Conflict with India
India is trying to have it both ways in the conflict it has provoked across the Line of Control. If Pakistan does not respond to the firing, India claims that it has successfully scared us into submission but if we do return fire then we are accused of escalating the problem. In the face of such provocation, which has taken the lives of nearly 20 Pakistani civilians, it is heartening that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is still talking the language of peace. After a meeting of the National Security Council he said that war with India was not an option. While reserving the right to respond to Indian aggression, Nawaz tried to dampen tensions by reiterating his commitment to improving relations with India. Modi, for his part, has been living up to his ultra-hawkish reputation. At an election rally he referred to Pakistan throughout as the “enemy” and claimed that Indian forces had left the Pakistan Army screaming. Modi’s initial forays towards peace soon after he was elected have now been completely abandoned and he is showing his true colours. The goodwill caused by Nawaz’s visit to India for Modi’s inauguration and the subsequent exchange of letters has dissipated. Restoring relations even to their previous unstable calm will be difficult.
The lion’s share of the blame, needless to say, lies with Modi. It is he who has demonised Pakistan throughout his political career and his anti-Pakistan sentiment could have contributed to the needless escalation of firing across the LoC. Where Pakistan has urged calm, Modi has responded with bluster. India doesn’t help matters by still insisting Kashmir is a bilateral issue where the UN has no legitimate role to play. The presence of UN observers could help not only to ascertain blame for the recent shooting incidents but also spur both sides to be more restrained in their actions. The one thing the LoC firings have shown is that it may be possible for both the countries to come to some economic agreements but as long as Kashmir remains the elephant in the room it will be difficult for them to be entirely at peace with each other. Any future talks must also tackle thorny subjects. Ignoring these issues only delays the ultimate reckoning.
Multan tragedy
It is too early to start casting blame for the stampede at the PTI rally in Multan that killed seven people and injured 23 others. We are not yet certain of the circumstances which led to the tragedy. The PTI has already used the incident to attack the PML-N, saying that the fault lies with law-enforcement authorities who had closed entry and exit points and turned off the lights once Imran Khan was done speaking. The Multan police, for their part, say that the PTI had promised to take care of internal security at the rally itself since it did not trust the authorities. That does sound plausible since Imran Khan has made denunciations of the police part of his daily speeches. This has led to unfortunate attacks on security officials and now, in Multan, it may have led to the entirely preventable deaths of seven people. There is reason to believe that the PTI is culpable of neglect. As Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Imran Khan were speaking, voices in the crowd could be heard warning of the impending incident but the leaders took no notice. Only after an independent investigation is carried out, perhaps even requiring a judicial commission, will we know the causes of the stampede. But for now there seems to be plenty of blame to go around.
Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a committee to look into the matter but anything that is associated with the PML-N will automatically be dismissed by the PTI. Shah Mehmood Qureshi accused the city’s administration of being in the pocket of Nawaz Sharif and claimed that the police had endangered Imran Khan’s life by removing the ladder he was supposed to use to mount the stage. He also claimed that electricity to the rally venue was disconnected. All of these accusations seem outlandish and, even if they are true, they do not serve to explain why there was a stampede and why the PTI was unable to do anything about it. But justifiable criticism of the PTI should not lead to the police being spared. No matter how hated it is by the protesters, it is still the police’s job to keep the peace and ensure there are no untoward incidents. The PTI, instead of searching for scapegoats, will have to look inward and ensure that such an incident is never repeated.
PIA problem
Rated as among the best airlines in the world through the 1960s and the first in Asia to fly a Boeing 747 jet airliner, PIA has since slipped in terms of performance and also its safety record. While it remains higher in ranking than many other airlines around the world, including Turkish and China airways, we wonder how long this status can be maintained. In 2012, the airline was slapped with a temporary ban by the EU because of poor safety standards with doors found held together with tape and other equipment in poor condition. While a number of safety issues concerning the airline continue to be reported from time to time, we hope that the oil spill that suspended flights at Islamabad’s Benazir Bhutto Airport for several hours on Saturday will be investigated in detail. The spill occurred from the hydraulic engine of a 747 aircraft. The reasons have not been explained, but we wonder if the maintenance of the plane was as high as it should be. There have been many complaints about this in the past. Because of the spill on the runway, flights were barred from landing at the airport and directed to remain airborne while no flights were permitted to take off.
The PIA question has become bigger. Right now, a process of privatisation is underway, with the hope that this can make the airline more efficient and improve standards. A new agreement is also being reached with the Pakistan Airlines Pilot Association with the last one having lapsed in 2013. The demands from either side are complex and involve flying hours, releasing of aircrafts and other issues. In the past, pilots have called for higher engineering standards and lower flying hours for the sake of safety. These issues are crucial given that the airline, in so many ways, represents the country whose colours it flies. Resurrecting PIA should, therefore, be a major priority. At the same time, we should also be looking at the facilities available at our airports. It is unclear what expertise existed to deal with the recent oil spill. But certainly in past years calls have been made for measures that can enable flights to land in conditions such as fog – an annual weather feature which engulfs the Lahore area and has kept the airport there closed for days. We need to upgrade the condition of both our airline and the airports in the country. The task is one that has been pending for way too long. The issue of PIA’s privatisation is a complex one. But the key must be to make our airline a better and safer one and at the same time raise our airports to higher levels in terms of the aviation services they are able to provide.
Published in The News, Sunday, October 12, 2014