My Voice: Abbas Butt says Jammu and Kashmir struggle has become a business for some.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1DQTmdG6Es&feature=youtu.be
Friday 31 July 2020
In my programme 'My Voice', Junaid Qureshi examines role of APHC and how Pakistan has damaged the Jammu and Kashmir.
In my programme 'My Voice', Junaid Qureshi examines role of APHC and how Pakistan has damaged the Jammu and Kashmir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD41B5G46xc&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JD41B5G46xc&feature=youtu.be
My Voice: Sajjad Raja examines role of Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
My Voice: Sajjad Raja examines role of Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KodoHQyh7TA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KodoHQyh7TA
Tuesday 28 July 2020
My Voice: Sajjad Raja examines role of India in Jammu and Kashmir with regard to 5 August 2019.
My Voice: Sajjad Raja examines role of India in Jammu and Kashmir with regard to 5 August 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19i1K4s5cco&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19i1K4s5cco&feature=youtu.be
Chinese Dream – Xi’s attempted coup against Pakistan
Chinese Dream – Xi’s attempted coup against Pakistan
China's Communist leader has managed the creation of a supra-constitutional CPEC Authority
Xi Jinping is all set to sideline the democratically elected representatives and civil servants of the people of Pakistan so as to expand his direct influence over the political and economic processes of the country.
Since 2016, Xi, the general secretary of the Communist Party of China has been forcing the Pakistani establishment to put pressure on the government (it was Nawaz Sharif’s government back then) to sideline the Planning Ministry’s role in the implementation and monitoring of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Xi pushed for the creation of a supra-constitutional CPEC Authority that would freelance the management of the predatory infrastructure and power-generation projects under his direct command.
The proposal was rejected then, but last year it was again presented before the prime minister of the country – now Imran Khan. The reason given was timely completion of the projects.
This time the prime minister is a full-fledged puppet of the military establishment, and therefore it was easier than before to manipulate the law to fulfill Xi’s desire to take over the Planning Ministry of Pakistan, and in future the country itself.
I consider Pakistan’s Ministry of Planning, Development and Special Initiatives one of the most crucial state institutions, whose senior bureaucrats could implicitly scrutinize and resist Xi’s draconian CPEC scheme, as they had access to all of the secret documents on the agreement and were involved, directly and indirectly, in the decision-making process.
So long as the reins were under the control of civilian institutions led by representatives of the people and civil servants, thorough accountability of Xi’s master plan at least at some level and at some point in time – if not at once – was possible. Sidelining the civil institutions altogether would allow Xi to play on both sides of the board.
The agreement was so highly confidential that even the secretary of maritime affairs once refused to show it to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance. So one can imagine what an above-the-law sort of deal it must be.
The CPEC Authority was established in October last year using a presidential ordinance (without parliament’s approval) for four months and then was given another four-month extension. But Xi wants permanent control. And now that the establishment has its puppet in the Prime Minister’s House, it is putting all of its efforts into making the Authority more powerful and a permanent part of the constitution by pushing it through parliament.
Since the Authority has come into existence, its chairman has been a retired lieutenant-general.
Xi doesn’t want the Belt and Road Initiative or any of its components to be held accountable or face resistance. He knows that his Chinese Dream of indoctrination of a majority of free people of the world by 2050 will not be fulfilled if the people of the countries victimized by the BRI come to know about his strategy to destroy their futures and those of their future generations.
The truth is that he is burdening those countries in debt traps while they are already suffering from intense balance-of-payments crises. Xi will slowly poison Pakistan and other poor economies by creating extreme shortages of foreign-exchange reserves. In the end, these countries will have to accept the invasion of their political and economic systems by the Communist Party of China.
Four months ago, an inquiry into the workings of independent power producers (IPPs) took place in which two major coal-fired power-plant projects that were built under the CPEC – Huaneng Shandong Ruyi Energy and Port Qasim Electric Power Company – were found involved in corruption as they had misrepresented interest during construction to loot almost US$226 million from the dollar-strapped Pakistani economy.
The supra-constitutional CPEC Authority will act as the CPC’s subsidiary in Pakistan and will be responsible for conceiving, implementing, expanding, enforcing, controlling, regulating, coordinating, monitoring, evaluating and carrying out all activities related to the CPEC.
