Archive for July, 2007

Bhutto’s fight for democracy calls her home

Monday, July 23rd, 2007

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

Return to happen in weeks, former Pakistani PM asserts

The Globe and Mail, Monday, July 23, 2007
SONYA FATAH

LONDON — Even at the cost of being jailed, former prime minister Benazir Bhutto says she plans to end her eight-year-long self-imposed exile within weeks to fight for the restoration of democracy in Pakistan.

“My return is not tied to any dialogue,” Ms. Bhutto said in an exclusive interview with The Globe and Mail. “My return is going to happen.”

Ms. Bhutto had earlier avoided setting a specific date for her return, saying only that it would be before the end of this year. However, after hearing of the supreme court’s reinstatement last week of Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry as Pakistan’s chief justice, Ms. Bhutto says confidence in the independence of the judiciary may mean a return as early as September.

Ms. Bhutto says talks between her party and General Pervez Musharraf are about ensuring that free and fair elections take place this year, and not about power-sharing agreements. Regardless of how those negotiations turn out, she will return to Pakistan, she said.

Back-door diplomacy between Ms. Bhutto’s party, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), and Gen. Musharraf has been afoot for months now. There has been much speculation about deal-making between the two. Analysts believe Ms. Bhutto could be prime minister with a suited – not uniformed – Pervez Musharraf as president.

Gen. Musharraf recently declared his intention to continue on as army chief: a nec-

essity, he said, as a result of the recent spate of suicide bombings.

That, Ms. Bhutto says, is not acceptable.

“A uniformed president blurs the distinction between democracy and dictatorship and unless the uniform is taken off, then Pakistan will continue to be seen as a military dictatorship.”

Ms. Bhutto had been expected to return to Pakistan before parliamentary elections scheduled for October of 2002.

At the time, analysts said opposition parties had not generated enough momentum to secure Ms. Bhutto’s confidence in a return.

In the past six months, however, opposition parties have been at the forefront of a serious political effort to challenge military rule. Sustained protests and an unprecedented series of suicide bombs over two significant events – the Red Mosque affair that ended in bloodshed in the country’s capital, and the suspension and subsequent reinstatement of the country’s top judge – have weakened Gen. Musharraf at home and abroad.

For Ms. Bhutto, there could be no better time to return. But whether she has the power to control Pakistan’s strong military and intelligence agencies is questionable.

Numerous roadblocks lie in her path. The much-amended Pakistani constitution prevents a twice-elected prime minister from being elected a third time, courtesy of Gen. Musharraf, and Pakistan’s previous military dictator, Gen. Mohammed Zia-ul-Haq, empowered the President to dissolve the National Assembly.

Moreover, a long list of corruption charges in several countries has plagued Ms. Bhutto’s reputation. The charges have never been proven, but they have hung like an albatross around her party.

In addition, Ms. Bhutto will have to win a two-thirds majority in Parliament to have effective control over policy making. And finally, whether Ms. Bhutto and Gen. Musharraf, both of whom are mega-personalities, can share power with such conflicting agendas remains to be seen.

Ms. Bhutto says military intervention lies at the heart of Pakistan’s many problems today: “The military, since the days of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq, has used religious parties in an attempt to give Islamic legitimacy to an illegitimate military rule and today we are facing the consequences of repeated military intervention.” Gen. Musharraf has marketed the military as the only solution to the extremist problem.

Ms. Bhutto’s agenda for defeating Pakistan’s growing internal problems stands in striking contrast to that of Gen. Musharraf. He and the Afghan President, Hamid Karzai, have had hostile relations during the “war on terror.” Ms. Bhutto plans to work closely with Afghanistan to bring about stability in both countries. Gen. Musharraf believes in signing peace agreements and negotiating with radical groups; Ms. Bhutto says she will have zero tolerance when combatting “political” madrassas (religious schools) where terrorist ideologies are carried out.

“He and I speak from different vantage points,” Ms. Bhutto said. “He needs the extremist issue to legitimize his rule. I don’t. I need the people’s support.”

If anyone has the people’s support, Ms. Bhutto’s party has it. Her father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, also ruled Pakistan. In 1977, he was ousted by his much-trusted armed forces chief, Gen. Zia, and was subsequently hanged.

Ms. Bhutto was the darling of Pakistan and the international media when she first came to power in 1988, after Gen. Zia’s mysterious death in a plane crash after an 11-year reign. A graduate of Harvard University and Oxford University, Ms. Bhutto, then 35, was the first female prime minister in the Muslim world. But Ms. Bhutto’s governments were plagued by problems: an increase in ethnic violence in Karachi, her brother’s murder, and accusations against her husband, Asif Zardari, of blackmail and corruption.

