Human Rights Day
December 12th, 2011
December 10th, Human Rights Day, comes around each year. It quickly goes. Nothing much happens to alter the realities of our country. But even then, the statements made on such occasions, the speeches delivered by leaders, offer, at least, some kind of hope for the future. For this reason, this day is an important one.
This year, the prime minister has spoken on the need to improve the rights of people. It is welcome that he has directed some importance to this day. What would be even more welcome would be action of some kind to make a real difference at police stations, at jails and at all kinds of other places where rights are openly violated. Perhaps the place where the most work is required is the province of Balochistan.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has dedicated December 10th, this year, to this weeping tract of territory and its people. The commission reports that some 5,000 to 6,000 people remain missing here. Abductions continue even now, with mutilated bodies of young Baloch men abducted — allegedly by state security agencies — showing up on roadsides in the province almost on a weekly basis. It is widely believed that the security agencies are involved in these as well as the other practices that make almost every district in Balochistan increasingly unsafe. The people of the province have for months, years and decades demanded change. It has not been delivered to them. That is, of course, one reason why things have worsened so rapidly and continue to slide downwards despite the cries we hear from monitoring bodies around the world.
Something needs to be done. We have said this before and we say it again. We must say it many times — indeed keep repeating it until something is actually done. The problem is that, for now, not much appears to be happening. No one really seems to hear the desperate pitch in the voices from Balochistan or the shrieks which rise higher and higher. Until there is some action, the human rights situation in that territory will continue to worsen, leaving us with no means to put things right or pull our largest province back into a federation that seems to be in real danger of falling apart.
Dismal state of KESC
December 12th, 2011
A study conducted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute for the ministry of water and power confirms what everyone already knew: the KESC has failed miserably in its job to provide a constant supply of electricity to Karachi’s citizens, despite receiving heavy subsidies from the federal government. Among other problems, the KESC has been unable to upgrade its rotting distribution system and has done little to curtail the theft of electricity. The important thing to note here is that, while the utility management ultimately has to be held responsible for the state of their company, there are plenty of other actors who deserve a share of the blame.
To start with, the city government in Karachi wanted a steady supply of electricity at all times but they just weren’t too keen on paying for it. For the KESC to shut off the lights at the offices of those who wield political power was impossible. Had they done so, they would have had to face protests from the possibly armed workers of powerful political parties. That is a cost of doing business in Karachi and, unfortunately, was one that the company’s management did not factor into their business model when they took over the company. The KESC is also overstaffed. Yet, when they tried to reduce the size of the workforce, they had to deal with the workers who went on strike, bringing the city to its knees.
Clearly, the current situation is unsustainable and a change needs to be made. But the danger is that the government may just decide to renationalise the utility company. That needs to be avoided at all costs. The KESC will simply be a drain on an already depleted exchequer. However, there are other things that the government can do to help out the company. For one, it could provide political power to the KESC management so that it is not alone as it takes on entrenched interests in the city. Doing that would be much more effective than simply flinging money at the problem and would require political courage, a commodity sadly lacking in our country.
Wider skies
December 12th, 2011
There may be more passenger airplanes whizzing across our skies from city to city next year. According to a report in this newspaper, the ‘go ahead’ has been granted to three new airlines, Bhoja Airlines, Indus Airlines and Pearl Airlines, to operate domestic routes, coming into direct competition with the carriers already plying these routes: including PIA and Air Blue. The argument runs that there is an increase in demand for air travel, generated both by the increase in people travelling between cities and the rapid collapse of Pakistan Railways. The question, however, is whether we can actually sustain the presence of more airlines given that PIA, once the pride of the skies, is already running at huge losses with long delays and inefficient services marring its functioning. The worst conspiracy theories suggest that the decline of PIA has been orchestrated to make room for the new airlines and that licenses have been granted only with the connivance of government members. Other circles deny this.
It may be hard to determine quite what the truth is. Certainly there is little real reason to have confidence in the integrity of those handing out contracts and doing deals with businessmen. But what we need as citizens is an airline that actually runs. In this context, the reasons for PIA’s ill-health need to be carefully considered. It can be said that it would be wiser to try and heal it rather than put new airlines in the skies. This is all the more so given the problems with the private carriers that are already in the air. Issues of safety and efficiency both exist. If the businessmen involved in the latest deals can actually get an operation in place that provides the kind of service we require, this would obviously be excellent news. The fear, however, is that this will not happen and instead we will have even more chaos, as the Civil Aviation Authority tries to regulate the increasingly crowded skies and the complications created by the setting up of new airlines, especially as we cannot be sure of standards.