Furthermore, it will have the constitutional power to initiate an investigation and impose penalties against any public office holder (including the prime minister and president of Pakistan) or any other person who is directly or indirectly engaged in CPEC-related activities who willfully resist directions, instructions or specified orders of the CPEC Authority.
Even the prime minister’s powers will be limited to what is specified in the CPEC Authority Bill 2020. So he too will have to obey Xi’s commands.
According to a news report (that soon after its publication was mysteriously taken down), the chairman of the Authority – who, as noted above, is a retired lieutenant-general – will co-chair the Joint Cooperation Committee as the democratically elected planning minister will be removed from this position.
The JCC is the main decision-making body of CPEC. It has members from both Pakistan and China. But every year the Chinese officials at the JCC meetings browbeat the Pakistani officials as they review the making of Xi’s version of the East India Company.
As the world moves toward 2050, Xi’s plan of China’s ultimate control of the majority of the emerging-market economies is becoming crystal clear. At the cost of its sovereignty, territorial integrity and freedom of its people, the “selected” government of Pakistan is finding a permanent place in Xi’s basket.
Today he will attempt coup against the Ministry of Planning; next in his playbook could be its Defense Ministry, IT Ministry, Human Rights Ministry, Petroleum Ministry and many more.
ALI SALMAN ANDANI
The writer is a New Delhi-based economic and political analyst and columnist for various online and print media outlets. His analysis focuses on economic, political, social and cultural issues, especially those related to corruption, human rights violations, the global market economy, foreign policy, and environmental crises. Find him on Twitter @an_alisalman More by Ali Salman Andani
Pakistan’s Covid crisis could result in famine
Pakistan’s Covid crisis could result in famine
Wheat shortages caused by supply chain failures, poor state planning and pestilence threaten perfect storm of disease and hunger
PESHAWAR – Pakistan’s Covid-19 outbreak is morphing into a food security crisis as massive wheat shortages emerge due to failing supply chains, poor government planning, unseasonal rains and, not least, pestilence.
Wheat millers claim the virus-hit nation is on course for a 3.5 million ton shortfall of the targeted 27 million tons needed for this year. If accurate, the shortage could result in severe food shortages during the upcoming winter season.
Pakistan’s economy has been devastated by the Covid-19 pandemic. As of July 28, the country had recorded over 275,000 cases and at least 5,865 deaths from the disease. Lockdowns and displacement, meanwhile, have disrupted food supply chains.
Around 80% of Pakistan’s farmers grow wheat on nearly nine million hectares, representing close to 40% of total cultivated land. Wheat is the nation’s main crop, contributing over 2% of gross domestic product (GDP).
Farmers retain about 60% of their wheat production for seed and food consumption, while the government buys 25% to 30% of the harvest. The private sector purchases the rest. One-third of total production is generally retained by wheat growers for cultivation and household food consumption.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government says it plans to meet the shortfall through imports and early stock releases, but millers doubt they will be able to convince importers or find sellers at the government’s approved below-market price rates.
Pakistan’s domestic requirement of wheat is over 2 million tons per month, or 25.5 million tons annually for the 212 million-plus population. The government had targeted to procure 8.25 million tons from growers for strategic reserves, while 700,000 tons were provisionally earmarked for export to Afghanistan.
At the end of June, Pakistan’s Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of Khan’s cabinet approved the import of 2.5 million tons of wheat to meet the shortfall and bring prices down in domestic markets. The shipments never materialized, however, as the private sector shied away from government proposed rates.
“The government fixed 1,450 rupees (US$8.6) per 40 KG bag of wheat while import cost of the same quantity comes to 1,750 rupees ($10.4),” said Asim Raza, chairman of the All Pakistan Flour Mills Association (APFMA).
“The importers find this rate uncompetitive for import unless the government offers a subsidy to make up for the price differential in local and imported wheat,” Raza said.
The Ministry of National Food Security and Research announced this month various incentives to bridge the price difference between local and imported wheat, including relief in some regulatory and customs duties, sales tax and withholding tax.
Omer Hamid Khan, secretary of the ministry, claimed that the measures would encourage wheat importers and that orders had already been placed to import 270,000 tons of wheat, which will reportedly be shipped via four vessels over the next two months.
