[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Problems on both sides[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 24 Apr, 2009[/B]

SENATOR John Kerry has said that “Pakistan is in a moment of peril” and that the White House does not yet have an “adequate policy or plan to deal with” the country. Meanwhile, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said that the “Pakistan government is basically abdicating to the Taliban and to the extremists.” Taken together, the statements indicate the alarm in Washington, at both the slide in Pakistan and the American response to it. Relations between the US and Pakistan have undeniably worsened in recent weeks. The Pakistan government has bristled at the tough statements of American officials, which have unfortunately echoed the tone of the Bush administration’s ‘transactional’ and ‘condition-laden’ approach. Matters only deteriorated when the US House of Representatives proposed that aid to Pakistan be tied to ensuring Pakistan doesn’t support terrorist activity in India. For its part, the Pakistan Army has been incandescent about continuing statements by American officials against the ISI and its alleged involvement with militant groups.

There are two aspects to consider here. First, the Pakistani view. While officials here have been rightly critical on occasion, they have singularly failed to take the initiative. The established present pattern is that first the US raises an issue and then we respond. A new policy for Afghanistan and Pakistan is presented — and then we commend or criticise it. Safe havens in Fata are raised as an issue — and then we raise questions about inadequate measures on the Afghan side of the border. Where in all of this is Pakistan’s own outlook, developed indigenously, presented coherently and defended persuasively? In short, if militancy is security problem No 1, then what, where and how are we going to do something about it? In Swat, we have tried to do things our own way, but the government has never explained what exactly it would do if Sufi Mohammad or Maulana Fazlullah decided to take matters into their own hands. Now that Sufi Mohammad has categorically rejected the jurisdiction of the superior courts and the TTP has taken over Buner, Prime Minister Gilani has offered this gem: “If peace is not restored, we can revisit the idea (of the Nizam-i-Adl).”

Next, the US approach. Secretary Clinton may well be right in saying that the Pakistani people “need to speak out forcefully” against the government’s policy of appeasement in Swat. But this amounts to going over the head of the government it claims is an ally and undermining its authority among the people. And all the tough talk against Pakistan cannot conceal that the Americans are themselves puzzled about how exactly to approach Pakistan. American officials need to remember what went so wrong under the Bush administration: poor policy coupled with unhelpful public statements. Repeating the mistakes of the past will have the same negative consequences.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Needless accusations[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 24 Apr, 2009[/B]

‘STARTLED’ is the word used by this paper’s reporter to describe the reaction of senators on Wednesday when they were briefed on Balochistan by the PM’s interior adviser. Was Rehman Malik’s argument a throwback to the old days when it was easy for the state to justify the bulldozing of a movement after labelling it as pro-India or pro-Soviet or pro-Afghan? Conversely, we know that when the government is not using the ‘foreign agent’ excuse to browbeat an errant subject, it is applying the refrain to conceal its inability to overcome a problem. Either way, it spells trouble for Pakistan and Mr Malik could have avoided the situation.

His statement is hardly in keeping with the friendly messages President Asif Zardari has been sending to both New Delhi and Kabul. Also, the time is long gone when people would readily accept the state’s version about events in a ‘remote’ part of the country. Assertions without evidence can cause grave harm. The adviser should know since he had himself asked for an explanation after a Lahore police official linked India to two terrorist attacks in the city in recent weeks. It is his turn to come up with proof now. He spoke of thousands of Baloch insurgents being trained in Afghanistan with the support of India. By doing so, he also exposed himself and indeed the state he represents to the anger of the Baloch who may view the statement as part of a smear campaign which insinuates that they are susceptible to inducement by Pakistan’s ‘enemies’. It is good that we have a forum in the media where the accused can respond with statements of their own, but that doesn’t in any way rule out other, more severe, reactions.

Let’s be under no illusions: others may well want to exploit situations inside our country to their advantage in the name of their own national interest. The world as it is today offers ample opportunity for such covert operations but we can only tackle these issues by first addressing the local realities behind them. As some senators maintained during the briefing, pointing fingers could further complicate relations with our neighbours. The senators were absolutely right in calling on the adviser to be discreet with his words, insisting they would rather hear him out in-camera. If something concrete emerges from the in-camera session, it can be taken up with those deemed responsible.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Quarrying in the Margallas[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 24 Apr, 2009[/B]

AT a recent Earth Day event in Islamabad, Secretary Environment Kamran Lash-ari noted that over-exploitation is leading to a rapid depletion of Pakistan’s natural resources and causing severe environment degradation. A sobering example is available just a few miles away, at the Margalla hills in Taxila, where stone is being quarried on a scale so massive that there are fears that this portion of the hills may be entirely eaten away. Already they have been visibly decimated by the activities of about a hundred stone-crushing units and four cement factories. This despite the fact that this portion of the Margallas was designated a national park in 1980. In terms of regulation, such activities fall under the purview of various governmental bodies. But as the situation in the Margallas illustrates, there is often a lack of coordination between such departments — all too often, the right hand remains unaware of what the left is doing. Such loose communication makes it easier for over-enthusiastic ‘developers’ to slip through the cracks in the system and avoid regulation. In this case, the owners of the stone-crushing units claim they operate with permission from the Punjab Mineral Development Corporation, which in turn maintains that the hills were leased after consultation with the federal Ministry of Environment. And while ministry officials offer no comment, the decimated hills are themselves testimony to the government’s failure to regulate the quarrying or enforce prohibitive measures.

Such unthinking depletion of natural resources, such as stone in the Margallas or trees in the northern areas, are factors that contribute to such severe environmental degradation that according to Mr Lashari, costs Pakistan’s GDP an estimated Rs365bn annually. The actual cost to the country is far higher though. A by-product of environmental degradation is air and water pollution, which leads to a fall in levels of public health. In Taxila, for example, there has been a sharp increase in respiratory illnesses. This puts further pressure on the country’s already over-burdened healthcare system. Meanwhile, since an ailing workforce means a less productive workforce, the country also loses significant earning power.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Bangladesh Press Public impatience with power outages[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 24 Apr, 2009[/B]

ANGERED by repeated … loadshedding, ruefully without notice, residents and workers of Araihazar in Narayanganj left a trail of damage as they ransacked a power substation, a rural power supply office and a police outpost. This is the first public outburst over a situation whose desperate nature is increasingly dawning on us.

Ominously, however, it could be a foretaste of more to come with the government looking perilously close to a fully-fledged law and order situation. The government, which has had more than its fair share of misfortunes, can scarcely entertain such a prospect.

On the other hand, though, quite clearly there is little that the government can do to dramatically bring normality in power supply to all … consumers…. The huge power deficit is not of this government’s making…. Not before three years in the very least can power supply be normalised….

[B]The Daily Star[/B]

[T]here is no way we can generate the needed minimum of power in the immediate future; public frustrations cannot be trifled with or swept under the carpet; and indeed police action can hardly be the answer; on the contrary, it could recoil.

Whilst nobody is left in any doubt that the government is seriously considering various options, short run, medium term and long run, in a bid to improve the energy situation on a sustained basis, there is an impression though that these are somewhat overlapping without any perceptible delineation being made between options. We need to concentrate on the immediate do’s, like for instance, better load management, promoting energy efficiency, importing liquefied natural gas to fire power [and] restoring some of the lost generation capacity….

Whatever the government does it must unveil its plan of action with a clear time line and share its details with the public … in terms that they can readily understand and appreciate…. A massive public information campaign should be launched to generate confidence in the people that sure-footed alleviation measures are really in prospect. — (April 23)

[B][U][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"][CENTER]Access to EU markets[/CENTER][/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 27 Apr, 2009[/B]

PAKISTAN has been making efforts to gain greater market access for its exports to the United States and the European Union ever since it joined the international war on terror towards the end of 2001. But all these efforts have failed to produce any tangible outcome so far. While the US continues to drag its feet on Islamabad’s request for a free trade pact, the EU has ruled out the possibility outright. As a consequence, our exporters are facing tough competition from rivals in countries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka who get preferential treatment in America and Europe. This has resulted in a slower than expected growth in exports, which recently showed up in the government’s cash-flow problems and forced it to reluctantly borrow money from the International Monetary Fund. Exporters pin the blame on the government’s ‘half-hearted’ and futile efforts to convince its two largest trading partners that we need trade and not aid to put our economy on a sound footing. But that take is only partially true. Given the fact that the big powers use bilateral free trade and investment treaties as foreign policy tools, it is not easy to obtain preferential trade treatment from Washington or Brussels unless they can draw some substantial political and economic advantages in return.

Some recent developments, however, indicate that some friendly countries in Europe and powerful business lobbies in the US are finally realising the crucial importance of trade for the economic and political stability of Pakistan, which has lost billions of dollars on account of it being the frontline state in the terror war. In America we find the US Chamber of Commerce willing to work to get the Obama administration to lower its tariffs for our textile exports. In Europe we have been assured by a French commerce ministry official that his country would support “any short-term solution for enhancing Pakistan’s access to the EU market”. Paris will also support Islamabad’s efforts to enter into a free trade agreement with the EU. These are encouraging signs. But the government will now have to work harder to present its case convincingly to cash in on these opportunities.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Countering adulteration[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 27 Apr, 2009[/B]

EVERY now and then reports of raids on factories manufacturing fake branded drinks or toxic food products remind us of the ready availability of adulterated food in our markets. According to a report in this paper, fake versions of almost every brand of beverage are available in the markets of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. A major problem with detecting this kind of adulteration is that consumers cannot always tell when they are being cheated. The product might taste similar, look alike, cost the same but is likely to be harmful to the health of the consumer. Health officials in Rawalpindi collected hundreds of samples of food over the past month that were found to be adulterated in one form or the other. Although the health effects of taking adulterated food have not been studied, medical experts generally agree that over prolonged periods such consumption may amount to slow poisoning. Many of the substances used in adulterating food, including artificial food colouring, are either carcinogenic or can have adverse effects on the digestive system. But despite countless campaigns against adulteration in the past, dishonest food manufacturers and traders continue to add harmful substances, sell contaminated food or tamper with the original content of the food item.

