Brute Force

Despite claims made by the government officials regarding the introduction of radical changes in the police investigation system as well as the thana culture, the reality is otherwise.

On Feb 2, 2009, the officials of Kotwali police station, Gujranwala, arrested one Baber Bhatti on the count of gambling as he was on his way to the hospital for a routine medical check-up. He was publicly beaten up by the policemen and then made to ride a donkey around the city. A day after the incident, on Feb 3, the Wazirabad city police (it also falls under the jurisdiction of the Gujranwala district) beat four people in public, using a piece of reinforced leather called 'chhittar'.
The next day, the Mozang police in Lahore resorted to similar kind of violence in two separate incidents. The policemen took five accused of gambling to Bhoondpura Chowk in the form of a procession, during the peak hours, created a commotion to attract a maximum number of people, and forced them down on the road. One of the cops placed his foot on the neck of the accused while the other two held him by his hands and feet and, finally, the fourth (cop) used the good old 'chhittar'. One by one, the cops thrashed all the five accused, after removing their lower garments, and forced them to say aloud, "Mein jua naeen khedaan gaa" (I won't gamble again).
In the second incident, the same policemen tortured another accused, using the same methods, as scores of people stood witness. Some of them couldn't tolerate the sight of so much torture and passed out on the spot.
The high-handedness of police is not a new phenomenon in Pakistan. Although police officials and different governments have occasionally claimed introducing radical changes in the police investigation system as well as the thana culture, the reality is otherwise. A recent police torture data released by the Karachi-based Madadgaar Helpline shows that from January 2008 to June '08, a total of 743 cases of police torture were reported. The provincial break-up of the figure shows that four cases were reported from Balochistan, 29 from NWFP, 406 from Punjab and 304 cases from Sindh. The nature of abuse ranges from 79 cases of murder, 20 of rape, 333 of illegal detention, 256 of physical torture and 55 harassment cases. The graph of police torture/violence on people is on the rise.
"A further analysis reveals that 416 cases occurred at police stations, 252 at workplace, 66 at victims' residences, and 52 at public places, 57 in private jails, 60 in jail and 92 cases were reported at abandoned places," reads the report.
Muhammad Maqbool, DIG, Loralai police, Balochistan, says that the answer to minimal or no police torture cases in Balochistan and NWFP lies in their social structure that is based on a strong tribal system. "The tradition of revenge in tribal culture keeps the police in control,".
Punjab Police officials claim using torture as a tool not only to investigate the accused or the criminals but also to curb crimes. "Such public punishments can inspire awe and fear (of the police) among the public. Believe me, 80 percent of crime is controlled this way," said a deputy superintendent of Punjab police requesting anonymity.
He said that if the Station House Officer (SHO) of a certain area gets tough, the people in his area would think twice before they commit a crime. The low ranking police officials who are 'famous' for using the third degree are a favourite with the high officials, he added.
According to him, common torture methods employed by police officials include standing for hours with arms stretched to a side, hanging by the ankles, twisting the genitals, clubbing, not allowing them to use toilets for hours, burning with cigarettes, whacking the soles of the feet, sexual assault, prolonged isolation, electric shock, denial of food or sleep, hanging upside down, forced spreading of the legs with bar fetters and public humiliation. The police official also admitted having private investigation cells where the accused were kept without formal arrest. "If we keep the record of arrests, we will have to produce them before a judicial magistrate within 24 hours of their arrest and seek physical remand. Since there is usually no record of who is taken in and released, nobody from outside the police station can prove any wrongdoing."
Ironically, torture is prohibited in Pakistan's constitution as well as criminal justice system and Sharia laws. According to Article 14 of the Pakistan Constitution, sub article (a), "No person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidences." Article 38 and 39 of the Law of Evidence exhorts that "no confession made to a police officer shall be permissible against a person accused of any offence. No confession made by any person whilst he is in custody of a police officer unless it be made in the immediate presence of a Magistrate shall be proved as against such person."
Under the Qisas and Diyat Ordinances, causing of hurt by any person to extort "any confession or any information which may lead to the detection of any offence or misconduct" is defined as a distinct, punishable offence.
Furthermore, Pakistan is a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Human Rights whose Article 5 states, "No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
On the one hand, Pakistani laws bar use of torture against any body, on the other, the human rights organizations rate Pakistan among the most vulnerable countries regarding police torture. The Amnesty International says that every year more than 100 people are killed in Pakistan due to police torture. The HRCP annual report 2007 says that as many as 147 cases of torture in police custody and at least 65 cases of death in police custody were reported.
According to the report, the Lahore High Court has observed that it seemed difficult to save the public from police excesses, irrespective of the new legislation. The most revealing data about police torture was released by Madadgaar Helpline at the end of the year 2008. According to the report, over the past nine years, there have been 9,364 reported cases of police torture. Of the total, 231 cases were reported in 2000, 555 in 2001, 996 in 2002, 838 in 2003, 1,260 in 2004, 1,356 in 2005, 1,662 in 2006, 1723 in 2007 and 743 in the first six months of 2008.
A senior police official of a federal institution formed in order to steer the police reform efforts in the country told that in civilized societies torture could not be used as a policy tool to curb or investigate crimes. "Unfortunately, investigation skills of police in Pakistan are pathetic. They are not capable of extracting information by other means."
He declared that the police high officials who resorted to torturous methods were punished duly. However, the data available regarding 'Punishment awarded to police personnel during 01.01.2008 to 31.12.2008' of Punjab police presents a different picture. According to the data, a total 65 Punjab police officials (two inspectors, three sub-inspectors, 28 assistant sub-inspectors, 10 head constables and 22 constables) were given 'major and minor' disciplinary punishment on the basis of the torture category. The data further reveals that 33 out of these punishments were just of 'censure'. The data clearly shows the seriousness of the police high officials regarding controlling the practice of torture among its ranks.
Tariq Abbas Qureshi, district police officer, Sahiwal district, informs that torture is the only resort since the police have no scientific means of investigation at their disposal. "Most of the investigation officers are not capable of comprehending the medical legal certificate. They are incapable, in most of cases, of taking assistance from the MLS or post-mortem reports. They do not even have the capacity to use fingerprint matching, leave aside DNA test or other forensic methods. So the only resort left is torture."
In our police investigation system, an accused is arrested and then evidence is 'extracted' out of him/her. In the developed countries, on the contrary, there is no concept of formally arresting the accused unless there is sufficient material available against him/her.
Here the police are obliged to recover the stolen property from the criminals. The court refuses to convict the accused unless the stolen property is recovered. This puts immense pressure on the police to recover stolen property within fourteen days (usual period of judicial remand). This is the reason why the police tortures and keeps the accused in custody without formally arresting them to complete the recoveries.
He says that the police are also used by influential people of an area to humiliate their opponents publicly, although the practice has been reduced by the present government.
Zia Ahmed Awan, President, Lawyers for Human Rights and Legal Aid (LHRLA), the body that runs Madagaar Helpline, tells that the police department has always been a symbol of terror. "Gradual increase in violence by the police shows serious negligence of concerned government departments, particularly the law enforcement agencies. Because of the stigma attached, discrimination against victims and the police's non-cooperative attitude, the corrupt officials and culprits continue to remain at large. This is a source of encouragement to criminal minded officials."
He also says that the data provided by Madagaar Helpline consists of just the cases that were reported in the media. "I personally think that 90 percent of such cases are not reported in the media due to different reasons."
The current police system, he says, is obsolete and, as a result, the condition of innocent people and victims has increasingly become pathetic. "The government is not taking any positive steps to improve the system and enforce laws while the civil society and political parties are also not standing up for positive changes or a proper implementation of the Police Ordinance in order to pressurize the incumbent government to bring about the much-awaited change.
"Pakistan is a country where even the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the apex court, is not spared physical and mental torture (at the hands of the law enforcement agencies), let alone the common people," he laments.

