19.05.2013

Storm in a teacup
Post-election clamour shows the disconnect between our foreign English accented educated middle class and the masses, and how little both understand each other
By M. Zaidi

This is not a political article about who won or should have won in the elections; as far as I am concerned the people have spoken, and all my leaders are as venerated for me as the other, as is my resolve to stand behind the democratic dispensation as a middle income Pakistani. However, my concern right now is with my other fellow middle income Pakistanis who waxed eloquent on social media about some revolution or the other, and then vented outright dismay over results which were not congruent with their expectations. I stand behind their right of expression.

However, I am also again taken aback by how great the disconnect is between our so called urban educated middle class, and the majority of Pakistanis who live in rural settings, and how little they understand or relate to each other. I read on Face book and Twitter dozens of messages expressing dismay over how the ‘uneducated’ swamped us ‘educated’ middle class, how some wanted to ‘leave’ the country since nothing was possible here, why only ‘city’ folks understood the concept of change etc. This described for me vividly the disconnect between our foreign English accented educated middle class and the masses, and how little both understand and now increasingly less interact with each other.

Let us then compare ‘our’ and ‘their’ problems and issues. As a middle class, we experience incremental increases in earning power, though we complain that inflation robs us of the benefits. Amongst the rural ‘not so middle class’ this income disparity has manifested itself by the ratio of the highest to the lowest income quintiles ranging from 3.76 to 4.2, which may translate into Rs2000 per month for a family of six.

We are complaining about how the poor economic conditions have forced us to pay rising school fees for our children, while poorer households in Pakistan tend to have a higher number of children on average, especially in rural areas. This implies that an exceptionally large number of young men and women are being forced to live below or around the poverty line.

Furthermore, at least one tenth of the rural communities do not even have access to basic facilities, while for us middle class in the urban cities this never really hit us as hard till we started facing electricity shortages. Oh, and by the way, these are much worse in poorer rural areas too. The children who come from these families seem destined to have a grim future, particularly with regard to employment in a rapidly expanding rural youth bulge. We complain about the job crunch, while the alienated majority of non-elite young men can only find relatively menial, unfulfilling jobs. I ask myself, how many times we have come out on the streets waving flags or chanting slogans for them? No need really, since we are waiting for somebody to change the system for us, it’s not our job.

Since the richest 20 per cent of the population are continuing to grow richer, the sense of alienation among the poor young men is not surprising that forces them to look for other alternatives.

Of course, we take for granted that women, as a gender, are sidelined in rural areas, and sometimes my young sisters and daughters of our educated middle class can afford to wax eloquent about fighting for the rights of rural women and feminism. I say to you; how many of you have maids serving in your households for what cannot be much more than subsistence salaries? How many times do we see young educated mothers with small kids faithfully followed round by maids or nannies who have many years to go before touching even teenage? Of course, we say that this is a necessity, we need servants in Pakistan, and it’s the system blah blah. Isn’t this upwardly mobile foreign or elite university educated ‘feminist’ class as complicit in enslaving their gender fellows (read child labour) as is the object of their wrath, the rural male, for just financial considerations.

As it is, are we not paying mere lip service to ‘change’ without even bothering to consider implementing even the most fundamental change within ourselves? Coming out on the streets chanting slogans, attending jalsas etc for a few days is great fun and not too onerous really in our extremely busy middle class lives.

Do you know what our problem is? Shortcuts! We, as a nation, want to take the easy way out! Choosing a leader and then sitting back asking him to correct things is a nice, relaxed way of doing things. Come out on streets chanting slogans for a few days, wave a few flags, get a leader in, sit back for five years and let him take care of things. Was there an identifiable leader in Arab Spring? People came on streets using social networks, while some of us are using ours to put down what we call the ‘uneducated’ masses. Have we pulled off a Tahrir Square against power cuts, unemployment and inequality? No we have not.

Of course, we have entrusted our leaders to deliver that in esoteric forms of revolutions or whatnot; after all we attended their jalsas, so now they need to sort things out; we are done for the next five years! Don’t we need to help the same leaders we are hoping to get into power to solve the huge problems Pakistan faces? And if perchance our favourite persons are not where we want them to be, we should just sit back and wait for times that are ‘right’ instead of making them right ourselves? Or, maybe, we ought to emigrate somewhere else, but then, are we waiting for an act of God or nature to make things right in our lives rather than relying on ourselves to do it?

Can we talk about equality when we are not even thinking of the rural population in terms of equality, as being either too subservient or not politically educated or total illiterates?

We may sympathise (rightly so) with their problems as not being created by themselves while sipping Latte’s in our swanky urban cafes, but what have we, as individuals or collectively, done to help or even understand them? Many complain that our fate is once again decided by so called (by the PTI campaigners) “unparh” and “jahils” of Pakistan. Learn to respect these nobles, otherwise they will throw us out one day.

19.05.2013

Traumatic situation
Formal trauma centres and trauma management network need to be upgraded in a country where traffic accidents, terrorist attacks and gun violence are common
By Syed Mansoor Hussain

Doctors take care of sick people. Sick for most means somebody with a disease like a sore throat, a fever, a heart problem, a belly ache, cancer or something of that sort. But when a building falls, a factory goes up in flames, a road accident occurs or people get shot, the victims also end up needing medical help.

From an historical perspective, some of the greatest developments in surgery occurred during wars. The entire concept of trauma centres evolved from battlefield units taking care of the wounded. And in times of relative peace, war in the streets provides a major impetus for improvements in ‘trauma’ care.

A modern trauma centre is a hybrid of surgical and medical facilities that specialises in the care of the severely wounded patients. In most major cities in the west, trauma centres have been developed to take care of victims of traffic accidents, gunshot victims and people involved in urban disasters including industrial accidents and building collapses. In a country like Pakistan where traffic accidents, terrorist attacks and gun violence are a common occurrence, even in our largest cities there are no ‘formal’ trauma centres.

It is true that ‘emergency rooms’ in our major ‘teaching’ hospitals have most of the facilities that are needed to manage trauma patients but they are not organised in way that facilitates rapid assessment, triage and appropriate care. What are needed are designated trauma centres that have the required expertise available around the clock and also the particular management systems that are required. However, if an injured patient cannot make it to a trauma centre then having such centres is not of much help.

What is, therefore, equally important are a network of trained emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and ambulances that are equipped with basic life support systems that can provide immediate care or what used to be known as ‘first aid’ and then rapidly and safely transfer the patients to an appropriate facility. Those of us that saw Imran Khan fall from a fork lift and then saw him being carried as he was and then placed in a private car to reach a local hospital shuddered to think of how the way he was carried and transported could have seriously aggravated his injuries.