An inefficient monitoring system, insufficient food inspectors, inadequate powers of these inspectors and lax penalties have often been blamed for the prevalence of this health menace. But in a society ever-overflowing with new food products that are likely to be targeted by copycats, another major factor is the lack of awareness and widespread negligence and indifference among consumers. More food inspectors, stricter laws, stiffer penalties and even greater coordination among the organisations involved in the anti-adulteration drive will help curb the practice only if consumers, especially from the lower-income groups, are conscious and aware about adulterated foods and thereby avoid buying suspect items. As such, what also needs to be implemented are measures to create awareness of food impurities and hygiene among the general public through advertising and media campaigns. Consumers need to be encouraged to go for tinned or packed items with proper information labels displayed. Improved awareness about consumers’ rights and obligations coupled with more effective consumer protection laws will help facilitate the emergence of an organised and active consumer movement. The latter is the key to better quality foodstuffs, and thus better public health.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Jungle law[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 27 Apr, 2009[/B]

THE brutal crimes committed by the Taliban constitute a warning: this is the sort of behaviour that lies at the extremist yet logical end of the jungle-law mindset taking root in the country. Increasingly, Pakistan is a place where the powerful can get away with any transgression, while the weak become exponentially vulnerable. A case in point is last week’s incident in Muzaffargarh. A district education officer visited a government high school in connection with an inquiry against a secondary schoolteacher. The enraged teacher reportedly thrashed the DEO and then locked her up, while the assailant’s accomplices fired in the air. The police eventually arrested the DEO’s attacker but delayed registering a case against him. Reportedly, the teacher in question is close to an MPA from the PML-Q’s unification bloc. The area police told this paper that they were awaiting “instructions” from the provincial assembly legislator.

Such subversion of justice is all too common in our society, where the rule of law remains an abstract concept. The citizenry is taught by example to sidestep the conventions of legality and citizens’ rights when there is a chance of getting away with it – which depends mainly on access to wealth, privilege and power. Ordinary citizens learn from the example set by their rulers, which virtually across the board belong to the feudal or economic elite. There are plenty of instances where the feudal elite, among them well-known politicians, have victimised peasants and other powerless constituents. Instances of buying votes, bribing constituents and opposition party members, and blatantly favouring loyalists are too many to enumerate. Military rulers have no better record. Power has often been wrested through moves later ‘legalised’ through a retroactive tinkering with the laws. The constitution of the country has been subverted, and legal governments arbitrarily removed.

The judiciary and the police are meant to prevent such flouting of the law, but these institutions have shown a regrettable lack of commitment. A pliant justice system has often been created through either a non-transparent process of appointing judges, or through alleged ‘deals’. Constitutional illegalities have been given retroactive cover. The transgressions of the police, meanwhile, are known to all. From ceding to the demands of influentials and manipulating evidence to extracting confessions through brutal means, the Pakistan police have gathered a reputation of being no friend of the powerless. Such practices teach the citizenry that the law is invoked only by the weak, and to little avail. To prevent a jungle-like situation in the country’s future, it is imperative that the law be applied and enforced across the board. In the restoration of the chief justice, an important point was scored for the rule of law. This must be driven home further. It must be made clear that no one is above the country’s laws, which are paramount.

**********************************************************
[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - North American Press[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 27 Apr, 2009[/B]

[B]Over the limit[/B]

PRESIDENT Obama told banking executives this week to clean up their credit card business. He made clear that he understands the billowing anger and the huge strains placed on millions of American cardholders who face sudden interest rate spikes, hidden fees and tricky contracts that no one without a law degree and a magnifying glass can hope to master.

His promises will amount to little unless he follows through quickly to strengthen bills in Congress designed to protect credit card customers.

The president said after meeting credit card executives on Thursday that he and his economic team recognise the need for credit cards, especially in a tough economy. Small businesses often depend on the cards to order goods or meet the payroll. And consumers have learned to enjoy instant credit at the checkout counter. But as a … user of credit cards himself, Mr Obama told banking executives that it is time to reform this area of their business.

He demanded stronger protection against unfair rate increases and abusive fees along with more oversight and enforcement. He called for clarity….

Credit card operators have long resisted such reforms, and earlier experiments with self-policing resulted in very spotty improvements. After complaints from cardholders who felt tricked by their banks, the Federal Reserve last year proposed several useful changes that will not, unfortunately, take effect until July 2010.

There’s a better way to help consumers. A credit card bill of rights proposed by Democratic Representatives … would codify many of the Fed’s rules into law. It would ban interest rate increases on existing balances unless payment is more than 30 days late, and it would forbid ‘double-cycle billing’….

It would also require 45 days’ notice for a rate increase in most cases. An even stronger bill … would make it harder for people under the age of 21 to get cards, far too many of whom now think plastic is simply another form of cash. It would also require creditors to apply a cardholder’s payment to the balance with the highest interest rate. So far, these reforms face fierce Republican opposition, especially in the Senate.

If the president is really serious about credit card relief, he could pressure Congress to end some of the industry’s worst tricks right now….

Mr Obama has spent a lot of time and energy trying to save the banks. He and Congress must also do more to spare their customers. — (April 24)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Dir operation[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 28 Apr, 2009[/B]

THE point of no return could be crossed in the near future if the Taliban are not subjected to decisive and telling action. The government dithered and the army stayed its hand even as the militants who want nothing less than the state’s overthrow flexed their muscles and moved from Swat to Buner and then into Shangla. They have now agreed to withdraw from Buner, but not without conducting a huge recruitment drive that ensured that the district would remain under the control of ‘local’ Taliban. Pakistan is ceding territory by the day and anyone who thinks that the Taliban advance can somehow be confined to ‘that’ part of the country is sadly mistaken. These barbarians cannot be confined. We have tried buying time from a position of weakness and been witness to the results. Every single ‘deal’, and there have been many of them, has only allowed the Taliban to regroup and prepare for fresh assaults against the federation. It has to be acknowledged once and for all that the Taliban are the single biggest enemy the country has ever faced since 1947. The supposedly secular ANP has let Pakistan and the NWFP down with a thud, and the religio-political parties have made it clear, yet again, where their sympathies lie.

The security forces did well to take on the Taliban in Lower Dir on Sunday. Let’s not ask at this stage why they didn’t act earlier. It is said that they moved against the militants following requests to do so by local elders and the provincial government. It is also a fact that the operation was launched after security forces came under fire. Can we argue then that the response was more reactive than proactive? Welcome as it is, the operation in Dir may also strengthen the impression that the military cracks down hard only when its own are attacked. Taliban violence against civilians is largely ignored for some reason. The army chief said the other day that the military would drive back the Taliban if they made any further inroads. Why just ‘drive back’? These people are merciless and have no qualms about indulging in savagery.

It can only be hoped that the operation in Dir is not a one-off move aimed at countering western criticism of Pakistani inaction. To be successful, it has to be part of a wider strategy of taking on the Taliban with all the force the military commands. Tribesmen who opposed the Taliban have been losing heart ever since the Swat deal. They thought the government was on their side, and acted accordingly. They are now running scared. A clear message needs to be sent that the government, the army and the people of Pakistan are all on the same page.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Who will test the teachers?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 28 Apr, 2009[/B]

THERE is much public dismay at the messing up of the testing process for school teachers the other day in Karachi and the rest of Sindh. By announcing the postponement of the test paper at the eleventh hour the Sindh education department upset thousands of candidates who had assembled for the written paper. Gross mismanagement by the authorities showed they had learnt nothing from their experience on Friday when the test for high school teachers was similarly disrupted by several applicants who did not receive their admit cards and were asked to wait. These incidents point to the decay and corruption that has seeped into the education sector and are making the people impatient. It is clear that those who administer the public school system in the province are not capable — or are unwilling — to provide good state-funded education to our children. In spite of the rapid expansion of the private sector, an overwhelming majority of students are still enrolled in government schools. Hence the negative impact of such incidents reaches far and wide.

There can be no justification for the education department’s failure to manage the recruitment process of its teachers. Teachers are central to the quality of education imparted and to that of the human resource produced as a result. Yet the authorities failed to organise a simple test to select the best in spite of the $100m funding provided by the World Bank for the purpose. On this occasion, matters became serious when the number of vacancies to be filled snowballed to 13,500 in the absence of regular recruitments over the years and over 200,000 applicants had to be tested in the province. It now appears the education department lacks the expertise and management skills to handle a job of this size. Although the task was outsourced to the Sindh University, its performance proved to be equally disappointing. It could not even ensure the secrecy of the question paper that was leaked before the test began. Was that surprising? Most of our institutions of higher education have proved themselves inept at holding examinations transparently and cheating is rampant. One cannot be certain if the scripts will be honestly assessed and the appointments will actually be on the basis of merit as promised by the authorities. There is urgent need for reforms — and the beginning must be made with the teachers who can radically upgrade the performance of the entire sector. This is possible if teachers are appointed because they are qualified to teach — and this can only be ensured if the recruitment process is managed efficiently.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Closure of textile units[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 28 Apr, 2009[/B]

PAKISTAN’S textile industry is in distress. A substantially large number of factories covering a range of its sub-sectors like spinning, knitwear, garments etc have been closed down in the last couple of years. Many more are threatened. Several thousand workers have been laid off. Others are waiting for their turn to come. What has led to the sudden fall of the country’s largest industry which recently invested over $5.5bn in the expansion of its capacity? The industry’s troubles stem from multiple factors. Domestically, manufacturers continue to cope with higher credit costs, rising utility prices, unfriendly business policies, high taxes, a deteriorating law and order situation and acute energy shortages. All these factors are eroding the competitiveness of the industry and forcing millers to curtail production and cut jobs. Cheap imports from China are another worry for domestic producers. Internationally, the exporters are trying to compete with the heavily subsidised textile industries of China, India, Bangladesh etc. Withdrawal of subsidies has made this competition even tougher. The economic slump in the US and Europe, Pakistan’s two largest markets, has aggravated the situation. No wonder then that our textile exports are sliding, both in dollar terms and in quantity.

