1. US apprehensions.

PRESIDENT Obama's unusually strong indictment of the government presided over by President Zardari coincides with the latter's US visit. President Obama has concluded that the government is "fragile" because, according to him, it does not have the capacity to deliver basic services to the people. As if that was not enough, he maintains that the government does not enjoy the support and loyalty of the people. He has also expressed grave concerns over the stability of the PPP-led coalition, which he believes is the most worrisome thing about Pakistan. Coming as it does from President Obama, the observation would turn out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Despite concerns expressed earlier by his Administration regarding the Army for considering India the main enemy and thus ignoring the "existential" threat posed by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, President Obama pins more hope now on the Army. He has concluded that in the last few days some recognition has emerged that the "obsession" on its part with India as mortal threat has been misguided and it has understood that the biggest threat right now comes internally.
Of late, the American media has expressed doubts about Mr Zardari's ability to steer the country out of the multi-dimensional crises it faces. Comparisons, unfavourable to Mr Zardari, have been made with Mian Nawaz Sharif. In its election manifesto the PPP had promised to provide all the things which Mr Obama finds missing, including basic services, schools, healthcare, rule of law and a judicial system that works for the majority of the people. The PPP leadership had also promised to provide security of food, employment and shelter to the common man. While these things are nowhere in sight, the party can maintain that 14 months are too short a period in which to pass a judgment on its performance. Besides the grave financial crisis it is facing, it is also required to spend huge amounts on the War on Terror. Finally, it is for the people of Pakistan and not Washington to judge the government. Mr Obama also needs to realize that the Army cannot hope to defeat the militants unless it has the full support of the government and the masses. What Pakistan's allies tend to ignore are their own failings. The situation in FATA and Malakand Agency can be brought under control provided Washington does what is badly needed and abstains from actions that are not helpful. US officials talk about the lack of capacity on the part of the Army to fight militancy while Washington continues to ignore its demands for more helicopters, night vision goggles, drones and other sophisticated equipment. The US has also failed to help put the ROZs in place. Despite Pakistan's protests, the drone attacks continue. Indirect threats to intervene to take control of Pakistan's nuclear assets in hypothetical situations are also not helpful.


2. A ray of hope.


FINALLY, Pakistan has decided to go to the World Bank for arbitration over the Kishanganga hydropower project in Held Kashmir. Through the Dam, New Delhi can block Pakistan's share of water by diverting it to the Wullar Barrage. This will have serious repercussions for our agriculture and economy. Therefore, New Delhi must be stopped from its nefarious design of turning Pakistan into an agricultural wasteland. The statement by Pakistan's Indus Water Commissioner that the World Bank has been requested to appoint neutral experts to look into the matter and give their verdict seems comforting enough. There is reason to believe that the World Bank would be able to find an amicable solution to the dispute.
Uptil now, Islamabad had voiced its concerns repeatedly at all platforms except the World Bank, which explains why the issue remains unresolved. It raised the matter by including it in the composite dialogue, but the call to settle the issue amicably, given India's traditional posture and its hegemonic ambitions, virtually fell on deaf ears. Much to the chagrin of the Pakistani authorities, and Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi who was in New Delhi to discuss the issue, the Indians did not pay much heed to the issue after the Mumbai attacks. Currently, it is engaged in an evil scheme of not only blocking Pakistan's share of water, but also aiming to divert them as well. The water it blocks is used to support Indian agriculture. During the past many years, it has been building a number of dams in Held Kashmir of which the Kishanganga project, Wullar Barrage and Baglihar dam are vivid examples. Recently, it cut off water flowing into Pakistan at a time when crops were in dire need of irrigation. This dealt a heavy blow to economy as crops on thousands of acres of land were destroyed. Not only that, but our power crisis to a large extent is an offshoot of this problem. The Indus Waters Treaty allows India only to build run-of-the-river projects which means that India can use the water only for generating electricity but not store or block the rivers whose waters are meant for Pakistan's exclusive use. There is a need under the circumstances that the matter be resolved urgently. There is no denying the fact that the water dispute has indeed the potential to lead to a wider conflagration between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The best way to resolve the conflict lies in the adherence to the Indus Waters Treaty and it is here that the World Bank has to see to it that its violations are strictly dealt with.




3. Constables or ghosts?


A simple expedient has revealed that at least 60 Punjab Police constables do not really exist, and are 'ghosts' called into being solely so that their salaries could supplement the incomes of certain unscrupulous elements within the department. The Police Department identified the non-existent policemen by simply stopping the 'ghostly' salaries. When they did not contact the department, it was confirmed that these constables, who were shown as being on special duty, did not exist. These cases belonging to Lahore, when it was brought to his notice, the CCPO Lahore handed the matter over to the SSP Discipline for further action, and he says that the number is 60. However, other estimates put the number of 'ghost' constables as high as 500.
Apart from the monetary loss, which probably runs into millions, this serves as yet another blow to a service plagued by its failure to fulfill its primary objective, the protection of the lives and property of the citizen. Though the Chief Minister has announced a hefty increase in the salaries of the police, it has not yet been provided to it in an unrelated development. However, until the police sorts out itself, the pay raise is not justified. It is unfortunate that this scandal has erupted at a time when the police is under more criticism than ever before for failing to control the law and order situation, and at a time when terrorism is rife.
It is to be assumed that if Lahore is affected on this scale, the other forces of the province, probably of the country, are also affected. The federal government should order a general check, and the new salaries should only then be made applicable in the Punjab. The 'ghost' phenomenon did not start with the police, with schools and sanitation workers leading the way, but now other departments deserve checking. But the police needs to be purified first, because it will be needed for other departments. Those guilty must feel the full brunt of the law, not get a mere slap on the wrist.

