Foreign militants
Wednesday, 06 Oct, 2010
AMERICAN drones rain down missiles in record numbers in North Waziristan Agency, the stamping ground of the Haqqani network, Al Qaeda and sundry foreign militants. The US issues a travel advisory to its citizens travelling to Europe, urging them to be cautious in public places because of the possibility of an attack by Al Qaeda. On Monday, eight militants, including several ‘Germans’, are allegedly killed in a drone strike in Mirali, North Waziristan Agency. Do the dots connect cleanly or is this just another series of data points that can be connected in myriad ways? To be sure, a US travel advisory concerning Europe is rather unusual. Europe is not Pakistan or some place the average American travels to infrequently. Then again,
The Wall Street Journal had this to offer on Monday: “Several intelligence officials have privately challenged the quality of the US information, describing the US alert as an overreaction. One intelligence official said the decisions to issue the alerts were based in part on the bureaucratic need to ‘be on record with an alert to the threat’ rather than a belief that a threat is imminent.”
What is clear is that Fata generally and North Waziristan in particular continue to play host to foreign militants. The most well-known and numerous group consists of the Uzbeks, who attracted the ire of the Pakistani state because of their desire to attack it. Other, western and European, nationalities are also believed to be operating here from Turks to Germans. They do not consist just of men of Pakistani or Arab or other Muslim origin, but also of converts to Islam. The German Eric Breininger, who died earlier this year, and the American Adam Gadahn, Al Qaeda’s ‘spokesperson’ and media manager, are two of the most famous converts believed to have made their way to Fata. Al Qaeda, which fights against both the Pakistani state and western nations, is also believed to be active in the agency. Here foreign militants are not limited to a few areas or the Haqqani network-controlled swathes of territory, they are believed to have fanned out across the agency, including Mirali, where the Germans were alleged to have been killed.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Pakistani state appears to have few ideas about how to tackle the menace of foreign militants. Enforcing a uniform, zero-tolerance policy towards foreign militants in Fata is difficult because local commanders and groups often make use of the services of foreigners and offer them protection in return. But doing nothing is not an option: a strike in the West traced back to Pakistani territory could have devastating consequences for us.
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Power shortages
Wednesday, 06 Oct, 2010
PAKISTAN has always been electricity-starved. Over half its population remains without electricity connections. The other half faces 10 to 16 hours of power cuts a day. As our policymakers daydream of attaining a double-digit economic growth rate, the industry faces closures due to power (and gas) cuts. The situation will get much worse in the next few years because the country needs to “add 20,000MW of new generation capacity by 2010 to overcome shortages with the main focus on indigenous resources” — water and coal. The cost will be a whopping $32bn. Even the most optimistic will not bet on the plan.
The government will bear 53 per cent of the cost and the private sector the rest of it. Where will the government get the money when it does not have enough to end the power sector’s circular debt? Private investors appear little inclined to invest in power generation. Domestic investors do not have the kind of money or capacity to undertake mega projects. Foreign investors are not interested. The reason is obvious: our power generation and distribution system is flawed, inefficient and corrupt. Governance issues and terrorism will also keep foreign investors from making long-term investments. The future of the power sector reforms being undertaken under the pressure of multilateral lenders is uncertain. Thus, there is little chance of private parties investing in generation, at least not until governance issues are resolved, the law and order situation improves and power sector reforms begin to show results.
The reality is that electricity shortages are here to stay for a very long time. Even if we assume that the country will overcome its electricity troubles in 10 years, we still need to devise some practical ways to tackle the shortages in the interim. The distribution losses must be brought down to the minimum and the existing generation capacity should be used in a cost-effective manner. More importantly, we need to give up luxurious lifestyles and start saving electricity. We can begin by making maximum use of daylight. Hopefully, a little change in our attitude can solve some of our problems related to the power crunch.
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Children’s literature
Wednesday, 06 Oct, 2010
Raushni is one of the increasingly few publications that are oriented towards young minds. While Pakistan has a reasonably vibrant literary industry in Urdu and even publications in English by Pakistani authors are increasing in number, the needs of children remain unmet. In neither language, let alone the provincial languages, are there enough locally written and published books for children and teenagers — despite the fact that the link between reading and honed intelligence is well-established.
Some may argue that if internationally published reading material is available in locally accessible languages, there is no real need for a Pakistan-based children’s literature industry. This assessment misses the point. Reading material that is written by Pakistanis and published in the country is not only culturally relevant, it is also likely to be more affordable. Meanwhile, the lack of diverse reading material further discourages children from reading. The reading habit is already on a trajectory of rapid decline in the country, aided in no small part by factors such as the lack of public libraries and the temptations of computers and the Internet. Tomorrow’s Pakistan will need citizens who are not just literate but also world-aware. For that, the children of today need both fiction and non-fiction books, neither of which are being produced in significant numbers. Pakistan must encourage writers, poets and scholars to turn their attention to children’s needs. Meanwhile, the publishing industry should realise that this is an untapped market. At the policy level, it should be understood that higher education reforms will not count for much unless they are bolstered by improvements at the lower levels.