Role of law

Certain laws 'empower' the police to unleash terror on citizens with impunity.

While the police can act against civilians whenever they want, in violation of the law of the land, there are certain laws that grant them immense powers to use them arbitrarily. To put it simply, certain powers and laws encourage the police to unleash terror on citizens with impunity.
For example, Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code (Cr PC) empowers the police to arrest a person without an order or warrant, on mere suspicion. As per law, such powers can be exercised only in cases where a police officer is in possession of some evidence indicating the involvement of a person in situations mentioned in Section 54(1) of Cr. PC. But in most of the cases, it is noticed that the police officer arrested a person without collecting any material connecting with commission of the offences.
A police officer tells that the laws are violated mainly for the reason that the seniors who are supposed to take disciplinary actions themselves encourage such acts.
He says that the inclusion of a couple of words or changing of a situation slightly can make a non-cognisable offence into a cognisable one. The root of the problem is the excessive use of police by those in power to target their opponents.
He says there is a big difference between a peaceful assembly and one that is not. A police officer has the power to declare the assemblers as trouble makers and book them under anti-terrorism laws. All he has to do is to mention in the FIR that the assemblers were chanting anti-state slogans and inciting each other to destroy public property.
Hafiz Zahid, an agriculturist from Mardan, tells that many a time the police officials collude with criminals to commit a crime. He says it has happened many a time that they arrest people for involvement in some minor crimes like cattle theft and send them to the lockup. In fact, these people are most of the time planners of bigger crimes like murders, abductions and gang rapess. When the aggrieved nominates them in criminal cases they get relief from courts on the grounds that they were in the lock-up at the time of the committal of the said crimes, Zahid adds. This excuse is called 'plea of alibi' in legal terms.
The registration of FIR is where the police can play the most and use different clauses of the relevant laws to facilitate themselves, says Intezar Mehdi Advocate, a Lahore-based lawyer. For example, if a person has abducted somebody, the FIR can be filed under both Section 365 and Section 365 A of the Pakistan Penal Code. The punishment under the former is 7 years maximum, whereas under the latter one can even get a death sentence.
Mehdi says it is up to the police officer to decide under which clause he is going to register the case.
He says Section 365 of the PPC pertains to kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine the person: "Whoever kidnaps or abducts any person with intent to cause that person to be secretly and wrongfully confined, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to seven years, and shall also be liable to fine."
Whereas he says Section 365-A of PPC is about kidnapping or abducting for extorting property, valuable security, etc. It says, "Whoever kidnaps or abducts any person for the purpose of extorting from the person kidnapped or abducted, or from any person interested in the person kidnapped or abducted any property, whether movable or immovable, or valuable security, or to compel any person to comply with any other demand, whether in cash or otherwise, for obtaining release of the person kidnapped or abducted, shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to forfeiture of property.
This means that by simply mentioning extortion as the purpose of kidnapping a police officer can increase the penalty from a maximum of seven years and fine to death.
The list of laws abused by the police is exhaustive and includes blasphemy, hudood, public obsenity and several other laws. Though these problems exist on a large scare, mere realisation among the police that they are no more subservient to colonial rule but citizens of a sovereign state can improve the situation to a great extent, says Additional IG Punjab Police Fayyaz Ahmed Mir.
Section 54 is a remnant of the British era and must be done away with immediately, he adds.

Encounters of a kind

Generally, the outlaws are not captured alive in police encounters and are allegedly killed on the spot or in police custody.

When it comes to police encounters, Punjab tops the list, compared to other provinces where the ratio of such 'quick fixes' is rather small, as per the data available with the AGHS Legal Aid Cell and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
A closer look at the data shows that the killing of alleged criminals in 'staged encounters' continued in the year 2008. Moreover, a significant rise in these incidents can be traced in Punjab after September last.
According to the data, at least 300 people have been killed in such encounters, in the time period between January 2008 and February 2009, including 220 in 2008 alone, with the majority in Punjab.
It is also noted that, generally, the alleged outlaws were not captured alive in encounters and their relatives allege that in dozens of such incidents those killed happened to be in police custody.
According to media reports, a family in Lahore protested against an alleged fake encounter that had killed two 'robbers' in the first week of February 2008. Another five dacoits were reported as killed in the first week of May, in Lahore. Again, on May 21, the Lahore police allegedly killed a youth in an encounter. On August 19, the police shot dead three (robbers) in an encounter, while September 11 saw four policemen being killed in encounter in Kohat with criminals managing to escape. In mid September, five criminals were killed in three police encounters in Multan and Sahiwal. On Oct 21, four wanted gangsters were gunned down by the police in Faisalabad and on Oct 26 four were killed in Lahore.
On Oct 27, a family of Faisalabad protested against an alleged fake encounter that killed their son. On Nov 5, the police killed two robbers in Faisalabad, while the CIA (Crime Investigation Agency) Lahore shot dead two 'criminals' on Nov 11. One docait was killed in Narowal on Dec 18.
In 2009, the Gujranwala police killed two dacoits including one 'most wanted' Nanho Goraya on Jan 18. Two each were killed in Lahore and Faisalabad on Jan 27 and Feb 3 respectively. On Feb 15, Lahore and Okara police killed three 'robbers' each.
The rise in the quick-fix system of police, mainly in Punjab, under the chief ministership of Shahbaz Sharif, has once again started giving the impression to human rights activists that "extra judicial killings" are going on frequently.
According to the provincial police's own figures, 66 alleged criminals were killed in 2008 in 42 police encounters in Lahore alone. Almost 75 percent of these killings took place while the province was under the current administration's rule. Reportedly, during the previous term of PML-N, between 1997 and 1999, more than 850 suspected criminals were killed in what human rights activists termed "extra-judicial killings."
According to the HRCP annual report 2007, as many as 234 people were killed in police encounters in Punjab alone. In the latest move, Punjab Inspector General (IG) Police Shaukat Javed has directed all Regional Police Officers (RPOs) to hold judicial inquiries into all police encounters in Punjab.
I. A. Rehman, Secretary General, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), terms these encounters as extra judicial killings, and says they serve to brutalise the society in the name of quick justice.
"Only state has the right or authority to take the life of any body through a legal procedure. Unauthorised detentions, police encounters etc also lead to corruption."
He recalls how on his visit to Karachi in 1995, a family demanded the HRCP team to force the police to lodge a case against its son who was illegally detained in a police station for several months.
He says that such excesses tarnish the image of police among the common people. "The situation cannot be redressed until a transparent judicial system is provided."
Pervez Rasheed, the newly elected senator and special advisor to the Punjab government, said the government had already ordered judicial inquiry into all police encounters. However, he ruled out the possibility of such encounters being held on the directions of the government or the chief minister.
"We've seen governments, like the previous one, that devised no particular strategy to nab the criminals, including the most wanted ones," he said, adding that the present government has given special attention to curb the criminals.

State of police rule

The colonial roots and the neo-colonial influences on Pakistani police coupled with an undemocratic political system and traditional sources of social authority create an enormous human-munching machine which is totally devoid of any idea of welfare of the citizens.

