Friday, December 20, 2013

Tough loan condition

THE widespread complaints against the tough conditions of the Prime Minister’s Youth Business Loan Scheme finally found their way into the National Assembly on Wednesday. This was expected because not every loan-seeker, particularly those from the lower income bracket, can apply for money under the scheme let alone obtain it. The initiative is probably one of the most appreciated and the most infuriating plans at the same time. The project promises to disburse Rs100bn in one year; 100,000 soft loans in the range of Rs100,000 and Rs2m amongst jobless young men and women to start their own small businesses.

Since its launch, the concept has been widely appreciated because it shows the government’s determination to take a chance and help the country’s youth access subsidised finance. But if the idea is to hold the hands of the poor, underprivileged young people, then the plan in its present form can hardly be expected to achieve this objective. The condition for loan-seekers to have a guarantor will exclude a large number of lower-middle-class young men and women with workable business ideas, who are willing to work hard to realise their dreams through the scheme. The initiative makes it mandatory for the loan-seekers to have a guarantor who can be a government employee at the level of BPS-15 or above, or someone with a net worth of 150pc more than the amount of the loan being sought. Not everyone can arrange for such a guarantor.

The ‘popularity’ of the scheme can be assessed from the number of downloads of loan application and other documents posted by the Small and Medium Development Authority on its website. By Dec 18, the number had already crossed the 5.5m mark. How the condition of guarantor is stalling the majority from applying for the loans is indicated by the negligible number of applications received by the two state-owned participating banks. So if the opposition legislators have brought the matter into the House on behalf of those who will be excluded from the scheme, the government should not be upset. It must listen to what the opposition parties, or any other stakeholder, have to say on this issue and allay their fears. Blaming the banks, whose money is involved, for tough conditions will not do. If the scheme was designed by the banks keeping their own interest before them, why is the government taking credit for it? Instead of getting emotional about criticism of the scheme, the architects of the initiative should work to find a way to accommodate those who cannot arrange guarantors and who do not have collateral for mortgage against the subsidised loan. And the solution should not put the banks’ money at risk like previous initiatives such as the Yellow Cab scheme had done.

PTI chief’s laudable step

WHILE both the state and the provinces have by all accounts been putting in efforts to traverse the increasingly challenging terrain that the countrywide polio vaccination effort is, it is noteworthy that political and other leaders have largely remained silent. In the several years that have passed since opposition to the vaccination first reared its head — Mullah Fazlullah’s campaign through his illegal radio broadcasts was notorious in this regard — the country has seen an increasing trend of vaccine refusals. Worse, polio workers and their escorts have come under attack from KP to Karachi. For years, now, it has been obvious that the inability to control the spread of polio poses a clear and mounting danger to the health and freedoms of Pakistanis, given that in 2011 the Independent Monitoring Board for Polio Eradication recommended a travel ban. Yet the very leaders who otherwise routinely trot out the ‘national interest’ arguments have spoken barely a word on an issue that cuts right to the heart of the future of this country.

It comes as something of a relief, then, that PTI chief Imran Khan has expressed his resolve to get involved in the matter. On Wednesday, he administered vaccination drops to children near Peshawar. His visit to the home of a policeman killed recently in a polio-related attack too sends out the right signals. Let alone the fact that his party is at the helm of affairs in KP, where the vaccination campaign is under greatest pressure, there is a lot that a person in Mr Khan’s position can bring to the effort. Besides being a politician with proven popularity amongst the younger generation of voters he is also the cricket idol of millions around the country. With the Jamaat-i-Islami as an ally in the KP government, he has the attention of religio-political parties and conservative sections of society. The anti-polio effort needs the involvement of high-profile people to lift it to the forefront of public consciousness; if more national leaders and heroes joined in, the tide could yet be turned. The effort that started more than two decades ago with the then prime minister Benazir Bhutto administering polio drops to her child is badly in need of similar shows of solidarity from powerful quarters.

North Waziristan blast

WHETHER it is a mosque or a church, religiously motivated militants care little; whether it is a school, a hospital or a garrison, they are indifferent. What matters to them is the enemy’s death — and it is of little consequence whoever else gets killed in the process. Wednesday’s suicide bombing killed reportedly five soldiers and wounded many others when the driver of an explosives-laden truck rammed his vehicle into a mosque next to a major checkpost in Khajori, North Waziristan, although some reports indicate that it was the checkpost that was targeted. The suicide bomber struck when nearly 50 soldiers of the Frontier Corps were offering evening prayers. Such was the power packed into the bomber’s vehicle that the mosque collapsed.

