Date: Thursday, September 8th, 2016
CPEC security
Questions have been raised about the difference between the Chinese and the Pakistan work ethic in connection with progress on the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), namely that the Chinese approach tends to be to get things done as soon as possible whereas the Pakistan approach is to get things done — eventually. There are already many thousands of Chinese in-country working on various elements of the CPEC and the federal government long ago decided — rightly — on the formation of a special security division that must be deployed for the protection of the Chinese workers who have been attacked in the past and remain vulnerable in some parts of the country today.
It is now learnt that the provinces have yet to give authorisation for the deployment of the special security force, mainly because of challenges to the CPEC from assorted “regional powers” — read vested interests — that see the development of the CPEC as a threat to their own assets and/or interests. This wrinkle in the implementation process emerged during a meeting called to review progress. The National Highway Authority raised the matter relative to the deployment of the Special Force on the Thakot-Havelian stretch of the CPEC and was informed that “administrative issues” were the problem and specifically the jurisdiction of the new force and its rules of engagement.
This and other issues should have long ago been ironed out, not presenting today as impediments. The provinces — Punjab apart — have not responded to letters written to them in this regard and the interior secretary has now given them a week to respond to the Ministry of the Interior. We anticipate that this is not going to be the only instance of provincial hampering of the CPEC as there was much that should have been discussed and finalised before the project as a whole got the green light. There are serious provincial reservations, particularly relating to which province is going to be the greatest beneficiary, with Punjab believed to be the biggest winner. The Chinese have already expressed their frustration at slow progress and it is not unreasonable to expect more of the same.
Missed education targets
For the umpteenth time, we are forced to rue the fact that the state of education in Pakistan is appallingly dismal. Periodic survey reports of local and international agencies keep casting lurid light on the decrepit condition of our schools, pathetic teaching standards, low enrolment, thin attendance, high dropout rate, ghost teachers and what not. One such report, titled UN Global Education Monitoring Report 2016 is just out and has delivered another damning indictment of the abysmal shape of our schooling system. The report notes that Pakistan is over 50 years behind in achieving its primary and over 60 years behind in achieving its secondary education targets. Last year, world leaders committed to the target of ensuring that all girls and boys are able to complete free quality primary and secondary education by 2030, but chronic under-funding is holding back progress. While this general assessment is true in case of other nations, lack of funding is not the sole affliction plaguing Pakistan’s education sector.
The more alarming issue, as a Care Foundation report aptly points out, is the inefficient use of allocated funds with high proportions remaining unspent and those that are spent contributing little to good quality education. Small wonder then that 5.1 million Pakistani children of primary school age are out of school. This is the second highest in the world and is over twice as many as in India. These cold, hard statistics bespeak of the skewed priorities of successive governments, which shrank from their duty to place education, and not politics of patronage, high on their agenda. A course correction is still possible, though. Punjab, Sindh and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa are ruled by three different parties that could compete, as they do in politics, to outdo each other on how well they bolster and upgrade their education systems and put their young population in schools. A continued poor showing when it comes to education will only ensure that our progress as a nation and as a knowledge economy will continue to flounder.
Unforgivable delays
It is increasingly clear that for the Pakistani parliament, women rights issues rank low down on its list of priorities. No number of reports on rape and murder of women have been able to budge those in the power corridors to pass pending legislation on rape and ‘honour’ crimes. It was in July that a special parliamentary panel unanimously passed the anti-honour killing and anti-rape bills, which were scheduled to be presented in a joint sitting of parliament in the first week of August. But the political logjam over the Panama Papers has, again, put these crucial bills on the back-burner. There always appears to be some hurdle or the other that comes in the way of pro-women legislation; sometimes it is opposition from religious parties, at other times it is objections of the Council of Islamic Ideology, and then there are times when there is no better reason than the disinterest of the ruling party, as appears to be the case now.
The failure to pass these laws is akin to criminal negligence on part of the government. Following the ‘honour’ killing of Qandeel Baloch, Maryam Nawaz had stated that the government would be passing both bills soon, but even a case as shocking as Qandeel Baloch’s murder, has not pushed the government forward on the matter. This complete disinterest is across the board. It’s been eight months now since the National Commission on the Status of Women, a statutory body responsible for the empowerment of women, has been dysfunctional because the authorities have failed to appoint its chairperson. The commission was established to examine laws and regulations on women’s development and rights, but has not been working since its last chairperson completed her tenure. All these are clear signals of how little the government cares for what it obviously considers the less important half of the population. In absence of these laws and a near-suspended women’s rights body, women’s lives continue to have little value and their murders easily ‘forgiven’. The government must remember that every time it delays the passing of these laws, it only smears blood on its hands.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 8th, 2016.