Moreover, Ms. Bhutto was unable to move legislation because of petty differences with opposition parties and because of her lack of control over Pakistan’s military.

That means her government will focus on its internal strategy of four Es: education, employment, energy and the environment. Ms. Bhutto has yet to detail how exactly that agenda will be carried out.

Ms. Bhutto says the Election Commission needs to do much more to convincingly preside over a free and fair election this year. More than 30 per cent of the electorate is not enrolled, she says. Without free and fair elections, she will have no guarantee of power.

“The last time I could not contain the military and the intelligence because the power over the military and intelligence was not with me – it was with the President. This is why I say to the people of Pakistan, ‘Give me a mandate that I can make a change.’ ”


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Tea-drinking India warms to coffee house culture

Tuesday, July 17th, 2007

BEVERAGES

A burgeoning middle class is rapidly developing a taste for the roasted bean – and Starbucks is taking notice

The Globe and Mail, Tuesday, July 17, 2007
SONYA FATAH
Special to The Globe and Mail NEW DELHI — Among hot beverages, India is synonymous with just one: tea. But a lifestyle revolution driven by a burgeoning middle class is luring young Indians to caf�s where cappuccinos, lattes and mochas are the drink of choice.

South Indian-style coffee – boiled with milk and served in stainless steel tumblers – has long been sipped in India’s southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. But a new coffee-drinking culture has emerged since India’s plantation owners have crept into the caf� business, launching a cultural revolution that has seeped into India’s urban centres.

Today, there are about 750 caf�s across India, two-thirds of which are owned and operated by Caf� Coffee Day, a company that plans to have 1,400 caf�s across India in five years’ time, as well as 10 in Pakistan and 10 in Austria.

“I expect this market to grow 40 per cent annually for the next three years,” says Jagdeep Kapoor, director of Samsika Marketing Consultancies. “That is going to be huge.”

In the next two decades, analysts expect there will be as many as 5,000 caf�s in India.

It’s taken a decade for India’s largest chain to create a caf� culture.

There were only a handful of Caf� Coffee Day outlets in the late 1990s, all in India’s six largest cities. But the chain, which is owned by the Bangalore-based Amalgamated Bean Coffee Trading Co. Ltd., has mushroomed since 2001, now boasting 401 caf�s in 72 cities and aiming to cross the 500 mark by the end of the year.

India is also attracting global attention. Starbucks Corp. is eyeing New Delhi or Mumbai for its first outlet. Italian coffee company Lavazza is already here, after acquiring Barista Coffee Co. Ltd.

Starbucks is keeping mum about its strategy in India, as it navigates strict Indian laws on foreign ownership in the retail sector.

“We are looking forward to offering the finest coffee in the world, handcrafted beverages, legendary service and the unique Starbucks Experience to customers in India, first in either Delhi or Mumbai, in the near future,” T. May Kulthol, a company spokesman, said in an e-mail.

But other players in the coffee sector are watching the global giant closely, amid speculation it may buy an Indian chain to gain a quick footing.

“They are scared of us. We are not scared of them,” scoffed Naresh Malhotra, director of Caf� Coffee Day. “Let them come in. It will make for a greater awareness for coffee.”

Caf� Coffee Day must also worry about another giant, Tata Coffee Ltd., which sold its share in Barista to the Italians and is developing its own brand, Mr. Bean Coffee Junction. From its first test location in the southern city of Kochi – near India’s famous plantation country – Tata plans to expand the concept to five stores in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

“If these stores are a success, then we will go in for a franchise model and rapidly expand,” said M.H. Ashraff, managing director of Tata Coffee.

The company is the country’s largest coffee conglomerate, producing 10 million kilograms of coffee from its estates, spread over 7,000 hectares in Karnataka state. Caf� Coffee Day’s parent company, Amalgamated Bean, sources coffee from the 5,000 acres of coffee plantations it owns in the south.

The market, analysts say, has space for all. With a forecast of a 6- to 9-per-cent annual real growth rate in gross domestic product over the next two decades, the value of the Indian consumer market is expected to triple as a result of productivity increases, growing openness of the Indian economy and demographic changes, according to a report released by McKinsey & Company.

India’s big cities are expected to boom in the next three decades. Analysts forecast that the country could have as many 35 cities with a population of over one million, and 300 smaller metros, with 100,000 to one million people each.

Coffee plantations were started in Southern India around the 18th century when the East India Co. discovered it could profit from growing the plant in its eastern colonies. Some even trace coffee’s heritage to a few centuries earlier.

Today, most of India’s coffee – about 60 per cent of it – is grown in Karnataka, in the country’s south, along the slopes of the Western Ghats range.

Analysts say the caf� culture change is less a reflection of a coffee drinking culture and more about a lifestyle revolution.