This is not for the first time that a mosque has fallen victim to the practical manifestation of the Taliban’s concept of jihad. In their attempt to kill politician Aftab Sherpao, they bombed an Eid prayer congregation at Charsadda, killing over 50 people in December 2007; two years later, the militants blew up a Rawalpindi mosque during Friday prayers in a high security zone, killing 40 people, including children and a major general; and in 2010, over 70 Muslims lay dead after the Taliban blasted a mosque in Darra Adamkhel. The list is long. With talks in the air and some mainstream politicians acting virtually as Taliban spokesmen, the militants’ attack on the soldiers at prayer conveys a chillingly clear message — the Taliban leadership is not going to exercise restraint to create a congenial atmosphere for talks. That the Taliban have left to the government to do — unilaterally and without expecting any reciprocity. It is now for those who conferred shahadat on Hakeemullah Mehsud to let us know who was the shaheed this time round: the suicide bomber or the soldiers at prayer?

Saturday, December 21, 2013

Punitive US law on anvil

WHEN US Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel visited Islamabad earlier this month, he kicked up a storm of controversy for allegedly threatening Pakistan that the continued disruption of the Nato/US ground supply route through Pakistan would result in punitive measures by the US, including the withholding of military aid. The Pentagon then hastily clarified that Mr Hagel had not threatened Pakistan, but had merely conveyed that the mood in the US Congress was souring on Pakistan. Now, less than two weeks later, a bill is winding its way through Congress that limits military reimbursements and aid to Pakistan if the supply route is disrupted and the defence secretary cannot certify that Pakistan is doing enough in the fight against Al Qaeda and other militant groups operating along the Pak-Afghan border. The White House will try to play down the latest Pakistan-specific bill and pledge that it is committed to improving ties and working together with Pakistan, but the tensions are unmistakable.

As ever, one side’s intransigence appears to have elicited a frustrated response from the other side — and none of it was necessary. For the US, the principal objectives over the next year are to get the bulk of its troops out safely and to nudge an intra-Afghan political settlement along to keep that country relatively stable going forwards. For both those objectives, the US needs substantial help from Pakistan. So how does it make sense to threaten to withhold military assistance to Pakistan at this stage? Good politics it may be for the US Congress, but in the realm of foreign policy and national security, the space for politicking ought to be much narrower. On the issue of the ground supply route through Pakistan, there is little meaningful opposition to it here per se. What it has become tied up with, and that too through the attempts of a provincial government and not the federal government, is the issue of drone strikes occurring while the option of talks with the TTP is yet to be pursued. But the US Congress appears to have stripped all actions here of their domestic, and possibly even legitimate, context and is seeing them simply through the prism of its own ideas and political requirements. Unhappily, the White House appears to be playing along too.

Still, no story of American self-defeating annoyance is complete without the Pakistani half of the mistake. Even now, even at this late stage, Pakistan has no clear strategy against militancy inside Pakistan and its policy on Afghanistan seems to have been reduced to a series of denials of complicity with the Afghan Taliban that no one else appears to believe. Unable to put its own house in order, unable to lead on a viable option for stability in Afghanistan — is it any wonder hawks in the US Congress view Pakistan so suspiciously?

Government’s indecisiveness

FAR from projecting an image of confidence and clarity at the top, the indecision coming from PM House makes us believe that the PML-N government doesn’t have a visible game plan. And Nawaz Sharif has been in office long enough — six months — to take the big decisions. Hence the critical delay in appointing officers in key posts is unjustifiable. There are a number of examples of governmental disarray when it comes to decision-making. These include the recent game of musical chairs regarding postings at the Foreign Office. The removal of the Nadra and Pemra chiefs, their court-ordered reinstatement, and the crisis at Pemra with two chairmen at the same time all reflect on the lack of leadership and direction in government ranks. Also, major public-sector organisations such as PIA, the Steel Mills and PTV, among others, are without chief executive officers or managing directors. This is despite the fact that vacancies for these positions were advertised in June. The exercise had given the impression of transparency. Yet most of these organisations are still without heads. What is the delay in appointing officers, especially when the majority of these concerns are in dire straits?