Hafeez Pasha, a former finance minister and renowned economist, has estimated that the end-consumers would pay an extra 180 billion rupees ($1.1 billion) due to the shortages. He said that the government would need to import at least two billion tons of wheat to meet domestic requirements.
It was the first time in 21 years that Pakistan would need to import wheat, Pasha said. That’s raising questions about whether the country has the capacity to handle such a large volume of imports and if it will be able to efficiently distribute the grain in a timely manner to avoid a possible famine.
Staple food shortages have already pushed prices up by some 30% this year in Punjab, Pakistan’s food basket region. Millers there have cut back on the wheat flour production due to skyrocketing prices for the grain on open markets.
The government’s fixed 1,450 rupees ($8.6) price per 40-kilogram bag is well below the open market price of 2,200 rupees ($13). In a bid to deflate prices, the federal government has released 400,000 tons of wheat from its reserve stocks to help local flour millers to keep their wheels turning.
Normally, the food department releases wheat from the government reserved stock from September onward, during the onset of the cold season. The early stockpile release foretells a crisis in December and early next year when the demand for wheat products usually rises.
Reports indicate that forward public stocks are already largely depleted. Minister for Food Security Syed Fakhar Imam recently informed parliament about a mysterious “disappearance” of wheat from government stocks.
“We have procured record six million ton wheat, but it is a mystery as to where it has gone,” Fakhar said while winding up a recent debate on the agriculture sector.
“We have only 450,000 tons of wheat in the carry forward stock against the previous year’s stock of around 4 million tons, which means that with the addition of a new crop the country’s total production will be 24.5 million tons,” APFMA’s Raza said. “This shows a shortfall of over 3.5 million tons needs to be met by imports.”
Like others, he has expressed doubts about the government’s ability to arrange berth space and vessels to import 3.5 million tons of wheat in such a short period of time.
Apart from supply chain mismanagement, mother nature is also wreaking havoc on supplies. The United Nation’s Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), in a report released in May, warned Pakistan faced a serious food crisis due to locust attacks on crops.
The report noted a new “migration pattern” of desert locust in Southwest Asia and predicted potential dire effects on Pakistan’s wide agro-economy without stronger government control measures to fight back the insect invasion.
“In Pakistan, 38% of the area (60% in Balochistan, 25% in Sindh and 15% in Punjab) are breeding grounds for the desert locust, whereas the entire country is under the threat of invasion if the desert locust is not contained in the breeding regions,” the report said.
Monday 27 July 2020
Scrapping Article 370 was marital rape assault on faith of J and K says PDPs Naeem Akhtar, AZAAN JAVAID
Scrapping Article 370 was marital rape assault on faith of J and K says PDPs Naeem Akhtar AZAAN JAVAID 28 July, 2020
In an exclusive interview to ThePrint, Naeem Akhtar says PDP will use all democratic, constitutional and peaceful means to resist this onslaught on Kashmir and its Muslim character.
Srinagar: Senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader and former cabinet minister of Jammu and Kashmir Naeem Akhtar Monday said the decisions taken by the Narendra Modi government, including scrapping of Article 370 and the Citizenship Amendment Act, have rekindled the Hindu versus Muslim discourse, and created a ‘South Asian Ummah’ (Muslim unity), extending from Khyber (in Pakistan) to Chittagong in Bangladesh.
In an exclusive interview to ThePrint ahead of the first anniversary of the government’s Article 370 move, Akhtar described the decision as “marital rape”.
“I would compare the 5 August decision with marital rape because a marriage is done according to rules, according to law, but then there is one party which enforces itself on the other. That is what happened to Kashmir on 5 August. We were part of a covenant, a Constitution, which was used against us to achieve goals that were antitheses of why we had joined the Union of India,” Akhtar, considered the closest adviser of PDP chief and former CM Mehbooba Mufti, told ThePrint.
On 5 August, the Modi government revoked Article 370 that granted special powers to J&K, and bifurcated the region into two union territories of J&K and Ladakh with and without an assembly, respectively.
PDP’s future
On National Conference vice-president and former J&K CM Omar Abdullah’s statement that he won’t contest the assembly elections until full statehood is restored, Akhtar said the PDP has its own view.
“That is Mr Omar Abdullah speaking for himself. PDP has its own agenda, its own view. Since our president (Mehbooba Mufti) is still (booked) under PSA (Public Safety Act), we will take a call on this,” he said.