What the Imran Khan incident demonstrates is the great need to teach ordinary people basic principles of first aid and then to have easily and urgently available well-equipped ambulances staffed by trained EMTs. Lahore has such a system and why that was not summoned remains a question that I cannot answer. Clearly, basic life support training should be provided to all those interested in obtaining such training. Those of us that became boy scouts at a young age remember how we all received first aid training including basic management of broken bones and bleeding (immobilisation, splints, tourniquets, etc.).

The inherent tendency of politicians is to build big buildings with their names on it. So it will be with trauma centres if we ever get around to them. But this tendency must be resisted.

The first priority is what are called the ‘first responders’ that I have explained above. All major cities and appropriate places on the major highways should have such facilities. Second, all district hospitals should have the capability to take care of straight forward trauma cases. This capability includes functioning emergency rooms with appropriate facilities like X-Rays, blood banks and personnel trained in both basic and advanced trauma management. All straight forward cases of trauma that can be taken care of in these hospitals should be and those that are too complex after stabilisation should be transferred to major teaching hospitals.

As far as designated trauma centres are concerned, Lahore has two teaching hospitals that are at the north and south end of the city. In the south, we have Jinnah Hospital that has easy access from the motorway as well as from other parts of the city through the canal bank road. This should be developed into a proper trauma centre. In the north, we have Mayo Hospital that is close to the inner city as well as to the northern suburbs. It already serves as a trauma centre by default. It has a large emergency department that can be developed into a formal trauma centre.

Interestingly, most major cities also have well-developed private hospitals that can take care of these patients but they routinely refuse to do so. The reason is that accident victims and those injured by firearms or in terror attacks are all ‘medico-legal’ patients and the paperwork required for their care and subsequent prolonged court appearances that are necessary to bring these cases to an end takes up too much time and often involves private doctors in what they consider as unnecessary legal entanglements.

And perhaps a lesson to be learned from Imran Khan’s injury, in all such public meeting it might be entirely appropriate to have some trained emergency medical technicians in the entourage along with the usual complement of bodyguards. As it is whenever there is the VVVIP movement in the city, we always see a rescue ambulance chasing the armoured car of the chief minister.

What is, therefore, needed is a rescue service that extends beyond the major cities, smaller government hospitals that have the capacity to manage most trauma patients and the capability to transport complicated patients after stabilisation to tertiary care or teaching hospitals/trauma centres. Such a network that can effectively take care of injured patients will save lives and will also cut down on the complications that these very sick patients develop if appropriate care is delayed.

In summary, we already have most of the facilities needed for proper trauma care, what is needed is to develop formal trauma centres and trauma management network and reorganise the existing facilities to make them more effective. In Lahore alone, fixing and appropriately equipping and staffing the two hospitals I mentioned would be a good start.

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

19.05.2013

The Maulana and his fatwa
Hurling insults at political
opponents, sometime, proves counterproductive
By Rubina Jabbar

A veteran politician and the chief of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F), Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman, declared during his May 11 election campaign that voting for Imran Khan, the leader of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), was Haram (an act forbidden in Islam). When he was asked to elaborate, the self-righteous cleric-politician said because he himself said this.

“…there is only one proof and it is my own responsible personality. I am so righteous that I would never talk ill against anyone,” he was quoted as saying. The report further said the Maulana went on to give a joint declaration of the clerics belonging to the JUI-F. “We, the Ulema, have agreed that giving vote to the PTI is haram. Anyone who casts his/her vote for Imran or his candidate is involved in haram and such a person is going against Sharia,” he said.

In a pre-election survey published in a local magazine, people identified poverty, corruption, power crisis, illiteracy and extremism as the top five issues needed to be discussed in elections. But instead of talking about these challenges, the JUI-F leader got involved in non-issues. The Maulana has been in national politics for three decades, since he took charge of the JUI after the death of his father, Maulana Mufti Mahmood, in 1980. Has he got nothing interesting in his bag of political tricks to appeal voters other than harassing them by misusing religion?

The PTI is going to form the government in alliance with other election winners in the KPK and the JUI-F, after losing all hopes to form government, is planning to sit in the opposition.

Hurling insults at political opponents, sometime, prove counterproductive. A PPP-paid political broadcast exposing the PML-N promise about tackling power crisis in Punjab could definitely be given as an example. The ad which ran on television channels during elections showed the PML-N leader and former Punjab chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif, in his speeches delivered at different public rallies kept changing the period of time he put forward to end the problem of electricity shortage. In a speech he gave a six-month timeframe, in the next he raised it to one-and-half years and finally he made it to three years.

Now that the PML-N had made a huge victory in elections, almost wiping out the PPP from the national scene, it is hoped that Sharifs would soon define a policy on resolving the electricity crisis.

Now that the people have committed the act of haram by electing Imran Khan, who is going to form the government in alliance with other partners in KPK, one wonders how the JUI-F leader is going to punish the voters.

We should not ignore the Maulana’s edict as a mere political gimmick. And even if we accept it as rhetoric, the Maulana owes an apology to voters, and he also needs to take back his fatwa. It will also help the Maulana legitimise his working relationship with the ruling party in KPK.

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

19.05.2013

Change they need
The new government in KP faces big challenges anyway, but they become even bigger because of the PTI’s promises
By Tahir Ali

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) stunned all and sundry with its performance in the recently held elections. Though it couldn’t sweep elections across the country as predicted by Imran Khan, it became the biggest party in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The PTI is going to form a coalition government in KP with Jamaat-e-Islami, Qaumi Watan Party and some independent members.

The PTI contested elections on the agenda of change. Its manifesto pledges, inter alia, devolution of power, zero tolerance for corruption, improvement of economy through reforms in energy, expenditure, revenue sectors, institutional reforms, accountability and governance reforms. It promises human capital development, skill development and a welfare state and says the state will provide uniform system of education for all, equal opportunity and a social safety net for the poor. It also promises to banish the VIP culture and rightsizing of the government and so on.

The PTI will initiate changes across the board in the first 90 days of its government, according to its manifesto.

The PTI government in KP can both be an asset and a liability. Though Imran Khan says the PTI government will be a model one, governance is certainly being seen as a big challenge in the province. However, all agree that the PTI future is directly dependent upon the performance of its government and its ability to deliver on its agenda of change.

The PTI has had announced several policies and manifesto. It should implement them but it will be difficult unless these are followed by a pragmatic plan of action — a vision that could serve as a guide for the party government and its workers. The PTI has prepared an action plan for ‘Naya Pakistan’ which is generally thought of as unrealistic.

In its bid to attract the young voters, the PTI leaders spoke of lofty ideals that generated high expectations. Living up to these expectations of the young supporters will be a herculean task for the PTI and its government.

Unless the gap between the ground realities and lofty ideals espoused by the PTI is bridged on emergency basis, the party will risk losing its youth even if its performance is better than the previous governments. However, this idealism can be an asset if supported by a realistic plan of action.