Few doubt that the textile industry — rightly considered the lifeline of the country’s economy — is in dire need of immediate government help to recover its strength. The manufacturers’ cost of doing business needs to be cut significantly and uninterrupted power supply ensured in order to help them increase production and compete with regional rivals whose exports, as mentioned, are hugely subsidised by their governments. The industry’s collapse is bound to have profound socioeconomic and political consequences. The government realises the crucial importance of the textile sector. It employs around 38 per cent of the industrial labour and contributes about 60 per cent to export revenues and nine per cent to GDP. But it has yet to bail out the collapsing industry. Further delay in the resolution of the industry’s problems will cost the national economy heavily. The industry’s concerns are legitimate and should be addressed urgently. Or the government should be ready to pay a heavy price for its inaction.

**********************************************************
[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press Balochistan unrest[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 28 Apr, 2009[/B]


ADVISER to the Prime Minister on Interior Rehman Malik has claimed India and Afghanistan are involved in fomenting the unrest in Balochistan. This has added fuel to the fire. If the Balochistan issue was meant to be solved in this manner, there was no need to offer apologies and make promises to address the grievances of the people and recompense them for excesses of the past.

Is there any difference between the interior minister of the Musharraf government and Mr Rehman? According to him the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) was set up by Russia and now India and Afghanistan are running it. Every government has dealt with the Balochistan issue in almost the same manner. Apart from the BLA, is there Indian and Afghan involvement in whatever is happening in Balochistan?

Is Mr Malik really sure about what he’s saying? This is a new way of denouncing the Baloch as unpatriotic. If the recently killed Baloch leaders belonged to terrorist groups, then are Baloch leaders in the right for blaming the agencies?

Why can the interior ministry not think on the same lines for Sufi Mohammad and the Taliban? And what would Mr Malik say about groups operating in the country like the Taliban? Perhaps it would be painful for many if Sufi Mohammad, Baitullah Mehsud and Maulana Fazlur Rahman are termed traitors.

[B][SIZE="3"]Ibrat[/SIZE][/B]

The Taliban were created in a matter of a few years and have declared that the Supreme Court and democracy are un-Islamic. In other words, they have committed treason. Why is silence being maintained for Sufi Mohammad and his companions?

The Balochistan issue, on the other hand, has been unresolved.... Military operations and displacement of people have been commonplace. How will all this be accounted for?

The prime minister is becoming irrelevant as his statements carry no weight. In fact the government’s thinking is in line with Mr Malik’s. The fact is that the Balochistan issue exists. Even if there is foreign involvement, has the federation not committed excesses in Balochistan? Balochistan wants the implementation of the 1940 resolution in its true letter and spirit.

This demand should be met. Would it not have been wiser, if the government had not handled this issue through Mr Malik and found some political solution to the problem?

It is strange that the rulers have found odd ways to try and strengthen the country. Those who demand rights are being crushed and bombarded, while deals are signed with those who declare the entire country un-Islamic.

The BLA does not represent the entire population of Balochistan. Whatever anger and hatred prevail in Balochistan has not been created by Brahamdagh Bugti ….

The two major political parties — the PPP and PML-N — should review the situation and handle this issue in a responsible manner. If this attitude continues, it won’t take much time before Balochistan is pushed out of the federation. — (April 24)

— Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Swine flu on the rampage[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 29 Apr, 2009[/B]

IT is swine flu this time and its epicentre is Mexico. WHO’s decision to raise its pandemic alert level and Washington’s move to declare a public health emergency indicate the seriousness with which health authorities are viewing the current outbreak of this variety of influenza. With some cases diagnosed in Europe, EU is also considering preventive measures. While the situation may not be cause for serious alarm, one would agree with WHO’s approach of ‘better safe than sorry’. Nearly 150 people have died in Mexico in the last fortnight due to the new strain of virus that is a mixture of swine, human and avian flu. Since it has emerged for the first time, people lack natural immunity. The disease is contagious through human-to-human contact. All these factors combined with growing international travel have given rise to a new phenomenon of worldwide pandemics. Influenza, the most contagious illness, goes on the rampage every few years with a mutated virus. In 1918-20 somewhere between 20 to 100 million people died of what was called the Spanish flu. In 1957 the Asian flu took 100,000 lives while the Hong Kong flu of 1968 killed a million people. Ever since there have been more pandemics but the death toll has been contained. Thus SARS killed less than 800 people in 2003 and the human casualty figure for the more recent bird flu was about 245.

Improved surveillance and institutionalised disease testing and tracking systems have helped check the spread of infectious ailments. The method that has proved to be most effective has been the isolation of suspected cases from infected areas. This procedure has already been adopted in North America. It would help if all countries impose some form of surveillance on travellers from infected zones. Pakistan at its end should consider a feasible approach without creating undue panic. In our case, where hygiene and sanitation is so poor and overcrowding so common, it would certainly be easier to adopt preventive measures rather than wait for an outbreak and then panic and look for a curative approach.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Wake-up call[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 29 Apr, 2009[/B]

IS the tide of public opinion finally swinging against the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and the so-called ‘good offices’ of Sufi Mohammad, chief of the Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariat Mohammadi? The challenge they present to the writ of established law and the state have been obvious for some time. But it has taken the Taliban’s increasingly atrocious crimes and the expansionist tendencies displayed recently to set off alarm bells in many quarters. Now, the Pakistan Army claims renewed resolve and promises to ‘seriously’ tackle the militants. The citizenry may legitimately ask why matters were allowed to worsen until the gauntlet thrown down by the Taliban became a direct challenge to the authority and resources commanded by the state. Nevertheless, the army’s ‘renewed resolve’ must be greeted with relief. Troops have reportedly regained control of some key areas, including portions of Lower Dir and the Maidan Valley. Yet major challenges still lie ahead. While no doubt the Taliban must be routed in the areas they have usurped, their ideological moorings that allowed them to become such a danger must also be undermined so that neither they nor other groups of their seditious ilk can rise in a similar fashion to challenge the state’s writ.

In this context, the Tableeghi Jamaat leaders’ rejection of the enforcement of Sharia at gunpoint at one of the group’s major gatherings takes on great significance. An apolitical organisation with considerable influence in society, the Jamaat has always opposed the Taliban’s violent ways in the propagation of religious values, focusing instead on a peaceful mode of preaching. Until now, the passive acceptance of the demands of any group packaging its bid for power under a religious label was a factor that lent the Taliban a perceived moral upper hand. The Jamaat’s denunciation may well shake some of the Taliban’s ideological moorings.

It is time for other religious and right-wing groups and political parties to also take a stand against the imposition of any ideal or ideology through violent means. There have been some quiet murmurs but to have any effect these must become a resounding rejection of the tactics of repression and fear and of seditious activities — regardless of how beguilingly packaged. There is no issue with peacefully spreading the message of Islam; but a fine line divides preaching from indoctrination. In a largely illiterate population awash with arms, such indoctrination can threaten state institutions and the country’s established, constitutional law. The country’s experience with the Taliban must serve as a wake-up call if the present insurgency is to be quelled and future ones avoided.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Pakistani students in UK[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 29 Apr, 2009[/B]

‘OPERATION Pathway’ was perhaps destined for failure the moment the UK’s top counter-terrorism officer was photographed with files providing details of planned police raids on Pakistani students. The officer concerned was forced to resign and the police action, which had been in the works for months, was moved forward at short notice. The result: mass arrests but no solid evidence.

Even so, that did not stop UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown from crowing about how the police had foiled a major terrorist plot. What terrorist plot? There may have been one but we will never really know, will we, considering how badly the inquiry was bungled? Physical searches of flats and houses yielded nothing, and neither did scrutiny of seized computers. In the end, all charges were dropped but yet the students are not at liberty. They have been remanded to the custody of the UK Border Agency pending their deportation. Can Mr Brown, who was in Pakistan the other day, answer this one simple question: what is their crime? Every single student rounded up by the police was in the UK on a valid visa. Not one shred of evidence that could stand up in court could be produced against any of the young men now in custody. Is this justice? No, it is not.

Britain’s civil liberties record is not spotless, particularly in its dealings with the IRA, but the country does stand out as a bastion of basic rights in the western world. Every country has the right to act decisively when it feels that its security interests are being threatened. The UK cannot be deprived of that privilege. But when it knows that it has made a mistake, the British government, and yes it’s prime minister, should have the decency to show remorse and apologise for the incarceration of Pakistani citizens whose only fault perhaps was that they weren’t white.

