05.01.2014

West and the Muslim public sphere
Historical account of development in Muslim cultural expression
By Tahir Kamran

From late 17th to late 18th century, a new cultural space developed in Europe that posed new challenges to regimes and their ruling orders. Alongside the old culture — centred on the courts and monarchical authority — there emerged a ‘public sphere’, in which private individuals came together to form a whole which was greater than the sum of its parts. By exchanging information, ideas, and criticism, these individuals created a cultural actor — the public — which has dominated European culture ever since.

Many, if not most, of the cultural phenomena of the modern age derive from what Cambridge historian Tim Blanning calls the ‘long eighteenth century’ — periodical, newspaper, novel, journalist, critic, public library, concert, art exhibition, public museum and national theatre, just to list a sample.

Of course, almost all of these can be found in earlier periods, but it was in the 18th century that they came to maturity and fused to trigger what can reasonably be called an era of modernity. It was then that ‘public opinion’ came to be recognised as the ultimate arbiter in matters of taste and politics.

The above-stated assertion has been gleaned from German Philosopher and theorist Jurgen Habermas’s influential work, The Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere, which was first published in 1962. Differentiation between the private and the public was vital in Habermas’s analysis of the transition which took place in Europe.

In the medieval age, there was no clear concept of private property. Two interconnected developments were mainly responsible for the dissolution of the old order: the exchange of goods and the exchange of information. Together, they created a fundamentally different kind of public sphere — the bourgeoisie.

With the rise of capitalism, the seamless web of authority began to fracture and distinct public and private spheres — state and civil society — emerged. The bourgeois public sphere can be defined as the medium through which private persons can reason in public. In doing so, they perform the vital function of mediating relations between essentially separate realms of civil society.

In Europe, the transition from the old order to the new/modern social formation with public-private segregation took place through an organically-evolved process of history. In the subcontinent, however, such transition came about through the agency of colonialism, particularly after the printing press became a pervasive phenomenon, as Dietrich Reetz demonstrates in his brilliant work Islam in the public Sphere. Journals, newspapers, printed books, educational institutions, art institutions and museums etc. created a public sphere which was essentially defined by modernity. Even religious seminaries assimilated modern influences.

In the case of Europe, religion ceased to be part of the public sphere — the rational argument was its essence. But, in the subcontinent, religion as a result of the reform movements was one of the many constitutive factors of the Muslim public sphere. Institutions like munazra (religious disputation) got a new lease of life in the late 19th century, where religion had been an issue because the communal identities had been crystallised by certain policies of the British Raj. The Muslim public sphere steered clear of ‘rational’ argument — reason mostly acted in subservience to the faith in the unseen.

The same happened with Hindus and Sikhs. But our focus here is the Muslim public sphere.

The Muslim public sphere was constituted through the project of modernity and was later on sustained by people educated at AligarhCollege or government institutions like Government College Lahore, which had been projecting modernist ideals. Many of them subsequently went to England for higher education like Muhammad Ali Jauhar, Zafar Ali Khan and Allama Iqbal and, in them, Muslims of the subcontinent found their representatives. Their religious inferences were indelibly immersed in a modernist sensibility. The mushairas held under the auspices of Anjuman-i-Punjab in 1874 were a clear illustration of how modernity had influenced poetry — and these influences remain intact to this very day. The nazm has found a wider currency in Urdu literature as a result.

The obvious question then is: how Islam can be divested of the stark influences of modernity that it has ‘soiled’ itself with?

The public meetings at MintoPark or Mochi Darwaza in Lahore or protest processions, that were inalienable parts of the Muslim politics in the 20th century, had their origins in the West. These political tactics were the preferred course of action for the right-wing parties in Pakistan who have turned anti-West for the last couple of decades. So, essentially, the contemporary Pakistani ‘self’ is modern. For the last century and a half, South Asian Islam has recreated itself in the light of the ideals of modernity which cannot be jettisoned at will.

Another point worth pondering on is the fuzzy nature of the Muslim public sphere. Despite the acerbic and exclusionary feelings engendered by reform movements, like Arya Samaj, the cultural expression of the Muslim public sphere had syncretic inflection. That syncretism manifested itself in Urdu poetry and prose — with Gopal Mittal, Harichand Akhtar, Tilok Chand, Premchand and Krishan Chander — and embraced a tradition that ostensibly belonged to Muslims. Hindu newspapers like Arya Musafir and Partab were also printed in Urdu, as were Zamindar and Inqilab. This goes to show that Hindus and Sikhs were not averse to Urdu, contrary to the accepted opinion.

In the arts, personalities like Bhai Ram Singh (once the principal of Mayo School of Arts), Sita Ram, Amar Singh, Mehr Singh, Jetha Singh, Uttam Singh, Girdhari Lal and Duni Chand partook with extraordinary zeal in the Muslim (Mughal) art tradition.

Music is yet another form of art where Muslims and non-Muslims worked in tandem. The argument that Muslims contributed far more than the rest in the promotion and evolution of Indian music can hardly be ruled out. After partition, the public sphere was substantially purged, because it came to represent only Muslims who gradually became hostage to the religious right caught up with the question of culture. The complexity of that tangle is compounded when the cultural traditions intrinsic to the ‘land’ are brought forth for deliberation. It is impossible to separate Islam from western, modernist influences — and those who seek to do so are deluded.

P.S. The writer regrets for an inadvertent faux pas in the last week’s column. Yadgar-i-Ghalib was written by Altaf Hussain Hali and not Sir Syed Ahmed

05.01.2014

Lahore and modernity
Harmonisation of the old and new, the medieval and the modern, is what made Lahore so special
By Yaqoob Khan Bangash

On January 1, 2014 the famed Government College Lahore celebrated its 150th foundation day. The founding of the college was in a number of ways the beginning of the ‘modern’ phase in Lahore and the Punjab. During the time of the Mughals, Lahore was at the pinnacle of its glory.

Father Antonio Monserrate who visited Lahore during the reign of Emperor Jahangir in the sixteenth century noted: ‘This city is second to none, either in Asia or Europe, with regard to size, population and wealth. It is crowded with merchants, who foregather there from all over Asia. In all these respects, it excels other cities, as also in the huge quantity of every kind of merchandise which is imported. Moreover, there is no art or craft useful to human life which is not practiced there. The population is so large that men jostle each other in the streets.’ However, by the time the British annexed it in 1849, Lahore was but a shadow of its former glory.

As noted by Syed Muhammad Latif in the first modern comprehensive history of Lahore in English, ‘For a long time after annexation in 1849, nothing was observable to the south-east but a vast expanse of uneven ground, studded with crumbling mosques, domes, and gateways; huge mounds of old brick-kilns, and shapeless masses of ruins. The invasions of Nadir Shah and Ahmed Shah, resulting in the dismemberment of the Mohamaden sovereignty in the Panjab, the persecution by the local Governors of the Hindu subjects (particularly the Sikhs) and the retaliatory measures adopted, in their turn, by the latter, completed the work of destruction and devastation everywhere in the Panjab, and the capital was no exception to this rule.’

Therefore, the city which boasted one of the largest populations in South Asia in the sixteenth century was just over a hundred thousand people by the time the British took over. Lahore was no international city and only a regional centre at best. It is on the heap of such ruins that the British built their ‘modern’ city.

I just completed teaching a course on the history of Lahore from the earliest times to the present. While the recorded history of Lahore stretches back to the time of the Hindu Shahis in the 8th century, legend traces it back to the son of the Hindu deity Ram and his son Loh, after whom Lohawar, later Lahore, was named. Among other things which fascinated me about the city was the fact that different periods of the city seemed to mesh together and somehow achieve a sense of harmony.
In Pakistan, the word ‘modern’ has become synonymous with Westernisation or for lax morality or disrespect of the past, of traditions, etc.

Walking through Lahore even now one can easily move from its Mughal to Sikh and then the British periods with some sense of continuity. William Glover, in his excellent analysis of Lahore as a modern city, has also noted that ‘Lahore’s pre-colonial urban spatial forms and traditions exerted an important presence, both physically and imaginatively, throughout the colonial period.’ It is this milieu of Lahore which evokes such great passion about the city. In fact, I think there is hardly any city in Pakistan about which so many tomes have been written with such emotion.

