India and Pakistan

Post FLOOD Scene!

2011-07-18T07:28:00.002+01:00

Nearly one year after devastating floods swamped vast tracts of land across Pakistan, affecting over 20 million people, many survivors are still struggling to rebuild their lives as this year’s monsoon season is about to start, says a report by IRIN, the UN information unit.

“I have patched up my house the best I could, using what few resources I could gather – but the roof consists of just plastic sheeting in some places, and it really offers little protection to my extended family of 11,” Ghulam Hussain, 40, a villager in the Thatta District of Sindh Province, told IRIN.

The first monsoon rains of 2011 have started falling, according to the Meteorological Office, and this is raising anxiety. “We have been able to repair our badly damaged home, but we are still afraid of what may happen now that the rains have begun,” Ahmed Daud Khan, in the town of Nowshera in Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province, told IRIN.

The two have good reason to be afraid. Last week flash floods killed seven people in the South Waziristan tribal agency on the Pakistan-Afghan border after heavy downpours led to houses collapsing.

In Sindh Province, said World Vision Pakistan, the Indus river has already risen. Coupled with melting glaciers and snow in the mountainous north, the situation is threatening 30,000 people in 30 villages in Ghotki District.

The province was the worst hit by the floods, but media reports say 57,000 people have not received assistance. Many have been unable to rebuild or fully repair homes mainly due to large-scale mismanagement in the running of government schemes to help them.

Local residents say a government investigation into alleged scams earlier this year, achieved nothing.

Some piece-meal rebuilding efforts have continued, including the re-housing of 334 families in the Dadu and Thatta districts of Sindh in new homes built by the Pakistan Army, but a paucity of funds has adversely affected efforts. Donations, for example, have generally been slow to come in even though innovative methods such as mobile phone games were used to solicit much-needed resources.

“People want jobs,” Oxfam country director Neva Khan said in a press statement. “They are not looking for handouts. They want to work their way out of poverty and rebuild a better life than before. They are calling for food they can afford, health care when they are sick, and somewhere to live – the most basic of basics.”

Early this month, Ahmed Kamal, spokesman for the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), told the media in Islamabad that the Authority had worked out a contingency plan to tackle any new flood emergency. “NDMA is following two plans for floods, including a plan for a worst-case scenario under which a maximum of six million people can be affected, and a likely scenario under which 2.2 million people can be probable victims,” he said.

But many remain skeptical. “My fields were destroyed, and my house reduced to sticks of timber, and my own wrist broken while trying to save my family,” Azeemullah Khan, a villager in the Charsadda District of Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province, told IRIN. “I am still struggling to earn a living or just put food on the table. Some NGOs helped us in the beginning, but then we were left on our own. The words of government officials mean nothing to me.”

Support still needed

Locals in Lahore told IRIN that rehabilitation of the affected areas has started, but most areas are still without basic infrastructure. Similarly, the Watan Card scheme that the government started, to support those affected, has not helped many people, especially widows who were unable to get any money because they did not fulfil the “head of the family” requirement.

In Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa Province, Nathan Shah, an area in Sindh that was completely submerged, normalcy is yet to return. The area was to have been built into a “model” settlement, but nothing has happened.

Last week, UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Valerie Amos warned: “Families affected by the floods continue to need support to rebuild their livelihoods. The 2011 monsoon is about to start and up to two million people are again at risk from flooding, partly due to lack of funds for reconstruction.

“Major efforts are needed immediately to reduce the vulnerability of these families and implement urgent recovery and flood preparedness work on river banks, irrigation channels and other infrastructure.”

According to the UN, moderate flooding could result in the worsening of conditions. For example, on 24 May, a heavy downpour flooded Suleman Mountains

which run through Balochistan and into Afghanistan, close to the Punjab-Balochistan border district of Dera Ghazi Khan. While local authorities provided initial relief assistance to 4,000 affected people, stored wheat and the cotton crop were destroyed.

“The [2010] flood had a severe impact on people’s homes, livelihoods and assets,” said a government assessment report: “Most people do not know when they would be able to resume their livelihoods.”

The floods, it noted, wiped out about 2 percent off Pakistan’s annual growth rate and “inflicted a massive damage” of US$10 billion on the economic infrastructure. World Vision said acute malnutrition rates reached 22.9 percent in flood-affected areas of Sindh.

“The areas affected by floods were consistently lagging behind in terms of socio-economic and educational indicators as compared to the areas unaffected by the floods,” the report said. “The loss to infrastructure and livelihood sources will push them behind further. The people most severely affected were predominantly small farmers and unskilled labourers.”

At least 1,200 people died in the floods, the world’s second worst in 10 years, according to the Belgium-based Centre for Research on Epidemiology of Disasters.

Women most affected

One group that has suffered most in the flood aftermath are women.

“Violence against women has since increased. With no steady income and homes, a lot of the flood victims vent their anger on their wives, sisters and daughters,” said Sonu Khangrani, head of the Sindh Rural Support Organisation. “In these societies it is considered a norm if a man barters his 10-year-old daughter for a new wife.”

Some teenage girls, he added, had run away from their homes because parents tried to sell them off. “All these cases were from the flood-hit areas,” Khangrani told IRIN. “We were able to help the younger flood victims with regards to trauma and hardships, [but] we could not do much apart from providing legal support to the girls.”

Rahim Bux (not his real name), a 50-year-old man from Shikarpur, married away his 16-year-old daughter for Rs. 50,000 ($581) in February, but the girl ended up in a brothel. “I intended to use the money to rebuild our house, get a better roof than the thatched one that we had,” he said. “What I did not know was that my daughter would end up becoming a prostitute.”

The floods, a Federal Investigation Agency official said, opened doors for traffickers. “Poverty is rampant and when you offer money for a ‘bride’, people are more than willing to give away their daughters,” the official, who identified himself only as Fahim, said.

A trip to Karachi’s red light area along Napier Road reveals that girls as young as 12 were bought from flood-hit communities. “My father thought that I was being married off,” Bux’s daughter Nida told IRIN at the brothel where she lives.” What he did not know was that I would be sold off by my husband.”

The brothel owner, Jamal Ara, wants Rs 120,000 ($1,400) to release Nida. “I got Nida for slightly over 100,000. If her parents or for that matter anyone wants to take her away, they are more than welcome to buy her back,” he said.

Ineffective law

Pakistan enacted a Prevention and Control of Human Trafficking Ordinance in 2002, but it has done little to stop trafficking.

“Kashmore, Jaffarabad, Nasirabad, Larkana are districts that were badly hit by the floods,” Fahin added. “These are notorious for violence against women and here the [trafficking] rings are very active. There have been cases where girls as young as seven were kidnapped and sold.”

“Since it is a matter of honour, people do not register the complaints if it is a girl who goes missing. Rather the emphasis is on tracking down the victim and killing her to “redeem’ their honour.”

According to the UN’s Amos, more than $600 million is still needed to support early recovery activities including rehabilitating water wells, refurbishing the primary health care system and rebuilding schools.

“I am extremely concerned,” she noted, “that the lack of funds is preventing the pre-positioning of necessary medical supplies and the continuation beyond July of the district level Disease Early Warning System.”

(Published in Daily DAWN)

54pc Pakistanis face `multi-dimensional deprivation`

2011-02-23T10:25:00.006Z

About 54 per cent of Pakistani population is facing a “multi-dimensional deprivation” — lack of basic necessities like education, health and good standard of living — as the country fell two steps down to the 125th position on the world index of human development compiled by the United Nations.
A report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) released on Tuesday said that 54 per cent of the population was facing intense deprivation of basic necessities of life, while another 11.8 per cent was at the risk of “multi-dimensional poverty”.
The report said that Pakistan`s ranking on the Human Development Index (HDI) dropped from 123rd position last year to 125th position this year. The report was launched to mark the 20th anniversary of Human Development Report “The Real Wealth of Nations: Pathways to Development” to commemorate the contribution of late Dr Mahbub-ul-Haq to the concept of human development.
Out of scores from 1 to 5 for gauging human rights violations, the report said Pakistan ranked 4th. In terms of democracy-related scores from 0 to 2, Pakistan stood at 1 number.
The report said that 51.2 per cent population was deprived of education, 29.2 per cent of health and 42.9 per cent of good standard of living.
The report said that 10 per cent population had no access to water and 55 per cent was without sanitation. It reported 896 deaths per million due to indoor and outdoor air and water pollution, while 8,953 people per million had been affected by natural disaster.
The “Top 10 Movers” highlighted in the 2010 report — those countries among the 135 that improved most in HDI terms over the past 40 years — were led by Oman, which invested energy earnings over the decades in education and public health. Other nine top movers are China, Nepal, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Laos, Tunisia, South Korea, Algeria and Morocco.
Remarkably, China was the only country which made to the “Top 10” list due solely to income performance; the main drivers of HDI achievement were in health and education.
Between 1980 and 2010, the HDI value in Pakistan increased by 58 per cent (average annual increase of about 1.5 per cent). Pakistan is ranked 10 in terms of HDI improvement, which measures progress in comparison to the average progress of countries with a similar initial HDI level.
Similarly, Pakistan`s life expectancy at birth increased by more than nine years, mean years of schooling by about three years and expected years of schooling by almost four years. The country`s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita increased by 92 per cent during the 30-year period.
In 1980, Pakistan, India and Bangladesh had close HDI values for countries in South Asia. However, between 1980 and 2010, they experienced different degrees of progress towards increasing their HDIs.
According to the report, Pakistan`s 2010 HDI of 0.490 is below the average for countries in South Asia. It is also below the average for medium human development countries. From South Asia, Pakistan`s 2010 “HDI neighbours” — the countries which are close in HDI rank and population size — are India and Bangladesh, which had HDIs ranked 119 and 129, respectively.
The report introduces the MPI, which identifies multiple deprivations in the same households in education, health and standard of living. In Pakistan, 51 per cent population suffers multiple deprivations while an additional 12 per cent is vulnerable to multiple deprivations. The average percentage of deprivation experienced by people in multi-dimensional poverty is 54 per cent.
The MPI, which is the share of the population that is multi-dimensionally poor, adjusted by the intensity of the deprivations, is 0.275. Pakistan`s HDI neighbours — India and Bangladesh — have MPIs of 0.296 and 0.291, respectively.
Speaking on the occasion, Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh said the HDI had become one of the most influential and widely-used indices to measure human development across countries. He said the government, in consultation with the Planning Commission, was working on a reform process which focussed on restructuring of public sector enterprises.

Twenty-seven Pakistani languages may extinct soon

2011-02-23T05:27:00.001Z

Around 27 languages spoken in Northern Areas, Kashmir, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and surrounding border areas of Pakistan are facing extinction, said a Unesco report.
The report, in connection with International Mother Day observed on Monday (Feb 21), revealed that language is the source of communication, education and progress and their extinction discontinue the transfer of social values to the coming generation and eventually the language are declared as dead languages.
In Pakistan, Punjabi has the highest number of speakers which are 48 per cent of the total population. However, Sindhi language is spoken by 12 per cent, Pashto and Urdu 8 per cent, Balochi 3 per cent, Hindko 2 per cent and Barohi 1 per cent.
The most common languages spoken across the world include: Chinese, Spanish, English, Hindi, Bangali, Punjabi and Urdu.
According to a research, Punjabi is ranked 11th and Urdu at 19th position among the most popular languages in the world.
To save languages, as they are the identity of a nation, Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL) is giving equal importance to all languages of Pakistan and a comprehensive program has been formulated in this regard.
Chairman PAL, Fakhar Zaman said all the languages spoken in Pakistan are the national languages of Pakistan and Urdu besides being a national language is the official and Lingua of Franca of the country.
“All the languages of the country are Pakistani languages and we should strive to make the mother languages as part of curriculum on the primary level,” he said.
The book consisting of the selection of prose and poetry written in every language from 1947 to 2008 are being published separately by the PAL.
These languages include Urdu, English, Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto, Balochi, Brahvi,Seraiki, Hindko, Sheena, Balti, Khawar and Kashmiri.
He said that PAL will organize seminars and conference on National Languages in all province and Islamabad. PAL to give due promotion and status to all the languages and that the mother tongues will be given due importance and financial assistance of the institutions working in this regard will be increased.
He also proposed to the government that Punjabi, Sindhi, Pashto and Balochi Universities like Federal Urdu University should be established so that the message of unity, brotherhood and solidarity should be spread through the federation.

Media in Pakistan

2011-02-01T20:15:00.003Z

I got forward email this week from a friend of mine. I found it very interested and decided to share on FD Blog. Email was about wining notes of one of our young youth in US condulate Lahore's "Speak up & Win" Essay Competition.

Ms. Faiza Idrees Sindhu

Her winning note is:

"Media freedom is an essential for a democratic mode of state governance. Democracy promises the rule of law, the right to differ and oppose, and respect for the views of others. Freedom of press is violated when terms like censor, stop, shut, change, chop ,cut, prevent, prohibit, suppress become everyday command for the voice of pen. Oppression, repression and suppression have always given birth to corruption. Pakistan has an ever changing political scenario; the making and breaking of political coalitions, protests against the policies and policy makers, sectarian crises, inflation and terrorism have become everyday cries.

The expanding media is a new player in the political scene of Pakistan due to the enlarged media space, increased viewer-ship and their heightened political engagement. I believe that free media should be a synonym for a responsible media. Media has a great responsibility; it has to fulfill the decisive task of supporting a free debate, assisting the due representation of all possible viewpoints and giving voice to the silent majority. It has to keep the ruling authorities, state institutions and media itself under the accountability microscope. In despotic and intolerant societies, information is controlled on the basis of the “need to know” and restricted to a powerful few. Right to know and freedom of speech are my natural rights. Free flow of information is helpful for a citizen in forming opinion regarding ongoing political and social issues and public opinion is always helpful for government officials in forming public policies."

2010 - Year of Drone Attacks

2011-01-26T08:29:00.001Z

The American drones carried out a record number of 124 attacks in the tribal areas of Pakistan in the 12 months of 2010, more than double the number of predator strikes conducted in the 12 months of 2009, killing 1184 people, compared with 2009’s death toll of 760 in 53 such attacks.

According to figures compiled by the Pakistani authorities, on average, the US drone attacks targeting the al-Qaeda and Taliban hideouts in the tribal belt of Pakistan, killed 98 people every month, 23 people every week and three people every day in 2010. These attacks recorded an overall 134 percent increase in 2010 compared with the 2009’s figures, jumping from 53 strikes in 2009 to 124 attacks in 2010.

Similarly, an overall 56 percent increase was recorded in the number of people killed by the drones, compared with the 2009’s figures -going up from 760 deaths in 2009 to 1184 in 2010. The monthly increase in the drone-related killing ratio in 2010 (compared with the 2009) comes to 55 while the monthly increase in the ratio of drone strikes (compared with 2009) comes to an unprecedented 150 percent.

Similarly, while there was 53 percent weekly increase in 2010 in the number of people killed in US drones compared with 2009, an unprecedented 130 percent weekly increase was recorded in the number of attacks in 2010, compared with the 2009.

Most of the drone attacks were conducted on the basis of human intelligence, provided by both Pakistani and Afghan tribesmen, who spy for the US-led Allied Forces stationed in Afghanistan.

The figures show that on average, ten more persons were killed by the American drones every month and two more persons were perished in such strikes every week, compared with 2009’s figures. Similarly, 71 more drone attacks were carried out in Pakistan in 2010 compared with 2009’s figure of 53. And 424 more persons lost their lives in these attacks compared with the 2009’s total figure of 760.

As always, most of those killed by the US drones were innocent civilians. Ten groups remained prime targets of the American predator strikes in 2010, which included the fugitive leadership of al-Qaeda, the commanders of the Pakistani and the Afghan Taliban, the commanders of the Islamic Jehad Group, Uzbekistan Islamic Movement, Islamic Army of Great Britain, Brigade 313, Haqqani Militant Network, Lashkar-e-Islam and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi.

The escalation of the US predator strikes in the Pakistani tribal areas bordering Afghanistan can be gauged from the fact that these attacks have seen an unprecedented increase since January 2009, when Barack Obama took over the Presidency, replacing George Bush.

According to the month-wise break-up of the drone attacks and the subsequent human losses, 132 people were killed in 11 attacks in January 2010, 82 persons were killed in 10 hits conducted in February, 98 people were killed in 10 more attacks in March, 47 persons were perished in six such strikes in April, 84 people were killed in eight drone strikes in May, 69 persons were killed in seven such assaults in June and 66 more lost their lives in six attacks in July.

But the velocity of the deadly attacks intensified in September 2010 ever since the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began the air campaign in Pakistan. A record number of 21 drone attacks in September killed 145 people, followed by 16 such strikes in October, killing 136 persons. Another 124 lost their lives in 14 drone attacks in November and 138 more were perished in ten more such attacks in December 2010.

The favourite target of the American drone strikes in 2010 remains North Waziristan, which is generally considered as a haven for the Afghan and Pakistani Taliban, the Haqqani Network, al-Qaeda terrorists, and a host of Pakistani and Central and South Asian terrorist groups. Of the 124 strikes carried out in 2010, the largest number of 104 hit their targets in North Waziristan, killing 987 people, 10 attacks in South Waziristan killed 101 people, six attacks in the Khyber Agency killed 82 persons and four such strikes in the Kurram Agency perished 14 more.

As per the region wise ratio, of the 1184 people killed by the US drones in 2010, 83 percent were killed in North Waziristan, 08 percent were killed in South Waziristan, 07 percent were killed in Khyber Agency while 01 percent were killed in Kurram Agency. Similarly, North Waziristan had to face 84 percent of the total 124 drone strikes in 2010, followed by 08 percent attacks suffered by the residents of South Waziristan, 06 percent in Khyber Agency and 03 percent in Kurram Agency.

But still, the number of the people killed in the drone attacks in 2010 was less than those killed in the incidents of suicide bombings across Pakistan. While the American drones carried out 124 attacks in 2010, killing 1184 people, the human bombs killed a record number of 1271 Pakistanis in 53 acts of suicide bombings across Pakistan.

Anti - Corruption Day in Pakistan

2010-12-09T09:46:00.004Z

As the Anti-Corruption Day is being globally observed today (Thursday), the PPP government has decided not to do so, ignoring it for the third year since it came to power.
The government has turned down the Transparency International’s (TI) request for observing the occasion, which was observed during the Musharraf era in collaboration with the government, TI and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC). A report of global anti-corruption watchdog on Global Corruption Barometers is due to be launched today, examining the most corrupt departments among the Army, media, judiciary, public office-holders, parliamentarians, Customs and others.
The last time this day was observed was in December 2007, a fact confirmed from the NAB officials privy to details. The FIA that has launched the anti-corruption drive is not observing this day either. All those whose task is to eradicate this menace are facing corruption charges, starting from President Asif Ali Zardari, down to Law Minister Babar Awan, who controls the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who has launched a crusade against this menace through the FIA, itself a corrupt department training its guns at the TI chairman of Pakistan Chapter, Adil Gillani.
This day is being globally observed at a time when Pakistan has further gone down in the corruption ranking, from 42nd in 2009 to 34th in 2010, according to the TI report. Adil Gillani, who is facing death threats and prosecution from the government quarters, had recently contacted Justice (retd) Deedar Hussain Shah, Chairman NAB, yet another controversial figure with his eligibility challenged before the Supreme Court.
Contrary to the present practices of non-observance, Pakistan has been celebrating this day since the passage of the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) in 2003 in Merida, Mexico. The UNCAC is the first legally binding global anti-corruption instrument.
The International Anti-Corruption Day is being celebrated at a time when the entire ruling machinery is plagued with corruption charges and the latest addition in this respect is the Minister for Religious Affairs, Hamid Saeed Kazmi, who together with former DG Haj Rao Shakeel and Secretary Religious Affairs Agha Sarwar Qazalbash is facing serious charges of irregularities in hiring buildings for Pakistani pilgrims in Saudi Arabia.
Intriguingly, all three of them are close friends of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, whose wife Fuazia Gilani had her loans worth millions of rupees written off through a bargain with the NAB. Likewise, President Asif Ali Zardari stands at the top with regard to charges of corruption for whom the NRO was promulgated by former President Musharraf for a political deal, only to be revoked later on by the Supreme Court of Pakistan.
Law Minister Babar Awan, under whose administrative control is the NAB, faces charges of receiving fee as lawyer to the Haris Steel Mills’ owner in the Bank of Punjab scandal to buy’ judges’ favour. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, with several accountability references against him pending in courts, ordered the FIA to cleanse the society of corruption.
A recent US diplomatic cable revealed Malik admitting before the US ambassador that he had his past white-washed by instructing the prosecutors to declare before the courts that charges furnished against him were baseless. His three-year sentence restored by the Lahore High Court in corruption-related cases was pardoned by Zardari, who previously had remitted three-month sentences of all prisoners, just to bring out of the bar his crony, Ahmad Riaz Sheikh, a convicted man appointed additional DG FIA (Economic Crimes Wing). Malik had also told the ambassador the government would resort to the same strategy in case the Supreme Court revokes presidential immunity for Zardari.
The FIA, which is on an anti-corruption drive these days, has many corrupt officials appointed at key positions. Instead of cleansing its own department of corrupt elements, the FIA is on the lookout for such elements in other departments.

Village Situation - Case study of NooPur Shah Islamabad

2010-11-24T08:01:00.004Z

Less than a kilometer from the sprawling residential complex of Pakistan’s prime minister, villagers have to scrabble for firewood in the dirt if they want a cooked meal.

Noor Pur Shahan is typical of many villages in the country, where supplies of cooking gas, clean water, electricity, classrooms, and also hope for the future, are hard to come by.

Improving government services for millions of increasingly frustrated Pakistanis is critical for bringing economic and political stability to a country the United States sees as an indispensable ally in its global war on militancy.

Many say the current system of governance only benefits Pakistan’s political elite and the wealthy. And it’s one that drives disaffected young men to join Muslim militant groups violently opposed to the government, analysts say.

The administration of President Asif Ali Zardari, like many before it, is accused of being too corrupt and inept to ease widespread hardship. It denies the allegations.

But in Noor Pur Shahan, where goats roam on winding roads beneath lush mountains about 8 km northeast of the capital, these denials ring hollow.

“The government only looks after the rich people,” said Mohammad Aleem, an elderly man with a long white beard, as he clutched his cane.

Conditions are unlikely to improve anytime soon. The cash-strapped government slashed development spending after summer floods caused nearly $10 billion in damages.

Securing reconstruction funds may not be possible unless Pakistan persuades Western donors spending will be transparent and accounted for.

The International Monetary Fund, which has kept the economy afloat since 2008, wants Pakistan to implement politically sensitive economic reforms such as imposing new taxes and eliminating electricity subsidies.

WHERE IS THE AID?

Washington has pumped billions of dollars into Pakistan since the country joined the U.S. war on militancy after the September 11 attacks on the United States.

Little seems to have trickled down to the poor.

In the center of Noor Pur Shahan is a water purification plant inaugurated in 1963 by former Pakistani military leader Ayub Khan. The water largely flows to government offices in Islamabad. That means most residents are deprived of clean supplies.

Mukhtiar Hussain, a worker at the plant for 32 years, says villagers break pipes to steal water for their homes. “Things have gone from bad to worse,” he said.

Critics accuse the government of neglecting education as well, and warn that social ills will deepen.

At Noor Pur Shahan’s state-funded boys secondary school, over 1,000 students are taught in 12 classrooms.

“There are only 20 computers and one teacher for computer studies,” said principal Iqbal Khan Niazi. The facility has not had clean water for three years. There are no playgrounds.

Umair Akhtar, 18, a villager, believes the army, which has ruled Pakistan for more than half of its history, would do a better job running nuclear-armed Pakistan than civilian governments, even though that would hurt the country’s democratic credentials.

He applied for a job in the CDA but says he has “no money to bribe people.”

Pakistan’s government may be too preoccupied with a host of problems to notice the plight of people like him.

It faces stubborn Taliban insurgents who continue to carry out bombings despite army offensives, a possible showdown with the powerful Supreme Court, and relentless US pressure to help stabilise war-ravaged Afghanistan.

For some Pakistanis, God alone is the answer.

“We want to instil the fear of God in the students and want then to follow the life of the holy Prophet Mohammad. That is the answer to all problems,” said Niazi, the village’s school principal.

Children Protection

2010-10-15T08:04:00.000+01:00

In a society where children are perhaps the most vulnerable of all sections of the population, any effort for their protection is welcome. In this context, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly has taken a progressive step by passing the Child Protection Bill 2010 in September.
The bill is designed to provide care and protection to children “at risk” through the establishment of a child protection court as well as a provincial commission along with other associated mechanisms. A proposed amendment sponsored by the MMA calling for the age limit of children to be lowered from 18 to 15 was rejected and perhaps rightfully so, as according to international norms adulthood is deemed to begin at age 18.
The KP government has taken a bold initiative considering the fact that both the centre and the provinces have been extremely tardy when it comes to legislation designed to protect children’s rights. Laws have been written up but have been gathering dust for years, either waiting to be taken up in the federal and provincial legislatures or their passage has been blocked on procedural grounds. Hopefully Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s move will prompt the provinces and Islamabad to enact similar laws.
Yet, to truly end exploitation and give the children of Pakistan access to education, health, nutrition and a safe and secure environment, laws must be implemented. There are lots of good laws on the books. It is their implementation which is lacking and which is key to achieving the aims for which they were framed.
Also, some experts are of the opinion that the Child Protection Bill 2010 is a little vague when it comes to describing children “at risk” as well as the assessment procedure that would allow the authorities to determine which children are at risk. These concerns can possibly be addressed in future amendments.

Children at risk

2010-10-15T08:02:00.001+01:00

In the event of a disaster, groups that are already disadvantaged, such as women and children, become even more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. In the post-flood situation, apart from the victims’ immediate needs such as shelter, food and medical attention, the protection of children is also a major concern.
According to Unicef, out of the 20 million or so people affected by the floods, over half are children. A report by the agency on the floods’ effect on children says that “children have been or are at risk of being separated from their families, they are at risk of abuse … and have witnessed death and destruction”. There are also reports that boys from flood-affected families are being lured into prostitution in some parts.
In the aftermath of natural calamities worldwide we have witnessed elements taking advantage of children. After the January earthquake in Haiti some American missionaries were convicted of illegally transporting a busload of Haitian children into the Dominican Republic without any paperwork. In Pakistan, after the 2005 earthquake the adoption of children was banned to prevent the risk of child abductions. Though people may be well-intentioned in wanting to take children away from the scene of tragedy, it doesn’t justify ignoring due process. In the current scenario the trafficking and abuse of children cannot be ignored as the state grapples with the post-flood situation. In present conditions, protecting the welfare and rights of minors is more important than ever as the chances of their exploitation are far greater considering that the whole social structure in many parts of the country has collapsed. Vigilance is key in this regard.
The state and society — especially rights organisations — must play a proactive role in ensuring the safety of children so that they are kept from harm. It is also important that a child protection law is passed and implemented at the federal level. Presently, such a law only exists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is essential that the federal government passes a law that can protect children from all forms of abuse both in times of crises and otherwise.

22 Drone Attacks in September

2010-09-29T10:00:00.002+01:00

The U.S. government increased the number of missile attacks this month against militant guerrilla groups in northwest Pakistan to the most this year, according to researchers who monitor the campaign.
The U.S. so far has launched 22 missile strikes in September, almost a third of this year’s total of 76, according to a count maintained by the Washington-based New America Foundation. The policy research group counted four such attacks in August and five in July.
All of this month’s reported strikes -- which typically are fired from remotely piloted Predator or Reaper aircraft -- have hit Pakistan’s Waziristan region, a Taliban stronghold that borders Afghanistan, the foundation said.
Nineteen of the missile raids have hit North Waziristan, a district dominated by the Taliban factions of Afghan commander Jalaluddin Haqqani and Pakistani guerrilla leader Hafiz Gul Bahadur. Al-Qaeda’s operational chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan, Sheik Fateh, was killed this month by a drone strike, Agence France-Press said yesterday, citing unidentified Pakistani security officials.
“The last time there was a flurry of strikes comparable to this was in January, following the suicide attack on a CIA base in Khost, Afghanistan, in late December 2009,” said Katherine Tiedemann, a research fellow at the New America Foundation. “There were 12 strikes reported that month.”
There may be several reasons for increased attacks, said Alan Kronstadt, a Pakistan analyst with the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service.
“There’s been a need seen to keep pressure on the Haqqani group,” Kronstadt said in an interview.
After floods that ravaged much of Pakistan, the U.S. also “wanted to send a message there would be no relaxing for them in whatever interim there is” before counterterrorism operations on the ground resume, Kronstadt said.
This month’s spike in missile attacks is part of a yearlong escalation. The U.S. has fired more than 75 missiles into Pakistan so far this year, up from 53 in 2009, according to the New America Foundation’s count.