Whether the government wants to privatise the concerns or rehabilitate them, without full-time, capable managers nothing can be achieved. It seems the lack of leadership in Islamabad is having a trickle-down effect on public corporations. This may be explained by Mr Sharif’s highly centralised way of working. There is valid criticism that the prime minister is concentrating power in a few hands and sharing the burden of governance with few other than his family members. But this style of governance is highly problematic and gives the impression that the government is in a state of paralysis. The vacant slots need to be filled without delay. While it has been argued that the government’s decision-making has been affected by the ‘interference’ of the courts, the fact is that if dismissals or transfers have been made through questionable means, the affected individuals have the right to approach the courts. The government must make the required changes, but these must be in accordance with the rules. Perhaps a committee can be formed to swiftly adjudicate on such disputes without affecting the working of government departments.

The ‘business’ of medicine

THE accounts of poorly equipped or even non-existent basic healthcare units in rural areas; the mass of ailing humanity waiting for hours outside public hospitals in the hope of seeing a doctor that day — this is only some of the anecdotal evidence that points to the way we are failing millions of our fellow countrymen. It’s not surprising given that we have one of the lowest investments in health, a mere 0.8pc of the budget. And neither can most people afford anything other than the often rudimentary standards of public healthcare for, according to World Bank figures, Pakistan’s poverty rate jumped from 23.9pc to 37.5pc in three years. In fact, the Hobbesian description of the natural state of mankind — “poor, nasty, brutish and short” — could well be applied to the average Pakistani. Yet, it doesn’t have to be this way. Abdus Sattar Edhi, at the first-ever convocation at the SIUT for physician assistants, said as much when he urged the young graduates to serve humanity rather than “going for money”.

The SIUT, with its much-lauded free healthcare programmes led by Dr Adib Rizvi, is in fact one of the institutions in Pakistan that has consistently upheld the primacy of the right to healthcare regardless of patients’ resources. However, aside from a few other institutes and public-minded individuals, the vast majority of medical professionals have succumbed to the lure of commercialisation in which their services can be accessed by only the comparatively well-to-do section of society. Many doctors who see patients at public hospitals also have lucrative private clinics on the side which receive the bulk of their attention. Inducements in cash and kind by pharmaceutical companies for medical professionals serve to further undermine the interests of the patient. In a country like Pakistan, where the government has abdicated its responsibility towards the citizens’ right to health, medical professionals must reconnect with their basic humanity rather than viewing their work as a money-making business.

__________________
Ye sab tmhara karam hai AAQA k bat ab tak bani hoi hai
May is karam k kahan ti kabil ye HAZOOR ki band parvari hai

Monday, December 23, 2013

Wrong way to purge

RATIONALISING the employee count at public-sector enterprises, weeding out inefficient, corrupt and surplus employees of the federal government, holding public-sector employees accountable — all of those are good and necessary goals that any government interested in responsible, responsive and effective governance should be pursuing. However, governments here seem to specialise in the art of taking a sound idea and executing it in the poorest way imaginable. According to a report in this newspaper yesterday, the PML-N government is planning to promulgate a presidential ordinance, now that the last parliamentary session has been prorogued, that will allow for the rapid dismissal of possibly tens of thousands of employees of the federal government, its corporate entities, autonomous bodies and departments.

To be sure, the government has identified a genuine problem in the state apparatus: there is overstaffing, there is corruption, there is misconduct and there is inefficiency. However, will a turnaround of public-sector enterprises and government departments be effected simply by wielding a bigger stick to coax efficiency and good conduct out of federal employees? The very route the government is contemplating for the new legislation — a presidential ordinance — indicates a desire for short cuts instead of meaningful, well-thought-out institutional reform. Bypassing parliament in legislative matters will win the government four months – the life span of an ordinance post-18th Amendment; it can only be extended once — during which period it probably hopes to wield the scalpel as widely and deeply as possible before the window of opportunity closes and the ordinance either lapses or is presented to a parliament that will likely demand significant changes.