The UK needs to sort out its race issues. Racism in Britain is both institutional and in your face. Few middle-class persons of colour who spend any prolonged period of time in Great Britain can come away saying that they were not discriminated against in one way or another. This is an issue that Britain needs to address on an urgent basis. Meanwhile, teenagers of Pakistani or Bangladeshi origin do not turn the other cheek at any given affront like their predecessors did. The race riots of 2001 showed once and for all that there is now a generation of South Asians in Britain that will not simply cower and simper. But there is a downside to this dubious empowerment as well. Alienated from the mainstream, many Muslim Britons are more than willing to lend an ear to the obscurantists.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Press More snooping strike the right balance?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

THIS question, one whose resonance has grown louder in recent years, is more pertinent than ever with the publication of government proposals to allow every communication that we make to be tracked. The police, security service and other agencies will be able to discover to who and from whom all our emails, mobile phone calls and text messages were sent and received, how the communication was made, and when.

The government has decided against establishing a single database to hold all this information, which is just as well since it would have been inordinately expensive to have done so and Whitehall’s record in managing major IT projects has been especially poor. Instead, communications service providers and mobile phone companies will keep the records and access will be given to government agencies as and when required.

[B]The Daily Telegraph[/B]

Inevitably, a security justification is given for a measure which would normally be introduced only in wartime, and then only temporarily. Ministers cited several serious crimes in which access to communications data proved important in solving the case…. Pinpointing the whereabouts of an individual suspect by using his mobile phone records is clearly of benefit to the police and retaining this data for a period would seem to make sense. Technological advances also mean there are ever more sophisticated ways to communicate and it is important for the police to keep pace.

However, people should be under no illusions about what is involved. Even without a single bespoke database, it will still be possible for the first time to collect and store details of all communications by everyone in the country….

If this measure were unusual and represented a proportionate response to a specific threat or an identifiable problem, then it might have some merits. But this is not a stand-alone proposal. It is all of a piece with the accumulation of a vast amount of personal information about every one of us, from the proposed ID database, the ContactPoint children’s database, the inclusion of innocent people on the DNA database and the proliferation of CCTV cameras and other methods of surveillance.

The problem this government faces in trying to convince us of the efficacy of a particular measure is that it has a well-deserved reputation for snooping on a scale unknown in peacetime.

It appears to want to treat the entire population as a pool of potential suspects. Before proceeding with this proposal, the government needs to demonstrate convincingly that there is both a need for such a measure and that it strikes the right balance between privacy and security. — (April 27)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Obama’s Middle East challenge[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 30 Apr, 2009[/B]

PRESIDENT Barack Obama meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a time when a huge gulf divides Washington and Tel Aviv over the Palestinian question. Since the Clinton days America has remained committed to the two-state solution; so has Israel. The declaration of principles, signed by Bill Clinton, Yasser Arafat and Yitzhak Rabin in September 1993, provided for a sovereign Palestinian state by April 1999. The roadmap unveiled by George Bush Jr visualised the emergence of an independent Palestine “by 2005”. The document signed at the Annapolis summit in November 2007, to which Israel is a signatory, laid down a timetable for a Palestinian state to come into being by the end of 2008. All these plans fell victim to Israeli hubris with tacit American support. Now Mr Netanyahu, who sabotaged the DoP during his first term as prime minister, has repudiated the two-state concept. In fact, he made it clear to Mr Obama’s peace envoy George Mitchell that Israel would not resume peace talks unless the Palestinian Authority recognised Israel as a Jewish state. He also has a super hawk foreign minister in Avigdor Lieberman, who believes that the Jewish settlements pose no threat to the peace process. He himself believes that the Palestinians should be given self-rule on half of the West Bank under Israeli supervision.

The meeting between the US president and the Israeli prime minister next month is being projected by the western media as the toughest for the American president, for it is likely to produce “fireworks”. One hopes this does not prove a joke at the Palestinians’ expense, with the president of the sole superpower on one side and the leader of a state like Israel on the other. Having indicated a positive change in his policy towards the Muslim world, President Obama has no choice but to make it clear to Mr Netanyahu that America stands by the two-state solution and Israel has no right to reject what has been time and again affirmed by the UN, America, the European Union and Israel itself. Any other results would merely mean Mr Obama’s abject surrender to the pro-Israel lobby.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Help the displaced[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 30 Apr, 2009[/B]

EVEN the conservative estimates are staggering. The UN’s World Food Programme is working with a figure in the region of 600,000 but it is believed that the number of internally displaced persons in the NWFP and the tribal belt could be as high as one million. Poor civilians have been caught in the crossfire between militants and security personnel, and also been used as human shields by the Taliban. Hundreds of thousands have fled Waziristan, Bajaur, Darra Adamkhel, Swat, Kurram, Orakzai, Mohmand and now Buner and Lower Dir. Those fortunate enough to escape are living in appalling conditions in refugee camps or seeking shelter with relatives, often of straitened means. The government is right in asking for international assistance for these victims of the conflict raging in northern Pakistan. That said, its own track in providing succour to the displaced is anything but encouraging. Granted that Islamabad and the government in Peshawar have much on their plate vis-à-vis the fight against militancy. But it is imperative that people in dire need are taken care of by the state. Failure to do so will breed more resentment which will be readily tapped by the Taliban. If abandoned by the state, children and youth who have grown up in conflict zones and now have no options may easily choose to side with the militants. That way they will gain an identity and a form of respect in certain circles. And they won’t go hungry either.

Take what happened in Bajaur which is to date perhaps the only real success story in the battle against the Taliban. Residents were promised a massive rehabilitation and reconstruction programme but little activity has been seen on the ground. This inaction could have severe repercussions. Already refugees from Bajaur have turned violent at the Jalozai camp in Nowshera because of the state’s failure to create conditions that would facilitate their return. How can these impoverished people be expected be move back to Bajaur when their houses have been destroyed and little is left of local infrastructure?

The government has to stop dragging its feet on this tinderbox issue. The scale of the problem is only going to increase if the recent operations in Dir and Buner are part of a wider, sustained strategy. Most Pakistanis applaud the government for finally taking a stronger line against the militants. But they do so from the comfort of their homes. The displaced who are forced to flee the theatre of battle may have a different take on the matter.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Changing tide?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 30 Apr, 2009[/B]

FIRST Lower Dir, now Buner — the Pakistan Army has taken on the militants spilling out from Swat and acted to restore a modicum of the state’s writ in the two districts. After the army’s wait-and-watch policy in those areas allowed the militants to fan out and caused alarm, if not panic, within the country and internationally, it seems that the army has finally gotten serious about stamping out militancy. But much depends on what happens next in the days and months ahead. Evicting the militants from Lower Dir and Buner is not enough; Swat is the epicentre of militancy in the Malakand Division and the militants there, led by Maulana Fazlullah, have shown scant interest in abiding by the peace deal that was brokered by Sufi Mohammad of the TNSM. More generally, the militants in Swat themselves feed off the networks of militancy in Fata and Punjab and there can be no lasting peace anywhere until a credible national anti-militancy strategy is developed.

For that, there are certain developments on the political and military fronts that must first occur. Politically, the Pakistan Army has made it clear that it wants the politicians to develop a consensus on using the military option. In the case of Lower Dir and Buner, it is perhaps for the first time that consensus has been present and the army has duly acted. What made the political consensus possible were two factors: one, Sufi Mohammad’s rant against the entire existing political set-up in Pakistan; and, two, the attempt by Swat militants to grab more territory after the promulgation of the new Nizam-i-Adl regulation, which was the militants’ only self-professed goal. But the stomach for a prolonged military confrontation does not appear to exist, and the politicians may yet thwart an expansion of the military operation into Swat and elsewhere.

Second, the security establishment needs to once and for all rid itself of the notion that there is a role for non-state actors in our national security policy. Perhaps more than anything else feeding the national confusion on the militancy problem is the continuing belief that not all militants are bad, that some are ‘controllable’ and that some are simply uninterested in ever turning their guns on the Pakistan state. But reality suggests otherwise: ideology, the survival instinct and sometimes purely tactical considerations have created interconnections between the various militant groups to the point where it makes little strategic sense to try and defeat one set without acting against the others. Note that the threat to the media in Swat is all-encompassing: don’t oppose the ‘Taliban’ and their ‘positive’ impact on ‘society’. The message: we are one, we are coming and don’t stand in our way. Would that the state demonstrated the same resolve and unanimity.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Middle East[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 30 Apr, 2009[/B]

[B]Excellent 100 days[/B]

TODAY is the actual Day 100 of Obama’s presidency. Is it different from the 99th day, or rather, the 101st day in office? Not really. Some are calling it ‘flimsy journalistic conceit’ and a purely symbolic day, an artificial milestone for journalists to indulge in stocktaking. But whatever the arguments for and against marking this day out, Barack Obama has every reason to celebrate the media glare he is getting as part of the celebrations. The reason is that the historians’ verdict is out on his 100 days in office….

President Obama, in both the scope of his legislative achievements and the groundwork he has done for future policy changes, has done more in his first 100 days in the White House than any [president] since Franklin D Roosevelt…. He has worked sincerely to deliver on the promise of change he has made to the nation and the world; he has restored to his country much of the international authority and goodwill it lost heavily during his predecessor’s rule. Moreover, one of the most remarkable decisions taken by Obama … is sure to be remembered as one of huge historical significance: the release of secret memos relating to the torture of terrorist suspects that was sanctioned by Bush’s administration. The US public too has expressed satisfaction [with] his performance, which has been proved through opinion polls…. —(April 29)

[B]Baghdad blues[/B]

IRAQ was being hailed as a success, amid dramatic improvement in security after years of spiralling violence leading Washington to approve a withdrawal timetable for its forces. However, the renewal of violence sends out fresh signals that internal security is more fragile than assumed, though the danger was anticipated in military circles. The latest outburst of violence was a double suicide attack carried by two female bombers at a Shia shrine in northern Baghdad that killed more than 70 people…. The concern in the US over the sudden turnaround in security in Iraq was visible as US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made a surprise visit to Baghdad on Saturday to show commitment to the stability of the Iraqi nation….