Rs50 bn loans written off

2010-09-24T05:50:00.000+01:00

Pakistani banks have yet again quietly written off Rs50 billion fresh loans outstanding against their borrowers during the last two years and at the same time, Pakistan’s total borrowing from World Bank (WB), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) reached to $31billion.It has been revealed that Islamabad was now paying $3.6 billion interest alone each year on these foreign loans. Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh shared the mind-boggling figure of loan written off by the Pakistani banks in the National Assembly during the question hour. In the same session, Minister of State for Economic Affairs Division Hina Rabbani Khar, however, made revelations about the total foreign loans of three lending agencies followed by annual payment of interest by the Government of Pakistan.
These two figures about the loans — one written off and other obtained from the international lending agencies — were presented in the National Assembly during the question hour by Hina Rabbani Khar.These facts tell a sorry state of affairs as how on the one hand the country was massively borrowing from the international institutions to meet its own financial gaps and on the other how their own banks were busy in writing off the massive amounts running into billions.
The Supreme Court is also seized with loan write off case of 2007 when it was reported in the media on the basis of Auditor General’s report that Pakistani banks had written off Rs60 billion. Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry had taken a suo moto notice of this story. The Supreme Court is yet to take any decision on this case since 2007 and banks continued to write off loans. One official said, “we had to differentiate between the genuine written off loans and those who were using their clouts to get those principal and marks up written off every year.”Meanwhile, in a reply to a question by Sheikh Salahuddin, the finance minister said a sum of Rs50.854 billion was written off by the banks during the last two years. Replying to another question of MNA Raja Asad, Hina Rabbani revealed that the country had borrowed $31billion till June 30, 2010 from WB, ADB and IMF and was paying $3.6 billion as interest each year. Giving the break up of loans, she said world had given $11.4 billion loan and was being paid $1.6 billion every year as interest on these loans. Pakistan took $11.58 billion from ADB and was paying $1.4 billion as interest on annual basis. $8billion have been borrowed from IMF and $445 million per year are being paid to them as interest.

225 suicides in a month

2010-09-16T11:45:00.001+01:00

At least 225 people including 73 women committed suicide during the run of last one month.
According to Pakistan Commission for Human Rights, the most of people put an end to their lives under juggernaut of poverty and hostile circumstances. The report said at least 351 incidents of suicides and suicide attempts were reported during last one month; however, only 39 FIRs were registered against these incidents.
According to the report, at least 18 people were killed in the name of honour in Sindh, of them, Ghtoki’s eight year old Dadan is also included. The report said at least 27 people including 21 women were sexually maltreated across the country; of them, Matli’s four-year-old and Tando Muhammed Khan’s five-year girl are also included.
According to experts, the hike in suicidal incidents in the country is an alarming phenomenon thanks to the rampant non-tolerance in the society.

Discrimination in Aid Distribution

2010-09-02T06:50:00.000+01:00

It is no secret that ethnic, sectarian and religious minorities in Pakistan face discrimination, but recent reports that this deplorable mindset is affecting flood relief efforts are deeply disturbing. On Monday, a large number of people in Hyderabad were driven to taking out a protest rally against the maltreatment of minority community flood victims. They cited two occasions when they were attacked and driven out of a relief camp.

A day before that, flood-affected families at an emergency relief camp in Thatta district complained that they were being refused aid, even by government officials, because they were Dalits. There have been numerous other reports: people being refused shelter because of their ethnicity, caste or religion, being discriminated against in the distribution of aid goods and being driven away from or forced to live on the very margins of the few camps that exist.

Discrimination on ethnic and religious grounds is deeply entrenched in Pakistan and will not change overnight. Yet that it is being used as an excuse to strip people of their rights as equal citizens even during a time of calamity is abhorrent. Whether Muslim, Hindu or Christian, high caste or low caste, the flood victims are all equally deserving of the attention of official and non-official aid channels. Resources are scarce and the desperate number in millions. Providing help across the board to the best of its abilities, irrespective of any ideology, is the first task of the state and society. Apart from the victims’ equal right to survival essentials such as shelter, potable water and food, the fact that the country was even before the floods rent along ethnic, sectarian and religious grounds must be kept in mind. Discrimination at this time will only deepen the divide and cause resentment that could unravel any possibility of future cohesiveness.

"Innocent Faces" from the flood

2010-08-25T10:54:00.003+01:00

Images of children at flood relief camps from across Pakistan, as water ravages the country and renders millions homeless.

Serious Problems - Who cares

2010-06-17T12:06:00.001+01:00

Coverage of the provincial budget announced by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Finance Minister Humayun Khan on Saturday has been dominated by the theme of ‘balanced budget’: Rs294bn of expenditure matched by Rs294bn of revenue. At first blush, this may seem to be a good thing. But scratch below the surface and serious problems become apparent. First, the province’s revenue projection relies heavily on money flowing from the centre as promised — a pledge that is already looking shaky. For example, if the Rs25bn in hydel power profit arrears is not forthcoming, a serious hole will appear in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s finances. The sum is part of Rs110bn that was awarded to it in an arbitration with the centre and is to be released to the province over four years. Yet, privately provincial officials are pessimistic that the arrears will be released, pointing to the fact that the province has only been allocated Rs6bn as hydel generation profits for the next fiscal year — several times lower than what they believe is owed.
Next, on the expenditure side of things, while the NFC award last year has increased transfers to the province and therefore improved the fiscal space, a majority of the money is to be spent on salaries, and a great many of those salaries are paid to employees who are not needed. It seems that in a war-torn, recession-hit economy, provincial administrators have struck upon a favourite ploy to appease voters: giving them jobs in government agencies. At least three new government departments have been created rather than trying to encourage job creation in the private sector.
The main challenge, then, for the government going forward will be to mobilise its own resources. Relying on uncertain federal receipts and making unnecessary provincial expenditures will only destabilise its finances. For example, the Rs21bn allocated to the police has more than doubled the present year’s outlay — arguably a necessary step — but the centre cannot be relied on to keep footing the bill. To be sure, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has suffered disproportionately over the last years from militancy; however, that should not be used as an excuse to further delay reform.

Missing Persons Case

2010-06-17T11:59:00.001+01:00

The reassurance given by the chief justice at a meeting of the National Judicial Policymaking Committee in Quetta on Friday with regard to efforts to find the ‘missing’ persons should give some hope to the affected families. The apex court has been seized of the matter for five years now but the current government, like the previous one, has done little to recover the missing, a large number of whom belong to Balochistan where Gen Musharraf launched an operation to rein in Baloch nationalists.
The families of those gone missing have alleged that their dear ones were picked up by intelligence agencies on suspicion of involvement in terrorist activities, and that some may have been extradited to interrogation camps on foreign shores. That is why, unfortunately, the term ‘missing’ is often used as a euphemism for those presumably picked up by intelligence agencies and kept in illegal confinement without being arraigned in a court of law with charges brought against them for trial under due process. The number of such people is said to be in the hundreds. Few have been located or recovered so far.
The recently formed judicial commission to probe the phenomenon and help locate the whereabouts, or indeed fate, of those gone missing is a step in the right direction. Yet, the commission alone cannot ensure their recovery as there is hardly anything by way of official record concerning those held in illegal custody or prosecuted without due process. It is a particularly sensitive issue in Balochistan given the province’s many genuine grievances against the modus operandi of a highhanded federal and military intelligence and security apparatus. For democracy to take root it is crucial for the missing persons to be located and administered justice and for their tormentors to be held to account for violating the law.

NWA Operation

2010-06-17T11:54:00.002+01:00

Pakistan is buying time in North Waziristan - gathering intelligence, building alliances and insisting any assault into the Taliban and Al-Qaeda fortress take place at its own time and choosing.
Part of the tribal belt on the Afghan border, North Waziristan is home to 350,000 people but considered a stronghold for the most dangerous militants in the world and largely impenetrable.
It is also a rumoured hiding place of Osama bin Laden.
Commanders are walking a tightrope, balancing US pressure for action against fears that a major push into the hornet's nest would make enemies they cannot beat and drag Pakistan into a new wave of violence.
As well as the bin Laden connection, North Waziristan's mountains are also a refuge for Pakistani Tehreek-e-Taliban who escaped an offensive in neighbouring South Waziristan and networks fighting US forces in Afghanistan.
Among those using bases in North Waziristan are the Haqqani network, created by Afghan warlord Jalaluddin Haqqani and run by his son Sirajuddin; Afghan Taliban; Pakistani warlord Hafiz Gul Bahadur and his ally Maulvi Sadiq Noor.
They are blamed by the United States for fuelling the nearly nine-year insurgency in Afghanistan, for attacking the 142,000 US-led Nato troops there and for working to destabilise the Western-backed government in Kabul.
But they are also men whom the Pakistani security establishment believes pose no direct risk to the homeland because their activities are targeted across the border, while homegrown Taliban pose a more immediate threat.
Opening a new front against the likes of Haqqani and Gul Bahadur would, Pakistani officials believe, make enemies out of well-trained, well-financed groups that are potentially valuable allies when US troops leave Afghanistan.
Given the risks involved and strain on Pakistani troops, with forces actively engaged in six of the seven tribal districts, analysts say fears of a backlash, including attacks on civilians, are holding the army back.
Last year saw a huge surge in attacks in retaliation for military offensives in Swat and South Waziristan, followed this year by a relative decline.
Around 140,000 troops are deployed along the western border, leaving 100,000 in the east, where Pakistan meets India, and commanders are wary of leaving that frontier more exposed.

After Phet Disaster

2010-06-11T06:36:00.001+01:00

Cyclone Phet came and went. Luckily, it had lost much of its intensity as it continued on its trajectory along the coast of Balochistan and Sindh and did not cause the large-scale devastation feared earlier. By Monday, the Met office had downgraded Phet to a “well-marked low-pressure area” hovering over the Indian state of Rajasthan. It added that there was little chance of heavy rain in Sindh anymore. But it was not completely smooth sailing for the coastal belt.
Several deaths were reported in Karachi while power had still not been restored to parts of the metropolis by Monday evening. Many areas of Thatta and Badin — where the storm made landfall — also remained inundated. Yet it seems Balochistan has borne the brunt of the stormy weather. Although there were no reports of fatalities as people were evacuated from the vulnerable areas, the material damage has been considerable.
The torrential rains and gusty winds accompanying Phet tore along the Makran coast, particularly affecting Gwadar and Lasbela districts. Power supply, which had been disrupted in many coastal towns as the storm struck, has not been restored, while countless houses have collapsed. Certain areas are reportedly under four feet of water. Dozens of boats in Gwadar have also been damaged. Contact with the affected areas of Balochistan is also difficult as key roads and bridges are either damaged or have been washed away.
Though all the affected areas in Sindh and Balochistan need attention, the latter province requires a little extra effort on the government’s part. Claims of neglect following the far more destructive cyclone of 2007 are still fresh in the people’s mind. The inattention of the past must not be repeated or it will give disgruntled elements the chance to exploit the situation. The prime minister’s promise of aid should be fulfilled through immediate action and aid. Speedy reconstruction and relief efforts should be ensured. There is also a need for officials to come up with a long-term plan that can minimise the risk to settlements from the havoc that natural disasters wreak.

Peace Returns to Swat

2010-06-11T06:34:00.000+01:00

On Thursday, a statement released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan welcomed the restoration of peace in Swat, citing the reports of a fact-finding team. This is encouraging and testifies to the Pakistan Army’s efforts since the military operation was launched last year. However, lasting stability hinges on several factors and requires more than the efforts of the army alone.
First, the security forces must refrain from adopting a ham-fisted approach. No illegal practices should be associated with the army. Yet the HRCP fact-finding team says that the security forces were in some areas committing human rights violations. These include extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detentions and the forced displacement of families of suspected militants. This is counterproductive and must cease since it tarnishes the image of the army while alienating the local people.
Secondly, the role played by the army in maintaining peace must slowly but surely be handed over to non- military agencies such as the police. The task of infrastructure development and rehabilitation must also be entrusted to civi- lian bodies. That the army repaired and rebuilt over 200 schools is praiseworthy, for instance, but sends the signal that civilian organisations are not in charge. The confidence of the people will not be restored unless the region appears safe enough for the army to be seen to be taking a back seat.
Third, the region needs a more efficient justice system. This will not only restore confidence in the state but also reduce the need for illegalities such as arbi-trary detention and extrajudicial killings. Only 57 of the nearly 3,000 cases registered against suspected militants since May 2009 have so far been decided, and there have been three convictions. This is unsurprising since there is only one anti-terrorism judge for the seven districts of Malakand division. Such deficiencies must be addressed if peace in Swat is to be sustainable.

40 Million under Taliban Rule

2010-06-11T06:27:00.001+01:00

Human rights group Amnesty International said Thursday that nearly four million people are effectively living under Taliban rule in northwest Pakistan and have been abandoned by the government.
The 130-page report entitled “As if Hell Fell on Me: The Human Rights Crisis in Northwest Pakistan” is likely to ruffle Pakistani officials who believe they made great strides last year in regaining ground from the Taliban.
The London-based organisation said there were credible reports that at least 1,300 civilians were killed during fighting in the northwest in 2009.
There has been little official word on civilians hurt in anti-Taliban campaigns.
“Nearly four million people are effectively living under the Taliban in northwest Pakistan without rule of law and effectively abandoned by the Pakistani government,” said Amnesty's acting head, Claudio Cordone.
The group called the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) a “human rights free zone” and said more than one million displaced people were “in desperate need of aid”.
It urged Pakistan and the Taliban to prevent loss of civilian life and allow unfettered aid workers' access to provide food, shelter and medical supplies to the injured and displaced.
“We have an historic opportunity regarding Fata right now,” Amnesty's Asia-Pacific Director Sam Zarifi .
The international community has put up donor funds and Pakistani troops are operating in an “unprecedented” six of the seven tribal agencies, he said.
“The old tribal order has been hugely disrupted by the Taliban and we have a civilian government in Pakistan that has talked about short and medium-term reform. There is an opportunity to do something about the people of Fata.”The British colonial-era law governing Fata denies residents basic rights and protections, including their rights to political representation, judicial appeal and freedom from collective punishment.
“The Pakistani government has to follow through on its promises to bring the region out of this human rights black hole and place the people of Fata under the protection of the law and constitution of Pakistan,” said Cordone.
Amnesty, which based its report on nearly 300 interviews with residents in the northwest, accused Pakistan of launching “heavy handed” operations, including “indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks”.
It said the Taliban were guilty of systematic abuses, killing those who challenge their authority and imposing their rule through torture and other ill-treatment, targeting women, teachers, aid workers and political activists.
Insurgents increased the likelihood of civilian casualties by dispersing themselves in communities and blocking roads to prevent villagers from escaping “heavy bombardment by government forces”.
But a Pakistani security official contacted challenged Amnesty to visit Swat, where commanders say a decisive battle last year returned much of the northwest valley to relative normality after a two-year uprising.
Significant territory that fell to the Taliban had been regained and urgent efforts were being made to stabilise the areas allowing the displaced to return as soon as it was safe, the official said.

Public Voice!

2010-06-11T06:23:00.002+01:00

A majority of Pakistanis don’t approve of Islamabad’s decision to join the US-led war on terror but, at the same time, they don’t believe that the Taliban are fighting for Islam, according to a survey carried out by the Pak Institute for Peace Studies (Pips).
Findings of the “Radicalisation in Pakistan” survey released on Tuesday show that 63.6 per cent of the respondents were against joining the war on terror, and 46.3pc were of the opinion that the Taliban were not fighting for Islam.
Even among those who sounded sympathetic to the militant organisation, 39.7pc condemned its acts of violence, such as attacks on girls’ schools, cinemas and CD shops. But about 22pc of them did not know how to respond to such acts.
According to the survey report, Taliban has sympathisers mostly in Balochistan (49.4pc) and Punjab (30.1pc) who believe that they are fighting for Islam.
Surprisingly, there are not many Taliban sympathisers in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Only 22pc respondents in Fata and 25.3pc in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa believe the Taliban are fighting for Islam.
However, 45.7pc of the respondents in Fata did not respond to the question.
The report reveals that Taliban do not enjoy much support in Sindh, AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan.
The respondents appeared concerned about the condition of Muslims and 77.7pc thought that they lagged behind other nations. Most of them (31.2pc) were of the opinion that this is because they had deviated from Islam. Only 18.1pc maintained that it was due to their backwardness in the fields of science and technology.
Another significant finding is that a large number of people (46.8pc) want religio-political parties given a chance to rule the country, despite the fact that the electoral performance of these parties were not “impressive’ in October 2002 when analysts attributed whatever success they achieved to the strong anti-American sentiments in the country.
The respondents also expressed interesting views on Jihad.
Very few (2.7pc) were of the view that Muslims had failed to progress in the world because they had lost their passion to fight against their enemies. About 28pc people believed that Jihad should be waged against cruelty and not to spread Islam to every corner of the world as five per cent of the respondents believed.
A large number of the respondents (20.4pc) were concerned about religious differences in the country. They blamed these disagreements for sectarianism and religious extremism.
However, a large number of people (21.6pc) did not take the disagreements seriously and said that these had been preordained and prophesied. The survey clearly captures growing religiosity among the masses.
Not surprisingly, 65pc of the respondents said a person who did not pray five times a day could not become a better Muslim. Nearly 59pc of them said the struggle for implementation of Sharia was also Jihad.
However, about 81pc of the respondents considered female education as “extremely necessary” and only a small percentage (12.5) thought it was “not very important”.
Nearly 23pc of the people surveyed said they did not listen to music, and (15.8pc) of them said it was because of religious reasons.
Interestingly, 51pc of the total sample endorsed Junaid Jamshaid’s decision to quit singing.
The respondents were from all urban and rural areas in the four provinces, Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir (excluding military restricted areas).
The survey population was selected through probability/random sampling. Most of the people (53.4 and 14.8pc, respectively) belonged to urban areas and small towns. But a significant proportion (29.9pc) came from the rural community. A large majority of the respondents were either in intermediate (29.3pc) or pursuing a graduation or master’s degree (37.5pc).
Only 8.3pc of the people were not literate and 2.2pc had received only madressah education.
Interestingly, the general perception about the wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir is at variance with the recent militant discourse.

VAT imposition Vs Education sector

2010-05-28T08:36:00.002+01:00

With the beginning of the new academic year from April, parents of children studying at private schools are already paying from Rs10 to Rs50 more on a textbook, depending on the syllabus. But they fear that with the imposition of value-added tax (VAT) in the new budget on the education sector, prices of education-related items will go skyrocketing.
Already uncomfortable with the surging inflation rate, parents now feel really perturbed over reports of VAT imposition on the education sector. Even the stakeholders in the education sector oppose the government’s move to levy VAT. In case of levy of a new tax, the stakeholders may not feel the pinch and ultimately parents will have to swallow the bitter pill of paying extra.
Publishers say the prices of books published by the Sindh Textbook Board have also risen by Rs1.5 per book for class ninth and tenth and 25 to 45 paisas per book from class one to eight in the last one year.
Like every year, paper makers enhance the rate of paper in the peak season in January for the new session and later they reduce the price in April after the book buying spree fades.
However, there was some stability in the prices of stationery items as claimed by manufacturers. Parents also bear an increase in the monthly fees and annual charges by private schools, uniform and shoe prices, school van charges, etc.

Teachers’ protest in Karachi

2010-05-28T08:32:00.001+01:00

A protest drive by government school teachers in Sindh has left educational activities in a number of the province’s districts paralysed for the past several days. The teachers are demanding benefits and allowances granted to educators in the other three provinces which, they say, the Sindh government is not willing to extend to them. Teachers say a summary prepared by a government committee for the grant of benefits has been rejected by the chief minister. The government says the summary is under consideration.
Protests have been staged in various towns and cities across the province, including at the Bhutto mausoleum in Garhi Khuda Bakhsh. However, matters took a nasty turn when the protesting teachers clashed with police in Karachi on Thursday. The police resorted to tear-gas shelling and a baton charge to keep the teachers away from Governor’s House, where they wanted to deliver a memorandum to the governor. On Wednesday, the provincial education minister had criticised the teachers’ associations, for their protest drive, in the Sindh Assembly, saying they had “destroyed education”. He claimed that half the teachers do not show up to take classes, adding that the devolution of the education department to the city and district governments was responsible for the sorry state of education in the province.
In this tug-of-war between the government and teachers, the children of Sindh are suffering the most. Teachers’ representatives have said the protests will continue till the summer vacations and may carry on after the holidays. This is a grim prospect. Educators have every right to peacefully protest and pursue their demands, but this should not be at the cost of children’s education.
A compromise between both sides must be reached. Both the teachers and the government equally share the responsibility of improving the quality of education in Sindh. On the teachers’ part, securing benefits without improving their performance and standards is a questionable goal. On the government’s end, putting the blame for the rot in the education system on past governments will not solve the issue. Concrete measures need to be taken by all stakeholders to improve the falling standards of education in Sindh’s public schools.

Poor Nation Money Wasted

2010-05-10T13:11:00.000+01:00

The country is facing severe economic issues, some of which are spiralling out of control. Due to factors as varied as mismanagement, terrorism and the power crisis, the output of the country’s industries has plummeted to an unprecedented low, foreign investment levels are dismal and workers are being laid off in large numbers.
The agricultural sector is in no better shape. It is suffering from the effects of long-term governmental mismanagement, outdated technology and global climate change. The ranks of the newly poor are swelling while inflation is rampant. Even the prices of daily essentials are on the increase while shortages are endemic. The country’s health, education and poverty alleviation systems are in a shambles. These are the grim realities of life in Pakistan today.
It is shocking, therefore, that the Punjab government has sanctioned the purchase of a Rs25m bulletproof Mercedes Benz for the use of the provincial governor, Salman Taseer. This is money, incidentally, that the government apparently does not have. Reportedly, the sum is to be drawn in advance through a supplementary grant before the close of the financial year as a special case by relaxing the rules. What is the pressing need for such a purchase when the federal and provincial governments have announced austerity measures that apply to all kinds of official expenditure from the presidency downwards?
Even if a case were to be made for the governor’s need for security, bulletproof vehicles — albeit older models — are already available. This extravagance amounts to rubbing salt into the wounds of the country’s population, wounds that the policies of the ruling elites have inflicted over the decades. Such an obscene display of wealth underscores the disparity between the rich and the poor and tips the balance towards anarchy and rebellion. Pakistan, which is fighting an insurgency in its north-western parts, simply cannot afford this crass profligacy.

Give Them!

2010-04-29T13:00:00.000+01:00

Even though we have become increasingly immune to the terror that regularly unfolds in our midst, there is no getting away from the fact that we have failed to control the militant threat. Each month, indeed almost each week, it brings a new litany of deaths. The names of the victims figure briefly in print and then vanish into oblivion. Thousands have now died in such attacks. In most cases we hear little news of the fate of their families. The 'compensation' promised after such attacks, for what it means, is not always paid.
The suicide blast at the Pir Bala check post in the suburbs of Peshawar on Wednesday fits a pattern that has persisted for years. Four policemen manning the post died as an explosives-laden vehicle was rammed into it and six others were injured. As representatives of the state's security apparatus the police have indeed borne the brunt of recent attacks. Under-equipped and under-trained, they are virtually unable to defend themselves. This of course is one reason why the force is so often targeted by killers eager to notch up as many deaths as they can muster. We must find ways to alter the situation. Crucial to this is a re-training of the police. The methods they follow now are antiquated. They offer no protection at all in an environment that has changed beyond recognition and in which they are constantly stalked by well-armed and highly motivated killers. If necessary, experts from overseas should be called in. So too should army trainers. It is cruel to expose young men to such danger without offering them some means to save themselves. They must be given better equipment and know-how that would allow them to take on the militants on a more even footing.

War Cost

2010-04-28T06:48:00.001+01:00

The World Bank’s Global Monitoring Report 2010 has acknowledged the economic and financial costs Islamabad has incurred due to the security situation in the country. The report places Pakistan among the conflict-affected countries where political uncertainty and fighting continue to disrupt economic activity.
Two other countries in the region — Afghanistan and Nepal — have found a place in this category. Compared to other nations in South Asia, the report says, these three are expected to face more moderate growth outturns. The report also places Pakistan among those countries whose economic growth has been the weakest because they entered the global crisis with large internal and external imbalances. Countries that entered the crisis with stronger economic fundamentals, such as Bangladesh, Bhutan and India, faced up to the problems better.
Pakistan’s internal security problems have worsened in the aftermath of 9/11. It has experienced more violence, particularly acts of terrorism, in recent years than elsewhere in the region. A recent research paper published by the Lahore University of Management Sciences points out that the per capita incidents (of violence) in Pakistan have increased far more rapidly in the last five years than anywhere in the region, mainly because of the insurgency in the northwest of the country. Even Sri Lanka, once considered to be the most violence-prone nation in South Asia, has recently seen its internal security situation improve after the successful quelling of the Tamil separatist movement.
Islamabad has paid a huge economic price for its role in the war on terror. The direct costs of economic disruptions include rapid increases in internal and external security spending at the expense of education and health. Thousands have lost their lives or suffered permanent or temporary destruction of property. Indirect costs include a slowdown in economic growth and manufactured exports. The country’s image has suffered enormously. Foreign buyers are reluctant to travel here and investors have lost confidence in the country. A government estimate puts the direct and indirect costs incurred by the national economy from 2002-2008, because of the war on terror, at just below $5bn. Concessionary funding from multilateral lenders or grants from friendly countries are no solution to Pakistan’s problem. This kind of assistance only encourages consumption, adding to internal and external imbalances. What we need is investment in our energy sector and manufacturing. We need market access in developed countries for our exports. Our economic woes will not go away unless fresh investments are made in the power and manufacturing sectors for job generation and sustainable growth. But before all that we need to formulate sound policies to restore the investors’ confidence.

Basic Facilities for School Children

2010-04-27T11:48:00.001+01:00

Millions of children in Pakistan are compelled to study without basic facilities of school building, proper furniture, teaching staff and clean drinking water due to lack of political commitment and dismal status and standard of education, said a statement issued by the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc).
As part of activities arranged by Sparc to commemorate Global Campaign for Education (GCE) Week (April 19-25) titled ‘Financing Quality Public Education,’ the organisation carried out a quick assessment of the education data available on the situation of education in all provinces of Pakistan. The assessment revealed that the public expenditure on education as a percentage of the GDP is lowest in Pakistan and not surprisingly investment on education has been decreasing as 2.50 per cent and 2.47 per cent in the year 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively whereas it is estimated to be 2.10 per cent during the 2008-09. The review depicts a grim over all picture.
Pakistan Economic Survey (PES) 2007-08 states that 7,500 schools in Sindh are non-functional while only 1,400 have been reopened till date. The Ministry of Education said that due to poor implementation of the Compulsory Education Ordinance Sindh nearly 50 per cent of the total child population aged 5-15 years is out of schools and in rural areas whereas almost 70 per cent girls have never attended school.
In Balochistan, there are 3,500 ghost schools with half of them without roofs and boundary walls. The National Economic Survey (NES) says that 8.6 per cent out of the 10,381 schools are in a ‘dangerous’ condition. About six per cent do not have buildings, nine per cent lack electricity, 12 per cent are devoid of clean drinking water and 11 per cent are without proper latrine. Despite tall claims, the Punjab government has slashed education sector’s development and non-development budget by 17.8 per cent, decreasing the allocation for 2009-10 to Rs45.509 billion from Rs55.401 billion for 2008-09.
In Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, the government has turned a blind eye towards female education. In primary education only 34.4 per cent girls have been enrolled as compared to 65.6 per cent boys. Similarly, in secondary school girls’ enrolment is 32.1 per cent as compared to 67.9 per cent boys.