A slimmed-down federal government — or public-sector enterprise workforce — will not automatically translate into a better executive and bureaucracy. For that the several comprehensive sets of reforms drawn up over the years to improve the bureaucracy’s performance will have to be dusted off and implemented. And the key to those various sets of reforms suggested is to balance accountability with positive incentives — not just dangling a draconian new law over the heads of federal employees. Within public-sector enterprises, while overstaffing is a burden on the exchequer, the issue of social justice must surely come into play too: does it behoove a government to lay off thousands in hard economic times? Perhaps most unsettling is the growing realisation that the PML-N approach to governance has changed little since the party was last in power in the late 1990s. A decade and a half later, all the ideas seem to be stale and recycled from economic and governance models whose assumptions and goals have been challenged in recent years. More than harsh and draconian new laws, what Pakistan really needs is fresh ideas.

Bound to fail

THE government has formalised the much-touted amnesty scheme that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced late last month to woo tax dodgers. The scheme that spells out wholesale incentives for tax thieves to whiten their illegal money kept at home or abroad is founded on two assumptions. First, it will encourage the dodgers to bring out their illegal wealth and invest in industrial projects to create jobs in order to avail themselves of the amnesty. Second, the hoarders of illegal wealth will also agree to live an honest life in future and regularly pay their taxes and file returns by whitening their black money, which will help increase the present tax-to-GDP ratio of around 9pc to a respectable level. While the government’s intentions behind launching this scheme may be good, the plan is flawed and unlikely to yield the desired results.

Few, if any, would want to risk investing in an economy that has long been beset with chronic energy shortages, law and order issues and weak economic fundamentals such as high inflation, inadequate foreign exchange reserves, a volatile exchange rate, a large fiscal and current account deficit, etc. And not many have faith in the ability of the policymakers to resolve these issues in the next two and a half years, the period during which the scheme will remain effective. Moreover, the results of similar money-whitening schemes in Pakistan and elsewhere don’t corroborate expectations that those working on the fringes or outside the formal economy will start complying with tax laws in order to benefit from one-off incentives. Few like to get into the tax net. Even the figures for tax filers released by the Federal Board of Revenue a few days ago show that the numerous concessions the government had given to non-filers in the last three months have failed to woo them into the net. The number of returns filed — in spite of repeated extensions in the deadline to Dec 15 — shows an increase of just above 9pc to 815,000 from last year. Our policymakers must realise that growth won’t revive unless the economy stabilises, and tax collection cannot improve if the reforms discriminate against honest taxpayers and favour the dodgers, instead of the other way round.

Fraudulent venture

A SCAM being investigated by the National Accountability Bureau these days indicates that it is impossible to stereotype the ingenious schemers out to deprive the people of their money. They can range from an entrepreneur running a fraudulent cooperative with ostensible solemnity, to an influential pir, to now a set of muftis or exalted religious scholars. Reports say seven companies, run by ‘religious scholars’, which were allegedly involved in fraud under the cover of Modaraba or the Islamic mode of investment are now under the microscope. Five people have been arrested and the estimated money which has to be recovered from them has touched the Rs30bn mark. A NAB official says those who had invested in the scheme were initially reluctant to lodge their claims. While they obviously wanted their respective amounts returned they were told by some scholars and prayer leaders that the accountability bureau would keep 25pc of every recovery that was made. There may be some other reasons why the expanse and the total size of the scam took time to emerge, not least likely of them the social position that those who operate in the name of religion command.

No less than 40 imams are said to have been involved in this case. This is a large number for an operation that demands utmost discretion and secrecy. Yet it took the activity a long time to be exposed in the public domain. When a complaint was made in September, it was said some of these Modaraba scams had been going on for at least three years. Although the pious covering has been lifted from this project, the public has yet to receive due warning about the dangers inherent in all such schemes. As in the past, this time too there has been no official intent on display to make people aware of the dangers of putting their money in schemes that lack transparency and adequate guarantees. However above-board money ventures may appear, there is always room for caution.

