Several Pakistani intellectuals who had descended on Washington DC to attend 11th International Kashmir Peace Conference (July 28-29, 2010) were neither intellectuals nor interested in peace.

Wasting time and resources, Pakistani representatives (with very few exceptions) read from a script crafted decades ago at the GHQ – slightly changing words.

I bet if you took the text of their speeches and ran it through sophisticated software to check intellectual integrity you will find an abundance of plagiarisms.

Negativity of approach was so overwhelming that ‘Kashmir issue’ lost more currency instead of gaining ground. With WikiLeaks dominating the mind share, American media barely covered the event.

In discussions, both private and public, Pakistani speakers demanded that America must broker a settlement in exchange for the ‘sacrifices’ Pakistan has made in war against terror. All accused America of betraying Pakistan, an ally of nearly 60 years. “Under Bush administration, the neo-cons have steered US towards India and away from Pakistan,” a Pakistani intellectual claimed. And, he explained that is “because Jewish-Hindu lobby dominates policy making in Washington.”

In abundance was child like envy over growing India-US ties, and old and tired threats that if Kashmir issue is not resolved there will be no peace in either Afghanistan or India. Unfortunately, many who “spoke for” Kashmir lacked intellectual depth, and understanding of imperatives that drive strategic diplomatic ties.

All agree that last decade has been a truly transformational one in the India- U.S ties but cannot explain why. In November last year when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came to Washington on the first State visit of the new U.S. Administration, it was a clear indication that Democrats on the Hill will continue to see India through the prism it first located during the BJP government. India’s proverbial ‘openness’ has yielded rich dividends in terms of cooperation in many areas, underscoring the vitality and the relevance of India-US strategic partnership.

It was therefore, not surprising when Obama administration recalibrated her earlier stance of bracketing “Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan” together. Afghanistan and Pakistan are ‘pain points’ but Washington sees India as a center of influence in the 21st century.

A Pakistani diplomat had whispered in my ears that Americans realize that they cannot “clean the mess in Afghanistan without our help. And of course we want a solution to Kashmir issue in return.”

A friend who also spoke at the conference claimed that Washington is finally realizing that India and Pakistan are equally important in that region. I beg to differ!

I would urge you to look at the transformation of DC-Delhi relationship against the backdrop of India’s initiatives to reform its economy and the geopolitical changes in the post-Cold War world.

Indian officials would claim that their ties with US are primarily due to shared values of democracy, pluralism, tolerance, and respect for fundamental freedoms. You may not agree with this assertion – I don’t buy this argument in entirety either.

But we can’t deny that growing economic linkages and people-to- people contact between India and US are real. Over the last two decades, Indian and American businesses have formed strong and mutually beneficial partnerships touching the lives of ordinary people; a fairly balanced trade in goods and services has grown astronomically.

Most importantly, Pakistanis tend to forget that both Indians and Americans share an increasing convergence of interests on major global issues.

By using the 11th Kashmir moot in Washington DC as a venting session, Pakistanis basically lost an opportunity to build the zone of trust. Kashmir issue is real, and solution will emerge only when Pakistan and India stop exploiting the people of Kashmir. It has become a financial drain for India and Pakistani strategy to use rag-tag army of fundamentalists has cost Pakistan in orders of magnitude more than anyone every estimated.

There is a broad-based political support both in India and Pakistan to finally let the people of Kashmir speak for themselves but these pseudo intellectuals who had come to attend the conference are not ready to move on.

Instead of allowing the GHQ to drive India-centric foreign policy, we will do Pakistan and Kashmir more justice if we were to expand our diplomatic orbit. If we establish mutually beneficial economic ties with Brazil and Venezuela, South Africa and Kenya, Chile and Bolivia, Malaysia and Indonesia – Pakistan will have more allies in the world and we will not have to run to Washington DC to beg Americans for stewardship on Kashmir issue.