Food Crisis

2010-04-26T05:53:00.001+01:00

Pakistan may face serious food deficits and high food inflation with a 2.8 per cent population growth and a decline of 5 per cent in per acre yield because of global warming, says a new report submitted to the Planning Commission.
Pakistan needs to develop heat-resistant varieties of foodgrains since the average growth rate of major crops has declined from 3.34 per cent during the 1980s to 2.38 in the 1990s. At the same time, the frequency of negative growth years in some major crops has increased, according to the report of a panel of economists formed by the commission to suggest measures under medium-term development imperatives and strategy.
The instability of crop sector growth and the increased frequency of negative growth year becomes a structural factor in poverty creation. Since almost all possible arable land is now under cultivation, enhancement in agricultural production will have to come from an increase in yield, which is at present low by international standards.
The panel listed five major institutional constraints, reduced water availability, efficiency of irrigation, high-yield seeds, research capability and degradation of soils.
While the availability of irrigation water has been reduced, the report says the requirement of water at the farm level has increased due to increased deposits of salts on the top soil and the consequent need for leaching. About 33 million tons of salts are annually brought into the Indus Basin Irrigation System, of which 24 million tons are retained.
As a result of increasing water deficit farmers even in irrigated areas are dependent on rainfall. The future agricultural growth will have to rely on improving the efficiency of the use of water and other inputs. The rehabilitation of irrigation system for improving irrigation efficiency has become a crucial policy challenge for sustainable growth of agriculture.
The sharp rise in international prices of foodgrains and the opportunities arising for Pakistani farmers to trade in other cash crops and enhance their earnings could contribute significantly to a rapid enlargement of middle class even in rural areas.
In order to augment farmer prosperity the report stressed the need for narrowing the gap between the yields achieved by progressive farmers and the large number of small farmers, and shifting cropping patterns in favour of value-added horticulture at present suffers because of marketing system.
The panel also stressed the need for producing more vigorous seed varieties adapted to local environmental conditions, and their diffusion among farmers through an effective research and extension programme. There is no organised seed industry in the country to meet the needs of farmers.
A new dimension to the imperative of improving research capability in the crop sector is indicated by the possibility of declining yields per acre because of global warming. Given the sensitivity of wheat seed to temperature increase, even a two-degree centigrade increase in average summer temperatures would mean an absolute yield decline of between 10 and 16 per cent this century.
The current ineffectiveness of agriculture research and poor diffusion among farmers is a cause of concern, particularly so in a situation where future growth and labour absorption will have to depend more on input efficiency than on enlargement of irrigated acreage and input intensification, which were major sources of agriculture growth in the past.
One of the most important constraints to sustainable growth in the crop sector is the degradation of soil, resulting from improper practices such as lack of crop rotation and the resultant loss of humus in the top soil, stripping of top soil and resultant loss of fertility associated with over-grazing, erosion along hill sides and river banks due to cutting down of trees and depletion of natural vegetation.

Peshawar on Target!

2010-04-20T07:29:00.004+01:00

At least 23 people, including a deputy superintendent of police and leaders and activists of Jamaat-i-Islami, were killed and 42 others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a protest demonstration of the party in the city’s historical Qissa Khwani Bazaar on Monday evening.

Jamaat’s district naib amir Haji Dost Mohammad Khan, DSP Gulfat Hussain and two constables were among the dead. The party’s provincial general-secretary Shabir Ahmad Khan and district amir Sabir Hussain Awan were injured in the suicide attack.
“The explosion took place soon after Haji Dost Mohammad had offered the concluding prayers at the end of the demonstration against loadshedding and leaders were shaking hands to see off each other,” said Mohammad Shahid, a Jamaat worker.
Rehmatullah Khan, another JI worker who lost his brother Haji Samiuddin in the attack, said that protesters were about to disperse when the blast took place.
Eyewitnesses said the place was littered with human flesh and blood and broken glasses and items of damaged shops strewn all over the place. There were groaning and cries of the injured and wailing of hospital ambulances.
The blast damaged several vehicles and nearby shops. Security forces cordoned off the Qissa Khwani Bazaar and closed link roads.
A security official said that a suspected suicide bomber who had been arrested three days ago informed investigators that seven of his associates from the Orakzai Agency had been assigned the task of launching attacks in different areas.
The bodies and the injured were taken to the Lady Reading Hospital. Some of the injured JI leaders were later shifted to the party’s Al-Khidmat Hospital.
The LRH chief executive said that 23 bodies and 42 injured had been brought to the hospital. Six of them were in serious condition.
An official of the Khan Raziq police station said that three constables, Imdad Ali, Mohtamim Khan and Zahid, had suffered injuries. Zahid later succumbed to his wounds.

School Blast

Earlier in the day, a time-device exploded outside the main gate of Police Public School on Jamrud Road in the busy Board Bazaar, killing a five-year-old student and injuring seven others.
Town police DSP Haroon-ur-Rasheed Babar told reporters that the bomb had been planted inside an empty shop on the Jamrud Road. It was detonated at a time when students of junior classes had left the Police Public School and the rest were coming out at about 1.15pm.
He said the device might have been detonated by a cellular phone.
However, an official of the bomb disposal unit said it was a time bomb and was probably put in a school bag or shopping bag because parts of bags had been found at the scene. The explosives, he said, weighed about two to three kilograms.
The blast left a crater, destroyed two motorcars and two shops.
The injured were taken to the Khyber Teaching Hospital. According to a hospital source, five-year-old student Taimur was killed on the spot. The injured students were identified as Aftab, Akhtar Hassan, Muddasir, Fahad, Shakirullah, Junaid, Hassan Raza and Lala Gul.

Conserving national heritage

2010-04-15T12:57:00.001+01:00

It is with both elation and concern that we welcome the federal culture ministry’s recommendations on the ‘compilation of inventory of cultural assets’ in the country, as reported on Friday. Our sense of elation stems from the fact that at long last the ministry has taken up the important task of documenting the cultural heritage of Pakistani people — including ethnic minorities — and the country’s archaeological sites, which are in dire need of conservation.
However, of particular concern is the fact, as voiced by the relevant subcommittee, that budgetary allocations for the task remain woefully low. The ministry has a paltry Rs3.3m per annum to conserve some 400 listed monuments, which it says boils down to Rs8,000 per heritage site. That is a pathetic state of affairs.
In so diverse a country, the culture ministry needs far greater funding to do justice to all religious and ethnic groups and their individual or shared secular heritage. As it is, the existing condition of even the Mughal monuments, which are wholeheartedly owned by the state and the people alike, presents a picture of utter neglect.
Invaluable prehistoric sites like Moenjodaro, Harappa as well as the vast tracts of the Gandhara civilisation are even worse off. Given the existing funds available with the ministry, the monumental task it wants to undertake seems impossible. The subcommittee on culture fell short of identifying alternative sources of funding, such as foreign donors, Unesco or local philanthropist organisations that may be tapped for the purpose. A lot of what Pakistan has in cultural heritage is after all global in its historical appeal. Efforts should be made to reach out to the world and solicit funds for conserving our cultural treasures across the country.

Embracing identity

2010-04-15T12:55:00.000+01:00

Identity is what distinguishes heritage from history. We can ignore, if not redo and delete, portions of our history that we choose not to like but we cannot avoid our heritage. It is, after all, what makes us what we are.
Even when we are not consciously aware of the origin of our architecture, customs and traditions, at a subconscious level we follow them as a silent tribute to our forefathers who first came up with them. This justifies our urge to save our heritage from disappearing. Motivated by this urge, a citizen has moved the Lahore High Court for the protection and preservation of two major heritage sites in the Salt Range. He told the court that the Malot and Katras forts have not just suffered due to the ravages of time and the elements, they are further threatened by unceasing mining and industrial operations in the area. His petition also highlighted the apathy of the federal and the Punjab governments in taking no note of the precarious condition of the two forts built more than a thousand years ago.
That the court has taken up the petition is a welcome development. It may divert official attention to the plight of the forts that may one day collapse because of mining beneath them and corrosive industrial activities around them. It may also help the government, local residents, mining companies and factory owners realise that monuments such as the Malot and Katras forts are the roots of our culture.
Letting these roots wither at the altar of commercialisation is as dangerous as the idea of ignoring them due to their pre-Islamic origin. Taking immediate steps for their preservation will not just be a compliment to the great civilisation we have inherited from those distant times. It will also be an acknowledgement of the soul-stirring synthesis that emerged with the confluence of Islamic and sub-continental culture. Conserving Malot and Katras could become one big step towards retrieving that synthesis from under the heap of some recent and not so helpful influences.

Drones are making trouble to civilian, says study

2010-04-15T12:47:00.000+01:00

One out of every three killed by US drone in Pakistan is a civilian, says a report by the New America Foundation.
The Washington-based think-tank had issued a similar report in October last year, which showed these strikes were decimating the militants, killing their leaders as well as low-level activists.
But the latest report warns that civilian deaths in these strikes were alarming as 32 per cent of drone victims in Fata over the past six years have been civilians.
The report ‘The Year of the Drone’ compiles and analyses the results of 114 drone strikes that killed over 1,000 people.
“Our study shows that the 114 reported drone strikes in northwest Pakistan, including 18 in 2010, from 2004 to the present, have killed approximately between 834 and 1,216 individuals,” says the report.
“Of these, around 549 to 849 were described as militants in reliable press accounts, about two-thirds of the total on average. Thus, the true civilian fatality rate since 2004 according to our analysis is approximately 32 per cent.”
The report, however, insists that the drone strikes are an unpopular but necessary evil.
The US media, while reporting the New America Foundation’s findings, conceded that the percentage of civilian casualties in drone strikes was ‘mind-numbing’ and described the drones as ‘unmanned flying death squads’.
The Year of the Drone
Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann, who compiled the report, note that 2009 was the year of the drone, as there were 51 reported strikes in Pakistan’s tribal areas, compared to a total of 45 during two terms under President George W. Bush. So far in 2010, between 80 and 140 reported militants have been killed in drone strikes.
Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud seems to have been a frequent target of the strikes, and was reportedly killed by one in mid-January.
None of the reported strikes has appeared to target America’s most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. Nor has his top deputy, Ayman Al Zawahiri, been targeted since he narrowly escaped being killed in a drone strike four years ago.
Nor has the expanded drone programme stopped Al Qaeda and its allies from continuing to train western recruits. Between 100 and 150 westerners are believed to have travelled to Fata in 2009.
Key militant figures reportedly sleep outside under trees to avoid being targeted. Taliban regularly execute suspected ‘spies’ in Waziristan accused of providing information to the United States.
The report asserts that drone strikes might be on shaky legal ground, according to Columbia Law School professor Matthew Waxman:
“The principle of proportionality says that a military target may not be attacked if doing so is likely to cause incidental civilian casualties or damage that would be excessive in relation to the expected military advantage of the attack....But there is no consensus on how to calculate these values.… Nor is there consensus on what imbalance is ‘excessive.’”
The study relates that the drone strategy isn’t a strategy at all- but a tactic – and one that backfires.
The report, however, notes that the Americans insist on carrying out the strikes because they do not have too many alternatives for eliminating the Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists hiding in Fata.
Pakistan has forbidden the US from employing ground forces within Fata and the Americans do not have other resources in the area to deploy against the militants.
The report speculates that the US is quite unlikely to use drone strikes in Balochistan to target Taliban reportedly hiding in and around Quetta. Balochistan is part and parcel of the Pakistani state, unlike the northwestern tribal areas, which have their own legal and social codes.
“Despite the controversy drone strikes are likely to remain a critical tool for the United States to disrupt Al Qaeda and Taliban operations and leadership structures,” the study concludes.

Benazir Bhutto assassination report set for release

2010-04-15T12:36:00.004+01:00

Benazir Commission Committee Members

An independent panel is to release on Thursday, 15th April 2010, its sensitive report on the 2007 assassination of Pakistani ex-premier Benazir Bhutto after complying with Islamabad's request for a two-week delay.
Pakistan said last week it had asked that the release, initially scheduled for March 30, be delayed so that input from Afghanistan, the United States and Saudi Arabia could be included.
Interior Minister Rehman Malik said he had asked the UN-appointed, three-member panel to include input from former US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice, Afghan President Hamid Karzai and Saudi Arabia in its report.
He did not elaborate further on what information he wanted to be included.
Bhutto, the first woman to become prime minister of a Muslim country, was killed on December 27, 2007 in a gun and suicide attack after addressing an election rally in Rawalpindi, a garrison city near the capital Islamabad.
On Wednesday, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told a press briefing that the panel headed by Chile's ambassador to the UN Heraldo Munoz would formally present its report to UN chief Ban Ki-moon Thursday afternoon.
“The Secretary General then intends to transmit it to the government of Pakistan, and he will also share it, for information purposes, with the members of the Security Council,” the spokesman added.
Munoz and one of the other panel members, Indonesian ex-attorney general Marzuki Darusman, were to give a press conference late Thursday to provide details of the report.
The delay in releasing the report was announced late last month only hours after a UN spokeswoman in Islamabad said all UN offices in Pakistan would close for three days as a security precaution.
The measure affected more than 2,000 staff in dozens of offices around the nuclear-armed country with a population of 167 million.
On October 5, a suicide bomber clad in military uniform attacked the heavily fortified UN World Food Program office in Islamabad, killing five staff members.
Security is precarious in parts of Pakistan, where more than 3,150 people have been killed in suicide and bomb attacks over the last three years. The violence has been blamed on militants opposed to the government's relations with the United States.
Bhutto's supporters have cast doubt on an initial Pakistani probe into her death, questioning whether she was killed by a gunshot or the blast and criticizing authorities for hosing down the scene of the attack within minutes.
Bhutto wrote in her autobiography of warnings that four suicide squads — including one sent by a son of Osama bin Laden — were after her.
She also repeatedly accused a cabal of senior Pakistani intelligence and government officials of plotting to kill her, notably in an attack that killed 139 people in Karachi on October 18, 2007 when she returned from exile.

Air strikes in Khyber

2010-04-15T12:35:00.001+01:00

Saturday’s, 10th April 2010, bombings in Khyber Agency have shocked the nation and an official apology is in order, not just from the civilian administration but also the armed forces. It is clear from eyewitness accounts that the 60 or so people killed in aerial bombardments in Sra Vela were innocent tribesmen with no links to the militancy wracking the tribal belt.
Even as the military establishment denied that civilians had been killed, it was reported that the victims would receive significant monetary compensation in addition to food supplies. In effect, it has been acknowledged that a huge blunder was made, one that has scarred the lives of dozens of families. The incident reflects poorly on the security apparatus’s intelligence-gathering capacity and has the potential to erode the support the government currently enjoys in its battle against Taliban-inspired militancy. A bomb dropped on the house of a serving army soldier was followed by another even more devastating attack when area residents rushed to the scene. Such actions defy description and an explanation is in order from those who ordered the assault.
It was realised quite some time ago that avoiding ‘collateral damage’ is a key factor when it comes to winning hearts and minds. This cannot be achieved when people who are most directly affected by the savagery of the Taliban also come under unintentional attack from the state. True, US drone strikes have become more precise in recent months, leading to fewer civilian casualties. Also, the military’s decision to confront the militants head-on by putting more boots on the ground has to some extent reduced the collateral damage caused by long-distance artillery assaults. But Saturday’s incident in Khyber Agency shows that dangerous intelligence gaps persist and that these need to be rectified forthwith. Damage control alone cannot suffice.
As we said at the outset, any repeat of the Sra Vela tragedy can undermine the fight against militancy. The heartbreak caused by such attacks strengthens the hands of the Taliban who want public opinion to turn against the state. Considerable gains have been made in recent months with the military going on the offensive and tribesmen raising their own anti-Taliban fighting units. A reversal of fortunes is simply unaffordable. Then there are several ‘conservative’ and outright extremist players in the political arena who have much in common with the Taliban and want to see an end to the military operation. Civilian casualties in the battle arena give them more vitriol with which to embellish claims that this is America’s war, not Pakistan’s. They must be denied the chance to add fuel to the fire.

Violence at Abbottabad

2010-04-15T12:28:00.001+01:00

Protesters burn furniture in a riot in Abbottabad. Hundreds of protesters took to the streets to express anger over the change of the name of their province to Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa. Police fired tear gas and bullets into the crowd after they attacked police stations and burn vehicles, killing seven people, police said

Political violence in Pakistan is difficult to decipher from afar. But what happened in Abbottabad appears to be tied to a struggle between the PML-Q and PML-N in the first instance and the lack of a prompt public-awareness campaign in the Hazara region generally by the ANP-led provincial government.
The renaming of the NWFP as Khyber Pakthunkhwa has gone down badly in the Hazara region and there appears to be genuine grassroots dissent against a name that the non-Pakhtun, Hindko-speaking population of the region does not identify with. Sensing an opportunity, the PML-Q has tried to capitalise on the emergence of the malcontents at the expense of the PML-N.
In the February 2008 elections, the PML-N trounced the PML-Q in the areas which have traditionally been Muslim League strongholds. Now with the PML-N voting in favour of ‘Khyber Pakthunkhwa’, the PML-Q is trying to portray itself as the real defenders of the rights of the people of the Hazara region and perhaps make a comeback in the region. The alacrity with which the PML-Q has grabbed the opportunity can be gauged by the fact that erstwhile rivals, some might say bitter enemies, in the party have come together to stand up for the ‘rights’ of Hazara’s people.
But the main reason the PML-Q has been able exploit the unhappiness in the Hazara region is the negligence of the ANP-led provincial government. Yes, the demand for the ‘Pakhtunkhwa’ name is legitimate and has the support of the majority of the province. But the ANP should have taken more care to reassure the people of the Hazara region, and even the Seraiki-speaking population in southern NWFP, that the name change would not impact the rights of the ‘minority’ ethnicities. The ANP has appeared more obsessed with the renaming issue than the everyday concerns of the people of the province. Identity matters, clearly, but so do things like jobs, reducing inflation and improving public services. So elated has the ANP been at the fulfilment of a century-old demand, that it appears to have forgotten there are more pressing issues that the people of the province care about.

NWFP = Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa

2010-04-15T12:25:00.001+01:00

Pakistan's North West Frontier Province was officially renamed as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Thursday.
After getting the National Assembly's nod of approval earlier this week, the bill has now been passed by the Senate. Eighty senators voted in favour of the new name, while just 12 opposed it. An amendment which had been moved by the PML-Q against the province's renaming was rejected by the upper house.

NWFP schools’ closure

2010-03-29T05:31:00.001+01:00

The shortage of teachers has forced the closure of 367 government-run primary schools for girls and boys across the NWFP, more than 30 of them in Peshawar alone. As a result, over 36,700 students are now out of school, most of them in remote areas where there is no option of taking admission in another school.
The problem lies not in the shortage of teachers per se, but in the fact that the teachers in most of the now-closed schools, which were located in far-flung areas, managed to obtain transfers to other schools of their choice — mainly located in urban areas. Security concerns and transport problems discourage teachers from working in remote areas. Furthermore, teachers in urban areas receive more attractive allowances.
This is an unacceptable state of affairs. The number of educational institutions, primary schools in particular, in the NWFP has always been far from adequate. The situation plummeted in recent years when the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and other militant outfits put schools, particularly those for girls, in their crosshairs. With this threat having been reduced to some extent, it is now essential that schools stay open and, indeed, try to increase the numbers of admissions.
That people want their children to have access to education is evident from the fact that the schools now closed remained functional for many years after their establishment, and were staffed by teachers appointed by the Elementary and Secondary Education department — teachers who have now abandoned their positions and left thousands of students in the lurch. The matter merits urgent attention by the authorities: education is not just a constitutional right but also plays a critical role in lifting people out of poverty and darkness. Proper education is also crucial to ensuring that anarchic elements never, in future, find the province conducive to their activities.

Dismal realities

2010-03-24T11:14:00.001Z

If anyone remains to be convinced about the truly dismal state of affairs prevailing in the country, they would find ample evidence in a report released on Monday by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. A roundup of the statistics of 2009, the report reads as an indictment of the state’s inability to protect its citizens. Unsurprisingly, terrorist attacks are identified as constituting the greatest threat to fundamental rights. The report estimates that over 3,000 people were killed during the year under review in 2,586 incidents of terrorism across the country, including 108 suicide bombings. Yet the civilian population has not been left unscathed by even the various state-sponsored and state-supported efforts to combat the militants. Meanwhile, the HRCP report refers to complaints about extra-judicial and revenge killings in the aftermath of the Swat operation where in a disturbing trend echoing the Taliban’s tactics, bodies were found strung upside down, bearing warnings that anyone supporting the militants would meet the same fate. Furthermore, the HRCP claims, the principle that military operations against terrorists should be carried out in a manner that does not violate the human rights of combatants and non-combatants was not always followed.
The news is bad in other areas too. As compared to the previous year, 2009 saw a sharp increase in violence against women and religious minorities, while new incidents of ‘enforced disappearances’ continued to be reported from across the country. Crimes such as target killings, kidnapping for ransom, ‘honour’ killings and domestic violence continued to be committed with impunity, with little evidence of success in the state’s efforts to contain them. No one in government appears to recognise that quite apart from terrorism and militancy; there is an urgent need to improve the lot of the people. After years of suffering, the people crave security for their lives, properties, livelihoods and future. The HRCP report estimates that of the 70 million children in the country almost 20.3 million do not go to school. What we will see in future years is an increasingly uneducated and brutalised population that harbours great resentment against the state.

Eradicating polio

2010-03-18T07:15:00.000Z

Battling the spread of the polio virus and its eventual eradication from the country are among the major public health challenges confronting Pakistan. Though there have been several official polio awareness campaigns and immunisation drives, some lacunae remain which need to be plugged if the virus is to be eliminated.
While discussing anti-polio efforts at the start of the latest eradication campaign in Karachi, the country representative of the World Health Organisation pointed to some of the problems hampering polio eradication efforts, specifically with reference to cases detected in the city. He said that as per available data, most of the cases detected in Karachi were found in people who had come to the metropolis from other parts of the country. He reiterated the need to incorporate the migrant population in the overall anti-polio campaign instead of excluding it from official plans. The WHO official also stressed upon the government to ensure that migrants’ health, education and sanitation needs are met, particularly the provision of drinking water.
Karachi has always been a magnet for migrants from within Pakistan and abroad, primarily due to its status as the country’s economic capital. But ever since the armed forces initiated their operations against militants in the tribal belt and Malakand, a steady trickle of internally displaced persons has also been arriving in the city. It is imperative that those taking refuge in Karachi because of conflict or economic reasons are included in the anti-polio drive. And as Waziristan and Malakand have been relatively pacified, the federal and provincial governments should take the anti-polio drive to these areas, making it a priority to send immunisation teams to far-flung regions. The efficacy of the anti-polio vaccines and drops must also be guaranteed while the authorities should counter the negative propaganda generated by extremist elements regarding the vaccine.
With regard to the tribal areas and Malakand, if the government can prove it holds the welfare of the people dear by immunising their children and looking after their health needs, it may go a long way towards winning hearts and minds.

Load shedding > Nation’s patience

2010-03-18T07:07:00.000Z

Electricity shortfall rose to a staggering 4,500MW on Wednesday, forcing the Pakistan Electric Power Company to resort to a massive 10-hour unscheduled load shedding across the country.
Karachi suffered eight to 10 hours of power shutdown.
Although figures released by Pepco put the deficit at 3,021MW, the prolonged country-wide load shedding belied those figures.
The company said the total demand was 12,441MW on Wednesday and it generated 9,420MW. Pepco said its thermal units produced 2,550MW, independent power producers contributed 5,535MW and 1,332MW came from the hydel component.
Wapda, however, disputed the figures on hydel generation, saying its peak hour contribution was about 2,500MW, and not 1,332MW as claimed by Pepco.
According to reports reaching , the duration of load shedding was between 12 and 15 hours on Wednesday. This is despite the fact that use of tubewells is at minimum these days as wheat crop has matured in Sindh and the last watering has been completed in Punjab. Had these 200,000 tubewells been operational, rural areas would have been virtually without electricity.
The textile industry called for a strike on Thursday on other accounts, but the situation was not any better than a shutdown on Wednesday either.
“No one now knows when will electricity go and come, and for how long. All this is taxing the industry of its financial promise,” he said.
The Karachi Electric Supply Company suffered a serious blow to its generation capacity as the Pakistan State Oil refused to continue fuel supply to the power utility on loan.
KESC’s shortfall reached 500MW on Wednesday.
While industrial areas faced about six hours of loadshedding, power outages stretched up to 10 hours in residential areas of the city.
The situation drew the attention of Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ibad who called both the KESC CEO and PSO MD to the Governor’s House and told them that people must not suffer because of an unsettled technical dispute between the two companies.

