cuchulainn
Member
from the Daily Times (Pakistan)
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_11-7-2003_pg7_57
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_11-7-2003_pg7_57
Pakistan sees small arms menace as an administrative problem
By Khalid Hasan
WASHINGTON: The official Pakistani delegation attending a UN conference on the proliferation and control of small arms in New York has projected the issue as an administrative one which could be dealt with if more money was made available by rich countries.
The official Pakistani representatives, according to Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, an independent participant from Pakistan, “completely ignored the fact that the spread of small arms in the end is a political problem. The Pakistani report presented to the conference highlighted the ‘great achievements’ made by the government in the past two to three years by collecting over 200,000 pieces of arms and ammunition.â€
Dr Siddiqa told Daily Times, “However, the fact is no substantial movement has been made in either India or Pakistan, or other South Asian states, on this issue. The focal points have been no more than lip service to the UN Programme of Action on small arms, with no movement towards bringing civil society actors on board. As for India, while it wants the issue addressed at a regional and global level due to its particular political concerns, it too has lagged behind in reporting any substantial progress.â€
Member states completed their statements Wednesday on the implementation of the UN Programme of Action on curbing the spread of small arms and light weapons. The presentations included those by NGOs such as the American Rifle Association, the flagship lobbying group for the US gun industry, and the International Action Coalition against Small Arms (IANSA).
Presentations were also made by the five South Asian states that were not markedly different from those made by a large number of countries. Since this was only a biennial conference where states were supposed to report on actions taken nationally regarding the Programme of Action, there was little debate with countries sticking to their formal texts. A common feature of presentations by South Asian countries, according to Dr Siddiqa, was “the rhetoric about their intention to clean their states and societies of small arms. Even Bangladesh which has done practically nothing to implement the US Programme of Action on small arms employed the same rhetoric.â€
Among South Asian countries, Sri Lanka was the only one which reported having taken some steps like setting up a national focal point organisation and a national commission that includes members from civil society. Pakistan’s presentation made no mention of setting up a national commission on small arms proliferation and control.
The UN has convened a meeting of smaller thematic groups with the idea that some agreement could come out of the discussions. So far, the only countries interested in and contributing to the process are from Africa.
Copyright Daily Times