__________________
Ye sab tmhara karam hai AAQA k bat ab tak bani hoi hai
May is karam k kahan ti kabil ye HAZOOR ki band parvari hai

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Trade with India

THE Nawaz Sharif government is believed to have decided to de-link the issue of trade relations with India from the progress on the slow-moving composite dialogue between the two countries. The decision, if implemented, should significantly boost bilateral trade that has increased from $1.8bn to $2.6bn since the resumption of commerce secretary-level talks in April 2011. A newspaper report has quoted anonymous sources as saying the state minister for commerce could announce certain actions Islamabad is deliberating in order to further liberalise trade with India during his visit to that country next month. The report also suggested that secretary-level talks may be on the anvil in the near future to move forward the stalled trade liberalisation process. An important measure that Pakistan plans to take is to increase the number of items that can be traded through the Wagah-Attari land route from the present 137 to 500. It represents a major move towards complete normalisation of bilateral trade.

Indeed, Pakistan and India have made a lot of progress on trade normalisation in the last three years. Yet a number of issues and impediments created by both sides continue to impede the free flow of goods across the border. If Pakistan, for example, is dragging its feet on allowing the free movement of goods via the only land route and resisting containerisation of trade, India is not ready to lower the quality standard barriers that restrict our exports. The two neighbours have also yet to allow free vehicular movement to help business cut costs and delivery time. This is despite the desire of businessmen on both sides for a free-trade regime. Issues such as the barriers imposed by quality standards are being hammered out under the umbrella of Safta, but are unlikely to be implemented unless Pakistan and India agree on them.

However, the dismantling of many an impediment in recent years promises a bright future for business and trade relations between the two largest South Asian economies. It may take some time but both countries will finally have to accommodate each other’s concerns and agree to trade freely for their own and the region’s prosperity. The good news is that the political leadership on both sides realises this. If the previous PPP-led government had successfully resolved numerous differences on trade and investment issues, the PML-N leadership isn’t sitting idle either. The recent visits of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and prime ministerial adviser Sartaj Aziz to India also focused on improving trade ties with India. Once we are able to pull down the barriers impeding the free flow of trade, progress on other bilateral issues will follow.

Chehlum security

ENSURING Chehlum passes off peacefully today will be a major challenge for the administration and security forces. After all, it has only been 40 days since sectarian violence broke out on Ashura, when clashes occurred as a mourning procession passed by a mosque and madressah in Rawalpindi. Several people were killed while rioting and arson followed in the garrison city, while a number of other areas of Punjab saw communal clashes. The violence was apparently sparked by an inflammatory sermon made from the mosque, after which the situation spiralled out of control. Yet even after the violence directly related to the events in Rawalpindi subsided, other incidents with a sectarian hue have continued ever since. For example, a deadly bomb blast occurred in Karachi’s Ancholi neighbourhood while a suicide bombing occurred outside an imambargah in Rawalpindi. Faith-based targeted killings have also continued, especially in Karachi and Lahore; at least two Shia scholars as well as the Punjab chief of the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat have been among the victims. Therefore, Chehlum will be taking place in a highly charged atmosphere, and securing the mourning processions and assemblies will be as big a challenge as securing Ashura. Suffice to say, the authorities have their work cut out for them.

Rawalpindi will obviously be watched closely. Unfortunately, the clerics associated with the madressah that was at the centre of the storm on Ashura are going ahead with a meeting to remember the victims killed in the violence. There is reason to be concerned as the meeting will be taking place on the route of the mourning procession, though the authorities have sealed the venue. There are other potential flashpoints in the country such as Karachi, Quetta and Lahore where the authorities will need to be extra vigilant. Though deployments of police have been made and the army is on stand-by in many places, the administration should not hesitate to call in the military should matters get out of hand. It is hoped the state has learnt a lesson from the Rawalpindi tragedy; the administration needs to move in at the first sign of trouble and not let the situation snowball into a wider communal conflagration that is difficult to control.

Policing on a prayer

AT a gathering at Islamabad’s Margalla police station on Saturday, a police official said that “those who come to power neglect the police in Pakistan”. The problems faced by the department are indeed monumental, and range from the force being ill-equipped, under-trained and vulnerable to political interference to facing criminals that are as chameleon-like as they are implacable. And yet, these men stand on the front line, defending citizens’ lives and legitimate interests — often with their own safety at risk. The task they face is formidable, and a clue to just how formidable it is can be gleaned from the nature of the gathering in Islamabad: it was a Quran khwani where scores of students from a religious seminary recited verses to seek divine help for the police in controlling crime.