When the British built the ‘modern’ city of Lahore, it was not simply what the new rulers wanted. Modern Lahore’s foundation was laid on its past, and its modern manifestation exhibited a clear collaboration between the rulers and the ruled. Interestingly, in 1849, the British, for a large part, simply reordered older, usually Mughal structures, for their use. So the famous Anarkali tomb was first used as offices for the Punjab Board and was subsequently used as St. John’s Church from 1851 till the construction of the new Anglican cathedral after which it was used as a record room, a purpose it still serves.

John Lawrence also moved into the house next door which was built for the French General Ventura in Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s army, and is now the office of the Chief Secretary Punjab. Today’s Governor’s House was also the tomb of Muhammad Kasim Khan, which had been used as residence during Sikh times. Similarly, the Baradari of Wazir Khan was converted into a reading room, being officially declared the Punjab Public Library in 1884, the first and to date the largest such library in this part of South Asia.

This appropriation and reuse of older buildings not only showed the power of the new rulers to alter the landscape but also exhibited their willingness not to discard the past but to reimagine it in a newer fashion. Glover notes: ‘…Lahore’s first colonial officials were perhaps more than normally willing to draw visible, material connections between themselves and the communities they ruled. Henry and John Lawrence, the first president and financial administrator of the Punjab Board of Administration, respectively, were known for addressing their subjects in the vernacular, cultivating firm but affective ties with the Punjab native “chiefs” and rulers, and eschewing the normal trappings and comforts of high imperial office — both men lived in converted Indian buildings throughout their terms of office in Lahore.’

Both these men, John and Henry Lawrence, essentially began the process of the modernisation of Lahore, and it was thought that the establishment of Lawrence Gardens and the Lawrence Hall will be lasting memories of their work, until of course independent Pakistan decided to change the names of these places.

In his work, Glover also contests the notion of ‘modernity’ as something ‘Western,’ thereby criticising the usual mantra of labeling everything undertaken under the Raj as ‘foreign’ or the ‘other.’ Glover, with other critics, asserts that ‘…the development of modern social formations in colonial settings, while coeval with similar developments in the West, were differently configured, and often forged in opposition to those same developments. The call for acknowledging “multiple modernities” entails an ethical assertion that there is more than one way to be modern in the world and more than one historical path to its realization.’ Herein lies the crux of the dilemma Pakistan is facing at the moment.

In Pakistan, the word ‘modern’ has become synonymous with Westernisation or for lax morality or disrespect of the past, of traditions, etc. However, in reality, such extreme discontinuities need not be the hallmark of modernity. As I have argued above, and William Glover in his book, when Lahore — the city — became ‘modern’ it did not disconnect itself from its past, and nor did its new rulers create something which was completely out of touch with ground realities. This harmonisation of the old and new, the medieval and the modern, is what made Lahore so special.

It was with this spirit of harmonisation that Government College was established at Lahore in 1864. Its first principal was Dr GW Leitner, the professor of Arabic and Mohammdan Law at the University College London. Dr Leitner had great love for oriental learning and opposed the Anglicising curriculum of the Calcutta University examinations.

Dr Lietner, in fact, helped the establishment of the Anjuman-e-Punjab in 1866 which called for the creation of an ‘Oriental University’ in the Punjab where, together with Western learning, oriental learning will also be promoted. Even in Government College, classes in English started at the same time classes in Sanskrit, Persian and Arabic also commenced, shortly followed by Urdu and Hindi. As I have mentioned earlier on these pages, the aim of this college, and the subsequent Punjab University was to create a class of individuals well versed in the knowledge of the West as well as the East — a synthesis we have yet to achieve.

As we start the sesquicentennial year of Government College, and shortly of Forman Christian College too, I think it is time for us to reconsider the way we assess the British period. A few months ago, I learnt that the proposal to rename Kutchery Road, where the Government College stands, Leitner Road, was shot down in the Punjab Assembly and a member of the assembly even noted, ‘we cannot have un-Islamic names to our roads.’ Such is the confusion in our minds that we simply reject whatever seems un-Islamic to us, even if that thing, being Muslim, might be actually alien.

Therefore, naming a road after the founder of the first institution of modern education in the Punjab, and who spent his life promoting oriental learning and also helped establish the first mosque in England was termed ‘un-Islamic’ but renaming a city, Lyallpur, after a Saudi king who had literally nothing to do with the city, is considered appropriate. Obviously, Sir James Broadwood Lyall, Lieutenant Governor of the Punjab, who founded the city and did so much to bring prosperity to farmers in the Punjab through the establishment of canals and canal colonies did not deserve any commemoration simply because he was not a Muslim.

Lahore’s cosmopolitanism has always been its enchanting and enduring charm, and trying to forget or rewrite it not only does injustice to the memory of those who toiled to make the city ‘modern’ but also to our ownselves as by obliterating the past and rewriting it we lose a part of ourselves. By creating a disparity between ‘modernity’ and ‘tradition’ or ‘Islam’ we are creating a false dichotomy which only confuses us but also deepens our identity crisis.

The city of Lahore is as much a creation of the past, both British and pre-British, together with its Hindu, Sikh and Muslim inheritances, as we are, and we must accept and celebrate this syncretic heritage. Let us hope that as we begin several anniversaries in the next few years we remain cognizant of its real story.

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

05.01.2014

Power struggle
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Centre seem diametrically opposed to each other over transfer of PESCO
By Tahir Ali

With Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s decision to give only the administrative control of Peshawar Electricity Supply Corporation (PESCO) to Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa for bill distribution and recovery, it seems the transfer is highly unlikely. Both the sides are diametrically opposed to each other. While the federal government wants to shift as quickly the toughest task of controlling the power theft and collecting of bills to KP, the latter is in no mood to work only as a ‘meter reader’ and insists on full control of power generation.

While Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif sanctioned transfer of only administrative control of PESCO, KP sought the handover of all power sector assets, including PESCO, along with the necessary paraphernalia. The province requested that as the central power system had failed to deliver, control of all the three elements of generation, distribution and transmission be given to the province through an all encompassing package deal.

When the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan, severely criticising acute loadshedding and terming it a result of the mismanagement of PESCO by federal government, asked for its handover to KP for its ‘efficient running’, he failed to realise that PESCO is one of the 11 power distribution companies (Discos) which only own and maintain power distribution systems in the country. For its poor bill collection and huge losses, second worst after the Quetta Electricity Supply Company, the federal government readily agreed to its transfer to KP.

The PTI spokesman Asad Umar accepted the offer and even asked for devolving all the other federal entities in the province to his government which it had failed to run efficiently. However, KP Chief Minister Khattak later spelled out his 11 conditions for the transfer.

In his letter to the prime minister, Khattak asked for control of power generation, operation and distribution system and a PESCO free of liabilities/debts with a clean balance sheet. “The federal government should own and finance PESCO line-losses for at least five years, supply 1000MW from thermal power stations for seven years in winter and additional 200MMCFD gas to KP so that gas-power stations are established. All necessary measures must be taken to improve plant and capacity factors of generation facilities. The federal government will continue all ongoing power system extension programmes as per original plan and sources of funding. It will also have to address the inequitable power investment in KP through compensatory allocation for next five years and will also have to pay the net hydel profit arrears. KP would select the best from the existing PESCO staff and the rest would have to be absorbed in federal entities,” he wrote.

Senator Haji Muhammad Adeel, former KP finance minister and the acting president of the Awami National Party, said it was a wrong and unwarranted demand on part of Imran Khan. “The KP Assembly had asked for handing over to KP of power generation, distribution and transmission facilities located in the province. The PTI government has now understood the point which explains why they have come up with the demand of full control of power generation as well,” he says.

KP residents believe they produce surplus electricity but are unjustly made to pay higher prices and subjected to lengthy hours of loadshedding.

“The federal government must handover complete control of power generation resources in the province and not merely authority for bill collection. Punjab grows wheat, fulfils its needs first, provides it cheaper to its people and only sells the surplus. Similarly, KP should have the authority on its electricity generation resources. We should be given our ‘cow’ rather than making us to buy its ‘milk’ on higher rates,” Senator Adeel said.

To a question, Adeel said that the federal government must own the PESCO losses and liabilities as these were incurred when it had its control. KP should be responsible for PESCO’s losses, debts, repairs and development expenditure after it gets its control. The federal government should also pay KP hundreds of billions of dues in electricity tariff differentials and net hydel profit arrears.”

