Pak-India tensions
A FRESH set of crises has caused Pakistan-India relations — in the doldrums after last month’s Uri attack — to plunge to even lower depths. On Thursday, India decided to expel a staffer of the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi for “espionage activities” after the individual had been detained by the Indian law-enforcement authorities. Delhi police claimed the Pakistani diplomat had been in possession of sensitive documents. The Foreign Office has rejected the Indian allegations as “false and unsubstantiated”, adding that New Delhi’s actions violate the protocols of the Vienna Convention. Meanwhile, the situation on the Working Boundary continues to remain tense, as an exchange of fire between both countries’ security forces was also reported on Thursday. A day earlier, two Pakistani civilians were killed after the Indian Border Security Force resorted to mortar shelling. At least four people have been killed in the exchange of fire on the Pakistani side since Monday, while the military claims a number of Indian soldiers died in retaliatory fire. Similar tensions were witnessed last week along the Line of Control.
Considering the atmosphere currently prevailing in the subcontinent, both Islamabad and New Delhi must handle both crises with care and sagacity. On the diplomatic front, the incident concerning the Pakistani diplomat in Delhi should not be allowed to escalate into a nasty exchange of rhetoric or result in tit-for-tat moves. Whatever concerns either side has should be communicated through diplomatic channels and resolved. On the military front, there should be immediate de-escalation and stoppage of cross-border fire. Apart from the tragic loss of life, normal routines in the affected areas have been severely disrupted due to the hostilities. As reported in this paper, residents of border areas have had to move to safer locations in other parts of Punjab, while there have also been school closures in Sialkot district. While the government may be preoccupied with the political storm making its way towards Islamabad, it needs to remain alert and handle growing tensions with India with statesmanship and resolve. Normalisation and peace between Pakistan and India may appear to be a distant dream at this juncture; however, the least both states can do is to not ratchet up levels of animosity. This can be done by keeping the diplomatic and military channels of communication open between both sides, and avoiding aggressive public posturing and statements.
Karachi LG mess
THE tussle over the implementation of the local government system in Karachi, which is, in the opinion of many, the country’s most chaotic and poorly managed city, appears to have attained ridiculous proportions. From the provincial government appropriating areas of crucial civic work, including waste management and garbage disposal, to the continuing incarceration of Mayor Waseem Akhtar, there seems to be little appreciation in the corridors of power for the immediate task at hand: sorting out the city’s devastated civic and infrastructural affairs. To the contrary, it appears that active measures are being taken to further complicate the situation; the latest move came on Wednesday when, following a request from the Sindh government, the bank accounts of all municipalities were frozen. The institutions affected range from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation to the union councils, which means that at all levels of local governance, work will be severely impeded and salaries suspended. The Sindh government says that this was done because of the realisation that the entire LG system had changed in 2010. No doubt, a rationalisation process may indeed be required; nevertheless, it is odd that appreciating this reality has come years after the change, and that the administration’s response to the challenge was then initiated through the extreme step of freezing accounts with no contingency plan in place.
Such a dog-in-the-manger attitude shown by the party that has run Sindh for many years is inexplicable. In any case, it is not the PPP’s job to manage civic affairs — that is the mandate of the local government. Great hopes were pinned on the recently inducted chief minister, who took charge with lofty promises of change and re-energising the system; unfortunately, for all his good intentions, the city remains a mess. One wonders if the motives behind the current move regarding the implementation of the LG system, dominated by the MQM, are political. If so, Karachi is being held hostage for the basest of reasons.
Ignoring the larger threat
Amidst growing concern for the democratic order and increasingly menacing rhetoric by the PTI, and elements within the PML-N too, have come sensible directives from the Islamabad High Court.
The PTI is to hold its Nov 2 rally in an authorised space in Islamabad, while the government is forbidden from blocking roads and taking extreme counter-measures to prevent the PTI from holding its rally — counter-measures that would deprive the public from its right to free movement.
Instantly, however, the PTI rejected the judicial attempt at bringing order to the party’s plans and Imran Khan has vowed to go ahead and enforce a so-called lockdown of the federal capital. Extraordinarily, the political slugfest between the PTI and PML-N appears to have already accelerated to the point where orders by the superior judiciary itself are regarded as a mere distraction.
As if to underscore the increasingly bare-knuckled nature of the fight, Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Mr Khan have engaged each other in a bitter political argument over alleged corruption by the PML-N, with Mr Sharif vowing to move the courts against the PTI supremo on grounds of defamation.
The vicious, personal barbs hearken back to a dark period in this country’s political history: in the 1990s the endless, bitter squabbling between the PML-N and the PPP eventually led to the wrapping up of the democratic order, following widespread public disillusionment with both parties. Mr Khan was only a political neophyte then, his PTI having been formed in the latter half of the 1990s. But the Sharif family ought to know better.
Whatever Mr Khan’s provocations and unbridled ambitions, it is undeniable that had Prime Minister Sharif accepted an independent and thorough probe of the first family’s wealth and assets following the revelations in the Panama Papers, the country would not be on the edge of a precipice today.
While neither side appears to be in a mood to back down, it is perhaps important to reiterate what is at stake. The 1990s too was a repetition of an earlier period in this country’s history.
Indeed, if there is one constant in Pakistan’s political history it is that when opposition politicians and the civilian leadership engage in unbridled sparring, it is the anti-democratic forces that ultimately triumph. Or as the inimitable Asma Jahangir has warned, politicians should be careful to not saw off the very branch of the tree that they are sitting on.
An energised political landscape contesting issues of public importance and suggesting different policies is one thing. But a divided, bitter polity, led by ego-driven and vengeful politicians, is a short hop away from the ultimate breakdown.
Imran Khan wants to be a first-time prime minister, while Nawaz Sharif wants to be an unprecedented fourth-term prime minister — but at what cost to the democratic system?
Published in Dawn, October 28th, 2016