A momentous decision
August 3rd, 2012
India’s symbolic decision to allow foreign direct investment (FDI) from Pakistan in all sectors, except defence, space and atomic energy, is a move that has widespread repercussions, far beyond the simple economic gains that both sides may accrue as a result of this step. Apart from the vast opportunities that this has opened up for Pakistani investors and the potential employment opportunities that this may create in India, the move promises prospects of immediate and long-term political gains as well. As neighbours who have complementary economic strengths, Pakistan and India should have been natural trading partners. War and politics has kept this from becoming a reality. But if progress continues to be made on issues such as FDI, it should lead to a massive increase in cross-border trade and that will ultimately help the economies and people of both countries.
On the political front, allowing Pakistanis to invest in India also represents a big breakthrough. Progress in peace talks has been halting and piecemeal. For all the hope that comes from every cordial summit between high-level officials of the two countries, there is usually a step back, such as when an agreement could not be reached on liberalising the visa regime. Now that India has opened its economy to Pakistani investors, we should reciprocate. There may be far less interest among Indians in investing in Pakistan but the gesture would be seen as another confidence-building measure on the long, rocky road to peace.
The important thing for both India and Pakistan now is to ensure that breakthroughs such as this help the peace process gather momentum. Now is the time to follow up with other nods to peace. India has invited our cricket team to play in their country. Another positive and much-needed step will be to make it easier for citizens of both countries to get visas to travel across the border; easing the visa regime should be a priority. There is no greater way of defeating the hawks on both sides than by making an India-Pakistan alliance an inevitability and a reality. This can only be done by ensuring that the fate of both the countries is tied together — whether by trade or political necessity.
No sacred cows
August 3rd, 2012
On August 1, the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) asked the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to start criminal proceedings against three former generals for their involvement in a land lease deal that led to losses worth billions for the Pakistan Railways. This is an unprecedented, yet, a very welcome move. In the past, corruption by military men largely went unnoticed as the PML-N’s Khawaja Asif rightly pointed out: That the media was always quick to deal with politicians whereas uniformed personnel were often dealt with in a much different manner.
Due to the military’s power, it often seems that its personnel are not held accountable for their actions in the way politicians are. No military dictator has been taken to task for holding the Constitution in abeyance after overthrowing civilian governments. In the aftermath of the Osama bin Laden raid and the attack on the Mehran airbase in Karachi, no military personnel have been held responsible so far, either for incompetence or complicity (barring a few suspensions in the case of the latter). But we saw that a serving ambassador — a civilian — had to resign following the uproar caused by the memo affair. The Supreme Court has held the Frontier Corps responsible for the missing persons in Balochistan but there seems to be no way to monitor its activities.
Pakistan has faced difficult times, globally, in terms of international isolation, due to what many perceive as the military establishment’s stance on the war on terror. However, there seems to be little analysis of the role that uniformed personnel have played in various matters of import over the years. What we usually see is a witch-hunt against democratically elected governments but the real powerbrokers are not questioned about their policies. It is now time to hold all entities accountable for their excesses. Thus, the PAC’s move to take action against the retired generals is something to be lauded. No one should be above the law.
Censoring by Twitter
August 3rd, 2012
Usually, when we talk of free speech we expect threats from governments, not private companies. Censorship has usually been a tool of repression deployed by insecure governments seeking to silence restive populations. Now, though, we may have to set our sights on corporations that increasingly hold the power to silence us. Take the recent case of Guy Adams, a journalist for the British newspaper The Independent. He posted a series of tweets on social-networking site Twitter, criticising television coverage of the Olympics on the US channel NBC, and provided the work email of an NBC executive, to whom viewers could complain. For his efforts, Adams was rewarded by having his Twitter account suspended for over a day for the ‘crime’ of posting someone’s private email address, although the address posted was the executive’s work email.
Twitter ultimately unbanned Adams and apologised for the mistake. The fact that they took this drastic action in the first place raises a lot of red flags. For one, we need to be aware that the words we write are being done on property that belongs to a private corporation and hence, we have no rights over it. As much as we like to see Facebook, Twitter and the like as our virtual water cooler, these are ultimately profit-seeking entities, which can simply banish all our words into oblivion should they see them as a threat to their corporate strategy.
A more proactive interpretation of freedom of speech is urgently needed. Adams would have lost years’ worth of tweets and had no legal recourse if Twitter authorities had not come to their senses. What’s ironic is that even Twitter realises the threats that governments pose to our freedoms, while helping corporations restrict speech. It is currently fighting off the US government, which is demanding it hand over tweets by an Occupy Wall Street protestor suspected of criminal activity. Yet, it was happy to give in to NBC’s demands on a highly trivial issue. Hopefully, Twitter will learn a lesson from this and reform its process for dealing with such matters.