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Pakistan faces uphill struggle on 'Kalashnikov c
Josey1
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Pakistan faces uphill struggle in war on 'Kalashnikov culture'
Huw Watkin (Agence France-Presse)
Islamabad, August 20
At the Darra Adam Khel arms bazaar in the mountainous terrain of northwestern Pakistan, warlords, tribal warriors and even bandits can buy just about any weapon they want.
But the government of President Pervez Musharraf has declared war on the illegal arms industry, and while this may achieve a reduction in Pakistan's appalling level of gun related violence, it also threatens to destroy the livelihood of thousands of families.
Renowned for its gunmaking expertise since the late 19th century, the Darra weapons bazaar -- about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Peshawar -- is a sprawl of hundreds of workshops where some 3,500 gunsmiths toil on replica weapons which experts say are equal to, if not better than, mass produced originals.
"This has been our family business for 120 years," said gunsmith Mirbaz Afridi, a powerfully built and bearded ethnic Pashtun tribesman.
"The father of my grandfather did not have land, so he turned to making guns. He taught his son, who taught my father who then taught me. And now I am teaching my sons," he told AFP.
The weapons Afridi makes are sold in the retail markets of the northwest and clandestinely across Pakistan, and despite his skilled craftsmanship, they sell for incredibly low prices.
Depending on quality, a replica Kalashnikov (AK-47) goes for between 5,000 and 10,000 rupees (about 80 to 160 dollars) while a semi-automatic handgun can be bought for as little as 2,000 rupees (35 dollars).
"I can make single bullet pen-guns, pump-action shotguns, even anti-aircraft machineguns and rocket launchers. I can make any weapon you want," he said.
But the Darra arms market now faces an uncertain future. Pakistan's government is clamping down on the arms bazaars in an attempt to restore law and order and reduce the carnage of gun related violence.
Authorities in isolated Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) -- an area bordering Afghanistan known locally as Ilaqa Ghair or "land without law" -- said arms markets would be closed on instructions from Islamabad.
"After receiving written orders from the Interior Ministry... we have issued notices to all area administrators to close down all illegal arms markets," a local official told AFP.
"The administration of Jamrud Khyber district (close to the Khyber pass into Afghanistan) has already closed one... market of 200 shops, and on Sunday the administration ordered the closure of another market there which comprises 150 shops."
The tradition of gun making in NWFP has its roots in the manufacture of simple guns for hunting, although over the years local gunsmiths became proficient in the manufacture of more sophisticated weapons.
But it was the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s which led both to a flood of imported weapons and a boom in local production.
Afrasiab Khattack, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, said that as a result of the Afghan conflict Pakistan remains "awash" with weapons which are used in thousands of killings each year.
"Pakistan's gun culture goes back a long way in the tribal areas, but that has now spread throughout Pakistan. Now we have a... 'Kalashnikov culture' (and) easy access to all manner of sophisticated weapons.
"We don't have precise figures... but it is certain that thousands of people are killed each year when guns are used in crimes and personal disputes," he said.
Khattack conceded Musharraf's military regime had achieved some success in disarming Pakistan's population, but figures published in the commission's report for 2001 show just how severe the problem remains.
Acknowledging its "incomplete and fragmented data", the report -- published in March -- said "targeted" political or sectarian violence claimed 626 lives in 2001, with assassinations of businessmen, professionals and officials claiming 142 lives in the city of Karachi alone.
Armed kidnappings for ransom in the southern province of Sindh numbered 400 in the first seven months of 2001, a figure which is also believed understated, while tribal disputes resulted in 79 recorded deaths.
In the eastern city of Lahore 255 people were killed by guns, while in the eastern province of Punjab so-called "honour killings" -- mostly by shooting -- of women perceived to have shamed their families claimed 227 lives.
Perhaps as a result of statistics like those, many Pakistanis admit they keep weapons at home, and they are ready to use them.
"I have two AK-47s at home," said one resident of Peshawar, about 170 kilometers (106 miles) west of Islamabad. "The police can not protect us and so we must protect ourselves."