But the million dollar question is: Does the PTI government have the money, human resource and resolve and capacity to run it efficiently?

The transfer has several implications and involves complex issues.

PESCO only owns and maintains the power distribution system in KP. It also owns grid stations, transmission lines, sub-transmission lines and transformers. But since the KP government demands control of the three components of generation, distribution and transmission, it becomes a complex phenomenon involving several other federal entities.

All the power generation facilities are under Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO). Power tariff is determined by National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) on behalf of all Discos while power is purchased by the Central Power Purchase Agency (CPPA). National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) is the system operator for generation facilities. The list is endless. Will the federal government also devolve the powers of these entities to KP as well? It is precisely what the KP CM referred to when he asked for necessary legislation and amendments in the statutory framework and KP exemption from NEPRA’s regulatory regime.

The issue has implications for both the sides. While the federal government believes the 18th Amendment allows PESCO’s handover to KP, some argue it is a dangerous trend and could lead to more such demands by other provinces. Reportedly, Sindh has already demanded control of production and distribution of electricity in the province. Others could follow suit for other departments and entities.

With high line-losses (58 per cent against the national average of 18 per cent), rampant power theft and poor recovery ratio and age-old transmission lines, the PTI knows it will only be making itself the target of public wrath if it agrees to only administrative control of PESCO.

Bill collection is the biggest challenge for the under-funded PESCO. KP could do it better as it knows the area and its people well. By employing latest technology, it could improve PESCO performance, reduce line losses and curb theft which could help decrease tariff for consumers. If the PTI succeeds, it will get the much needed fillip. But if it fails to deliver, it will have to incur the masses’ wrath for each power tariff hike and loadshedding.

It is also pertinent to state that Article 157 of the Constitution clearly empowers the provinces to construct power houses/grid stations, lay distribution and transmission lines for use in the province and levy taxes on and determine tariff for distribution of electricity and approach the Council of Common Interests in case of any dispute. Provinces, therefore, are entitled to have control of power sector.

Analysts say the PTI, as usual, is indulging itself in grievance politics. The PTI manifesto had pledged, inter alia, improvement of economy through reforms in energy sector. They say it could curb theft and improve recovery which could decrease power tariff.

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

05.01.2014

Micro-level management
The strict guidelines proposed by the government to regularise non- governmental organisations is being resisted by the NGO workers
By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed

The local non-governmental organisations (NGOs) that receive foreign funds and the international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) desirous of working in Pakistan are expecting tough times ahead — as the government braces to put them under strict scrutiny.

In a recently announced, Policy for regulation of organisations receiving foreign contributions, the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet has spelled out strict guidelines for NGOs. In case of their failure to comply, the NGOs would have to wind up and their registrations with the government would be cancelled.

The policy has been announced as an interim measure and would remain in force till the pending bill on the same subject becomes a law.

Ishaq Dar presented a private member bill titled “Regulation of Foreign Contributions Act 2013” in the Senate on March 4, 2013. He was a member of the opposition party then.

As per the policy, the NGOs receiving assistance will have to be registered with the government. Foreign assistance includes moneys, services and goods that come from outside Pakistan. The application for registration will be accompanied by documentary information as specified by the government, the ministry of interior, provincial or other relevant stakeholders such as local government.

Subject to concurrence, the government will sign an MOU with NGOs and the latter will have to provide detailed information related to their origin and work. They will also have to include information on the proposed geographical area of work that they plan to do.

Every organisation will be bound to provide information that the government may require from time to time. It may also verify the information provided by the organisation.
Every organisation will be bound to provide information that the government may require from time to time. It may also verify the information provided by the organisation.

The rationale of coming up with the policy as given by the ruling party representatives is to check the “anti-state” activities carried out by some NGOs under the garb of social work and to ensure the funds meant for social uplift of the masses are used judiciously.

The policy is seen as a threat by the foreign-funded NGOs that believe it will harm the interests of citizens who are not served by the state. The NGOs say they mostly work in spaces left unattended by the governments.

Syed Ghulam Fatima, Secretary General, Bonded Labour Liberation Front (BLLF) says the government is trying to hold the NGOs responsible for all ills. The Shakil Afridi episode, she says, “should have been followed by the state institutions which were responsible for monitoring the string operation. But this never happened. Instead, the government is planning to stifle the development initiatives taken by local and foreign NGOs”.

She questions the logic of seeking permission from the government in cases where it is responsible for violating basic rights of people itself. Citing an example, Fatima says the Punjab government announced the minimum rate of Rs 740 per 1,000 bricks for brick kiln workers but the kiln owners refused to pay this amount to their employees. The government has formed a committee which wants to reduce the minimum rate. “The BLLF is planning to raise voice against this decision,” she says, adding: “We need finances for these activities. Shall we ask the government to finance these protests?”

Aftab Alam, Executive Editor, Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development says the policy can be called a diluted version of the private member’s bill proposed by Senator Ishaq Dar in March 2013. He says, “The bill, if passed in its current form, will be a draconian law. It will empower the state to manage the NGOs at micro-level.”

Adnan Rehmat, Executive Director, Intermedia, calls undue control of organisations working in social sector violation of citizen’s basic constitutional right to associate and do legal business. He says, “There are around 40,000 NGOs of which 400 are highly active with turnover above $1 million. They are registered under four different categories and are required by law to file periodic reports about their activities and accounts. These NGOs do submit these reports but bureaucrats hardly seem interested.”

So, why is the government eyeing each and every NGOs with suspicion? There is no harm in ensuring transparency but dictatorial control over their decision-making, working and independence is uncalled for.

Rehmat says the government is trying to monitor funds coming from a lot of organisations which partner with the state. It’s time the citizens should ask the government about the usage of these funds, but on the contrary the government is holding the social sector organisations accountable.

Ahmed Bilal Mehboob, Executive Director, Pakistan Institute for Legislative Development and Transparency says he has no objection to the part that deals with transparency but he totally rejects the idea of leaving the NGOs at the mercy of the government. The NGOs, he says, will never accept this term and will shut down their operations. It seems the government wants to make the process so tough for the NGOs that the donors start working with state to circumvent all the cumbersome procedures, he adds.

“The government abhors NGOs as they release research findings, documents, annual reports etc which expose government weaknesses or rights violations on its part. There is a strong possibility that all these activities are declared anti-state and the NGOs involved in them blacklisted and stopped from working. You never know one day they take us to task for pointing out absence of prime minister from frequent parliamentary sessions,” he adds.

There are reports that a large number of NGOs in Pakistan are finalising their plans on how to react to this policy. As shared by Ghulam Fatima, the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Lahore-based NGOs may soon start agitation against the policy. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) is also holding deliberations on this development and finalising its future course of action.

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

05.01.2014

In hot water
The verdict announced by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on the Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project is likely to dent Pakistan’s water interests
By Alauddin Masood

The verdict announced by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) on the 330 MW Kishanganga Hydroelectric Project, which India is building in the occupied Jammu and Kashmir, is likely to have grave repercussions on Pakistan’s water interests, especially hurting the hydropower generation capacity of the lower riparian country’s Neelum-Jhelum project by at least 10 per cent.

Pakistan anticipates to complete by December 2015 its 969MW Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project at an estimated cost of Rs278 billion. Pakistan will have to face a loss of $145 million every year for the power lost in its Neelum-Jhelum project following massive reduction in water flows. In drought conditions, as faced by the country in 2001, the annual loss might exceed $544 million. On an average, Pakistan has been receiving 2.45 million acre feet of water every year over the last 30 years.

Prior to announcement of PCA’s decision, the government had informed the Senate of Pakistan that the construction of Kishanganga project in the Indian-held Kashmir would result in 13 per cent decrease in the flow of water for Pakistan’s Neelum-Jhelum hydroelectric project. Furthermore, India’s Kishanganga project would reduce energy generation of Pakistan Neelum-Jhelum project by 13 per cent or 700 million units, the Upper House was told.

Located alongside AJK’s Neelum valley, Kishanganga Hydropower project has been designed to change the course of river Kishanganga (known as Neelum in Pakistan) by some 100 kilometres through a channel and a 23-kilometre tunnel, by diverting it to join the Wullar Lake and the river Jhelum near Bandipur in IHK. Presently, both rivers Kishanganga (Neelum) and Jhelum join each other at Muzaffarabad in AJK.

