Sophisticated Beasts?

Civilization is but Skin Deep...

Maryam Sakeenah

Kath Walker laments the loss of civilization thus:

No more boomerang,
No more spear,
Now we go to bar
To have a glass of beer.
Now we got movies
Now we work for money
Now we got atom-bombs
To kill everybody

What separates the barbarian and the brute from the human? Those fancy gadgets, Iphones and Ipods, high-rising sky scrapers and sleek cars that whizz past, leaving clouds of dust and smoke behind? Is it those phony painted faces on huge commercial billboards staring down at the city? These are but the outward trappings, for civilization has to do with that which is more profound: our values, our beliefs, our worldviews, our perspectives on life, our heritage and our fidelity to it, our faith and our vision.

Will Durant says 'Civilization is social order promoting cultural creation. It begins when man passes by natural impulse towards the understanding and embellishment of life.'

One of the sicknesses of the modern mind is, however, the fact that we are obsessed with outward appearances, with the mere trappings of civilization, while the core is all but hollowed out. That has made us materialistic and reduced civilization to an empty shell. Beneath the veneer of our civilization, there lie the same instincts of selfishness, greed, lust and selfish passions that defined life in the ancient jungle. In those jungles our ancestors tore each other up for space or food. Now, in the Brave New World, we have Ministries of Defence to do the job. We do it with bombs and we do it for oil.

Our material progress and technological advancement is but the facade of civilization, its mask and not its soul. Where is the soul? Lying huddled somewhere with bated breath in the cracks between the stony slabs on a peopled New York subway, perhaps?

Joyce Carol Vincent was a successful 30 year old with an active, busy social life. Her dead body was discovered three years after she quietly died all alone in her flat while watching T.V. When it was noticed she was not paying her bills, some officials checked her flat, only to find a skeleton on the couch before the T.V, which had stayed on for three years. That is the isolation, the loneliness and the distance that exists among people in our urbanized modern lifestyle. That is the soullessness of contemporary civilization.

Amy Winehouse, one of the most successful British pop stars was found dead at 27 after she committed suicide taking an overdose of drugs and drink, dissatisfied as she was with her life- apparently, her life was a modern success story. Or was it?

In my own city a guard outside a bakery committed suicide a few days back, as according to him when he looked through the windows at the bread and cakes, he thought of his hungry weeping children at home... Our mad rat race for material wealth has made us blind and selfish so that we have forgotten those lesser people living among us who sleep on empty stomachs and wake up to another day of misery...

Global warming, nuclear warfare, smart bombs, dirty bombs, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo... are the gifts of our soulless civilization, perpetrated by some of the most civilized nations among us. Civilization wears thin, showing the ugly bones below...a thin crust you can poke your finger right through into the emptiness, the heart of darkness gaping within.

For, if our civilization has not taught us to be self-disciplined, to learn to share the planet and be peacemakers, to tolerate and respect diversity and live with difference, to establish justice for all and to ensure basic rights, and to give us deep spiritual fulfilment and enlightenment of the soul, are we entitled to consider ourselves civilized? If we have not learnt the right lessons from history, have we really moved on? Are we headed towards progress or back to the jungles?

Civilization humanizes, refines and teaches to live meaningfully. It is the difference between the Best of All Creation and the Lowest of the Low. Has our civilization given us that important distinction or are we just sophisticated beasts in mortal guise?
George Orwell is not quite sure as he concludes his book 'Animal Farm' thus: “The creatures looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which.”

Balochistan crisis and the International Dimension...

The International Dimension in the Balochistan Conflict

Maryam Sakeenah

The international dimension of the Baloch conflict is linked to the immense strategic importance of the province. It is rich in natural resources, has a long coastline providing a link to warm waters for the landlocked Central Asian countries to the north. The Gwadar port has tremendously increased the region’s importance. According to analyst Frederic Grare, there are almost 20 countries that are in need of the trade facilities the development of the Gwadar port promises. The proximity to China, Afghanistan and Iran and the increased importance of South East Asia in the context of the War on Terror has brought international attention and focus on Balochistan. The Chinese have invested in the Gwadar port as it can provide a convenient link to ‘monitor US military activities in the Persian Gulf region.’