That matters have come to such a pass will inevitably raise a smile or two, particularly since the Margalla police station is located in what is amongst the most affluent areas in the city. Humour aside, though, the level of frustration that the holding of such an event denotes is worthy of focusing on, and being taken very seriously indeed. There is no way in which a force as emasculated as the police in Pakistan can be expected to effectively counter the level and nature of crime and terrorism the country faces today. Not only are there the well-known issues — a few of the more endemic ones have been enumerated above — the list of woes seems actually to be growing. For example, as investigations undertaken by this newspaper and published recently show, in the Sindh police force the ages of the men on active duty average at 45 — well beyond the optimum. This is a consequence of age-limit relaxations whilst hiring new recruits in recent years, and of irregular recruitments. And such a challenge is only amongst the simplest of many. Can we still hope for some political will being brought to bear on this issue?

__________________
Ye sab tmhara karam hai AAQA k bat ab tak bani hoi hai
May is karam k kahan ti kabil ye HAZOOR ki band parvari hai

25.12.2013

A meeting to clear the air

DIPLOMATIC, business and people-to-people contacts apart, a meeting between the senior military officials of two countries with an unfortunate history of hostilities has its own symbolism and value. The getting together of the directors general military operations of Pakistan and India at Wagah on Tuesday is significant, primarily because the meeting will improve understanding between men who, responsible for minding frontiers that have been the venue and source of sudden tensions gripping the two nations, are in the thick of it. The meetings can be used for making the point that skirmishes on the border are more a result of some, largely misunderstood, military manoeuvre and not reflective of national policies. The DGMOs have taken their time coming together. The push came following the meeting between prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Manmohan Singh at the UN headquarters in New York in September. Clearly, the DGMOs’ meet was all the more necessary because the hotline connecting the two militaries was not having the desired effect.

Reportedly, Islamabad was keen on including diplomats in the meeting, a move which according to the Indian media enjoyed the support of the US. India, however, wanted to keep it limited to the two DGMOs and a few senior military officers who were there to aid them in their discussions. Maybe the scope of the meeting can be broadened in the future to create some space for diplomats but as current signs go, Pakistan does appear to be making an effort to expand the dialogue wherever it deems it possible and trying to accelerate the forward movement on peace. Whereas this is consistent with Prime Minister Sharif’s avowed wish for friendly ties with India, the past is all too replete with painful reminders of how such desires for peace can be overtaken by abrupt events.

The borders are as sensitive an area in the Pakistan-India region as any where the process of peace has to be carefully guarded; they are also indicative of some progress made. A series of skirmishes on the Line of Control in the summer did create quite a lot of tension but it also showed greater restraint on either side as compared to the past. The same approach has to be pursued in combating the theory which puts the lull on the Line of Control down to the onset of harsh winter conditions and which says that hostilities will return once the snow starts to melt. The positive exchange between the two DGMOs in Wagah on Tuesday, a milestone in the normalisation process, coincided with a meeting of the Pakistan Rangers and its Indian counterpart, the Border Security Force. These initiatives will need to be followed up with continued close contact over time. They must ensure that, after all these false starts, this time the thaw announces not temporary escape but permanent freedom from the past.

Everyman’s Christmas

‘TIS the season to be jolly, and Pakistan’s no slouch when it comes to the Christmas spirit. Markets selling yuletide paraphernalia are doing brisk business and, in urban centres, the malls — if not the halls — are decked with red and green, and Christmas trees aplenty. There are perceptibly larger numbers of visitors drawn by the festive ambience centred around the Christmas/holiday season and its traditional markers. All of which is evidence that even in a country like Pakistan, where religious divides have increased over the last several years, Christmas has transcended the realm of the spiritual. It has, much as in Christian-majority countries in the West since many years, been embraced by market forces that have claimed it (not to mention other religious festivals) as their own. In the process, it also appears to have become a more inclusive occasion, partaken of without guilt or fear in a society where minorities have to contend with growing insecurity to their lives and property.