“But I have no doubt in my mind that PDP believes that whatever happened on 5 August and later is a direct assault on the identity, faith and culture of Jammu and Kashmir, and Kashmir is its focus target. I don’t think with this being so, it can be business as usual,” said Akhtar, who was detained for around 11 months under the PSA after the Article 370 move.
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“Right now, there aren’t many takers for mainstream politics in Kashmir. What Mr Syed Ali Shah Geelani would have done to transfer this anger and alienation against India, Mr Amit Shah has done.
“I don’t see much in our (PDP) politics, but that does not mean that we will not speak. We will certainly use all democratic, constitutional and peaceful means to resist this onslaught on Kashmir and its Muslim character. We will do whatever it takes, but we adopt and stick to democratic means,” said Akhtar, who has served as a close advisor of former Home Minister and J&K chief minister Mufti Sayeed.
‘South Asian Ummah’
Akhtar also spoke about the alliance between the PDP and the BJP, saying: “During the time I was in detention, I understood the meaning for might is right. I understood that there can be no agreements between unequal parties, which is what happened in 1947 when Kashmir acceded to GOI, which is what happened post-2014, when PDP went in an alliance with BJP.”
Akhtar also spoke about the symbolism attached with the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya on 5 August. The bhoomi pujan ceremony of Ram Mandir will be held on 5 August, following which the construction of the temple will start.
“Why is this 5 August marked with Ram Mandir? Because the foundation stone of the Hindu Rashtra is Kashmir, which is now mortar brick and stone for Hindu Rashtra. Kashmir has been transformed into a Hindu versus Muslim problem — something which the people of Kashmir did not believe in,” said the 68-year-old leader.
Akhtar also launched a scathing attack on “Hindutva politics” of the BJP and said the prevailing geo-political situation in south Asia will not bode well.
“Now if you see the murmurs from Bangladesh, an all-time friend of India, who owe their liberation to the Indian Army and the political leadership of India, what are they saying today? They have reservations about Ram Mandir.
“You have wittingly or unwittingly created a feeling of a sub-continental ummah from Khyber to Chittagong — by introducing CAA, by specifically making it about Hindus of Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, and you told the world that India is Hindu. We welcome Hindus,” he added.
‘This was done because we were a Muslim majority state’
Akhtar also said that “in the new Hindutva framework, it is is like an abuse or a sore thumb to have a place called Muslim”.
“Why was this (scrapping Article 370) done? This was a question that I have asked myself frequently. This was done because we were a Muslim majority state.”
Akhtar said the 5 August move was to simply erase “the Muslim dark spot from the bright shining Hindutva map”.
“It was to convert this state into a Hindu majority state. BJP leaders have been saying it openly that we will have a Hindu CM in J&K because they will never be comfortable with a CM wearing a Karakulli (traditional Kashmiri cap) or a headscarf. It is being projected by the BJP as a matter of shame that Babur ki aulad (Babar’s children) are still in Kashmir,” said Akhtar.
Also read: Revoking Article 370 lends new edge to China-Pakistan nexus against India, says rights forum
‘Biggest let down’
The PDP leader further said: “We have to understand how GOI has considered J&K and it has for a long time, even before 5 August, (considered it) as a security project… this place, which had voluntarily gone over to India and was the only Muslim entity, perhaps the only entity in 1,400 years of Islamic history that gave itself to a non-Muslim secular state. It was unprecedented.
“Our forefathers had joined India thinking that our civilisation will be preserved in a secular democratic India rather than a theocratic country. What was done on 5 August was that a final blow was delivered to this feeling and, in doing that, GOI expected that there would be a massive response to it from the people so they tried to gag everybody and they did it very successfully and unfortunately the rest of the country endorsed this,” he added.
“It was the biggest let down for the people of Kashmir. The media, the Parliament, the judiciary, the intellectuals — nobody spoke for us and a manufactured discourse led entire country to believe that Kashmir has now been conquered and it was projected as a Hindu victory over a Muslim state,” he said.
Responding to a question on why he thought PDP president Mehbooba Mufti continues to be booked under the controversial Public Safety Act, the former minister said, “The Government of India closed all channels of expression and unprecedented drive of arrest was launched, thousands of mainstream workers, who have been facing bullets and all kinds of social ostracisation were hauled up.
