their backs straightthey
slightly bend at the knees.
Watch the marching in Tiananmen
Square on Revolution Day: even as
soldiers of all the services, including
women, raise their legs in a
goosestep, waists are held tight and
backs are absolutely straight. At the
time of the changing of the guard in
Red Square in front of the Kremlin,
soldiers of the presidential guard (if I
am not mistaken, from the
Preobrazhensky Regiment, founded
by Peter the Great) raise their legs
hi gh a s th ey mar ch, al most
impossibly high as it seems to me, but
their backs are straight.
We have been cursed with the British
style of marching, legs moving just a
bit while the arms are swung
shoulder-high. When you fling about
the arms too much the poise and
balance of the body are affected. In
ballet, in synchronised gymnastics, in
ice skating, the movement of the arms
is an embellishment but the elegance
of the whole comes from the
movement of the legs. In the British
style of marching the backside is

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ROSHNI Issue No.74

compressed a natural effect when

you swing the arms too much which
doesnt make for elegant movement.
The British army now marches in a
slightly more relaxed manner. Our drill
could do with some improvement.
But bent backs apart, the lowering of
the flag is a tribute to the setting sun,
an affirmation that the day is done. It is
a solemn moment marked by the
playing of poignant and sombre
music. Vulgar exhibitionism doesnt fit
the bill. Thus the way the retreat is
sounded at Wagah doesnt redound
to the credit of either country. Quite
apart from the whipping up of false
emotion, for which there should be no
need, as I have said it is not in good
taste.
On a related subject, at some of our
military ceremonies such as the
shuhada commemoration at General
Headquarters or on parades such as
on August 14 this year in Islamabad
some of t he accompanying
commentary is so gushing and overthe-top that it is embarrassing. Is
there no one to notice this? A military
parade is not a second-rate mushaira
and should not be conducted like one.
Armies look good when they enhance
their firepower not when they
exaggerate their dramatic skills.
But after the Lahore blast, first the
care and rehabilitation of the
victimslet there be no fakery and
grandstanding about that. There will
be time enough for the usual reports
later.

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7

November 2014

The silliness can wait

Ayaz Amir
winlust@yahoo.com

hen something like the

Wagah suicide bombing
happens the immediate
focus, to the exclusion of everything
else, should be on the victims. Are
they being taken care of? How are the
hospitals responding? Are there
enough medicines? Is there a need
for blood donations?
Silly statements like that of the interior
minister that a warning had been
issued about such an incident are
meaningless, and grating to boot. If
they have any relevance at all, the
immediate aftermath of such an event
is not the time for point-scoring and
spreading the blame.
Obviously, when such a disaster
occurs there is a security breach, a
loophole somewhereotherwise the
incident would not have happened.
But the time to look into these aspects
comes a bit later. Responsible
officials dont get into the blame game
immediately. There is always enough
time for such exercises when the dust
settles down a bit.
Theres another silliness to avoid:
statements such as those from the
prime ministers office that the PM has
asked for a report on the incident. God
in heaven, a report, with its attendant
obfuscations, will be prepared in due
course. Is this the level of our
confidence that we must hammer the
obvious at such moments? The Edhi
Foundation does not issue
stateme nts whe n some th in g
untoward like this happens. It goes
about its business quietly, without
fuss and without any banging of
drums, helping the victims and
bringing them medical attention. Is
this too much for governments to
learn, that it is more useful to move
first and put the statements on hold?

The state of Lahores hospitals is not

very good. The health department
remains under-funded and
healthcare, sadly, is not one of the
provincial governments leading
priorities. In fact public healthcare is
neglected nation-wide but this is not
the time to go into this discussion.
Many of the victims will be requiring
complicated medical procedures,
perhaps expensive medicines. This
should be everyones focus, not just
the governments but of all those in a
position to help. Would it be too great
a sacrifice to ask of leading surgeons
in hospitals such as Mayo, Services,
etc, to forego their private practices
for some time and concentrate on
their hospitals where the blast victims
may be admitted?
At the time of the 2005 earthquake
doctors from across the world came to
help us. Pakistani doctors also rose to
the occasion, teams of leading
doctors from Karachi Jinnah
Hospital, etc rushing to
Muzaffarabad and Hazara. In