The Kishanganga Hydropower project has a gross storage capacity of 18.80 million cubic metres or 14,900 acre feet of water with a dead storage capacity of 8,755 acre feet. Work was halted on the Kishanganga project when Pakistan raised the objections but, following PCA’s verdict, India can now divert water from the Kishanganga into the Bona Madmati Nallah, impacting the water flows in Pakistan’s river and affecting Neelum-Jhelum Hydropower project’s electricity generation capacity by 10-30 per cent in winter season.
Water and electricity scarcity have emerged as the main impediments to the country’s sustained growth. But, unfortunately, some quarters spare no effort in making even technically feasible water conservation projects controversial.

There were two questions before the PCA to decide. First, how much water India will allow down Kishanganga? Second, can India make dams with drawdown flushing below dead storage level? As far as the first question was concerned, Pakistan had demanded 15 cumec (500 cusecs) of water in August-September and 12 cumec (400 cusecs) in October-March. India said that 4 cumec (100 cusecs) could be given to Pakistan. The court has granted 9 cumec (318 cusecs) to Pakistan. Hence, we can regard the court verdict on this count as a partial victory for Pakistan.

About the second issue, in the court’s award, it has been held that India could not make dams with drawdown flushing below dead storage level. India wanted application of this part of the verdict only for Kishanganga dam, not for all future dams. But, the court has rejected the Indian view and held that the above principle will be applicable on all future dams on the rivers Jhelum and Chenab. “On this point, it is a big victory for Pakistan,” official circles maintain, since it “will safeguard our water rights in future also.”

The PCA verdict binds India to release half flow of the river water — 9 cubic metres per second out of 18 cubic metres per second, in winter. India had asked the Hague Court that it would release 4.25 cubic metres water per second in winter season, but the court did not agree and asked India to ensure water releases to Pakistan up to 9 cubic metres per second.

On the issue of water diversion, one can therefore say that Pakistan has achieved partial success. However, Pakistan was expecting that the PCA would ensure enough releases of water in its rivers so that its Neelum-Jhelum project generates electricity up to 94 per cent of its capacity. But, under the decision, the project will now be able to generate electricity only up to 90 per cent.

Article 90 of ICJ’s decision speaks volumes about Pakistan team’s ineptness. It says: “Pakistan has submitted no data on current or anticipated agricultural uses of water from the Kishanganga/Neelum. Pakistan has, however, stated that future development in the Neelum Valley will be contingent on the increased use of lift irrigation from the river and on a move away from subsistence agriculture. The parties disagree as to whether such potential future uses are relevant to the determination of the minimum flow.”

Following PCA’s decision, some stakeholders have started questioning the way Pakistan’s case was fought in The Hague Court and the rationale for the appointment of Kamal Majidullah, who led the Pakistan team in the court till the announcement of the partial award on February 18, 2013. Kamal Majidullah was special advisor (water and food) to the prime minister and Pakistan’s agent in Kishanganga case. Some circles maintain that Kamal Majidullah was alien to the trans-boundary water issues. And that he was the one who managed to get notified the Pakistan Trans-border Water Organization (PTWO) on September 23, 2011 and brought down Pakistan’s Commission of Indus Water (PCIW) under PTWO’s umbrella, binding PCIW to directly and exclusively report to PTWO and also limiting PCIW’s role in the legal battle against India on Pakistan’s water rights. PCIW was not even allowed to report to its parent Ministry of Water and Power, alleges Mirza Asif Beg, Pakistan’s Indus Water Commissioner in an interview with daily The News (December 29, 2013).

Once water abundant, Pakistan has now become “one of the most water-stressed countries in the world, not far from being classified water scarce.” In 1947, Pakistan possessed 5,600 cubic meters of water per person, which decreased to 1,100 cubic meters per head by 2009 and now stands below 1,000 cubic meters per person. According to international water standards, countries having water reservoirs below 1,100 cubic meters water per person are considered among the chronic water shortage states.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has pinpointed that Pakistan’s water storage capacity (the amount of water it has on reserve in case of an emergency) is limited to 30 days, which is far below the recommended 1,000 days for countries with similar climates. The report notes that the last several years have seen Pakistan plagued by chronic energy scarcities and power outages lasting up to 18 hours a day, with damaging effects on its economy and the well-being of its citizens. According to ADB, deficiencies of energy and water resources have the potential to intensify the already unstable situation in the country.

Admittedly, water and electricity scarcity have emerged as the main impediments to the country’s sustained growth. But, unfortunately, some quarters spare no effort in making even technically feasible water conservation projects controversial, on one count or the other. Instead of settling scores, leaders and political parties of all hues and colours need to consider issues on merit and on merit alone so as to construct a better future for the nation and the country.

While Pakistan has been able to utilise only 13 per cent of its hydro resources during the last six decades, some countries make optimum use of these resources. For example, USA has developed 497 per cent storage capacity of the annual flow of river Colorado, Egypt 281 per cent on river Nile and India 35 per cent on Satluj and Bias Basin.

Meanwhile, fearing scarcity of water, many nations remain engaged in building mega water reservoirs. China is building 95 major dams with a height of 200 feet or more, Turkey 51, Iran 48, Japan 40 and India 10.

As hydropower is economical to thermal and other sources of energy, if it is used on a wider scale it can provide tariff relief to consumers, and involve Pakistani manpower in planning, designing and manufacturing of machinery besides accelerating the pace of country’s economic development in general and the remote rural areas in particular. Currently, WAPDA generates about 35 per cent hydropower and 65 per cent thermal power. Being costly, the latter source of power has landed the fuel supplying and the electricity generating companies in a chronic trap of circular debt.

India has already constructed or is in the process of constructing scores of dams on the western rivers allocated to Pakistan under the Indus Basin Treaty. The Treaty was signed in 1960 after World Bank’s intervention, following rising tensions between India and Pakistan after New Delhi stemmed the flow of Indus tributaries to Pakistan on April 1, 1948.

There is, therefore, a dire need not only to remain vigilant on India’s dam construction spree but also to build up mega dams on the river Indus. Besides, the country needs to exploit the run-of-the-river potential of its rivers and canals for hydropower generation, undertake a comprehensive water conservation campaign and create awareness about the modern techniques of irrigation.

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

05.01.2014

Exorbitant taxes on POL products
If the government collects just Rs200 billion extra from the ultra super rich, it can reduce prices of petrol and diesel by Rs25-30
By Huzaima Bukhari & Dr Ikramul Haq

It is sad that the government through higher taxes on petroleum products is reducing fiscal deficit, without realising that price hikes in these items affect economy in general and poor masses in particular and retard growth in all sectors. Our tax system favours the wealthy and collects exorbitant indirect taxes from the poor.

The government, instead of collecting income tax from the rich, imposes heavy taxes on petroleum products — extending extraordinary benefits to a few powerful oil companies. By plugging loopholes that prevent wealthy companies and individuals from paying a fair share of taxes, the government can generate enough revenues to build public transport system that would save billions that are mercilessly spent on import of crude oil.

Our oil demand is to rise by 7 per cent by the end of June 30, 2014 — it would touch 21 million tons against 19.5 million tons due to closure of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) stations and rising circular debt. Over the last eight years, POL products demand rose by an average 4-5 per cent per year.

According to data released by the Oil Companies Advisory Committee (OCAC), Pakistan consumed 8.9 million tons of oil products over July-November, up by 10 per cent from 8.1 million tons in the same period of 2012. If the CNG outlets remain closed for the next four months, we would be forced to import additional petrol worth $2 billion. The production of two-wheelers alone rose to 1.6 million units in 2012-13, from around 250,000 units in 2003-04 — motorcycle account for about 55 per cent of the countrytotal petrol consumption.

Rising need of petroleum and its heavy taxation leaves the common man stripped of his earnings, and renders the lives of the poor more miserable than before. But despite all these, it brings in super duper profits to the petroleum companies and revenues in trillions for the government (per Rana Bhagwandas Commission Report on Petroleum Prices submitted to Supreme Court of Pakistan in 2009).