The message was meant for the insurgents [and] to counter the widespread speculation that the US had been lulled into as violence and terrorist attacks dropped dramatically under a new counter-insurgency plan that was implemented under Gen Petraeus…. Even while Iraq enjoyed relative peace and stability, sporadic insurgent attacks were expected as the phased withdrawal of US forces … is expected to start this summer — with most troops, except the 50,000 reserve force — to leave by the end of 2010.The present situation shows the insurgents’ capability of obtaining explosives and bypassing security forces to conduct their operations…. — (April 26)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]More clarity needed[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 04 May, 2009[/B]

President Zardari may be forgiven for arriving in Washington this week a confused or worried man. Weeks of tough public statements from US officials and a slew of what appear to be deliberate leaks to the US media have, at the very least, undermined the image of the PPP-led federal government internationally. Looking over the record of recent weeks, three possibilities emerge.

The more positive scenario is that the Obama administration has deployed its officials to play a good cop/bad cop routine to force a Pakistani administration that is adrift to shape up and get serious about countering the threat of militancy and to improve its poor governance record. From this perspective, American impatience with Zardari’s PPP and overtures to Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N and the Pakistan Army can be read more as a shot across the bow of the PPP, a way of putting the party on notice that American support is not endless.

The second possibility is that the Obama administration is in fact already fed up with the weak PPP government and is genuinely looking at other options.

The third is that the Americans are themselves divided, unsure of what to do next in a neighbourhood where more American troops are on their way and where all US options in Pakistan appear equally good — or bad, as the case may be.

So which is it? President Obama will have an opportunity to make that clear this week. We hope Obama and his officials will send a clear signal that they support the democratic process in Pakistan, that they will in fact help ‘Pakistan help Pakistanis’, as Obama said last week, and that they will not let short-term security concerns trump the long-term interests of both the US and Pakistan.

If in fact US officials have deliberately been sending mixed signals to the Pakistan government in recent weeks that must stop. There is no doubt that the PPP-led government has done great harm to its own reputation with ill-advised political moves, especially in Punjab and over the judicial saga, but there is also no doubt that it is a genuinely and legitimately elected government with support in all the four provinces. And while the government has done little to focus on governance and seemingly regarded economic aid as a panacea, it is also a relatively young government that has inherited a country in a state of disarray after eight years of military rule.

Moreover, two wrongs will not make a right. If the Pakistan government is guilty of not living up to the basic standards of governance and policymaking, the US government has similarly failed to devise a credible policy towards Pakistan.

Alternating between expressions of support and dissatisfaction is not good policy. It is a recipe for failure.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Baloch warnings[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 04 May, 2009[/B]

THERE have been warnings from Baloch leaders that the crisis in their province could spiral out of control. When such statements are made by men considered moderate — and some are in the government — it is time to take serious note. True, Balochistan has been in turmoil for the past several years and has conventionally been a difficult province to govern because the Baloch have refused to submit to Islamabad’s autocratic control. The nature of the crisis has intensified over time and now the province seems to be on the brink as the simmering insurgency has escalated. But why does it have to be so? The crisis could have been resolved smoothly if Islamabad had displayed more tact in its handling of Balochistan’s demands. Instead it chose a ham-handed approach that has driven the Baloch into a blind corner. What began as a simple call for provincial autonomy to enable the Baloch to control their own resources has turned into a vicious battle against what is seen as an “occupation army”.

Recent events seem to justify this hardening of the stance of Baloch nationalists. While their long-standing demands have been ignored by the federal government, a security operation had been going on in full swing until recently to curb Baloch insurgents. Now, the government has missed the key grievances of the Baloch that need to be addressed urgently. Thus the issue of the missing Baloch remains unresolved. Their numbers run into hundreds. Then came the mysterious killing of the three nationalists whose killers have yet to be traced. In this unhappy situation, promises of development packages by the president and the prime minister as were announced recently amount to a big blow for the Baloch people. Such promises are not something new and they have not improved the conditions of the Baloch before and are not expected to do so now. Islamabad is also resorting to diversionary tactics. The federal adviser on interior, Mr Rehman Malik, has spoken of the “foreign hand”. India and some other countries have been named in this regard. This is a dangerous sign because it shows that Islamabad is allowing itself to be diverted from the main issue. Even if one were to believe Mr Malik, Pakistan has to answer for creating conditions that have allowed foreign meddling. It is universally recognised that external elements always fish in troubled waters. It would therefore be a better strategy to focus on those issues that have distressed the Baloch.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Homelessness ahead[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 04 May, 2009[/B]

THE UN report that 60,000 Palestinians in East Jerusalem risk losing their homes shouldn’t surprise those familiar with Israel’s land policy in the occupied territories. Expelling Palestinians from their ancestral lands and grabbing as much of Palestinian land as possible has been the Zionist settlers’ policy even before the state of Israel came into being. Hungry for land, Israel has till this day not withdrawn from Gaza and the West Bank, and it has annexed the Golan Heights and Jerusalem in violation of UN resolutions 242 and 338. Ariel Sharon’s Gaza “disengagement” plan was a fraud, because Israel has till this day not truly withdrawn from Gaza, and the idea was that the Jewish community pulled out of the Mediterranean strip would settle permanently on the settlements on the West Bank.

As for Jerusalem, Israel has made it clear by its actions to friends and foes alike that it has no intention of quitting the holy city or accepting it as the future capital of a sovereign Palestine. It continues to violate all UN resolutions, alter its Arab-Islamic character and establish new housing blocks for Jewish settlers in the eastern part of the city. Also, it has so built its wall that it has served to include more Arab lands in Israel and isolate Palestinian communities. The UN, while asking Israel not to demolish Palestinian homes, gives the impression that it is a municipal affair and that the Jerusalem municipality hasn’t taken care of housing for its Palestinian population. The UN notes that Israel wants to destroy Palestinian houses “built without permits”. This is a convenient excuse for Israel, because as a matter of policy Israel denies housing permits to the Arabs. Side by side, Tel Aviv continues to build new housing blocks for Jewish migrants. The UN’s mild censure and the way the western media has reported the event fail to highlight the gravity of the situation where the holy city’s 225,000 Palestinians are in danger of becoming homeless. One wonders whether President Barack Obama will take up the issue when he meets Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this month.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - North American Press Panic and hate can[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 04 May, 2009[/B]

ANOTHER dangerous contagion is accompanying swine flu as it makes its way through the country: the spread of ugly invective aimed at Mexicans, and xenophobia more generally about the outside world. Calls to close the border with Mexico, kill massive herds of pigs, halt international trade, or quarantine people with dark skin are not supported by science and should be called out for what they are: paranoia.

In Egypt, the government ordered the slaughter of some 300,000 pigs, inflaming tensions between the Muslim government and the Christian minority that includes almost all the pig farmers in that volatile country. (Muslims do not eat pork.) This even though the World Health Organisation is adamant that the virus is not foodborne and that no one has been infected through contact with pigs.

Closing international borders won’t help contain the virus and could hurt, because it can slow down trade in vaccines and goods needed to treat a pandemic. And there’s a generalised misunderstanding about scale that inflates the threat of the new strain.

[B]The Boston Globe[/B]

In an ordinary year, flu causes about 36,000 deaths in the United States. So far, out of 140 confirmed cases in the United States as of yesterday, the swine flu has caused one.

Naturally, cautions should be taken. In Lowell, the two boys who contracted the flu after visiting Mexico on a family vacation were right to stay home from school, and the Harvard dental school was wise to shut down its clinic and classrooms there while several suspected cases are confirmed.

But there are so many more important things to be concerned about that this new flu scare has brought into relief: the fact that 43 million Americans still don’t have a healthcare provider to advise or treat them if symptoms occur, for just one example. Pointing fingers and stoking passions about ‘others’ may satisfy a need for scapegoats. But Americans can do more to stay safe by simply washing their hands. — (May 2)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Nepal’s democracy in crisis[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 06 May, 2009[/B]

NEPAL’S nascent democracy is facing a crisis. Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal’s resignation on Monday has left political parties scrambling to put together another coalition which will be shaky at best. Although Nepal entered an era of relative calm after the Maoists ended their insurgency in 2006 and the king was deposed last year, the democratic process has not moved smoothly. Underlying tensions have pulled different elements in the power structure in opposite directions. The Maoist-led coalition was stable enough as long as Mr Dahal did not try to upset the applecart. But having won a surprise election victory last August and with the peace deal giving them plenty of space to exert their strength, the Maoists appeared keen to redesign the power-sharing arrangement. A political struggle became inevitable especially when it came to the issue of control over the army. Previously, the army took its orders from the monarchy. Thereafter, the president became commander-in-chief. Being a former leader of the Nepali Congress, the main opposition party, the president has not been too pro-Maoist. The series of events in the last few weeks — the government’s move to retire eight generals, the court’s orders to block it, the prime minister’s sacking of the army chief and then the president’s intervention on the latter’s behalf — resulted in the crisis that continues to unfold.

