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The best part of being a journalist is to know a lot of people
and to learn a great deal more from them. Some of them are remarkable
enough to inspire you. I came across one such brilliant woman last
week when Ms. Karen Ross, a Deputy Political Director at Canadian
Foreign Office, visited the Pakistan Post’s
Mississauga
office. Rarely do we come across examples where people like Ms. Ross
would undertake a mission for the welfare of people under the most
unlivable conditions. She is a role model unto herself, someone who
believes in Canadian mission - Canadian humanitarian mission
particularly - in Afghanistan.
She had worked there for 13 months at a time when
Afghanistan has been
the most unsafe place to work at. It is well documented that women in
Afghanistan are subjected to enormous societal pressures most of which
are not Islamic at all. At a place where limbs of women are chopped
just because they wear socks given by Red Cross to keep themselves
warm, it is even harder for a woman to persuade herself to serve. Only
a strong faith or belief can have someone live in such dangerous
circumstances.
Ms. Karen Ross joined the Canadian Department of Foreign
Affairs and International Trade in 2001, serving in the South Asia
Division, originally as the Bangladesh desk officer and then as the
Afghanistan and Pakistan desk officer. She worked in Kandhar city with
300 people who have been involved in humanitarian and reconstruction
work building Afghan civilian police, border police. Correctional
services Canada
has mentoring and training program for guards. Ms. Ross was
responsible for ensuring that international standards are met for
Canadian transferred detainees; she engaged with the tribal elders,
councilors, mayors, provincial and Afghan ministry officials so that
several affairs run smoothly. Canadian government is leading the
initiative to check paper work of people who are moving between
Afghanistan and Pakistan. They are sharing intelligence, documents and
training, and at times this could be the most dangerous job to do.
I know that many Pakistani diplomats wanted to go to
Afghanistan, not to
save or to protect but because it paid handsome money. And while men
are away working in Kabul, the family would enjoy relatively good
living. Islam teaches service to fellow human beings, but not often
enough do we hear about volunteer services by Muslims.
While it is up to the history to judge whether the
international forces should or should not have come to
Afghanistan, it is
people like Ms. Ross - who have conscience and courage - that would
leave a mark in the history. Money cannot necessarily be such a strong
incentive for people to leave their homes and live at a place that is
not compatible with your upbringing. And Ms. Ross is content with
services she offered to Afghan people even when the sentiment that
gets highlighted is that Afghani people want foreigners to leave their
county.
Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith,
Britain’s most senior
commander in Afghanistan has said that the public should not expect a
"decisive military victory” in Afghanistan. General James Jones, the
National Security Advisor of President-elect Obama has given his grim
assessment “Make no mistake, NATO is not winning in Afghanistan.’’
These statements from top US and British officials’ leaves one to
conclude that war on terror is “unwinnable. However Ms. Karen Ross
told the Pakistan Post “If we had secret solution, if there’s a magic
recipe of winning Afghanistan, we would have used it a long time ago.”
She believes that the Canadian government has been very realistic
about some of the challenges that Canadian and other international
forces face in Afghanistan. She reiterates what has been said before
that the security situation in Afghanistan has been worse in 2007 and
that it further deteriorated in 2008.
The US
news reports and senior government officials attribute the shoddier
Afghan security to insurgents who cross border to
Pakistan
after launching attacks in Afghanistan. Ms. Ross does not talk about
blaming Pakistan or any other country for these insurgent attacks.
She says it is “not about blame so much as it is about taking
responsibility. Everyone has to take certain amount of responsibility.
Both the governments as well as the international governments are
engaged.” What needs to be done is to have Afghan, Pakistani and NATO
authorities to sit together. General Thmoson, the Head of Canadian
forces in
Afghanistan, Gen. Saifullah from Afghanistan and their counterpart
from Pakistan hold quarterly meetings to discuss the situation at
border and how to improve it. These quarterly dialogues are
complemented by diplomacy and field work.
She noted that when the trucks come from
Pakistan, they are well
organized and in order, however once they cross the border over to
Afghanistan, it is all chaotic.
How effective is the border control then?
Ms. Ross says, people “do not show any documentation” at
Pak-Afghan border. At 5 in the evening when the border between the
Pakistan and
Afghanistan closes, there is a huge flow of people returning from the
Afghani side to Pakistan. Ms. Ross’ friend, the head of Afghanistan
Immigration office, asked “how am I gonna stop this flow..that’s at
official border crossing much less through desert areas or some other
border areas.” At Spin Boldak, people have been living here for
centuries whereby they lived in Pakistan and worked on Afghani side.
Ms. Ross admits that some of these people do not even see themselves
as Afghani or Pakistani, they see themselves as “Border people.”
Is it fair then to impose a border between
Afghanistan and
Pakistan where people show passports or other documents to move back
and forth?
