HEC hiccups
April 9th, 2011
Academicians from across the country are joining hands to oppose the devolution of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) from the federal to the provincial level, as envisaged under the Eighteenth Amendment. The matter had been brewing for some time, but with 133 vice-chancellors opposing the move, 30 public-sector university heads joining in and the Sindh governor informing President Asif Ali Zardari of opposition to the move in the province, the president has promised to look into the matter himself. The decision will be eagerly watched.
Views from both sides of the fence, and from other directions, have been strongly expressed over the matter. It has been argued that the HEC should be done away with as it was set up — in 2002 — by a dictator. More rational comment focuses around the disproportionate budgets allocated to the HEC under Musharraf, with billions going into its account at the cost of primary and secondary education. The HEC and some university heads loudly protested the slashing of the budget to just over Rs15 billion last year against a demand for nearly double that amount. There is obviously a need to re-examine our education strategy as a whole and determine how money can be best spent, and where.
But the voice of academia must not be ignored. It seems obvious there is some logic behind their appeal, and a feeling that the HEC has indeed benefitted education at the higher level by opening up more universities, offering scholarships at the post-graduate level, highlighting the need to push up standards and cracking down on practices like plagiarism. It would be a pity if all this was lost in the process of devolution. The vice-chancellors and other stakeholders need to be heard. It is a good omen that the president himself has decided to look into the matter. We trust he will open up talks with all involved and reach a decision that can ensure gains made in the higher education sector are not lost, even as flaws in the working of the HEC are corrected to make it a more effective body.
Karachi blast
April 9th, 2011
There are many reasons why Rainbow Centre, Karachi’s largest CD and DVD market, would be attacked. A low-intensity blast caused by a grenade on April 7 caused one death and 20 injuries at the centre in Saddar Town. Although the culprits haven’t been identified, speculation will invariably revolve around two possible motives. For one, Rainbow Centre has long been notorious for selling pornographic movies, earning it the ire of extremists. From 2007 to 2010, Rainbow Centre had received many anonymous threats and one hoax bomb threat that were believed to emanate from religious extremists. If indeed the Taliban or its ideological allies are responsible for the attack, then this is yet another sign that no part of the country is safe from their wrath.
The timing of the attack, however, is curious. The blast came just days after traders observed a successful city-wide strike against the practice of bhatta, the protection money that business are forced to pay to be permitted to ply their trade. It would not be beyond the realm of the possible that this grenade attack was meant as a warning shot or even punishment for any traders who do not play ball. The bhatta mafia in Karachi is tied up with the political parties of the city so any solution to it cannot hold without the active participation of these parties. That traders at Rainbow Centre are observing a strike after the blast shows that they also feel this may be the cause of the blast.
The belief that Karachi is immune to the violence rocking the rest of the country is nothing more than a myth. In just the last few months, there have been deadly attacks at a government office and a shrine. Meanwhile, target killings aimed at rival political groups have been steadily increasing over the last year. In such a climate, commercial businesses like Rainbow Centre are like sitting ducks. Pessimistic though it may sound, this is unlikely to be the last such attack.
Delays in passports
April 9th, 2011
A quarter of a million Pakistanis are still waiting for their passports to be issued. Out of the 16 lamination machines that are used for passports, only 11 are currently functioning, leading to a massive backlog. Another six machines are being imported from Germany and it is expected that they will arrive in a few weeks. Until then, however, the number of people awaiting passports is likely to rise and there is still no guarantee that the new machines will solve the crisis. At least 15,000-20,000 people apply for a passport daily, most of whom will not be getting this essential travel document in the 15 days that they are supposed to.
None of the competent authorities seem to be aware if anyone will know how to operate these new machines, or even if they will work at all. The out-of-order machines have been non-functional for many months now and there seem to have been no attempts to fix them. Even worse, there is a feud going on between the National Database Registration Authority and the Directorate of Immigration in Islamabad as to who is to blame for the passport delays. An investigation needs to be launched in to this immediately to find out who is responsible and also to make sure that citizens start getting their passports on time as soon as is feasible.
If stopping people from travelling abroad was not bad enough, the passport fiasco is also likely to have a negative impact on Pakistan’s economy. With so many Pakistanis unable to take up jobs abroad simply because they couldn’t get their passport on time, there will surely be a drop in remittances in this and the next quarter. Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves, which had been dwindling for many years, were only recently shored up by remittances. The inexplicable passport delays may lead to a reversal of that trend. Apart from that, getting a passport is a basic right of all Pakistanis, one that is being violated by these delays.