Growing Suicide Attacks

2010-03-15T12:14:00.001Z

An additional number of 216 Pakistanis have so far been killed in 15 incidents of suicide bombings across Pakistan in the first 70 days of this year, compared with the first 70 days of 2009 during which 11 such assaults were carried out.
According to available facts and figures, Pakistan has seen an unprecedented rise in the number of suicide attacks and subsequent killings during the first six weeks of 2010, which killed 321 people and injured over 500 in 15 suicide bombings that took place across Pakistan in the first 70 days of 2010 (between January 1 and March 12), showing 216 more deaths compared with the first 70 days of 2009 (between January 1 and March 12) during which 105 people were killed. Therefore, the daily average killing rate for the first 70 days of 2010 comes to four and a half people while the weekly killing rate stands at 10 people. According to the data compiled by the Punjab home department, 145 people were killed in five incidents of suicide bombings in January this year; another 101 people lost their lives in seven such attacks in February while 75 people have so far been killed in the first 12 days of 2010.
At least 45 people lost their lives in the latest suicide attacks in the Cantonment area of Lahore on January 12, killing 45 people, including at least half a dozen Army Jawans. Hardly three days earlier (on March 12),at least 18 people were killed, including nine policemen when a suicide bomber riding a car ripped through rented offices of the Special Intelligence Agency (SIA) in the Model Town Society. However, the deadliest suicide attack of 2010 was carried out on January 1 when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden double cab pickup in the middle of the volleyball ground in Lakki Marwat, killing 105 people. The dead included policemen, Frontier Constabulary personnel as well as volley ball players. Another significant incident of suicide bombing took place on February 4, 2010, when three US military personnel were killed in a suicide car bombing attack on a forces convoy in Koto area of Dir Lower. The dead included three schoolgirls and a Frontier Corps soldier. The blast took place near a girls’ high school that pulled the building down, injuring 130 others.
Before the dawn of 2010, the year 2009 had proved to be the bloodiest one for the people of Pakistan since Islamabad joined hands with Washington in the war on terror. At least 1,217 innocent people were killed and 2,305 injured in 80 bloody attacks carried out by human bombs in 12 months of 2009 (between January and December 2009). The last year had proved to be the bloodiest in terms of the number of suicide attacks and the subsequent death toll since the 9/11 episode, especially after the Lal Masjid operation carried out by the Army in July 2007. Of the 1,217 innocent Pakistanis who lost their lives in suicide bombings in 2009, the number of civilian casualties stood at 863 while the remaining 354 martyred belonged to the security and law-enforcement agencies. Of them, 137 belonged to the police, 102 were Army officers and Jawans, 51 were the FC personnel, 28 were staff members of the Inter-Services Intelligence, 22 belonged to the Khasadar Force, 12 belonged to the Pakistan Rangers and two others were employees of the Pakistan Navy. On average, around 72 civilians and 30 security and law-enforcement agencies’ personnel lost their lives every month in 2009 due to suicide bombings.
Authorities investigating the unending spate of suicide bombings are of the view most of these attacks have been carried out by the Punjabi Taliban belonging to four sectarian-cum-Jihadi groups which are working in tandem with the Pashtun-dominated Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan. They believe several South Punjab-based members of the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP), Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) and Harkat-ul-Jihad al-Islami, who had taken part in the Afghan war, have now tied up with the TTP to carry out suicide attacks across Pakistan, especially targeting key military installations. South Punjab has grabbed the attention of Pakistani authorities over the past few months because of involvement of the Taliban in a spate of Fidayeen-style suicide bombings, including the one targeting the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi on October 10, 2009

Climbing Crime Rate

2010-03-15T12:11:00.001Z

Overall crime rate in the country is today higher than what it was two years ago. Official figures prove that the overall crime rate, both at the Centre and in all the provinces, has increased despite tall claims made by the present federal or provincial rulers.
The ANP-led Frontier government had done considerably well as it did not let the crime go as high as had been seen at the Centre or in other provinces. In case of the NWFP, it is interesting to see that the cases of rape/Zina have decreased during the ANP government as against the MMA government of Akram Khan Durrani.
The crime of rape/Zina has also seen a decrease in Balochistan, which is today ruled by the PPP but was previously under the command of the PML-Q-MMA coalition. Figures show that despite all the resources at its disposal in Islamabad that comes directly under Prime Minister Gilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, the crime situation has been worse than before. Strangely, the rape/Zina cases in Islamabad during the last two years were far more than this crime in the whole of Balochistan.
Recently, The News ran a story on prices of daily use commodities, which also shows an enormous increase during the first two years of the present democratic set-up as against the prices in early 2008. It is also a failure of the political parties and their governments to ameliorate the worsening conditions of the ordinary citizens, and ensure the safety of their life and property.
Official figures show that the countrywide reported crime during 2006-07 include a total of 20,082 cases of murder, which increased to 24,036 in 2008 and 2009. Rape/Zina cases registered in 2006-07 were 4,300 as against 5,712 in 2008-09. There were 19,909 kidnapping cases in 2006-07, but this crime rose to 29,602 in 2008 and 2009. The crime of kidnapping for ransom, which has become a business owing to governments’ apathy, also saw a rise from 569 in 2006-07 to 1,058 in 2008-09. Car theft cases have also seen a phenomenal increase from 42,056 in 2006 and 2007 to 61,108 during 2008-09. The incidents of dacoity, robbery, burglary and other crimes have also increased during the last two years. However, it is interesting to note that the cases of cattle theft have decreased from 22,421 to 18,100.
Punjab: The Punjab government has been pathetic in checking crime. Total recorded crime in 2006 and 2007 was 342,149 and 344,561, respectively as against 374,076 and 383,383 in 2008 and 2009 respectively. It happened despite the government’s claims of good governance and merit based appointments in the police department.
Details show that in 2006-07 a total of 10,211 murder cases were registered, which have been increased to 11,190 in 2008-09. The rape/Zina cases increased from 3,309 to 4,611, kidnapping crime from 15,569 to 23,211, kidnapping for ransom incidents from 272 to 347 and the number of cars stolen increased from 24,622 to 35,258. However, cattle theft cases have been reduced from 20,702 in 2006-07 to 16,352 in 2008-09.
Sindh: The total crime in 2006-07 has risen from 55,598 and 60,414 to 77,296 and 90,202 in 2008-2009 respectively. The murder cases in Sindh rose from 4,232 to 5,428, rape/Zina cases from 452 to 487, case of kidnapping from 3,010 to 4,552, incidents of kidnapping for ransom from 193 to 375 and car theft cases from 13,925 to 20,376.
NWFP: The Frontier government has done comparatively well by not letting the crime go too high. The total recorded crime during 2006 and 2007, when the province was led by the MMA government, was 224,649, which has risen to 228,087 in 2008 and 2009. The details show that the murder cases in 2006-07 were 4,760 but rose to 5,985 in 2008-09. What is interesting to note is the decrease in the rape/Zina cases in the province from 323 during the last two years of the MMA regime to 270 during the first two years of the ANP’s government.
The cases of kidnapping, however, saw a rise from 1,027 to 1,391 and the cases of kidnapping from ransom enormously increased from 91 to 249. The cars stolen in the province were 1,269 in 2006-07 but in 2008-09 this number has increased to 1,678. The Frontier has comparatively less rate of stolen cars and cases of kidnapping for ransom; however, certain areas of the province are considered as sanctuaries for kidnappers and car thieves.
Balochistan: The province of Balochistan has generally been a low crime rate province, but it too showed an increase in crime rate during the last two years. The total crime registered in 2006 and 2007 in the province was 7,696 and 8,343 respectively. Now these numbers have increased to 9,830 and 10,215 in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
The details show that the murder cases in Balochistan have increased from 703 to 1,211 in the last two years; however, the rape/Zina cases saw a decrease from 66 to 44. The case of kidnapping increased from 258 to 389, but the incidents of kidnapping from ransom jumped up from mere 6 in 2006-07 to 58 in 2008-09. The cases of car theft also enormously increased in the province, where a total of 1,216 vehicles were stolen in 2006-07, but in 2008-09 such reported cases rose to 2,261.
Islamabad: The crime in Islamabad has also increased despite the fact that it comes under the direct command of the president and the prime minister and the interior minister. Despite all kind of resources available with the federal government and Islamabad authorities, the crime in Islamabad has risen from 4,248 and 4,397 in 2006 and 2007 respectively to 5,644 and 5,552 in 2008 and 2009 respectively.
The murder cases rose from 176 to 222, the Zina/rape cases rose from 150 to 238, the crime of kidnapping increased from 35 to 59, the incidents of kidnapping for ransom raised from mere 7 in 2006-07 to 26 during the last two years whereas the number of cars stolen from Islamabad increased from 1,027 to 1,535 during this period.

The Replica Factories of Darra Adam Khel

2010-03-11T12:17:00.003Z

Located in between Kohat and Peshawar, Darra is famous for manufacturing and sale of local made weapons. The skilled craftsmen of Darra are able to manufacture exact replicas of any kind of gun in the world.
The skills of these craftsmen are passed down from father to son. A Good craftsman in Darra can earn 10-15,000 and an ordinary one can earn 3-5,000 rupees. Even the arms dealers in the cities buy stocks after ordering them first.
These craftsmen gain experience in manufacturing different parts of weapons. With their experience, they can analyse the parts and sizes of a new weapon after simply looking at it. Many types of Pistols, Revolvers, Double Barrelled and Single Barrelled weapons are manufactured here.

Polythene Threat

2010-03-11T05:28:00.000Z

Polythene bags continuing to blot Pakistan’s landscape demonstrates how the resolution of such issues requires not just political will and efficient law-enforcement but also the cooperation of citizens.
These non-biodegradable ‘conveniences’ constitute a serious environmental and health hazard. Apart from being an eyesore, they choke drains and sewerage systems; upon entering rivers or the sea, they have an adverse impact on aquatic life; buried underground, they never decompose; and when burnt, they produce organic, toxic pollutants. It is not that the harm caused by polythene bags has not been recognised; their sale and use has been banned in Balochistan since 2001, while both Punjab and Sindh have also promulgated ordinances prohibiting the manufacture, sale and use of polythene bags below a certain thicknesses. Nevertheless, the problem of shutting down units that manufacture the material and ensuring that people refuse to use them has proved too great for the authorities, and the bags continue to be widely available.
What is needed is political will: there is no dearth of laws to control the unauthorised manufacture and use of polythene bags but they are not being enforced with sufficient strictness. The issue has even come up for discussion a number of times in the National Assembly but has failed to garner the lawmakers’ attention.
It is time to formulate a policy at the federal level to control this menace, and to look into the environment ministry’s proposal to encourage oxo-biodegradable bags by reducing the duty on the import of the oxo-biodegradable additive used in their manufacture. Yet such efforts on the governmental level will have minimal impact unless citizens do their part by refusing to use polythene bags. Society needs to make an effort towards eradicating this menace, for in doing so it shall be investing in an environmentally clean future.

Lower Sindh - Heaven of pre-historic relics

2010-03-11T05:23:00.001Z

Lower Sindh and Lasbela in Balochistan hold relics of pre-historic periods, said noted scholar and archaeologist from Italy, Dr Prof Paolo Biagi.
He was delivering a lecture on ‘Recent research on the pre-history of lower Sindh and Lasbela’ at the Sindhi Language Authority. The lecture was jointly organised by the Sindh Education Trust, the SLA and Institute of Sindhology.
He said relics as old as 7,000 years could be found in Gadani, Lasbela and Karachi’s coastal area.
Coastal area was connected with Mehargarh with regards to old relics. Tharo Hill in Thatta district was of great historical value and importance as far as pre-history period was concerned, the scholar said and added that the triangular stones found at Tharo Hill were not only beautiful but also invaluable.
He said that he would excavate Tharo hill in January next in collaboration with the Archaeology Department of Sindh University for the discovery of new evidences regarding pre-history period.
Vice Chancellor, Sindh University, Mazharul Haq Siddiqui praised Prof Biagi for conducting this important research work for discovering new chapter of the cultural history of Sindh.
He said that the research work of the great scholar had opened new avenues for further research on the pre-history period of Sindh and exhorted the students, especially of Archaeology Department to follow into the footsteps of Prof Biagi.
Prof Aijaz Qureshi spoke on the research work of Dr Biagi and stressed the need for exhaustive research in the field of archaeology.
Chairperson Sindhi Language Authority, Dr Fehmida Hussain on behalf of the host institutions, thanked the scholar on his informative lecture and said that the authority will always cooperate and collaborate in such lectures.
The Director Sindhology, Shoukat Shoro also spoke on the occasion. A large number of writers and archaeology students attended the lectures and asked questions from Prof Biagi.

On the verge of Destruction

2010-03-11T05:18:00.002Z

The Ghazi Ghat jungle is rapidly losing its geographical features, thanks to grabbers, encroachers, timber thieves and last but not the least, the government itself as a Danish School, the brainchild of the incumbent chief minister, is likely to be constructed on a chunk of land gradually ‘snatched’ from the jungle.
The vanishing jungle spreading over 2,100 acres on the eastern bank of the River Indus was once considered the `darkest’ place in this district owing to its thick plantation.
Gangs of alleged criminals preferred making it their haven. The secret abodes also helped the gangsters precisely execute ‘jungle warfare’ against any possible invasion, mainly by the personnel of police or other law-enforcement agencies, in hot pursuits.
There are four jungles in this district which are under the control of the Punjab Forestry Department. The Essanwala jungle spreads over 7,072 acres, Ghazi Ghat 2,106, Ahmed Mohana 2,306 and Bait Sohni 698 acres.
Though the government announces plantation drive twice a year, not even a single sapling is planted in the fast shrinking Ghazi Ghat jungle over the years.
Rather, the existing trees are being chopped down one after the other, giving the once most shadowy place in this district a ‘bald’ look.
The environmental degradation owing to cutting of trees is yet another factor being perpetually overlooked by the government agencies responsible for preserving the forests. A lot of wildlife has lost its natural habitat and warnings of eco-warriors are going unheeded.
According to forestry parameters, plantation of around 725 trees per acre is requisite to give that piece of land status of a jungle.
But, during a recent visit to the jungle, this correspondent found that this 2,106-acre jungle did not have roughly 2,100 trees in toto and has turned into a terrain dotted with scattered farms and settlements.

New Discoveries

2010-03-11T05:12:00.002Z

Afghan Talibans attempted to destroy a beautiful first century Buddha statue carved into a rock in the NWFP, located on the border of Afghanistan, but failed in their attempt and ended up destroying a nearby rock.

The unearthing of another Buddhist-era site in the formerly beleaguered Swat valley comes as pleasant news.
Initial excavations by an Italian archaeology mission at Kandak and Kota in the Barikot area have apparently revealed treasures that include prehistoric rock carvings, paintings of social and hunting scenes and pottery specimens “preserved in good condition,” according to the mission’s director. The Italians deserve kudos for continuing their work under the most trying circumstances during the past many years since Swat became the scene of utter lawlessness because of militancy in the area. Indeed, Italian archaeologists are no strangers to the valley where they have had a presence since the discovery of the riveting Butkara site in the late 1950s in the backyard of the administrative capital, Saidu Sharif.
No doubt, the many foreign archaeologists, particularly the Italians in Swat and the French in Mehrgarh, Balochistan, have played an important role in preserving Pakistan’s historical treasures. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the role of the national archaeology department as the custodian of these and other historical sites. For instance, we have not heard of the fate of the artifacts housed in the Swat Museum at Saidu and the Chakdara Museum on the road to Dir.
Such concern is justified when one considers that a giant, 130-foot-high Buddha rock carving in Swat’s Jahanabad area was dynamited by the Taliban in September 2007. It was the tallest Buddha carving in South Asia next only to the Bamiyan masterpieces in Afghanistan, which had met a similar fate at the hands of the Taliban in that country. As has been underscored before, it is essential that we hear from the official custodians whether or not our national heritage in Swat remains in safe hands. So far there has been nothing but silence from them.

Plastic bags - Danger to Environment

2010-03-11T05:05:00.003Z

Polythene bags cause environmental pollution if they are not collected and disposed of properly. Leftover used plastic shoppers chock drainage systems and blot the landscape. The practice of burning them is also extremely harmful to human and animal health.

Despite the existence of laws banning production and sale of polythene bags in three provinces of the country, the industry continues to flourish, choking drainage systems in major cities and blotting the landscape in every nook and corner of the country.
Ironically, the issue did come up for discussion more than once in the present National Assembly, but failed to attract attention of lawmakers who let it go without seeking any policy statement by the environment minister.
Asenior official of the environment ministry said there was no dearth of laws to control unauthorised use of polythene bags, but it needed political will on the part of government. The official said Pakistan was probably the only country in the world where polythene bags were used with impunity.
The official argued that the federal government needed to come up with a plan to fight the menace of plastic shopping bags.
Led by Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh had enacted necessary laws to discourage use of plastic shopping bags, but circumstantial evidence suggests there is no let up, and the industry continues to pollute the environment. The government of the NWFP is yet to do necessary legislation in this regard.
According to official documents available the Balochistan government was the first one to promulgate an ordinance on March 17, 2001, to prohibit the sale and use of polythene bags in the province.
Next was the government of Punjab which promulgated an ordinance on Feb 18, 2002, to prohibit manufacture, sale, use and import of black polythene bags or any other polythene bag below 15 micron thickness in the province. However, anyone who has recently travelled on the G.T. road could easily see plastic bags littering both sides of the road.
Taking a cue from Punjab and Balochistan, the Sindh government promulgated an ordinance on Feb 1, 2006, to prohibit, manufacture, sale and use of black polythene bags including polythene bags below 30 micron thickness in the province.
The ministry of environment has also proposed legislation to ban non-biodegradable bags and in their place encourage oxo-biodegradable bags. The private and public sector organisations, including utility stores, have been asked to introduce biodegradable bags.
The ministry has also recommended to the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) that duty on import of oxo-biodegradable additive for the manufacturing of biodegradable bags be reduced from 6 to 0 per cent.
Polythene bags cause environmental pollution if solid waste containing these bags is not collected and disposed of properly. Leftover used plastic shoppers chock drainage system and create an unaesthetic view of environment. The practice of burning them produces dioxins and furans, which are persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and extremely harmful to human and animal health.

Record rain, snowfall paralyse life in NWFP

2010-02-16T06:36:00.001Z

A record snowfall in upper parts and heavy downpour accompanied by hailstorm in the plains, paralysed life in the Frontier province on Monday.
Upper and Lower Dir, Swat, Shangla and the Bajaur tribal region witnessed a record snowfall after decades, triggering a punishing cold wave as mercury plunged to below zero degree Celsius.
Upper parts of the province remained cut off from the rest of the country because of the heavy snowfall and all main and link roads were impassable. The snowfall also knocked out power and telecommunication systems in several parts of the province.
Peshawar, Swabi, Nowshera, Mardan and other districts received heavy rains, turning the weather cold and chilly.
Incessant and heavy snowfall over the last 24 hours in Upper Dir broke an 18-year record as the town received 2.6 feet of snow. Mountainous areas received around six feet of snow, bringing life to a standstill.
The district administration has ordered closure of all schools for a week and postponed a polio drive in the district.
The snowfall began on Sunday and continued the whole day on Monday in and around Dir town, dumping up to two-and-a-half feet of snow. Thal, Doog Darra, Kalkot, Barikot, Qulandi, Lowari, Barawal and Dobando received up to six feet of snow.
Dir received rains and heavy snowfall after a long dry spell. All upper parts of the district have been cut off from the rest of the country. Roads to Qulandi, Dobando, Barawal, Girgat, Sharingal, Thal, Kalkot and other areas have been closed for all kinds of traffic. The bad weather also played havoc with electricity, leaving several areas without electricity. The Dir-Peshawar road was blocked for all kind of traffic. Attendance at government offices remained very thin.
Locals said the snowfall began at 6am and continued till late night. One foot of snow was recorded at Timergara headquarters and other plain areas.
They said it was the heaviest snowfall after 1962, forcing over 800,000 people of the district to remain indoors.
The Peshawar-Chitral highway and all link roads remained closed, inconveniencing commuters. Uprooted trees and poles littered the highway.
In Swat, mercury dropped to minus five degrees. Markets in Mingora city and adjoining areas remained closed.
According to reports, 13 feet of snow was recorded in Kalam, 15 to 18 feet in Atrorh, Gabral, and Osho, three feet in Bahrain and 10 to 12 feet in Malam Jabba, Miandam and Murghzar.
There were also reports of damage to houses and buildings. The Silk Mills building on Bamakhela road was destroyed.
Heavy snowfall was also recorded in Shangla district. One foot of snow was recorded in Alpuri, four feet at Shangla top and six feet on Wengo top.
In Bajuar, people said such a heavy snowfall was recorded after 20 years. The snowfall began at 11am and continued till 3pm.
In Swabi, hailstones and torrential rain lashed different parts of the district at night and early in the morning, causing suspension of power supply and damage to standing crops.
Over the last two weeks, it was the second time that hailstones pounded different regions of the district.

Tourism policy 2010

2010-02-16T06:34:00.001Z

THE government has said that the National Tourism Policy 2010 is on the anvil. One hopes it will be unveiled soon. The fact is that there is a lot of potential for tourism in Pakistan if it is properly tapped, given the rich cultural, archaeological and natural heritage the country possesses. These have drawn travellers from all over the world, and can attract more if the tourism infrastructure is efficiently organised and vigorous promotion campaigns are launched. Tourists, although greatly reduced in number, have continued to visit this country in spite of a weak tourism strategy and the dangers of terrorism. It would be criminal now to neglect this sector. The number of foreign tourists entering Pakistan grew steadily in the years 2003-06 when it touched a record high of almost 900,000. Thereafter it has been on the decline. Earnings from this source fell from $260m in 2006 to $243m in 2008. It is, therefore, an encouraging sign that the government is seeking to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by conflict — especially in Swat — and is offering incentives.

Since there are many areas that are relatively secure, such as the Kalash valleys, Gilgit, the Galiyat, the archaeological sites of the Indus valley, the Gorakh hill station and the beaches of the Arabian Sea it is important that the new policy focus on them to give a new fillip to tourism in Pakistan. The strategy should aim at bringing domestic tourism in its loop by promoting modest travel costs and adequate board and lodging facilities. The revival of tourism can offer many advantages apart from the increased economic earnings it would fetch the country. A rise in the number of tourists coming from abroad would help improve the country’s image. Both domestic and foreign tourists would also boost the sectors related to tourism, such as local crafts and the catering industry.

Social protection

2010-02-09T11:02:00.000Z

A case of embezzlement unearthed recently in Rawalpindi and involving Baitul Mal funds to the tune of Rs8.3m represents another challenge to the credibility of our social protection network. There is already a perception that the benefits of the Baitul Mal are not reaching the poorest segments.
In this case, an investigation has been launched and five people — three belonging to the administrative staff of a public hospital, the other two owners of medical stores — have been arrested. The five were allegedly involved in processing fake cases of medical treatment to obtain Baitul Mal grants. With the assistance of the FIA, the Baitul Mal is investigating the likelihood of similar cases in other hospitals.Unfortunately, those tasked with monitoring social assistance have not been successful in ensuring that aid reaches the most marginalised and vulnerable sections of society. For instance, ours was one of two countries in the world with a compulsory zakat deduction scheme, but the latter has seen a reduction in contributions in recent years, especially since the option to bypass the government scheme is now available to those who want to make private donations. Meanwhile, gender bias in our social safety network has led to the creation of the Benazir Income Support Programme, to dispense cash assistance directly and regularly to needy women and their families.With corruption endemic in so many government institutions tasked with social protection, it is clear that more resources will pour into only those that ensure transparency and efficiency. Eliminating corruption and careful scrutiny of applications are necessary to ensuring the effectiveness of the social safety network. Selecting deserving applicants and reviewing the eligibility of existing recipients entails widening the national database system to cover the nearly 13 million people without national identity cards. Also required is the development of efficient databases to facilitate cross-checking of recipients.

A life lived well

2010-02-09T10:59:00.001Z

With the death on Sunday of veteran politician and renowned Pushto writer Ajmal Khattak, the country has lost one of its most committed political workers and prolific Pushto writers. A vocal advocate of the rights of the Pakhtun people, Khattak told this newspaper last year: “I am deeply concerned about the political situation in South Asia; what is being done against the Pakhtuns troubles me more than my illness.”
He had, indeed, spent a lifetime working for his people through both politics and literature. Influenced by the Khudai Khidmatgars, he worked for the Quit India movement and joined the Awami National Party after partition, of which he was president twice. He was the stage secretary at the 1973 Liaquat Bagh rally of the United Democratic Front, when UDF leaders were fired upon.
As a prominent figure of what was then the National Awami Party, Khattak was wanted by the Federal Security Force and went into self-imposed exile in Afghanistan in 1973. He returned to Pakistan in 1989 when the Awami National Party, the successor of the NAP, entered into an electoral alliance with the IJI. He was elected to the National Assembly in 1990, and became a senator in 1994. Khattak’s written work reflects the principles of a committed Marxist-Leninist. He is widely considered to have brought Pushto poetry in line with modern poetic trends. There, too, his subject matter was the exploitation and oppression of his people; his first collection of poetry, Da Ghairat Chagha, published in 1958, was banned in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The continued relevance of Khattak’s work is evident in the fact that his poems continue to be sung at progressive parties’ meetings. Khattak’s politics were characterised by an amalgam of reason and dedication to principles. With his passing, we have lost an important voice of sanity in these turbulent times.

UN calls for aid pledges for displaced Pakistanis

2010-02-09T10:57:00.000Z

The United Nations led an appeal Tuesday for millions of dollars to feed and assist more than one million people displaced by conflict in Pakistan's northwest and in border areas with Afghanistan.
The appeal focuses on funds needed to implement the Pakistan Humanitarian Response Plan (PHRP) 2010, which the United Nations, international and local aid groups have drawn up with the cash-strapped Pakistan government.
“The PHRP requires 537 million dollars for assistance over the next six months to cover the most immediate humanitarian needs,” UN humanitarian coordinator for Pakistan Martin Mogwanja said.
Last year, a total of 3.1 million people were displaced from their homes in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the semi-autonomous Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) along the Afghan border, the official said.
Nearly two million people have returned home, but more people are being uprooted in the districts Bajaur, Orakzai and Mohmand, which are part of Pakistan's tribal belt on the Afghan border, he added.
“Considering that the number of IDPs (Internally Displaced People) from Orakzai agency has risen nearly tenfold in the last two months, the emergency in Pakistan seems far from over,” the official told a news conference.
Money is needed for food distribution, rehabilitating and reconstructing damaged homes, schools and health facilities, and helping farmers who lost crops, Mogwanja said.
Pakistan's junior finance minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, said the country had suffered enormously from being on the frontline of the US-led war on Al-Qaeda and a key US ally in the war against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
“No other country has suffered as much as Pakistan in the war against terror,” Khar said.
“In addition to innumerable sacrifices of our people and the armed forces there are estimated economic losses of around 34.5 billion dollars as a consequence of the direct and indirect impact of this war,” she said.
Khar said it was vital to rehabilitate the displaced as part of Pakistan's effort to win support away from Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked extremists, who have carved out strongholds in parts of the northwest.
“To win this war we have to win the hearts and minds of the people and we need to take urgent concrete steps for rehabilitation of internally displaced persons,” she said.
Pakistan's military is engaged in offensives against militants across much of the northwest, including tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

Quest for plan to cope with drought

2010-01-25T06:34:00.001Z

A view of the Rawal Dam spillways (above) as the water level decreases due to a prolonged dry spell. Water storage in two dams – Mangla and Tarbela – is said to indicate a situation similar to the drought year of 2002

With river flows down by 21 per cent and water storage having declined by 34 per cent over the past year, the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) has sought details of an advisory of the meteorological department forecasting emerging agricultural drought conditions over the next six months. Irsa sources told DAWN on Sunday that total water flows in the country’s four major rivers had declined by about 10,000 cusecs to 37,000 cusecs, compared with 47,000 cusecs last year. The sources said the total storage in two major reservoirs – Tarbela and Mangla – stood at about 1.5 million acre feet (MAF) on Jan 23, compared with 2.26 MAF last year, down by about 34 per cent.The sources said that Irsa was convening a meeting of its advisory committee on Feb 1 to prepare a revised water management plan for the remaining period of the current cropping season and put in place a future course of action to cope with the water shortage.

The sources said the water availability was better last year and yet Irsa had to close down Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Punjnad canals in February and March to overcome shortage. “The water availability situation is much worse this year and would need drastic water management steps to overcome the crisis-like situation,” an Irsa official said. He said that Irsa did not agree to the Met department’s drought forecasts and had sought rationale behind the calculations. He said Irsa had estimated an overall water shortage of about 33 to 34 per cent this year against earlier estimates of 30 per cent, but Met department’s 40 per cent shortage estimates appeared to be on the higher side.

In a fresh advisory on weather conditions, the Meteorological Department has said that the country has already crossed two stages of drought - meteorological and hydrological drought – and was now entering the emerging agricultural drought stages, resulting in crop failures in barani areas and drought conditions in irrigated plains.

According to the Director General of Pakistan Met Department, Dr Qamar-uz-Zaman Chaudhry, “most parts of the country are experiencing extremely dry conditions mainly due to the prevailing El-Nino conditions in the Pacific Ocean”. The El-Nino conditions which developed in June last year and reduced Pakistan’s monsoon rainfall by about 30 per cent, were likely to continue till next summer, he said.

Dr Chaudhry said that meteorological drought occurred when rainfall was fell 40 per cent less than expected in any area for an extended period – a stage already surpassed because most parts of the country were under severe meteorological drought conditions as no appreciable rainfall has occurred during the last four months.

The second stage, hydrological drought, was already being experienced because there was a sustained deficit in surface runoff below normal conditions as the availability of surface water in major reservoirs had aggravated due to 30 per cent below normal rains during monsoon and persistent long dry spell afterward and no significant improvements was expected in the reservoirs during coming weeks.He said that the country was entering the third stage of emerging agricultural drought which occurred when rainfall amount and distribution, soil water reserves and evaporation losses combined to start affecting crops. He said water storage in two dams – Mangla and Tarbela – when compared with the 10-year average data indicated the situation was similar to the drought year of 2002.

State Bank of Pakistan Report

2010-01-14T08:48:00.002Z

In the absence of a major recovery in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, the bank claims that the impetus to growth will come from the services sector. In claiming so, the bank fails to see that growth in the services sector is largely dependent on growth in manufacturing and agriculture.

Pakistan’s economy has come a long way in the last one year. Many acknowledge that the PPP government took several politically tough decisions like the abolition of power and oil subsidies to successfully stabilise the sliding economy it inherited. By implementing its macroeconomic stabilisation programme it has brought back the economy from the brink. Fiscal and external account deficits have narrowed, foreign exchange reserves have improved and inflation has declined significantly. The country’s sovereign ratings have also improved.
Naturally, the State Bank of Pakistan’s report discusses all these positive trends in detail. But full economic recovery will take some more time in spite of the positive spin the SBP has sought to put on the state of the economy in its first quarterly report for the financial year 2010. This is mainly because the government has failed to address the structural bottlenecks stalling economic recovery and growth. A persisting energy crunch continues to distress the industry; water shortages are preventing the country from exploiting its full agricultural potential; and failure to tax the rich and powerful lobbies is once again threatening to destabilise the fiscal stability achieved in recent months. The result of these failures is evident: the economic outlook remains weak.
Yet the SBP is hopeful that the nation’s GDP will increase by around 3.3 per cent, the target set in the budget for the current fiscal year. However, few subscribe to the bank’s optimistic view. In the absence of a major recovery in the manufacturing and agriculture sectors, the bank claims that the impetus to growth will come from the services sector. In claiming so, the bank fails to see that growth in the services sector is largely dependent on growth in manufacturing and agriculture. Unless the commodity-producing sectors improve, there is little that the services sector can do to push growth.
At the same time, threats to macroeconomic stability are resurfacing. Inflation is projected to resurge on increased power and gas prices. Fiscal slippages could make it hard for the government to meet the fiscal deficit target, and the delay in the realisation of pledged aid/loans/grants from the Friends of Democratic Pakistan group is impacting liquidity and preventing the government from spending on social and economic development. The external side, nevertheless, is expected to improve over the last financial year due to generous funding from the IMF and the US under the Kerry-Lugar act. Therefore, it is difficult to expect a major pick-up in growth, at least in the foreseeable future. Unless obstacles to growth are removed, it will be futile to expect sustainable growth even over the long term.