At the heart of the matter is not just the issue of who controls the army. At stake is the future of thousands of Maoist guerrillas living in UN-run camps awaiting rehabilitation. Mr Dahal’s move to have them inducted into the Nepalese army as per the 2006 peace accord met with resistance from the establishment. Evidently, certain sections in the Nepalese power system fear the Maoists would radicalise the army if they were recruited in large numbers. But the fighters cannot be left to languish in the camps indefinitely. A solution has to be found and if it was agreed three years ago that the guerrillas would be absorbed in the armed forces, the deal must be honoured. This impasse will block the political process that has yet to see the formulation of a constitutional framework. It cannot be abandoned now.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Judges and public offices[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 06 May, 2009[/B]

THE recommendation by the National Judicial (policymaking) Committee against the holding of executive posts by judges deserves to be welcomed. The issue concerns the provinces where high court chief justices have often been made acting governors during gubernatorial absences. While the constitution is clear about who will act as president during the absence of the head of state from the country, Article 104 of the basic law leaves it to the president to appoint “such other person” as he may choose to act as governor. As has often been the case, presidents have chosen high court chief justices to act as governors. This creates a conflict of interest in a judge, both when he is acting as governor and later when he returns to his post, because he may be called upon to take up cases involving administrative matters that he himself might have handled as head of the province. Besides, it is doubtful whether a judge, who by profession and training has a legal mind, can be an efficient administrator and handle policy issues which more often than not require political compromises.

A greater issue is the conduct expected of a judge. Besides being honest, convention dictates that judges regulate their public appearance. As acting governor, a judge cannot escape publicity while cutting ribbons and making speeches that he may feel embarrassed about later while sitting on the bench. A judge may be a public figure but he should eschew the politicisation of his office. The NJC has also decided to discontinue the practice whereby judges are sent on deputation to federal and provincial governments to occupy executive posts. The practice is indeed an anomaly that only erodes judicial independence.

We hope that the wide-ranging recommendations made by the NJC to help a judiciary that is overburdened with cases estimated at 1.6 million are implemented in letter and spirit. The superior judiciary alone has to judge nearly 140,000 cases. As pointed out by the NJC, the reasons for the huge backlog of cases are many, including inefficient and indifferent performance on the part of judges. If accepted by the Supreme Judicial Council, such an attitude could fall within the definition of misconduct. Also a major cause of judicial delays is the courts’ liberal attitude towards the lawyers’ frequent pleas for adjournment. Frequent and unwarranted adjournments only serve to delay justice at the client’s expense.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]A fresh start[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 06 May, 2009[/B]

WITH the Swat deal having all but collapsed, the state readying itself to take on the TTP in Swat itself, and a growing, if grudging, national acceptance of the need for a firm military response, it seems that Pakistan may finally be beginning to turn the page and deal with the primary threat to national security. Yet, as the country potentially moves closer to a necessary but messy fight against the militants, it is clear that focusing on one geographical area or the military option alone will not be enough to defeat a rising militancy. A large part of any successful long-term strategy against militancy will involve improving the state’s ability to govern and deliver basic public services to its people. To achieve that it is important Pakistan have additional financial resources, and so it is good that the Kerry-Lugar bill, which pledges $1.5bn a year of non-military aid to Pakistan for five years, has been introduced in the US Senate. The most positive aspects of the bill are that it de-links economic aid from military aid and shies away from imposing onerous conditions.

But important as the money may be, at least two caveats must be noted. First, the Senate bill must be reconciled with the more unpalatable version that has been presented in the House of Representatives. The final version may yet contain some surprises for Pakistan and may not conclusively move away from the “transactional, tactically driven set of short-term exercises in crisis management” that the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee has vowed to do away with. Second, while the programme is ostensibly meant to start this year, the nature of this kind of legislation and the processes involved suggest it is more likely to start somewhere in 2010.

Even so, the money could go some way in helping Pakistan turn around a broken public set-up. One of the key areas the Kerry-Lugar money is to be funnelled towards is “just and democratic governance, including police reform, equipping and training”. A report in The Nation on Monday has indicated just how desperate the need is for more funds in the sector. Revealing the results of a six-month survey by the building department of the Lahore city police, the paper noted that “at least 25,000 policemen in the city housed in 77 different police station buildings are performing their duties in miserable conditions”. Even the best of the current sites were found to be “conspicuously lacking even the basic facilities like proper toilets, lock-ups, strong room for arms and ammunition [and] barracks for constabulary”. None were found to be safe from a terrorist strike. And this in a city whose police force is very much in the militants’ crosshairs. So if the US aid is delivered quickly and spent effectively, meaningful change on the ground can be achieved.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Then they can bring the curtain down[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 06 May, 2009[/B]

THE declaration made by the chairman of the Manoel Theatre, Peter Fenech, that Malta does not need another opera house evidently struck a discordant note with opera buffs and theatre-goers. On the other hand, it must have been music to the ears of those who feel there are enough theatres. These might include the prime minister who thinks the site of the old opera house should be used to construct a new parliament building. ...[I]t seemed as if [Dr Fenech] based his argument primarily on the bottom line, noting, for example, that the latest Bank of Valletta Opera Festival led to a 90,000 euros loss. He also expressed his belief that there were only 700-odd people interested in the art and ... even doubted their genuineness and the survival of opera. That is a rather simplistic way of looking at things, especially when dealing with something as sensitive as art.

Dwindling audiences do not necessarily only mean that people are not interested. The problem could be, and, indeed, probably is, much deeper and may even have to do with the education system. In fact, the Manoel continues to fail to attract the younger generations. Opera can be attractive to them if presented in the right way and format. There is also the way one sells/promotes the representations, including for the opera festival. This needs to be more innovative and appealing to new audiences. ... As chairman of the national theatre, Dr Fenech needs to look deeper into the matter.... But he cannot do it alone. Those responsible for educational institutions must shoulder responsibility too. Music appreciation, poetry, literature and art do not enjoy a high placing on the educational agenda. No wonder museums, theatres, libraries and historical venues are not frequented by youngsters. ...[T]he only culture youngsters are being exposed to is “pop culture”....

There are money matters too, of course. Unless the government, and the private sector, put in more money for art and culture, people will have to be asked to pay hefty prices for theatrical performances, making the opera and concerts even more elitist. There have been complaints that the prices for the concerts at the Manoel are too steep. ... The Manoel Theatre management committee has a duty to demystify and popularise classical music and opera rather than write it off because the numbers are not there. ... This being the national theatre, the political authorities responsible for culture must intervene and ensure action. Otherwise, they might as well bring the curtain down on opera. — (May 4)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Power shortages[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 07 May, 2009[/B]

THE government seeks to end loadshedding before the end of 2009 by adding about 3,000 megawatts of electricity to the national grid. That should provide some much-needed relief to consumers across the country considering that they have been forced to endure long hours of power blackouts everyday. Given the magnitude of the political and economic problems confronting the government, it would not be a mean achievement if it successfully delivers on its commitment to the people, especially as it is embattled on many fronts. A Private Power and Infrastructure Board meeting earlier this week was told that about 1,541 megawatts of the additional electricity supplies would come from the rental power schemes and the remaining from independent power producers. Only 118 megawatts would be generated from hydel sources after improvements at Mangla. Dependence on thermal power will spike the cost of generation and middle-class consumers would have to cut down on other essential expenditure to make room for inflated power bills. Moreover, such dependence would further erode industry’s competitiveness.

The situation calls for finding a long-term solution to both the shortages of power and its rising cost. The minister of water and power has himself underscored this point several times. One way of overcoming the problem of the current crunch and soaring power costs is to explore alternate, cheaper sources of energy like wind power. The government is already trying to harness wind power in Sindh for local communities. But a more durable solution to these problems demands that work on new water reservoirs be expedited to increase the share of hydel power in the total generation mix. The situation also calls for exploiting the vast coal reserves in Sindh to be used for producing cheaper thermal power. In a nutshell, for these long-term measures to take shape, the rhetoric of national consensus will need to be carried from the political arena to the economic sphere. There is no doubt that today’s power woes are in large measure a consequence of the flawed policies of the past regime. However, the current government must move ahead of the blame game and deliver on its commitments.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Victims of conflict[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 07 May, 2009[/B]

THE humanitarian crisis in the country’s conflict zones is deepening by the day. Caught in the crossfire between militants and security forces, hundreds of thousands of civilians have been forced to leave their homes in Bajaur, Darra Adamkhel, Kurram, Mohmand, Orakzai, Swat and Waziristan. This human tragedy, which was years in the making, has now reached critical proportions. Making a dire situation even more appalling, the ranks of the displaced have been swelled in recent days by those fleeing the bloodshed in Dir and Buner. And now, with the military taking on the Taliban in their stronghold, a mass exodus is taking place in the valley of Swat. As mortar shells fired by both sides explode around them and helicopter gunships strafe militant targets on the ground, helpless civilians are trying to grab what they can and escape before the fighting becomes even more intense. The ceaseless violence aside, their plight is exacerbated by strict curfew restrictions.

The UN has so far registered nearly 600,000 internally displaced persons in the NWFP and the tribal belt. The actual number of IDPs who need to be housed and fed could, however, be as high as one million. What is a grave humanitarian crisis that must be addressed immediately also carries with it longer-term social and political ramifications. For the first time, a clear division can be sensed between the people of Malakand and the Swat Taliban. Local residents have seen how the government lived up to its side of the bargain by enacting the Nizam-i-Adl Ordinance and thereby laying the framework for Sharia law in the region. The Taliban, in return, were supposed to disarm but they consistently refused to do so. Instead, they went on to capture new territory. Meanwhile, the TNSM’s Sufi Mohammad, who brokered the deal, publicly denounced democracy and the superior judiciary as ‘un-Islamic’. It is open to question whether the government foresaw such developments and introduced Nizam-i-Adl to unmask the Taliban as people who will accept nothing short of absolute power. In any case, many locals now seem convinced that the militants cannot be trusted to keep their word.