India today has free pass to commit unthinkable violence on Kashmiri people partially because we have lost all legitimacy. How can we raise our voices and wave our fists when it is an undisputed fact that Pakistan army used rag-tag warriors of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e- Mohammed, the Taliban, and more with intent to make India bleed in Kashmir? What moral grounds do we stand on?

We can’t be running to the US or Israel for support – we must build a broad based multi-lateral framework of developing nations to counter Indian belligerence in Kashmir. We must stop thinking about Kashmir as a ‘disputed territory’ and start working for the safety and security – both physical and financial of the people of Kashmir.

No cause can justify terrorism – Kashmir is no exception. Both India and Pakistan have a vital interest in defeating terrorism and in this context, our bilateral cooperation on terrorism is crucial.

Mos importantly- both India and Pakistan should immediately cease terrorizing Kashmiri people.

As we reported two months earlier, Prime Minister of Pakistan Yusuf Raza Gilani Thursday extended the term of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Ashfaq Paervez Kayani for three years starting from November 29, 2010.

Annoucement came days after high level US administration delegation visited Islamabad. In an exclusive report on May 17th, 2010, we published a report confirming that General Kayani will get an extension because American administrtion does not want to change local leadership mid-stream.

Today Pakistani Premier praised General Kayani’s professional capabilities and said his leadership qualities are valued both domestically and internationally. He said the decision to extend the term of COAS has been in consultation with the President Asif Ali Zardari ‘to ensure successful culmination of the ongoing war against terrorism’.

“The government is presently engaged in war against terrorism which is now in a critical stage,” the Premier pointed out, adding, this requires continuity of military leadership under the present Army Chief who led successful operations in Swat, Malakand and South Waziristan.

He said the Army Chief, due to his professional capabilities and leadership qualities, is looked upon with respect and honor both domestically and internationally.

The Prime Minister said the operations initiated against Army Chief remained engaged in the planning, execution and supervision of military operations, making possible success of the offensives launched against the militants.

General Kayani who succeeded Gen Musharraf as Pakistan’s 14th army chief on November 29, 2007, is a recipient of Hilal-i-Imtiaz and Hilal-i-Imtiaz (Military) for his meritorious services.

He served at various levels of command including his stint as Director General Inter Services Intelligence.

Besides being Chief of Staff Corps, General Kayani has also held the coveted post of Director General Military Operations.

General Kayani is a graduate of Fort Benning (USA), Command and Staff College Quetta, Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth (USA), Asia Pacific Center for Security Studies, Hawaii (USA), and National Defence College Islamabad.

He possesses wide ranging experience in Command, Instructional and staff appointments and has commanded an infantry Battalion, Infantry Brigade, Infantry Division and a Corps.

With all the tragic news of suicide bombing, target killings and political instability emanating from Pakistan it is hard to believe that the country has viable golf community as well, reports a prominent golfing Your Golf Home.

Your Golf Home reported Friday that a twenty year old Pakistani who recently returned after completing undergraduate degree from US turned a pro golfer giving country some hope and a rising star.

Pakistan‘s youngest golfer Aleem-ur-Rehman, this week announced that he will be playing in all open championships as a professional player. Announcement came after he outperformed his peers and many senior players at the Lahore Gymkhana Golf Course, winning a slot in the prestigious CNS Open Golf Championship to be held in Karachi from July 15.

Young Aleem emerged as the top contender in the trials carding a round of 5 under par 67, including 8 birdies. He demonstrated superb play on the fairways and the putting greens.

During his stay in the US, Aleem took golfing lessons and paid attention to the tips and tricks from the global golf experts.

Aleem is the youngest Pakistani golfer to turn professional. It remains to be seen how far Aleem will travel and whether he will make name in global golf tournaments but he absolutely helps soften Pakistan?s image as a country on the brink of disaster.