Abbottabad I came across a team of

British-Pakistani doctors who had
come from the UK, an old man, his
eyes wet, telling me that they had
saved the hand of his young son after
a seven-hour operation when doctors
at the district hospital had told him
earlier that it might be best to have it
amputated. There were countless
stories of the same sort.
At PIMs in Islamabad I was informed
that a team of leading doctors from
Russia had come straight from the
airport to the operation theatre,
refusing to first check in at their hotel.
Cuba made a huge contribution with
doctors and nurses. So did the US,
the UAE, Saudi Arabiathe list is
long.
At the height of this medical
emergency I called the office of the
then head of the Rawalpindi Medical
College, a competent surgeon, and
asked for a private appointment.
Come anytime, I was told. But given
the earthquake and doctors from all
over the world arriving to help,
wouldnt the professor be busy? Oh

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November 2014

Whos afraid of local government?

he year and a half since the May 2013

elections has been one filled with all
kinds of political twists and turns;
the triumphant PML-N has been cut to size
by the demagoguery of the PAT and the PTI,
the military and its agenda remain as opaque
as ever in the context of Operation Zarb-iAzb and the ongoing political drama
unfolding in Islamabad, and a resurgent PPP
has once again found itself embroiled in a
turf war with the MQM. Amidst all the
a ll e g a t i o n s , r e c r i mi n a ti o n s , a n d
accusations, all of which are as predictable
and empty as they are ubiquitous, questions
pertaining to actual governance remain
peripheral to the broader public discourse.
Focusing solely on the uninspiring
spectacle of everyday partisan politics does
little more than detract from the pressing
and urgent need for debate on the concrete
mechanisms through which Pakistans
democracy, and its democratic institutions,
can be strengthened.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court
directed the provincial government of
Sindh, Punjab, and Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa
to hold local government elections by
November. These instructions followed
petitions that questioned the process
through which local government polls were
being organized in each of these provinces,
and the Supreme Courts decision therefore
asked the various political parties involved
to take measures to ensure that the elections
would be fair and transparent. As the
Supreme Courts deadline grows nearer, it is
clear that little, if any, action has been taken
in this regard. The limited discussions that
have taken place around the local
government elections have mainly dealt
with the role to be played by the ECP, with
the finer details of the process and, indeed,
the shape of the local government system
yet to be thrashed out.
This is extremely unfortunate, largely
because an effective system of local
government could potentially play a
significant role in empowering citizens and
eroding the power of the mainstream parties
and the entrenched, traditional politicians
associated with them. It is true that in the
past, exercises in local government have
often had the opposite effect, but this fact
can only be understood in the context of the
authoritarian environment in which they
were instituted. The Basic Democracies
system under Ayub Khan, the District
Councils during the Zia era, and the Nazims
under Musharraf were all put in place on a
non-party basis, with the explicit aim being
to undermine political parties through the
creation of local level allies beholden to,

Hassan Javid
hassan.javid@lums.edu.pk

and supportive of, the military governments

at the Centre. As such, these systems were
also associated with tremendous levels of
graft, rent-seeking, and top-down,
bureaucratic control, with the federal
government devolving as little actual
decision-making power as possible while
simultaneously making use of development
funds to ensure the continued acquiescence
of their local partners. Ultimately, these
forms of local government simply gave rise
to a new set of powerful political elites,
engorged on public funds and more than
willing to enter into expedient relationships
with those in power.
In 2013, as the provincial government
geared up to hold local government polls
prior to the Supreme Courts decision to
postpone them, the bills related to local
government that were tabled in the
assemblies, as well as the pronouncements
of the parties concerned, demonstrated a
nearly unanimous desire to return to nonparty based elections and top-down
administrative structures. At first glance,
this appears to be quite counterintuitive,
given how political parties, ranging from
the PTI to the PML-N, could conceivably
benefit from party-based elections by using
them to secure even greater support for their
policy platforms, as well as to ensure
greater coordination between the different
tiers of government. The puzzling stance
taken by the different parties is made all the
more confusing when looking at their
selective approach to the question of partybased elections; even as the PTI challenged
the PML-N for passing a Local Government
Act based on non-party based polls, it
passed a similar piece of legislation in KP
without even a hint of irony.
The paradoxical attitude displayed by these
parties supporting party-based elections
in other provinces while preventing them in
provinces where they are in power makes
eminent sense, however, when looking at
the danger local government elections pose
to sitting governments. Non-party based
elections, and the presence of mechanisms
through which provincial governments can
exercise a check on local ones, allows the
parties in power to co-opt and control
independently elected candidates through
the use of both patronage funds and more
punitive measures such as the threat of
dismissal. In essence, it provides
democratic provincial government, and
the parties that run them, with the same tools
used by military governments in the past to

