EDITORIAL : THE DAWN, PAKISTAN

Saleh’s choice

IS Ali Abdullah Saleh going to outdo his Libyan counterpart in piling up bodies? On Tuesday, the Yemen president spoke in grim terms and said the current wave of rebellion could tear the country apart and lead to a bloody civil war. He should know that a civil war is already raging, that his country already stands ‘torn’, and his own position is precarious. An aide said Mr Saleh would not leave without knowing who would succeed him. This is a familiar trick which Hosni Mubarak tried and failed. While the former Egyptian strongman promised an election within six months, Mr Saleh wants to hold a parliamentary elections in January next — a wait of nine months. No wonder the Yemeni opposition has rejected the move because it suspects that such a vote will be manipulated to ensure the victory of Saleh loyalists.

As in Libya, there are defections in the Yemeni armed forces, and like Muammar Qadhafi, Mr Saleh has armed and used his supporters without any qualms of conscience to kill the protesters — firing from rooftops, the regime’s supporters killed 46 demonstrators in a single day. Unlike Libya, the anti-Saleh dissent is relatively well-organised and seems to have a countrywide support base. Like the two Arab leaders who have already fallen, Mr Saleh has no supporters in or outside the Arab wor-ld. Next-door neighbour Saudi Arabia, which rushed its security forces to Bahrain to support a monarchy under siege from its own people, has kept quiet on the Yemen civil war, even though Mr Saleh has time and again tried to raise the Al Qaeda bogey in a vain bid to seek Saudi and western support. Mr Saleh may consider his regime a key US ally in the war on terror, but that has not stopped President Obama from calling for action against those responsible for the March 18 massacre and asserting that his administration stood for political change for meeting “the aspirations of the Yemeni people”. Mr Saleh, it seems, has no choice but to bow to his people’s wishes.

From Algeria to Syria, the Arab world is on the boil, the revolts being an expression of anger against decades of political suppression, if not of economic deprivation, as the unrest in oil-rich Libya and Bahrain shows. Bashar al-Assad’s rule may be 11 years old, but the Assad family has been in power now for four decades, and the current uprising is indicative of the Syrian people’s legitimate desire for change, freedom and an open society. Like Mr Saleh, Mr Assad too must see the writing on the wall.

 Empowering Fata

GENUINE representation in the federation fosters a sense of ownership that strengthens specific regions as well as the country as a whole. Unfortunately, parts of Pakistan continue to be marginalised, left out of the political mainstream at a time when national unity is of the essence. The most extreme case in this regard is that of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas, a region that falls within Pakistan’s territorial boundaries but is not bound by its laws. Nor do the ordinary residents of Fata enjoy the same rights and privileges that, in theory at least, can be claimed by even the most deprived sections of society in other parts of the country. It is argued by some that tribal people have their own unique cultures and codes of conduct, which is true in the main. What is sometimes overlooked here, however, is that increased participation in the socio-political affairs of the country does not automatically lead to an erosion of intrinsic cultural values. If anything it empowers people and allows them greater freedom to live a life of their own choosing. Middle classes grow when the grip of a few is loosened to whatever extent, and with options and relative prosperity comes the prospect of peace. Alienation and poverty, needless to say, serve as an ideal breeding ground for militancy.

As speakers at a conference in Islamabad pointed out on Tuesday, we can start addressing at least some of the myriad problems facing the tribal belt by bringing the region into the national mainstream. Perhaps the first step in this direction should be to extend the Political Parties Act to the tribal areas so that people there get more options when it comes to choosing who represents them in Islamabad. The Frontier Crimes Regulation system that was imposed by the British a century ago and is still shaped by draconian concepts such as collective responsibility for the actions of individuals or families ought to be phased out and replaced by the Pakistan Penal Code. It will take time to right the wrongs of the past but a beginning must be made.

Senseless act

IN a despicable incident on Sunday, a pastor in Florida burned a copy of the Quran after finding the religious text an incitement to violence. The act is, of course, a shocking one, and should be strongly condemned for utterly disregarding Muslims’ religious sensitivities. It also risks worsening the state of interfaith relations in the West at a difficult time; controversial hearings about the radi-calisation of American Muslims, for example, were held on Capitol Hill less than two weeks ago. Furthermore, acts like these simply heighten the extremist threat to America and make global cooperation against terrorism more difficult. Given the potential international fallout, a condemnation issued by the US ambassador to Pakistan was a welcome initial move. What the incident calls for, however, is the need for dialogue in the West to dispel the notion that Islam and terrorism are uniquely interlinked.

Sunday’s act was so deeply disturbing that a strong reaction from Pakistanis and other Muslims would be understandable. It should not, however, become a reason for violent protest, or even for the disruption of commerce and daily life. The act was conducted by a lone fanatic with a group of 30 onlookers and as such is not worth the trouble, let alone loss of life. One especially hopes that the incident does not result in attacks against religious minorities here or in other Muslim countries. This is a time to heed lessons learned during protests against the infamous Danish cartoons, when business was disrupted, lives lost, and minorities attacked to make a point that could have been made through less disruptive means. The more intelligent and admirable approach would be to remain calm and register any protest to this senseless act in a peaceful manner.