“Jails upto Tamil Nadu are filled with Kashmiris, lawyers, traders, activists and politicians. I think after that they did some assessment of malleability of leadership and in that perhaps finding Mehbooba Mufti still a problem in their plan… her detention was extended,” Akhtar said.
Akhtar also said that he was approached by government officials on three occasions asking him to retire from politics in return for his release. “I told them that thousands of Kashmiri boys are going into their graves. What difference will it make if another old man dies in an Indian prison,” he said.
“It is time for every Kashmiri to think beyond parties because there is nothing to fight for. What is there to fight for? There is an existential threat to Muslims of the state and it is no less to non-Muslims of Jammu, who face the same threat.”
“Why did Shiv Sena come into existence in Maharashtra? It was not against Muslims, it was against outsiders who Balasaheb Thackeray at that time thought were taking away jobs and land from the inhabitants. It is happening in Jammu as we speak… Jobs, lands being taken, the first wave of demographic change is coming to Jammu,” he added.
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Omar Abdullah opens the door, Hindustan Times
Omar Abdullah opens the door, Hindustan Times
Restoring statehood can revive the political process in J&K
EDITORIALS Updated: Jul 27, 2020 18:40 IST
The key takeaway from Mr Abdullah’s piece is not his opposition to the change in the special status of J&K but his more fierce opposition to the decision to convert the state into a Union Territory (UT) and a categorical declaration that “while J&K remains a UT”, he — and by extension, the National Conference — would not contest assembly elections(HT)
For the first time since the momentous constitutional changes in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) on August 5 last year, former chief minister of the erstwhile state, and National Conference (NC) leader, Omar Abdullah, who was detained for eight months, has spoken out. Writing in The Indian Express, he expressed his opposition to the effective nullification of Article 370, and the revocation of J&K’s special status.
But the key takeaway from Mr Abdullah’s piece is not his opposition to the change in the special status of J&K — that is to be expected, and that point of view can be debated. The key takeaway is his more fierce opposition to the decision to convert the state into a Union Territory (UT) and a categorical declaration that “while J&K remains a UT”, he — and by extension, the NC — would not contest assembly elections. While this may sound extreme, Mr Abdullah has actually opened the door for a political understanding which can revive the political process in J&K. It is instructive that Mr Abdullah neither made the restoration of Article 370 or the re-merger of J&K and Ladakh his precondition. Both these would have been far more difficult to achieve. Article 370 is history and no government in New Delhi will bring back the constitutional provision effectively. A separate administrative unit of Ladakh is also, now, firmly etched on the map and the stand-off at the Line of Actual Control with China has only cemented New Delhi’s determination to have direct control over the region.
By asking for the restoration of statehood, while opposing the other changes, Mr Abdullah has effectively given room to Delhi to begin a process of reconciliation. Do remember that both Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to the nation, and home minister Amit Shah, on the floor of the House, said that the revocation of statehood is temporary, and when circumstances become conducive, it could be reversed. It is time for Delhi to begin a dialogue with Mr Abdullah, release Mehbooba Mufti and start a conversation with her too, and initiate a time-bound process for the restoration of statehood. Promising a more empowered assembly and chief minister, in line with other states of the Union, can possibly result in popular and legitimate elections, help win over the Kashmiri street, empower pro-India mainstream forces, deepen democracy in J&K, weaken Pakistan’s propaganda, and neutralise international concerns. Mr Abdullah has opened the door; the onus now lies on Delhi.
While Jammu and Kashmir remains a Union Territory, I will not contest Assembly elections, Omar Abdullah
While Jammu and Kashmir remains a Union Territory, I will not contest Assembly elections, Omar Abdullah
Having been a member of the most empowered Assembly in the land and that, too, as leader of that Assembly for six years, I simply cannot and will not be a member of a House that has been disempowered the way ours has: Vice president of the Jammu and Kashmir National Conference breaks his silence.