Before the emergence of the modern state, private collectives of soldiers patronised by feudal lords and tribal chiefs performed police work. Their duties were similar to contemporary police but limited territorially to the village or tribal level. The distinction between the military and the police was also not as clear as it is in the contemporary state. All able-bodied men who were capable of administering violence were patronised by the chief for warding off marauding hordes. This system of violence was an informal way of wealth redistribution. All wealthy persons or tribes were at risk of being attacked and had to maintain private guards, soldiers, police, spies, and informants to prepare against impending attacks.
With the arrival of the modern state on the horizon of human societies, violence became formal and procedural. At least that was the promise of the state. The state was supposed to have an absolute monopoly over violence. There shall be no informal torture, looting, kidnapping, murder, or even parental beating. Everybody was a citizen and the person of the citizen was sacrosanct. This promise underpinned the contract that enabled the state to extract taxes. The taxpayers' money was used to pay the expenses of maintaining the armed forces, the police, the executive, the legislative, and public utilities such as health, education, and support for the indigent. It means the contract was and still is, if the state taxes, mutually binding. In theory, the state cannot break the promise of personal safety and keep collecting revenue.
This promise of the personal safety of every citizen is the raison d'être of the police in all modern states, including Pakistan. However, in Pakistan, the police force was not an indigenously evolved institution and is a direct descendent of the police force created by the British in 1843, following the model of The Royal Irish Constabulary, whose function was to maintain law and order and also repress independence movements and revolutionary uprisings. This colonial model of policing was not dependent on a mutually binding social contract. The British Empire could extract revenue and raw material by any means. Moreover, the Empire could finance the police and the army by revenue collected from other parts. It meant that the police did not have to be friendly to the indigenous people of South Asia.
After Independence, the nature of the police has not changed much, though the neo-colonial aid programmes of the United States of America, have introduced some changes to the colonial model. Anyone who has watched the reality shows of American cops grinding the faces of "black and Hispanic offenders" to the footpath can decipher how benign the neo-colonial influence can be for the indigenous population.
The colonial origins and the neo-colonial influences on Pakistani police coupled with an undemocratic political system and traditional sources of social authority create an enormous human-munching machine which is totally devoid of any idea of welfare of the citizens. To substantiate my point, I want to narrate an incident. Once, after an immediate family member was robbed at gunpoint, I approached the 'concerned' police station. The person who was supposed to write the First Investigation Report asked for a bribe. By chance, I had my payslip in my pocket that day which also listed the tax deducted at the source. I showed the sub-inspector the payslip and pointed the listed tax deduction. He asked why I was showing him that piece of paper. I said I was showing him my contribution to the regular payment of his wages. He remarked, "Ik tay eh parhay likhay logan day maslay baray nain!" (These educated people are a real pain in the neck). I still had to use personal contacts to get the case registered. This and many other encounters with the police have produced a distrust of the state's claim as a moral arbiter in Pakistan and many ordinary citizens will tell harrowing tales to support my point.
My argument is simple. If taxation is based on a promise and proactively deducted at the source, why do the police and other state institutions not proactively fulfil the promise of safety? Why are the police not informed that the taxes collected from ordinary citizens provide their uniforms, vehicles, offices, and everything else? Why some of our rulers encourage informal violence and extrajudicial procedures for furthering their own political agendas?
Moreover, other societies have shown awareness of the risks of unbridled power and built institutions to empower ordinary citizens against police excesses. In England, as well as in Australia, France, New Zealand, Mexico, Malaysia, and Portugal, etc, there are legal provisions for empowering the ordinary citizens to make an arrest for any crime which carries a jail punishment. It is called "Citzen's Arrest" and many activists have used it worldwide to apprehend corrupt state officials or to draw media attention to corrupt law-enforcement officers. In Common Law, it is possible, as far as legal theory is concerned, for an ordinary citizen to go and arrest a police officer if the latter is committing a felony. Now if we compare the empowerment of citizenry in our country with those societies where citizens can arrest their torturer or detainer, the picture is quite bleak here.

Swat students seek migration after threats

Over an application of 42 girl students of Saidu Medical College in the restive Swat valley, seeking migration to colleges in other areas, the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday summoned the vice chancellor of Khyber Medical University, Pakistan Medical and Dental Council secretary, principals of public sector medical colleges in the province and other high-ups.
The applicants, Ms Kulsoom Khattak, and 41 others had sent an application to the Peshawar High Court Chief Justice Tariq Pervez Khan who converted it into a human rights petition.
The petition was fixed before a two-member bench comprising Justice Dost Moammad Khan and Justice Said Maroof Khan. The bench observed that the issue was of immense importance and all the officials concerned should appear in person on Feb 18, the next date of hearing.
The bench put on notice PMDC secretary, KMU vice-chancellor, provincial secretary of health department, principals of Saidu, Khyber, Ayub and Gomal medical colleges, secretary of Higher Education Commission and others.
The court ordered that service should be made to those high-ups through ordinary mode as well as through fax and courier service. It was added that the entire expenses of the case would be met by the high court.
When the bench took up for hearing the petition it asked senior lawyer Waseemuddin Khattak to assist the court on the issue. Later on, the court also summoned the section officer (litigation) of health department and counsel of KMC and asked them about a way out in the instant case.
Finally the bench decided to hear high-ups of different departments and colleges in person so as to resolve the issue and provide relief to the applicants.
The applicants have stated that due to precarious law and order situation in swat district they could not go there to attend their college. They added that the college, which was closed for winter vacation, would reopen in March.
The applicants claimed that militants had placed a ban on female education and announced through their FM radio station that they would not be allowed to attend educational institutions.
They stated that in present circumstances it had become next to impossible for them to attend the college.
They requested the chief justice to order their migration to other public sector medical colleges in other areas so as to save their precious year.

An archaeological site in ruins

The new site may be as rich as Mohenjodaro, but suffers from extreme neglect.

Significant clues and material found along the right bank of Indus on Sukkur-Shikarpur highway do provide evidence of the continuity of ancient civilisation in the region dating back to more than five millennia. Though an important advancement in terms of archeological and anthropological studies, Lakhian Jo Daro is nothing but a sorry tale of official neglect spanning the last two decades. Contrary to general perception, the LJD is not a new discovery.

Located some 40 kilometers north of Kot Diji and about 120 kilometers southwest of Moenjodaro, LJD has been known to archeologists of Shah Abdul Latif University (SALU), Khairpur, since the early 1980s, and to local, provincial and federal officials as well as to international experts since 1988. As pointed out by on-site officials, the fact that the remains were unearthed in an area that had been allotted by the Sindh administration for industrial activity seems to be the prime reason for the refusal of official machinery to declare it a heritage site for as long a period as 20 years, during which time factories were built over the ruins.

Some Italian experts, who had visited the area during the mid-90s, took away some organic material from Lakhian Jo Daro and had the relevant C-14 Carbon Dating done at the Centrum voor IsotopenOnderzook (Center for Isotope Research) at the Dutch University of Groningen. The official report dated the samples to be about 3,960 (+/-140) years old.

The report – located only in the personal files of Prof. Mukhtar Qazi, who was the project director in the mid-90s, relates to only the uppermost crust that was scratched at the time. Now that the dunes have been reduced to the level of natural soil in parts of the site – spread over six kilometers east-west and two kilometers north-south – many more findings have been made and parallels can be easily drawn with the period of Moenjodaro.

Dr Nilofar Shaikh, one of the senior archaeologists of the country who is also the SALU vice-chancellor, says relative studies hold much more worth than actual laboratory procedures and the areas excavated thus far has thrown up innumerable parallels with earlier and established findings all along the Rohri Hills – from Kot Diji to Bhando Qubo.

Despite the Absolute Chronology confirmation, all the Relative Chronology studies done by trained, professional and experienced archeologists, and the recovery of artifacts in their hundreds, it was not until March 27, 2007 that the government finally granted the site protection under the Antiquity Act.

At least a part of the area that has been given protection under the notification, however, stands buried under the concrete foundations of industrial concerns. Nobody is quite sure how the excavation work would proceed under the circumstances. Industrialists like Haji Wazeer Ali Memon, Sibghatullah and Sami Memon, who have their flour mills in the vicinity have so far faced no moves from the officials concerned and hope that things would be smooth in the days to come as well.