Such anti-Taliban sentiments may prove to be short-lived if the state does not look after these new as well as older refugees. So far they have not received the help they deserve. At this critical juncture in Pakistan’s history, it is imperative the government does all that it can to provide the displaced with adequate shelter, food and other basic necessities. Our friends abroad too must be asked to pitch in on an emergency footing. Forsaking the IDPs now could one day drive them into the arms of the Taliban. Children growing up today in squalid refugee camps may well be the militants of tomorrow.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Shadow of the Taliban[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 07 May, 2009[/B]

WHILE the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and its supporters constitute a direct challenge to the authority and resources commanded by the state, it is equally worrying that the extremist right-wing ideology they represent and the tactics they employ are casting a shadow that looms far beyond their strongholds. Large sections of the citizenry living far from the actual theatre of war are being threatened in this manner. This is dangerous for the former threat, it can be hoped, may be countered through superior weaponry and sufficient political will; but the latter threat, being nebulous and diffuse, is almost impossible to control.

In recent weeks, educational institutions in urban centres such as Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi — which stand in little danger of being physically overrun by the Taliban — have been receiving threats of varying intensity. Security has been tightened, and staff and students work under the fear of attacks by either militant ideologues or shadowy copycat criminals. The fact that at least two educational institutions have enforced stricter dress codes —mainly for female students — shows just how far the fear invoked by the Taliban has spread. In some cases women have been threatened for what the extremists consider ‘liberalism’ or ‘improper behaviour’. Although the women of this country are no strangers to harassment, the gravity of the threats they now potentially face is greater than ever before. Women are usually the first and most vulnerable targets of the extremist right-wing thinking that now holds Pakistan at gunpoint. Yet they are now accompanied in their peril by others such as media personnel, who have been told to ‘mend their ways’, and thousands of citizens — including teachers, barbers and CD shop owners — whose businesses or workplaces have been destroyed or otherwise targeted by the extremists.

Instances of such targeting include the blackmail, harassment and intimidation of citizens at the hands of a dark ideology that has seeped into the very fabric of society, the tactics of which are most horribly apparent in the activities of the Taliban. The fact is that the Taliban have already extracted a heavy toll in terms of civil liberties and freedoms of citizens. While the government and the security forces mull over methods to defeat the Taliban militarily, they would also do well to recall that the basic purpose of the state and its apparatus is to ensure the safety and personal freedoms of the citizens. It may require years to neutralise the Taliban threat in this deeper sense.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press Message of May Day protests[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 07 May, 2009[/B]

[B]Message of May Day protests[/B]

MAY Day, the high day of socialism, was marked ... by angry demonstrations in many cities. Some, including those in Istanbul and Athens turned violent…. However, leaving aside the behaviour of such thugs, the rancour of the majority of demonstrators was impossible to ignore…. [G]one was the almost [celebratory] atmosphere attending May Day parades a few years ago….

[B]Arab News[/B]

You don’t have to be a dedicated May Day demonstrator to feel furious about this.

Tempers are further shortened by the way in which so many of this guilty financial elite have not been called to account but have rather sashayed away with million-dollar payouts.

The man in the street, who trusted these finance professionals, regulators and politicians, strongly suspects the establishment is once again looking after its own, while he and his family bear the consequences of these grave miscalculations. — (May 2)

[B]New research projects [/B]

... SCIENTIFIC research is one of the key areas the [Sultan Qaboos University] focuses on. According to Dr Amir Bin Ali Al Rowas, deputy vice chancellor for postgraduate studies and scientific research, the royal grant by His Majesty Sultan for research projects had marked the real initiation of strategic research projects as they stood at 38 between 2001 and 2008 of which five were approved last year. The university had granted 73 research projects this year…. [T]he prestigious research projects undertaken by the university … will have an immense effect on safeguarding the environment and ecology of the sultanate when they are completed.

[B]Oman Tribune[/B]

SQU has lined up several ambitious plans to make it international…. Such initiatives would help promote the university outside of the sultanate and strengthen teaching and research. A free flow of ideas and research findings among various institutions of higher learning will … benefit the teaching community as well as students. — (May 4)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Okara cadet college[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 08 May, 2009[/B]

Development without planning has acquired the status of a necessary evil in Pakistan. People cannot wait for the delivery of basic services like health and education before our fractured national polity is able to arrive at a consensus on what kind of development we need and how best we should pursue it. The haphazard development that results from this approach sometimes creates white elephants that people love to have but are loathe to bankroll. A proposed cadet college in Okara seems to have become just that — a fancy project no one seems ready to fend for. First proposed in 1986 and more than half built on 200 acres of land just outside Okara, the project is nowhere close to becoming a cadet college any time soon. In fact, the Punjab government has already notified that it will set up a ‘Danish’ school in the building once it is complete. Residents of the area are unhappy as are some prominent local politicians like federal minister Manzoor Ahmed Wattoo and former federal minister Rao Sikandar Iqbal, both having championed the setting up of the college during earlier stints in power. The Punjab government’s refusal to let them have it stems from the fact that running the cadet college will cost as much as operating 1,000 middle schools. The project is too costly for the provincial education department to let it go ahead, goes the argument inside the Punjab Civil Secretariat.

Okara’s people are hardly convinced. They believe setting up a ‘Danish’ school in a building that has already cost the federal government a whopping Rs200m is akin to constructing a zoo to house a sparrow. They are also not sure if the ‘Danish’ school — part of an official scheme to give free education to the children of the dispossessed — will be half as good as a cadet college could be in imparting quality education. Between the government’s financial worries and the public’s demand for quality education, the project may end up being nothing — neither a cadet college nor a ‘Danish’ school. This will be a costly reminder of how development without planning can degenerate into development without purpose.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Drone attacks[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 08 May, 2009[/B]

Republican Congressman Ronald Earnest Paul’s query to the House regarding the legitimacy of US drone-bombing in Fata comes not a moment too soon. The matter is of pivotal significance in the Pakistani forces’ efforts to contain the terrorism emanating from the area, and is a divisive factor in the debate over how the issue must be tackled. The justification offered earlier was that Pakistan appeared helpless against the rising tide of militancy and terrorism. But now the army has launched renewed offensives in the militant-infested areas and reports suggest that gains are being achieved. Meanwhile, public opinion is turning against the militants, with many in the citizenry now demanding that no stone be left unturned in bringing them to book. In this situation, the continuing US drone incursions are robbing our security forces of some of their moral legitimacy and are, in fact, undermining the war effort.

For one thing, as Mr Paul pointed out, the drone incursions violate the rights of a sovereign country. Given that the US is not at war with Pakistan — and, in fact, the two countries are partners in what was earlier referred to as the ‘war on terror’ — the US cannot claim legitimacy in unilaterally launching offensives against militants whom the Pakistan military has already engaged in serious combat. The repeated US violations of the country’s territorial integrity subvert our government’s efforts to make this ‘Pakistan’s war’ and lend currency to the extremists’ claim that Pakistan is merely a pawn in what is, essentially, America’s war.

Secondly, the US bombings have resulted in a large number of civilian casualties which, in the public’s mind, outweigh by far any success against the militants. America’s actions stand in danger of being viewed as wanton foreign aggression against innocent populations. And the drone strikes are contributing to the increasing number of refugees fleeing the area. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Army and other security forces continue to suffer heavy casualties in the battles underway on our western borders. These losses cannot help but be juxtaposed with the fact that the US uses unmanned drones to fight without putting any of its soldiers at risk. It may soon be asked whether Afghan or Pakistani lives are less precious than those of the Americans. A serious rethink is in order. The American military must confine itself to the western side of the Durand Line.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Afghan trade corridor[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 08 May, 2009[/B]

THERE is nothing wrong in principle with the memorandum of understanding signed in Washington on Wednesday for a new transit trade agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Initialled by their foreign ministers, the MoU commits Islamabad and Kabul to talks with a view to achieving an agreement on transit trade between the two countries by year’s end. Pakistan is already a transit route for Afghanistan’s imports and exports through the Karachi port, and it goes without saying that, despite the occasional tensions between the two countries, Afghanistan has continued to benefit from Pakistan’s strict adherence to the transit trade agreement. Wednesday’s accord doesn’t mention India by name, but it is obvious that the intended agreement seeks to provide a trade corridor for Indian goods to Afghanistan through this country. Euphoric, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the agreement would “bring prosperity to the two countries along the trade routes and beyond”. One wishes it were that simple.

Pakistan and India have a history, and no agreement signed under pressure can be seen in isolation from the reality of all that has happened in South Asia since independence. As recently as December, the two countries were close to war following the terrorist attack in Mumbai. India, it ought to be noted, is accused of using its presence in Afghanistan for negative purposes, and Pakistani officials have gone public with their view that New Delhi is helping insurgents in Balochistan. Seen side by side, one is unsettled by America’s anxiety to help India entrench itself deeply in Afghanistan and pursue aims that have nothing to do with the war on terror. There is no dearth of statements from American officials, especially Richard Holbrooke, about giving India a major role in Afghanistan, even though the two are not neighbours. This means that either the Americans are naïve enough to buy the Indian line that New Delhi’s interests in Afghanistan are altruistic, or Washington knows what India is up to but looks the other way.