It’s almost a year since the tectonic changes of August 5, 2019, were forced on the people of Jammu and Kashmir without so much as a by your leave. It’s still impossible to come to terms with what I saw being rolled out on my television set that morning. Hours earlier, at the stroke of midnight, I had been placed under house arrest, and would be shifted to a government guest house by the end of the day. The nominated representative of the Union government usurped powers, that should have been vested with the legislature and a popularly elected government, to rewrite J&K’s constitutional relationship with the rest of India. The Parliament of India spent less than a day each in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha to change more than 70 years of history, to undo the sovereign commitments made to the people of J&K and to dismember the state.
After the re-election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, rumours started to float about the intentions of the BJP to use its absolute majority in the Lok Sabha to implement its poll promise of abrogating Article 370 and Article 35A of the Constitution. Fears reached a fever pitch when plane loads of central para-military forces where flown in to Srinagar and dispatched all over the state.
The people were treated to categorical denials by the occupant of the highest office in the state, the Governor, that J&K’s special status faced no threat. He debunked the rumours, explained away the additional forces suggesting they were required for Assembly elections later in the year. So what does one conclude from this? That the occupant of such a high office deliberately lied to the people or that he wasn’t kept informed? I know what I believe but you can draw your own conclusions. Some of us, senior office-bearers of the J&K National Conference, had a meeting with the PM just days before the August 5 developments. It’s not a meeting I will forget in a hurry. One day I may write about it but propriety precludes me from saying more than that we left the meeting with a completely different impression about what was going to unfold in the next 72 hours.
In one fell swoop, everything we had feared came to pass.
J&K’s special status, an important, perhaps even indispensable, part of the state’s accession to the Union, was revoked. With it, went the framework that determined who a bonafide resident of J&K was. Truth be told, the BJP pushing this wasn’t a complete surprise — it was part of its poll agenda for decades. What came as a shock was the humiliation heaped on the state by downgrading it and splitting it into two Union Territories. Over the last seven decades, Union Territories have been upgraded to states but this was the first time a state was downgraded to a Union Territory.
To this day, I fail to understand the need for this move, except to punish and humiliate the people of the state. If the reason for carving out a separate Union Territory for Ladakh was the public demand among the Buddhist population of the area, then the demand for a separate state for the people of Jammu is a much older demand. If the demand was conceded on religious grounds, then it ignored the fact that Leh and Kargil districts, which together make up the Union Territory of Ladakh, are Muslim majority and the people of Kargil are vehemently opposed to the idea of being separated from J&K.
Many reasons were given to justify the complete dilution of Article 370 when it was being rammed through Parliament, none stands the test of basic scrutiny. It was alleged that Article 370 has fuelled separatism and allowed militant violence to thrive in Kashmir, an end was supposed to herald the end of terrorism. If that be the case, then why is it that almost a year later the same Union government is forced to tell the Supreme Court that violence in J&K is increasing? Article 370 has kept the people of J&K in poverty was another claim. Even a cursory glance at poverty figures would show that J&K has some of the lowest levels of poverty in the country. Article 370 was alleged to have denied J&K investment. Prior to the outbreak of militancy in the state, J&K was amongst the most progressive states with a growing industrial base and impressive investment in manufacturing. Tourism was a sector that was coming in to its own as far as investments were concerned. What has stopped J&K from attracting investment is the security environment and that’s why a year after the momentous changes there has been no investment worth the mention.
It was also claimed that J&K has remained backward because of Article 370. In fact, a comparison with a “developed” state like Gujarat would show that we compare far more favourably in a number of human development indices. Finally, it was suggested that Article 370 was always meant to be a temporary provision. What they forget to add to this sentence is that it was temporary because of the little matter of the United Nations Security Council resolution 1947 of 1948, but that’s an entirely different op-ed in itself.
Even the Supreme Court, as recently as 2018, has held that Article 370 “had acquired a permanent status by virtue of its years of existence making its abrogation impossible”. Anyway you wish to look at it, other than the political justification of an election promise being fulfilled, there is no constitutional, legal, economic or security justification for what was done to J&K on August 5, 2019. This is what forms the basis of the National Conference’s case in the Supreme Court.
The special constitutional status enjoyed by J&K was not a favour done to the state. It formed the basis of the state’s accession to India. At a time when states were asked to choose between acceding to India or to Pakistan, religion was the overwhelming determinant. For Muslim-majority J&K to accede and then fight alongside Indian forces to push back Pakistani invaders in 1947 was without parallel. It allowed India to proudly stamp its secular credentials for all to see. All that J&K asked for was to have certain safeguards built in the Constitution to protect this unique status. There was no time stamp on these safeguards.