They can probably relax because they had their infrastructure up and running well before the 2007 notification, but their colleague Shakil Mukhtar has not been as fortunate. Work on his plot of land, D-7, has been stopped and he has a lot to say about the whole activity.

His words reflect sheer frustration. ‘After I had the work started, certain people came to me asking for money. On refusal, they threatened me with consequences, and just days later there was this big scandal about archeological findings. My investment has been blocked … Only God knows from where they have brought all this rubble and called it heritage.’ What he forgets to state is the simple fact that he started construction work on August 1; some four months after the official notification which rendered his activity illegal.

The anomaly, though not of a technical nature, in this particular episode relates to a Joint Survey Map of Lakhian Jo Daro drawn on March 5, 2007, which actually cleared the said D-7 plot as not being a potential area to be excavated or explored. Signed by Dr Nilofar Shaikh, who has been the site’s project director as well, the clearance is, indeed, somewhat surprising, but the notification does supersede the survey and the illegality of D-7, as such, is not under debate anymore.

Secretary of Antiquities Dr Kaleemullah Lashari, who has a post-doctoral fellowship in Historical Research, says the government had already offered the industrialist concerned a replacement plot of land, but ‘we can’t help it if he is asking for the moon.’

As things stand today, industrialization is not the only threat to the site. There is a brick kiln functioning in the middle of this five-tier archaeological wonder. Besides, heavy-duty machinery can also be seen digging up the area for sand and clay that is used for earth-filling purposes in other areas of Sukkur city. Children use it as a playground and it is a thoroughfare for the passersby. This is hardly a description of scientific work being done at an archaeological site.

Project Director Dr Ghulam Mustafa Shar, a somewhat excited professional who keeps moving from one trench to the other, says he cannot rule out the possibility of artifacts getting lost or stolen because the site has no fence around it and there is no police presence to deter adventurists.

Neglected for so long, Lakhian Jo Daro is still looking for its John Marshall or Mortimer Wheeler, who unearthed Moenjodaro back in the 1930s and 1950s. But what it needs even more and rather urgently is the political will, which, though difficult in these recessionary times, is vital for such projects.

The worst of times

WITHOUT any doubt, Pakistan is passing through the worst of times in its turbulent history. Could these be turned into the best of times? It could happen but would require a great deal of work.
To begin with, such a goal would need a dedicated leadership that understands what is wrong with the Pakistani state and how it has reached the current stage. It will also need the more affluent segments of Pakistani citizenry to make sacrifices in order to obtain a better future for the coming generations and to help the less fortunate segments of the population.
There is a need for Pakistani leaders and citizens to appreciate that they live in a geographic space that is about the most troubled in the world. Pakistan has been designated as the world’s most dangerous place on earth, one that requires the immediate attention of the West under the leadership of the newly installed US president. One of the first acts of the new American president was to appoint Richard Holbrooke, a seasoned diplomat who honed his negotiating skills by getting the leaders of the disintegrating state of Yugoslavia to agree to what is known as the Dayton Accord. Holbrooke would do well to delve into the histories of the two countries for which he has been commissioned to develop a new American policy.
Why is Pakistan in such a precarious state at this time? There are many reasons for this. Of these three are particularly important. The first is the inability to develop a durable system of governance by laying the institutional foundation on which the structure of the state could be built. Second is the inability to come to terms with the structural problems that keep the economy excessively dependent on foreign largesse. Third is the absence of a foreign policy that could factor in the opportunities available to the country because of its location and not on the basis of fear of some immediate neighbours.
Leaders belonging to various Pakistani generations were so consumed with their quarrels that they did not turn their attention to the building of institutions. India, on the other hand, had the luxury of being led without interruptions of the kind for 17 years. Jawaharlal Nehru’s long rule resulted in the adoption of the constitution that provided a reasonable amount of security to most segments of the population and ensured respect for the constitution once he was no longer there.
That did not happen in Pakistan. Mohammad Ali Jinnah died a little more than a year after the birth of the Pakistani nation. Liaquat Ali Khan, his successor, belonged to a social group (migrants from India) that was a small minority in the population. He was assassinated, perhaps the target of a conspiracy that involved those wishing to wrest power from him. There was open political season after Liaquat’s murder during which the East Pakistanis fought the West Pakistanis and the West Pakistanis quarrelled among themselves. When the country did get its constitution – the first of three – it was politically too distracted to make it work. That gave space to the military to intervene.
During Gen Ayub Khan’s 11-year rule, the country saw not only political stability but also impressive economic growth. The general gave the country its second constitution, established a system of local government that brought people closer to those who governed, and established a system of economic decision-making that eschewed personal whims in favour of conformity with well-articulated strategies. For several years, in economic circles as well as among political scientists, Pakistan was considered a model of success. But the success proved to be short-lived.
Ayub Khan’s model collapsed for one important reason that also explained the failure of subsequent attempts to bring political and economic development to the country. Ayub Khan’s model was based on the faulty assumption that since the leader is all-knowing he can afford to keep the people at bay. His system of basic democracies enfranchised people at the local level, gave them some say in using public money for meeting their needs. But that is as far as their participation in the affairs of the state went. That was not far enough. People rebelled with two consequences: the separation of East Pakistan and the emergence of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto as the first elected ruler of the country.
But Pakistan’s leaders have never missed the opportunity to miss an opportunity. Bhutto had the popular support to give the country a durable political structure and to place the economy on the trajectory of long-term growth. After some initial success, he failed on both counts. His success was in giving the country a constitution that had the support of the people. The political failure was once again the consequence of the belief in an all-knowing patriarch guiding the affairs of the state without much participation from other representatives of the people.
The economic failure was the result of a strong belief in a discredited theory of management: that the best way of delivering benefits of growth to less privileged segments of society was to put the state on the commanding heights of the economy. There was much dissatisfaction among the people with Bhutto’s economic and political management which once again provided space for the military to occupy.
Another 11 years of military rule followed, by far the most destructive period in Pakistan’s history. Ziaul Haq went on to destroy the few political and economic institutions the country was left with. He disfigured the constitution to establish an all-powerful presidency within a parliamentary framework. The inherent tension in this approach could not be reconciled. The most ill-advised move by the religiously inclined military leader was to impose on the country a version of Islam that was foreign to it. His move in that direction, unfortunately, had the support of the United States which wanted jihadis for its mission to expel the Soviet Union from Afghanistan.
The jihadis succeeded and Zia was briefly hailed in the West as the great liberator. But he left an ugly legacy for which the entire world, not only Pakistan, is paying a very heavy price. To understand how this legacy is manifesting itself, we need not go beyond what is happening in Swat today. That is the legacy that current civilian rulers of Pakistan – and now President Barack Obama and his special emissary – must contend with.

At least 138 suicides in Jan, 2009: HRCP

At least 138 people committed suicide in the country in one month ending Jan 25, 2009, according to statistics available with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan.
Of those committing suicide between Dec 26, 2008, and Jan 25, 2009, ninety-eight individuals were male and 40 female.
Twenty-nine people committed suicide over their failure to find employment or on account of poverty.
Thirty-two people shot themselves, indicating access to firearms.
Fifty-four people took their own lives by consuming poison, insecticide or various chemicals.
The youngest person to commit suicide was 13 years old and the oldest was 65.
The age of the victims could not be ascertained in many cases of suicide.
Besides, there were also 78 incidents of attempted suicide during the period.
The registration of an FIR by the police for attempted suicides could only be confirmed in six cases.
In the previous month – from Nov 26 to Dec 25, 2008 – at least 117 people had committed suicide and 80 others had attempted to take their own lives.