It is an incontrovertible fact that the main beneficiaries of price rises are a few oil companies and the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR). The FBR, in its Year Book 2012-13, has admitted that “sales tax is major revenue generating source of federal tax receipts. It constitutes around 44 per cent of the total net revenue collection during the FY 2012-13. The gross and net sales tax collection during the year has been Rs 871 billion and Rs 841.3 billion, respectively, showing a growth of 2.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent respectively over the collection of previous fiscal year. Of net collection, more than half of total sales tax is contributed by sales tax on imports while the rest originates from domestic sales.”
Pakistan consumed 8.9 million tons of oil products over July-November, up by 10 per cent from 8.1 million tons in the same period of 2012. If the CNG outlets remain closed for the next four months, we would be forced to import additional petrol worth $2billion.

The same is the story of “17 per cent growth” in revenue collection of the FBR during the first six months of FY 2013-14, about which Premier Nawaz Sharif and his economic wizard Ishaq Dar are proud of. They are least concerned if high petroleum prices push millions of Pakistanis below the poverty line, destroy the economy and create unrest in the society. The share of government taxes and levies in petroleum prices is more than half from the stage of importation to final ex-refinery supply point — reference report submitted to Supreme Court by Rana Bhagwandas Commission dated 10 July 2009 revealing that from 2002 to 2009, the government made Rs10.23 trillion in taxes on petroleum products.

It is shameful that during 64 years we have failed to provide mass transit facility for at least 2 large cities — Karachi and Lahore — and bus service for every city and town despite burdening the citizens with all kinds of taxes. On the contrary, consumer loans were vastly disbursed under Musharraf-Shaukat era inducing massive purchase of personal vehicles resulting in enormous profits both for the petroleum companies and car manufacturers.

Public transport has been the least priority of all regimes because of which the real sufferer is the common man who cannot afford personal transport. More and more cars on the roads cause pollution, traffic mayhem and are the main source of increase in our oil import bill. In fiscal year 2012-13, Pakistan imported oil worth $14.914 billion — $9.525 billion on petroleum products and $5.392 billion on import of petroleum crude. Petroleum import constituted more than one-third of the country’s total imports of $44.95 billion during the period under review. In order to cut import bill, we need decent public transport system that can solve all the prevalent problems. The challenge before us is to build good public transport system and a clean energy economy.

If the government collects just Rs200 billion extra from the ultra super rich, it can reduce prices of petrol and diesel by Rs25-30 resulting in major relief for the masses, bringing down prices of the essential commodities along with substantial reduction in the cost of electricity.

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

12.01.2014

A lesser profession
Participation of teacher unions must be ensured in the policy and planning processes to reform the education sector
By Irfan Muzaffar

The possible role of teacher unions in supporting education reforms was in the highlights in the last week of December after their representatives attended the National Teachers’ Conference in Islamabad. Teacher unions have a long and powerful presence in Pakistan with many of them formed before partition. But whenever they have flexed their political muscle, it has usually been to protect the interests of schoolteachers on issues related to service rules, salaries, pensions, and other benefits. They have been conspicuously absent in efforts to improve the state of education. Whether it is the problem of determining the form and content of initial teacher education, in-service activities, teacher absenteeism, or defining high standards of professional conduct, teacher unions and their representatives are seldom on the table.

But those occupied with education reforms know well that there can be no teacher-proof changes in the system. If teachers are so central to reforms, their participation must somehow be ensured in the policy and planning processes. Many fellow educators argue that since unions are teacher representative bodies, their participation in the process of reforms could fill this crucial gap. It has been a mistake, they say, to regard these teacher bodies as part of the problem, when no solution can succeed without teachers being on board.

It is in this context, that the participation of over 350 union representatives from all over Pakistan in Islamabad’s national teachers’ conference — convened by AlifAilaan, DFID funded education campaign — is being seen by some fellow educators as a new beginning. Indeed, the union representatives spoke with one voice with other stakeholders in education when they signed on a declaration, which was given the propitious title of “Meesaq-e-Ilm” (charter of knowledge). The potential contribution of this event to bring the unions on board, however, needs to be clearly understood by the education stakeholders in terms of the difference between education and other professions.
The protection of students’ right to education and the responsibility of the teachers to provide each student with high quality instruction and equal opportunities should be part of a principled approach.

Should the teacher unions take a seat on the policy table as participants in reforms? Why ever not! Will this be easy? Certainly not! In order to think clearly about the potential roles of teacher unions, we must consider the distinction between the unions and other professional bodies.

A professional body — sometimes also called a council in Pakistan — usually safeguards and regulates the conduct of professionals in a particular profession. In doing so, it must strike a judicious balance between protecting the interests of the professionals as well as those of the clients of professionals.

Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) or Medical and Dental Councils (PMDC) are examples of such professional bodies. Both oversee the professional conduct of certified professionals in ways that help them deliver the professional services in accordance with a shared professional code of conduct. They are also fully involved in the development of professional education programmes for their members. Both PEC and PMDC accredit the professional engineering and medicine institutions as well as provide guidance on matters of curriculum and instruction.

The role of unions, however, is quite different. Unlike the professional bodies, they only seek better working conditions for the workers they represent. The work of teachers unions fit this definition quite well. Their raison d’être is not to protect public interest, or to promote reforms at the risk of compromising the interests of teachers. Rather it is to secure the interests of teachers as employees against the potential excesses of the employer. This is the sort of role that teacher unions have also been playing in Pakistan. This distinction is too important to be ignored when engaging with the teacher unions as agents of change.

Does the teaching profession have any professional bodies comparable to PEC and PMDC? Not yet, at least! The absence of one such professional body has led some people to argue that teaching is not a profession in the sense that medicine, engineering, or law are. There is some truth to this assertion. This distinction is projected on many aspects of teachers and teaching.

Here are just a few distinctions: The prospective doctors or engineers are usually, if not exclusively, taught by qualified professors who are themselves doctors and engineers. However, the teacher educators are never required to have teaching experience and indeed most of them have not been to the classrooms. PEC and PMDC play a central role in determining the curricula as well as accredit professional colleges that prepare the future members of their communities. However, the teachers or teacher bodies seldom play a role in determining the curricula of pre-service teacher education programmes. PEC and PMDC accredit institutions of professional learning. However, the accreditation of teacher education institutions and licensing of teachers does not involve any teacher bodies.

All of us, whether we are qualified teachers and educators or not, have undertaken what Chicago school sociologist Dan Lortie calls apprenticeship of observation. This is an apprenticeship that we have all undertaken as students ourselves and on the basis of which we believe that we know what good teaching must be all about. This apprenticeship turns all of us into experts on education. This is obviously not true for other established professions. Thus where the jurisdiction for other professions is firmly in the hands of professionals for good or for worst, it is not so in the case of teaching.

To cut to the chase, teaching profession, if you would like to use this term for it, does not have professional bodies and only has teacher unions. Since the unions are historically evolved to perform a specific role, their signing on to a set of desirable statements about teaching and teachers is not, in and of itself, a guarantee of their participation in reforms that address the issues of quality of teaching. Nevertheless, we should still look upon the Meesaq-e-Ilm as an important first step in an uncharted territory.

The question that those who are thinking about enhancing the role of unions in education must address is: what are the ways in which the interests and benefits of teachers are made to reconcile, in rhetoric as well as practice, with the interests and benefits of schools and students? In order to become participants in and agents of constructive change in the state of education in Pakistan, the unions will need to develop and expand their charters.

They should also take and justify well-defined positions on several issues related to state of education. For example, the unions should have a position on such issues as teacher absenteeism, dropout prevention, and professional development. Many of these issues are identified in broad strokes in Meesaq-e-Ilm. But Meesaq-e-Ilm is what it says it is and not a charter of the unions themselves. The teacher unions need to expand their charters to incorporate the elements of Meesaq.

In addition to tracking the effects of Meesaq-e-Ilm on policy and practice of education, the future work may involve development of a set of inviolable principles. All stakeholders should agree on these basic principles of education reforms. For example, even though teachers are central to education reforms, the education systems are designed to primarily serve the students and not teachers.

The protection of students’ right to education and the responsibility of the teachers to provide each student with high quality instruction and equal opportunities should be part of a principled approach. The reformers, within and outside of the teacher unions, should encourage the development of a culture in which the unions always justify the positions they take not on the basis of interests of teachers as a group but to protect the students’ right to quality education.

Teaching will remain a lesser profession unless its members take charge of the professional preparation and conduct of teachers. It will only happen when the membership of teacher bodies is drawn from a diverse set of institutions representing the entire spectrum of the system of education, including teacher education institutions, the unions, and the civil society.