It is rather erroneous that the city where Aleem launched his professional golfing career witnessed the gruesome suicide bombing that killed 45 people at the shrine of saint Syed Ali Hajwairi,popularly known as Data Gunj Bakhsh. Grieving Pakistanis look at younger generation of Aleem for delivering good news – and this young man is doing his part.

Every state apparatus requires intelligence agencies, and Pakistan is no different. There are actually three well known intelligence agencies in Pakistan: Intelligence Bureau (IB), Military Intelligence (MI), and ISI. There are 26 intelligence agencies in the US.

Somehow, the ISI and the CIA are the two that are most demonized.

The turmoil in Pakistan’s past has led to censure of the ISI. A visible feature of the ISI’s history that has done great damage to its reputation is the continual deterioration of civilian institutions due to multiple military coups. Despite some improvements in civil-military relations in recent years, the army remains a dominant actor in Pakistan’s political makeup.

Previous abuses of power should put intelligence reform at the top of the agenda for change. Before Pakistan can continue its democratic transition, these changes must be addressed. It seems some corrections to the system have already been made; ISI has recently demonstrated a previously unseen forthrightness with both local and international media.

However, the international community continues to blame the country’s problems on the ISI, but still maintains working relations with the agency. Often, these relations undermine the democratic government and vindicate the very intelligence actors that need to be controlled. This double standard can be avoided by direct involvement with the Pakistani government, rather than going through intelligence services.

Additionally, the integration of former ISI agents into other civilian bodies, particularly the IB, should be limited or stopped. Cross-recruitment prevents organizations from becoming independent.

Pakistan also needs to strengthen the police force. A better-trained and better-equipped police force can do a better job of counter terrorism, which work is currently used by the intelligence agencies to legitimize control over politics in Pakistan.

US Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano says that the US government is prepared to help develop Pakistan’s law enforcement infrastructure. From training police to setting up point-of-entries at Pakistan-Afghanistan borders, the US can help Pakistan using its experience regulating the US-Mexico border.

Ignoring the need to establish supremacy over the intelligence community would be a grave mistake on the part of Pakistan’s civilian government. Reducing the role of the military in the intelligence sector will allow the government to consolidate itself domestically, so it should be a top priority. In addition, government control over military and intelligence will cast a positive light on the state of Pakistan’s emerging democracy, and will improve international opinions of Pakistan.

Although reform to intelligence agencies will be difficult, the good news is that with patience, resolve, and international assistance, Pakistan’s government can indeed reassert civilian control over the intelligence community. Luckily for Pakistan, there are predecessors to take notes from. Indonesia and Chile have both undergone transformations in the intelligence arena and have plenty to offer Pakistan by way of example.

Intelligence agencies reform in Indonesia and Chile became a reality after media began exposing the atrocities and, people had the courage to reject authoritarianism. Reform of the murky Indonesian intelligence service, Badan Intelijen Negara (BIN), were spurred by revelations that emerged in the trial of the alleged killer of the country’s top human right activist.

Munir Said Thalib, died from arsenic poisoning while on a flight on Garuda, Indonesia’s national airline, from Jakarta to Amsterdam via Singapore on Sept. 7, 2004. Indonesian media exposed the hands behind Munir’s murder.

Extensive exposure by the mass media of the massive human rights violations and power abuse by the Tentara Nasional Indonesia (TNI), led to the abrupt breakdown in its public image. And, the abolition of “Dwifungsi ABRI” (the dual-function of the military) became a major demand of the pro-democracy movement.

In this same sense, the Pakistani media’s role is necessary to question the functioning of ISI. To cite but one example, there has been no follow-up on Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s accusations of ISI agents, kidnapping her.

In saying all this, though, we must remember not to throw out the baby with the bath water. Like any other state, Pakistan needs a strong defense system. Calling for military and intelligence reform should not be confused with anti-nationalism; we must always remember the sacrifices of those foot soldiers that valiantly put their lives on the line for their nation’s security.

