Zardari in Punjab
Wednesday, 13 Jan, 2010
President Zardari is expected in the Punjab capital. But it isn’t clear yet which version of Mr Zardari will disembark: the president of Pakistan, who is supposed to be a symbol of the unity of the federation, or the PPP co-chairman, who has been on a mission of late to charge up the party base and ring the alarm against ‘threats’ to his party.
In short, is President Zardari going to Punjab to play politics or to be a hands-off president? For the sake of political stability, it would be better were the president to stick to anodyne statements in public and offer blandishments to the PML-N, which leads the coalition government in Punjab that the PPP is a part of. Then again, things do not often turn out the way sensible people would hope for in Pakistan and it is clear that there is a camp in the Punjab
PPP, headlined by Governor Salmaan Taseer, that wants to take on the Sharifs and the PML-N. Punjab, of course, is unique in the federation in the sense that it holds the key to power at the centre, a key that only the PML-N and the PPP can realistically aspire to hold. But some in the PPP, including President Zardari, have also long cherished the thought of capturing power at the provincial level in Punjab, and the president’s trip may be part of that broader, long-term agenda.
A central complaint of the PPP workers in Punjab is that the party has been left rudderless in the province, with the ‘stars’ in the party attracted to power at the centre, leaving the field open to party members who are not true political heavyweights. A trip by the PPP co-chairman, however, could yield real dividends. Mr Zardari’s visit to Faisalabad in the run-up to the February 2008 elections — the only trip by the PPP co-chairman to the province in recent times — is cited as an example of how support for the party can be galvanised and how such visits can translate into an improved performance at the ballot box. Of course, high-profile visits alone will not cut it: provincial party members claim the leadership in the province needs to be overhauled and re-energised.
The challenge, though, for the president is twofold. He must attend to his party’s demands while taking care not to upset its rival, the PML-N, too much. Displaying such Janus-like abilities, i.e. looking in opposite directions at the same time, would test even the wisest and most conscientious of men. Our advice: don’t get baited by the hawks in either camp, Mr President. Tread carefully.
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Born of superstition
Wednesday, 13 Jan, 2010
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.
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Marine pollution
Wednesday, 13 Jan, 2010
Preventing the degradation of coastal ecosystems is a collective responsibility, not that of Karachi alone. This was precisely the point raised by the federal environment minister in the National Assembly on Monday, and the sentiment behind the statement is to be lauded.
Water treatment facilities in Karachi are grossly inadequate and cannot cope with the volume of sewage generated every day. That said, the minister’s argument seems abstruse. He said the entire country dumps its effluent in Pakistan’s watercourses — which is true — and ultimately it is up to the cash-strapped Karachi city government to treat this waste before it reaches the sea. The point here is that water treatment plants deal with the output of the sewerage system, not the natural run of rivers and other watercourses which wind their way to the sea. No one can filter the Indus, and it should be obvious that if we are to take collective responsibility for marine pollution then the discharge of effluents must be stopped at the source. Right now a staggering 400 million gallons of industrial waste are reportedly dumped into the Arabian Sea every day. Karachi is said to contribute 80m gallons.
The Pakistan Environmental Protection Act and National Environmental Quality Standards may not be perfect but they are fairly comprehensive on the subject of effluent discharge. Relevant laws exist but, as is the case generally in Pakistan, they are rarely enforced. Industrial units are expected to treat their discharges before release to ensure that they comply with the NEQS. Some do but the overwhelming majority simply dumps toxic waste into the sewerage system or the nearest watercourse.
The resultant losses are huge: biodiversity is taking a massive hit, fish and shrimp stocks are depleting, people dependent on riverine and marine resources are losing livelihoods, and the seafood we consume may have already become hazardous to our health. Even the Pakistan Navy has seen huge losses in the form of corrosion suffered by seafaring vessels anchored off Karachi. It is not too late to reverse the tide. We must rethink our priorities and collectively act to save the sea.
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OTHER VOICES - European Press Time to get real about junk food
Wednesday, 13 Jan, 2010
SOME may want… to give up smoking. Others will have different … agendas. However, it is fair to say that the majority of those trying to change something in their lives will try to lose weight. One of the appalling and unfortunate consequences of our age of plenty … is that far too many of us are jeopardising our health and happiness because we are too fat. We eat too much and lead inactive, sedentary lives. Today… medical professionals warn that within two decades half of us will be obese…. ....Why is this? Why are so many of us unable to develop the resolve needed to protect ourselves from obesity? Is it that we are culturally unused to denial or self-discipline? … As we have seen in so many others areas denial only works for so long and reality, even if it comes dripping slow, will surely prevail.
One of the core issues surrounding obesity is diet. We eat far too much junk food and use far too many drinks which are little more than coloured sugar. We have reached a sorry pass when it seems we may have to legislate to prevent people killing themselves or their children by feeding them the wrong food. … [T]ime has come to confront the industries that are doing so very much to undermine the health of our entire population. … Prevention is only one part of the solution, education is another. …
Maybe we should educate all of our children to develop the personal and psychological skills as well as the character needed to have the confidence and resolve to confront these issues… We should give them the skills needed to survive in a world where so very much of human activity is one form of exploitation or another…. — (Jan 12)