Technically, ownership of unregistered weapons is illegal in Pakistan. The penalty for possessing an illicit firearm ranges from 10 years in jail to life and the government has stopped issuing licences.
A two-week amnesty last year saw the surrender of nearly 84,000 firearms and approximately 163,000 rounds of ammunition, while a major follow-up police operation resulted in over 600 arrests and the seizure of more than 1,000 guns.
But authorities privately admit the tally was insignificant given that "millions" of weapons remain in circulation and, according to officials in NWFP, the weapons crackdown still faces significant obstacles.
Indeed, the prospect of mass unemployment has seen the Darra Adam Khel arms bazaar exempted from Islamabad's closure order, for the time being at least.
"We will decide the fate of the Darra bazaar later," a local official said, adding that one suggestion was to nationalise Darra under the auspices of the military controlled Pakistan Ordnance Factory.
But the idea apparently has little support among Darra's gunsmiths, several of whom said they feared government-provided salaries would be much lower than their current incomes.
But perhaps an even bigger hurdle to disarming Pakistan is a deeply held belief.
"In our culture it is the responsibility of a man to protect his family and property," said the Peshawar resident, a member of the Pashtun ethnic group whose centuries-old warrior tradition is both feared and respected.
"People here have very little confidence in the police or justice system, and so without a gun how can you protect your family? How can you be a man?" he asked.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_40294,00050002.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
Huw Watkin (Agence France-Presse)
Islamabad, August 20
At the Darra Adam Khel arms bazaar in the mountainous terrain of northwestern Pakistan, warlords, tribal warriors and even bandits can buy just about any weapon they want.
But the government of President Pervez Musharraf has declared war on the illegal arms industry, and while this may achieve a reduction in Pakistan's appalling level of gun related violence, it also threatens to destroy the livelihood of thousands of families.
Renowned for its gunmaking expertise since the late 19th century, the Darra weapons bazaar -- about 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Peshawar -- is a sprawl of hundreds of workshops where some 3,500 gunsmiths toil on replica weapons which experts say are equal to, if not better than, mass produced originals.
"This has been our family business for 120 years," said gunsmith Mirbaz Afridi, a powerfully built and bearded ethnic Pashtun tribesman.
"The father of my grandfather did not have land, so he turned to making guns. He taught his son, who taught my father who then taught me. And now I am teaching my sons," he told AFP.
The weapons Afridi makes are sold in the retail markets of the northwest and clandestinely across Pakistan, and despite his skilled craftsmanship, they sell for incredibly low prices.
Depending on quality, a replica Kalashnikov (AK-47) goes for between 5,000 and 10,000 rupees (about 80 to 160 dollars) while a semi-automatic handgun can be bought for as little as 2,000 rupees (35 dollars).
"I can make single bullet pen-guns, pump-action shotguns, even anti-aircraft machineguns and rocket launchers. I can make any weapon you want," he said.
But the Darra arms market now faces an uncertain future. Pakistan's government is clamping down on the arms bazaars in an attempt to restore law and order and reduce the carnage of gun related violence.
Authorities in isolated Northwest Frontier Province (NWFP) -- an area bordering Afghanistan known locally as Ilaqa Ghair or "land without law" -- said arms markets would be closed on instructions from Islamabad.
"After receiving written orders from the Interior Ministry... we have issued notices to all area administrators to close down all illegal arms markets," a local official told AFP.
"The administration of Jamrud Khyber district (close to the Khyber pass into Afghanistan) has already closed one... market of 200 shops, and on Sunday the administration ordered the closure of another market there which comprises 150 shops."
The tradition of gun making in NWFP has its roots in the manufacture of simple guns for hunting, although over the years local gunsmiths became proficient in the manufacture of more sophisticated weapons.
But it was the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s which led both to a flood of imported weapons and a boom in local production.
Afrasiab Khattack, chairman of the Human Rights Commission, said that as a result of the Afghan conflict Pakistan remains "awash" with weapons which are used in thousands of killings each year.