It was understood that so long as J&K remained a part of India, the special status enjoyed by it would remain. This is what makes it all the more distressing to see what was done last year. J&K has kept its side of the promise by remaining a part of the Union, the last 30 years of militancy notwithstanding. It has participated in the democratic processes and tried to share in the nation’s development, but the promise made with it was not kept. This is one of those moments when it’s important to ask whether it is better to be popular or to be right. Removing J&K’s special status may have been the popular thing to do but going back on a nation’s sovereign commitments is never going to be the right thing to do.
We, in the J&K National Conference, do not agree with what has been done to J&K nor do we accept what has been done. We shall oppose this, our opposition will continue in the highest court in the land in the form of the legal challenge filed in the Supreme Court last year. We have always believed in democracy and peaceful opposition. Sadly these very democratic rights were trampled on a year ago. Dozens of mainstream politicians were placed in “preventive arrest” and many more under illegal house arrest. In fact, a number of these leaders are still under illegal detention a year later. The National Conference has lost thousands of workers and office-bearers to militant violence because of our choice to remain a mainstream political party while opposing the separatist politics that grew in the late 1980s. Given the orchestrated campaign against mainstream political parties in most of the national media, particularly at the hands of the ruling dispensation, it’s easy to find oneself asking whether the sacrifices were worth it.
As for me, I am very clear that while J&K remains a Union Territory I will not be contesting any Assembly elections. Having been a member of the most empowered Assembly in the land and that, too, as the leader of that Assembly for six years, I simply cannot and will not be a member of a House that has been disempowered the way ours has.
With almost all of my senior colleagues still detained in their homes, the NC is yet to meet to decide its next political course of action and I will work diligently to strengthen the party, carry forward its agenda and continue to represent the aspirations of the people while we fight against the injustices heaped on J&K in the last one year.
Omar Abdullah, former Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Union Minister in the Vajpayee Government and vice president of JKNC, was detained by the J&K administration on August 4-5, 2019, and, subsequently, under the Public Safety Act. He was released, after 232 days, on March 24.
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Thursday 23 July 2020
China’s Belt and Road Awakens With a Push Through Pakistan
China’s Belt and Road Awakens With a Push Through Pakistan
By Faseeh Mangi 21 July 2020
When China’s President Xi Jinping announced its ambitious Belt and Road Initiative in 2013, Pakistan was one of the first to welcome it with open arms. The two have gotten together again to revive the project from hibernation.
The countries that share a 273-mileborder have gotten together three times since June to sign new projects worth about $ 11 billion. That takes commitments of projects in Pakistan to more than $70 billion. The biggest splash has been mainly power plants that has ended Pakistan’s decade-old problem of electricity shortage.
Two of the new projects are hydro-power generation in Kashmir, a nexus of tension between Pakistan and India since the split in 1947. China has slowly added tension in the region by quietly financing projects and gaining influence all around India from Sri Lanka to Pakistan. It escalated recently with India and Chinese soldiers in a nine-week border standoff that resulted in deaths on both sides. India went on to ban Chinese apps including TikTok in India.
China has certainly had some successes with Belt and Road. The World Bank estimates about $575 billion worth of energy plants, railways, roads, ports and other projects have been built or are in the works across the globe. More recently, though, its progress has slowed. Many countries have had a rethink and coronavirus complicated its future.
Myanmar scaled back a port deal, while Malaysia with a new government renegotiated a rail project last year. Pakistan did the same with its railway effort signed last month. The most expensive project to date that will revamp a British-era railway system has seen its cost drop by a billion dollars to $7.2 billion.
So what has triggered the flurry of deals in Pakistan? There’s a new officer in town.
Former Lieutenant General Asim Saleem Bajwa was appointed last year to run the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Authority and then made part of Pakistan’s cabinet a few months ago. Bajwa became one of the many former and current military officials appointed in prominent government roles to get projects going, and he’s given projects with China fresh momentum.
China’s advances are setbacks for U.S. economic and political influence in the region. Washington has led a global campaign against Belt and Road, arguing that China’s reliance on loans locked poorer countries in “debt traps” while advancing its own strategic aims.
—Faseeh Mangi in Karachi
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