A cry for help

2010-01-14T08:47:00.001Z

According to statistics suicide in Pakistan is on the increase. This is not surprising. Given the insecurity, unemployment, inflation and political instability that grip Pakistan today, it is a major challenge for even the most stable person to retain his or her sanity. Suicide is the result of the interaction of a number of factors — biological, genetic, psychological and environmental. It is important that all of these are addressed to help a person overcome suicidal tendencies.
While the government has an important role to play in addressing the causes of suicide, the main element in the prevention of suicide is general awareness. It is important that families understand the symptoms and take seriously any change in the behaviour of another member and his/her threat to kill himself/herself. Depression too must be addressed preferably by a mental health professional. Help-lines can serve as a band-aid measure until proper help arrives.
While those suffering from mental disorders — which can lead to suicide — need professional help, a collective effort by members of society can go far in making life a lot easier for those with depressive tendencies in these trying times. Reaching out is after all a sign that a cry for help has been heard. At the individual level, the acquisition of skills in stress management can help alleviate symptoms of depression. Where the stress agent cannot be changed people must learn to address the issues that are hurting them and devise strategies so that they can learn to cope with their problems without letting these dominate their lives. Sometimes even a change in perception can release stress. Needless to say a healthy lifestyle — diet and exercise — are the key elements in facilitating good health, both physical and mental, and the medical community must promote this as far as possible.

Born of superstition

2010-01-13T06:10:00.001Z

It is symptomatic of the retrogression in Pakistani society that heinous crimes are committed under the influence of misplaced notions of culture, religion and superstition.
The recent case of infanticide in Karachi is an example. A raid on a Korangi house led the police to the remains of a six-month-old girl buried in a shallow grave and her four-year-old sister trussed up and starved. The girls’ parents told the police that their house had fallen under the influence of ‘evil spirits’ and that a ‘pir sahib’ had appeared in their dreams to guide them towards this course of action. A case of premeditated murder has been registered against the couple, and further investigation may well lead to other reasons — such as poverty or insanity — which led to the crime.
However, there is no doubt that in Pakistan’s deeply conservative, illiterate society, holy men and pirs often exercise a pernicious influence over the credulous. There have been cases where such so-called religious men have raped and tortured or incited followers to commit inhumane crimes — the victims have generally been women and children. At the very least such pirs use their influence to extort money or goods. Unfortunately, only a few cases are highlighted, and even then little action is taken.
A two-pronged strategy is needed to counter this phenomenon. First, the public must be made aware of how they can be taken advantage of by crooks or sadists masquerading as holy men. Superstition and gullibility must be countered at every level for they affect the rich and poor alike. Secondly and more importantly, the role of the pir in the perpetration of violent or criminal behaviour must be recognised and treated as collusion in or incitement to a crime. The pir in the Karachi case may have been a figment of the couple’s imagination, but there are too many real pirs at work in the country.

Violence in Karachi

2010-01-12T09:14:00.001Z

Interior Minister Rehman Malik stated on Friday that there are no similarities between the situation in Karachi and Swat. This statement of the obvious is in some ways the best response by the authorities to the recent spate of violence in Karachi.
Acknowledging that the dynamics of violence are locally defined and steeped in histories and circumstances particular to certain places and events is the first step towards effectively maintaining peace and stability.
Karachi has a long history of ethnic conflict, sectarian violence, land mafias and intra- and inter-party tensions. All these have been in play during this past fortnight, making it abundantly clear that a discerning approach to Karachi’s violence is required. Policing and investigations into recent incidents must be informed by knowledge of ‘local’ social, political and economic factors, which in this city of 18 million differ from locality to locality. For that reason, the MQM’s request for the Rangers, the army and intelligence agencies to maintain law and order in the city is akin to slapping a band-aid on a deep, infected wound.
Violent incidents since the last week of December have confirmed that Karachi is facing a hydra-headed threat. Rather than work towards tearing apart the different types of violence and addressing each systematically and comprehensively, the authorities are operating in a muddle.
The Ashura blast which had apparently been claimed by the Taliban was denied by the latter. On Friday, Malik linked Jaish-i-Mohammad, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ) and Jundullah with that attack. Earlier in the week, an FIA report had claimed that a new militant group was responsible for the blast. Even as it became clear that the Taliban may not have been involved in the Ashura attack, US ambassador Anne Patterson announced a grant of Rs1bn for affected traders, all the while decrying the Talibanisation of Pakistan.
A similar confusion prevails regarding the actors and reasons behind the killings of several people in the last few days. Political parties in Karachi have been asking the Sindh government to intervene and prevent targeted political killings, of which there have been over 250 in the past six months. Malik, meanwhile, has accused ‘actors’ not affiliated with political parties of trying to fracture the ruling coalition. With particular reference to violence in Lyari, Malik has dismissed it as a familial dispute surrounding a girl’s ‘illicit relations’ while city government officials have pointed to long-running gang warfare in that area. For their part, the police, in many incidents, claim no knowledge about the perpetrators’ identities, motives or their access to arms.
Complicating this scenario is Friday’s Baldia Town blast, possibly related to a Manawan-like attack on a police academy, which indicates that militants with ties to the TTP may be operating in Karachi (interestingly, LJ and Sipah-i-Sahaba stickers were retrieved from the site). The fact is, since June last year, when one of Baitullah Mehsud’s aides was apprehended, the police have been detaining TTP-linked militants in Karachi with some regularity. However, the criminal investigation department (CID) officials have been careful to reiterate that the situation here is murky, with many militant groups uniting under the Taliban banner and drawing recruits from Urdu-, Pushto-, and Punjabi-speaking communities as well as the Bengali community.
Given this complex situation, the authorities’ responses to violence seem poorly thought out. It was recently proposed that the Rangers be given powers to detain suspects implicated in violent incidents for up to 90 days under the Anti-Terrorism Act. This measure coupled with the MQM’s invitation to the paramilitary force to control Karachi could lead to arbitrary arrests and prolonged detentions. These would further fuel resentment among the local population rather than address the city’s disparate causes of violence.
Similarly, Malik’s warning to illegal immigrants to promptly vacate Karachi seems like an ad hoc, knee-jerk reaction. Most unregistered migrants to this city — including Afghans and Bengalis — have been here for decades and have nowhere to go. Moreover, they cannot be held solely responsible for the recent violence, especially in the light of intra-party disputes and the CID’s evaluation of broad-based militant recruitment.
No doubt, all illegal labour in Karachi should be documented, but that process must be systematic and gradual. Despite an ongoing initiative under the Foreigners Act, only 78,000 of the city’s 250,000 Afghans have been issued ‘proof of residence’ cards. Afghans and Bengalis regularly complain that they are harassed and discriminated against when they apply for registration. And the papers of documented migrants are regularly dismissed as fakes. The government will have to address the flaws in its registration system before issuing ultimatums.
If anything, by placing the burden of Karachi’s problems on its two million migrants (who will now find themselves forced out of jobs and persecuted), the authorities are creating a larger community of disaffected, marginalised and jobless Karachiites, all the more prone to violence for a host of separate socio-economic reasons.
Some of these misguided solutions are explained by the city government’s reliance on the federal and provincial governments and federally overseen paramilitary force to solve Karachi’s problems. National bodies cannot address disturbances that are local and particular to Karachi (and, indeed, its unique localities) as effectively as the city government and capital city police.
Rather than depend on an interior ministry committee, based at the National Crisis Management Cell, to investigate charges of targeted killings in Karachi — or even continue calls for a Supreme Court commission to investigate the Ashura blast — the city government should prioritise expanding, training and equipping Karachi’s police force and revamping the flawed Police Order 2002.
The very term ‘policing’ implies systematic scrutiny at a minute, street-by-street level. Stationed in particular localities, police officials — far more than army or paramilitary forces — are in a position to develop understandings of hyper-local communities, identify stakeholders, map criminal trends, and thereby launch effective investigations and help inform sophisticated policymaking. As such, better policing is the best, long-term antidote to urban crime and chaos.

Tourism policy 2010

2010-01-12T09:11:00.000Z

THE government has said that the National Tourism Policy 2010 is on the anvil. One hopes it will be unveiled soon. The fact is that there is a lot of potential for tourism in Pakistan if it is properly tapped, given the rich cultural, archaeological and natural heritage the country possesses. These have drawn travellers from all over the world, and can attract more if the tourism infrastructure is efficiently organised and vigorous promotion campaigns are launched. Tourists, although greatly reduced in number, have continued to visit this country in spite of a weak tourism strategy and the dangers of terrorism. It would be criminal now to neglect this sector. The number of foreign tourists entering Pakistan grew steadily in the years 2003-06 when it touched a record high of almost 900,000. Thereafter it has been on the decline. Earnings from this source fell from $260m in 2006 to $243m in 2008. It is, therefore, an encouraging sign that the government is seeking to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by conflict — especially in Swat — and is offering incentives. Since there are many areas that are relatively secure, such as the Kalash valleys, Gilgit, the Galiyat, the archaeological sites of the Indus valley, the Gorakh hill station and the beaches of the Arabian Sea it is important that the new policy focus on them to give a new fillip to tourism in Pakistan. The strategy should aim at bringing domestic tourism in its loop by promoting modest travel costs and adequate board and lodging facilities. The revival of tourism can offer many advantages apart from the increased economic earnings it would fetch the country. A rise in the number of tourists coming from abroad would help improve the country’s image. Both domestic and foreign tourists would also boost the sectors related to tourism, such as local crafts and the catering industry.

A doctor’s duty

2010-01-12T09:10:00.000Z

Huma Wasim Akram, Imanae Malik and Faiz Muhammad Khan. The tragic and untimely death of each has sparked a vehement debate on the state of the medical profession in Pakistan.
While the National Assembly and the courts try to ascertain the cause of each death and the media clamours for accountability of doctors, the toll of accidents and deaths at the hands of doctors continues to rise throughout Pakistan.
Hearing these reports the average Pakistani planning to visit a doctor fears for his life, wondering perhaps whether the doctor will cure him or maim him or kill him. It is fair to ask, if this person is irrational and expects too much, and the only way to answer this question is to examine the nature of the duty a doctor owes to his patients and to consider means through which the law can compel him to perform it.
The first and most succinct formulation of the duty owed by a doctor to his patients is contained in the Hippocratic Oath written in Greece sometime in the fifth century BC by Hippocrates, the man recognised as the father of western medicine: “I will prescribe regimens for the good of my patients according to my ability and my judgment and never do harm to anyone.” Although the language of the oath has evolved through the ages, its essence remains the same and continues to guide modern medical ethics throughout the world.
This duty has been recognised by law as a doctor’s (and other medical practitioners’) ‘duty to take care’ and applies irrespective of whether he has signed a contract of service with the patient, incorporating or excluding such duty.
The underlying assumption is that a person who offers medical advice and treatment implicitly states that he has the skill and knowledge to do so, to decide whether or not to take the case, to determine the nature of the treatment and to administer the treatment. If, therefore, in his treatment, a doctor deviates from accepted standards of practice and causes injury to or death of a patient he is guilty of professional negligence and liable to pay damages to the patient or his heirs.
The law on medical negligence has developed considerably in the West where doctors maintain professional liability insurance to offset the risk of claims brought against them for professional negligence. Across the border, Indian doctors may also be held liable under consumer protection laws (unless they have provided the service free of charge), or under the general civil and criminal law. In all instances, however, a doctor can only be held liable if the person suing him succeeds in proving — or the situation is so clear that it speaks for itself — that the doctor is guilty of a failure that no doctor with ordinary skills would be guilty of if acting with reasonable care. Doctors cannot, nor are they expected to, guarantee either their skill or the outcome of the treatment. All they can do is act with reasonable care.
In Pakistan, the law relating to medical negligence is at a nascent stage and the concept of professional insurance for doctors almost non-existent. The few cases decided by the high courts endorse the duty owed by a doctor to his patient. Of particular interest is Justice Mushir Alam’s judgment in the case of Mrs Rahat Ali v. Dr Saeeda Rehman in which he states, “a … doctor is to take all due care, take necessary precaution, give proper attention while extending advice, treatment or when operating upon”.
He goes on to state, however, that “[in the case of doctors] general presumption is attracted that they have performed their duties to the best of their abilities and with due care and caution [unless] it is established through cogent evidence that [they]…failed to take necessary precaution, due care and attention or acted carelessly and negligently”.
A judicial opinion such as Justice Mushir Alam’s offers some hope to the patient and his heirs: if a person suffers at the hands of a doctor, or dies due to the treatment, he or his heirs may sue the doctor and claim damages either from the doctor or from the hospital or clinic that employs him. However, the rigours of litigation are such that only educated and reasonably affluent urban dwellers are likely to venture into it whereas others would find themselves at the mercy of doctors and, worse still, of quacks masquerading as doctors.
One solution is to enable persons to seek redress through consumer courts, as is being done India. These courts are located in smaller districts and a person may appear before them without a lawyer. Here too, however, he would still need to establish that the injury or death was a result of an act or omission of the doctor. It is unlikely that a layperson would be sufficiently savvy or have access to necessary materials, to make the legal connection between the outcome, of which he complains, and the treatment he was given.
In any event, redress through the courts is a remedy after the fact and offers little comfort to a person facing the prospect of losing a limb or his life. Therefore, more important than allowing greater access to courts and enhancing the penalties for negligence is to take steps to prevent negligence from occurring in the first place.
Perhaps this calls for reform of the Pakistan Medical & Dental Council Ordinance 1962 to ensure that the council is a lean, efficient and independent body run by medical practitioners for the benefit of the profession and the public and which is diligent in improving the standard of medical education, training and licensing throughout Pakistan. At the very least the power of the council to restore the licence of a medical practitioner once it has been revoked needs to be carefully reviewed to eliminate any potential of abuse.
While recognising not only that doctors owe a fundamental duty of care to their patients but also that there is need to reform the present legal framework of the profession, it is essential to ensure that the focus of all reform is on distinguishing those doctors that act in good faith and to the best of their ability from those that are negligent, rash or reckless and on punishing only the latter with appropriate and objective severity. A solution lacking this balance will drive out any good doctors that may still remain in the country and leave the field open to their less vigilant peers to play with the lives of patients according to their whims.

Displaced children eagerly wait for schools

2010-01-04T10:42:00.003Z

Local schools are running out of places to accommodate children from displaced families

Children of school-going age are amongst the tens of thousands of displaced people who have taken refuge in Dera Ismail Khan on the edge of the tribal areas in northwest Pakistan.
Local schools are running out of places to accommodate these extra students, adding to innumerable problems to the turbulent frontier.
There are no camps for the people who fled their homes to escape the ongoing fighting between Pakistani security forces and Taliban militants in the nearby lawless South Waziristan region.
As a result, many have squeezed into relatives' homes. Others are renting accommodations at steep prices, or are living in cramped makeshift quarters in various parts of the impoverished city.
Relief goods are often not enough, leading to scuffles between weary people waiting in long queues, and at times, compelling police officers on duty to resort to forceful swings of their long bamboo sticks to scatter the unruly crowds.
A spokesman of the district government told reporters on Sunday that 16 schools had been opened to provide education facilities to the displaced children in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan. He said 2,329 students had so far been admitted in the schools.
Masud ur Rehman, a school teacher who fled from South Waziristan three weeks ago and has volunteered to teach the displaced children, said that the traumatized children were very eager to enrol in local schools, but added that there were no signs of any schools for them yet.
‘A lot of children come, during the first time as well as during the second time. They enrol themselves, then go away,’ Rehman told Reuters Television.
Some local schools have agreed to take in the displaced children in the second shift, after regular classes are over.
Children have been flocking to these schools to get enrolled for the evening classes.
‘When we came from above, we found that there were no arrangements for our education here. Our books were left back at home. The government should make arrangements for us,’ said Asif Raheem, a student in Class 9 in his village in South Waziristan.
Raheem's family, like the families of many other students, suffered greatly during their flight to safety.
‘All of them have told us stories about the conditions under which they left home. They say they had to flee in such a hurry that they left their books and everything else behind, and just managed to save their heads. Not a single one of them has books,’ said Tariq Zaman, another displaced man who has volunteered to teach the refugee children.
‘Now it is the duty of the government to find a way to provide them with books and places in which to study. The numbers are likely to increase,’ Zaman added.
The Pakistan army went on the offensive in South Waziristan on the Afghan border on October 17, aiming to root out Pakistani Taliban militants who stepped up their war on security forces in 2007.
The militants have responded with intensified attacks in towns and cities across the country.
With the government having its hands full dealing with the fast-deteriorating law and order situation in the country, the schooling of displaced children would probably not be a priority with the authorities.
However, the unfortunate children of South Waziristan continue to enroll in the school registers in Dera Ismail Khan in the hope that their futures will take precedence with the education authorities soon.

A time for peace

2010-01-04T10:41:00.000Z

Pakistan has often been ruled by generals and it is no secret that our armed forces wield considerable influence over civilian administrations as well.
Nowhere is the military’s say greater than in the sphere of foreign policy vis-à-vis hostile neighbours or ostensible allies that sometimes try to dictate terms to Islamabad. But India’s history is different, and it has made much over the years of its democratic credentials and a system under which the armed forces are wholly answerable to the government of the day. So how then are we to interpret a recent statement by the Indian army chief that his country can take on both Pakistan and China simultaneously? He even suggested that a “limited war under a nuclear overhang” is possible in South Asia. Is this Gen Kapoor’s personal opinion or is he articulating government policy? What precisely is the nature of this new “offensive” nuclear doctrine and why is it needed in the first place? And could it be that Indian generals, as opposed to elected politicians, are now calling the shots where regional policy is concerned?
Islamabad’s rejoinders have been stern, and perhaps never more so than on Saturday when CJCSC Gen Tariq Majeed warned against “outlandish ... strategic postulations”, adding that Gen Kapoor “knows very well what the ... Pakistani armed forces can pull off”. It seems that the government in India, or perhaps its military, is upping the ante for no plausible reason. Despite the hope offered by the Sharm el-Sheikh talks last July, there has been little or no movement on resuming the composite dialogue between Pakistan and India despite Islamabad’s stress on cooperation rather than animosity.
New Delhi ought to note that the Pakistan Army is engaged in an all-out assault on the militants who are our mutual enemies. Raising the temperature, hinting at war no less, serves no constructive purpose whatsoever at this critical juncture. It should be obvious that there can be no winners in a nuclear conflict between the two countries — both will be wiped out, that much is guaranteed. The time has come to put the horrors of Mumbai behind us and work collectively towards peace in South Asia.

Plea for completing IDP registration

2010-01-04T10:37:00.000Z

Even as the first sign of normalcy became apparent six months ago in Malakand following the army operation against the Taliban, IDPs in Swabi refused to return to their homes in Swat, Buner and Charsadda. Because of incomplete registration, they had not been provided with cash cards by the government, to enable them to receive a sum of Rs25,000. Although they were later pacified and sent back, the cash cards have still not arrived. Independent observers blame the IDPs’ lack of awareness on the issue whereas others cite corruption and the government’s lax attitude as the reason.
The registration process due to its many complexities has been a tedious one, and while IDP camp administrators claim otherwise, there have been many cases in which people were either not registered or they fell prey to the loopholes in the system.
According to Khalid Aziz, chairman of the Regional Institute of Policy Research and Training (RIPORT), of the three million people who were displaced, roughly 25 per cent remain unregistered. Women, he says, were the worst affected. This was because in most cases it was either the husband or the father, who would put down the details of the family on his form and in the event of his death or disappearance, there would be never-ending transition process — especially the paper work — for the new head of the family to take charge. The delay would keep a number of women from getting the aid due to them. Single women especially faced several problems. Naseem Akhtar, a mother of four, lost all hope of receiving any aid after she returned empty-handed several times from the registration point at Sang-i-Marmar, Mardan, before she came to Karachi to try her luck.
Many failed to acquire ‘Yellow forms’, the document that would form the basis of the registration process which after being filled-out was to be submitted to the Social Security Office so that details of displaced individuals could be computerised. This blocked access to the ‘Green Card’ that was imperative to acquire ration at various food points and the ATM cards through which each displaced family would receive the promised Rs25,000 to aid them with the repatriation process.
Almost 800 camp residents at Shah Masoor Camp in Swabi failed to acquire Yellow forms, which was the main reason for their diffidence to return. Most IDPs allege that they were cheated since promises of them receiving cash cards after reaching Swat, remain unfulfilled even after several months. But can the government solely be blamed for this?
27-year-old Subhan Ali, from Kanju in Swat district disagrees and says that late evacuations contributed largely to hiccups in the registration process. He asserts that by the time some evacuees reached Mardan, all registrations were closed. However, he stresses that close monitoring of the process would have made it more transparent thereby leaving no room for corruption that has had a negative impact on the psyche of the IDPs whose sustenance depended on it. This has led to feelings of alienation which if left untended could cost the region its peace once again.
Ali, although registered, could not get aid because he shared the number of his father’s family. This was due to the reason that when his father registered, Ali was listed on the form. This has kept him from acquiring an ATM card although he has his own family. His brother faces the same ordeal.
An average family in Swat consists of 7-8 members, and if the family has married sons, this adds to the burden, since all are dependent on a single cash card worth a mere Rs25,000. A frequent visitor to the Nadra office in Saidu Sharif, Ali, despite submitting his wife’s identity card and their Nikahnama in August, still awaits a decision.
With no concrete reconstruction and re-compensation policies in place and no access to the aid they were promised, the situation has further disorientated the people, who in many cases after a lifetime of toil had constructed an abode for themselves, which were destroyed as a result of the military operation in the region.
Resuming registrations and sorting out pending cases would not only strengthen the confidence level of the people of the region, but would also reinforce the security situation there.
This would give the government complete record of residents, which would make it easier to identify outside elements. This is all the more imperative in view of the volatility that the region experiences due to its proximity to areas in which the military operation continues.

Decade of terror

2009-12-31T09:31:00.000Z

IT is not as if the world was not at war in 1999. Ten years ago, as the world welcomed the new millennium, the ravages of armed conflict resonated amid the imagined fears of a global computer shutdown.
Indeed, in 1999, our world had barely reached the end of the chapter on the grisly conflict in Kosovo which killed over 3,000 civilians. Pakistanis, too, had come perilously close to a nuclear cataclysm, barely avoiding a serious war with India over Kargil.
Both Kosovo and Kargil represented a conflict that has been transformed in the first decade of the new millennium. By the end of 1999, Nato operations in Kosovo had driven Serb forces out of Yugoslavia and allowed refugees to return. Peacekeeping forces (including Pakistan’s) were sent to the embattled region and reconstruction began. Before the year was out, the International Criminal Court for the former Yugoslavia had levelled indictments against Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes.
At home, the Kargil conflict, while markedly different from the Nato effort in former Yugoslavia, was in its structural dynamics also a case of conventional warfare where two states sparred over physical territory and ended up in a conflict situation.Ten years ago, Kargil and Kosovo represented the structural dynamics of both world and regional conflict, where countries or groups of countries attacked other countries and international law, at least theoretically, marking the beginning and ending of wars.
I recall these two conflicts here, one proximate and the other relatively remote, to emphasise the dramatic transformation that the structure of conflict has undergone in the first 10 years of the new millennium.
It is relevant to mark how terror and terrorism have changed the dynamics of war and concomitantly our identities, our fears and even our hopes for the next decade. The first decade of the new millennium, notably the years following 2001, saw the emergence of conflict motivated, defined and fought solely on the basis of chasing and eliminating groups not officially affiliated with a nation state. The non-state warrior, the terrorist, would in the next 10 years become the single most important denominator in world conflict.
The attack on the World Trade Centre on Sept 11, 2001, thus was the biggest act of non-state warfare the world had ever seen. The decade saw the world clamouring to reconfigure and recalibrate identities and understandings of nation states that had heretofore seen only economic challenges. If the Peace of Westphalia signed in 1648 had marked the beginning of the nation state as a unit of governance, the attacks of Sept 11, 2001 marked the beginning of its demise. Since then, nation states, both powerful and weak, have seen their efficacy questioned and the meaning of their physical and virtual borders thrown in abeyance as they scrambled to fight an enemy not ordered along the same parameters.
The consequences of this blind scramble to understand the challenges of conflict have been tragic. Clinging to old rules, the US began two conventional unilateral conflicts aimed at shoring up strategic interests in regions where it believed the non-state groups were most deeply entrenched. Unleashed under the pretext of avenging 9/11, the wars in Iraqand Afghanistan fought with conventional armies led the world’s sole superpower on a wild goose chase that expended massive resources and saw hundreds of thousands of civilian casualties.
Fighting an enemy unbound by the law, unhampered by political processes and morally unaccountable to any except itself, the US found itself abandoning core principles of due process and the rule of law, unmoored as it was in the murky moral waters of extra-state conflict. Ten years later, the two wars continue and there is little in terms of progress on fighting non-state groups.
Pakistan, a smaller, weaker state, has not been spared the transformation of warfare. In the wake of Kargil, few Pakistani analysts could have predicted in 1999 that Pakistan would be entrapped in a conflict of the kind it is today. The bloody last half of the decade saw an increase of nearly 500 per cent in suicide bombings. Since 2006, a total of over 8,000 people were killed in Pakistan as a result of suicide bombings. This figure does not include the casualties from military operations in the tribal areas and Swat which would likely cause the number to swell even more.
Suicide bombing, previously unheard of in civil conflict in Pakistan, has become ubiquitous in terms of the frequency with which it is carried out. The last few months of 2009 have been the bloodiest with a suicide attack occurring nearly every day.
The first decade of the new millennium then has been a decade of terror. It has redefined human conflict for the powerful and weak. As old institutions designed to fight conventional wars creak into action with the help of mechanisms withered by corruption and an inept bureaucracy the errors of the system are likely to trap innocent civilians.
With 2009 drawing to a close the world has failed to arrive at answers in response to terror; states have tried conventional wars, abandoning the rule of law, paying warlords, hiring mercenaries and even remote-controlled planes. Despite all these efforts countries large and small, weak and strong have failed to corner the non-state warrior who has remained impenetrable and largely unassailable. As warfare has moved away from the army barracks into the cave, the rented room and the abandoned warehouse the world is set to end the first decade of the millennium horrified by the terror unleashed but helpless against it.

Terror incidents claimed 3,300 lives this year

2009-12-31T09:25:00.002Z

Over 3,300 people, including personnel of law-enforcement agencies and armed forces, were killed this year in terrorism-related incidents across the country. Suicide bombers struck every fifth day. Data compiled through newspaper reports of major incidents show that 1,037 people lost their lives in 76 suicide attacks in 2009.

December saw the highest number of suicide attacks — 15 — which claimed 211 lives. On average nine lives were lost daily. Although personnel of the armed forces and law-enforcement agencies, including police, Rangers and FC, were the main target of militants, civilians were also killed in suicide attacks on shopping centres, educational institutions, mosques and imambargahs.

The data show that 443 personnel of army and police lost their lives during military operations and terrorist attacks. Militants attacked a number of police stations, checkposts and offices of the FIA and ISI. The most brazen attack was carried out by Taliban militants on the heavily-guarded GHQ in Rawalpindi on Oct 10. Six soldiers and four attackers were killed in the siege, which lasted almost 24 hours. At least 42 people, a number of serving and retired army officers among them, were killed in two suicide blasts and gun attack on an army mosque near the GHQ on Dec 4.