1. Kiss of death.


FEW eyebrows would have been raised if the observations regarding the government being fragile and unable to deliver had come from someone other than President Obama. As Prime Minister Gilani has rightly pointed out Washington's robust support for the military rule of Gen (retd) Musharraf for full nine years is among the causes behind the weakness of the elected government. What Mr Gilani failed to point out is that the US has supported every military dictator in Pakistan from Ayub to Yahya, Ziaul Haq and Musharraf out of its imperial strategic needs, thus playing a crucial role in weakening the institutions on which democracy is based including judiciary, parliament, and political parties. The military rulers flouted the rule of law in favour of the rule of the jungle and dealt a mortal blow to good governance. It is a matter of record that the people of Pakistan have struggled hard for the restoration of democracy under every military ruler braving arrests, torture, lashes and harsh sentences by military tribunals. The US conveniently looked the other way as the press was gagged, atrocities on political workers were committed, and human rights blatantly violated.
Reports have appeared in the US press, the latest on Saturday in The New York Times, of the Obama administration's sudden infatuation with Mian Nawaz Sharif who till lately was considered an untouchable for 'close ties to Islamists'. Unnamed officials have been quoted that the Obama administration is reaching out 'more directly' to the PML-N leader. Reports of the kind are likely to prove a kiss of death for Mian Nawaz as an endorsement by Washington would reduce the public image of any political leader in Pakistan. We are told that Mian Nawaz and President Zardari have been urged by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Mr Holbrooke to work together. Irrespective of its merits, to many in Pakistan the move would constitute a direct interference in the country's internal politics. Meanwhile the government needs to be reminded that after 14 months in power, it would not help harping on the bad state of affairs it had inherited. The ruling coalition has to realize that it wasted nearly 10 months, out of sheer obstinacy, in a tug a war with the lawyers and the PML-N with the result that its attention was diverted from crucial issues. It is now being accused of complacency by its critics. It has to work post haste to restore the Constitution to its original form in line with the recommendations of the CoD, remove the genuine grievances of the people of Balochistan and resolve the issue of militant extremism through a holistic approach. Unless it acts urgently, its support among the masses will continue to decline as indicated by the successive opinion surveys.

2. For a free media.


TODAY, journalists around the globe are in the line of fire for simply doing their job. A total of 90 journalists were killed worldwide in 2008. And the number of those arrested by various governments go up to hundreds, which underscores the fact that they are indeed between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, there are repressive regimes, which hate to hear independent voices exposing their misdeeds, and on the other, there are non-state actors and terrorist outfits threatening them with dire consequences for telling the truth.
The circumstances had never been so adverse, a view supported in a report by Freedom House, which says that press freedom has declined to an unprecedented level all over the globe. One is alarmed by the situation prevailing in Pakistan where journalists especially because of their coverage of war on terror have to face numerous threats. It is counted among the most dangerous places for journalists. Sadly enough, it was none other than General Musharraf who claimed to have given the media its rightful place, in whose tenure, draconian laws to undermine free media were introduced. A number of media men who were critical of his regime were put behind bars. With a change of government, the laws have been repealed because of which independent observers take the view that press in Pakistan is more robust than that of India's but somehow threats to their safety continue to exist. The death of 15 Pakistani journalists killed last year bears testimony to the insecure conditions under which they work. The Taliban are publicly threatening the media with dire consequences, if any report is published against them.
The right to inform and express ideas freely forms the core of any democratic society. One must hail the fact that the journalist community by and large has refused to sacrifice its conscience. They must be protected against threats of all sorts; otherwise the objective of a just and free society will remain an elusive ideal.


3. A persistent problem.


IT says a lot about the bureaucratic inefficiency endemic in the country to see that the wheat procurement drive that is a yearly feature invariably brings in its wake widespread complaints of the shortage of gunny bags (bardana). There are public protests when the farmers vent their anger, turning violent at times; surprise visits of high officials and Ministers to collection centres to tone up the process that result in the suspension of some junior officials on charges of corruption or carelessness; and declarations galore to set things right. All the same, the problem remains, if it does not rear its head in a more serious form the next time.
This is precisely what is happening these days in certain wheat growing districts of Punjab. Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif's visit to the various procurement centres in Sargodha on Friday might help matters to an extent and put officials on the alert, especially as he told the farmers to contact him in case of complaint. However, with roughly four million tonnes of wheat yet to be purchased from the cultivators against a procurement target that was revised to six million tonnes following reports of a bumper crop, there is every likelihood that the scenario would keep recurring. Adequate and timely remedial measures could ease the problem somewhat, but with a major part of the procurement drive still to be handled and that too within a matter of a month or so, the cultivators' complaints and frustration would not go away. One hopes that the suggestion, reportedly being considered, to register wheat growers who would be indicating approximate yield of their crops would solve the problem and also help form an idea of quantity of the total crop.

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CSS 2009, 2010, 2011 Qualifier

1. Blowing hot and cold.


WASHINGTON is at its game of using pressure tactics against Islamabad once again to compel it to take firmer action against militants. President Barack Obama referred to its civilian authority as "very fragile" in unmistakably clear terms last Wednesday. As he answered questions at a press conference he addressed on the completion of 100 days in office, President Obama felt "gravely concerned" at its inability to deliver. Nevertheless, he had expressed confidence that its nuclear arsenal was secure mainly because "the Pakistan Army, I think, recognises the hazards of those weapons falling into wrong hands". He added that the US was, however, ready to secure them in a worst-case scenario. These views were deeply resented and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani reacted strongly and took issue with him. President Obama might have succeeded in alarming the world about an imminent collapse of the civilian government, though there was little basis for making such an assumption, but at the same time he evoked strong resentment among Pakistanis. Many of them believe that the acquisition of Pakistan's nuclear assets was also on Washington's agenda, apart from dealing with the terrorist menace. President Obama's views were put down to pressure tactics for Islamabad to prove its credentials by taking stronger action against the militants.
Now comes a complete volte face. Special Envoy Richard Holbrooke puts the blame on the media for giving the 'wrong impression', "This is journalistic garbage. This is journalistic gobbledygook", and has expressed full confidence in the government's ability to deliver. He has held out the assurance that the US supported the democratically elected President Asif Zardari, who, he said, would be one of the first foreign heads of state to visit the White House since President Obama's taking office. He gave all sorts of arguments in support of the view that Washington believed in the Pakistan government's viability to deliver, like the successful Friends of Pakistan meeting at Tokyo and the Kerry-Lugar bill. However, Mr Obama's words, expressing views about its fragility in plain and simple terms, would continue to jar on Pakistanis' ears. In a latest interview with CNN, Secretary of Defence Robert Gates talks of the expanding reach of the militants in the northwestern Pakistan, posing an "existential threat" to Islamabad. It is a pity that the US has failed to appreciate Islamabad's legitimate reservations about taking armed action against militants who are from among its own population. Pakistan has to take into account the local sensitivities and the expected backlash of a ruthless military operation. Yet wherever necessary, it has not hesitated to move in full force. Armed action must be the last resort. It must try out other options.