Most of the young PTI supporters are idealists. They have little knowledge of how our political system works. They were heard saying the PTI will lash the corrupt in public, will dismiss and replace Zardari immediately after polls, or that Imran will become prime minister/president immediately after election results are announced or that police and patwari system will be abolished.

Analysts say drone attacks, security problem, bad performance of other parties and the PTI slogan of change were the major factors in its victory. Change is, however, a complex phenomenon.

When Imran talks of change, he doesn’t mean he will disband the present system. Instead, he believes in working within the framework of the constitution and law to achieve his objectives. So, in fact, he is for reform and not overturning of the present system of election and governance in the country. Unfortunately, most of the PTI supporters don’t know this. When they will see that the same structure of government, with patwari, police, clerks etc, continues, they will get disillusioned.

Loadshedding, terrorism, restoration of peace, economic development, and reduction in poverty, inflation and joblessness are some major challenges facing the PTI.

According to Muhammad Khan, a Batkhela-based academic, the PTI will have to improve law and order situation through government-militant talks. Besides de-radicalisation and economic empowerment of people, the government will also have to deal with foreign militants.

“It will have to reduce loadshedding for which a short and medium term power generation plan based on micro-hydro power stations will have to be launched. It will have to introduce reforms in different departments to stop corruption and ensure transparency. To eradicate poverty and joblessness, it will have to start an emergency programme for small businesses that ensures interest-free small loans and technical training to youngsters to start their businesses. And most of all, it must prefer collective mega projects for community development.”

“The PTI will now have to deal with Taliban directly and help shape Pakistan’s Talibans’ policy. It will be exposed for the first time to militants. Will it still talk of talks if Taliban continue to challenge the state? Will Imran be able to bring peace to KP, stop drone attacks, eliminate loadshedding and improve economy and livelihood? For this, he will have to engage with other parties and the federal government. This necessitates a change in his style. He will have to be broad-minded, careful in his utterances and tolerant of others. Is Imran prepared to do that,” asks another academic who wished anonymity.

“Leniency and patience are the keys to success. The tension between the JUI and the PTI and the PML-N and the PTI must subside. Political differences must never become personal enmity. They should have working relationship. The PTI leadership and workers must shun bigotry, show magnanimity by accepting others and start doing issues-based politics instead of attacking personalities,” he adds.

According to a political worker, for dearth of experienced men in its ranks, the PTI won’t be able to establish a strong government. Only Pervez Khattak, Yousaf Ayub and Sardar Idrees have served as ministers. Another PTI MPA-elect Yasin Khalil had worked as nazim of a town during the Musharraf era.

“However, inexperience is not the only problem. Internal tensions between the old and new guards, represented by Asad Qaiser and Pervez Khattak respectively, is another problem. The PTI has opted for Khattak, a new comer, and neglected the committed and old Qaiser for the CM slot and has thereby risked its agenda of change. It will be deemed as injustice to the old guards. I think the two PTI allies — JI and QWP — have experienced members and would be the real beneficiaries of the setup,” he adds.

Then coalition government has its own compulsions. The PTI CM will have hard time to reconcile the conflicting interests of allies. “Selection of competent bureaucrats on merit for running the province will not be easy for dearth of officers, allies’ interests and internal rivalry between the old and new groups in the PTI,” he says.

There are other challenges too. In its expenditure reforms, the PTI had pledged ‘symbols of pomp and glory’ (e.g. Chief Minister and Governor Houses) will be shut down and put to public use. While it will need support of the federal government for closing the latter, the former can be easily shut down as the PTI incumbent will be occupying it.

It had also vowed to ‘limit’ perks of ministers, members of assemblies and civil bureaucrats and eliminate all discretionary funds and development funds for the parliamentarians. Will its MPAs let it do so?

During the previous Awami National Party government, the PTI had demonstrated against and urged the ANP to halt the Nato supply line. Will it be able to do that now when it is in power itself? The promise of uniform system of education is also uncertain. Will it be done by banning private schools or by privatising public schools? And rightsizing of government departments may well entail making many jobless.

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

19.05.2013

A lot of history, but no historians
In Pakistan, the ‘officialisation’ of history has created a
certain class of scholars who are the ‘guardians’ of the official
version of history and who actively prevent anyone else with an alternate view from developing within the country
By Yaqoob Khan Bangash

“I have been fighting your battles!” said Professor Ayesha Jalal, Mary Richardson Professor of History at Tufts University in Boston, to a group of historians assembled in Lahore on a crisp January afternoon this year. Professor Jalal was voicing her oft-repeated refrain that Pakistan has not produced many historians who can compete on the world stage and so she often has to act as the token ‘Pakistani’ historian at academic, policy and other gatherings.

Professor Jalal was not off the mark here. When I returned to Pakistan in September 2011, an eager foreign diplomat, who had been posted to Pakistan around the same time, asked me to identity five top historians working in Pakistan. Confident that a country of over one hundred and eighty million people with over one hundred universities must have scores of eminent historians, I asked the diplomat for a day to get back. So I went to Worldcat, the world’s library cataloguer, and to the catalogues of Oxford University Press Pakistan and Sang-e-Meel, the two largest academic presses in Pakistan to find what new works had been written by historians based in Pakistan.

Unsurprisingly (though at the time I was rather astonished), I realised that the vast majority of books on Pakistan had been written by either foreign scholars or by Pakistani descent scholars living abroad. After really looking through, I was only able to come up with two names, out of whom one had retired a long time ago.

For a subject which is taught throughout the school curriculum in Pakistan, and is a large aspect of the dreaded compulsory Pakistan Studies subject at the university level, it was alarming that I could not find more than two historians worth mentioning currently working in Pakistan. Therefore, when I asked Professor Jalal to come and speak to the first meeting of historians in Lahore, I could easily understand and sympathise with the comment above.

While I think there is no dearth of people in Pakistan who have the potential to become great historians, we must reflect why such a large country has been unable to produce world class historians commensurate to its great heritage and sheer numbers.

The story of history as a discipline and historians in Pakistan began in 1947 when the nascent country only inherited two universities, the University of the Punjab and Dacca University. While both universities were in Muslim majority areas, most of their scholars were Hindu and migrated to India within a few months of partition. The three prominent Muslim universities of India, Aligarh, Jamia Millia and Osmania, were therefore the main feeders of academia for the new country.

However, since a number of scholars were nationalist Muslims, aligned with the All India National Congress (like Dr Zakir Hussain and Professor Mohammad Habib), they remained behind in India, along with several million other Muslims. Therefore, the only significant historian who came to Pakistan was Dr Ishtiaq Ahmed Qureshi, who already had a distinguished academic career in India. However, very soon Dr Qureshi became a fulltime politician and government minister which obviously impacted his academic work. Primarily, only those academics moved to Pakistan who were closely aligned to the Muslim League either as student activists or political advisors.