If America is interested in seeing a lasting regional peace, it should be cognisant of Pakistan’s security concerns. It is unrealistic to assume that the MoU, as it stands, will automatically pass muster with the security establishment even if it makes no public show of disapproval. If the Obama administration really wants cooperation to grow among Saarc members, it must first try to resolve Indo-Pakistan differences instead of expecting Islamabad alone to show goodwill. One hopes former US Ambassador to India Robert Blackwill had some basis for his optimism when he said the other day that America may eventually pressure India to improve its ties with Pakistan by resolving the Kashmir issue. Commitment must be forthcoming from all parties, not just one country.

**********************************************************

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Bangladesh Press Living below the poverty line[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 08 May, 2009[/B]

LIVING below [the] poverty line is definitely unbearable, but almost half of the population of Bangladesh … [is doing so]. Speakers at a round-table discussion at the National Press Club on Monday revealed that around 47 per cent of the people in rural areas of the country are still living below the poverty line due to absence of pragmatic policies and lack of coordination among different development partners….

[B]The Bangladesh Today[/B]

At different times and on different occasions much has been said about poverty alleviation by successive governments over the years, but the poverty situation continues to remain almost the same….

No doubt, [successive] governments have made an effort to reduce poverty. Under the prescriptions of the donors, the last emergency government had started implementing the second Poverty Reduction Strategic Paper (PRSP) from July last year, setting a target to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015. However, the present government has decided to reintroduce the five-year development plan after the implementation period of the ongoing PRSP ends in July 2011. The goals and targets in the PRSP will be incorporated in the proposed five-year development plan. This decision has been taken because the PRSP has failed to ensure … development [in] the country. The government … aims at alleviating poverty as early as possible.It goes without saying that poverty is an acute problem [in] Bangladesh and hence alleviation of it is our national priority. But the progress being made in this regard is very slow and limited…. [T]he main reasons for this hapless situation are the mismanagement of the economy, massive corruption and misuse and wastage and misappropriation of … aid money. In order to take pragmatic steps for poverty alleviation and introduce social safety nets and other development programmes for the poor, the most vulnerable and disadvantaged areas should be identified first. Resource[s] should be allocated to these areas on [a] priority basis. Stepping up the pace of poverty alleviation and helping … distressed people come above the poverty line are the need of the hour. — (May 06)

DAWN edt..
 

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="Magenta"]Protecting buildings from terror [/COLOR][/SIZE]

BLOCKING portions of main roads has become a popular way of protecting public buildings in Islamabad against terror attacks. Particularly after the two attacks in the federal capital on the offices of the Police Special Branch and the paramilitary barracks of the Diplomatic Protection Department in March and April respectively, vehicular access to the buildings of several key security offices in the city have been blocked by concrete barriers installed across portions of several major roads to deter ‘hostile’ vehicles from ramming into the buildings. Such measures do not only inconvenience motorists who have to make winding detours but can also affect shopping outlets as indeed has been the case in at least one instance. Nobody can deny that public buildings in Islamabad are susceptible to the kind of attacks witnessed last month and in March, and that there is an urgent need to ensure their protection. But there are other ways of terror-proofing buildings located along roadsides without blocking busy public roads and putting people through the kind of hassle that they are currently being subjected to.

Highly visible walls of concrete and steel barriers around the perimeter are the most common form of security at key institutions in many cities elsewhere. But buildings need to be protected from more than ‘drive-by’ attacks. They also need to have technology installed that screens people entering the premises to indicate within seconds whether one of them is carrying explosives. The use of number-plate recognition systems that monitor authorised/unauthorised cars is another increasingly common security measure. As for new buildings that have yet to be built, including the proposed Capital Development Authorities Headquarters and the Islamabad Traffic Police Headquarters, security designs should ensure that they are blast-resistant from the word go and that this feature is not added afterwards. This, however, does not mean that buildings — especially those housing security institutions — should be designed like fortresses. Precautionary measures like vehicle-exclusion zones, reinforced concrete walls and ceilings and blast-resistant glass windows do not mean having to disfigure the architecture if a sense of aesthetics is maintained throughout the designing phase.

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="Magenta"]Wheat procurement target [/COLOR][/SIZE]


EVEN a tough taskmaster cannot be expected to turn claims into results without the needed resources. This is one lesson that can be drawn from the decision to raise wheat procurement targets from four million to six million tonnes in Punjab. Headlines suggest that gunny bags are hard to come by for many small farmers and reports of unofficial service charges as well as the refusal to purchase are rampant. The Punjab Food Department appears harried and not only because of the chief minister’s pressure on its officials. It is finding it difficult to secure money and other resources to ensure that the government’s aims do not appear meaningless. The raised procurement target and relaxed procurement procedures — for instance, farmers can use their own polypropylene bags instead of the officially supplied jute sacks for bringing their produce to the procurement centres — mean that the department requires additional money — fast. Official statistics put the amount at Rs45bn. Even this will not automatically increase the department’s storage capacity that is as low as two million tonnes. This means that two-thirds of the procured wheat will have to be either kept in the open under tarpaulins thus exposing it to the elements and theft or be stored in private warehouses that would entail even greater expense.

Some of these factors have led to an abrupt end to the procurement drive at a number of places in central Punjab. Others have led the provincial government to announce plans for exporting one million tonnes of wheat despite still being in the middle of the procurement campaign. Such official problems have caused concern among farmers struggling to find buyers after having produced a record harvest. If the figures collected by a non-governmental organisation are anything to go by, they have four million tonnes more wheat to sell than what the government intends to buy under its revised procurement target. One possible way to facilitate them is to involve private buyers like flour millers and local commission agents along with the contribution of the food department even at this late stage in the procurement period. This will ease the government’s financial and storage worries besides allowing the farmers to sell their produce expeditiously and at competitive prices. It will also help the chief minister to come good on his words without having to add to his helicopters miles for the purpose of coming down heavily on the procurement centres.

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="Magenta"]The critical nexus [/COLOR][/SIZE]


SPEAKERS at a conference on education held in Karachi were spot on when they said that a nexus exists between education, poverty and security. To this they could have added health. It has been known for quite some time, that education has a holistic impact on people. It is only now with the emergence of extremism and militancy in our region that the security aspect is being talked about. In educated societies, knowledge, training and the development of critical faculty give members confidence, dignity and empowerment. But all these benefits accrue to a person only if the education imparted is meaningful and of high quality. This is possible if the policymakers are clear about the goals of education and its direction. Once the contents have been determined, it is important to ensure that the teachers who are instrumental in transmitting knowledge are educated, trained, motivated and committed professionals who work with devotion.

Unfortunately, education has remained in the backwaters of Pakistan’s development sector. We still have not been able to decide what and how we want to teach our children and what kind of human beings we seek to shape them into. The education policy that was to be announced six weeks ago is lying somewhere gathering dust. Meanwhile, the old curriculum that was adopted in a fragmented manner over the years continues to be in place. There is no consensus on the language of instruction to be used, the so-called ideological moorings of the textbooks or the format of examinations to be adopted. As a result, the worst features of the past continue to haunt us while the government has failed to adopt a sound and balanced approach to promote people as social capital. Also missing is the training needed to make them employable. While our policymaking elite sent their own children to Ivy League universities they neglected public-sector education. Thus the gap between the rich and the poor widened. In the meantime, the mullahs were active setting up seminaries working towards indoctrinating hundreds of thousands of students. They have succeeded in producing a generation of extremists with a militant mindset who pose a serious security hazard for the country.

Added to this sorry situation is the deficit of good teachers who can only be produced with a sound programme for teachers’ education. This is probably the most difficult link to break in the vicious cycle. The teachers of today are the product of this decayed system and it is unfair to expect them to perform any better. That is why teachers’ training is the most vital sub-sector that needs to be addressed on an urgent basis. Crash courses and in-service training in new methodologies should help teachers improve their pedagogic skills so that they are motivated and feel involved in the process of participatory development.

[B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - North American Press Those French know how to live[/FONT][/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 11 May, 2009[/B]

WHO knew that when the French say, “Voulez-vous couchez avec moi?” they actually might be asking if you’d like to take a snooze? At least that’s the conclusion one might draw from a survey on social habits released this week that shows the French on average sleep about nine hours a night, more than people in any of the other 29 nations in the OECD region. Then again, another conclusion might be that the French define ‘sleep’ more broadly than, say, Koreans, who are at the other end of the spectrum with about seven hours a night.

The French spend more than two of their waking hours each day eating, about twice as long as Americans do. Yet, despite all that brie and Béarnaise sauce and mousse au chocolat, they’re far less likely to be obese — 10.5 per cent of the adult French population compared with 34.3 per cent of American adults, according to the OECD’s 2009 Society at a Glance report. Eating and sleeping fall under the broad category of ‘personal care’, a pastime in which the French lead the world, of course. There’s a reason French terms like ‘manicure’ and ‘haute couture’ have made their way into English. Add leisure time to that and, well, there doesn’t seem to be a lot left for work. The French on average labour 37 hours a week in paid jobs compared with 41 hours for Americans, which comes out to hundreds more hours per year for the French to do je ne sais quoi.

The numbers almost make you feel sorry for French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose flashy personal care earned him the nickname President Bling Bling when he came into office two years ago promising to make France more productive. He did manage to extend the 35-hour work week, pass some tax and pension reforms and impose some strike restrictions to make France more competitive. It’s not clear whether walking a French picket line would count as paid work or personal care, but either way the study would suggest Sarkozy still has a ways to go if he wants to change the country’s work culture.

On the other hand, the numbers also suggest he might want to reconsider, because all that French eating, sleeping and grooming seems to be paying off in a longer life span — second only to Japan and well above the United States. We may be snarky about those well-rested, thin people across the Atlantic, but then, truthfully, in our next lives, wouldn’t it be nice to be French? — (May 8)