2. Unreasonably obstinate.


THE NWFP government's decision to set up Darul Qaza in Malakand Division and appoint two Peshawar High Court judges as its members, was rejected by the Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi on the grounds that it had not been consulted, showing no sign of flexibility to let the administration run the restive region smoothly. Declaring the decision unilateral, the TNSM Shoora, which met at its headquarters in Amandara on Sunday with Maulana Sufi Muhammad in the chair, expressed its dissatisfaction over the establishment of Shariah courts. Meanwhile, the spokesman of Tehrik-i-Taliban Swat declared weapons as an ornament of Muslims, keeping which was as essential as paying Zakat.
It comes as a rebuttal to NWFP Information Minister Iftikhar Hussain's strongly worded warning that after the establishment of Darul Qaza, nobody would be allowed to carry weapons and violators would be treated as rebels and dealt with sternly. And he had a point in saying that after the setting up of the Shariah courts, the TNSM leadership was now morally obliged to ensure the restoration of peace in the troubled region. Mr Hussain reminded Maulana Sufi Muhammad of his promise to ask the militants to lay down their arms. Giving details of the Shariah courts, he said each one of them, to be set up at tehsil level with a jurisdiction extending to as many as 47 police stations, would be authorized to hear both civil and criminal cases and award imprisonment of up to seven years. The major demand having been met, there is now little justification left for the TNSM to interfere in issues of governance, to obstruct administrative affairs and stop girl students from attending schools and colleges, as rightly pointed out by ANP spokesman Zahid Khan. Talking to the media on Sunday, he said the government would be left with no option other than initiating action against those who tried to break the law. The chances of the TNSM shedding its obduracy however seem bleak, as it wasted no time in rejecting what it termed a unilateral decision. The ANP leadership's assessment that while Sufi Muhammad was abiding by the agreement, he had no control over certain elements who were opposing the restoration of peace, calls into question its decision to strike a deal with a person not having much say. But those who are not ready to shed their stubbornness should not forget that by refusing to surrender their weapons, they would only push the situation to a stage where the government would be compelled to resort to the use of force. They must keep in mind that the responsibility of salvaging the deal lies with them.



3. Holding meetings.


MIAN Nawaz Sharif is holding meetings as if he was still the Punjab Chief Minister, a job which he gave up no less than 18 years ago, in order to become Prime Minister of Pakistan for the first of two times. Even though he no longer holds any official position but that of a party chief, he has now started using younger brother Shahbaz being chief minister of the Punjab to hold executive meetings. This is a dangerous trend.
The main issue is that this generates irresponsible government, for Mian Nawaz is not responsible to the Punjab Assembly, which is supposed to exercise oversight and control over the provincial organs of state, through its reposing of confidence in Mian Shahbaz and his Cabinet, who are, unlike Mian Nawaz, members of that Assembly. And when the government is no longer responsible to any elected assembly, the government is no longer democratic.
It almost seems that Mian Nawaz resents the fact that Mian Shahbaz, as chief minister, has developed a greater reputation than him, and that Mian Shahbaz, in connection with the wheat procurement campaign, has once again toured the province, and issued orders on the spot, of the kind beloved by Mian Nawaz. However, Mian Nawaz should learn that he has graduated from being a provincial politician to being a national, and it no longer suits him to be seen as handling provincial affairs, even if the province in question is the country's most populous. It was seen as nepotism for him to impose his brother, and if that brother, by dint of hard work, managed to regain the office he had been deposed from, Mian Nawaz should not attempt to meddle.

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CSS 2009, 2010, 2011 Qualifier

1. Turncoats in trouble.


THE PML(Q) Forward Bloc in the Punjab Assembly has reason to worry about the PPP's decision to remain part of the provincial ruling coalition since it is going to deal a blow to its members' hope of getting their share in the cabinet. Mian Ata Muhammad Maneka, who was elbowed out by Dr Tahir Ali Javed, now heading the so-called unification group, cautioned Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif on Sunday to be wary of the PPP ministers who, he believed, would try to put pressure on him by highlighting flaws in the issues of governance. That Mr Maneka was quite upset for being sidelined by the PML(N) leadership regardless of his effort to keep the Forward Bloc intact during the Governor's Rule was evident from his annoying observation that he had told his colleagues to contact their new leader if they had any reservations about the issue.
Dr Javed meanwhile keeps mum. Perhaps he understands that there is not much to worry about until the two mainstream parties finalize modalities for jointly running the province. The sticking point remains the powersharing formula for which no headway seems to have been made despite frequent contacts between the top leaderships of the PPP and the PML(N). A report in this paper indicates that Mian Shahbaz and some of his senior colleagues are reluctant to concede 40 percent share in the power set-up to the PPP under the changed circumstances when the PML(N) is neither a part of the federal government nor does it intend to be. This gives the Punjab CM a greater room to manoeuvre to deny the PPP its desired quota in the administrative postings in the province on the grounds that it would be done purely on the basis of merit. And the PML(N) leadership can continue to insist on reviewing the 60-40 powersharing formula in its favour until it is pushed to the stage where it feels compelled to rejoin the federal government. Prime Minister Gilani, who met the Punjab CM on Sunday, will have another round with him today to persuade him to reconsider the decision of not becoming part of the government at the Centre. Mian Shahbaz's insistence on reducing the PPP's share in the provincial cabinet might be aimed at inducting some Forward Bloc members in return for their unflinching support during the period he was out of power. But he needs to keep in mind that doing so would only cause heartburning among his partymen many of whom have serious reservation about the official patronage of these dissidents. The CM may however find it difficult to strike a balance between keeping the turncoats happy and not causing annoyance to his own legislators.


2. A pernicious doctrine.


WHILE extremism expresses itself in various forms and shapes, the views put forth by Sufi Mohammad represent a most pernicious strain of the phenomenon. His ideas which are shared only by a miniscule and highly primitive section of the population stand opposed to the moderate thinking of the Founding Fathers of Pakistan who stood for democracy, social justice, rule of law and modernism within the framework of a moderate Islam. Sufi Mohammad has rejected democracy and has expressed doubt about the credentials of the leadership of major religio-political parties who are operating within the framework of democracy, which he has castigated as a system created by Kuffar, or infidels, entirely incompatible with the Islamic Shariah. Like his followers in the Tehrik-e-Taliban-e-Pakistan, he considers all nation states in the Muslim world, including Saudi Arabia and Iran, as not being in conformity with Shariah. He refuses to consider the Kashmiris' struggle as jihad as this, in his view, is a struggle for a nation state or for joining Pakistan rather than for the enforcement of Shariah. The views would provide solace to New Delhi while strengthening the perception that some of the elements among the militants enjoy foreign backing.
Sufi Mohammad's views about women are also highly primitive and in opposition to those of the Founding Fathers. The All India Muslim League led by the Quaid encouraged women's participation in the fight for Pakistan. For this, the party also created a women wing of the MSF. Some of the women Leaguers played prominent role in Pakistan movement. Others subsequently worked as legislators, ministers and ambassadors. Miss Fatima Jinnah not only stood by the Quaid in the struggle for Pakistan but also contested the Presidential elections against Ayub Khan with a number of prominent ulema supporting her candidature. Sufi Mohammad not only opposes female education but also disallows any movement of women outside the four walls of their homes with the sole exception of the travel to perform Haj. His ideas regarding women are out of sync with the times and amount to pushing the country back to the cave age. While Sufi Mohammad opposes any recourse to violent methods for the enforcement of Shariah, the TTP Swat, which looks up to him as an ideologue, refuses to lay down arms. On Sunday, a boys school was blown up while armed Taliban resumed patrolling the streets. They also beheaded two security personnel. TTP Spokesman Muslim Khan has once again reiterated the resolve to enforce a narrow interpretation of the Shariah all over the country through force of arms. This raises the question if Sufi Mohammad, who played the role of an arbitrator between the NWFP government and the militants, really has much influence over the Taliban.