Today, on what is also the birthday of the Quaid, is perhaps an opportune time to reflect on the superficial nature of this ‘inclusivity’. Mr Jinnah was always an unflinching advocate of the right of minorities to live in dignity as equal citizens of the state. Pakistan has sadly followed a very different trajectory. This year there will be little Christmas cheer in the homes of some 80 people who were killed in the suicide bombing on Sept 22 at the All Saints Church in Peshawar. Nor, one would imagine, will the residents of Lahore’s Joseph Colony — which was ransacked by a mob in March this year provoked by an accusation of blasphemy — be able to celebrate the occasion without trepidation. To be sure, these incidents elicited a storm of condemnation, particularly the Peshawar one given the loss of lives. And the show of solidarity by Muslims for the Christian community in the aftermath of the church bombing suggested that for most Pakistanis, inured as we are to violence, this was beyond the pale. However, all minorities are not equal. Some suffer in silence, living in communal isolation, their right to freedom of worship severely curtailed, their lives in continuous peril. No amount of tinsel can obscure that ugly reality.

A weapon for the ages

THERE is a degree of irony in the fact that Mikhail Timofeyevich Kalashnikov, the inventor of a firearm that became a staple for at least one of the sides in the majority of armed conflicts around the world since it went into production in 1947, died a peaceful death on Thursday at the age on 94. The Avtomat Kalashnikov, popularly known as the AK-47 assault rifle, was designed in 1942. The Nazi army had been halted at Stalingrad, and Russians sent up to the front were dying — not just because guns were in extremely short supply but also because they mainly had rifles while the Germans were armed with MP44 machine guns. Salvation of sorts was dreamt up by Kalashnikov. Since then, the AK-47 has empowered fighters ranging from the warlords of Mogadishu to the child soldiers of Liberia, the Mujahideen in Afghanistan to the Vietcong, from Che Guevara and Al Fatah to the Shining Path. It has even found nationalistic expression on the flag of Mozambique. Given that it is relatively simple to replicate (no patent was ever taken out), and while not particularly accurate, functions relatively well in wet or sandy conditions that jam more sophisticated weapons, it has been manufactured around the world by the hundreds of thousands. There is an estimate, in fact, that there is one Soviet/Russia-made Kalashnikov for every 70 people on earth — and that’s not counting replicas made elsewhere, Pakistan included.

This country has, over the recent decades, had good reason to rue the entrenchment of the Kalashnikov culture. The tendency to resort to arms, to which society started becoming addicted in the ’80s, has only grown stronger, and no end is yet in sight. But the death of Kalashnikov may be a reason to reflect that a weapon is, after all, only as lethal as the intent of the person who carries it. The path to establishing peace in Pakistan is to address the causes of violence; the methods are but a roadblock.

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

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Long-term solutions

IT is a sign of the times when ‘only’ a handful of deaths means that an occasion has passed off relatively peacefully. At least four people were killed in Karachi on Tuesday as Imam Husain’s Chehlum was being observed when a bomb went off outside an imambargah in the city’s Orangi Town area. In another time and place such senseless violence would have caused widespread shock. But in today’s Pakistan both the state and society heave a sigh of relief when acts of terrorism take few lives, because we are aware of the mass slaughter terrorists are capable of carrying out. But it’s also true that Karachi remained the only spot where innocent blood was spilt; almost everywhere else in the country Chehlum passed off without incident. Before Chehlum, Rawalpindi was particularly tense because of the sectarian violence and bloodshed that erupted when mourners passed by a mosque on Ashura.

The authorities deserve praise for managing the situation despite high threat levels. Police, paramilitaries and the army had been deployed across the country, especially in locations considered extra sensitive, which helped maintain order. Attempts to foment trouble by extremists were quickly dealt with in Rawalpindi. However, there were chinks in the armour, as the Karachi blasts showed. Apart from the deadly bombing in Orangi, another device exploded on the route of Karachi’s main mourning procession on M.A. Jinnah Road. Credit must go to the citizens for remaining calm. Had the device exploded whilst the procession was under way, a major tragedy would have resulted. This shows that even better intelligence and preventive security steps are needed. Every year the threat level during religious occasions goes up, which means the security establishment needs to stay ahead of the curve.

While preventive security is important, the factors behind sectarian militancy and communal violence must be addressed, with all sides ready to amicably resolve matters that could cause violence — such as the routes of processions and the use of loudspeakers to fan hate speech. The ulema have a major role to play. A code of ethics to ensure sectarian harmony was mentioned a few weeks ago. This needs to be discussed and have the consensus of all schools of thought so that it can be effectively implemented. Most importantly, there must be zero tolerance for hate speech that demonises any sect or religion. Senior clerics must make sure those at the neighbourhood mosque level are not involved in spreading communal hatred, and where there are provocations the state must act under the relevant laws. Perhaps if such space is eliminated for extremists, all communities in Pakistan could live in peace and practise their faiths without let or hindrance.

