A worrisome move
Considering that Pakistan has a long contiguous border with Afghanistan and is closely engaged diplomatically and in the fight against terrorism, it is strange indeed that the US has set up trilateral talks that include India but exclude Pakistan on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly session later this month. Stranger still is the remark by US Secretary of State John Kerry who said his hope was that “Pakistan as a country is not isolated by this but encouraged by this”. Mr Kerry usually gives the impression that he is on the same planet as the rest of humanity, but the trick seems to have eluded him on this occasion. It is difficult to see what dots he is seeking to join given that India has no engagement with Afghanistan beyond huge investment in infrastructure projects and a desire to be in any energy loop that may include Afghanistan. India is energy-hungry and there are a number of projects that tap into the vast reserves of natural gas and oil in Central Asia that it would wish to have a finger in.
There is no clarity at all as to how the trilateral talks would in any way contribute to ‘stability’ in Afghanistan. They do not include any of the various iterations of the Taliban so far as is known though they will certainly be aware of them, and India has no known linkages with any of the Taliban groups at a formal level though it must be assumed they have back-channel contacts. Understandably, Pakistan has questioned the motives behind these talks with the Foreign Office saying that it is not sure what they hope to achieve, what the agenda is or the status of the talks. It is difficult to believe that the Foreign Office is going to feel anything other than marginalised and out of the loop, and equally difficult to see what India can bring to the table in terms of creating regional harmony or lessening the ongoing conflicts inside Afghanistan. Indeed, some may see this as a calculated snub. Whatever it may be, this looks like a misstep by Mr Kerry.
Circular debt
The rise of Pakistan’s circular debt always seems to be in the news. In the latest development, senators have sought reasons for the Rs300 billion stock of circular debt that has piled up despite the massive fall in international crude oil prices and the fact that the government cleared around Rs480 billion as soon as it came to power. The cost of power generation is as low as it can be and has given the government the chance to reduce subsidies and control the budget deficit. It has also meant that power producers can now actually reap profits. The fall in crude oil prices has been massive, meaning that Pakistan can save on multiple fronts including on the import bill and subsidies given to the energy sector, while keeping tax revenue higher on petroleum products by denying full benefit to the consumer.
Given these developments, it is a shame that circular debt has been on the rise. It basically means that no matter what the cost of production or the amount of subsidies, there are some consumers who will either not pay what they owe or that inefficient power companies will find a way to increase their receivables. A closer analysis reveals that provincial governments are as much to blame as those consumers who are involved in power theft. The entire system is complex and corrupt. Hence, there was never any doubt that the power sector needed structural reforms. It needed to be made efficient. One hope was the IMF bailout programme through which Pakistan promised reforms and privatisation of power distribution companies. Towards the end of the three-year bailout, however, it was revealed that the plan had been shelved, no doubt due to the failure to restructure and reform DISCOs. There are several questions that one can ask here, but there will be very few satisfactory replies. In haste, the PML-N cleared Rs480 billion in 2013, and there are question marks there as well. But, as is the case in government affairs, there are very few answers that can satisfy the public.
The trouble with staring men
An excise commissioner from the Indian state of Kerala attracted much derision when he recently stated that a man staring longer than 14 seconds at a woman could get jailed. While no such law exists in India — in fact, such a law would be difficult to implement anywhere in the world — the statement does highlight a widespread phenomenon that millions of women in India and Pakistan have to deal with on a daily basis.
One of the major cultural tragedies of South Asia is that women have been objectified for ages. This is not to say that objectification of women does not exist in other cultures, but given the patriarchal nature of our societies and even laws, objectification of women here is more accentuated. Here, women have been viewed as statues to be bejeweled and flaunted at weddings, as robots to prepare timely meals in the kitchen, as people pleasers at the homes of their in-laws, and as objects to be stared down and examined with a judging eye. This ‘tradition’ of men staring at women continues to be passed down from one generation to the next. Whether the male is from Pakistan, where religious morals include lowering one’s gaze in modesty, or from India, which also derives a culture from similar teachings in modesty, makes no difference. Staring at women shows the male-dominated nature of our societies and the lowly status accorded to women, something that is further highlighted by the ease with which crimes can be committed against them. Whether it is the large number of cases of female rape in India or Pakistan’s epidemic of ‘honour’ crimes, the status of women in our countries is there for all to see. The Indian official’s statement should not be dismissed with mere amusement. While enacting laws against staring may not be possible, what is needed is a change in mindsets and the way moral values are imparted in South Asia. That may be the only way to curb the staring culture.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 4th, 2016