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CSS 2009, 2010, 2011 Qualifier

1. Buffeted by crises.


AS things stand, Pakistan finds itself buffeted by multiple crises. The raging militancy, the constant pressure of the Americans to go for the military option to deal with it and India's machinations trying to unnerve Pakistan, are some of the serious challenges it faces in the security and political spheres. Not a day passes without any of these threatening factors creating more problems for it. On Tuesday morning, a suicide bomber rammed his car into a vehicle carrying security personnel just on the outskirts of NWFP's capital, Peshawar, signalling once again that not even principal towns are immune from the terrorists' designs. Four security men were killed and eight wounded; and the brutal act did not spare the innocent school children, who were passing by at the time, with several of them injured. After the Buner operation that has taken a heavy toll of life, the Swat peace deal seems to be all but dead, with clashes between the security forces and the militants already taking place in some parts of the valley.
Following President Barack Obama's scathing criticism of Pakistan's civilian government, there has been a stream of statements and analyses throwing up hosts of scenarios, some as scary as foreboding its disintegration. On a daily basis, the vicious circle of pressure goes on, as Admiral Mullen is again in the news expressing the US wish for a military operation on the fast track. While President Obama counsels us not to regard India "as a mortal threat" and shift our focus to the challenge of militancy on the western borders with a single-minded devotion, New Delhi, ever scheming to fish in troubled waters, starts holding military exercises on our borders. No strategist worth its salt would forget the lifelong hostility between the two countries on the basis of baseless assumptions. The facts on the ground speak louder and clearer. It is a pity that the leader of the superpower cedes to the Indian pressure and modifies his stance on the centrality of Kashmir in forging peace between the two countries, but there is little justification for Pakistan to overlook how the Indians conduct themselves. India and Pakistan have fought wars and continue to have serious disputes. Not only that. New Delhi creates new realities meant to make matters worse for Islamabad. The diversion of water by constructing dams in the upper reaches against the explicit provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty is extremely worrisome to Pakistan and serves as a constant reminder of India's hostility. It has been termed as a more serious threat than the Taliban. Should not Washington be reviewing its strategy towards the Subcontinent in recognition of these threats to Pakistan and spare some effort to persuade India to shed its intransigence and sort out the contentious issues? That would constitute quite a setback to militancy.


2. A new dimension.



THE Chief Justice's announcement, while hearing a case in the Supreme Court, that the latter could review the 17th Amendment, adds a new dimension to the constitutional debate in the country. After the War on Terror, the question of what to do with this much hated amendment to the Constitution is the focus of everybody's attention in national politics. The recent advances of the Taliban have put this debate on the backburner for a while, but it is still simmering and waiting for a response. All wrongs, advocates of democracy will say, are not righted merely with the resignation of the previous President and the reinstatement of the apex judiciary.
As far as the former dictator is concerned, what more could have been done other than his resignation? Well, in the Chief Justice's own words, "We can review all martial law regulations and actions, even those given protection by Article 270AA of the Constitution under the 17th Constitutional Amendment." That is bound to be interesting, if ugly. The whole deal is going to be challenged, however. The judiciary cannot make laws, only interpret them, the defenders of the former President are going to say. True, but the judiciary can, even if there is a law or amendment passed by Parliament, rule that it is still ultra vires of the Constitution. Open to interpretation, yes, but we already know the mood of the court when this debate would come up. And to be fair, the apex court really would be well within its rights to review the Amendment. This statement by the Chief Justice could also spur up the Treasury to prepare its much hyped constitutional package. Initially meant primarily for solving the problem of the judiciary deposed on 3 November 2007, the PPP's constitutional package will now deal principally with the mess left by Pervez Musharraf in the form of the 17th Amendment. This includes a host of issues, including the powers of the President, the two-time term limit for Prime Ministers (previously a cause for concern for both the PPP and PML (N), now only for the latter) and others. The Supreme Court, however, can contribute a lot towards the resolution of the problem of militancy in the country. The new National Judicial Policy has set a couple of standards that has a time cap of 90 days on criminal and family cases and 30 days for child custody cases. If civil cases were also to be sped up, the demand for alternative systems of justice, often confused with simple extremist militancy, would go away and the militants be sidelined to some extent, as far as public support is concerned. Problems like these are becoming more of an existential threat than the ones that have cropped up because of the 17th Amendment.


3. Lawyers' strike.


LAWYERS are preparing to organize a strike on May 12 to commemorate the killing on that date of lawyers trying to welcome Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry who was due to address the Karachi Bar that day, during his era of deposition. In Karachi there is to be a complete shutterdown strike, and the MQM has joined the preparations for it, even though it was suspected in the original killings. On the other hand, the MQM has claimed those killed as martyrs for the party, The MQM Rabita Committee has joined the strike on the asking of the Haq Parast Aman Jirga, which pointed out that the party said it had lost 16 workers in the tragic events of that date. This was disclosed by MQM Rabita Committee member Waseem Aftab, who told this paper that while the MQM had not issued the call for a strike, it backed the current call.
The MQM's support for the strike has been qualified by Mr Aftab, who said that the party had come under immense pressure "not to bow down to those who want to destroy peace in the provincial capital." He said this was a conspiracy, about which MQM chief Altaf Hussain would disclose the facts on May 12. He has also said that the strike would be peaceful, with certain types of emergency services continuing. The strike is also to be joined by the ANP. Though the ANP does not have the same level of influence in Karachi as the MQM, the real significance of this is that the MQM and the ANP are both joining the strike, despite being junior partners of the PPP in the Central government, as well as the Sindh government. This is an indication of the widespread public support for the strike, and for the cause, which it represents.
Lawyers belong to all parties, and thus their causes do too. This was forgotten in the lawyers' struggle to restore the deposed judges, to the cost of those parties, which opposed the lawyers. Yet, amidst the parties' efforts to make amends, no party should be allowed to become part of a movement it does not believe in, any way.