Recently there have been efforts to materialize the Iran-Pakistan-India (IPI) gas pipeline, which will pass through Balochistan. The estimated cost of the project is $ 4 billion.[1] For India, the gas pipeline is essential for its growing energy requirements as it aspires to become the regional power. The pipeline project can generate employment in the heavily populated region along its route, and attract international investment in Pakistan. It can also act as a means to develop friendly and enduring bilateral ties among the countries involved, particularly the traditional rivals India and Pakistan. The United States is not supportive of this project owing to its hostility against Iran over its alleged pursuit of a nuclear armament programme and its ‘support to terrorism’ in Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine. The pipeline project will turn South Asia into an energy rich zone, bringing benefits for both Central Asia and more importantly, China_ the emerging world economic giant. This is not in the interests of Washington.   

The ongoing unrest in Balochistan and the volatile security situation has brought about a halt to the development projects, particularly the Gwadar port. The pipeline issue is in a stalemate, shelved till the security situation improves. The killing of Chinese engineers working at Gwadar on the eve of the Pakistani President’s visit to China is an indicator of the precariousness of the situation. Reportedly, a number of multinational companies find the situation in Balochistan an unwelcoming and rather hostile milieu for investment and are considering pulling out.  

The War on Terror has added complex dimensions to the issue:

“In the post 9/11 world, a struggle for their rights will pit the people of Balochistan against a trigger-happy army on the hunt for ‘terrorists.’ The religious parties, not quite without support, may oppose this and the Pashtuns of the region may be egged on to act against their provincial brethren... certain American agencies and individuals with decades-old links with the Pakistan Army may even supply intelligence and surveillance aid to their friends in such a conflict. With Afghanistan also under the American grip, this can happen quite easily.”[2]

With claims of Al Qaeda leadership operating from Balochistan, international attention and involvement in the region is still likely to increase. The kidnapping of UN official John Solecki by Baloch rebels, the cold blooded murders of politicians, civil servants and bureaucrats demonstrates the sway the miscreant rebels hold in the region, the rampant insecurity and lawlessness and the ineffectiveness of the government’s writ in the area. 

The Pakistan government has very often mentioned the interference of Afghanistan and India in the province. There have been allegations of the Baloch Liberation Army receiving financial assistance and training from Indian Intelligence Agencies, notably the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). India happens to be the only country that has officially expressed its concern over the Balochistan conflict, and called for international attention, highlighting the Pakistan Army’s ‘atrocities.’ During Afghan President Karzai’s 2005 visit to Pakistan, the Pakistani president shared with him evidence of the RAW’s involvement in militant and terrorist activities in Balochistan.’[3] The role of Iran has also raised suspicions in Islamabad. Iran suspects that the Gwadar port, so close to the Iranian territory, may be used by the US_ Pakistan’s strategic ally and partner_ as a base for monitoring Iran. Some suspect that Washington has an interest in using Balochistan to consolidate its military presence in the region in order to monitor and threaten Iran and China. There is also a competition among international contenders to control the oil and gas supply from Central Asia that will pass through the Makran Coast.[4] How much of this is speculation and suspicion, and how much is fact, however, remains to be seen. 

There are, however, a number of questions that surround the situation and seek answers. For one, the leadership of the Baloch Liberation Army reportedly has international connections, and it is not clear where it receives support, weapons supply, training and finances. Other than that, there also exists a record of the involvement of Soviet intelligence agency_ the KGB, in Balochistan during the decade of Russia’s war in Afghanistan. There is evidence of the fact that the KGB had indeed helped arm Baloch rebels and instigated insurgency to destabilize Pakistan which at that time was helping Afghan mujahideen. KGB secret offices still operate in Balochistan and have close ties with the BLA. 

Yet more stunning is an investigation report by five eminent researchers. It begins thus: “Deception and treachery. Live and let die. The ultimate zero sum game. Repetition of bloody history: Call it what you may, something is happening in Balochistan that defies comprehension on any conventional scale...”[5]

The report discloses the active involvement of Russian, America, Indian, Afghan and Iranian intelligence agencies in the province. These help arm and finance the militant groups, primarily the BLA. The story goes back to the days when Soviet intelligence officials landed in the region prior to and during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. These KGB officials have thorough and indepth knowledge and experience of the nature of the conflict in Balochistan. As a strategy of vengeance against Pakistan’s active support to the Afghan jihad, Russia began to use its intelligence arsenal to fund and support sabotage activities in Balochistan in order to weaken the federation. The Balochistan Liberation Army was hence the brainchild of the KGB. The BLA went underground after the signing of the Geneva Accord in 1988, but re-emerged with a new leadership following the onset of the War on Terror which focussed international attention and increased American presence in the region. The Russian KGB officials, having known the area and its people well_ perhaps better than most Pakistanis do_ assisted the Americans to ‘set up shop’ in Balochistan. The CIA and KGB have a relationship of co-operation on the issue of Balochistan, the report maintains.

