Peshawar bombing
Thursday, 29 Oct, 2009
THE security situation will get worse before it gets better, government and army officials have warned, often privately, in recent weeks. But as the people of Peshawar and the country generally reel from yesterday’s devastating bombing of a crowded marketplace, the question on everyone’s mind is: how bad will it get? The grotesqueness of the bombing cannot be overstated; a place chock-full of civilians was deliberately targeted and the bomb hidden in a car was meant to cause the maximum loss of life possible. What was the motive? US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had touched down in Islamabad only a few hours earlier, so perhaps it was a message for the Americans. The other obvious possibility is that the army operation in South Waziristan is leading the militants to target the soft underbelly of the state, killing innocent civilians to sow the deepest of terror and perhaps cause the national mood to swing against military operations against the militants.
The immediate effect, though, is clear: the jitteriness and anxiety across the country, already at high levels, will have gone up a notch further. Peshawar, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Lahore are major cities that have already been targeted by the terrorists, but the denizens of no city feel safe. Karachi has miraculously escaped the terrorists’ attention for now, but whether that is by luck or design is not known and knowledgeable observers are aware that the potential for terrorist activity in the city remains high. Elsewhere, in the smaller cities dotting the country, there is also anxiety and fear. All that the people know is that there is a shadowy enemy inside the country which seems capable of striking at will and that the state is floundering in the face of an unprecedented wave of violence. Who among the state’s officials over the years are to blame for allowing things to come to such a pass is arguably a moot point at the moment. All the people can do is focus on what can be done about the terrorist threat today, in the near term and on a war footing.
Counter-terrorism measures in the cities are being ramped up, but arguably the time has come to discard slow and desultory measures and instead deploy a dragnet to scoop up all manner of suspects across the country. A few dozen suspects arrested here and another handful detained there are yielding breakthroughs, but the intelligence and law-enforcement personnel are well behind the steep curve of violence. As the militants ramp up their terror campaign, the state must be more forceful in its counter-terrorism measures.
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Water & sanitation
Thursday, 29 Oct, 2009
FOR the umpteenth time health experts have informed us how inadequate sanitation and unsafe water are taking a heavy toll on human health. Addressing a seminar in Karachi, speakers pointed to the high incidence of disease and poor quality of water and sanitation in Pakistan. So the question arises, what needs to be done? On a personal level, people can play a role. Boiling the water we drink and keeping public places litter-free can certainly make a difference. But not enough. Given their size, reach and the funding involved, water supply and sanitation are sectors that have to be addressed on the macro and community levels. Participants at the seminar attributed Pakistan’s failure in this area to “lack of meaningful political commitment, meagre government funding and [near absence of an] inter-sectoral approach”. The government on its part has tried to absolve itself of responsibility by attempting to induct the private sector in the management of public utilities. But experience has shown that de-municipalisation of water supply, sewerage management and sanitation facilities does not resolve the problem. These are best managed by the government itself, if it has political will and governance skills.
The government has tried to make a beginning by announcing a national water policy. In some respects it appears ambitious and scepticism has been expressed about its success. It is important, however, that the government should be the provider at source of water and sanitation facilities and the main distribution system must also be under the assigned official agencies. Only then can spending and inter-sectoral coordination be made cost-effective, and duplication too can be pre-empted. Thus water can be conserved and recycled while combining water and sanitation strategies. At the lower level, where distribution is the main issue, it helps to involve the community. The Orangi Pilot Project experience has amply demonstrated the viability of this strategy which should be replicated nationally. Apart from involving the community in the operation of these utilities under the umbrella of the government, such an approach will give the people a sense of possession and create public interest in the management and maintenance of this sector.
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Suspension of legislators
Thursday, 29 Oct, 2009
ACCOUNTABILITY of elected representatives is vital for the success of the democratic system. However this principle has had little success when applied to the Pakistani democratic experiment. The fact that 68 legislators from the national and provincial assemblies were suspended on Tuesday by the Election Commission for not submitting details of their assets and liabilities strengthens this view. Political victimisation can be ruled out because among the suspended parliamentarians are members of the PPP, the ruling party, while lawmakers from the PML-N and other political parties also feature in the list. Serving provincial ministers are among those whose membership of their respective legislatures has been suspended. The step was taken when lawmakers failed to meet the EC’s deadline for filing the required information. They will remain suspended until details are submitted.
What do these men and women have to hide? Or were they just too lazy to file the statements? Perhaps they did not consider the process of personal accountability worth their while. Regardless of the legislators’ motives for not sharing the information with the EC, these suspensions speak of a larger disease afflicting society as a whole and the ruling classes in particular: we consider ourselves above the law. The issue becomes serious when lawmakers fail to submit themselves to scrutiny, especially when it comes to matters involving money. As it is politicians do not enjoy a good reputation with the public, and this is mostly due to their own misdeeds. But the hypocrisy becomes intolerable when political parties that keep harping on about democracy and rule of law fail to instil respect for these ideals in their own legislators. The suspended legislators should submit the details of their assets without delay, while hopefully the EC’s action will have a sobering effect not only on lawmakers but other public servants as well.
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OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press A seething volcano
Thursday, 29 Oct, 2009
THE clashes yesterday between Israeli police who entered the Temple Mount plaza and Palestinian stone-throwers and inciters seemingly ended calmly. There were ‘only’ three policemen who suffered light injuries. In contrast to prior incidents on the Temple Mount, and using the standard wherein the number of casualties is the measurement by which one views the gravity of an incident, what happened yesterday was almost routine. Yet it is that very routine which indicates that the Temple Mount is behaving like an active, simmering volcano; the timing of its next major eruption is impossible to gauge. The government’s attitude, by which it views these events as just another competitive front between Israel and the Palestinians, is likely to foment a violent outburst which will ignite the entire Middle East.
The trepidation of Palestinians, Arabs and Muslims from what is referred to as “the Judaisation of Jerusalem”, or the Jewish takeover of the Temple Mount, cannot be overstated. Archaeological digs; the construction of Jewish neighbourhoods and Jewish housing in and around the Old City; and the purchase of property and condemning of public parks with the intention of using the land to build Jewish residential neighbourhoods are all apparently part of a deliberate policy being pursued by the government of Israel….This is a struggle in which Israeli Muslims stand alongside their co-religionists throughout the world, all of whom view themselves as custodians of one of Islam’s holiest sites. Political and diplomatic disagreements between the Palestinians and the Arab world go by the wayside in the face of the religious struggle at hand. Israel has been made fully aware that even friendly states like Jordan and Egypt cannot stand idly by while the Muslim world broods.
… [T]he Israel police is caught between a rock and a hard place. It is wedged between a government which views strengthening the Jewish hold on the Temple Mount and its environs as a political and diplomatic objective, and Palestinians who view themselves as the fortifying wall standing in the way of such Israeli aims. Yet it is precisely the sensitive nature of the police’s task that requires it to adopt a more tolerant position of understanding and sound judgment. Its success will not be measured by an ostentatious show of force. Rather, it will be measured by its ability to hold a dialogue and reach understandings with the Muslim interlocutors in order to prevent a conflagration. — (Oct 26)