This article was first published here: http://tribune.com.pk/story/19739/transform-muscle-flexing-isi-into-civil-intelligence/

A high power committee of national assembly, on Friday, agreed that a new business plan is necessary to rehabilitate Pakistan International Airlines which may include replacing aging fleet and adding profitable routes.

Begum Ishrat Ashraf, Chairperson of the sub committee of the National Assembly’s standing committee, will lead the endeavor to develop a new business plan within two weeks to rescue PIA from financial ruins. Plan may include purchasing new planes to replace the ones too old fly anymore.

She declared that PIA would not be privatized and there will be no downsizing. PIA has more employees than justified by its revenue but no employee will be laid-off, she added.

Chairperson Begum Ishrat Ashraf told the sub-committee that the previous regime of Gen. Pervez Musharaf and Shaukat Aziz was responsible for the financial crisis of PIA. She blamed the policies of previous regime for the shortfall of Rs 5.9 billion PIA suffered last year. For the current year PIA’s deficit is lower than the previous year.

While speaking to the press Begum Ishrat emphasized the need of a new action plan to reduce PIA’s financial debts, adding that public will be informed of the poor policies of the previous government that has drowned the national airline in huge deficit.

She also recommended replacing the old planes with new planes saying that the state bank of Pakistan will be contacted to cut down the current rate of interest.

Managing Director of PIA Ejaz Haroon said that all agreements would be reviewed to ensure that revenue of PIA is doubled in next four years while taking concrete steps to slash its deficits. Ejaz informed that PIA has not asked the government for any assistance.

India and Pakistan were both poor countries in 1947; both were countries divided by colonial opportunism, and religious bigotry. Both had similar problems, India just had more of them because of its diverse population and scale.

But India prioritized its focus on higher education and people were conscious enough to keep their elected leaders honest. One can arrive at the conclusion that democracy is what Pakistan should learn from India’s somewhat success in education.

There is hardly any difference between the two countries, statistically speaking, in their educational development, or lack thereof. But where India scores much higher is in a few of its select academic institutions. These institutions raise the educational quotient of the country to a high, world class level, and by their very presence, they tend to pull up other institutes of learning simply by peer pressure.

Pakistani Education System, Statistics and Demographics

The Pakistani education system is divided into the primary, secondary, and high school levels. Following High School, plenty of private and government-sponsored colleges/universities operate with the charter of Higher Education Commission (HEC). Generally speaking the provincial governments are responsible for the day-to-day management of education; while the federal government have the onus-ensuring budget and quality.

If one was to believe government released statistics, literacy rate in Pakistan increases by 10% with every passing generation, with male literacy rate of only 68%, and the female rate of 48% percent.
Literacy rate alone is not a strong indicator of education.

A better indicator is enrollment in higher education; about 5% of Pakistani men and 3% of Pakistani women have a college education. To further complicate this situation most of the colleges and universities are not of international standard.

Between 1947 and 2003, Pakistan did not have a single university that could be ranked as world class. But in last seven years, Times Higher Education Rankings have ranked the National University of Science and Technology at No 376, while 3 universities have been ranked in the top 300 in the field of natural sciences.

This progress, one might suggest is significant keeping in mind that Pakistan spends only about 3% of its GDP on Education. Tremendous gender disparity further skews any quantitative analysis. The disparity has not been helped by the enforcement of a ban on female education by the Taliban, notably in the scenic Swat valley.

Indian Education System, A Chronicle of Moderate Progress

According to latest figures, the literacy rate of India stands at 64.84%; male literacy is 75.26% and female literacy stands at 53.63%. About one-third of the population, 300 million Indians, is absolute non-literates.

The government spends about 3.5% of the nation’s GDP on education. There are about 400 universities and 16000 colleges in the country, with a system of academic institutions covering technology, management, and medical sciences.

As for higher education, about 9% of Indians have a college education. The figure is about 4 times higher for urban areas. This is about 4% higher than in Pakistan; still not a huge difference.