"Pakistan's gun culture goes back a long way in the tribal areas, but that has now spread throughout Pakistan. Now we have a... 'Kalashnikov culture' (and) easy access to all manner of sophisticated weapons.
"We don't have precise figures... but it is certain that thousands of people are killed each year when guns are used in crimes and personal disputes," he said.
Khattack conceded Musharraf's military regime had achieved some success in disarming Pakistan's population, but figures published in the commission's report for 2001 show just how severe the problem remains.
Acknowledging its "incomplete and fragmented data", the report -- published in March -- said "targeted" political or sectarian violence claimed 626 lives in 2001, with assassinations of businessmen, professionals and officials claiming 142 lives in the city of Karachi alone.
Armed kidnappings for ransom in the southern province of Sindh numbered 400 in the first seven months of 2001, a figure which is also believed understated, while tribal disputes resulted in 79 recorded deaths.
In the eastern city of Lahore 255 people were killed by guns, while in the eastern province of Punjab so-called "honour killings" -- mostly by shooting -- of women perceived to have shamed their families claimed 227 lives.
Perhaps as a result of statistics like those, many Pakistanis admit they keep weapons at home, and they are ready to use them.
"I have two AK-47s at home," said one resident of Peshawar, about 170 kilometers (106 miles) west of Islamabad. "The police can not protect us and so we must protect ourselves."
Technically, ownership of unregistered weapons is illegal in Pakistan. The penalty for possessing an illicit firearm ranges from 10 years in jail to life and the government has stopped issuing licences.
A two-week amnesty last year saw the surrender of nearly 84,000 firearms and approximately 163,000 rounds of ammunition, while a major follow-up police operation resulted in over 600 arrests and the seizure of more than 1,000 guns.
But authorities privately admit the tally was insignificant given that "millions" of weapons remain in circulation and, according to officials in NWFP, the weapons crackdown still faces significant obstacles.
Indeed, the prospect of mass unemployment has seen the Darra Adam Khel arms bazaar exempted from Islamabad's closure order, for the time being at least.
"We will decide the fate of the Darra bazaar later," a local official said, adding that one suggestion was to nationalise Darra under the auspices of the military controlled Pakistan Ordnance Factory.
But the idea apparently has little support among Darra's gunsmiths, several of whom said they feared government-provided salaries would be much lower than their current incomes.
But perhaps an even bigger hurdle to disarming Pakistan is a deeply held belief.
"In our culture it is the responsibility of a man to protect his family and property," said the Peshawar resident, a member of the Pashtun ethnic group whose centuries-old warrior tradition is both feared and respected.
"People here have very little confidence in the police or justice system, and so without a gun how can you protect your family? How can you be a man?" he asked.
http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_40294,00050002.htm
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
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By Peter Biles - BBC Correspondent In Kabul
The Afghan defense minister, Mohammed Fahim, has been outlining details of a disarmament program to bring weapons in the country under the control of the central government.
Presiding over a graduation ceremony of a battalion of French-trained Afghan soldiers, Mr. Fahim declared that all weapons used in the past now belonged to Afghanistan's new national army.
Rebuilding a national army, and disarming militia groups around the country are two of the biggest problems facing the Afghan government.
Mr. Fahim said there was no need for so many arms to be in circulation, and he claimed that regional commanders were ready to support the process of surrendering weapons and reconstructing a multi-ethnic national army.
City security
But some Afghan warlords will be wary of having their power usurped by central government.
The militia leaders who have been co-operating with the United States in the fight against remnants of the Taleban and al-Qaeda are likely to remain armed for the time being.
A senior American commander in Kabul said they could not be disarmed while the war against terrorism was still going on.
At the ceremony on Wednesday, the members of the second battalion of the army put on a display of their ability at the military training center on the outskirts of Kabul.
The latest graduates will be based in the capital for now, as the government tries to reinforce security around the city.
http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=3644
"If cowardly and dishonorable men sometimes shoot unarmed men with army pistols or guns, the evil must be prevented by the penitentiary and gallows, and not by a general deprivation of a constitutional privilege." - Arkansas Supreme Court, 1878
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