I have followed National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), a group that sets professional standards for curriculum, instruction, and evaluation for teachers of mathematics in the United States. Many of its members were also teachers in the universities and in K-12 schools and so also members of teacher unions at the same time. This diverse membership lent enough strength and credibility to the NCTM to play a central role in developing the standards for curriculum and instruction of mathematics education in the US.

The potential benefits of Meesaq-e-Ilm will only materialise if it spawns a process of professionalisation of teaching. The unions can and should play a role in raising teaching to the level of a proper profession by transforming themselves. They should be encouraged now to take clear and principled positions on critical issues that affect teachers, students, and schools.

However, the professionalisation of teaching will remain elusive unless teacher education faculties, schoolteachers, research organisations, and the civil society come together to form professional bodies of the kind that exist in other professions.

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

12.01.2014

The short story of 1971
How a six-month stint in East Pakistan drew Nadir Ali the soldier to writing fiction and poetry
By Farah Zia

Writing poems and short stories is not good for a soldier’s image, even if he is retired. Yet many soldiers write them. The soldiers around us often write memoirs or political commentary in newspapers. Not Col. (retd) Nadir Ali whom we know for his Punjabi poems and short stories and occasional newspaper columns which are mostly reviews of Punjabi fiction and poetry.

But that is Nadir Ali for people like me who got to know him in the late 1990s, as a gentle oldie, a tad too gentle for a former commando. There’s a Major Nadir Ali of 1971, and before and after, whom I did not know till quite recently and without which you can understand neither the stories nor the poems nor the man.

The year 1971 is significant because that is when reality, laced with delusions of grandeur about his own role, played havoc with his imagination. He had served in Dhaka as a Major of the Pakistan army from April to October; circumstances were such that, even as Major, he got an opportunity to command his battalion.

The journey from Dhaka back to Pakistan became a journey from sanity to madness. Back home, he experienced reality of another kind; the colossal sense of tragedy and guilt of what he had seen and heard in the other part of the country and the equally colossal sense of indifference and normalcy in this part was too much for a person of Nadir Ali’s sensibility. He had a nervous breakdown and consequently lost his memory.

The recovery was slow but complete; it came at the hands of literature and some kind-hearted people who got him involved in literary work.

Finally, a few years back, he felt confident enough to talk about the events of 1971, openly, in a detailed interview with BBC Urdu in 2007 under the title Aik Fauji Ki Yadasht. Truthful, crisp and eye-opening, these memoirs were unfortunately not as widely read here. He also gave a talk at BRAC University in 2011 on his experiences during the six month period he was posted there.
The colossal sense of tragedy and guilt of what he had seen in the other part of the country and the equally colossal sense of indifference and normalcy in this part was too much for a person of Nadir Ali’s sensibility.

For the last two years, around December 16, the day marked as the Fall of Dhaka, I had been trying unsuccessfully to meet him and get him to talk about 1971 (he was not in the country at that particular time of the year). This year I thought I was lucky but Nadir Ali did not seem too keen to talk because, in his own words, he has had “enough of Bangladesh”, because “it was also a matter of personal breakdown” and “not very pleasant memories”. The matter is too painful, he says and I agree.

For me, there are other considerations too. One person’s narrative could not offer a complete picture of a historical event of this proportion. But it is through his account that we can hope to correct the twisted history.

He has clearly vented his soldier’s perspective in the BBC interview and the BRAC talk, looking at the failings of the Pakistan army alone with his own understanding of the situation. In my conversation with him, he takes a more analytical and broader view of things. He has, of course, been aware of the literature produced around 1971 the world over (his own views are a part of some of these academic works).

He wants to state a few things at the outset. “The Pakistan army had a huge part to play because it was the most important organ of the state active in East Pakistan. The so-called political people appointed by Ayub Khan like Fazlul Qadri Chaudhry, Abdul Saboor Khan and Abdul Monem Khan who was Governor East Pakistan were minor figures. Even the major political figures like A.K. Fazl-ul-Haq, the senior-most in the history of Muslim League, had no part in the politics of East Pakistan. There was continuous army rule since the 1958 Martial Law until 1971. We were predominantly, and till a certain time entirely, a West Pakistan army.

“The fall of Dhaka could have been avoided if the military action was put to a halt in April 1971 and if the capital had not been shifted from Karachi to Islamabad.

“The military defeat did not come about because there was some organised resistance in East Pakistan but mainly because of the Indian attack. When nine million refugees crossed over to the Indian side, the Indians thought they had a legitimate reason to attack.”

His BBC memoirs talk about the orders given to the forces as well as him to kill the Hindus at sight; there was a consensus within the army that Hindus were the root cause of the problem which could be sorted out by eliminating them. “That there were orders to this effect has been confirmed by the Hamoodur Rehman Commission Report,” he tells me.

He got these orders along with others — he was asked to intercept people who ran away or, if there were people resisting, to carry out an interdiction against them. “But I found a few things. One, there was no resistance at all. They were unorganised, unarmed, poor people whose houses were being burnt and some innocent people were getting killed. About the killing of Hindus, I always refused and said that I was not going to kill unarmed people.”

Nadir Ali knew East Pakistan well because he had been posted there earlier too, for more than three years, in the mid-1960s. Since he understood things, people and terrain better, he could defy orders. “People who were giving the orders tolerated that. They would argue with me that this is not the right attitude. I knew in my heart of hearts that there was no resistance or anything. I went to five or six places where I had to directly carry out the action and I found no resistance at all. I didn’t feel any threat. We took some precautions for our own protection, but we were freely moving about by air and by train. I travelled from North Bengal to Dhaka in the middle of April 1971 by jeep alone with my driver,” he recalls.

Yet, they went about with the military action. Why, I ask. He says these were “high level actions over which people like us had no control.”

Nadir Ali wants to clarify some historical myths. As the battalion commander, he was receiving orders directly from Gen. Niazi who “has been blamed for a lot of things. Especially Gen. Khadim Husain Raja’s recent book A Stranger in My Own Country maligns him a lot, for what he said and did. But I know it for a fact as an army man that no General was ready to go to East Pakistan. And the General who was there, Sahibzada Yaqub Ali Khan, ran away. He has wrongly been given credit for saying he didn’t want to stay. He just quit because the situation was too complex and a lot would have been blown in his face.”
Gen. Niazi “has been blamed for a lot of things.”

Gen. Niazi “has been blamed for a lot of things.”

He recalls how a court martial was contemplated against Sahibzada and how he was demoted from Lieutenant General to Major General. Because of his conduct etc., he was allowed to spend the next year at Imperial Defence College in London.

He also recalls the exchange of articles between Altaf Gauhar and Sahibzada Yaqub in a newspaper where the former challenged him on his claim that he didn’t want to serve in East Pakistan. Gauhar claimed that he was in possession of the letter which he wrote to the GHQ saying the situation was very bad in East Pakistan and there was a communist threat. “Altaf Gauhar wrote against him for not doing his duty there. Actually, he should have stayed and handled the situation differently; he should have seen that it is controlled instead of walking away,” he says.

Nadir Ali is of the view that by writing this letter, Yaqub Khan was not only pandering to the Pakistan government but also to the United States government. “Though, in all this period, I went looking for some communists so that there should be some elements with whom we could talk peace but I couldn’t find them. I had some friends who went underground which I have mentioned, like Maj Ziauddin, who while fighting with us went and joined Naxalbaris in 1971 and stayed underground till 1989,” he says.

I want to know his view about the number of casualties, since there is a whole lot of varying scholarship about it. “Sajjad Ahmed, a Jamaat person, wrote a book in Bangladesh which put the casualties at 60,000 or thereabouts. Between that and the official figure of three million from the government as well as most of these Bangladeshi historians, there is a lot of gap. In my view, 60,000 is nearer to the number actually killed.”

But he looks at it from another angle. He thinks if you have the power of life and death and “you kill a number of people, especially if you pick out Hindus, that is oppression enough. What is important is that people were killed randomly, for just being Hindus or Bengalis, without any trial or questioning.”

