Justice in Shahzeb’s case
The death sentence awarded on June 7 by a Karachi anti-terrorism court to Shahrukh Jatoi and Nawab Siraj Talpur, the prime accused in the Shahzeb Khan murder case, was attended by gasps of relief by the victim’s loved ones. Treating the verdict with utter disdain, the principal accused took recourse to courtroom theatrics — clapping his hands as the judge read out his sentence and flicking a victory sign as he emerged out of the court premises. The smug gesture appeared to convey his belief that his powerful family will ultimately buy him freedom from the clutches of the law.
The culprit’s conceit is understandable, given the clout he brought to bear in fleeing the country soon after committing the crime: he travelled to the UAE without being intercepted by the immigration staff. When he was finally brought back to Pakistan, he realised, much to his chagrin, that personal influence can go only so far. Shahrukh and his accomplices were found guilty of murdering the young man in cold blood on December 24, 2012, over a trivial matter.
Under due process of law, the convicts can file appeals against their conviction. The grieving family and a tight band of online warriors, who have pursued the case with remarkable perseverance and tenacity, will need to wait a little longer until the superior judiciary either upholds or sets aside the sentence. In a country where wheels of justice turn agonisingly slowly, the judgment in this case, which had riveted the civil society’s attention from the outset, must be noted for its remarkable speed. This swiftness may not have been possible had it not been for the social media’s vibrant role in keeping the case in the spotlight, which also ensured that the accused could not suppress the case or erase it from the public’s memory. The case had evoked the interest of all and sundry because it had begun to be perceived as a litmus test of which way the class struggle settles. At least for now, the weaker side has won half the battle.
Cabinet challenges
The new 25-member cabinet, which will spearhead national affairs in the coming years, has taken oath. Key portfolios have also been announced, with Ishaq Dar to take charge of finance, as we already knew, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of interior and Khawaja Asif the hot seat of water and power in a country starved of energy. Prime Minister Mian Nawaz Sharif has himself, at least for now, kept the key ministry of defence, Sartaj Aziz will be an adviser on finance and Tariq Fatemi on foreign affairs.
The cabinet reflects the nature of the PML-N’s mandate. At least 20 of the cabinet members are from Punjab with only one from the south of the province, and a handful from the other provinces. The issue of Punjab-centrism has come up before during Mr Sharif’s tenures in power. The cabinet, of course, needs to be chosen on merit, so it can complete the tough work that lies before it. But at the same time, Mr Sharif also needs to ensure that he can establish his government as a truly national one and escape the notion that it is essentially a Punjab entity, reflecting an agenda associated mainly with that province. We all know the issues associated with this. Also to be noted is the fact that in a country where half the population comprises women, only two women are part of the cabinet, and that, too, as ministers of state.
Perhaps, what should concern us more is the matter of how the cabinet will tackle the long list of issues stretched out before it. Its degree of success in this will determine how the Sharif government is perceived in the longer run. The challenges are many. As Mr Sharif has already emphasised, reviving an economy close to collapse is a central issue. This issue has to be resolved to put the country back on track. Tied in to this is the energy crisis, law and order, militancy and the intricate issues of foreign policy. How these are handled will be of immense significance to all of us, given the desperate need to move towards progress and resolve the quandary of a nation pinned down by a tightly woven net of problems.
An impractical project
In retrospect, it was inevitable. The Asian Development Bank’s decision to pull its funding from the project to link Pakistan’s electricity grid with that of Central Asia should come as no surprise to anyone. The project is doomed to failure and does not, in any way, constitute a realistic plan to help Pakistan overcome its energy crisis.
The reason this plan was dreamed up in the first place was because Washington wanted Islamabad to pursue alternatives to the Iran-Pakistan pipeline and the diplomats at the US State Department dreamed up a scheme that would have looked absurd even if proposed at a high school Model UN conference. Do not buy gas from Iran, they said, and we will make sure that you can import cheap electricity from Central Asia. Never mind that the wires would have to cross through unstable Afghanistan and that the Central Asian states are poor now, but will soon have expanding economies that will need that electricity for themselves.
The debate on whether or not the Iran-Pakistan pipeline is advisable is a separate one. But the electricity import project from Central Asia was just plain absurd and rather than wasting the time of international lenders, somebody at the water and power ministry should have had the good sense to say so. Why this was not done is beyond understanding.
Instead, Pakistan was made to look a fool for pursuing a nonsensical idea that was cooked up by American diplomats who have yet to come up with a straightforward answer to a simple question: why should Pakistan not import hydrocarbons from one of its neighbouring countries that has one of the largest surpluses of natural gas in the world? Because the United States has some ill-defined animosity towards Tehran? That does not seem to be a good enough reason for Pakistan to put the growth of its entire economy — and the future of its estimated 190 million people — on hold. Washington may not care about them, but Islamabad should have had better sense.