“On-premise consumption has increased substantially. There is a lot of young culture – a lot of college students and a lot of student kids would like to hang around and there was no such wholesome place available,” Mr. Kapoor says.

Coffee in India

Popular Indian lore says that

Baba Budan, a revered Muslim holy man from India, discovered coffee on a pilgrimage to Mecca in the 16th century. He smuggled seven coffee beans out of the

Yemeni port of Mocha wrapped around his belly. On his return home, he settled on the slopes of the Chandragiri Hills in Kadur district, or what is now Karnataka. The hills of this famous coffee-producing region were later named after him.

Indian latte

Kaapi is a sweet milky coffee made from dark roasted coffee beans and chicory, popular in the southern states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. The most commonly used coffee beans are Peaberry, Arabica, Malabar and Robusta grown in the hills of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

578,000

Number of people employed in Indian coffee industry

201,498

Mega-tonnes of Indian coffee

exported in 2005-2006

Source: Coffee Board of India

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Musharraf risks incurring wrath of powerful opponents

Wednesday, July 11th, 2007

INTERNAL POLITICS

The Globe and Mail, Wednesday, July 11, 2007

SONYA FATAH

By decisively ending the standoff at the Red Mosque, Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has answered international critics who questioned his commitment to fighting extremism, but risks drawing the wrath of other radicals who hold considerable power in his embattled country.

His biggest ally in the West, the United States, was quick to offer support yesterday. “The government of Pakistan has proceeded in a responsible way,” Pentagon spokesman Tom Casey said. “All governments have a responsibility to preserve order.”

General Musharraf suffered early embarrassment as the moral squads of the mosque went from attacking CD shops earlier this year to abducting brothel owners and finally holding Chinese massage attendants in increasingly bold actions that met with scant consequences.

But by first negotiating with the Islamist leaders and then acting decisively when talks proved fruitless, he was able to back up his assertions that, when needed, he can move fairly but decisively against extremists.

“The international reaction is very good,” said Najam Sethi, editor of The Friday Times and The Daily Times, two English-language publications in Pakistan. “Gen. Musharraf will be seen as finally putting an end

to this.”

Within Pakistan, however, the Red Mosque situation has been the source of much criticism that is unlikely to wane. Many feel that the mosque, once a favourite haunt of the country’s intelligence officers, was allowed to develop into a militant outfit because it was useful to the military’s aims in places such as Kashmir and Afghanistan.

“This was scripted to a point, and then the actors got autonomous,” Mr. Sethi said. “It got out of the government’s hands and then they didn’t know how to deal with it. In the end, the only way to deal with it was to end it this way.”

Some have even accused Gen. Musharraf of provoking the standoff to draw attention away from the pro-democracy campaign he sparked when he fired the chief justice of the Supreme Court, and to demonstrate that his strong leadership is needed in the face of calls for him to relinquish power along with coming elections.

There’s also fear that radical madrassas in other parts of the country will respond violently to the siege of the Red Mosque, particularly in the northwest frontier region, which borders the tribal areas and Afghanistan. During the standoff, militants there reacted by attacking law-enforcement officers, killing at least 19 people. Attempts yesterday to keep the news media at a distance from the scene was probably part of an effort to minimize the spread of reaction.

But for the most part, few in Pakistan opposed the final decision to attack the mosque. Gen. Musharraf is seen to have made the right conciliatory moves before being forced to react.

He will, however, be asked some hard questions about why the Red Mosque affair dragged on for six months. Greater scrutiny is also required into the role of Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies in exacerbating the problem of extremism by tolerating elements that further government goals, although political will for that sort of introspection is unlikely.

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India makes room for B&B culture

Thursday, July 5th, 2007

TOURISM

The Globe and Mail, Thursday, July 5, 2007
SONYA FATAH
NEW DELHI — A few years ago, Pervez Hameed was browsing the Internet when he came across the term “bed and breakfast.” He knew nothing about the concept but was intrigued.

His wife, two sons and mother lived together in a six-bedroom house in an upscale residential area in south Delhi. The Hameeds loved company. Mr. Hameed’s wife, Lubna, was a great cook, and they had extra space. A bed and breakfast sounded like it was right up their alley.

The couple converted three rooms, got the necessary government permissions, sent out marketing messages to overseas networks, and set up a website: http://www.delhibedandbreakfast.com. In May, 2005, they entertained their first guest and reorganized their lifestyle to accommodate, at first a trickle and then a steady stream of foreign travellers, medical tourists, and business people. By early this year, almost 700 visitors had passed through their home.

Mr. Hameed was one of the first in India’s capital city to embrace B&B culture. A little over a year after he opened the doors to his home, the Ministry of Tourism launched a bed and breakfast program with tax incentives, calling on residents of Delhi’s swanky southern suburbs to follow in Mr. Hameed’s footsteps.