WB seeks proposals for local plans of nutrition support

The World Bank (WB) says that 39 per cent children of Pakistan are moderately or severely malnourished and in this regard the country has made no significant progress over the last two decades.

The WB warned Islamabad authorities that the global increase in food prices is affecting Pakistan threatening the nutrition of young children and women of childbearing age particularly among the poor.

The World Bank on Wednesday launched a competitive Development Marketplace for Nutrition aimed at finding and funding innovative ideas that will change the lives of thousands of pregnant women, infants, and young children in South Asia.

Titled “Family and Community Approaches to Improving Infant and Young Child Nutrition,” the Development Marketplace is looking for entrepreneurial organisations across South Asia to submit proposals for local, small-scale projects with potential to be scaled up and replicated.

The winners will be selected by an international jury of development and nutrition experts at the Development Marketplace event in August, 2009 in Dhaka, Bangladesh and will receive funding to implement their proposals.

“Malnutrition affects the lives of millions of infants and young children in South Asia,” said Isabel Guerrero, World Bank Vice President for the South Asia region. “It saps a child’s growth potential, delays enrolment in school, limits school achievements, and lowers lifetime earnings.

This competition offers a unique opportunity to channel small grants directly to community organizations and NGOs who present innovative ways to address this devastating problem.”

Malnutrition is the single biggest contributor to child mortality in the world. In South Asia child malnutrition rates are among the highest in the world. Both child underweight and stunting rates in the region are nearly double those in Africa.

In Pakistan childhood malnutrition is 39 per cent. The global increase in food prices poses serious threat to the nutrition of young children and women of childbearing age, particularly among the poor.

“Recent evidence clearly shows that there are proven effective interventions to improve nutrition,” said Andrea Vermehren, World Bank team leader for the Development Marketplace. “However, effectively implementing these interventions - and implementing them at scale is a major challenge. We believe this effort will help find new ways of providing innovative solutions to malnutrition.”

The South Asia Regional Development Marketplace is implemented in partnership with the Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), Micronutrient Initiative, UNICEF, and the World Food Program.

The competition is open to civil society groups, social entrepreneurs, youth organizations, private foundations, academia, and private sector corporations in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The maximum award will be $40,000 per proposal. Proposals will be accepted until March 31, 2009.

Lost Future - I

"Colorfull Images"..........on street children showing dark side of our society......think about them....they are our future........but lost in darkness..........due to our ignorance to their..........

There are no official statistics available on the number of street children in Pakistan. But local NGOs estimate the conservative figure to be around 100,000 all over the country, including 12,000 each in mega cities like Karachi and Lahore.
These paintings are thoughts on the daily tragedy on our streets. In no way does it provide a complete picture of the entire scale of the problem, as obviously that wasn’t the aim. Perhaps the goal was to simply make us, the viewers, think about the matter deeply, in the hope that one day it would lead to mass mobilization of action on the issue.

After all, what more can an artist do?

Each day we see images like these in real life without blinking for a second, but somehow when the misery is painted and the moment is seized on a large canvas, a moment of compassion coupled with shame resurfaces. The young boys and girls in the imagery look as alone and surrounded by darkness as in real life. Picture after picture, the loneliness of a child can be felt. ‘Children living on the streets are lonely individuals. They are alone even in the chaos of our cities; be it while walking in the middle of a traffic jam or sleeping on the hard pavement,

In some of the paintings, the artist uses clippings of English newspapers and wall chalking in Urdu as background textures. The news itself in the paper clips has no relation with the theme of the paintings, but is used only to highlight the fact that most of these children work as rag pickers; they collect the newspapers from our streets and sell it for recycling purposes to earn their livelihood.

Lost Future - II

Can there be an appropriate color to paint a child’s misery?

These children are also the future of Pakistan. But unlike other children, they will not become doctors or engineers even though many of them might dream of becoming one. They too want to go to schools and live a normal life like any other child. However, their treacherous path will lead them either to becoming criminals or joining the flesh trade. Street children are everywhere around us. ‘From the moment we step out of our houses, these homeless children can be found scanning our garbage, begging on the streets or standing at traffic signals to clean the windows of our cars. My heart bleeds for them .............

Walking barefoot on cold pavements, these children of a lesser god wander aimlessly among us. We routinely honk them away at first sight on traffic signals, casually dismissing their hungry yet innocent faces with a swap of the hand or a menacing look for daring to venture near us like flies swarming over warm food.

HIV/Aids treatment centre for children set up

The NWFP government has established Paediatric HIV/Aids Case Management Centre at the Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar to provide free treatment to children afflicted with the pandemic.
The one-year project had been started with financial assistance of Unicef where one doctor and a counsellor had been appointed. Both have been imparted training in India regarding management of HIV/Aids-infected children.
The project will end on Dec 31 after which the provincial government will arrange funds to make it a permanent department. Parents’ guidance, including methods requiring for safe sex practices, is also being given priority to prevent transmission of the disease to newborns.
The government had already established antiretroviral (ARV) treatment centres in the Hayatabad Medical Complex and the District Headquarters Hospital, Kohat, in collaboration with the World Health Organisation where 344 patients had been registered for treatment since 2005, the officials said.
Initially patients were reluctant to visit the ARV centres due to social stigma associated with the ailment, but now they knew that symptomatic treatment was available to them due to which patients’ flow of patients was increasing.
As of December last year, 40 patients were registered from Peshawar, 32 from Afghanistan, 30 from the Kurram Agency, 23 from Bannu, 20 from Nowshera, 19 from the Khyber Agency, 18 from Hangu, 17 from Upper Dir, 16 each from North Waziristan and Swabi, 14 each from Lower Dir, Kohat, South Waziristan and Swat, 12 from the Orakzai Agency, 11 from Buner, seven each from Mohmand and Bajaur agencies, five from Lakki Marwat, four each from Frontier Region of Kohat, Malakand and Chitral, three from Mardan, two each from Karak, Dera Ismail Khan and Punjab, one each from Islamabad, Tank, Mansehra and Kohistan.
At the moment the ARV centre did not have data about children infected with HIV/Aids, but they hoped that the plan would motivate parents who were undergoing treatment to bring their children for necessary tests.
Doctors said a majority of the infected persons had worked in the UAE and other Middle Eastern countries, who were deported after being tested positive for HI/Aids. There is no system to detect these people at the airports and inform their families accordingly and they join their families without disclosing about their disease to their wives and other family members.
The doctors said there was a genuine fear that they might have infected their children, which needed to be investigated.
The Paediatric HIV/Aids Case Management Centre is the first of its kind in the country, which will also receive children from other cities of the country. For this purpose, paediatricians will be taken on board to cope with children suffering from the disease.
Under the plan, HIV/Aids patients will be persuaded to bring their children for investigation and in case of confirmation of the disease, the children will be put on treatment. Free diagnostic and treatment facilities will be given to the children at the centre.

Swat Museum a victim of obscurantism

The museum will reopen only after peace returns to the valley.