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CSS 2009, 2010, 2011 Qualifier

1. Nuclear Surrender?


IF the Boston Globe report is any way close to the truth, Pakistani officials are in talks with the US about its demand to fly the stock of highly enriched uranium Islamabad possesses to the US, to be disposed of there. That demand is based on the Americans' consuming fear that the dangerous stuff could fall into the hands of militants, who are, they believe, knocking at the door of Islamabad and would like to use it against the US on gaining control of the reins of government in Pakistan. The newspaper cites two unnamed Administration officials with direct knowledge of the discussions to secure Pakistani weapons. Another story on a survey underlines that 87 percent of Americans are "somewhat concerned" and 60 percent "very concerned" about the security of these weapons. President Obama's National Security Advisor General James Jones has told BBC that though he has been assured by Pakistan Army about the safety of nuclear weapons, Washington needed further guarantees since "the world would like to know...that there's absolute security and transparency."
Much to the surprise of the Pakistani nation, which would under no circumstances countenance any compromise on the nuclear assets so vital to our survival in the hostile climate we live in, the Boston Globe reports that officials from Islamabad have shed their secretiveness about the programme and are willing to cooperate. They feel that they have a reason to do so in the face of the threatening inroads of the militants, the report adds. That, if true, is indeed a serious matter. There is no reason for us to open up on this highly sensitive issue before any foreign power and no one should ever be allowed to even discuss the possibility of our surrendering the most potent weapon of security. The US, which spared no stratagem it could think of to scuttle Pakistan's nuclear programme while it was under way, finds it hard to stomach the reality that it tested the weapon successfully as a tit-for-tat to India. Islamabad rightly ignored Washington's pressure to demonstrate that it possessed adequate deterrence, and it proved the deterrence value by warding off the possibility of an Indian attack when it had kept amassed troops on Pakistan's international borders for 10 months in 2002. Strange for an exponent of non-proliferation to have gone out of the way to offer New Delhi the forbidden nuclear technology, calling it "civilian", that would undoubtedly help strengthen its arsenal. With India not willing to settle disputes with Pakistan and, in fact, continuing to create problems for it, Islamabad ought to be extra vigilant against any foreign designs to dispossess it of the nuclear stockpile. There is no justification whatsoever for agreeing to engage the US in discussions whose purpose of depriving us of these assets should not be hidden from our officials.


2. Reviving Coalition.


THAT the PPP and the PML(N) have agreed to retain the previous coalition arrangement in the Punjab government, and also to revive the committee comprising members of the two parties to improve coordination between them, is welcome. The decision was taken at a meeting between Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and Punjab Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif in Islamabad on Tuesday, with both leaders reaffirming their commitment to respect each other's mandate and work together to strengthen democratic institutions and effectively deal with the internal and external threats facing the country.
The decision comes at a time when Pakistan is grappling with serious security challenges that can best be met by devising a comprehensive strategy in consultation with political parties across the divide. The need for national reconciliation has never been felt so strongly in the past as now. Mian Nawaz Sharif has a point in saying that the government should immediately convene a national conference to discuss the deepening crises in the two western provinces. There is no disputing his observation that growing insurgencies in Balochistan and Malakand Division were the result of repressive policies of General Musharraf whom the PML(N) intends to indict for the gruesome murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti and other innocent citizens. Balochistan awaits a healing touch, that could be administered provided the two mainstream parties jointly endeavour to address the genuine grievances of the Baloch who have failed to find any respite in the last 14 months of the democratic rule. Mr Gilani and Mian Shahbaz did well by reaffirming their resolve to achieve the common objective of making Pakistan a peaceful and progressive nation by establishing the rule of law and fulfilling their commitment to evolve a system of governance that envisages the resolution of people's problems. Their decision to take all political parties on board in the decision-making process deserves appreciation. Much is left to be desired in the decision of Mian Shahbaz not to change his mind about inducting the Forward Bloc members in the provincial cabinet in return for their 'services' during the period when he had been deposed. The PML(N) leadership could have done well by positively responding to the PM's call for rejoining the federal government, but since the Punjab CM has linked it with the repeal of the 17th Amendment and implementation of the Charter of Democracy, the ball is now in the PPP's court. But then it must not abdicate its responsibility for making coordinated efforts with the PML(N) to strengthen democracy and safeguard sovereignty.


3. Humanitarian crisis.


AFTER Bajaur, a humanitarian crisis is brewing in Swat where a three-month-old ceasefire virtually broke down on Tuesday. With Taliban refusing to lay down their arms despite the formation of the Darul Qaza demanded by Sufi Mohammad, the violent incidents were not entirely unexpected. Defying curfew, groups of armed Taliban have targeted the symbols of state power, occupying Saidu Sharif police station, the DIG office and the office of the District Nazim, while encircling the residence of Commissioner Malakand. They have also attacked the local grid station, killing an FC personnel. A TV channel has reported gunship helicopters pounding militant hideouts in Mingora, the principal city of Swat.
An evacuation order by the Army, subsequently withdrawn, led to thousands streaming out of Mingora. With military operation continuing in Buner and Lower Dir, as many as 500,000 additional people might turn into internally displaced persons in days to come. Last month, the number of displaced persons had reached 600,000. With 1.1 million people thrown out of their homes and forced to live in uncertain conditions, this would constitute a humanitarian crisis of major magnitude. The question is whether the NWFP government is able to handle it. There being a political government in place, it has been able to extract undertaking from local donors to look after some of the camps while doctors have volunteered to attend patients. Keeping in view the scale of displacement, the help by private citizens would cover only a fraction of the IDPs. Rs five million for each district being released by the provincial government too would be insufficient.
There is a need on the part of the federal government to make available sufficient funds to deal with the situation. Before approaching international donors, it should launch an appeal for funds at home. The way Pakistanis responded to the plight of earthquake victims in 2006 indicates people can be mobilized to offer funds and services at times of national emergency.

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CSS 2009, 2010, 2011 Qualifier

1. Washington Mission.


WHILE President Zardari is in Washington to seek Obama administration's political and economic support, the outcome of his talks hinges on how far he is able to address the American concerns. America's security issues are on the top of the list of President Obama's administration. Washington views Al Qaeda and the Taliban as a major threat to the US. The US administration is also edgy about the security of Pakistan's nuclear weapons in the background of the militant's advance from FATA to the settled districts. Recently the occupation of Buner, situated within 60 miles of Islamabad, had revived in Washington the memories of the Taliban's advance to Kabul in 1996 and the subsequent trauma of 9/11. Secretary Clinton last month accused Islamabad of abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists. What has increased Washington's concerns is the perception that the PPP-led coalition is fragile and enjoys decreasing public support. Statements of the sort had led to surmises that his administration might be backing away from Mr. Zardari and was looking for a replacement. The US pressure continued as Pakistan delegation arrived. On Tuesday special representative Holbrooke maintained in a Congressional testimony that Pakistan must demonstrate its commitment to rooting out al Qaeda and the violent extremists. President Zardari has tried to allay the US suspicions during a number of meetings he held in Washington. On Tuesday he was grilled for 90 minutes by the House Foreign Affairs Committee where his government's ability to beat back the militants was under review. It remains to be seen how far he has succeeded in projecting his government's stand. The US concerns have been enhanced by the deteriorating security situation in neighbouring Afghanistan where American casualties have increased manifold during the last few months. President Obama therefore considered it necessary to hold a three way meeting with Mr Zardari and Mr Karzai. The two visiting leaders held talks with important US administration officials including Secretary Clinton, National Security Advisor General James Jones and Mr Holbrooke. The focus was to make Afghanistan and Pakistan, considered as both unstable and strategically vital, to work with each other and the US. Mr Zardari was told that US stands by the democratic government in Pakistan and would help resolve Pak-India water dispute. In return Washington succeeded in getting Pakistani sign an MoU to discuss allowing Afghanistan to use the land route with India for trade, a demand that both Kabul and New Delhi have failed to get accepted for the last four decades.
Mr Zardari has to ensure that in his pursuit of political and economic support, Pakistan's interests are not bartered away in any respect. Pakistan's nuclear programme should particularly remain safe.