Statistical and Other Metric Comparison | Centers of Excellence

There is hardly any difference between the two countries, statistically speaking, in their educational development, or lack thereof.

Admittedly, the literacy rate is higher in India by about 8 percentage points; the female literacy rate is about 7% higher as well. Enrolment in higher education is about 4% more overall, in India. It is still nothing compared to, say the US, which has 29% of its people with a college degree.

But where India scores much higher is in a few of its select academic institutions. These institutions raise the educational quotient of the country to a high, world class level, and by their very presence, they tend to pull up other institutes of learning simply by peer pressure.

In science and technology, there were a few institutions like the various IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) and the IISc (Indian Institute of Science) that had made a name for themselves in the world academic arena even 30 years ago. At a time when the economy was closed and the present day “economic stability” was unimaginable, these few institutions still used to bring out world-class talent.

Most of this talent had to go out of the country to establish themselves; and it was their overseas presence, that gave their alma maters global reputation.

Over time several other institutions become ‘world class’ in science and technology. IITs of India has raised the bar for various RECs (Regional College of Engineering) and the BITS Pilani institute, the Tata Institutes of Education (TIFR), and even a few state-run universities are slowly making a name for themselves in technological fields.

In the management and finance domain, the ISB is ranked number 12 among world MBA schools by the Financial Times of London. Besides, the various IIMs and a few other b-schools also rank very high. Similarly, in the medical field, the AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences) has been at the forefront in the development of medical treatment in India, and has spawned, by sheer peer pressure, a number of best of breed medical institutions.

The Situation in Pakistan

When it comes to higher education, Pakistan has not been able to make its mark. Although a few institutions (I am thinking HEJ, IBA and LUMS) can be recognized as emerging leaders – because of highly educated faculty, intelligent management, and above all an intellectually stimulating, liberal environment. But, these institutions also acquiesced to the religious zealots and allowed conservatism to slowly creep-in.

HEC has also failed – it has failed to establish centers of excellence: standards without monitoring and compliance cannot yield results. There is nothing comparable to the IITs, there is nothing comparable to the IIMs and other b-schools.

Although the statistics put Pakistan and India in very close affinity when it comes to literacy rates, Pakistani students do not have the opportunity to attend top-notch colleges/ universities

Democracy in India has provided opportunities to some who were neither generals nor feudal lords, and these middle class and lower-middle class public servants had the foresight to nurture the few higher institutes of learning.

Religious extremism has destroyed whatever institutions Pakistan had pre-Zia-ul-Haq. And, things have gotten even worse with Talibanization – a large population not willing (or afraid) to send its women to go to schools. I know it sounds cliché but it is absolutely true: when you teach a woman you teach a village.

What Pakistan Can Learn From Indian Education

Paulo Freire, a Brazilian philosopher of education, contended that given the history of European imperialism, an emancipatory education of the oppressed involves a dismantling of colonial structures and ideologies.

Independence of nation states, such as Pakistan and India, from the clutches of colonial master was not the end of the colonial culture that supported foreign, non-representative, and repressive rule of colonial power.

Independence from colonial rule was only the beginning of the process of nation building and decolonization. Pakistan, after independence, failed to establish representative and participatory governance and became a non-representative and repressive government. The dictatorial regimes in Pakistan banked on the pre-existing colonial culture and political support of colonial masters to maintain their autocratic rules.

Colonial culture is built and maintained on master-slave relationship between the ruler and the subjects. The dictatorial regime survives as long as this relationship of ordering and obeying is practiced. Master uses coercion as a tool to discipline the slaves. A slave must obey or gets whipped, this has been the law since time immemorial and it still prevails in Pakistan.

Frantz Fanon in his book “The Wretched of the Earth” demands anti-colonial and modern education for native populations. Humanistic society alone can truly be an anti-colonial society.

One can arrive at the conclusion that democracy is what Pakistan should learn from India’s somewhat success in education.