The NWFP was the worst-hit province where more than 64 per cent of the terrorism-related incidents took place in 2009. About 2,133 people lost their lives in the province and 699 in Fata. Punjab also remained in the grip of terrorism and 369 people were killed in different incidents. Two incidents of terrorism took place in Sindh, where 44 people died. The data show that 35 people were killed in Balochistan, 29 in Islamabad and eight in Azad Kashmir. The month-wise breakdown shows that May remained the bloodiest month of the year in which 1,120 people — 945 in the NWFP alone — were killed.
It was in this month that the government launched a full-scale military operation in Swat, Buner and adjoining areas. The month also saw the highest number of military casualties — 135.
The Taliban targeted a number of prominent personalities, including elected representatives. Seven people, including Allama Sarfaraz Naeemi who was an outspoken opponent of the Taliban, were killed in suicide attacks. Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Hamid Saeed Kazmi survived an attempt on his life in Islamabad on Sept 2. The Awami National Party was the main target of the Taliban because of its open support for the military operation in Swat and Malakand. Two of its MPAs — Dr Shamsher Khan and Alamzeb Khan — lost their lives in terrorist attacks.
Senior NWFP Minister Bashir Bilour survived an assassination attempt in Peshawar on March 11. Six people, including two suspected suicide attackers, were killed. The Taliban blew up a shrine of the 17th century Sufi poet Rehman Baba in Peshawar. The military claimed to have killed a number of important leaders of the Taliban and Al Qaeda during the operation in the NWFP and Fata. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Baitullah Mehsud was killed in a drone attack in August in South Waziristan. A convoy of two buses carrying Sri Lankan cricketers and officials was attacked by 12 gunmen near the Qadhafi Stadium in Lahore on March 3. Six policemen and two civilians were killed. Sindh, which remained in the grip of violence in 2007 and 2008, largely remained peaceful throughout 2009. But on Dec 28, it witnessed a major act of terror when 43 people were killed in a suspected suicide attack on an Ashura procession in Karachi.

Karachi burns on Ashura

2009-12-31T09:18:00.000Z

A suicide bomber on Monday struck a Muharram procession in Karachi on Ashura, killing at least 26 people and wounding dozens more, defying a major security clampdown, Some snapshots are following;

The terror of true love

2009-12-31T09:14:00.000Z

TRUE love has always terrorised conservative societies. The legends of Heer and Juliet and their ill-fated suitors have spawned a gamut of narratives in diverse cultures. As another year draws to an end, a lasting image it leaves behind for me is that of a young Pakistani Muslim man dancing away at an upper caste Aiyer Brahmin wedding in Bangalore. A bevy of beautiful Hindu women surrounded him, one of them his wife. I don’t believe any India-Pakistan peace conference can ever be meaningful where a throng of these cross-border lovers, deemed cultural terrorists by their powerful and influential detractors, are not given centre-stage. The cross-border couples represent the truest grit, an absolute must to overcome the many insurmountable challenges of mistrust and fear as also of physical violence that unconventional and trans-geographical love faces. The detractors are not always worked up about the wrong nationalities involved in the fray. They are in fact often more busy being a menace at home. And they usually belong, both in India and Pakistan, to the cultural milieu that supports “honour killings” of women in their respective medieval confines. They target in particular those women, and also men, who question the family tradition of taking a spouse they did not know or want. I have watched the terror-stricken faces of low-caste Jatav men and women in Barsana, the village of Lord Krishna’s fabled consort, Radha, where two of their boys were lynched with a Jat girl who had eloped with one of them. All three were hanged from a tree. Then they were slowly disfigured with torches before their bodies, still warm in spite of the ebbing of blood within, were thrown into a common pyre. A Jat kangaroo court had taken the decision, which usually is of a higher currency than the state’s supposedly secular writ. The ropes dangled from the banyan tree for months after the collective crime that terrorised the far corners of the Jat-dominated region. Pakistan’s problems with honour killings are probably as incorrigibly entrenched as its non-Semitic variant flourishing across much of India. There is a difference though. In India those who instigate violence between sects of men and women who love or marry outside their prescribed format have a powerful political voice in the street and in parliament, via rightwing religious revivalism. Much of the modus operandi involves rumour-mongering, instilling fear and mistrust followed by outright violence. In a recent article in the Economic and Political Weekly, Charu Gupta closely analysed the issue of ‘Love Jihad’ or ‘Romeo Jihad’, coined recently by activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh to target Muslim boys who mingle with Hindu girls. The implicit allegation in both the terms is that Muslim men are wooing Hindu women as part of a religious campaign to convert them to Islam. What the propagandists of this poisonous canard deliberately ignore is the fact there are about as many Muslim women attracted to Hindu men. Last week I enjoyed the wedding of a young man whose mother bears a Muslim name, the father a Hindu. There is of course no certainty at all that these cross-cultural marriages will last more than others, if at all others last. (On the other hand Shia and Sunni couples were having a great time in Iraq, as they do elsewhere in the Middle East, before American troops arrived and wrecked their lives, injecting an untenable sectarian identity which most Iraqis would otherwise shun.) The issue of fomenting fear and mistrust by using women as a tool in a poisonous propaganda blitz to polarise communities is not new. Charu Gupta, in her analysis, cites a tract published in 1924 from Kanpur which “dwelt on the catastrophic decline of Hindus due to increasing conversions of Hindu women to Islam”. It claimed that a number of Aryan women were entering the homes of yavanas and mlecchas (terms used for Muslims in such writings), reading nikah with them, producing gaubhakshak (cow-killers) children and increasing Muslim numbers. A poem written in 1928 and later banned, called Chand Musalmanon ki Harkaten, stated: ‘Tadad badhane ke liye chal chalai, Muslim banane ke liye scheme banayi.... Ekkon ko gali gaon mein lekar ghumate hain, parde ko dal Muslim aurat bethate hain’ (Muslims are making new schemes to increase their population and to make people Muslims. They roam with carts in cities and villages and take away women, who are put under the veil and made Muslim — Charu Gupta’s translation.) Pro-Hindu organisations in 2009, too, have claimed that forced conversions of Hindu women in the name of love are part of an international conspiracy to increase the Muslim population. “The issues at stake here are not only to construct a picture of numerical increase in Muslims but also to lament the supposed decline in Hindu numbers and to mourn the potential loss of child-bearing Hindu wombs, and thus exercise greater control over women’s reproductive capacities to enhance Hindu numbers. Both the campaigns construct an image of the Muslim male as aggressive, and broadcast a series of stereotypes and repetitive motifs, creating a common ‘enemy’….” The luring of Hindu women by Muslim men is stated to demonstrate the “lack of character” of the lustful men, violating the pure body of Hindu women. In the 1920s, many Hindus came to perceive abductions and conversions of Hindu women as a characteristic Muslim activity. Such constructs had even older historical roots. Gupta quotes noted Hindi writers like Bharatendu Harishchandra (1850-85), Pratap Narain Misra (1856-94) and Radha Charan Goswami (1859-1923) as often portraying medieval Muslim rule as a chronicle of rape and abduction of Hindu women. “The first generation of popular novelists in Hindi — Devakinandan Khatri, Kishorilal Goswami and Gangaprasad Gupta — who started writing in the 1890s, depicted similar prejudices. Lecherous behaviour, high sexual appetites, a life of luxury and religious fanaticism were seen as the dominant traits of Muslim characters. These stereotypes of licentious Muslims were strengthened, with new contours added in the 1920s. It was claimed that now ordinary and all Muslims were indulging in such practices.” We shall not let it pass without comment that all the insidious poetry cited by Ms Gupta had mushroomed only after the last Mughal emperor and his primarily Hindu supporters were vanquished by a virulent colonial response to their jointly conducted revolt against foreign rule. The “terror of true love” has mutated in our region according to the political exigencies it faces. It took the form in Germany of Nazi drive to exterminate homosexual lovers. The reactionary response to unbridled love is always virulent.

Media Under stress

2009-12-31T09:07:00.000Z

THE South Asia Media Commission’s seventh report released on Tuesday highlights issues that should be addressed seriously by the fourth estate as well as by the governments of all the eight member-states of Saarc. Of primary concern is the growing incidence of violence in the region and its impact on media practitioners who have become vulnerable to it. According to the report 12 journalists were killed in 2009 in South Asia, more than half the number — i.e. seven — in Pakistan alone. It goes to the credit of the Pakistani media that in spite of the hazards it faces its members continue to perform their duties in a steadfast manner. Ironically as long as the press was in chains, journalists were more or less secure. They could not pose a danger to anyone. Now that it is in a position to expose the wrongdoings of governments and mobilise support for the rights of ordinary citizens, especially the downtrodden sections of society, it has come under attack from vested interests. To survive this difficult phase, the media must be protected by the government as well as by media proprietors.
Why have journalists not received protection from the law-enforcement agencies and their own employers in the form of protective gear and training as they go about their often dangerous duties? This is absolutely essential if the media is to survive as an institution that reaches out to people to report their concerns. Security measures must be extended by the government to foreign journalists as well to enable them to enter risky zones with adequate protection so that Pakistan receives fair coverage in the world media. The SAMC report points to another key feature of the media that should prompt us to take serious notice. It observes that some “zealots” in the profession have used their freedom to “scandalise and destabilise a fragile democracy.” It is not becoming of any organ of the media to become the mover and shaker of governments. The media’s job is to expose and work for a holistic development of a democratic order. This is possible if various sectors of the state act in coordination and are developed in an integrated manner.

2009 in broad strokes

2009-12-31T09:03:00.002Z

If pressed, Pakistanis would probably give 2009 mixed reviews. Throughout the year, political problems – clashes between the government and opposition; a failure of the civilian and military establishments to see eye to eye; wrangling between the centre and the provinces – and the slow march of extremism, in the form of militant posturing and suicide attacks, have vied for headlines.
But there has also been much progress in the past 12 months as military operations against militants have proved successful, the Supreme Court has delivered historic judgements, and breakthroughs with regards to Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, and the NFC have been finalised. Indeed, 2009 has been a year of both tumult and triumph in this country.
Politics: The scuffles and successes
Confrontations continued between the country’s two major political parties, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) over the judges’ reinstatement and an overall implementation of the Charter of Democracy (CoD). On February 25, a Supreme Court verdict declared the Sharif brothers ‘ineligible to contest elections or hold public offices,’ within minutes of which PML-N workers took to the streets of Punjab’s various cities voicing their agitation against the decision. The same day, governor rule was imposed in the Punjab in order to fill the ‘unprecedented and unique constitutional void’ created with the disqualification of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif from holding public office.
While unrest continued in the Punjab, the PML-N announced all-out support for the lawyers’ movement for the judges’ reinstatement and marched toward Islamabad in order to stage a sit-in outside the parliament. On March 16, Prime Minister Gilani announced the reinstatement of Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry. The proclamation was hailed by the opposition and the lawyers and the Long March was subsequently called-off.
After this unrest, Governor rule in the Punjab was lifted at the end of March and the Supreme Court reinstated Shahbaz Sharif as the Chief Minister on March 31. In a good streak for the Sharifs, on May 26, the Supreme Court overturned its own verdict that barred the Sharif brothers from contesting elections. More good news followed on July 17, when the apex court acquitted Nawaz in the plane hijacking case.
Other regions of the country were also not spared political troubles. Political turmoil first grappled Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on January 6, when the region’s Legislative Assembly approved a no-confidence vote against the then-Prime Minister Sardar Attique Ahmed Khan following which Sardar Mohammad Yaqoob Khan was sworn in as the AJK Prime Minister. On October 14, Sardar Yaqoob Khan resigned from his post ‘in order to avoid a political controversy in the Legislative Assembly’. Later that month, the Legislative Assembly elected Farooq Haider as leader of the house and a 23-member AJK cabinet was sworn in on October 29.
Meanwhile, a self-governance reform package for the Northern Areas was approved on August 29. The package aimed at giving the region complete administrative autonomy and changed its name to Gilgit-Baltistan. The first elections for the Gilgit-Baltistan Legislative Assembly were held on November 12. And despite allegations of rigging, the PPP secured the mandate to govern the region, leading to Syed Mehdi Shah’s election as the region’s first Chief Minister.
Political reforms were also planned for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and were announced by President Zardari on August 14. Reforms included: ‘allowing political activities in Fata, setting up an appellate tribunal, curtailing arbitrary powers of political agents, giving people right to appeal and bail.’ The reforms’ systematic implementation did not take place and to some extent the measures were overtaken by the unrest and the military operations in the tribal belt.
In Balochistan, the political situation deteriorated with the killing of three Baloch activists a day before kidnapped UNHCR official John Solecki was released by the Balochistan Liberation United Front (BLUF) militants in April. Baloch distrust of Islamabad festered and allegations thrived regarding the missing persons’ issue. Sporadic violence continued across the province and, on October 25, Balochistan’s then-education minister Shafiq Ahmed Khan was assassinated in Quetta.
To control the situation, the government initiated a package to address the political, administrative and economic concerns of the province. Some significant areas the package addressed were limiting military activity inside the province, release of missing persons ‘against whom there is no charge and trial of others before a competent court.’ The package was instantly rejected by most nationalist and separatist groups who called it a cover-up.
The year also saw deliberations on the seventh National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, which concluded with the provinces’ agreement over a formula for resource division among the federating units. Poverty, revenue generation and collection, and inverse population density were, for the first time, introduced as the criteria on which the provinces’ respective shares would be decided. The consensus reached by the provinces was generally seen as a step in the right direction, which would help contribute towards stabilising Pakistan’s democratic institutions.
Also on the matter of resources, 2009 saw a controversy over the Kerry-Lugar bill that tripled non-military aid to Pakistan to US$ 7.5 billion over a period of five years. Rifts between Pakistan’s civilian and military leadership came out as debate ensued over the stated and the possibly intended objectives of the assistance package. While conflict brewed over the bill in Pakistan, Foreign Minister Qureshi rushed to Washington to communicate Pakistan’s concerns over the proposed bill’s conditionalities. The unchanged bill was then signed into law on October 15.
This was not the end to the year’s political scuffles. Ironically, it was the so-called National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) that turned out to be the most critical political challenge Pakistan faced in 2009. Chaos augmented and mudslinging continued as the ordinance expired on November 28 and the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional on December 16.
Security: More bombings despite military operations
Overlapping the political crisis was the security situation in Swat, a region in north-west Pakistan that had been under the control of extremists since July 2007. As violence spiralled in the region, the government moved toward a formal truce with the militants which included promulgation of the Nizam-i-Adl regulation, which imposed Sharia law in the Malakand division.
The measure emboldened the Swat Taliban who then vied for control of Buner and Lower Dir districts. Eventually, the truce agreement mediated by Maulana Sufi Mohammad of the Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi (TNSM) collapsed. On April 26, a military operation was launched in Swat. The operation aimed at taking back Swat, Buner, Lower Dir and Shangla. Operation Rah-i-Rast, also known as Operation Black Thunderstorm, led to a full-scale humanitarian crisis as civilians started to flee from these areas for safety. More than two million people were displaced from the region, most of who returned after the operation was declared successful and completed on June 14.
As the army consolidated control over Swat and neighbouring districts, a suspected US missile attack on August 5 in South Waziristan’s Zanghara area killed the then-Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) chief Baitullah Mehsud. Baitullah’s death, regarded as a significant blow to the Taliban in South Waziristan, was accompanied by the continual and massive troop build-up along the southern and eastern borders of South Waziristan.
In the wake of retaliatory terrorist attacks in Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Shangla, the army on October 17 launched an operation in South Waziristan. The operation is currently ongoing and the army claims to have captured Kotkai, Kaniguram, and Sararogha among other important militant bastions in the battle to eliminate the local and foreign militants in the region. The operation is being viewed as Pakistan’s most ambitious move against the Taliban. As the year draws to a close, the army is also initiating action against militant hideouts in the neighbouring tribal agency of Orakzai.
The year of military successes and political disturbances was punctuated by frequent terrorist attacks across the country, most of which were associated with the TTP. The cities of Peshawar, Lahore, Islamabad and Rawalpindi were repeatedly attacked and although government and military installations seemed to be the standard targets, many attacks also singled out civilians, for example, the bombing of Peshawar’s Meena Bazaar on October 28 that killed 117 people, mostly women. Indeed, October remained the bloodiest month and saw 10 terrorist attacks claiming at least 283 lives.
Cross-border tensions
India has also stayed in the Pakistani headlines this year. On January 5, India handed over the first dossier regarding the Mumbai attacks of November 26, 2008, detailing ‘evidence of links with elements in Pakistan.’ While Pakistan haggled with resulting international pressure, India demanded extradition of suspects involved in the attacks. Rumours also circulated that a five-member team of the United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had visited Faridkot, the alleged ancestral town of Ajmal Kasab, the lone captured attacker whose name remained a matter of debate for quite some time.
Relations between India and Pakistan continued to deteriorate throughout the year and rare encounters between Indian and Pakistani high-ups only revealed the widening rift. While diplomatic sabre-rattling continued, elections in India brought the Congress back to power. Pakistan’s own investigations into the Mumbai attacks suspects’ links continued and dossiers upon dossiers were exchanged between the two states.
At year’s close, the trial of Ajmal Kasab continues in India and an Anti-Terrorist Court in Pakistan has indicted seven suspects for ‘planning and helping the execution’ of the attacks. Relations, however, remain strained between India and Pakistan: India decries Pakistan ‘inaction’ against terrorist outfits (particularly the release of Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Saeed) and denies involvement in Balochistan and Fata. Pakistan, on the other hand, appears aggravated by India’s ‘stalling of the dialogue process’ and continues alleging Indian involvement in domestic insurgencies and acts of terrorism inside Pakistan.
Looking forward to 2010
It is tricky to judge whether this tumultuous year was a step toward redemption – as manifest in decisive military operations and the superior judiciary’s NRO verdict – or a shift toward further turmoil. With an additional 30,000 troops inside Afghanistan and the ongoing South Waziristan military operation whose success is still a matter of conjecture, the least that can be hoped for is that Pakistan manages to develop a considerable degree of political stability, avoids conflicts between the state’s four pillars and thereby strengthens the government’s institutions.

Experts set to excavate ancient site in Taxila

2009-11-25T07:15:00.003Z

Taxila is home to over 150 sites/mounds/monuments of archaeological significance that remain unexplored.

With each site in the ancient land of Taxila as rich as the other, if not richer, archaeologists are surveying to begin excavation work on their next project.
Taxila is home to over 150 sites/mounds/monuments of archaeological significance that remain unexplored. Before the partition of the subcontinent, Sir John Marshal had unearthed 25 sites between 1912 and 1934.

Glimpses from Pakistan!

2009-11-25T06:30:00.004Z

A health worker supervises polio drops to a childChildren playing with the goat they bought at a market as the preparations for Eidul Azha have started in the country.

Cattle dealers show animals to people for upcoming ‘Eidul Azha’ at make-shift animals market at Superhighway

A vendor waiting for the customers to buy different sweaters and jackets at his roadside setup at a street.

TMA workers busy in cleaning the drain during maintenance work on a street.

Workers busy in stitching quilts at their workplace for winter preparations

A vendor arranging the eggs outside his shop as the demand for eggs by consumers increases during winters.

Children attend class under the open sky!

Pakistani fishing boats rally in the Arabian Sea ahead of the World Fisheries Day in Karachi. Fishing communities worldwide celebrate with rallies, workshops, public meetings, cultural programs, dramas, exhibition, music shows, and demonstrations to highlight the importance of maintaining the world's fisheries.

Peshawar Bomb Blast

2009-10-29T06:27:00.002Z

Volunteers rush an injured child to a hospital after an explosion in Peshawar

At least 101 people, mostly women and children, were killed and over 150 injured when a huge car bomb ripped through a crowded market here on Wednesday.

The blast triggered a huge fire which engulfed a number of buildings near the Meena Bazaar. A plume of dust and smoke billowed from narrow lanes of the market situated in the old part of the city.

The blast took place in two narrow lanes between Meena Bazaar and Kochi Bazaar frequented by women. A cotton warehouse in the market caught fire which spread to several buildings on the Cheri Koban road. A number of shops along the narrow road, vehicles and carts were gutted.

Most of the bodies were charred beyond recognition and till late night only 25 of them had been identified. About 70 of the dead are women and children. Scores of the injured are in a critical condition.

Fire-engines, ambulances and other rescue vehicles faced difficulty in reaching the scene because of congestion and narrow lanes. People were seen taking the bodies and the injured to hospitals in cars, rickshaws and even on motorcycles.

Many children and women trapped in the debris of several buildings were crying for help, but rescue workers could not reach them because of huge flames. A group of men trapped under the roof of a nearby mosque were rescued.

Rescue work was in progress till late night and workers were finding it difficult to remove the debris. It was feared that some people were still trapped in the rubble because rescue personnel had heard them wailing and crying.

All shops in the area were closed after the blast and people started searching for their relatives.
A crowd of people inside the trauma room and emergency hall of the Lady Reading Hospital made it difficult for medical staff to perform their duty.

Distressed people, including women, were seen searching for relatives in the hospital, but recognising them was difficult because most of the bodies were mutilated. Stench of blood and human flesh hung in the air in the hospital.

Ideas can win war

2009-10-27T08:12:00.000Z

Now that the military has begun its Rah-i-Nijat operation in South Waziristan, the question has begun to be asked whether it will succeed. We will not know the answer for several weeks, perhaps not even then.

The real victory will come only when the people not just in the tribal areas but in all parts of the country decide that they have been misled by a small of group of extremists.

The people must make clear that they don’t see their country and religion being under assault by the West, in particular the United States, and that it is their own people who are attacking them. In addition to the use of military power, what is required is the use of people’s power. The war being fought in the hills of South Waziristan is not simply a military war; it is more a war of ideas.

There has been much reflection in the American press in recent days about the meaning and ends of war. This was prompted by the on-going review of the options Washington has in the war in Afghanistan. There appears to be consensus among the commentators that no matter what the American president decides regarding the course of the conflict, it will, from now on, be ‘Obama’s war.’

One analyst, Gordon M. Goldstein, writing for The New York Times, drew a number of lessons for the current president based on the experiences of Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson in conducting the American war in Vietnam. Kennedy chose the middle course, preferring to concentrate on building the capacity of the state to help the people who had turned to insurgency since they saw no other way to better their rapidly deteriorating economic and social situation. Johnson, on the other hand, was overawed by the military and opted for the military option.

What is the relevance of this debate in the United States for Pakistan’s policymakers as they conduct their operations in South Waziristan? There are several. Of these I would like to focus on the following three. First the civilians must provide credible leadership to this effort by the military. We know from our own history that the military cannot galvanise popular support when it goes into battle to protect the interests of the state.

There was great popular support for troops in the brief war with India in September 1965 but it could not be sustained when the politicians, led by the leadership that had come from the military, were not be able to credibly explain the purpose of the war and its aftermath.

Similarly, while the civil war in East Pakistan was provoked by the military, its aftermath had to be handled by the civilians. In the present context, we should recognise that a good start was made by convening a well-attended meeting of political leaders that authorised the use of force against the entrenched Taliban in South Waziristan.

Second, there has to be only one system of governance in one country. Pakistan allowed the Taliban to run a parallel government in the areas they control. The jihadists in the populous province of Punjab would like to do the same in the areas where they have influence. They will succeed only if the state abdicates its responsibility of providing basic services to the people. This should not happen if the institutions of the state are strong and the government has the resources to provide for the people. The cash-strapped government in Pakistan has to collect more resources to finance its operations and to use the money it spends effectively and efficiently. It is doing neither at this time.

Third, people have also to act. Let me quote at length from a recent article by the journalist Thomas L. Friedman who has written extensively on the developing world, especially on Muslim countries. ‘In places like Egypt, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan or Pakistan you have violent religious extremist movements fighting with state security services. … And while the regimes in these countries are committed to crushing their extremists, they rarely take on their extremist ideas by offering progressive alternatives. And when these extremists aim elsewhere … these regimes are indifferent. That is why there is no true war of ideas inside these countries — just a war.’

This is a correct and insightful observation. ‘These states are not promoting an inclusive and tolerant interpretation of Islam that could be the foundation of people power,’ Friedman continues.

Pakistan, unlike the countries on Friedman’s list has had a ‘people power’ movement when the lawyers demonstrated that by acting with courage and resolution, they could bring about more than regime change. They could also force a strong executive to begin to show respect to the judiciary and its opinions. The same people power needs to be mobilised to rescue religion from the clutches of the extremists.

Those on the margins of Pakistani society have found leadership from the ranks of the people who, although basically illiterate and poorly informed, are able to compensate for their shortcomings by the extremely strong courage of their convictions. The lawyers managed to find leaders from their own ranks. The progressive elements within the Pakistani society must search for those who can lead them in a much-needed people’s movement in the war against extremism.

What is needed at this critical moment in the country’s history is a group of civilian leaders who can galvanise broad support for the difficult journey on which the armed forces have embarked. Also needed is an economic plan for building state institutions to deliver the appropriate services to the people in stress and also improve their access to basic needs. Finally the moderates in Pakistani society need to let it be known that they are not in agreement with the extremists in the way they interpret Islam, the way they see the functioning of the state and the way they would place Pakistan in the international community.

Scourge of child labour

2009-10-27T08:10:00.001Z

With poverty on the rise, many families are forced to use the services of their children to survive.

Speaking at a workshop in Lahore, a Unicef expert placed the number of child workers in Pakistan at three million. Other sources have been quoting higher figures. Whatever the accurate statistics, there is no denying the reality that a shocking number of under-age children are working to earn a living for their families. Larger numbers are out of school. This is a pity when the country is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Moreover, there has been a law in place since 1991 prescribing stringent conditions for child labour.

The fact is that laws and legal strictures are difficult to implement when the socio-economic and political conditions do not contribute to improving the status of children. With poverty on the rise, many families are forced to use the services of their children to survive. Socially and culturally child labour has not been shunned — the number of young girls working as domestics is phenomenal and this fact finds general acceptance. Successive governments and political leaders have hardly regarded child labour as a major problem since they derive support from those who exploit children: landlords and business entrepreneurs who look out for cheap labour.Hence the problem continues to grow. Stop-gap measures have been adopted to discourage child labour but these haven’t made much impact.

It is important that a national strategy with the twin objectives of putting child workers in school and lending their families monetary support is drawn up. One approach would be to make it obligatory for employers to recognise their corporate social responsibility and provide schooling facilities to the children of their workers with every student being given a stipend. Other incentives can be found to make it worthwhile for families to send their offspring to school and pull them out of the workplace.

Peshawar takes yet another hit; 15 dead

2009-10-17T07:02:00.002+01:00

A suicide car bombing devastated the Crimes Investigation Agency (CIA) centre in Swati Gate area, near Peshawar Cantonment, on Friday, leaving 15 people dead.

Three policemen and two girls were among the dead. The blast, which took place at about 12.45pm, destroyed the front of the CIA centre and damaged a two-storey mosque on its premises.

Three of the people killed were identified as Manzoor Hussain and his daughters Aasia and Mashal. One of the daughters was a schoolteacher. Hussain was a retired administrative officer of a government college in the Cantonment area. A grade-II student, identified as Shakeem Khan, was also killed in the blast.

The Bomb Disposal Unit’s in charge, AIG Malik Shafqat Mehmud, told reporters that it was a suicide car bomb blast and police had found a severed leg of the bomber. He said that 60-70kg of explosives, mixed with artillery ammunition, had been used in the blast. Engine and chassis numbers of the car were found from the scene.

Confusion surrounded the nature of the blast after city police chief Liaquat Ali Khan told journalists that there were two suicide bombers — one of them a woman accompanied by a man on a bike. The woman detonated explosives strapped to her body when police fired on the man, he added.

Police found an upper part of a female body and assumed that it was that of the suicide bomber, but later it was identified by relatives as one of the daughters of Manzoor Hussain, the man who died along with two daughters.

‘There was no female suicide bomber. It was a misunderstanding,’ SP (Cant Circle) Nisar Marwat said. An investigation was being carried out, but police suspected that it was a suicide car bombing, he added.

The dead policemen were identifies as Amir Nawaz, Ahmed Khan and Zeeshan. DSP Pervez Khattak suffered injuries.