Therefore, there was already a particular bent in Pakistani scholars who re-started several academic departments from scratch and, therefore, had a larger role and influence in academia as compared to their counterparts in India. Political fissures and the increasing instability in Pakistan also circumscribed the work of academics in Pakistan. Very early in Pakistan’s history, therefore, academics, and pseudo-academics, were co-opted the write ‘official’ versions of history so that ethnic, social, economic and external challenges to the state could be thwarted. These ‘pioneer’ historians then nurtured the new crop of historians in Pakistan who were only trained to follow and develop the official narratives.

Almost immediately after the creation of Pakistan, the government tried to reorient the educational system to its own ends. The federal minister for education, Mr Fazlur Rahman, argued for this reorientation as early as the meeting of the second advisory board of education in Peshawar in February 1949 when he stated, “the adoption of the Islamic ideology as the basis of our education is no longer a mere theoretical issue but a definite policy of the State, and the sooner the people, the provincial and local authorities and all those who are concerned with education, realise this the better for the security of our State and the progress of humanity at large.”

In this new system animated by this Islamic Ideology, which was never clearly defined, the writing of history quickly became a ‘State’ responsibility. Mr Rahman further noted, “It is obvious that such a history must be written on a national basis and the task of writing it must be undertaken by the State as a whole and not by any particular province. To meet the requirements of a national history, it will be necessary to have the services of highly competent and eminent scholars under the aegis of the Central Government.” Thus began the process of state-sponsored and controlled history writing process, which eulogised an official version of history and shunned differing opinions.

An example of how the state-sponsored history writing process shaped and controlled the discipline is Dr IH Qureshi’s “The Muslim Community of the Indo-Pakistan Subcontinent, 610—1947,” which aimed to ‘trace the history of the thought-patterns of the community which were formed as the result of its peculiar situation and which have moulded its ideas regarding its destiny and integrity’. Hence, ‘Pakistani’ history was read back to the introduction of Islam in South Asia, and historical archeologicalism indulged in to find the ‘Muslim nation’ during Muslim rule in India. No wonder then Ikram Rabbani, and his ilk, scoff at the idea of Pakistani history starting with the Indus Valley Civilisation, and including the Vedic age, the Mauryan and Gupta empires etc — everything before Muhammad bin Qasim is irrelevant and only the history of Muslims is important since then.

The ‘official’ history project in Pakistan might have subsided and given way to alternate forms of history writing if it were not for the continuous questioning of the state structures and ideals. After the Ayub era, the separation of East Bengal further perpetuated the conjuring of Pakistani history sans even a mention of East Bengal. This ‘selective amnesia’ in historical writing has meant that not only is there no engagement with the events of 1970-1, all references to East Bengal while the country was still one have been omitted. No wonder, then, Professor Yasmin Saikia while writing on women and the events of 1971 notes, “history, state and elite interests continue to serve each other for a limited purpose to control political power.” Such was the condition post-1947, post-1971 and continues to date.

Therefore, the only ‘acceptable’ topics for history students to work on in Pakistan have been those praising the Pakistan Movement, Muslims rulers of South Asia, and those subjects which denied the varied inheritances of Pakistan. The enchantment with the ‘freedom movement’ era meant that Pakistanis only produced tomes after tomes which simply glorified the ‘Muslim nation’ in South Asia, its struggle for freedom etc, often with complete ignorance of developments in the field in neighbouring India, the UK and the USA.

This myopic view also prevented any development of research on not only the non-Muslims parts of South Asian history, but also those Muslim periods which were unacceptable. Therefore, Akbar was no longer ‘the Great’ Mughal Emperor, religious syncretism which was the hallmark of the Indian medieval period was ignored, and those Muslims who were not pro-Muslim League were hardly ever shown in a positive light, if ever mentioned.

This ‘officialisation’ of history, then, created a certain class of scholars who were the ‘guardians’ of the official version of history and who actively prevented anyone else with an alternate view from developing within the country. The perceived or real threat to the ‘ideology’ of the country was so pronounced that soon an article was inserted in the oath for all high officers of state in which they had to swear that they would ‘...strive to preserve the Islamic Ideology which is the basis for the creation of Pakistan.’ This clause tried to put to an end any debate, let alone academic, about the creation of Pakistan, the difference between a Muslim and Islamic state, for example.

With no academic or public challenge to the official narrative, Pakistan only produced ‘scholars’ who only interacted among themselves and kept patting each others’ back. Toeing the line was easy, comfortable and uncomplicated, and since Pakistan had never emerged on the international academic scene no one bothered either.

In April, I asked the only senior active historian in Pakistan, Dr Sikandar Hayat, to continue the discussion started by Dr Jalal. Dr Hayat spoke about the dearth of engagement and research among historians in Pakistan. He said ‘most historians in Pakistan are writing without any engagement with other scholars.’ Most so-called historians do not even know the difference between a book report and a literature review, Dr Hayat quipped. This lack of the historical method is something which has prevented even the few historians in Pakistan from developing any world class scholarship.

The few people engaged in history scholarship are also known in Pakistan for not supporting each other at all. Not only do they not help each other in research and scholarship, a number of them actively discourage and prevent other scholars from developing. At both meetings of historians, people mentioned this reason as one of the most important reasons for the lack of historical scholarship in Pakistan. Scholarship is indeed nurtured in a collegial and supportive environment, and the lack of such a setting obviously prevents the emergence of good Pakistani scholars.

Ultimately, a historian is not known by how well they speak or how much they know; a historian is known by what they write. Knowledge does not achieve anything if it not shared, transmitted, challenged, revised and expanded.

History is inextricably tied, not only to the past but also to the future. Winston Churchill once famously said, “The farther back you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” Therefore, Pakistan needs a serious engagement with history and the historical method if it is going to move forward.

Keeping history captive to some official discourse which has long been discredited, being scared of criticism, and disengagement with the world of research will only lead to further stagnation, not only of the discipline but also of the thinking itself. After all, as Keynes said, “ideas shape the course of history,” and if in Pakistan we do not engage with the ideas of the past, how can we expect to mold the future?

The writer is the Chairperson of the Department of History, Forman Christian College, Lahore

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

19.05.2013

Why Waheed had to die!
The brutal killing of a community mobiliser and social worker is a grim reminder of how forces of darkness and land mafia are averse to enlightenment and progress
By Zeenia Shaukat

Going for condolence at community mobiliser and social worker Abdul Waheed’s house was an experience different from other condolence visits where family and friends are usually found in a state of shock. His wife Yasmin sobbed uncontrollably, but never once did she say “why him”. His colleagues, still struggling hard to recover from Orangi Pilot Project’s Director Parveen Rehman’s murder, seemed to know this was coming: “He was a bit emotional”, “Of course, he was so active, he was a natural target”.