2. Civilian deaths in Farah.


REPEATED instances of the deaths of civilians in Afghanistan at the hands of the American army tells the true story of the attitude of foreign occupation that is desperately trying to defeat a determined resistance movement. That, unfortunately, is also the fate of the poorly armed people who are not willing to compromise on their independence that has been usurped by the mightiest power in the world, which is assisted by a host of European and other Western allies.
In an aerial bombardment and ground operation last Monday night, an estimated 100 persons were brutally put to death by the US armed forces. The number of the wounded has not been ascertained so far. Among the dead, only 25 to 30 were believed to be Al-Qaeda or Taliban fighters and the rest were common Afghan people, men, women and children. At least the murder of 20 children has been confirmed. The mass murder must be condemned in the severest terms possible. This was the largest figure of casualties sustained by the poor, ordinary citizens as a result of Washington's callous disregard of Afghan life by a country that keeps churning out reports of human rights violations of other countries. As soon as the US armed forces discovered that they were helpless against the resurgent insurgency by an intrepid local population, the deaths of ordinary Afghans, not involved in the fighting, began mounting. Inevitably, there were accusations of deliberate slaughter. The US pleas that the deaths were unintentional "collateral damage" did not carry much weight even with international agencies like the United Nation. Similar was the fate of regrets because such deaths continued to happen at intervals. Even the government of Hamid Karzai, an American puppet, went public with the grievance and frustration at repeated recurrences. There have been known and acknowledged cases of the shelling of wedding parties, social get-togethers or funeral processions, with scores of casualties. In the face of the US determination to turn the tide of an otherwise hopeless war it is not far-fetched to conclude that killing civilians is a studied policy to force the population to give up its support of the resistance fighters. These are defeatist tactics. The best course for the occupation forces, under the circumstances, is to learn from history, pack up and go home. The policymakers somehow do not realise that the deaths of ordinary people create a groundswell hatred of the US and sympathy for the so-called Taliban. Their purpose of putting down the insurgency and capturing top Al-Qaeda leadership inevitably goes beyond reach.




3. A right decision.


THE PML(N)'s decision to show the National Assembly's door to a parliamentarian of theirs over the controversy surrounding his FA exams is admirable. It sets a good precedent for political parties to follow. Even the mere semblance of the idea that the ruling class is subject to the law of the land is admirable. But the utility of mere semblances emerges only when standards are lowered by the ruling class itself. Excesses far worse have been committed by the ruling elite than having a nephew take a Pakistan Studies paper on your behalf. And that includes the League itself.
It would sound petulant, difficult and uppity not to bring oneself to praise the good actions of political parties; indeed they should be, as this paper believes. But the actual business of politics is much more difficult than the easy spots that Pervez "wrong place, wrong time" Khan's case provides. Here was a man who had won a bye-election to a seat that had been vacated by Javed Hashmi. The certainty of Khan's getting the seat was akin to a Senatorial election: all the party had to do was give him the ticket. It was, in other words, easier to show him the door. What does a party do when it is a local political heavyweight who will necessarily get his NA seat and wields heavy influence over the provincial seats that fall in his constituency and beyond? Even if the case against him were not as slight (though undeniably wrong) as Pervez Khan's but that involving heavy corruption or gross misuse of official power?
In our electoral history, "activists' parties" like the PPP, ANP, JUI, JI etc had been giving tickets to party workers, albeit not as much as they should have. In the post-'99 shift of the N League, they started, to a smaller extent, to do the same. But all these parties can only show an acharacteristic measure of character if it were these pawns that are implicated in a scandal, not the rooks and knights across the polity's different chessboards.

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CSS 2009, 2010, 2011 Qualifier

1. A measure of last resort.

AFTER the Taliban in Malakand Division refused to put down their arms and started targeting the symbols of state despite the setting up of the Darul Qaza, the government ran out of options other than enforcing its writ with the help of the state's coercive machinery. Prime Minister Gilani has declared an all out war on the insurgents while President Zardari has said the operation would continue till normalcy is restored. Meanwhile, Gen Kayani has vowed to achieve decisive ascendancy against those who have taken up arms against the state. An anti-insurgency operation in populated areas is the least desirable option for any government as it invariably causes collateral damage, which at times could be excessive. What is more, this leads to a massive displacement of the population. The material losses incurred by both the population and the state are also prohibitive. This explains why the NWFP government had called for an end to the military operation that was being conduced in Swat and reached a negotiated settlement with the Taliban, which led to the enforcement of the Nizam-e-Adl. Despite international pressure the federal government too agreed to support the regulation, which it got through the National Assembly, posthaste. Instead of acting responsibly, the militant leadership then started opposing democracy and constitution and indicated that after Malakand they would go for enforcing their extremist views on the population of the entire country. No military operation can succeed without the full backing of the civilian population. There was a need on the part of the government to bring all major parties on board before launching the operation. Had the government convened an APC, as proposed by Mian Nawaz Sharif, before taking the decision, this would have strengthened its hands. The Parliament too should have been taken into confidence. As this was not done, there have been discordant reactions to the PM's announcement from some political parties. So far the government has received wholehearted support only from the ANP and MQM who are its coalition partners. As the decision was taken abruptly, the government's critics have ascribed it to Washington's pressure. What the government needs to do is to urgently call an APC with the aim of seeking support from a cross-section of the population. It should also get the operation endorsed by the National Assembly at the earliest.
The government should also gear up to deal with the consequences of the operation. The humanitarian crisis created by the addition of lakhs of people to the already extra large pool of IDPs must not be allowed to turn into a disaster. Provinces should be advised to take additional security measures to save the people from the wrath of militant extremists who are likely to turn desperate as a result of the operation.