Balach Marri who heads the BLA stayed for several years in Russia where he got a degree in Engineering and developed close ties with Russian officials. Training camps were set-up in 2002 and an insidious plan of indoctrination of Baloch youth began, in order to fan their already existing grievances against the state. The report summarizes the following points as the highlights of the BLA indoctrination programme:[6]

i)                    The Baloch people’s right to independence.

ii)                   The concept of ‘Greater Balochistan’

iii)                 Sabotage as a tool for political struggle

iv)                 Tyranny of Punjab and the plight of oppressed ‘nations’within Pakistan

v)                  Propaganda and media-friendly methods of mass protest

The RAW lent its assistance in training and arming the BLA, as the anonymous KGB officials interviewed in the report disclose: “When we first began the BLA, it was logical to ask RAW for assistance because they have several thousands of ground contacts in Pakistan, many of them in Balochistan. Anyone wanting to set up shop in Pakistan needs to lean on RAW. Our training camps have rapidly increased with time and now there is a big triangle of instability in Balochistan as 45-50 training camps are freely operating, each of them accommodating from 300 to 550 armed militants. A massive amount of cash is flowing into these camps. American defence contractors, Pentagon operatives, CIA foot soldiers, instigators in double-disguise, fortune-hunters, re-hired ex-soldiers and freelancers are reportedly playing a big part in shifting loads of money from Afghanistan to Balochistan. The Americans are invariably accompanied by their Afghan guides and interpreters.”[7]

The forbidding terrain of the region as well as the weak communication links with the rest of the country give these operatives a free hand, and most of the clandestine work carries on undiscovered. The border with Iran is entirely under the control of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards who use the route for movement of intelligence and espionage personnel. This route is frequently used for free-flowing ‘international traffic’ of intelligence agents, arms supplies and money. Other than that, the coastline brings in Indian ‘aid’ to keep the insurgency ‘alive and kicking.’[8]

The KGB agents interviewed by the researchers describe the scenario as ‘a pragmatic solution to a strategic problem.’ Moscow’s original interest in the region began from its search for ‘warm waters.’ Russians today want monopoly over the energy resources of Central Asia, and want to keep the CAR states dependent on Russia for oil and gas. The prospective pipeline and access to sea trade through Gwadar would not be in the interest of Russia. The US has a similar interest. An energy-rich South Asia would boost up the Chinese economy, as China already has good relations with Pakistan. Hence Washington leaves no stone unturned to keep Balochistan volatile and its prospects of development as an energy-rich region thin. America deeply resents China’s assistance and involvement in the construction of the Gwadar sea port. 

Gwadar can step up competition with Iranian ports that can be an alternative route for landlocked Central Asia. Iran is also suspicious of America using Gwadar to monitor Iranian territory given the close Pakistan-US alliance. In Afghanistan, there exist numerous elements in the government who have links with India and harbour ill-will against Pakistan. They use their long border with Balochistan to stir up trouble for Islamabad and appease their supporters and allies in Delhi. The BLA currently also receives tremendous support from the Baloch sardars.

It is obvious that the mineral wealth and strategic importance of the region has made Balochistan a theatre for the ‘Great Game’. This is tremendously dangerous for Pakistan as, if left unchecked, it could lead to the bifurcation of the state itself_ which the country has already suffered in 1971. This time, history must not be allowed to repeat itself.

Dr. Noor ul Haq opines, “To eliminate the external factor, the best alternative is to put our own house in order. Internal harmony and strength is to be achieved by a constitutional government established through a democratic process, rule of law and dispensation of justice, economic development and prosperity, abolition of feudalism and empowerment of the people, adequate military strength and proactive foreign policy. This will deter external powers from exploiting internal grievances and interfering in internal affairs.”[9]

---

[1] Ali, Imtiaz, “The Balochistan Problem”, Current Affairs Digest, Lahore, November 2005.

[2] Singh, Airavat, “The Baloch National Question”, Bharat Rakshak Monitor, Vol.6 (4), Jan-Feb, 2004.

[3] Reported by The News (Islamabad), February 22, 2005.

[4] Grare, Frederic, “Balochistan at the Crossroads”, www.fpc.org.uk, June 27, 2008.

[5] Saeedi, Tariq, Pyatakov, Sergei, Nasimzadeh, Ali, Jan, Qasim, Kasi, SM: “The Stunning Investigative Story on the Birth of the Balochistan Liberation Army”, 2006.

[6] Ibid.

[7] Ibid.

[8] Ibid.