The 2000-year-old heritage of Swat is now at the mercy of militants loyal to Maulana Fazlullah. They had made their intentions clear from day one: symbols of pre-Islamic cultures are an abomination and must be destroyed.
The Swat museum, a repository of relics dating as far back as to the 3rd century BC, has itself turned into a picture of ruin.
The museum was taken over by the Army after it launched the operation in 2007. An explosion at a nearby army premises and the hostels of the Jehanzeb College badly damaged parts of the building in February of last year. Insiders told that 150 items of pottery dating back to the 1st century BC fell to the ground from the impact of the blast.
The transportation of the damaged pottery to a Taxila-based laboratory for repair has been posing a challenge to the museum staff and law enforcement agencies due to fear of attacks by militants. The curator, Mohammad Aqleem, has appealed to the authorities for security. But so far no law enforcement agency has responded to the curator’s SOS.
It has now been decided to bring experts to Swat so that they could repair the broken pottery, but the when and the how are being kept secret. All the items which were once on display in the eight-gallery museum have been removed to an unknown place. In the wake of threats by the Fazlullah-led Taliban, only a handful of the 54 people employed at the museum could be seen in the compound.
Located in the heart of Mingora city, the museum looks like a military fort from the outside — its entrance protected by sandbags and bunkers. From the inside it is no more than a jail. Aqleem and his family have been living in the museum premises and have restricted their movements. They are being guarded by the Army. The curator, who has chosen to stay in Swat despite the lurking danger, sat brooding over the fate awaiting a once serene valley.
He recalls, with a tinge of sadness, that it was on one Saturday night in Nov 2007 that the historic statue of Buddha in the Jihanabad area of Swat was blown up by militants. ‘This was the second attack on the seventh century statue of Buddha,’ he observed with a wry smile. The fresh attack had caused irreparable loss to the head of the statue and also damaged its shoulders.
‘It was a most complete and inspiring symbol of Gandhara art,’ Aqleem said, looking up to the ceiling of his office. The room which now serves as his office was once a dining room for guests. His office is no longer safe for him. After the destruction of the Bamiyan statue of Afghanistan, the one in Swat was the most awesome. It stood seven metres tall, showing Buddha in meditation.
The museum was founded in 1959 by the Wali (head) of the then state of Swat. Its building was designed by an Italian architect, Vittonio Cardi, and renovated in 1992 thanks to a Japanese grant in 1992. Its items cannot be displayed anywhere else except Swat for it is a site museum.
‘The museum will reopen only after peace returns to the valley,’ Aqleem said.

And peace is what the people of Swat are dying for.

Britain returns smuggled pottery to Pakistan

The 4,000-year-old relics, which originate from NWFP, were examined by the British Museum and estimated to have a value of 0.1 million pounds.

Britain on Monday handed back to Pakistan almost 200 smuggled pottery artifacts that were seized by British border officers two years ago.
The 198 bowls and vases were smuggled from Pakistan via Dubai and discovered by the UK Border Agency at London's Heathrow airport in 2007.
The 4,000-year-old relics, which originate from Pakistan's north western frontier, were examined by the British Museum and estimated to have a value of 100,000 pounds ($148,800).
‘It's a sort of vandalism, people who steal invaluable things from developing countries at a very cheap price,’ Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's High Commissioner to Britain, said at a ceremony in London.
‘This is our nation's heritage which will go back, and people will be happy to see them in the museums,’ he added.
Smuggled antiques and historic relics often end up in the hands of private collectors willing to pay big sums of money.
‘Where ancient sites are plundered for short-term gain, this results both in the loss of heritage items to indigenous people and irreparable damage to archaeological sites,’ said Tony Walker, director of the UK Border Agency.
Anil Rajput, the customs officer who seized the artifacts in 2007, said they were smuggled from Dubai in freight declared as 'normal pottery' for a value of only $100.
‘When I opened the boxes and actually looked at the pots, it was clear that they were not mass-produced in a factory in Dubai,’ he said.

Tough time ahead for NWFP government

Financial managers of the Frontier government are anticipating a major cut in revenue from the federal divisible pool on account of the current economic slowdown, which they say will further hit the development budget of the province.
Background interviews with a number of officials governing provincial finances suggest that the inability of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to achieve the revenue collection targets will impact resource availability for the provinces.
A senior official in the finance department, whishing not to be named, told that the federal transfers to the NWFP were on decline for the last couple of months, which was making things difficult for them to manage.
Details of the six months transactions from the centre to the province were yet to be finalised despite the lapse of one month, but the official said ‘decline has occurred in revenue collection’.
Media reports suggest that the FBR collected Rs628.22 billion in the first seven months of the current financial year against the target of Rs681.7 billion.
The official say overall inflation figures have dropped from 23 per cent to 20 per cent and the growth target has come down from 5.5 per cent to 3.5 per cent, and achieving the revenue collection target of Rs1.36 trillion for 2008-09 is next to impossible.
‘This situation is going to hit us badly,’ said the official, adding: ‘The provincial government will have to cut the development budget to manage its overall administrative liabilities. Owing to financial constraints, the NWFP government has already diverted funds earmarked for uplift schemes to be identified by MPAs to improve the law and order situation.
The funds allocated under the Tameer-i-Sarhad Programme (TSP), which is allocated to MPAs, will now be utilised for purchasing equipment and maintaining current expenses of the police force battling insurgency in the province.
Apart from decline in the proceeds from the federal divisible pool, the official said, the Water and Power Development Authority was also making irregular payments to the province on account of net hydel profit.
The provincial government, he said, was supposed to receive Rs3 billion as net hydel profit in the first six months against the capped amount of Rs6 billion.
However, in the first seven months of the current financial year, the province received only Rs500 million, he maintained. The official said the lower-than-budgeted federal transfers and growing current expenditures, particularly spending on law and order, would contribute towards a huge revenue shortfall.
The NWFP government had projected a surplus of Rs345.561 million for the current financial year, which would turn into a fiscal deficit of over Rs10 billion by the end of the year, he added.

Time for police reforms

Our police is hardly a professional body, acting as an extra centre of political power.

PARTICIPANTS at Shehri’s interactive seminar have suggested that civil society should lobby the authorities on police reforms. This is a valid proposal given the need for greater security and better law and order in Karachi. There is no denying that the working of our police leaves much to be desired. This has been felt for a long time. However, it was only in 2002 that an attempt was made to reform the force. But even before the Police Order 2002 could be implemented amendments began to be introduced to dilute its effectiveness. In its present form, the order does not reflect the spirit of reform. The basic drawback to efficient police performance, apart from factors such as lack of training and equipment as well as corruption, is political interference. It is routine for the executive branch of government to exploit the powers of the police to promote the narrow interests of rulers. As a result, Pakistan’s police is hardly a professional body. It acts as yet another centre of political power.
The Police Order 2002 had sought to correct this aberration by introducing two bodies: the public safety commission and the police complaints authority, both at different tiers. By providing for the appointment of members who are independent and hold diverse political opinions to these bodies and empowering them to oversee the working of the police force and look into public complaints, the order sought to bring the law enforcers under the watch of an independent monitor to weaken the government’s capacity to interfere. But what do we have today? Ineffective safety commissions, if they exist, and complaints authorities merging with safety commissions so that the latter have ceased to function as forums for the redress of public grievances. The powers of the safety commissions in matters of appointments, transfers and promotions — all key tools in manipulating the police — have also been diluted. The immediate need of the hour is to have the amendments to the Police Order revoked so that reforms can be implemented in their true spirit. It needs to be recognised that the failure of the police to act professionally and efficiently not only affects the level of security in the country, it also has an adverse impact on the working of the judicial system. Without good and honest investigation, the prosecution is weakened and justice cannot be dispensed.

Majority of the world faces water shortages: UN

A small Earth globe floats in polluted water.

