Bombings in Iran

Monday, 19 Oct, 2009

TWO attacks, including a suicide bombing, in Iran’s volatile Sistan-Baluchistan province on Sunday have killed over 30 people, including senior officials of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard. Suspicion has immediately fallen on Jundullah, though Iranian officials have also accused the US of instigating the bombings, a claim denied by the Americans. In the murky world of militancy in the Baloch-dominated areas along the Pak-Afghan-Iran border very little is known for certain. Jundullah argues that it is fighting for the rights of the Baloch people; however, in Shia-dominated Iran, an armed Sunni group automatically raises suspicions of sectarian motivations. Jundullah has been linked to, variously, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, South Waziristan and even Al Qaeda — claims which have been buttressed since the introduction of suicide bombings in Iran by Jundullah last December. Add to this the decades-old animosity between the US and Iran and the American presence in Afghanistan, and an even murkier picture emerges in which Jundullah may be using a series of shifting, tactical alliances with regional players to further its own agenda.

On the Pakistani side, the government is keen to reduce the strains on Pak-Iran relations caused by Jundullah violence and it is not very difficult to understand why. A local, low-level insurgency is still continuing in Balochistan here, Pakistan is keen to get the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline started and Afghanistan remains volatile — meaning that major security and economic interests of Pakistan may be at risk if the concerns of the Iranian establishment are not addressed. Eager to placate the Iranians, the Pakistani government even handed over a brother of the Jundullah leader Abdulmalek Rigi and denies any support for the group. But perhaps the most combustible element in this shadowy war of sorts is the US connection. Earlier this month, the first high-level meeting in three decades took place between Iranian and American officials to discuss US concerns about Iran’s nuclear programme. Meanwhile, the US is aware that Iran is influential in the non-Pashtun camp in Afghanistan and that Iran could even ramp up tactical support for the anti-American militants there to keep the US off balance. The bottom line: supporting Jundullah in any way is to play with fire, and all the players in the region must understand that such support can have dangerous, unpredictable consequences for regional stability.


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Sugar crisis: a fair report

Monday, 19 Oct, 2009

PRICE controls do not work. Rather they create shortages and encourage anti-competitive practices at the expense of consumers. Also the price of a particular commodity cannot be linked to its cost of production. The price of any given commodity is determined by the demand and supply situation in the market. The shorter the supply, the higher the price, and vice versa. That is precisely what the commission appointed by the Supreme Court to determine the production cost and profit margins in the sugar industry has suggested in its report. The report rightly points out that the nature of the sugar crisis has more to do with the unavailability of the commodity rather than its price. It also blames the Punjab government’s crackdown on millers last August with a view to bringing down the rising prices. The result was predictable: the product just vanished from the market causing hardship to the very consumers the government wanted to protect.

The report is also critical of the federal government for fixing a maximum price ceiling because this step violates the country’s anti-competitive laws and indirectly validates cartelisation in the industry. It has correctly recommended that the free trade of sugar be allowed to provide a level playing field to all stakeholders and protect the interests of the consumers. Indirectly, the commission has suggested that the Supreme Court withdraw its order fixing the retail sugar price at Rs40 a kilo and let market forces determine the price according to the demand and supply situation.

But no market is perfect. There are always players — hoarders and black-marketers — who are ready to grab any opportunity to distort the market to maximise profits. That is where governments need to intervene and take effective administrative action to prevent such elements from playing havoc with the market. It is also advisable for millers to shun their old practice of forming cartels to artificially raise prices and distort the market. It only makes them more inefficient and non-competitive. There is no alternative to competitive markets if the objective is to protect the interests of both producers and consumers.


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Environmental tribunals

Monday, 19 Oct, 2009

IN an unprecedented move, the Supreme Court has referred a public interest petition regarding pollution in Islamabad’s Rawal Lake to the environmental tribunal. The court observed that the environmental protection tribunals (EPTs) created under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 should be activated to deal with such cases. The Islamabad Capital Territory had been under the jurisdiction of the EPT in Lahore after the 1999 notification of the establishment of two EPTs in Karachi (for Sindh and Balochistan) and Lahore (for Punjab and NWFP). Later on, EPTs were also established at Peshawar and Quetta. It is only fitting that a separate environmental tribunal be formed for the federal capital as well. An active environmental tribunal in the federal capital can also act as a model environment-protection institution for the provinces.

EPTs, comprising chairpersons and two members, were constituted under the environmental act to be the final authority on environmental issues. Individuals seeking relief from grievances against alleged polluters are supposed to approach these tribunals. The latter, rather than the high courts, are also supposed to entertain complaints and appeals against the actions of the environmental protection agencies specially constituted to prevent and control pollution and promote sustainable development. The slow activation of these tribunals has in part been responsible for hindering the growth of a culture of environmental awareness in society. The result has been that the tools of the Initial Environmental Examination and Environmental Impact Assessment have been used more for project justification than for project planning to ensure sustainable development. The urge to correct existing, often serious, pollution problems is still lacking, whether among concerned public agencies or private concerns. Hopefully, the Supreme Court’s directive with regard to the petition on the Rawal Lake pollution will help to strengthen the tribunals and enhance their role as environment-protecting institutions.

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OTHER VOICES - North American Press Fault lines in Pakistan

Monday, 19 Oct, 2009

JUST when Afghanistan’s problems are peaking, neighbouring Pakistan appears to be caught in a tailspin. This month, the nuclear-armed nation has been buffeted by devastating suicide bombings, demoralising attacks on army bases, and a destabilising rift between its civilian government and military….

Tempting as it is to throw up one’s hands in exasperation, there is no running away from the problems of Pakistan, just as Afghanistan’s chaos cannot be wished away. Continuing tensions with neighbouring India and recurring bouts of cross-border terrorism have rendered Pakistan a nuclear fault line.

But, just as Pakistan’s complacency of recent years has been misplaced, it would be a mistake to be utterly alarmist or defeatist at this stage. Despite worldwide fears, there is no evidence Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal has ever been at risk. Even the military bases that have been attacked were not, ultimately, overrun.

And Pakistan’s civilian government, while under continuing strain, remains intact. After a decade of dictatorship, the army appears to be in no hurry to take control again, as it has for most of Pakistan’s troubled 62-year history. Having flexed their muscles in recent weeks over strings attached by the US Congress to a multi-billion-dollar aid package, army commanders are returning to the job at hand.

It took Pakistan far too long to focus on the internal threat from homegrown Taliban forces. After misplaced appeasement earlier this year in Swat — which was overrun by brutal Taliban guerrillas who bombed schools and banned girls from class — the army moved in.

Now, after weeks of preparations, the army is poised to launch an offensive in the tribal region of South Waziristan, along the Afghan border. These are ‘federally administered’ areas where Islamabad’s writ has always been weak. Two previous offensives have faltered. The stakes are high. But it is worth remembering that when push comes to shove, Pakistan is no pushover. It is a country of 170 million Muslims who, in the main, are not extremists.

While the terrorists have wreaked havoc, they have not won support. To the contrary, after terrorising the population of Swat, they were widely reviled. In the battle for hearts and minds, the Taliban are not winning over Pakistanis. Indeed, by egging on the army, the Taliban are giving Pakistan’s military commanders even more reason to cooperate with Canadian and Nato forces in Afghanistan who have long been frustrated by the ability of militants to seek refuge across the border. — (Oct 16)