ROSHNI Issue No.74

November 2014

ensure order. On the other hand, allowing

party based elections opens up the
possibility that the lower tiers of
government might be captured by rival
parties that could use the opportunity to
build up bases of support from which to
launch broader campaigns in subsequent
electoral cycles.
By their very na ture an d sc ale ,
democratically elected local governments
have lower barriers to entry for aspirants to
power. While the existence of local
governments does not, in and of itself,
eliminate the elite dominance of politics, or
prevent local politicians from colluding
with more powerful ones at the provincial
and national levels, it certainly makes it
easier for average citizens to get elected and
to hold their elected representatives more
accountable. This fact essentially means
that even if parties were to contest local
gover nme nt el ec tio ns fo r p u r el y
opportunistic reasons, seeking only to
undermine their rivals, the dynamics of
attracting voters and retaining them for
future electoral gains could conceivably
lead to the emergence of more competitive,
policy-based campaigning. There is also
considerable evidence from around the
world that in addition to being more
responsive to the needs of their constituents,
local governments possessing effective
decision-making authority and fiscal
powers are also better at the provision of
public goods and services.
Seen in this light, the attitude Pakistans
parties have towards local government is
not surprising, borne as it is out of fear
rather than principle. Given that the
Supreme Courts decision on local
governments might force Pakistans ruling
parties to hold party-based elections in a
relatively transparent manner, however, it is
imperative that pressure be put
on these parties to deliver on their promises
and revive the countrys local governments.
Conducted properly on the basis of
democratic principles, these elections could
pave the way for a truly substantive increase
in political participation in Pakistan. For all
the bloviation that takes place in the public
sphere that focuses on corruption and
governmental ineptitude, it is often easy to
forget that there are practical, often
incremental steps that can be taken to yield
tremendous institutional change in the long
run.
The writer is an assistant professor of political
science at LUMS.

Republican Senate victory

dooms Obama to lame duck status
ALBANY, NY - Republicans seized
control of the US Senate in the
midterm election, leaving a lame duck
President Barack Obama to contend
wit h a Rep ublican-dominat ed
Congress in his last two years in
office.
Voters vented their frustration with
President Obama's six years in office
on his Democrat political allies, giving
the Republicans a majority in the
Senate for the first time since 2006.
Although Democrats had been
braced for a bad night, the results
were even worse than many had
feared. The President's party lost key
races in North Carolina, Colorado and
Iowa - all states that first propelled
Obama to the White House in 2008.
In a particular snub to the President,
voters in his home state of Illinois cast
out their Democrat governor and
replaced him with a Republican,

an "illegal amnesty" that runs contrary

to the US constitution.
Republicans are expected to use their
control of Congress to pass a bill that
President Obama will be forced to
veto.

Cuomo coasts to 2nd term

as New York's governor
despite Obama campaigning on his
behalf.
Although the President was not on the
ballot, he was a driving force in his
party's defeat and 54 per cent of
voters said they disapproved of the
job he was doing, according to a CNN
exit poll.
In the coming weeks, President
Obama is expected to announce
plans to allow millions of illegal
immigrants to begin a path towards
American citizenship. Republicans
are furious at the prospect, calling it

ROSHNI Issue No.74

November 2014

ALBANY, NY - Democratic New York

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has won a
second term by defeating Republican
Rob Astorino.
The 56-year-old Cuomo ran on his
accomplishments since taking office
i n 2 0 11 : l o w e r t a x e s , l e s s
government gridlock, a focus on
upstate New York's economy and
tighter gun control.
Paul Tonko re-elected
ALBANY, NY - Voters of the 20th
Congressional District sent back to
Washington to Congressman Paul
Tonko with the wide margin victory
over Rep. Jim Fischer.

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Address:
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The silliness can wait

Ayaz Amir

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VOLUME 4 ISSUE NO. 74

NOVEMBER 2014
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