Two-thirds of the world’s population will face a lack of water in less than 20 years, if current trends in climate change, population growth, rural to urban migration and consumption continue, UN Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has warned.
Speaking at a high-level symposium on water security at UN Headquarters in New York Migiro stressed that ‘if present trends continue, 1.8 billion people will be living in countries or regions with water scarcity by 2025, and two-thirds of the world population could be subject to water stress.’
‘The lack of safe water and sanitation is inextricably linked with poverty and malnutrition, particularly among the world’s poor,’ she said at the two-day meeting organized by the World Water Organization (WWO). ‘Today about 900 million people still rely on unimproved drinking-water supplies, and 2.5 billion people remain without improved sanitation facilities,’ she added.
The symposium is comprised of experts from the UN, Member States, as well as corporate, medical, scientific, academic and non-governmental organization (NGO) communities and it aims to identify specific threats and vulnerabilities to global water security and propose practical solutions for the protection and preservation of water supplies. Ms. Migiro noted that agriculture consumes roughly three quarters of the world’s fresh water supplies and in Africa the proportion is closer to ninety percent.
‘More than 1.4 billion people live in river basins where their use of water exceeds minimum recharge levels, leading to desiccation of rivers and the depletion of groundwater’, she said.
The Deputy Secretary-General stressed that achieving water security would mean more effective water management, including enhancing food security through more equitable allocation of water for agriculture and food production.
‘It means ensuring the integrity of ecosystems and it means promoting peaceful collaboration in the sharing of water resources, particularly in the case of boundary and transnational water resources.’

Karachi tops in HR violation

The government informed the National Assembly on Thursday that Karachi topped in human rights violations committed in the country during 2008 followed by Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta.
Human Rights Minister Syed Mumtaz Alam Gilani said that 5,140 cases of human rights violations were recoded in the country with Karachi at the top with 2,102 cases. A total of 1,695 such cases were recoded in Lahore, 715 in Peshawar and 628 in Quetta.
There were 690 cases directly reported to the ministry, according to the written reply to a question asked by Chaudhry Barjees Tahir.
The minister said that the information was based on press reports and complainants lodged with the ministry and related departments.
To a supplementary question, he said that lack of education and practising of certain traditions were the main causes of human rights violations in Sindh.
In Punjab, however, personnel of the law-enforcement agencies were found behind the rights violations committed in the province.
Responding to other parts of the question, the minister said that all the cases had been sent to relevant home departments, DPOs, RPOs and IGs for investigation.
He said that a National Human Rights Coordination Committee had been set up under the chairmanship of a minister and interior secretary and provincial ministers in-charge of human rights departments as its members.
Likewise, provincial ministers responsible for human rights are heading provincial human rights committees and they have been tasked to form such committees at the district level.
The National Assembly was informed that officials from the federal ministry and regional directorates visited prisons, hospitals and schools on a regular basis to get information about victims of human rights violations and chalk out plan for their redressal.

Not enough women

Female police cadets perform a march-past during the pasing out pasing out parade of Head Constables at Police College Sihala, Rawalpindi.

A report from Karachi about the failure of the police department to attract female officers in sufficient numbers should cause policymakers to give serious thought to the matter.
With growing public awareness of the rights of women, the need for a women’s police force has come to be recognised and posts for one created accordingly. Its presence is needed more than ever for staffing women’s police stations and to accompany male colleagues for house searches or for guard duties during processions and public gatherings. While the presence of female contingents on such occasions is essential — especially when the police is interacting with women — it is also important to explode the myth that women cannot perform as well as their male colleagues on other occasions.
Meanwhile, their disinterest in this service is intriguing at a time when unemployment rates are high and female participation in the national labour force is on the rise. This phenomenon needs to be probed objectively and corrective measures taken.
The police department has claimed that women do not respond in spite of the incentives that are offered to them. The fact is that most of the incentives are in monetary terms and puny. They do not compensate for the anti-women environment in the police service. For instance, the glass ceiling for women in the police department is much lower and their rise to the higher echelons of the police bureaucracy is actively discouraged. They are not provided the facilities which they genuinely need, such as transport when on duty during late hours. Moreover, the behaviour and language — often abusive and oppressive — of their male colleagues discourage many new entrants.
If women have to be attracted to the law-enforcement agency and retained, it is important that all members of the police service at all levels are sensitised to the needs of their female colleagues which they are not at the moment. Drawn from a society that has yet to shed its pro-male biases, not many police officers or the rank and file of the force is aware of the compulsions of gender equality. Moreover, training courses will also have to be upgraded so that both men and women learn modern investigative and law-enforcement methods as well as the norms of social interaction without violating the dignity of others. Women would then also be expected to respond and prove their capacity to perform as well as their male colleagues.

Bloody cockfights continue unabated

The sport is my only source of livelihood, I also make money by taking care of birds that get injured during the fight,’ said fight organizer.

As a rule, cockfights are held in villages and small towns of the province after the fight organisers, who are usually the owners of the fighting roosters, offer police part of the booty.
They bet thousands of rupees on the fighting birds and encourage cheering crowds to do the same to help them earn more in case their cock takes the field.
Despite a ban on cockfights under the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act 1890 the blood sport continues to be held at a smaller scale in many areas of the district, particularly Kario Ghanwar, Mataro Hotel and main villages of Golarchi, Tando Bago and Matli.
‘The sport is my only source of livelihood, I also make money by taking care of birds that get injured during the fight,’ Noor Mohammad Chang said.
The combatants get injured by the spars, which are fitted with sharp pointed objects, almost two inch long. At times, what enables a rooster to carry the day is his first attack on the unsuspecting opponent rather than his strength, he said.
He said that a cockfight can last from several minutes to half an hour. However, the fighting roosters are separated and made to rest like pugilists every 5 to 10 minutes, he said.
They use a mixture of salt, sugar and water to soothe injuries of the rooster and if the wounds are not critical he is again thrown into the fighting field to resume the fight, which continues till one of the birds either dies fighting or leaves the opponent handicapped. Sometimes, both the birds die from fatal wounds. The critically injured birds, if they recover, are then used for breeding.
Every bird owner has his own formula for preparing feed for the rooster but the rule of thumb is that the feed should contain ingredients, which makes the roosters strong but not fat.
Urs Mallah said that a small quantity of pistachios, almonds, milk, boiled eggs and apple were given regularly specially to trained roosters. The cocks were massaged and made to jog every day to build up stamina, he said.
A tall bird with small eyes, a long tail, thin legs, medium-size neck, a small crown and a spur close to its big claws is sold for Rs30,000 and an untrained cock costs between Rs600 to Rs1,500.
To Mallah it was painful to see cockpits in different localities being raided by police. ‘This traditional sport is not only a poor man’s game but the rich also get attracted to it so as long as they frequent cockpits without fear,’ he said.
Gul Mohammad, a villager, said that no authority was ready to take action under the law, hence the blood sport continued. Neither, any non-governmental organisation has given any attention to it.
Maqsood Ahmed Chandio, local president of a rights association, said that according to law, any person inciting any animal to fight or baiting any animal or aiding or abetting any such incitement of baiting can be punished with fine which may extend to Rs100.
‘Isn’t it a cruel joke, considering the brutality to which the birds are exposed and the huge money bet on this sport,’ he said.
He suggested that the fine should be more than Rs70,000. Fights between cocks, partridges, dogs, wild hogs and bears were common in the province as in many cases they generated millions of rupees through betting, he said.

Gun Culture

In Karachi, every two-bit lout is harassing citizens ever since the PPP took over.

THE gun culture feeds on itself. Criminal gangs vying for ascendancy need weapons with which to kill their adversaries. Ordinary citizens acquire guns, mostly on a legal basis, because they feel insecure and wish to protect themselves and their families from the armed felons who roam our streets. More and more unemployed people are becoming convinced that easy money is to be made if you have a gun and the temerity to point it at someone’s head. The Sindh home minister insisted on Friday that supply routes must be checked if the menace of illegal arms in the province is to be curbed. It’s not as simple as that. Weapons are supplied because there is a demand for them in Sindh. Otherwise it wouldn’t happen. People who kidnap others for ransom don’t carry licensed weapons. The unlicensed, illegal weapons that reach Sindh are earmarked not just for criminal gangs or terrorist organisations. Factor in, if you will, workers of political parties that are perpetually at odds with their foes. We live in a climate of fear and revenge. Guns come into that, and what the Sindh government needs to do is tackle both the suppliers and the users.
Then there is the matter of status. People of an inbred nature abound in this country, people who somehow feel gratified when their minions point their weapons at you when you pass them by in your humble vehicle of choice. Pure machismo is what it is, a semi-literate feeling of importance that is the preserve of not just the feudals but now also of those who claim to oppose that mindset. What happened to the ban on the display of weapons? In Karachi at least the situation has taken a turn for the worse since the PPP government took over. Every two-bit lout is harassing citizens now, on account of his purported connections and the flag on his car. People who look like they have been plucked from a medieval age flaunt their weapons in your face and, in clear violation of the law, don’t have a registration plate either. Such uncouth displays do not sit well with the aims and objectives of a popularly elected government. If the Sindh government is serious about cracking down on the gun culture, it needs to take into account both supply and demand. Those who fire the guns are the killers. Pick them up first.