That people have largely resigned to a tragic fate of proactive and committed community workers has become a reality of Pakistan, more so of the Orangi area of Karachi which is a battleground of criminal groups and a convenient shelter for Karachi’s Taliban. Waheed was killed just two days after he oversaw the premises of his school “Naunehal Academy” being used as a polling station for May 11 polls. His three murderers came by foot at his medical store on May 13 evening. He was chatting with his brother and watching over his one-year-old daughter playing. They asked a passerby who Waheed was, shot him from close range, and wounded his daughter and brother and walked away effortlessly. Police is yet to identify his killers though just days before, he had registered a formal complaint about constant threatening phone calls he was receiving from unknown numbers.

Waheed was a community mobiliser in the Qasbah Colony, a part of the Orangi area, which houses the Pashtu and Urdu speaking population, strongly segregated along the two sides of the Katti Pahari. The tension between the two communities is so strong that both sides avoid visiting each other’s domain even in best of times. The area is a reflection of the state’s criminal absence from the lives of the citizens where organisations such as the Orangi Pilot Project have supported basic services including sanitation, health, education, microfinance, etc on self-help basis.

Waheed, hailing from Swat, had been living in Karachi with his family for 30 years. He was the only among his siblings to devote himself to social causes. The rest opened businesses. It was because of people like Waheed — with very strong persuasive skills — that the OPP was able to pull off its self-help projects that have their basis in community participation.

An Ashoka fellow, Waheed’s help with an OPP’s project to lay sewerage lines and paved streets in his area in 1994, inspired him to take up community work. He along with his partner Mohammad Latif and others founded the Bright Education Society, establishing a school in 1996. The school started with 45 students (mostly Waheed’s relatives) and a Rs 1,300 loan from the OPP in Waheed’s Qasba Colony house.

The community’s positive response, leading to the extension of the school, was mainly because of Waheed’s and his partners’ relentless persuasion coupled with their determination to fight the powerful land mafia. As they acquired a piece of land to build the school with the help of Dr. Akhtar Hameed Khan, the mafia offered them to enter into a partnership to “share the plot”. Miffed by Waheed’s resistance, the land grabbers implicated him in false cases and took over the plot. The matter was settled only after DC’s intervention, but now the police wanted its share. Dr Akhter Hamid Khan’s intense efforts helped resolve the case and the school was finally constructed under police protection.

Waheed and partners expanded the school, that on the eve of his death, had 600 students. The premises also served as a health centre where childbirth attendants were trained. Most importantly, it gained prominence as a polio centre running fearlessly even when the Taliban in the area had made their displeasure known by executing several killings of polio workers in Karachi in the past one year.

Being with OPPP, Waheed was also involved in a number of initiatives including a saving scheme, in which communities were encouraged to pool in their savings for common use. Waheed’s strong community skills made him an important part of late Parveen Rehman’s team who was leading this programme before her death. He was personally supporting a number of families and children for education.

Fee was never a problem at Waheed’s school. The problem was the closure of the school and the reluctance of parents to send their children during the time of political violence in the area. In 2011, the school had to be closed for over a month as Qasba Colony became a battleground for the worst phase of violence the city witnessed (300 dead in one single month).

Waheed’s desperation to keep the school running took him to many doors, as he flitted between civil society organisations, media and citizens groups to help him re-open the school. One remembers him persuading us at PILER: “please, just come and sit with us. This alone will give people the courage to send their children back to school.”

Waheed’s death followed the brutal slaying of his mentor, Parveen Rehman of the OPP right outside her office, just a kilometer away from Waheed’s house. The police killed a local Taliban in an encounter the next day and blamed him for Rehman’s murder, closing the case. Waheed refused to accept an easy answer for her mentor’s death. He fearlessly spoke his heart out in a memorial reference for Rehman the same week. He never stopped repeating that he will not let Rehman’s mission die!

This and many other qualities are the reason we, in Karachi, think that Waheed had to die. His ambitions for his community, his defiance against the militants in his area, his obsession with his school and health centre — he insisted that his school should have Urdu speaking teachers, since they are better skilled — his relentless quest for a solution to the marginalization of his community and area, and most importantly, his refusal to stop even after his colleagues Latif was shot at, and Parveen was killed, is a reason enough to silence him. It is important that all else be reminded of Karachi’s intolerance for its useful citizens.

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

26.05.2013

‘Peace for our time’
Taliban collect taxes and dispense
justice. They control the cross border trade and
conflict economy. They are a state not within the state but a state
outside the state and for that matter an ideological state. Are we talking to a
sovereign state at war with the state of Pakistan?
By Kashif Noon

‘Peace for our times’. These words resound across modern times signifying a complex and layered reality. Neville Chamberlain uttered these words before World War II. That brings us to the cliché that ‘history repeats itself’. This has often clouded better judgments and is more of an explanatory sentence than analytical or even descriptive. History does not repeat itself. It is only a human attempt to rationalise political mistakes in hindsight; a solace of some sort. History is linear not circular. It cannot be. Laws of social science cannot defy Physics and time.

The incumbent governments of Mian Nawaz Sharif and Messer’s Imran Khan are both aiming for ‘peace for our times’ with the TTP. Let us attempt an un-packaging of the TTP. It is a fact that the TTP has considerable following and strength. They control territory. They are resolute fighters. Their operational planning and resources are considerable. What is the source of their strength? The primary source of their strength is the ideology. Through this ideology they have captured the tribesmen’s rationality but not their imagination.

Ideologies are arrogant and exclusive. Even liberalism is arrogant. This is the reason that men and women are swayed by them to do things that they would not do otherwise. This arrogance permeates into the followers and makes them feel more powerful than they are as individuals. Ideologies are force multipliers; they ‘bound’ the rationality as Herbert Simon would say. The TTP knows this ‘bounding’ trick and it uses this to maximum effect.

Fata has been mistreated by successive governments — both military and civilian. A lawless and Rights-less land unfortunately became a battleground of domestic and international politics in this same order. There was and is a huge legitimacy gap for the state of Pakistan. This was filled by the Taliban easily and effectively. This legitimacy capture was implemented by a merciless ‘fear factor’. Imagination does not respect fear, rationality does. For the people of Fata, support to the TTP was rational not imaginative. The Taliban justice, as seen mostly in Swat and elsewhere, was and is exhibitionist; the core strength of fear factor. They collect taxes and dispense justice. They control the cross border trade and conflict economy. They are a state not within the state but a state outside the state and for that matter an ideological state.

It must be realised that the TTP, ironically wherever they control territory, are defacto sovereign. This fact, somehow, has not occurred to most. The pervasive thinking is that we are dealing with a guerrilla group/s that were created due to the US war on terror and the government of Pakistan siding with USA. The drones attacks are another reason cited for the TTP creation. The Pakhtunwali tenet of revenge is another argument.

