Raymond Davis affair: What next?
February 27th, 2011
The Raymond Davis affair simmers on and on — sometimes reaching boiling point, at other times going back to a less dramatic situation. Davis has made it clear that he is unwilling to accept the authority of Pakistani courts to determine his fate. Before a Lahore district judge on February 26, he refused to receive the charge sheet which was presented to him for a case accusing him of murder — arguing that he enjoyed full diplomatic immunity. The judge adjourned the hearing after asking Mr Davis to engage a lawyer and, at the same time, also sought help from the government on the immunity issue. During the course of the hearing, Mr Davis had provided a letter from the US embassy which he said was evidence of his diplomatic immunity — and hence he could not be tried by the court. The case is far more complex than anything that can be dealt with by the lower courts. Following the revelation that Mr Davis works on behalf of the CIA — something that may not have been altogether unexpected given the nature of ties between Pakistan and America — the issue has become even more sensitive, not least because of the public reaction to it.
Having said that, it is worth reiterating that the matter of whether Mr Davis is eligible for diplomatic immunity needs to be decided, not necessarily by a court of law, but by the Foreign Office, since it would — or should — have the documents that would decide, once and for all, whether the American is entitled to what he is claiming is his right under the Vienna Conventions. Perhaps what is to follow on this front in the coming days should be seen in light of meetings between army chief General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani and senior American military officials in Oman, earlier this week. The option of the Americans paying diyat to the families of the three victims is also a possibility, with at least one Lahore-based weekly claiming some days ago that the family of the third victim who was run over has already accepted an out-of-court settlement. The way forward is clear: In the short run, resolve the matter sooner than later and, in the long run, review the arrangement which enabled such an incident to happen.
Celebrating Faiz
February 27th, 2011
The officially sponsored two-day celebration to mark the 100th birth anniversary of Faiz Ahmed Faiz by the Indian government, with both the president and prime minister of that country lending their support, indicates the extent to which the arts can unify and bring people together. The celebration in India also highlights the cultural and linguistic links between the people of India and Pakistan. Despite the distorted histories taught to people of both countries, the nations are intertwined, bound together by a past shared in common and links that include music, heritage, poetry, dance and a great deal more.
Faiz has been translated into hundreds of languages. But it is in India, where the beauty of his words can be understood in their original language, that he is revered much at the same level as in his own country. The journey made across the border by eminent Indians, including Shabana Azmi and Javed Akhtar, to mark his centennial in Pakistan was just one example of this. The celebration in India, the breaking of animosity, the official patronage and the many demonstrations of pride in a subcontinental poet who ranks among the literary giants of his age would have delighted Faiz — as a pacifist and as a man who sought friendship between the divided people of the subcontinent.
Both nations need to work harder to take matters forward. The attempts to pull Pakistan away from its roots in South Asia and its long years of a shared past with India make no sense at all. The recognition of Faiz in India is to be welcomed. We need to do our bit to promote what we have in common with our neighbour to the East by making a greater effort to unite people and allow them to exchange ideas, thoughts and literary pursuits. By doing so, we would be paying tribute to Faiz and other men of peace, including Allama Iqbal, whose works too, like those of Faiz, continue to be heard in India.
Tax evasion
February 27th, 2011
It had been said by many before, but on February 23 the truth was acknowledged by the government itself: the fiscal deficit is primarily caused by poor revenue collection efforts, not low taxes or high spending. The chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) testified before the Senate that tax evasion costs the country Rs1, 270 billion a year, which, coincidentally, is not too far from the finance ministry’s worst case scenario for the fiscal deficit this year: Rs1, 370 billion. In short, the country can all but close the gaping hole in the federal government’s finances simply by making tax evaders pay what they already owe the government.
In all fairness, the FBR seems to have a somewhat more serious attitude towards prosecuting those who violate the law. The agency has prosecuted evaders who owe some Rs100 billion over the past few months, with many more cases still pending in courts. The FBR also outlined a plan to go after over 700,000 people who have not filed their tax returns. These are all fine initiatives but the country needs the FBR to go beyond just outlining the scale of the problem and aggressively go after those who are the evaders. There needs to be a massive push to force every person in the country to pay the taxes that they owe. And the FBR should not be afraid of being maligned or despised.
Yet, as the chairman of the Senate committee on finance noted, tax evasion on the scale that exists in Pakistan is not possible without the connivance of at least some employees of the FBR. Given that the government misses nearly 45 per cent of its revenue due to tax evasion, this is not just a case of a few bad apples and is one assumes, part of an organised racket. If the FBR plans on having any credibility amongst taxpayers and meeting its goal of eliminating tax evasion, it needs to start by cleaning up its own house.