Denial of human rights

Protests against the government and its policies were generally given free reign within reasonable boundaries.

IT was a year that can be neither condemned wholesale nor praised outright where human rights were concerned. While some improvement was seen in 2008, the balance tilted largely in favour of the unacceptable. True, some progress was made year-on-year, but it should be considered that a military dictator called the shots in 2007. It stood to reason that the outlook of elected politicians would be less draconian than that of a general who usurped power through a military coup. But what was actually achieved in 2008 fell far short of the enviable.
One possible reason was that the new government fell victim to stasis early on in its tenure. It remained locked in political intrigue and failed to address the concerns of the people. Then there were the problems it inherited: rampant militancy, worsening law and order, economic instability, soaring inflation and growing underemployment. In short, the government couldn’t cope and the need to uphold human rights fell by the wayside for the most part. First the positives, for the list is short. Protest was permitted, as one would expect in a democracy. There were no direct attempts to silence the media and freedom of expression, which had been muffled by the 2007 emergency, was allowed freer rein. Yet the government could not protect journalists from murderous non-state actors, and there were accusations too of officials harassing media persons. In a welcome move, the government admitted that the list of the ‘disappeared’ still ran to more than 1,000 persons. But as the latest World Report published by Human Rights Watch points out, 'negligible progress [was made] in resolving cases and recovering victims'.Human Rights Watch also questions the independence of the judiciary in Pakistan, which by extension has a bearing on access to justice, a basic right. There was no let-up in 2008 in violence against women and young girls. In a shameful move, a senator who had justified honour killings and a legislator who stood accused of presiding over a jirga that ordered the handing over of five girls to settle a dispute 'were elevated to Pakistan’s cabinet by President Zardari'.
Meanwhile, the state stood helpless as militants in Swat and the tribal areas stripped women of fundamental rights, and denied both boys and girls the right to an education of their own choice. Military operations and US strikes in the tribal belt claimed civilian lives and resulted in the mass displacement of residents. Discriminatory laws remained on the books and religious minorities continued to be targeted with impunity. Reports of torture by security agencies remained all too routine. Promises were made that death sentences would be commuted to life imprisonment but nothing came of that pledge. Clearly, 2008 was not a banner year for human rights in Pakistan.

Plight of the displaced

Local residents carry a woman, injured in the fighting between security forces and militants, as they flee from an area of the Swat Valley.

IT was Swat first. Then came Bajaur followed by Mohmand. These areas have witnessed the exodus of a large number of people since August 2008. As the war on terror has escalated in response to the Taliban’s intensification of militant activities, the civilians caught in the crossfire have become the hapless casualties of this terrible conflict. Now it is estimated that there are nearly 100,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) living in dire straits in 11 camps in the NWFP. Many more have fled their homes but since they have taken refuge with relatives and friends their accurate numbers may never be known.
It is not just the trauma of homelessness that is devastating. They also have to suffer the hardship brought on by the lack of basic amenities, such as adequate shelter, sanitation, water and food supplies, and medical care. Small wonder the reports that emanate from the IDP camps do not generally inspire hope and confidence.
Recognising the human rights violations that accompany displacement of people – families are broken up, employment and education are disrupted, and socio-cultural ties are cut – the UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, adopted in 1998 a document setting out guiding principles on internal displacement. These 30 principles state that IDPs have certain basic rights, the most important being their claim to equality with other citizens, and are entitled to adequate living standards for which the government must provide protection and humanitarian assistance. Hence the authorities are duty-bound to take care of displaced persons in the NWFP, who have been affected by failed government policies. Seen against this background, the failure of the various departments to coordinate their working and generate resources for IDPs cannot be condoned. Moreover, the guiding principles also speak of the primary responsibility of authorities to ‘establish conditions, as well as provide the means, which allow IDPs to return voluntarily, in safety and with dignity to their homes’. How aware are we of these principles? Hardly, it would seem, as the government appears to lack the will and resources to honour them fully.
Another matter of serious concern is the long-term responsibility of the government vis-à-vis the displaced. Not only should they be rehabilitated once peace returns, it is also important that sufficient uplift projects be undertaken in the affected areas so that the returnees can look forward to a brighter future. So far there is not much happening on the ground to give rise to such optimism. Caught between the devil and the deep sea, many IDPs have found their homes blown up by the army while militants appear averse to allowing any official development projects to be undertaken. This is a dilemma that must be resolved.

Drainage scheme failed due to lack of commitment

Pakistani youngsters play in a drainage channel after heavy rain fall in Islamabad, Pakistan.

The Asian Development Bank has said the National Drainage Programme could not be implemented because of a lack of commitment on the part of the federal and provincial governments.
The agricultural development project was estimated to cost $185 million, a larger chunk of which was to be provided by the ADB and World Bank.

The project was taken up in 1998. However, only $31.14 million was spent and only three of its 28 components could be completed.Seven components of the project were partially completed and the remaining 18 were not undertaken, says a report of the ADB’s Operations Evaluation Department.

The bank has presented a bleak picture of the drainage programme, which is part of the government’s 25-year drainage investment envisaged in 1993 under the Drainage System Environmental Assessment.

The ADB and World Bank were to provide loans for the project and the government and some institutional investors were to share the cost.

The report blames insufficient commitment of the Water and Power Development Authority and the provincial irrigation and drainage authorities to carry out reforms in their own organisations for the failure of the project.

It points out that in the NWFP and Sindh, some of the maintenance and rehabilitation works had not been sustainable, and drains reverted to their pre-works conditions by the time of completion of the project. The reluctance of the implementing agencies to comply with land acquisition and resettlement framework agreed to as part of the project designs was one of the hurdles.

The report has also termed ADB’s own performance ‘unsatisfactory’. It observed that although the bank sent 12 special loan administration missions, six loan review missions and a mid-term review mission, the project implementation ‘failed to improve’.

In Balochistan, the project’s component included (a) rehabilitation of about 20km of sub-drains and construction of new on-farm drainage facilities for about 2,000 hectares, (b) modernisation of the management of the Pat Feeder canal system, (c) rehabilitation of selected distribution canals, and (d) performance contracts for about 300km of drains. Pilot initiatives for decentralisation of system management were also included.

In the NWFP, the sub-component comprised (a) the transfer of about 220 shallow tube-wells (STWs) in fresh groundwater areas, rehabilitation of about 300 km of sub-drains and construction of new on-farm drainage facilities for about 2,500 hectares, (b) modernisation of the management of NWFP’s major canal systems and rehabilitation of selected distribution canals, and (c) performance contracts for about 1,700km of drains and about 60 STWs, as well as pilot initiatives for decentralisation of system management.

In Sindh, the only component involved was rehabilitation and improvement of about 400km of sub-drains, transfer of about 1,300 STWs in fresh groundwater areas, replacement of STWs in saline groundwater areas, and construction of new on-farm drainage facilities for about 2,500 hectares.