Notwithstanding all of the above, it is somewhat not understood that creation of Taliban due to a foreign war is fallacious direct reasoning, but it has an inverse reasoning to it. Taliban were not created because of the war across the border but due (emphasis added) to a war happening across the border. Well it’s not a puzzle of semantics but a fact that war across the border created the opportunity of state creation, of seizing territorial control, filling up of a void that the state of Pakistan had created as a deliberate policy. The war entrepreneurs flourished. The rational choice prevailed to decapitate the Maliks (literally) and seize control, get rich, become Amirs and acquire the ultimate objective; power.

The TTP was always there in the form of affiliates of their Jihadi brothers from across the world which the state of Pakistan had collected painstakingly with Alexandrian ambitions. It was a rational choice by empowered groups of locals, not necessarily religious scholars (Hakimullah Mehsud is no clergy); drones et al (not that it is not condemnable) came later and were greatest propaganda tool for the TTP not in the tribal areas itself but for their telephone calls to the media houses from undisclosed locations. They sold the idea and we swallowed it hook line and sinker and here we are ready to talk to the TTP.

The question is are we talking to a sovereign state at war with the state of Pakistan or are we talking to a disgruntled part of population who have taken up arms against the state because they were wronged in some perverted way by the people of Pakistan not the state of Pakistan (emphasis added) because it is the people of Pakistan that they punish through terror attacks.

We have set course for appeasement and Sir Edward Grey’s, the foreign secretary of Great Britain, foreboding words enter my thoughts, “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime” (August 3, 1914) just before the World War I. History perhaps is cyclical and repeats itself. All my rational theorisation when I started this piece is perhaps an academic theoretical and useless exercise. May it not be theoretical, may it not be useless, may history be linear. I wish and I pray.

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

26.05.2013

Fiscal deficit and revenue generation
For rapid and sustainable economic growth, it is imperative to heavily tax unproductive sectors to force shifting of funds to productive sectors having tax incentives
By Huzaima Bukhari &
Dr. Ikramul Haq

Deficit spending is actually appropriate in a depressed economy — Paul Krugman

The Nobel laureate, renowned economist Paul Krugman, has argued with lucidity the need for deficit spending in a depressed economy, which according to him is a desirable and appropriate step.

In Pakistan, the economists have been issuing warnings about burgeoning fiscal deficit and suggesting ways and means to keep it in the range of 4 to 5 per cent of GDP. This kind of fixation, according to Krugman, is wrong! Then what is the right prescription for Pakistan? The issues of debt management, revenue mobilisation and deficit financing need to be debated with a new outlook ignoring the oft-repeated advice of majority of the economists that “austerity” in government spending is the best solution.

Pakistan certainly needs to curtail fiscal deficit but through revenue mobilisation and not by further depressing the ailing economy through spending cuts. On the contrary, the new government, from the very beginning, should undertake substantial spending to overcome power crisis, build infrastructure for industry, increase productivity and create more jobs.

It is aptly suggested by Krugman in Dwindling Deficit Disorder [New York Times, March 10, 2013] that “smart fiscal policy involves having the government spend when the private sector won’t, supporting the economy when it is weak and reducing debt only when it is strong.”

In the Pakistani context, fiscal deficit of even 6 per cent of GDP is manageable and should not be a big cause for concern for the new regime. Borrowing Rs1.5 trillion in the next fiscal year would result in total domestic debt of Rs10 trillion. It can be sustained by raising taxes to the tune of Rs6 trillion — see details in ‘Myths about tax base’, The NEWS, January 6, 2013. For fiscal year 2012-13, the target of Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) was Rs2381 billion, which reduced to Rs2191 billion in March 2013, now it is slashed to Rs2050 billion. The FBR has to collect Rs502.292 billion in the remaining two months (May-June) — analysts say it would be a tough challenge and the FBR at the best would collect Rs2000 billion.

The new regime, on assuming the charge in the third week of this month, without wasting any time must concentrate on all-out structural reforms for collection of taxes to the tune of Rs6 trillion. It would ensure the revival of economy, restore the confidence of investors and international donors — fiscal discipline and long-term sustainable growth strategy should go hand in hand and the starting point should be running the FBR by an independent Board of Directors comprising professionals. Unless it is done, we cannot manage debt servicing and meet other expenses.

Time and again, we have stressed in these columns that the rich Pakistanis should pay their taxes honestly. It is shameful that in a country of nearly 200 million, there are only 2.8 million registered taxpayers out of which, only 1.2 million filed returns in 2012. The break-up of tax collection shows that 60 per cent of taxes are paid by the manufacturing sector, one-third is collected on services while the agricultural sector contributes less than one per cent towards total revenue collection. The share of wholesale and retail trade having over 3 million outlets is only 0.5 per cent in income tax and around 1 per cent in sales tax.

The gap between current expenditure and tax collection [revenue deficit] has risen to nearly Rs800 billion. The fiscal deficit from July 2012 to April 2013 was Rs1.7 trillion. The money borrowed is spent for monstrous non-developmental and wasteful expenditure, which is the real malady. The government needs to spend money — borrowed or collected — wisely for creating new jobs. For this purpose, increase in tax collection is essential — not from the poor but from the rich and mighty.

For rapid and sustainable economic growth, it is imperative to heavily tax unproductive sectors to force shifting of funds to productive sectors having tax incentives. At the same time, tax administration needs to be improved to bridge the tax gap, which according to official estimate is around 70 per cent — though independent sources put it at above 125 per cent.

Funds of Rs5 trillion to support depressed economy can easily be generated if the new government shows political will in collecting taxes wherever due by abandoning the policy of appeasement towards the rich and mighty traders. In fact, they should be convinced to contribute as it is necessary for their survival and progress as well. An unshakeable determination and consistency is required to curb the decades old habit of defying tax laws along with complete purge in tax machinery.

It is a reality that our total revenues have fallen from 18 per cent of the GDP to 9.8 per cent of the GDP during the last 20 years. Presently, the collection of taxes by the FBR is mainly based on imports and exports as well as extraordinary profits by banks (that claim they have profit sharing accounts yet deny due share to deposit-holders!). Importers, contractors, retailers and even service providers are, in fact, passing on their tax burden to consumers and clients, courtesy presumptive tax regime introduced in income tax in 1991-92 and widened manifold since then. This erratic taxation is at the expense of equity and the poor people are the real victims of this fiscal highhandedness.

It is an established fact that despite resorting to all kinds of highhandedness, illogical policies and unjust withholding taxes, the FBR has failed to improve tax-GDP ratio, which has remained below 10 per cent for the last 10 years. The burden of a number of presumptive taxes levied under the income tax law (which are nothing but crude forms of indirect taxes) has been shifted from income earners to consumers and clients. These presumptive taxes have not only distorted the whole direct tax system, destroyed economic growth and made consumers/clients the ultimate sufferers, but these despotic, short-term, myopic and figure-oriented measures have miserably failed to even bridge the fiscal deficit.

Many economists say that the existing problems cannot be solved in five years for which the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has been elected. They may prove right if the new regime, like its predecessors and chasing its own track record, follow the advice of powerful tax bureaucracy.