Ms. Ross’s response is “That’s a huge challenges, a lot of
things haven’t been put in place just because of that.” There is a
realization at international level that in doing so there could be
huge anger and uproar from people of the region. And there is a danger
of “a very significant incident.”
The Canadian government is helping
Pakistan and
Afghanistan to reach an agreement that would be beneficial for the
people of both countries. Canada is also looking to provide any
resources that might be needed by the two governments to fulfill their
obligations. Ms. Ross said that negotiations between Afghanistan and
Pakistan have been held in Dubai, which is considered, a neutral turf,
and then in Islamabad
and Kabul on this issue. She believes that there’s ‘very very
positive” progress being made on this issue.
From Ms. Ross’ conversation it appeared that the Canadian
government is working hard to build its civilian presence in
Afghanistan. This is
apparent from having one political officer in 2007 to five when Ms
Ross returned this summer to having more civilian officers now. The
Manley Report suggested the Canadian government increase civilian
presence from 2 to over 50 to over 100 which is more than any other
international government has in Afghanistan. The Canadian military and
diplomatic missions’ work closely to have one shared Canadian vision
in Afghanistan. She says the Canadian mission in Afghanistan is “the
most integrated counterinsurgency mission” among other countries. The
number of civilians has grown to enhance engagements with all level of
Afghani government as well as with political and cultural hierarchy
that includes tribal elders and jirga. It seems that the Canadian
government has taken precedence over any other country of the world by
increasing the number of civilians in Afghanistan.
In 2006 the Canadian forces launched Operation Medusa when
Kandahar came
under attack by the Taliban. Once the operation ended successfully,
Afghans opened us their houses to welcome and to feed and to celebrate
Canadian armed forces. This also led to the possibilities of
development and governance for the Canadian officials to work for the
welfare of Afghani people. Ms. Ross spent 60 per cent of time out in
the field.
Is it safe for Ms. Ross and other development and civilian
workers to work in the field?
Ms. Ross answered almost instantly. “No, it’s not. Of course
it’s not. NGOs could not work without security guards. You take risks
every time you go out. But is it better to do that or to do nothing.”
As a woman Ms. Ross did not dress in traditional Afghani dress
“because it was black. And (it was) very hot. It was more combustible
and if you were in an incident and it caught fire, you wouldn’t
survive very well. I wore khaki pants and long shirts..more like a
shalwar kameez and wear the vest, the helmet, the ballistic glasses,
gloves whenever I was out walking around.”
Not knowing the language is another challenge as some of the
meaning of interaction could be lost in translation. Living in
Afghanistan and
Indonesia has given her understanding of vocabulary to the extent that
she understood some of Pashtu.
However, being a woman was not an obstruction to her work as
one would imagine in
Afghanistan and as she
was told be some of her Afghan friends. She told us an incident where
she had gone out to see a tribe which was frustrated with the Afghani
government on a contentious issue. The elders of the groups wanted to
know the Canadians’ role in the area and where they patrolled. Ms.
Ross found dealing with Afghani elders “better than working in most
developed countries.” She believes they are pragmatic and want to
interact with the one who makes a decision, who there main point of
contact is and the in charge regardless of whether you were a women or
young. Ms. Ross had gone with seasoned military officials who were
“intimidating,” but found that Afghanis wanted to communicate with her
just because she was in charge.
So what is the reaction of Afghans when there are Drone
strikes?
Ms. Ross says “It really depends..We set up Joint District
Coordination centers (at Panjawi) with emergency phone numbers.” When
there is emergency, the “line starts ringing off the hook” so that
people outreach to us seeking our protection.” Ms. Ross says Panjaawi
is Mullah Omar’s home turf and that it is “highly unlikely” for Osama
bin Laden to be here. She says the only time Afghans are angry at us
are when “insurgents slipped through our fingers” asking us that there
should be more forces out there to protect them.
Ms. Ross says that the teachers teaching at Afghan school,
doctors working at hospitals are all there in the hope that
Afghanistan could be
peaceful. She reminds us that 516 Canadian soldiers lost their lives
in Korean War, but eventually Korea has became a prosperous country
with wonderful ties with Canada. In the dire security situation, the
polio eradication mission continues because Canadian and international
forces were there to support Afghani people. She noted that Afghans
have registered to vote in greater numbers than expected partially
because of Canadian efforts in Afghanistan. She says that Afghans
“continue to surprise you in terms of what they can deliver because of
their resilience,” they are “hungry” for peaceful and prosperous life.
Shouldn’t international forces leave
Afghanistan?
Ms. Ross says that “I believe in this mission” and every
development and NGO worker believes in this. “Eventually”
international forces will have to leave
Afghanistan; human
rights organization has said that in 2002. She says Canadian presence
is “not about us but about Afghan people,” and we have to be there to
help. |