[9] Haq, Noor ul, Dr., “Balochistan Disturbances: Causes and Response”, Islamabad Policy Research Institute Journal, Summer 2006, Vol.6 (2), Islamabad.

A Surfeit of Politics

A Surfeit of Politics

Maryam Sakeenah

 
"'Twas grief enough to think mankind 
 All hollow servile insincere
But worse to trust my own mind
And find the same corruption there." (Emily Bronte)

'Politics' is the raw human nature I carry within magnified onto the world map. Strangely enough, studying political intrigue, conflict, conspiracies, power struggles, war and peace, human motivations, aspirations and errors, I only find my own nature magnified onto the chasm of History. History: that embarrassing account of our communal actions as a species, and our communal mistakes.

History repeats with a pattern all too familiar, predictable and regular. It is a record of human mistakes that mattered. Fatal Mistakes that affected millions of anonymous lives. Mistakes that repeat themselves: relentlessly, tragically, incorrigibly. It is only the names, the faces, the dates that change. Not our inner rawness of nature. It is the context that changes, not the motives; not the actions; not the impulses_ not the feet of clay, not the tail between the legs.

First it was the primordial jungle where our predecessors tore each other up for space, or food. Now it is the Brave New World. No more stones and spears, no more caves. We have our Ministries of Defence. Our Smart Bombs and Dirty Bombs. And we fight for oil. We grew more sophisticated in our tastes, but in the process of the onward march of time, we forgot to learn the little lessons on the way, those little signs God signposted to direct, guide, warn, assist. We refused to learn from the consequences of our deeds and misdeeds. But mostly misdeeds. Sigh.

We chose to thrust fingers in our ears when the cry came loud and clear: “And travel in the land and learn from the fate of those before you...” (The Noble Quran) and “Many a nation have We destroyed before you...” (The Noble Quran) We forgot the greatest lesson of all: the realization that at the end of the day it is, after all, “ashes to ashes, dust to dust”, and that the only thing that makes “our little lives rounded with a sleep” have worth, is to

“leave footsteps in the sands of time

 Footsteps that perhaps another

 Forlorn and shipwrecked brother

 seeing, might take heart” (Longfellow)

 We chose only to leave stains of grease from heavy military boots thundering relentlessly onwards, trampling the small things, leaving behind stains of blood and the stench of death.

I remember some years back I saw a newspaper cartoon from Italy under Mussolini in the 1930s, which showed a volcano smouldering and full of lava, with a tag ‘freedom of speech’ written at the side. Atop the volcano sat ‘Il Duce’ Benito Mussolini with his fists firmly holding down the crater of the volcano. The caption beneath read, “This will hurt you more than it hurts me.” Time took it to the logical conclusion: Mussolini lost, living only as a pariah in history. Freedom triumphed. History taught the lesson it always does.

Yet decades down the line, we are still languishing for true and meaningful liberty and freedom_to live, speak, BE. Other tyrants hold down the volcano’s crater. Lesson: we forgot to learn from history. Again. And so we have our Abu Ghraibs, Bagrams and Guantanamos, we have Gaza and Baghdad, Mazar e Sharif and Srinagar where we let loose the Reign of Terror and then hold down the crater with boiling lava within, hoping it will not hurt us. We refuse to learn.

We refuse to learn that:

'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away” (Shelley)

We refuse to learn that the carrion littering the streets of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 and Fallujah in 2003 had been once upon a time faces that smiled, eyes that twinkled with hope, hearts that pulsated with life... and that the victimized and oppressed do not forget their dead. The hurt keeps festering till it maddens, metamorphosing human beings into suicidal human bombs who laugh life to scorn, because they have seen life devalued, wrenched away with wantonness.

In our narrow, selfish and disgustingly self-righteous megalomania, we pursue our agendas toying with lives, desperately trying to perpetuate our petty selves, leaving ‘light footprints’, planting flags and arrogant bawdy nationalistic emblems over bleeding cities where those ‘people we do not know’ dwell otherized, dehumanized. We forget that the Greater Plan too is at work, as it always has been. “And while they plan, God also plans. And the best of planners is God.” (The Noble Quran) We forget that ‘the arc of the moral universe is long, but that it bends towards justice.’ (Martin Luther King)

Political intrigues, strategies, agendas and ambitions in this larger context seem puerile child’s play, the chessboard moves of politics a mere Game of Chess. We keep playing the Game with pretentions of grandeur, calling it ‘Great Game’ , and we refuse to read the writing on the wall, the destiny writ large, the Hand of Justice constantly at work. “Lord, what fools these mortals be!”