2. Chief Justice's remarks.


THE Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, showed an amazing clarity while speaking to a delegation of the Sangla Hill Bar Association on Thursday. He was clear that the lawyers' movement had succeeded because it had the support of the rest of the nation. But the movement's success had also meant that the nation placed high hopes on the judiciary. Chief Justice Chaudhry was apparently just defining the public objections to the present judiciary, but he was also defining the future course of action of the higher judiciary when he said that the whole system would be rectified, and that no judge would be sluggish, nor would the court staff accept bribes, nor would it have front men for the purpose. He told the delegation that the police department would also not be allowed to continue this practice, in which serving policemen employed retired persons to record memos and carry out similar tasks.
In fact, Chief Justice Chaudhry had also attacked the Police Order 2002 in the course of hearing a case, when he observed that the Order had worsened circumstances and left people to fend for themselves. Here he appealed among others to the Bar, just as he had mentioned to the Sangla Hill delegation, to help remedy the situation. Specifically, he appealed to the Bar to root out the black sheep within its own ranks, who helped in the corruption of the judiciary.
The Chief Justice showed clearly that he understands that the judiciary is only one of the agencies involved in the administration of justice. He claimed that the targets for the judiciary had been achieved within a month of the judges' restoration, but he seemed entirely clear that the delivery of justice to people required the police to abandon its corruption also. If the entire movement to restore the judiciary is to bear fruit, and meet the expectations of the people, the Chief Justice has to have only just begun.



3. A good beginning.


THE spirit of understanding and cooperation in evidence between the Ministers belonging to PML-N and PPP at the Punjab Cabinet meeting held on Thursday, with Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif in the chair, bodes well for the future of governance in the province. Welcoming the return of PPP Cabinet Ministers in the fold, Mian Shahbaz had, right at the beginning of the meeting, counselled the Cabinet members of both parties to forget about the bickering and tensions of the past and work in unison with each other for the welfare of the people with single-minded attention. In the changed climate of relations between the two parties that is a befitting response to the critical phase the country is passing through, the PML-N also seems to have reconciled with the fact of Governor Salman Taseer staying in office and the party leaders present there claimed that they had never asked for his removal. That ensures peace on that front also. In that helpful atmosphere of cooperation, it is reasonable to expect that the briefing and instructions of Mian Shahbaz would be heeded and the decisions taken at the Cabinet session carried out.
The participants learnt from the concerned colleague that 3.4 million tons of wheat had already been procured and arrangements were being made to put the procured wheat in private godowns, in addition to government silos. Due resolve to maintain law and order and take appropriate measures to forestall a terrorist activity was expressed. It is hoped that both parties would do their best to maintain the present understanding that should pave the way for their cooperation at the centre as well. The country badly needs a unified and determined stand to tide over the crises.

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CSS 2009, 2010, 2011 Qualifier

1. A new approach.


PAKISTAN and Afghanistan, which have been under mounting pressure from the US to join hands to flush out terrorism, organized crime and drug trafficking have finally agreed on strengthening border security management and maintaining close coordination. A new mechanism of cooperation has presumably been evolved. According to Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Washington would support the two countries in capacity building, infrastructural support, and training of their security forces and that UK, Australia and Canada would also provide similar help. The two sides have agreed not to allow non-state actors to use their soil. Both countries would raise additional border security force to check crossborder terrorism. They would also integrate efforts to control illegal border crossing.
With a 2,500km long, porous and mostly unmarked Durand Line dividing Pakistan and Afghanistan, smugglers and traffickers of narcotics have over the decades moved freely between the two countries. The situation now has become critical for Islamabad and Kabul in particular, and the world in general, because of two reasons: an unprecedented rise in the activities of militants and heroin traffickers. What has benefited both is the misunderstanding that prevails between Islamabad and Kabul. Despite two summit meetings between the two countries hosted by Turkey, the differences have not been fully resolved. . The Karzai government, which has been unable to extend its writ outside Kabul and is plagued by corruption, has been accusing Pakistan of allowing safe havens to militants in the tribal areas calling for attacks by the allied forces, a demand that has added to the bitterness between the neighbours. Pakistan in turn has accused those guarding the other side of the Durand Line of failing to stop the influx of militants into Pakistan. Poppy production has meanwhile increased manifold in southern Afghanistan, giving a boost to heroin trade. While this has led to sharp increase in the number of addicts in Pakistan, which has reportedly reached four millions now, international community has also expressed concerns. While many would agree that the two countries need to cooperate to deal with the two menaces they face, the details of the proposed agreement need to be made public. What is most important is Pakistan's territorial sovereignty, which must in no way be infringed upon. There is already a great resentment against the US drone attacks in Pakistan. There is a need to ensure that the agreement does not legitimize hot pursuit. Unless the issue of Kashmir is resolved in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiris, Pakistan cannot shift military from its eastern border to fight the militants as President Zardari has rightly pointed out.



2. Poor Planning.



THE authorities' reluctance to pursue the reality that ours is an agricultural economy lies at the root of their ambivalence about the need to develop an adequate infrastructure that could not only provide food security for the country's population but also spare a sizeable surplus for export. This year's high production of wheat, staple food for a vast majority of the population and thus rightly called "the main pillar of food security", is a case in point. It appears that the Punjab government has decided to export one million tons of wheat as, according to all available indications, the crop is likely to yield more than 20 million tons. Out of this production, it is estimated that at least 10 million tons have been put up for sale by the farming community against the revised procurement figure of eight million tons: six million tons by Punjab and two million tons by the centre. So far, the province has purchased around 3.5 million ton (which would meet its need) and yet to procure the rest. That has prompted the province to export one million tons and yet have more than sufficient stock to meet an emergency.
But in the inadequacy of the infrastructure lies the rub. Reportedly, the government's resources in buying the required quantity fall too short. Finances to pay the grower, gunny bags to collect the purchased crop, storages bins to keep the stock for the rainy day or, for that matter, dedicated human resource to see whether the process of procurement is being carried out honestly and to the satisfaction of the indefatigable Chief Minister - all have been found wanting, pointing an accusing finger at the planners and to the great shock of the public. The pity is that whenever the toiling farmer, helped by favourable climatic conditions, produces a bumper crop, it only benefits the middleman. Or the surplus goes waste for lack of easy access to the market or the government inability to buy, pay and store. Either way, the despondent farmer thinks twice before putting in extra effort the next season. The nation stands short-changed as well. Exporting surplus stock would be justified if the grower's problems are suitably tackled to encourage him to work harder in the future. Extra attention should be paid to have the required infrastructure ready to meet higher yield. Modern methods of production and inputs should made be available in sufficient quantities at affordable prices and in an unadulterated form. A developed agricultural economy would provide a fillip to the industrialisation and modernisation of the country. One would hope the country's policymakers take the issue seriously.