The in-charge of Lady Reading Hospital’s trauma centre, Dr Sahib Gul, told Dawn that 10 of the victims had been identified. Four of the injured, including a police constable, were in serious condition.

Gulbarg police said that 24 people had been injured. An army post and a residential colony for army personnel are located 100 yards away from the CIA centre, which also has offices of the anti-car lifting cell.

Residents said that thick smoke had covered the entire area and they heard gunfire before the blast. It was the fourth suicide blast in the limits of the provincial capital over the past 20 days.
Twelve people were killed when a bomb went off on Fakhr Alam Road on Sept 26. Fifty-four were killed in the Khyber Bazaar blast on Oct 9.

A boy was killed in a car bomb blast at an officers’ block in Gulshan-i-Rehman Colony on Thursday. More than 80 people were killed and 250 injured in the four blasts.

Agenda behind terrorism

2009-10-17T06:58:00.000+01:00

THE series of terrorist acts across NWFP and Punjab should be a wake up call for the state that its policies, such as they are, to fight this lethal menace in Pakistan are deeply flawed. The post-9/11 premature jumping on to the US bandwagon in a misdirected "war on terror" altered qualitatively the nature of the terrorist threat in Pakistan. Following the erroneous US lead, Pakistan's focus on a military-centric approach to fighting terrorism has only succeeded in generating more violent terrorism in the country, with new groups claiming centre stage like the TTP. The US drone attacks have hardly helped; nor has the growing chaos being caused by the US covert and overt intrusions in to Pakistan's internal affairs. Meanwhile, the government has failed to formulate a cohesive anti-terror policy in which the core should be a holistic socio-political-economic strategy supported by the state's coercive power. The immediate goal in any such asymmetric war has to be isolation of the enemy from the people who provide the shelter for the terrorists. Pakistan continues to fall in to the US-laid trap of using the military option alone. The push now is for commencing a full scale military operation in North Waziristan - at a time when the blowback from the Swat operation is being felt across the country.Meanwhile, the recent terrorist attacks reveal a new breed of terrorists who are well-trained and well-armed with highly sophisticated weaponry. Further, as the Interior Minister himself admitted, these terrorists are mercenaries, being paid for their dastardly acts. So there is no religious thread here at all. If one connects the dots, the pattern that is emerging is one where a deliberate trail of destruction is being created across Pakistan, which will create a situation desired in the US design outlined in a US Army Journal article entitled "Blood Borders" published in the wake of 9/11. Is it a mere coincidence that Quetta and Muridke have been targeted in the KLB Act and all religious groups identified by name but for the TTP? Is it also a mere coincidence that the new spate of terrorism has begun at a time when there is attention focused on the covert US operatives spreading across Pakistan; when the US is seeking to target Quetta with drones; when there is growing evidence of an Indian hand in Pakistan's terrorism? Perhaps the most obvious pointer to a larger hidden anti-Pakistan agenda behind the terrorism is the US pressure for military action also in southern Punjab. This is a recipe for civil war. Already the centre of gravity of the "war on terror" has been shifted, first from Afghanistan to FATA and now to the centre of Pakistan, Punjab itself. Unless the Pakistani state sees the larger picture, our detractors' plans will succeed.

Democracy under threat?

2009-10-17T06:49:00.002+01:00

Is Project Democracy in trouble? Is the latest kerfuffle in civil-military relations, this time over the Kerry-Lugar bill, just another manifestation of the broken, chaotic decision-making process at the institutional level from which the system will soon move on?

Or is it another marker in deteriorating relations between the presidency and the army high command that are slowly edging towards the point of no return? When — if — the obituary of the Zardari presidency or government is written, it’s safe to say that the Kerry-Lugar fiasco will surely merit more than a footnote.

So which is it? Are we headed for bust and the derailment of the present phase in the transition to democracy, or even the transition itself, or is this what democracy in Pakistan is set to look like for the foreseeable future, a process characterised by brinkmanship without quite slipping too close to the edge of the cliff?

First things first: while the army high command is currently unlikely to bring a halt to the democratic process or unseat the present political dispensation, it would be foolish to think that it cannot or will not under any circumstances. Zardari and co clearly have some space to govern, but that space isn’t unlimited and its boundaries may be closer than imagined by the pro-democracy camp.

What’s particularly troubling about the Kerry-Lugar fiasco is how the army high command essentially came out and fired a warning shot across the government’s bow and then promptly retreated behind a wall of silence, leaving it to the government to clean up the mess with the Americans, the opposition and the public.

Since it’s difficult to imagine that the army was not aware of what was unfolding in the US Congress, the army’s tactics amount to a classic political ambush at home. The main cause for worry is not that the army would attempt a hatchet job at all — that our politics is often bare-knuckled is well known to our politicians — but that it would do so on an issue in which the government has invested so much and has little to no room to wriggle away or save face.

The bill was already passed by Congress by the time the army chose to pipe up and the government had already tried to drum up the aid package as its greatest foreign-policy success to date. Political opposition to the bill was always expected, but that’s the nature of our politics — automatically reject in opposition what you would likely do in government.

The army intervention, though, amounted to a kneecapping for the government; and without a doubt it will lead the most hawkish and paranoid in the government to wonder if a decapitation is next. The more reckless may even push for a strike-before-the-army-strikes counter-strategy.

Which brings me to the second point: Zardari must chart a new course from here. And that course must eschew confrontation with the army while at the same time reaching out to the political opposition more urgently.

When a grenade of the kind lobbed by the army lands in the court of someone as constitutionally powerful as Zardari, there is a mighty temptation to return the favour. Turning the other cheek does not come easily to anyone with the hubris to imagine they can run a country like Pakistan. Nor is turning the other cheek really advisable when your tormentor may in fact want to slap you into submission or worse.

But Zardari is not just another president in the country’s tawdry political history; he is the custodian of the transition to democracy and on his shoulders therefore rests a very heavy burden.

Like him or hate him — and it is apparent that there are many, many in the latter camp — focusing on Zardari the politician, president or person misses the larger point, that he is uniquely placed to give the country what it so desperately needs: democratic continuity.

Zardari’s democracy will necessarily be ugly, scandal-plagued, tawdry even. Part of the blame for that must lie with him, but there is also the fact that he is a creature of his environment, and the politicians in the Class of 2008 aren’t the most savoury of characters.

Yet, whatever the sins of this government, present and future, nothing will come close to the damage caused to the prospects for democracy if Zardari fails to ensure democratic continuity in the short term and a democratic transfer of power in the medium term.

The country will never, ever come close to addressing its fundamental problems if it does not settle on one framework of governance, one set of rules for how the state is to be organised and run.

To believe the army has the solutions is to believe in a fairytale. And to believe the army at least has the ability to ensure the security of the state and its people and therefore must influence the state’s policies or at least set its parameters is to ignore the fact that some of the greatest threats to national security in our history have been created and exacerbated by the army itself.

So what Zardari must do is stop the fresh incursions into political terrain by the army. Whether it is the army’s intention or not, the fact is that a year and change into the transition to democracy, army intervention in controversies such as the Kerry-Lugar bill and the restoration of the deposed judges is chipping away at the fragile wall that is keeping the army out at the moment. That wall needs to be strengthened, but in a shrewd way. Directly confronting the army while Zardari’s flanks are exposed by his personal unpopularity risks bringing the wall down altogether.

So what can Zardari do? Win back the PML-N. A unified political front would work to Zardari and his government’s advantage in two ways. One, it would reduce the intra-political pressure his government is under. Two, a stronger political front would mean the army would need to be more careful about its political forays.

Ah, but how can he trust the PML-N? Isn’t it not-so-secretly hoping for mid-term elections? Wasn’t Shahbaz Sharif caught powwowing with Kayani recently? All true, and Zardari probably can’t trust the Sharifs.

But Zardari also needs to quietly assess who poses the bigger threat to his party and its future. Between the PML-N and the army, the PML-N is from a structural point of view weaker while the army is only temporarily weakened by its tarnished political credentials. And in the democracy stakes, the PML-N cannot shut out the PPP, only the army can.

Again, it’s not clear if the army is interested in forcing change at the moment. But it is clear that the fragile wall against possible army intervention is being eroded. And in a place like Pakistan, a civilian leader ignores such a development at his peril.

Pakistan successfully tests Tsunami warning system

2009-10-17T06:46:00.000+01:00

Pakistan’s National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), under a UN-backed initiative, successfully tested the effectiveness of theIndian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (IOTWS) at the southern coastal line of Thatta in Sindh.

The testing was followed by a rescue drill for evacuating coastal area residents from the most vulnerable to safer places, establishment of relief camps and damage assessment practices.

The exercise to test the warning systems and overall preparedness of nations in the region, was supposed to simulate the magnitude 9.15 quake that struck off Aceh on Dec. 26, 2004, setting off a devastating tsunami.

Hundreds of people living in coastal areas including main city of Ketibandar participated in the rescue drill while it was followed by a capacity building and awareness activity for local disaster management authorities, volunteers and media persons.

Briefing the media here on Friday, NDMA Director Preparedness and Mitigation Amir Muhiuddin said the exercise, conducted in collaboration with UNESCO, helped increase preparedness and improve coordination throughout the coastal region. He added that it provided an opportunity for the Indian Ocean countries to test their operational lines of communications, review their tsunami warning and emergency response standard operating procedures, and promote emergency preparedness.

He said the simulated tsunami will be extended in real time across the entire Indian Ocean, taking approximately 12 hours to travel from Indonesia to the coast of South Africa.

He said the exercise also provided an opportunity to test national standard operating procedures and the operational lines of communication between the NTWCs and JMA and PTWC.

Several member states have indicated that they intend to conduct the exercise through community level, including limited evacuation of selected coastal communities.

TB ravages HIV/Aids patients: WHO

2009-10-17T06:43:00.002+01:00

The World Health Organisation warned that progress in tackling tuberculosis was far too slow, as it doubled its estimate of the ravages the disease is causing among HIV/Aids patients.

Some 9.27 million people contracted TB in 2007, an increase of about 30,000 over the previous year mainly in line with population growth, according to the WHO’s annual report on tuberculosis control.

They included some 1.4 million people with HIV/Aids, compared to an estimated 600,000 in 2006 reported last year.

More than one death in four — 456,000 of the 1.75 million tuberculosis deaths recorded in 2007 — is now thought to involve an HIV/Aids patient.

‘These findings point to an urgent need to find, prevent and treat tuberculosis in people living with HIV and to test for HIV in all patients with TB in order to provide prevention, treatment and care,’ said WHO Director General Margaret Chan in a statement.

However, the report reiterated that there were severe shortcomings in tackling tuberculosis and coordinated care for both diseases largely due to feeble heath care in the developing countries that are the hardest hit.

Just one in seven HIV patients get vital preventive treatment for TB, said WHO HIV/Aids director Kevin De Cock.

Overall, more than one third of tuberculosis cases are not diagnosed, leaving many out of reach of treatment and, crucially, increasing the risk of spreading the contagious disease, according to the UN health agency.

While the overall rate of TB infection fell in three years to 139 cases per 100,000 people, the improvement was too slow, said Mario Raviglione, the agency’s anti-tuberculosis chief.

’We are talking about less than one per cent per year, which will get us to potentially eliminate TB in a very distant future: we are talking centuries if not millenia in a way,’ he told journalists. The growth in the estimated impact on HIV/Aids patients was largely down to better data and understanding.

’The revision is illustrative of the fact that people living with HIV have a risk of developing tuberculosis that’s 20 times greater than HIV negative people,’ said De Cock.

Despite progress in testing TB patients for HIV in Africa, the combination of poor diagnosis, rising drug resistance and the evidence of the impact on highly vulnerable HIV/Aids patients have heightened alarm among health experts.

Detection of the highly contagious disease has stagnated after a sharp improvement nine years ago, while the impact drug resistant strains of the TB bacteria has grown to infect an estimated 500,000 people.

Just one per cent of them receive treatment and 150,000 of them die, according to the WHO, which regards resistance as the ‘achilles heel’ of the anti-TB drive.

‘The scale-up of interventions to deal with multidrug TB is not at the pace we would like to see and is far from the targets that have been established,’ Raviglione said.

Furthermore, 10 per cent of them were almost incurable extra-resistant strains (XDR-TB) that are now found in 55 countries.

The WHO is gathering the 27 countries that account for 85 per cent of multidrug resistant cases of tuberculosis — including India, China, Russia, South Africa and Bangladesh - for a meeting in Beijing on April 1.

‘You could be in middle of a drug resistant TB epidemic and not even know about it,’ De Cock pointed out.

Fighting Hunger

2009-10-17T06:42:00.000+01:00

THE fight against hunger is being lost. Today, there are over 1 billion hungry people around the globe. The alarming thing is that this number continues to increase. Given this backdrop, the scourge's extreme form that prevails in a number of African countries where food shortage has been a source of bloody riots and has provoked armed conflicts could rear its head in other parts of the world as well. The recent global food crisis that affected a heavy toll all around should be a wake-up call, to say the least. Already there are estimates that the crisis would worsen in the days to come. So there should be no dithering on this count. Though Pakistan, which lies in one of the world's most populous regions, has been hit hard, the leadership at the helm remains indifferent. The skyrocketing price of the food items has pushed millions into hunger and poverty. Admittedly the government has faltered on a number of fronts. For instance, it gave a carte blanche to the wheat and sugar mafia to manipulate prices. Likewise, there is also no mistaking the reality that the hoarders are not reined in. Such a shoddy performance could hardly be expected to guarantee food security. There is also a perception that agricultural potential of the country in terms of food security has not been fully developed. Despite having an irrigation system that is one of the best in the world, we still have to import a number of foodstuffs. Among other things, one cannot help but hold the food ministry and the departments working under it responsible for the dismal picture. They are simply blind to the situation faced by small landowners, which form a big chunk of the farming community. Even basic issues, like high price of the inputs, shortage of seeds and fertilisers during the crop season, remain un-addressed. How in such circumstances could the sector be expected to produce sufficient food? Undoubtedly, the country is in need of a Green Revolution. Food security would remain a dream otherwise.

Hunger pangs of a nation

2009-10-17T06:34:00.001+01:00

During Ramazan the prime minister — in all seriousness — indicated his desire for the Pakistani nation to consume less sugar to help tide over the sugar crisis. It made one wonder which section of society he was addressing.

Was it the elite, the very inventors of the culture of extravagant iftars, for whom even during the worst national crisis it is business, rather pleasure, as usual? If the mid-income group was his audience then he should know that inflation has already shrunk their budget as they battle with job retrenchment and chronic price hikes.

Then there were the masses, often standing in long lines at the risk of being beaten and humiliated to buy a few kilos of sugar, so their large families were not deprived of one of the few remaining pleasures of life, a cup of sweetened tea. Many of these people live close to or below the poverty line and can only afford one meagre meal a day. The World Health Organisation has identified hunger as the gravest single threat to public health in the world and research data from Pakistan indicates widespread malnourishment among the rural and urban poor. Children are at maximum risk because when food does not meet the caloric requirements of the growing body it can cause long-term nutrient deficiencies, which at first manifest themselves as low energy and later can lead to multiple health complications if left unattended.

Malnourishment in the adult workforce results in poor health that keeps workers from playing an effective role in the country’s development. Undernourished women pass on the effects of malnutrition to the next generation when they give birth to infants that start a new life with multiple deficiencies.

Roti, kapra aur makan (food, clothing and shelter), promised so often to the people of Pakistan, is not just an election slogan but a right. According to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, every person has a “right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food”, as well as the “fundamental right to be free from hunger”. Just as it is the responsibility of the state to protect its citizens from external threats, the same is true of internal perils like food insecurity.

Governments that prioritise the welfare of their people employ maximum resources to ensure that food is available for purchase. During times of crisis they intervene to ensure food security for their citizens. States commit themselves to long- and short-term policies and allocate funds to increase agricultural yield through scientific research and technological intervention.
The availability of safe and healthy seeds is closely monitored. States also study the fine balance between cash and food crops to make sure that food needs are adequately met. Law-enforcement agencies and legislative mechanisms ensure that profiteers and food cartels do not monopolise the food supply.

In Pakistan, citizens faced with food insecurity have so far heard only empty promises and seen ad hoc arrangements while a comprehensive blueprint to eradicate food vulnerability from the state has yet to be shared with an increasingly anxious population. On the contrary, fears that the government is leasing millions of acres of cultivable land to Gulf-based multinationals for corporate farming has raised many questions for Pakistan’s food sovereignty and ecology.

The head of the Food and Agriculture Organisation has warned that the controversial rise in land deals of millions of acres by rich governments and corporations in developing and underdeveloped countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies could create a form of neo-colonialism, with poor states producing food for the rich at the expense of their own hungry people.

The track record of corporate farming is not as good as some government officials would have us believe. Financial clout and lack of local guidelines for land acquisition usually make it possible for big corporations to take over prime land. This leaves the poor farmers with less productive land to meet the food needs of the country and can endanger the long-term food sovereignty of impoverished host nations.

Corporate farming, driven as it is by profit motives, has in the past shown little regard for environmental concerns and in fact caused irreversible environmental damage to leased land and its environs. With huge funds at their disposal, corporations find it easier to monopolise the water supply and other resources, thus depriving neighbouring farms of their rightful share. These are some of the many factors that can cause social and economic disempowerment of poor farmers who form the backbone of Pakistan’s agrarian system.

The food crisis Pakistan is facing can only be reversed with a fundamental shift in the way the state perceives food and its link with the nation. Food needs to be looked upon not as a profitable commodity but the right of the people. A well-fed and healthy nation will be better equipped to participate in the country’s sustainable development.

Today food prices have taken staples beyond the reach of the average wage earner and the people’s desperation to obtain discounted and free food is often seen in endless lines where they brave heat and hardship. The incident in Karachi where several women lost their lives in their attempt to receive food should be a wakeup call for the political leadership of Pakistan that the hunger pangs of the nation cannot be left unheard and unattended.

Return of the natives

2009-09-28T08:40:00.001+01:00

Despite experts and locals talking about the traumatic experiences the people of Malakand Division in general and Swat in particular have gone through, one finds very little government attention being paid to this aspect of the IDPs.

Reportedly, over 2.3 million people in the region had to bear hardships of different kinds when they were forced to flee. They had to live in miserable conditions in makeshift camps or congested buildings with their hosts. And, sadly, their misery didn't end even as they returned to their homes. The women and children were coming back, having assimilated the horrors of displacement on the one hand and the devastating battle between the military and the militants on the other. For months, the young had been fed on images of blood and gore, throats being slit, bodies being hanged, and so on. They had witnessed the Green Square, in Mingora, now rechristened 'Bloody Square'.

The educated and professional lot -- lawyers, journalists, teachers, people related to industry, police officials, political party activists etc -- also took a beating.

According to reports, around 200 girl schools in the region have already been destroyed by the militants which means thousands of female students will be without education now. A teacher at a high school that was blown up by Taliban, remembers the horrors of the night: "The Taliban attackers broke into our school, shouting slogans of 'Allah O' Akbar'. They blindfolded us, tied our hands behind us and picked up all sorts of expensive goods while detonating a bomb in the building.

"Luckily, they spared us on the condition that we'd never come back to the place."

The teacher laments the fact that the careers of thousands of youngsters had been destroyed.

Doctor Mohammad Farooq Khan, a well known psychiatrist from Swat, says the people in the affected areas have returned but not without some mental conditions -- "chiefly depression and psychosis."

He tells, "The conditions are likely to aggravate because these people have been under continued stress and without proper medication."

Dr Farooq also speaks of having met cases of acute anxiety disorders. "People have been passing out on the street. The women, especially, complain of getting panic attacks. Insomnia (sleeplessness), nightmares, hopelessness and a strong sense of helplessness are the order of the day."

Dr Farooq says he identified 10 to 20 percent of people in relief camps as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). "The patients of PTSD are haunted by unpleasant and painful memories that badly influence their sleep, mood and behaviour."

Common psychological aberrations such as anger, peevishness, fighting over petty issues, urge for vengeance and conspiracies and highly suspecting nature are some of the other ailments that have been increasingly found among these people.

Dr Farooq suggests comprehensive treatment and psychological counselling for the purpose of which "the number of psychologists should be increased five times in Swat. The schools should have in-house psychiatrists."

Ex federal minister and ANP leader Afzal Khan Lala says that the people of the region have been transported back by half a century in the march for progress. "Our children have received big psychological shocks. Their future is at stake. We need preferential support from the government and the world outside. We are entitled to special quota in jobs and development funds on long-term basis. Unless the area and its people get the required funding and support, they can't compete with the rest of the country."

It may be mentioned here that Lala himself sustained injuries in an incident when the insurgents pursued and killed the brothers of Ayub Ashari and Wajid Ali Khan, provincial ministers of ANP.
NWFP Minister for Forest and Environment, Wajid Ali Khan says ANP was on the hit-list of the insurgents. "Over 150 (ANP) activists and office-bearers were murdered in Swat. These are indeed testing times for us and the people of Swat."

Wajid says a comprehensive plan worth $2 billions has been prepared for the rehabilitation and reconstruction of the area. "Education will be given priority, vocational institutions will be opened, jobs will be provided; losses to businesses, agriculture and properties will be compensated. The world should support us in our reconstruction efforts."

Mumtazuddin, former administrator of an IDP camp in Mardan, says, "In our camp, there were cases of acute anxiety, depression, loss of sleep and other psychoses. Though they were treated, the nature of these ailments is such that they could recur any time in the future. Therefore, these patients need to be on medication for a longer time.

Sirajul Haq, former finance minister NWFP, says the province was pushed to war-like situation but was not sufficiently funded for the losses. "NWFP has incurred an estimated loss of Rs 25 trillions while agriculture in Malakand lost Rs 72 billions. The situation warrants that the province should be declared a war-affected zone."

"Unfortunately, the trauma continues as no compensation has been provided to the people as yet. Despite emergency relief, work on recovery and rehabilitation has been slow," says Aftab Alam, advocate and President, District Bar Association Swat.

He adds that the resilient legal fraternity -- both judges and lawyers -- decided to revamp the legal system in Malakand in the wake of the hazards for the future of the country. "But our problems have not been addressed. There are cracks in our office buildings. The judges face housing problems. We asked the government for help and, in February this year, a sum of Rs 3.5million was sanctioned for repair work in district courts. That, however, is yet to be released."
The journalist community has also suffered. A Swat-based journalist tells TNS that the breaking news phenomenon had aggravated their woes. Several journalists have been killed while covering rallies and programmes in the region. "The media organisations want the latest news at any cost. The security forces have their own demands while the militants are also unhappy with us. We are virtually caught between the devil and the deep blue sea."

A government official says that around 83 percent of the total 1,800 Swat police officials quit when Taliban unleashed a reign of terror against them. "The situation now looks encouraging as the old guard has rejoined while new inductions are being made."

People related to the entertainment industry had to wind up their projects after 2007. CD shops and music centres were shut down and female dancers in Mingora were forced to leave the place.
According to the journalist, 25 percent of the entertainment industry people have returned to Swat. "Most of the poor people have returned. But unless the MPAs, MNAs and the influential people from the area return to the area, the public morale is likely to remain low."

Writing on the wall

2009-09-28T08:37:00.001+01:00

The Khori Garden tragedy of Sept 14 in Karachi brought to the forefront many core weaknesses in the existing distribution mechanisms. Common people are in dire straits in the country. Why else would hundreds of poor women have flocked to the deadly disaster site to collect ration supplies the very next day?

Thus anarchy and disorder erupts whenever acts of spot subsidies and benevolence are launched by the government as well as philanthropists, suggesting that institutionalised options to acquire the basics of life have totally collapsed.

It is disappointing to note that no lessons have been learned from the retrospect to effectively deal with the gravity of the situation. In a scenario where tenets of market economy are ruthlessly imposed in all the sectors, the concurrently rising number of poor is viewed as a potential threat.

Ever since the mid 1980s, Pakistan has been shackled under the infamous economic policy frameworks imposed by the international donor agencies -- mainly IMF and World Bank. This benchmark sadly coincided with the much-needed political change which led to the creation of a democratic government after 11 years of an autocratic regime of the 1980s. The era of Structural Adjustment Programmes was ushered into the nation's history with a whole range of clandestine stakeholders, men in khaki being most prominent. Times that followed displayed the lost struggles of at least four democratic governments to implement their manifestoes across the tightening nooses of donor prescriptions. Much to the pleasure of the donor community, an unmeditated coup in 1999 removed the democratic government to install a complying brand of regime which continued to faithfully bow to market pressures, even sacrificing peoples' wellbeing.

Relying on the robustness of high liquidity, a selfish consumer class was made to evolve that extended commoditisation of social goods to new heights. Domestic economy was dominated by nascent trading and laissez faire transactions without any regulatory checks and institutional compliance. As a result, powerful cartels, interest groups and lower chains of middlemen evolved that consolidated these arrangements. A stage is now reached where the country's finance minister has shown his inability to tame the wild sugar barons.

Consequently, poor masses are finding it most difficult to make both ends meet. The cost of arranging water, fuel, transportation/commuting and healthcare is more than half of the total household income for majority of inhabitants in the country. This compulsory expenditure deprives poor from developing any productive assets for incremental improvement in living standards. A rising multitude of households comprising destitutes and dependents is another cause of concern. At least half of the victims in the Khori Garden tragedy belonged to this category.

Investment to develop a viable infrastructure to uplift the condition of poor is essential. Conservative estimates show that about 48 percent of the population is without access to safe drinking water while 63 percent is not connected to any sewerage system. A sizable produce in agricultural areas perish on the way due to absence or dilapidated conditions of farm to market roads. In cities, more than three-fourth of the employment is generated in the domain of informal sector. Attempts are normally made to allocate finances for various development schemes prepared in the infrastructure sector. However, the lion's share normally goes to mega projects. Despite the fact that such projects hardly benefit poor, these incur high capital costs and have burgeoning operation and maintenance overlays. They are also assigned higher priorities. Preference given by donors/federal government, risk of losing overheads in kick backs and lobbying efforts by large-scale contractors are few reasons for choosing mega projects.

Poor people need small scale initiatives. Development of water stand posts, secondary sewers to connect household/lane level sewers, secondary roads to inter-connect localities and basic power supply are some small scale projects that can improve living conditions and help eradicate poverty by increasing peoples' productive capacity.

The government claims to support poor by opening up some avenues to muster relief. Funds from Zakat, Baitul Maal, marriage assistance and health support programmes are claimed to be accessible to poor. Several new programmes have been launched to facilitate income support, loans and even land supply to common people. The expected outcome of these initiatives shall not be able to scale up to the actual demand of the sector. As the macro scale policies do not support the pro-poor strategies, specialised programmes only become confined to political drumbeats. Poor targeting, insignificant coverage and lack of proper monitoring gives rise to a limited coverage and impact of such programmes. It is erroneously assumed that by doling out money, poverty can be stemmed.

If the present regime is willing to prove its representative status, few fundamental steps need to be taken without delay. One, an open debate about the overall causes and effects of poverty must be launched. All cross sections of the society should be allowed to contribute to it. Two, findings and recommendations of various research studies must be scientifically reviewed and assessed by a relevant institution, such as the Planning Commission. Three, based on these inputs, a working paper on the issues related to poverty and means to holistically address them may be floated at the elected fora, including local councils, provincial assemblies and parliament. On the basis of the national consensus evolved for addressing poverty, negotiations and dialogue must be made with all interest groups, including donors. Four, policy instruments that affect the livelihoods of people must be immediately checked and revisited. This also accounts for providing protectionist cover for few sectors of enterprises that are in the state of infancy. Five, direct assistance must be only targeted to those who are economically incapable in all respects. All others must be provided with catalytical assistance to help acquire a compatible earning opportunity. Once economically capable, the society can address almost all other issues. And six, infrastructure development must be based on the up-scaling of various pilot projects that now have a successful existence in this country and are being replicated on self help.

It must be remembered that nations have experienced revolutions that ignored the writing on the walls on such grave counts.

