Loadshedding ‘solutions’

Statement by the president and then by the minister for water and power over the very pressing issues of gas and electricity loadshedding may augur some hope for the millions affected. However, they also raise the question that if the loadshedding, which must have been caused by a significant gap between demand and supply, can be ended (in the case of gas) or halved (in the case of electricity) simply by a directive from a top government functionary, then was it - the loadshedding, that is - partially engineered or caused by inefficiency and mismanagement. Since the last option is perhaps the likeliest, that brings the other question that why should the government have waited this long, and for the general public - Faisalabad and Lahore - to literally riot before taking substantive measures.

Given that this government has been office for almost nine months now, it will be difficult and disingenuous for it to keep on blaming the Musharraf regime for the energy problems of today. The measures announced on Jan 1 and 3 with regard to both gas and electricity loadshedding may be more short-term in nature and what is needed drastically is a strategy or some kind of plan that quickly addresses the issue of power generation capacity. While Pakistan may not be an economy on the scale of China, readers will be astonished to note that last year alone, China is estimated to have increased its power generating capacity by almost 100,000 MW. India lagged far behind but even it increased its power generation capacity last year by 6,000-7,000 MW. Compare this to Pakistan which in the last nine years has seen a negligible rise in its power generation capacity - which almost borders on the criminal given that policymakers must have known that the energy demands of a growing economy such as Pakistan’s would need a substantial increase in its power generating capacity.

The situation is presently so acute - apparently due to a mixture of reasons that beyond the control of the power utilities and some that are very much of their own making — that one could be forgiven for thinking that people resident in this country in this day and age are perhaps reliving the Dark Ages. Most major cities are experiencing loadshedding of as much as 12 hours a day and the rural areas have no power for around 18 hours a day. Other than the stop-gap measures and the very important matter of increasing power generation capacity, the government also needs to sort out the issue of circular debt which has been hampering the financial performance of most power distribution companies. KESC for instance claims that the debt owed to it by various government departments and organizations runs into the billions and effectively hampers its from purchasing gas in the amount that it would require to make full use of the capacity of its power generating stations. This has been an issue unresolved for almost a decade and should be addressed on an urgent basis by the ministry of water and power and finance.


The incident in which nine Muslims were removed from a flight at Washington airport, while on their way to a spiritual meeting, belies the deep prejudice based on religion that still persists in most western countries even seven years after the events of 9/11 changed the world forever. The passengers, whose appearance gave them away as Muslims, were pulled off the flight after other passengers reported hearing ‘suspicious’ remarks. Even though the victims, including women and children, were found completely innocent they were not compensated by the airline or placed on another flight.

Other Muslims, living in countries around the world, of course face similar, if often more subtle discrimination. It takes place at schools, at workplaces and elsewhere. Many living in the west have experienced the biased remark, the suspicious look or the other signals of racism at some point or the other. Others face it from one day to the next. Families living in the west have in some cases chosen to move back to spare their children life in such an environment. The problem needs greater attention. In many ways it is just as damaging as the underlying European bias against Jews that culminated in the atrocities committed by the Nazis. Today, laws in a number of countries protect Jews against discrimination or hatred. No such protection exists for those who adhere to other faiths. The damage this is doing is perhaps most visible in the UK, where young Muslims in many communities seem to have become totally isolated from mainstream society, have expressed a hatred against it and allied themselves with extremist forces. Similar trends have been seen in France and Germany. It will not be long before they are seen more openly in the US as well. While internal developments within communities may be partly responsible, there can be no doubt the main factor is the feeling of rejection from the wider population amongst which they live that has led to such a situation arising.

It is obviously an unacceptable one. The discrimination against Muslims depicts racism in its worst form. In the US it sometimes parallels the attitude black people faced through past decades, with Muslims today presumed guilty unless they can prove their innocence. This attitude must be changed. A more conscious effort to do so must be made. Otherwise the hatred and suspicion it breeds will, in time, destroy us all.


The death of a two-and-a-half-year old child in a fire in a quarter in a shanty town in Karachi tragically illustrates the dangers that a significant proportion of the city’s residents face in the course of their daily lives. The fire which seems to have been caused by leaking gas or a defective stove didn’t leave much chance to the family of four living inside the 40 square yards quarter and caused severe burns to the three that did not perish. Life for those who live in Karachi’s shanty towns is an unending uphill struggle in terms of receiving even the most basic of amenities. Some katchi abadis have been regularized in the past and have benefited as a result in terms of being included in the amenities net, but most remain outside and hence their residents are prone to the vagaries of an irregular undocumented habitat. Can we see the government making an effort to regularize the city’s sprawling katchi abadis?

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Regards,
P.R.