He says religion was the motivation for killing people — that this was a ‘Hindu conspiracy’ made it supposedly rational. “Even Gen A. A. K. Niazi has written in his book The Betrayal of East Pakistan that so many million Hindus were brought in to vote in 1970. This is absolute rubbish. There was no crossing of border for voting. Everybody acknowledged this was a fair election. There was a sentiment for Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and against the central government of Pakistan.”

He thinks now to pin the blame on any one person and leave the rest of the strands does not cover the entire spectrum of history which in “our case was what we had been doing for the last twenty five years in East Pakistan.”

While talking about the new East Bengal regiment created by Yahya Khan, he recalls that “senior West Pakistani officers were killed by their own [Bengali] soldiers. For example, there was Col. Janjua who was commanding the Ziaur Rahman Battalion. Maj. Ziaur Rahman was the second in command. So the unit rebelled and they killed their own CO, Col. Janjua. A number of West Pakistani officers were killed by their own troops including Major Asjad Lateef.”

I hesitate a little before asking about his information about the allegations of rape. Like his early memoirs, once again he refers to Yasmeen Saikia, a Professor of History at the Arizona State University, who wrote a book Women, War and the making of Bangladesh. She did her research extensively in Pakistan, India and Bangladesh. Nadir Ali thinks Sharmila Bose’s research [Dead Reckoning] is very casual in comparison. “Saikia who was in Bangladesh for a year could not find any woman who came forward and said she had been raped. She was there for a year. She went to the judge who was incharge of rehabilitation of these women. He said he could not give out their names because it is not good for them and their families.”

Thirty years had already passed. Finally, she found an old woman, a prostitute, who said she was raped in 1971 and that’s how she was in this profession since her family disowned her. “Through her, she got the names of some other women and got in touch with them. She asked this woman why don’t they come forward and talk about it. To which the woman replied that the people who brought those army officers to her were ruling the country then. So, it is the elite which is always collaborating; they were collaborating with the army, perhaps to save their lives,” says Ali.

He dealt with a rape allegation in his own unit too. But this was not done “on a day-to-day basis. On the contrary, all these West Pakistani units were in small detachments in a supposedly hostile environment. So you could not go out on a rape spree. This was exaggerated then and much more now.”

But they had the force of arms, I ask. “It was not difficult. If you asked, somebody could arrange it for you to save his own life.” His own experience was that wherever the army went, people vacated their houses and ran away.

We come to what exactly led to his breakdown. He was posted back to West Pakistan in late October, early November, he tells me. He was reluctant to return but his unit, 3 Commando Battalion, was shifted back to West Pakistan and he was to be promoted to the rank of Lt. Colonel.

Apart from officially commanding his battalion while in East Pakistan, he was carrying out operations across the [Indian] border. “That is why I had gained some importance. Now some people say this should not have been done; we weren’t at war with India. But India was acting very much like it was in a state of war. It was training people and launching them,” he says.

Was the order to kill Hindus the provocation for India? “No. You should read this book The Blood Telegram; now the classified papers have been released in India as well as the US. According to it, the Indian government had decided at the beginning of the year that it was going to launch this operation. As soon as the army action started, P.N. Haksar, a secretary level and influential person, persuaded Indira Gandhi that this was a good time to act. His minutes and advice to Indira Gandhi have all been quoted in the book.”

When he came back, his first reaction was that nobody cared what was going on in the Eastern part. “I also started drinking very heavily; that also was a contributing factor. I do not think it was entirely due to Bangladesh, it was because of my personal reaction to whatever was happening. I had volunteered to go from here, so in a way I was guilty of having gone there. Back in Lahore, I was doing my routine work; I would dress up in the morning, go to the office, do my routine duties, sign letters and come home. Only my wife knew that I was completely off my rocker. I was promoted in that state.

“I recovered in 1973 after staying under treatment for six months in the army psychiatric ward by then Col. Shoaib, a very competent psychiatrist. This was a very prolonged treatment; they gave me a number of shocks, I lost my memory temporarily. As I recovered, I realised my family had suffered so much. My psychiatrist told me I had no future in the army. So I volunteered to retire.”

He was already in touch with this Punjabi literary group at Najm Hosain Syed’s house which met every week. “I have written an autobiography which is being published in installments in Punjabi magazine Pancham. About twelve parts have been published. I have written that one of the things that helped me recover was getting in touch with this group. And Najm played a great role in that, in helping me regain my memory, talking about my life before 1971 and also about ’71, my childhood etc.”

These were mostly element from the Left, people from the Mazdoor Kissan Party, who got him introduced to this group. Major Ishaq and other people also used to come to Najm Hosain’s house. “This will be late 1970s right till 1984 when I went to the US. In ’89, I came back and one of the reasons was that I wanted to continue with this interaction. I started writing. I wrote a book of poems which was published in which I wrote a few poems about the East Pakistan experience also.”

He wrote about the Bengal famine of the 1940s and one of the poems was about the fact that he cannot go back and interact with those people. That is how Col. Nadir Ali overcame the sadness. That is when Nadir Ali the writer was born.

The short story of 1971 became a rather long one.

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

12.01.2014

The predicament of History
The need of the hour is to diversify our reading of history
By Tahir Kamran

In the Pakistani academic milieu, History as a discipline, and discourse too, is beset with an extremely narrow scope. It is usually reduced to a narrative of political events put in sequential order.

According to the reigning historical narrative, the political events are primarily caused by personalities — thus making them a singularly important propelling agency for history to move ahead. So, the notion of the battle, ‘an event of history’, fought and won by the ‘King-General’ elucidates the general mode of history practiced in our country.

History course books at intermediate and bachelor levels highlight this perspective and the literati further endorse it — as an autobiographical account of a few personalities. Therefore, common people are excluded from this historical gaze that remains obdurately focussed on lives and achievements of a prominent few.

This historiographical trend, which has followed and sustained here, was initiated by Leopold Von Ranke, a Prussian historian, through the British bearers, like James Mill, Sir E.M. Elliot and John Dowson, Lord Macaulay and Thomas Carlyle etc. They accorded sanctity to the ‘fact’ as the very essence of historical narrative. Thus, the aspiration to notch up ‘objectivity’ became the central concept of doing history.

This, however, was challenged vigorously by the Annales historians, post-Modernists and those who adhered to the movements like linguistic turn, such as Hayden White.

The discipline of history in Pakistan could not go through the similar stages of evolution as the western academic tradition. Thus, History in due course of time took an altogether divergent trajectory than the western tradition of history-writing. Consequently, History as a discourse is struggling to dig in its heels since it is divest of any theoretical anchorage or methodology

In fact, a historian of such a high stature as Peter Burke considers Alexis de Tocqueville, Marx and Gustav Schmoller as the first band of scholars that combined theory with an interest in the details of concrete historical situations. Hence, the foundation for inter-disciplinary scholarship was laid in the 19th century. History, as a consequence, came closer to sociology, anthropology and economic theory, particularly by the turn of the 20th century.

In European academe, social and economic histories found purchase by the 1920s, largely because of the work of historians with sociological inflection. The concomitant rise of the Annales School which had its theoretical underpinnings in the thoughts of Max Weber, Emile Durkheim and Auguste Comte propounded the notion of total history. German historians, like Karl Lamprecht, Marc Bloch and Otto Hintze, along with the American historian Frederick Jackson Turner launched an attack on traditional history. Turner said with conviction and extraordinary vehemence that “all the spheres of man’s activity must be considered, no one department of social life can be understood in isolation from the others.”

Marc Bloch and Lucien Febvre were the founders of the Annales School in the 1920s and also brought out the journal Annales d’histoire economique et sociale. They were relentless in their criticism of ‘the dominance of political history’. Their ambition was to replace it with what they called a ‘wider and more human history’, a history which would include all human activities and be less concerned with the narrative of events than with the analysis of ‘structures’. Historians could do that only if they learned from ‘neighbouring disciplines’.

That is exactly the advice for the young corps of historians. In fact, they should disseminate the same to others.

Quite conversely, we have a tangible disconnect between history and sociology which, in turn, is reflected in another disconnect between History and Pakistani society and geography. Most of History taught at colleges and universities has its geographical anchorage somewhere else like Northern India, Arabia or Central Asia. The corollary is that the tradition of studying regional histories or carrying out any research on those areas cannot take root.