3. Library takeover.


THE takeover of the Quaid-a-Azam Library from its managing committee and placement under the direct control of the Director General Libraries Punjab is a symptom rather than the disease itself, and points up the failure of the Punjab government to allow an institution to function democratically, or else the defects under the Societies Registration Act under which the replaced management committee was set up.
This mirrors the takeover of the Punjab Public Library and the replacement of its committee, and thus the library takeover is not because elections resulted in a particular committee coming to office, but because the bureaucrats who become the DG Libraries' boss, the education secretary, or rather the higher education secretary nowadays, cannot tolerate a dispensation which is not totally under their control. The management committee mechanism was introduced so that libraries could avoid this kind of mindless governmental control, but because the department is still the funnel through which libraries get money from the Libraries Foundation, which gives the Quaid-e-Azam Library a large sum.
However, though it was not thought about at the time of takeover, the Punjab government should have taken into consideration the fact that the management committee mechanism was provided because even the British recognized that the bureaucracy, on which it depended so much, was ill-suited to running libraries in particular, so it made libraries independent of bureaucratic control. Governments these days are busy getting out of all sorts of activities, especially services like libraries, because they usually make sure that they are not run to facilitate the user. Yet the Punjab government is acting the opposite. It must consider an early revival of the management committee basic to the revival of the fortunes of the library, which has been a library of reference for many years, and which was set up at great cost to the taxpayer.

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CSS 2009, 2010, 2011 Qualifier

1. Simply unforgivable.


SIXTEEN years, more than what a life sentence is in many systems of jurisprudence, is what Aftab Masih has spent in the Kot Lakhpat Jail. That too, on death row. The Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday and the Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, Khwaja Muhammad Sharif, who had been visiting the said jail to meet with condemned prisoners discovered Aftab Masih languishing there, who had been sentenced by a speedy trials court way back in 1993. The LHC CJ has directed the Jail Superintendent to appear before the court and explain the details of the case. The details about the status of his appeals have not been found. This is, of course, a travesty. It speaks volumes about the state of the justice system in the country. If the said judges hadn't made the trip, Masih would still be there, unaware of his fate and the jail bureaucracy would not have been too pushed about him.
The current political government, after taking the political wind out of the sails of the Swat militants by signing the Nizam-e-Adl regulations, has decided to go into an all-out war against them. The decision to go into war is correct. But the need for the aforementioned regulation emerged only because it was a longstanding, curiously secular (despite the nomenclature) demand of the people of the valley. It had merely been hijacked by the militants. The lethargic justice system still has many unresolved land property cases that had been initiated back when Swat was merged into Pakistan proper as a tribal area and not a princely state. Even though Malakand's claim to a different system might have been greater, everybody across the country has an axe to grind against the judicial system. When militant groups present a different, seemingly better (it is anything but) system, they will get local support.
Cases like Aftab Masih's might become one of the many footnotes in the history of Pakistan's descent into chaos. The battle for Pakistan must be won through war in some parts of the country, but through better service delivery of the state in all parts of the country.


2. Battle for survival.


PRIME Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani cannot be blamed for exaggerating the situation when he told a press conference, after he had presided over a special session of the Federal Cabinet on Saturday, that launching the military operation against militants holding sway in Swat was a matter of survival for Pakistan. There was no disputing his point that the government was left with no option but to resort to the use of force after the failure of the peace accord caused by militants' refusal to lay down arms. The Cabinet endorsed the military action aimed at wresting back the control of Swat from insurgents, but cautioned the government to ensure that it ends soon with minimum collateral damage. It was good to hear from the PM that there was no truth in the reports about capping our nuclear programme.
Mr Gilani had to do a lot of explaining to dismiss the perception that the operation had been launched under immense pressure from the international community that coincided with President Asif Zardari's visit to Washington. But he would find few takers for his view that it was not possible to take the Cabinet and Parliament into confidence before launching the offensive, especially amid media reports that the decision had been taken well ahead of the President's departure for the United States. The Obama Administration started mounting pressure on Islamabad to renounce the peace deal signed between the NWFP government and the Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Muhammadi in February this year. It appeared to be carrying on the legacy of the combative Bush regime that remained averse to the idea of any negotiated settlement with elements, whom it continued to accuse of sponsoring extremism across the border. Mr Zardari's pledge to take the ongoing military offensive in Malakand Division to its logical conclusion notwithstanding, he should also have lodged a protest over the continuing drone attacks in the tribal areas during his meetings with President Obama and other officials of his Administration. It was about time that the Americans were told in no uncertain terms that the frequent violations of our airspace by the Predators flown from Afghanistan could not be tolerated. There is no doubt that the latest military offensive against insurgents has been launched with greater public backing than the previous two actions conducted before the signing of the peace accord. But while tackling the growing insurgency, the government need not lose the focus of taking appropriate measures for the rehabilitation of the millions of internally displaced persons that has turned out to be a serious humanitarian crisis. The government should ensure proper management of resources, funds and manpower to make their stay in the camps as comfortable as possible. Donor agencies and foreign governments should also be approached to extend help.


3. Imperative need.


THE power shortage in the country is so acute and disruptive of socio-economic activity that all available and assured sources of supply should be tapped to tide over the crisis in the shortest possible time. If the Central Asian states of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan could meet that requirement, there should be no hesitation to go ahead in entering into a deal with them, and the agreement that President Asif Zardari, President Hamid Karzai and World Bank President Robert Zoellick reached in this regard at Washington on Saturday should be welcome. And one would not dispute Mr Zoellick's contention that Central Asia could help energy-starved South Asia, but for that the situation in Afghanistan, through which the transmission lines are to pass to bring power across to Pakistan, would have to be peaceful. As it is, it is unpredictably dangerous and, according to all indications, would continue to be so for the foreseeable future, constituting a formidable roadblock to the execution of the project. There is, therefore, little likelihood of Pakistan drawing benefit out of it in the near future, which is our imperative need.
That brings in the importance of the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline, which would make electricity available to us in a much shorter time. That would not only be a far securer source but also significantly cheaper. We must implement the project even if India opts out, as the government has repeatedly said, and not give in to US pressure to put it on the backburner. Nevertheless, the idea of utilising the abundant energy resources of Central Asia by South Asia would, if it materialises, prove to be mutually beneficial. The World Bank and other international financial institutions are agreed to render technical assistance for the development of the Central Asia-South Asia Regional Electricity Market and the Central Asia-South Asia Transmission Project expected to cost $680 million. The project stipulates the availability of an expanded volume of power in the future that would "catalyse additional energy investment and trade" and cover the four countries of Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Afghanistan and Pakistan and the region as a whole.
The three leaders also discussed economic cooperation in general between the two regions, as well as in certain infrastructure projects between the two countries, like the development of the Peshawar-Kabul rail link and upgradation of the Peshawar-Kabul road link.

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CSS 2009, 2010, 2011 Qualifier