On the recommendation of tax bureaucracy, successive governments have been announcing unprecedented concessions for the corrupt in the form of tax amnesty and money-whitening schemes. Ironically the rulers, making tall claims of unconditional loyalty with the country, admit massive tax evasion through these schemes where no further evidence is required of the criminal culpability of tax officials in the entire episode. It is an unholy alliance between corrupt politicians and complacent tax bureaucrats. Through these schemes, tax bureaucrats please their masters, who are chief plunderers of the national wealth.

If the elected representatives are sincere in mending the situation then, as a first step, they should pass asset-seizure legislation and confiscate all the ill-gotten, untaxed assets. In the wake of such a bold step, resource mobilisation will not be a problem any more.

Once political elites start paying their due taxes and give up wasteful expenditure on personal perquisites, the rest of the nation will automatically follow suit. The rich and mighty, who do not pay taxes, should be taken to task in the first few months after assumption of power by the new government.

If the new government brings tax evaders into the tax net, manages to secure taxes from the influential ones and succeeds in imposing sales tax across the board (preferably with a low rate of 3 per cent to 5 per cent at one single point), there would be no budget deficit within three years’ time. This goal can only be achieved if the government simultaneously tackles issues related to tax evasion and rampant corruption in the tax machinery.

Pakistan is quite capable of substantially reducing or even eliminating its fiscal deficit in the next three years provided that a comprehensive programme, well designed work plan, scientific approach and multi-dimensional strategy is adopted for debt management, rapid industrial growth, tax reforms and resource mobilisation.

The writers, tax lawyers, are members Adjunct Faculty at Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

26.05.2013

Consistent decay
Poor human development indicators in rural Sindh keep challenging the provincial government
By Altaf Hussain

Sindh remains to be at the centre for lack of basic amenities including health, water and sanitation, education and adequate housing. The successive governments have been constantly maintaining their ineptness towards the human development of the province, particularly the rural Sindh, which consists of more than 50 per cent of its population.

The last government in the province, led by Pakistan People’s Party, instead of bettering upon the human development in the province, contributed to the existing miseries of the people. Reports of the international agencies and the government’s own statistics are self-explanatory vis-à-vis the performance of the government.

To begin with, health indicators have suffered serious impediments over the last five years, particularly in the wake of two successive floods in 2010 and 2011. According to a UNICEF report ‘Situational Analysis of Children and Women in Pakistan’, in Sindh “pregnancy and childbirth remain serious life-threatening events for many women and high rates of female illiteracy prevent women from independently making health decisions, seeking assistance, and stepping out of the household.”

Infant mortality rate is 81 against 1000 live births while under-5 mortality rate is 101 against 1000 births. Maternal mortality rate is touching alarming level — about 314 mothers out of 100,000 die during pregnancy, childbirth or afterwards.

Education sector is also in disarray with rural Sindh consistently lagging behind. Lack of access to education is associated with poverty, low budgetary allocations, shortage of schools, poor quality of teaching staff, teacher absenteeism and lack of facilities and proper infrastructure.

According to the Economic Survey of Pakistan 2011-2012, literacy rate among children of ten years or above has declined in rural Sindh from 45 per cent to 43 per cent in 2012, while it slightly increased in the urban areas from 73 to 75 per cent. The net enrollment in the province has failed to improve over these years despite tall claims and promises by the government. The net enrollment at primary level is only 53 per cent which is well behind the target set for Millennium Development Goals 2015.

Poverty too is seeping into Sindh affecting mainly those who belong to the working class. According to a UNICEF report 2012 ‘Situational Analysis of Children and Women in Pakistan’, 31 per cent of the population in Sindh is living below the poverty line which again is a large number, particularly in the context of rural Sindh. This alarming situation is further substantiated by the National Nutrition Survey 2011; its findings reveal that Sindh is the most food-deprived province of Pakistan. Only 28 per cent of households are food secure. 21.1 per cent are food insecure without hunger, 33.8 per cent food insecure with moderate hunger and 16.8 per cent are food insecure with severe hunger.

Housing is another issue particularly in rural Sindh. According to government statistics, 84 per cent have their homes, however, bulk of the population in rural Sindh do not have legal ownership of houses registered in their names; they depend upon landlords for housing. The housing insecurity, therefore, continues to be used as an instrument of social marginalisation which systematically excludes the poor from labour markets, public services and political representation. While 43 per cent of the population, both rural and urban, has access to potable water, rest of the population, 57 per cent, is deprived of safe drinking water, according to Pakistan Social and Living Standards Measurement (PSLM) 2010-11 survey.

Likewise, before the PPP’s government in 2008, the situation was identical to what it is today. According to Rural Development Framework and Investment Plan, Government of Sindh 2008, in rural Sindh, 9 out of every 10 newborns were delivered without proper medical supervision, 3 out of 4 (6-to 9-year-old) girls were not enrolled in school, 2 out of 3 adults could not read or write, and 2 out of every 5 of its citizens were living below the poverty line. For every 100 males in Sindh, there were only 89 females, the worst gender ratio in the country. For every 100 boys immunised in urban Sindh, only 70 girls got immunised in rural areas. For every 100 boys enrolling in primary schools in urban Sindh, only 43 girls did so in rural Sindh.

The two successive floods of 2010 and 2011 further pushed people of Sindh into the quagmire of poverty and marginalisation. The Sindh government failed to address the emergency situation and the rehabilitation phases during these disasters.

“Development was not on the priority list of the PPP government during its last five years in power,” says Parial Marri, Chairman Insaf Social Welfare Organisation. “Funds embezzlement and corruption was rampant even at district level. Access to health, education, water and sanitation, housing and other amenities has diminished particularly after two natural calamities.”

“I don’t think for next five years they are going to radically change their policy and introduce drastic measures to end the people’s plight,” he says. Nonetheless, whatever the political realities, the Sindh government needs to change its worldview of looking at the issues of people.

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

26.05.2013

Energy challenges
Privatisation of the entire
energy sector and fair
competition amongst the power generation/
distribution companies might rid this sector of the chronic
problems, rampant corruption and inefficiency
By Alauddin Masood

Lack of focused approach coupled with bad governance, corruption and poor management have contributed to making the lingering energy crisis very critical.

Till now, the country has primarily been relying on two major sources of energy — natural gas and electricity. While the demand for natural gas has been rapidly increasing for use as domestic fuel, power generation and to run the industries, the country has been facing shortage of about 2,000 MMSCFD (million cubic feet) of gas as a result of depleting gas reserves and increasing public demand.

As regards electricity, at about 23,000 MWs the country’s installed generation capacity exceeds the peak demand by about 5,000 MWs. A capable leadership and corruption-free efficient management could have made the country a net exporter of electricity. But, how unfortunate due to financial crunch and other factors, like poor management, corruption, electricity theft, low recovery of revenues, high line losses and delay in payment of dues to private power generation companies, the citizens are not getting uninterrupted power supply for the last many years. The inability of official quarters to timely make payments to oil/power generation companies keep generating circular debt, a perennial problem which currently exceeds Rs400 billion.