Micro-studies of peripheral regions such as Balochistan or Waziristan are not considered tasks worth doing. District gazetteers and ethnographical reports of the British officers are the only sources for most of the smaller units of study, like districts or tehsils, which is indicative of the pathetic state of historical studies in Pakistan. Even provincial studies of credible academic rigour are few and far between.

Now, the works of philosophers, such as Slavoj Zizek, Alain Badiou and Judith Butler, are being used profusely for historical analysis in History faculties of all the major universities. The irony is that much of their thought, in one way or the other, is gleaned from the Marxist theory conjoined with concepts around the psychoanalysis of Sigmund Freud and French philosopher Lacan. Bizarrely enough, both Marx and Freud are considered taboo in Pakistan. Marxist theory has contributed enormously in enriching the discourse of History globally. Writers like Gramsci, Althussar, George Lukas and thinkers associated with the Frankfurt School in 1950s and 1960s have used the Marxist theory to make sense of the Modern world.

But, in most of the Pakistani institutions, these figures find hardly any niche.

A study of European history is not deemed complete without Hobsbawm’s four volume history. The founders of Subaltern Studies were all thoroughly conversant with the Marxist theory and its implication on the course of history.

I think, the need of the hour is to diversify our reading of history instead of incarcerating it within the narrow confines of politics and monolithic ideology. One hopes that the young historians of Pakistan will take a lead in this by devising new courses and encouraging their students to engage with theory along with the archives which are in a pathetic state. I may suggest that they must get together and form a ‘Pakistan School of Historians’ with its own journal.

Pakistani historians ought to take charge of the discourse of history which trickles down to the general public. They can do this by publishing regularly to remain visible in the public sphere. That is extremely important. Otherwise, the Urdu columnists are too avid to appropriate history, which may leave catastrophic impact. An attempt by an Urdu columnist to erase Jinnah’s August 11 speech from the annals of history is a case in point.

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

12.01.2014

Paralysing effects
International community is seething with impatience and tough travel sanctions seem imminent for Pakistanis due to rising polio cases
By Naseer Memon

As if the country is not enough plagued by a medley of miseries, the World Health Organisation is mulling over placing tough restrictions on Pakistanis travelling overseas. These restrictions are being considered in the wake of a series of polio cases triggered by virus originated from Pakistan and detected in different countries. Such cases were detected in China, Egypt, Israel and Palestine.

These cases have alarmed the international community. A European health journal “The Lancet Medical Journal” has also warned that Pakistani polio virus could become a threat for Europe. India has already banned Pakistani travelers who were not immunized. According to a press release issued by Indian High Commission in Pakistan, all adults and children travelling to India from Pakistan after January 30, 2014 are required to carry their record of vaccination as evidence. The action has been taken under the recommendation of Independent Monitoring Board for Polio Eradication.

The board will hold a meeting in January in which 23 countries will participate to consider a collective decision. Health Department officials have disclosed that they have been warned by donors and polio monitoring agencies that if the situation did not improve, the country should brace for serious restrictions on visa and overseas travel.

Polio cases are being reported from all provinces of Pakistan and FATA. Previously, most of the cases were reported from restive Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and FATA but it is not confined to these areas any more. Three cases have recently been reported from Multan, Sahiwal and Toba Tek Singh districts of Punjab. Similarly a confounded Sindh government is also grappling with a challenge of spiraling polio cases in the province. Breeding in the cesspool of nepotism, the provincial bureaucracy has very limited capacity and professional-will to confront this new challenge.
According to a report, 24 per cent of the children who were reported to have contracted polio till November 2011 were those who had received seven or more doses of vaccine.

Law and order initially debarred vaccinators to access parts of the province but the recent wave of attacks on polio workers has further deteriorated the situation. But what is causing deeper consternation is a recent trend of refusal by parents which was not so common in Sindh province.

Health officials reported an alarming 23,723 refusals in a recent vaccination campaign. Most of these refusals are noticed in the districts of upper Sindh, mainly Shikarpur and Kashmore. Refusals have also been reported from Pakhtun enclaves of Karachi and Jamshoro district. Whereas refusal by Pakhtun communities follows the trend, what baffles is the permeation of this alarming trend among native Sindhi families.

North Sindh has a relatively juvenile proclivity of religious extremism and the refusal to polio vaccination merits serious rumination. A network of religious seminaries is fast unwinding in these areas, mostly managed by non-local clerics. Recent years witnessed some grisly incidents in Shikarpur.

In 2010, Taliban claimed responsibility for torching 27 Nato tankers in Shikarpur. Shrine of Hajjan Shah was also attacked that claimed two innocent lives and injured more than a dozen. Pernicious rise of extremism is now manifesting in refusal of polio vaccination.

The federal government is also perturbed over the sudden surge in polio cases in the province. Sindh had four polio cases by the middle of November. Three more cases — two in Karachi and one in Kashmore — surfaced in less than a month. Five of these cases have been detected in Karachi and one each in Kashmore and Dadu districts. Baldia, Gadap towns and Gulshan-i-Iqbal neighbourhood have been identified as the areas where the polio virus has been active in Karachi.

Like Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Karachi has also faced a wave of terror against polio vaccinators. In 2012, the vaccination campaign came to a screeching halt after attacks on a World Health Organisation’s doctor and polio vaccinators in Karachi. In July 2012, a local paramedic associated with polio vaccination was shot dead and a World Health Organisation doctor, Fosten Dido, from Ghana and his driver were injured in two separate attacks in the Sohrab Goth area.

Law and order and religious extremism are making Sindh a hotbed of polio in the country. This explains an official estimate of 743 polio cases during the last 17 years in Sindh. UNICEF included seven districts of Sindh among 33 high risk districts in the country. All these districts are located in north Sindh contiguous with South Punjab. These districts include Ghotki, Kambar-Shahdadkot, Kashmore, Khairpur, Larkano, Shikarpur and Sukkur. These districts are afflicted by a chronic law and order situation. Abduction for ransom, murders, honour killings and robberies are rampant in these areas. Dominated by tribal chieftains, north Sindh districts are ruled by criminal gangs. This situation limits ability of immunization workers to reach the inaccessible parts of these districts.

Apart from Pakistan, the only two other countries where polio cases were reported last year included Nigeria and Afghanistan. In 2013, Pakistan has emerged as the worst country dwarfing polio cases in Nigeria and Afghanistan. Afghanistan has reported 11 polio cases in 2013 compared to 30 in the previous year. Similarly, Nigeria has reported 50 per cent less polio cases in 2013. Whereas Pakistan reported 85 polio cases i.e. 40 per cent higher than 58 cases in 2012. This indicates the alarming trend of increase in incidence of polio in Pakistan.

According to a report, some 7.8 billion dollars have been spent in Pakistan to eradicate polio yet the results are abysmal. What is really shocking is the fact that 24 per cent of the children who were reported to have contracted polio till November 2011 were those who had received seven or more doses of vaccine. A Pakhtun girl Sonia from Gadap, Karachi contracted polio virus even after having received nine doses of vaccine.

Security of immunization workers is a major cause of inadequate polio vaccination. In December 2012, over 3.5 million children were missed out in the national anti-polio campaign. Sindh had the highest number of unvaccinated children i.e. 1.75 million when the campaign was scuttled after killing of four female vaccinators on the second day of the campaign. Similarly, the campaign was terminated in KP on the first day after the vaccinators were attacked. The trend persisted in the subsequent years as well.

In April 2013, 1.83 million children did not receive polio vaccine. In July 2013, some 0.68 million children missed polio vaccine in high-risk zones mainly due to the deteriorating law and order situation. Punjab alone had nearly half of the missed children i.e. 332,694, followed by Sindh with 163,806 unvaccinated children. The data indicates the magnitude of vulnerability of millions of children to contract polio.

Apart from law and order situation, more worrying is the trend of parents’ refusal to vaccinate their children. During a campaign in September 2013, some 65,947 families in the country eschewed vaccination to their children. KP had the highest number of 36,923 families followed by Sindh with 18,918 families who refused vaccination to their children. Osama Bin Laden episode has also stigmatised the polio vaccination campaign. Certain religious clerics also misinterpret religious injunctions to demonise Polio vaccination.

Reasons apart, international community is seething with impatience and tough travel sanctions seem imminent for Pakistani travelers. Separate queues of Pakistanis at international airports not merely for ignominious frisking but also to present polio vaccination certificates will rub salt into un-healing wounds of already tormented Pakistani citizens.

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