India is struggling to keep up with an influx of foreign tourists, businessmen and official visitors flocking here in increasing numbers every year. Its major cities boast dozens of five-star hotels and luxury properties but cannot cope with the demand for rooms.

In 2005, 93 approved hotels provided 10,159 rooms. In 2006, that number sprang to 120 hotels with 12,091 rooms, but the shortage is still a concern. Last year the tourism ministry recorded 3.92 million foreign visitors to India, and “we are expecting a growth rate of 13 to 15 per cent this year,” says Raj Vir Mittal, an assistant director in the Ministry of Tourism. He points to new flights offered by Thai Airways, Continental Airlines and Finnair as a reason for the influx.

And with 90,000 additional visitors expected to arrive in Delhi for the 2010 Commonwealth Games, the government’s B&B plan may be coming just in time.

Getting approved as a B&B takes about a month, and is not a terribly bureaucratic process. Police provide official verification stating the owner does not have a criminal record. The owner of the house presents ownership documents. Finally, a committee comprised of tourism officials and police inspects the facilities and approves or rejects the property.

To date, the Ministry of Tourism’s “Paying Guest Residential Accommodation” website reflects 78 approved properties. “On the one hand there is huge demand and on the other you have a massive inventory of rooms lying vacant within private houses, which owners would be only too happy to let out to tourists,” said Atul Chautvedi, director of the Ministry of Tourism, on the launch of the program.

The government hopes to provide 30,000 rooms in two years, but currently only 240 rooms have been added to Delhi’s accommodation offerings. There is some confusion about the tax advantages, and some residents expressed discomfort about opening their homes.

For Mr. Hameed, the experience has been fulfilling. Their home has grown to offer amenities such as wireless Internet, tour packages and beauty treatments. But the government’s program means that, despite a head start, the Hameeds can expect competition.

“There are any many more beautiful properties and good hosts that will enter the market but we have established our credibility,” Mr. Hameed said.

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Harsh weather hinders cyclone relief efforts

Monday, July 2nd, 2007

PAKISTAN

The Globe and Mail, Monday, July 2, 2007
SONYA FATAH

NEW DELHI — Flooding and torrential rain continue to hamper relief efforts in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, with at least 50 more deaths reported during the weekend and more than a million people affected by cyclone Yemyin.

Flash flooding caused serious damage to the infrastructure, destroying dikes, roads and bridges and cutting off contact with tens of thousands of people. By yesterday, rail links to the provincial capital, Quetta, were also disrupted when landslides destroyed a section of the rail track. Damage to a major section of the power transmission line in Quetta shrouded many parts of the province in darkness. The provincial death toll stood at 80 yesterday.

Government officials and aid workers, already struggling to deal with the existing disaster, were preparing for more harsh weather this week. “A new weather front is expected to hit by tomorrow or Wednesday, and it is expected to hit Karachi and Balochistan,” one aid worker said.

The onset of the rainy season has brought severe weather to much of South Asia, killing more than 600 people in storms and floods in Pakistan, India and Afghanistan over the past 10 days.

Hardest hit has been Pakistan. Between 1.2-million and 1.5-million people have been affected by the cyclone and the flash flooding that followed it, according to Ali Gul Kurd, the deputy relief commissioner for Balochistan.

Many people remain stranded a week after the cyclone hit Balochistan, with bad weather hampering relief efforts.

The Pakistani army ferried emergency supplies using transport planes and helicopter rescue missions, and dispatched troops to Turbat, in southern Balochistan, one of the worst-affected areas, close to the Arabian Sea. Naval boats carried relief supplies to badly hit areas.

International AID agencies also began assisting in relief efforts.

The extent of damage remained unclear. Aerial footage showed vast swathes of land under water, with many villages invisible and massive damage to cultivated land.

“We don’t have a 100-per-cent picture at the moment,” said an aid worker in a telephone interview. “We’ve been told that there are up to 250,000 homeless and 1.1 million affected in Balochistan. However, we don’t know how people are arriving at these sorts of figures.”

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10 die as cyclone slams Pakistan

Sunday, July 1st, 2007

The Globe and Mail, Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Sonya Fatah

Karachi, Pakistan — Tropical Cyclone Yemyin hit coastal areas of Balochistan province in Pakistan yesterday afternoon, claiming at least 10 lives, leaving many missing and tens of thousands displaced.

Yemyin packed winds as strong as 130 kilometres an hour as it made landfall, according to Qamaruz Zaman, director of the Pakistan Meteorological Department.

About 18 fishing boats and two ships were reported missing. More than 50 people were rescued from the choppy waters of the Arabian Sea, according to navy Commander Salman Ali.

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