Indo-Pak Relations Are Set to Improve, Says Rahman

Javed Akhtar, Arab News

JEDDAH, 19 October 2004 — India’s relations with its arch rival Pakistan look set to improve, according to K. Rahman Khan, deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha (Upper House of Parliament). “The people in both countries have welcomed the peace move,” Khan said here yesterday. “Both countries have realized that good relations are essential and must prevail between them. People-to-people contacts have increased,” said Khan, a Congress politician from the southern Karnataka state. He recalled a visit to Pakistan as member of a parliamentary delegation last year. “We received a rousing welcome from our Pakistani counterparts and the leadership and we returned the same gesture when they visited us,” he said, adding that bilateral relations were improving in the cultural and many other spheres. “Hopefully, they will further improve.” Khan, who is here to perform Umrah and pray at the Prophet’s Mosque, gave full marks to the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government. “There is all-round appreciation of Congress President (Sonia Gandhi) and Prime Minister (Dr. Manmohan Singh),” he said. The prime minister is a known economist and he should lead the country to progress. He is in “full control,” he said when asked whether Manmohan had a free hand as prime minister. The party (Congress) has been playing a major role and it will continue to do that. The people have given it the mandate. “The party does play a role but that does not mean that the position of prime minister is being diluted. The prime minister has made it clear that the party president has both complementary and supplementary roles.” He said the attitude of the Left Front, which supports the UPA government, was “not negative.” The Left Front and many other secular forces are part of the UPA’s prepoll alliance. As a political party, the Leftists may have different views, but that does not come in the way of the UPA government, as it pursues policies under a common minimum program. Khan said the Lok Sabha (Lower House) speaker has called a meeting of all political parties early next month to discuss all that happened in the last parliamentary session. The session was marked by adjournments due to noisy demonstrations and walkouts by the opposition. “What happened then was unusual, but everything will be sorted out at the Nov. 8 meeting.” In a democracy, the role of Parliament is important and so is the role of its presiding officer. “This is not a new role for me. I’ve been a presiding offer in the Karnataka state legislature for a long time. However, I enjoy this role, although for a short time I was a minister.” Referring to the Lok Sabha election held earlier and the recent Maharashtra state election, Khan said the people’s mandate had always turned out to be all-important. “Whenever a crisis has arisen, the Indian people have upheld secular principles. India is a secular country and will remain one. It’s the divisions within the secular forces that sometimes help communal forces to come to power. Secular parties have to remain united.” He termed the policy of reservation of jobs for Muslims as an “emotional approach.” With computerization, there is hardly any increase in government jobs. So the government finds it difficult to offer jobs. “In fact, unemployment and school dropouts have been many in the community. Our people should create jobs. We should see how to compete. If we go on asking for reservation, we’ll lose the competitive spirit. I’m not against reservation. I’m the one who got reservation in Karnataka 10 years ago. “We should work within the parameters and the constitution and get our rights as citizens of the country and not as Muslims. The moment you demand something as a Muslim, you lose the battle. In a secular society, you cannot ask anything in the name of religion. The very approach is wrong. However, the Muslim community, that has remained backward, could put forth demands on the basis of backwardness,” Khan said.