The evil of corruption is the root cause for the ills that plague the power sector. Water and Power Caretaker Minister, Dr Mussadik Malik, in a press briefing on May 20, 2013 admitted that the Ministry of Water and Power and its attached department are the hub of corruption. He said massive corruption of Rs70 billion is going on every year in GENCOs, Rs30 billion in the transmission sector, while 200 MW of electricity is being stolen from the distribution system every day.

In an audit of NTDC’s 21 projects, the minister found that all the projects are two-three years behind schedule. He said the upgradation of Jamshoro Power House is not up to the mark. Quoting an unnamed official source, The News (May 22, 2013) said: “Even senior executives in the power sectors are appointed on the basis of ‘highest bidding’ instead of merit and performance.

In a report, the State Bank of Pakistan noted that the peak shortfall for the PEPCO system rose from 2,645 MW in 2007 to 8,398 MW in 2012, indicating a deepening energy crisis. The overall power shortfall in the country now reportedly stands at 6,900 MWs. How unfortunate? In the simmering summer, citizens have to endure loadshedding for six to eight hours in urban centres and for durations exceeding 10-18 hours in the rural areas. According to a report in daily The News (May 23, 2013), long outages and severe heat have taken 11 lives in various cities and town of Pakistan.

In 2011-12, according to Pakistan Energy Yearbook 2012, the total energy availability in Pakistan was 66.015 mtoe (Million Tons of Oil Equipment). Some 68.54 per cent or 45.251 mtoe of energy was obtained from indigenous production, while 31.46 per cent or 20.764 mtoe was imported. Amongst domestic energy sources, the share of natural gas was about half (49.5 per cent to be precise), while oil, hydel power, coal, nuclear, liquefied petroleum gas etcetera contributed 30.8 per cent, 12.5 per cent, 6.5 per cent and 0.7 per cent respectively.

As regards electricity generation, public sector entities have the capacity to generate 13,000 MWs electricity, while the private sector thermal stations can generate about 10,000 MWs of electricity depending upon the timely supply of furnace oil and payment of their dues. Till late 1970s, the share of hydel power in the energy mix was about 70 per cent and the thermal power contributed the rest or 30 per cent. Since hydel power is much cheaper, the 70:30 hydel power and thermal energy mix provided cheap electricity to the country. Unfortunately, thereafter successive governments could not undertake any major hydropower project, except Ghazi Barotha, thereby increasing dependence upon expensive thermal power and reversing the energy mix — meeting about 67 per cent of electricity needs from thermal and the rest from hydel and a fraction from nuclear sources.

In 2010, at 510 kilograms of oil equivalent (kgoe), the per capita energy consumption in Pakistan was quite low when compared with countries like China, Malaysia and USA where it was 2150, 2420 and 7885 kgoe respectively. Despite very low energy consumption and demand as compared to other countries, the energy supply in Pakistan has not kept pace with the demand. Furthermore, the demand-supply gap is constantly growing, adversely affecting the floundering economy.

According to some estimates, energy shortages have cost the nation up to two to four per cent of GDP over the past few years, resulting in the closure of hundreds of factories, paralysing production and exacerbating unemployment. In Faisalabad, over 500 industrial units have closed down. Besides, energy shortages have adversely impacted new investments in the country.

Despite such a gloomy energy scenario, the person nicknamed Raja Rental had the cheek to divert funds from some hydropower and higher education projects and spend these on the development of his Gujar Khan constituency. This is a classical example which shows that some people in power do not hold the country’s interest supreme rather their personal interests weigh heavy over everything else! Raja diverted the funds just a few months before the May 11 elections, simply to please his constituents and bag their votes. But, his eleventh hour effort did not go well with the people and the fellow was humbled in the elections.

The bleak energy situation is a cause of great worry and anxiety for the people. Intellectuals, politicians and think-tanks keep debating how the country could overcome the energy shortage in the shortest possible time. Mindful of the public sentiments, Pakistan’s leading political party — the PML-N — has publicly stated that it would try to solve the energy problem on priority basis.

On May 22, 2013, Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry observed that the current power crisis seemed artificial, created by the negligence of authorities concerned. He asked the government to address the loadshedding problem on a permanent basis, taking tough decisions to tide over the problem.

Meanwhile, one of the think-tanks — Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) — has taken a lead amongst the national entities by organising three seminars, one after the other, in collaboration with the Hanns Seidal Foundtion, on energy related issues during a span of three months. The IPRI organised its latest seminar on the theme “Solutions for Energy Crisis in Pakistan”, on May 15 and 16, 2013 in Islamabad.

One of the speakers, Dr Shaheen Akhtar, Associate Professor of the National Defence University, recommended that Pakistan should diversify its energy options; rebalance its energy mix with preference to cheaper energy sources; and improve energy governance by fixing management issues, and increasing energy efficiency/conservation. Khanji Harijan from Mehran University of Engineering and Technology’s Mechanical Engineering Department highlighted the need for a quicker switch over of energy systems from conventional to renewable that are sustainable and can meet the energy needs of the country.

National University of Sciences and Technology’s Ehsan Ali pointed out that Pakistan was exporting about 80 per cent of available molasses at very cheap rates and that the molasses could be utilised to produce fuel grade ethanol by upgrading the facilities. In addition, he recommended, 6.3 million hectares of saline land should be used for algae cultivation at the expense of residual salts, and the saline water should be used for biofuel/biomass production.

Tackling serious challenge of energy required focused and sustained effort aimed at saving the economy and providing relief to the population, said another speaker Mirza Hamid Hasan. He suggested a range of measures and some hard policy decisions to tackle the energy problem. Short term measures included resolving the problem of circular debt, prompt implementation of NEPRA determined tariffs, ensuring early recovery of revenues from the public sector, checking electricity theft, power conservation and demand managements.

Medium term measures recommended by him included making the local population as stakeholders to ensure the security of installations, review of load management and gas allocation policy, expeditious installation of 4,500 MW IPPs already contracted till 2011, inducting hydro capacity of 17,392 MWs, upgradation of existing plants and replacement of outlived and inefficient GENCOs plants, reduction of peak demand through energy conservation and load management. Amongst long term measures, he recommended correcting the energy mix imbalance and improving governance.

One hopes that the authorities would accord priority to the energy issues and remove all bottlenecks that hinder the full utilisation of the already installed capacity. Privatisation of the entire energy sector, like the telecom sector, and fair competition amongst the power generation/distribution companies might rid this sector of the chronic problems, rampant corruption and inefficiency.

The writer is a freelance columnist based at Islamabad.

alauddinmasood@gmail.com

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)