The real story

2009-09-28T08:35:00.000+01:00

Given the scale of the power shortage in Pakistan and the unending fiasco of loadshedding, it is quite astonishing that so few people have a real sense of what the problem truly is. Admittedly there is no singular explanation but by the same token the narrative is quite familiar, tired even.
It starts with the emergence of what is now called 'neo-liberalism' in the western capitalist countries following the coming to power of Margaret Thatcher in Britain and Ronald Reagan in the United States. Thatcher in particular was an astute conservative ideologue fully committed to an overhaul of the welfare state that was the pillar of liberal capitalism for almost half a century following the Great Depression. Thus began a comprehensive rollback of working-class power within Britain and the rest of Europe. Trade unions were systematically undermined and privatisation of state utilities, most notably commanding heights such as railways and telecommunications, began in earnest.

A similar process was unfolding in the United States, but the implications were less profound because neither was labour ever as powerful in the US as it was in Europe, nor did the American state own as substantial a proportion of assets as its European counterparts. Reagan's more important role was to deploy the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank in the third world to ensure that a rollback of the state was carried out in a manner similar, nay, more ruthless, to what was taking place within the western countries.

It is important to bear in mind that the global consensus until the late 1970s was not that public utilities should be privatised and that supply and demand of these utilities should be dictated by the principles of so-called 'free market competition', but instead that the state shoulder responsible for universal provision of utilities at affordable prices. The 'golden age' of 20th century capitalism was indeed between 1945 and 1975 when the interventionist state was anything but an aberration in orthodox policy circles.

Third world countries such as ours were all of a sudden given lectures about the unsustainability of deficit spending (even while western country governments' deficits soared), the inefficiency of state-owned enterprises, and the fact that the 'free market' was a panacea to all ills. In fact the third world was suffocated by external debt and the exponential rise in oil prices in the period immediately preceding the imposition of neo-liberal policies and this was the context in which the 'structural adjustment' nightmare unfolded. Rather than reflecting an objective analysis of the economic structure of third world societies, the 'rollback' of the state was an explicitly ideological project which benefited from the collapse of the Soviet bloc in the late 1980s.

So, for example, while it is true that the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) and the Karachi Electricity Supply Company (KESC) suffered from various allocative and distributive inefficiencies, their performance in the late 1980s was not so much worse than in previous decades to warrant privatisation per se. Externally determined neo-liberal policies (supported by a healthy dose of Pakistani hangers-on who were earning cash as 'expert' consultants) were therefore transformed into a neo-liberal 'consensus'.

From here on the story is relatively uncomplicated. The World Bank proclaimed that the public sector had neither the capacity nor the operational know-how to be able to meet growing demand for power and that therefore corporatisation and eventual privatisation of WAPDA and KESC was required. Meanwhile new power generation would be the responsibility of private power producers to whom unbelievable incentives would be offered including exemption from taxation and tariff rates which may as well have been called government subsidies. Pakistan was clearly a world-leader in this regard as a 2001 World Bank report noted: 'Although the international development community had come to realize that the role of the public sector needed to be redefined and reduced, no other low-income country had made private investments a cornerstone of its energy policy'.

The plan proceeded apace in the early 1990s culminating in independent power producers (IPPs) becoming operational by the middle of the decade. Needless to say the attempts to dismantle the massive bureaucratic structures that were WAPDA and KESC were resisted at numerous levels (and not necessarily for the right reasons, of which there were plenty), but corporatisation was not halted. KESC was eventually privatised in 2005. Four years after its sale, and two decades since neo-liberal sensibilities came to guide policy in the power sector, we have an unmitigated disaster on our hands.

The current trials and tribulations have numerous immediate causes. Demand exceeds supply of electricity (although the shortfall would be much less acute if the existing public power generation plants that are sitting idle were made operational), some IPPs are not producing as much as they could (ostensibly because they are still owed buckets of money by the government), and oil prices on the international market have been extremely variable in recent times.

However, these short-run problems do not explain the larger mess we find ourselves in. So, for example, if the power policies throughout the 1990s had not granted such incredible concessions to the IPPs, including the guarantee of inflated prices, the government would not necessarily be struggling to pay them off at this particular juncture. Then there was the mindless extension of consumer credit throughout the Musharraf tenure without requisite public investment in power infrastructure, something that a corporatised WAPDA on a leash was simply incapable of conceiving, let alone doing.

More generally, the neo-liberal recipe of subsidizing the private sector regardless of the social cost has proven to be catastrophic in Pakistan, and indeed around the world.

The global financial crisis has created a parallel legitimacy crisis for neo-liberal capitalism. Yet the third world remains a laboratory in which failed experiments are being rehashed without any accountability of the IFIs that champion these experiments.

Neo-liberalisation in practice is in fact much more destructive than neo-liberalism in theory. The 'free market' rhetoric betrays a ground reality in which bending of rules, distortions of various kinds, and plain banditry are commonplace. It is about time that a powerful intellectual movement emerges within countries such as ours to challenge the neo-liberal 'consensus'. There is no need for us to premise this challenge with the proclamation that the public sector should remain as is. In fact our argument is that the public sector should be genuinely made public rather than the preserve of an obsolete bureaucracy. Privatisation is not the answer because it subjugates the public to the whims of private profiteers. If we do not resuscitate the paradigm of the public monopoly the present power crisis will simply give way to another one of greater intensity. And that will be our lot, forever and after.

Pukhtoonkhwa or Referendum

2009-09-28T08:33:00.001+01:00

The issue of the renaming of NWFP as Pukhtoonkhwa has reared its head yet again and, as usual, the people who claim to be national leaders -- especially Nawaz Sharif -- are opposing this, calling for a referendum and ignoring the fact that the matter is already under consideration in the constitutional committee. Veritably, by opposing the Pukhtoons, they want to prove their jingoistic nationalism.

This 'trend', if we may call it so, has caught on big-time and most politicians like to denounce every act of Pukhtoons in order to prove themselves as national leaders. Even the religious rituals of Pukhtoons are not recognised such as Ramzan and Eid moon sightings.

As for 'Pukhtoonkhwa', the name has been referred to by historians like Herodotus and James Darmstadt in their valuable works. It has been an issue since the independence of India and was passed on from generation to generation after Pakistan came into existence.

Pakistan consisted of Sindh, Punjab, Bahawalpur, East Pakistan, Provinces, Chief Commissioners province, State of Kalat and some other states and remained as such until 1954 when all these merged into West Pakistan on the principles of parity with the East Pakistan in the name of one unit. Majority of political parties not only opposed the one unit but also fought against this. Later, the unit was dissolved and General Yahya Khan, the then chief martial law administrator, restored the provinces in 1969. East Pakistan and Sindh were restored to their original position while the province of Punjab was expanded by merging the whole of Bahawalpur province (Saraiki province) with it. The Saraikis, thus, lost their province and identity. Besides, the two districts of NWFP -- Attock and Mianwali -- were disintegrated and merged into Punjab. The purpose was, obviously, to afford supremacy to Punjab over other provinces. Today, Punjab is not only the largest province of the country, it also enjoys all sorts of privileges while the rest can only complain and begrudge the exploitation and the injustices.

The position of Balochistan has been somewhat different. The Pukhtoons there were subjected to great injustices. In the British era, the Baloch and the Pukhtoons were separate nations and had their own territories and land. The Baloch had their own land, identity and resources within the states of Kalat, whereas the Pukhtoons had their own administrative division in the Chief Commissioners province, named as such by the British. By abolishing one unit, the Chief Commissioners province (of Pukhtoons) was merged in Balochistan, the newly established province. The Pukhtoons were, thus, deprived of their identity, land and resources. Such injustices have frequently been highlighted by the Pukhtoons and need sincere consideration.

Nawaz Sharif and others are opposing the renaming of Pukhtoonkhwa without any insight into the historical, social and political background. They just want to satisfy their few friends and (local) political partners. Their main argument is: there are non-Pushto speaking people also in the province. Indeed, there are, especially in the Hazara Division, and they are the ones who are against the name 'Pukhtoonkhwa'. The PML-N has little majority there and its provincial president also comes from Hazara. But even in Hazara Division, in district Mansehra, there are Pushto speaking people who are about the size of the non-Pushto speakers. In the districts of Abbottabad and Haripur, the Pukhtoons have a clear majority. The main tribes of Hazara division such as the Jadoons, the Tareens, the Tanolis and the Sadozais are Pukhtoons by origin and they speak both Pushto and Hindko languages and share similar customs and traditions. They not only admit but also flaunt their sense of pride on being Afghans by origin.

Democratically, too, the Pukhtoons have the right to rename their province as they like. Statistics reveal that there are 68 percent Pushto-speaking (Pukhtoons) natives, 18 percent Hindko-speaking, 8 percent Saraiki-speaking and 2 percent Urdu- and Punjabi-speaking. The representatives of the people in the provincial assembly -- JI, JUI (F), PPP and ANP -- recently passed a resolution on the issue of renaming of NWFP as Pukhtoonkhwa. Interestingly, JUI proposed the name 'Afghania'.

Unfortunately, the resolution could not solve the problem because it needed approval from the National Assembly by a two-third majority and, in the Lower House, there was no such majority of Pukhtoon nationalist parties nor are they expected to have it in the future. Other nations like Sindhi, Saraikis and Balochs are also not likely to take on the 'might' of the mainstream political parties that continue to play 'national' politics at the expense of the other nations. It is for this reason that the Pukhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) has demanded a new constitution for the country, because the Constitution of 1973 has no provisions to solve these issues. In fact, it is used as a 'legal' tool to exploit the smaller provinces and nations. While the newly formed Pakistan struggled as an independent state, there was no room for 'non-issues' like this. In 1928, Chaudhry Rahmat Ali coined the name 'Pakistan' as an abbreviation for P(unjab)A(Afghania -- for all Pukhtoons including those in NWFP and the then Chief Commissioners Province and, presently, Balochistan)K(Kashmir)S(Sindh)TAN(Balochistan) in his famous book, Now or Never. This name was, later, officially adopted. Is this fair that all the provinces were represented in the name except NWFP? If it had been named 'Afghania' at that time, there would be no issue today. These are few facts which support the renaming of NWFP as Pukhtoonkhwa. And, it is the majority's right which has never been granted.

In Punjab, too, there is a majority of Saraiki-speaking, Pushto-speaking and other non-Punjabi speakers. Why not ask their opinion? Do they like to live in a state named as Punjab? Likewise for Sindh.

It is a fact that the opinion of these people has never been sought and referendum never been conducted. Recently, Northern Areas were rechristened as Gilgit-Baltistan. Was any referendum conducted for this? Does the government not know the Kashmiris had clear reservations on this?
Referendum as a concept has a much-hated history attached to it in Pakistan. We have seen the referendums on General Zia ul Haq, Farooq Ahmed Leghari and General Pervez Musharraf. Yet, if the political leaders place so much trust on referendums why are they against the idea when it comes to renaming of NWFP?

Pakistan at ‘extreme food security risk’

2009-09-10T09:16:00.001+01:00

According to a Food Security Risk Index ranking of 148 nations, Pakistan is placed at 11th and India at 25th.

Most of sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are facing extreme or high risk of food shortages, according to a Food Security Risk Index ranking of 148 nations.

Pakistan, ranked 11th on the index, is at ‘extreme risk’, while Bangladesh and India are both at ‘high risk’, ranked 20th and 25th.

The United States is least at risk followed by France, Canada, Germany and the Czech Republic, according to the study by Maplecroft, a Britain-based firm that provides risk intelligence for businesses.

Food stress jumped towards the top of the global agenda after soaring commodity prices in 2007 and 2008 sparked riots in 30 countries, including many tottering on the brink of severe shortages or widespread hunger.

The World Bank estimates that food inflation during the period pushed an additional 100 million people into deep poverty, on top of a billion that were already scraping by on less than a dollar a day.

Poverty was a major source of food vulnerability, but not the only one, said the new report.

World Literacy Day: Education not on govt’s priority list

2009-09-10T09:11:00.003+01:00

According to Pakistan Social and Living Measurement Survey for 2007-08, the overall literacy rate (age 10 years and above) is 56 per cent (69 per cent for male and 44 per cent for female). Also, the pupil-teacher ratio has increased at primary level but decreased at secondary level during the last five years.

The International Day of Literacy on Tuesday would hardly make any difference for Pakistan as here education has always been low on government’s priority.

Public expenditure on education as a percentage to GDP is lowest. The trend of investment in education in terms of GDP has been 2.50 per cent and 2.47 per cent in 2006-07 and 2007-08 respectively and it is 2.10 per cent during 2008-09.

This year, International Literacy Day puts the spotlight on the empowering role of literacy and its importance for participation, citizenship and development. ‘Literacy and Empowerment’ is also the theme for the 2009-2010 biennium of the United Nations Literacy Decade (2003-2012).

While the empowering role of literacy and its significance for development have been recognised worldwide, there are still 776 million illiterate adults in the world and 75 million children out of school whose rights and needs remain unfulfilled. Literacy, in fact, is by far the most neglected goal on the Education for All (EFA) agenda.

It is a recognized fact that the implementation of all education reforms and plan of actions for EFA involve huge financial resources which put heavy burden on countries such as Pakistan with its meager and limited resource base. It is evident that Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Poverty PRSP targets cannot be achieved if the current level of budgetary allocation as percentage of GDP is maintained.

According to Pakistan Social and Living Measurement (PSLM) Survey for 2007-08, the overall literacy rate (age 10 years and above) is 56 per cent (69 per cent for male and 44 per cent for female). When analyzed provincially, literacy rate in Punjab stood at 59 per cent followed by Sindh, 56 per cent, NWFP 49 per cent and Balochistan at 46 per cent.

Among the major thrust areas of education sector reforms is the quality of education for which various strategies have been evolved and implemented. Almost all teachers have required academic and professional qualifications. Pupil-teacher ratio has increased at primary level but decreased at secondary level during the last five years. Public expenditure on education in real terms has increased threefold, according to ‘Education for All, Mid-Decade Assessment Country report on Pakistan' submitted to Unesco.

The report says in terms of percentages, figures are not higher due to increase in the base of GDP. Public expenditure on education as percentage of GNP has been doubled.

It says the public expenditure per pupil at both primary and secondary level has registered a substantial increase as well. A nation wide Programme has been launched to address the missing facilities in schools such as drinking water, electricity, toilets and boundary walls.

It says national investment in education sector has witnessed threefold increases in absolute terms since 2001-02. With the rapidly widening of GDP base though the increase in terms of GDP contribution appears smaller but the increase in real terms is substantial.

Trafic Scence from Paksitan

2009-09-10T09:03:00.001+01:00

Thar coal

2009-09-10T08:55:00.003+01:00

Coal being desposited from a mine. Thar’s coal is believed to be high in moisture content, which makes it unsuitable for transport or easy use in power generation.

THE public-private partnership inked by the Sindh government to exploit Thar’s coal resources for power generation could be a watershed event in Pakistan’s painful history of power-sector woes. Poor planning over the decades has meant that whenever the country has experienced a spurt in economic growth, the power sector’s deficiencies have invariably crimped that growth. To forestall another boom-and-bust cycle now is the time to plan for the future, and Thar’s coal could hold the key to energy security in the years and decades ahead.

It is by no means a sure bet; a feasibility study will be concluded in early 2011 and depending on a positive result, the first megawatt of power from the project will flow somewhere in early 2016, if all goes according to plan. There are several technical hurdles to overcome. Thar’s coal is believed to be high in moisture content, which makes it unsuitable for transport or easy use in power generation. Then there is the issue of acquiring adequate water to run a power plant, and overcoming the inter- and intra-provincial water disputes that will inevitably ensue. And finally, any new power plant in Thar will have to be connected to the national grid at great cost and effort.

Perhaps more than the technical problems though, politics and funding hang heavy on the Thar power project. For one, disputes between the centre and Sindh over who has the ultimate say on Thar’s coal and its use for power generation could yet scuttle the project. Additionally, there is the question about how exactly power projects in Thar will be financed. Domestic banks are wary of additional exposure to the power sector given its recent troubles, while Pakistan’s poor standing in the international financial market could render the project prohibitively expensive to finance. Clearly, we must do more to put our overall economy in order to make credit cheaper. And from an environmental and local point of view, it must be ensured that clean-coal technology is employed and that the people of the area benefit directly and fairly from the exploitation of Thar’s coal resources.

Climate Change affect on KKH?

2009-09-10T08:46:00.004+01:00

According to scientists, the rates of warming in the Hindu Kush-Himalayan region are significantly higher than the global average. They say that ‘all aspects of human and natural life will be affected.

This mountainous area, given the general title of the ‘Hindu Kush-Himalayan region’ (HKH) includes the Tibetan plateau, where melting perma-frost is causing houses to collapse. According to some scientists, ‘The rates of warming in the HKH region are significantly higher than the global average.’ They say that ‘all aspects of human and natural life will be affected.’

Destroyed schools deepen Pakistani children's woes

2009-09-10T08:42:00.000+01:00

Girls who fled from Pakistani tribal areas due to conflict wait at a refugee camp in Peshawar, Pakistan

The destruction of hundreds of schools during fighting between the Pakistani army and Taliban militants has left more than half a million children with little hope of education, the United Nations said on Wednesday.
The army offensive against militants in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) resulted in one of largest internal displacements in recent times. About 2.3 million people fled their homes, most after fighting intensified in April.
But as displaced families leave the shelter of camps and host communities to go home, they are finding many of their children's schools in ruins.
'The impact of the fighting has been quite dramatic on schools and students in NWFP,' Luc Chauvin, deputy representative for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Pakistan, told in a telephone interview.
'Some of the girls' schools were blown up by the Taliban before the fighting, while other schools were destroyed during the active conflict,' he said.
Chauvin said about 230 schools had been 'completely flattened', while about 410 schools had been damaged with collapsed walls and roofs caused by mortar fire, rocket-propelled grenades or bombs.
The Taliban, who oppose female education, blew up girls'schools when they controlled the Swat area for about two years.
They attacked other empty schools because soldiers often used them as camps.
Chauvin said more than 4,000 other primary and secondary schools also needed to be renovated. Many had been converted into shelters to accommodate people fleeing the fighting.
'Lots of schools need to be cleaned up, repainted and refurnished after so many people have been living there and things have been stolen or furniture burnt as firewood,' he said.
Humanitarian workers, who are assessing how to help war-ravaged areas such as the Swat valley, say schools are amongst the worst-hit infrastructure.
Despite areas being declared safe, militants are still operating and have been carrying out revenge attacks by burning down more schools and attacking students.
Chauvin said a lack of schooling for more than half a million children would be a devastating blow to people desperate to get back to normal life.
'When children go to school it creates a sense of normalcy and this is what returning populations need,' said Chauvin.
'But this is impossible if the schools no longer exist.'
Aid workers say it is imperative to invest in poverty alleviation and development projects in NWFP, which has become a fertile ground for recruiting militants, but the humanitarian community in Pakistan is struggling to find funds.
The United Nations has only received three per cent of the funds required to restore basic services such as water and electricity systems, and hospitals and clinics.
Chauvin said schools were also being neglected with donors only funding 17 percent of the $23.2 million required.
'There seems to be consensus that education is key but when it comes to action, education is sometimes the forgotten child.'

Education to be allocated seven pc of GDP

2009-09-10T08:25:00.002+01:00

After months of foot-dragging, the federal cabinet approved on Wednesday the national education policy which sets ambitious goals of raising the annual budgetary allocations for the sector to seven per cent of the GDP and increasing literacy to 85 per cent by 2015.

Grades 11 and 12 (intermediate education) will no more be part of college education but will be merged into the school system. All primary schools will be upgraded to the middle level.

The government also plans to increase enrolment in higher education from the present 4.7 per cent to 10 per cent by 2015 and to 15 per cent by 2020.

At present the allocation for the education sector is about two per cent of the GDP.

In the first week of April, a draft of the national education policy was submitted to the cabinet, but its approval was deferred for want of inputs from relevant quarters.

Inter-provincial forum of education ministers had been given a supervisory role in the new policy. It will meet on a regular basis to address provinces’ concern. Education is a provincial subject and the federal government only takes policy decisions.

It’s mango season!

2009-08-26T10:26:00.000+01:00

Pakistan is the fifth largest producer and third largest exporter of mangos in the world, producing 1,674,000 tons annually with the Gulf and Saudi Arabia as traditional import markets, although some headway has been made in creating a niche in European countries.

Remembering Akbar Bugti

2009-08-26T10:20:00.002+01:00

Three years after the killing of Nawab Bugti, tensions between Islamabad and the Baloch people have aggravated.

Akbar Shahbaz Khan Bugti — or Nawab Bugti as he was more familiarly known — devoted his life to the Baloch cause and ultimately became the undisputed martyr of the Baloch people.

He lived and breathed honourably and gracefully. Naturally, as one would expect after decades of tribal, political and public life, there are those who love him and those who criticise him, the praise and slander each creating its own version of the man. Most criticisms were manufactured.
He was beloved. Bugti always sat amongst his people on a Balochi hand-made mat. Friends and visitors found his warmth engaging and his interest genuine. Stories abound of how the late Nawab Bugti would offer spicy food to his guests.

Against overwhelming odds created overtly and covertly by the establishment, Bugti continually had to navigate the shifting sands of intrigue and sabotage. After the killing of his beloved son, Salal Bugti, in June 1992, he chose to remain in the besieged Dera Bugti compound with his people. Nawab Bugti kept the Bugti tribe united and maintained the Baloch code. He tried to unite Baloch nationalist parties as well in 2004, calling for a unified and single Baloch nationalist party. But Islamabad’s continued meddling in Balochistan’s social, tribal and political affairs, state-sponsored conspiracies and repeated attacks on his life slowed down the process of Baloch unity.

Having immense experience in politics, Bugti never saw armed struggle as the only solution to the Baloch question. He began negotiating with Islamabad. He prepared a set of reasonable and justified demands in consultation with veteran Baloch leaders and nationalist parties. He appointed his representatives to the parliamentary committee on Balochistan.

Bugti and other Baloch leaders worked with incredible patience. It was a slow process of dialogue with little chance to get political and economic relief for the Baloch people. For the people of Balochistan, it was a momentous occasion. Many saw the dialogue as the beginning of a new era for Baloch-Islamabad relations. But as expected by Nawab Bugti, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, Nawab Marri and other Baloch nationalists, Islamabad and its ruling civil-military establishment betrayed the Baloch.

Military and paramilitary forces were simultaneously harassing Baloch people. Several hundred political activists ‘disappeared’ and were tortured when Baloch political parties were talking to the Balochistan Committee formed by parliament. Talking to a journalist, Nawab Bugti in January 2005 said: 'How can negotiations on political issues continue with the government in this situation? A military operation and negotiations cannot continue side by side. If the authorities launch an operation, then with whom will they hold negotiations?'

Nawab Bugti pointed out that Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri had already made it clear that he had nothing to do with this dialogue and Sardar Ataullah Mengal had also disassociated himself from the process in protest against the arrest of party workers and for other reasons.

The world watched incredulously as Pervez Musharraf declared an all-out war on Balochistan — on Dera Bugti, Kohlu, Makran, Jalawan and particularly Nawab Bugti. Tanks rolled into Dera Bugti and other parts of Balochistan in January 2005, prior to the so-called attack on Musharraf in December 2005 in Kohlu district.

In March 2005 forces began to smash Bugti’s house and Dera Bugti town, killing dozens of civilians and leaving him besieged in a few rooms without electricity and water. Then Musharraf came up with a more inhuman plan to use all available air and ground power to eliminate Nawab Bugti. His associates planned a so-called visit to the remote town of Kohlu, bordering Dera Bugti district, to find an excuse to escalate the military operation against the Baloch people and their leaders.

After the so-called pre-planned attack on Musharraf on Dec 14, 2005, indiscriminate bombing compelled all Dera Bugti inhabitants to flee their homes. According to an Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre report 160,000 people were displaced during the conflict. Nawab Bugti, as a proud Baloch, moved to the mountains to protect his homeland.

Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was killed on Aug 26, 2006. His death was followed by massive anti-government protests in Pakistan and media coverage worldwide. The Musharraf government refused to accept responsibility for the killing of Nawab Bugti and his associates.

No doubt, it was a well-planned murder of a respected veteran Baloch leader by a military dictator. In December 2005 addressing a newspaper editors’ meeting in Lahore, Musharraf had thundered 'There are two or three tribal chiefs and feudal lords behind what is going on in Balochistan. The past governments have made deals with them and indulged them. My government is determined to establish its writ. It will be a fight to the finish.'

Pervez Musharraf and the military leadership were not prepared to concede to Balochistan’s genuine economic and political demands. Instead of addressing Baloch grievances politically and through negotiations, the military-led government resorted to greater use of force. Musharraf added fuel to the fire when he declared: ‘Don’t push us. It isn’t the 1970s when you can hit and run and hide in the mountains. This time you won’t even know what hit you.’ The comment provoked a strong reaction from Baloch leaders.

Nawab Bugti was prepared for the consequences. During an interview in April 2006, Bugti had predicted his death at the hands of Pakistan’s armed forces. ‘They have been given instructions that myself and Nawabzada Balach Marri — the two of us should be wiped out.’

Islamabad’s incorrect policy of Baloch suppression has proved to be a failure. The killing of Baloch leaders has dealt a body blow to the fragile Baloch-Islamabad relations. Three years after the death of Nawab Bugti, Balochistan’s state of affairs represent a worsening scenario. Human rights violations are growing, tensions between Islamabad and the Baloch people have mounted, economic activities are at a dead level and poverty has increased manifold. All development activities have been halted.

As rightly pointed out by a foreign diplomat, Nawab Bugti ‘was a wise, learned man. They (Islamabad) could have utilised him to reach out to the Baloch, but they didn’t’.

New Accountability Law - A window for More Corruption

2009-08-26T06:00:00.003+01:00

Much to the relief of a select class of politicians, business tycoons, big landlords and agriculturists, top bureaucrats and generals, who have acquired hundreds of billions as loans from public banks but never returned the money, wilful default is no more an offence under the draft accountability law finalised by the government.

And if the draft ‘Holders of Public Offices (Accountability) Act 2009’ is enacted in its present shape, it would drop cases of all major loan defaulters whereas an ordinary defaulter would continue to be haunted and harassed by banks.

Misuse of authority is yet another offence that has been excluded from the draft law, which would pave the way for illegal appointments and non-transparent dealings by politicians and rulers. The draft law contains an indemnity provision for politicians from being proceeded against for doing anything in ‘good faith’.

The highly contentious draft law, which is not only toothless but considered a recipe to encourage corruption, may not see a smooth sailing after The News recent reports on the law. Although Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had referred the draft legislation to opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan after announcing last week that it had been finalised, the government has decided now to refer it back to the standing committee on law and justice for yet another review.

Some committee members were furious to find the final draft was totally different from the one approved by them in the committee meetings. The committee in its July meeting, it was said, had decided with consensus to delete from the draft law the pro-Musharraf provision of ‘No prosecution of a public office-holder after expiry of three years of his ceasing to hold office’, which was considered a permanent NRO for politicians. However, the said contentious clause is again included in the final draft, besides making the law toothless, as it gives no authority to the future Accountability Commission to arrest the corrupt despite having concrete evidence, and making all offences under it bailable.

The NAB law covers almost all white collar crimes, including misuse of power; however, the draft law has merely four offences. Though the draft law is directed apparently against public officer-holders it is drafted in as a manner that it defends them from being proceeded against. It is politicians-specific. Although ordinary members of parliament do not hold any public office they, too, have been included in the definition of ‘holders of the public office’.

Though the draft law promises to check corruption, in reality it provides a safe and secure outlet to a public office-holder, who even if charged under a corruption case, could go scott free at any stage by voluntarily returning the looted money. But such a compulsion a public office-holder would only feel when he would have the threat of being arrested, which is not possible under the draft law.

The government is claiming to have developed consensus on the bill in line with the Charter of Democracy but PML-N spokesman and Senator Pervez Rashid has told the media that his party would not support the draft legislation in its present shape and would only endorse an accountability law that serves as an effective deterrence against corruption.

Interestingly, the Charter of Democracy seeks for the setting up of an independent accountability commission but the draft law puts the future accountability apparatus under the executive’s arm, which has so far been a major reason for the failure in the development of a reliable and credible accountability system in the country.

NAB, created by Musharraf, has recovered Rs225 billion looted money though, it becomes controversial not because of the NAB Ordinance but because of it being used as a tool by the government to target the opposition.