Tough times continue

IF the man on the street frequently uses the word ‘hapless’ to describe his own condition, there is no dearth of reasons why. In a country where not even the most basic rights and comforts are a given, this is what the majority of citizens views as a certainty: resources will only grow scarcer, and life tougher. Consider, for example, the crippling shortages the citizenry has faced this year. The summer saw endless hours of the suspension of electricity. Such was the level of frustration that protests, often violent, became routine in this context in both the urban and rural areas. Dwindling reserves of natural gas meant a slowdown in industry, again affecting jobs and incomes, and long queues of vehicles waiting to fill up with CNG. Come winter, and the problems have intensified. Across the country, increased usage of gas coupled with low pressure means that many households are not getting enough gas to even fire up their stoves, let alone keep warm. Meanwhile, on Monday the government announced that countrywide load-shedding will increase; in some areas it might be up to eight to 10 hours a day. This, it said, was because of the diversion of gas to the textile industry and an increased gap between electricity demand and supply as a result of the closure of canals.

The statement issued by the Ministry of Water and Power noted that “inconvenience to be caused to people due to load-shedding is regretted”. That would be enough, perhaps, if the issue under discussion was some small bother, a minor hassle for a few people to contend with. Given that this is far from the case, people may well find themselves wondering whether the state is, step by step, abandoning its responsibilities towards them and leaving them to fend for themselves. In the domestic sector, load-shedding affects ordinary people the most; the generators of the affluent roar into life minutes after the power lines go dead. The same goes for disruptions in domestic gas supply, which cut right to the heart of the normal functioning of households. Surely the state can legitimately be expected to do better than the equivalent of throwing up its hands in despair, citing shortages.

PCO judges

A CHANGE at the top of the institution is always accompanied by talk about personalities. But over and above the personal touch of a new incumbent, his preferences and priorities, there is always this urge to draw on experiences while strengthening an institution. Among the issues in discussion after the departure of Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry is the not so minor one about the powers of the judiciary and the sensitive matter as to who should hold the judges accountable. The reason for this review is offered by many instances, not least the complicated matter of the judges who were shown the door for having allowed themselves to be part of the bench in the brief interim when Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar had sought to act as the chief justice of Pakistan.

Of particular interest has been the case of judges who had originally sworn on the Constitution before they took a second oath under the Provisional Constitution Order of Nov 3, 2007. A legal point was raised about the guarantees their original allegiance to the Constitution offered them. Another contention related to the ‘unfair’ matter of the PCO judges finding themselves in a situation where the courts were required to adjudicate on an issue that concerned the judges on the bench directly. The review petitions filed by a number of PCO judges sent packing after the restoration of the ‘rightful’ judiciary were dismissed and perhaps their ‘bad’ example was a reason for the chief justice to seek maximum powers, even arbitrary authority, in the appointment of judges. The task for the future is to create a system that rationalises and that has maximum protection against allegations of bias. The restoration of the real judiciary is a source of pride to many in this country, but this success shouldn’t in any way make people oblivious to the need of constant improvements in the system. Such an objective can only be achieved by constitutional provisions that are informed by debate by both the legal minds and legislators.

__________________
Ye sab tmhara karam hai AAQA k bat ab tak bani hoi hai
May is karam k kahan ti kabil ye HAZOOR ki band parvari hai

27.12.2013

Lawmakers’ finances

AS in the past, the wealth, income and tax details of lawmakers revealed by the ECP have made newspaper headlines and stirred up a spicy debate in the media. These discussions throw up delicious titbits which are readily lapped up by hungry consumers. This is how it has been for the last many years while matters should have moved on from there to a deeper probe of what these ‘revelations’ mean. The talk about money — or in some cases the lack of it — makes for good TV watching. It is quite natural that ‘agitated’ politicians put in the dock by anchors and commentators should react strongly to allegations of tax evasion and illegal asset accumulation that are publicly levelled against them.

In one instance, for example, a lawmaker went on to indirectly accuse the host and his employer of similar financial misdemeanours. Another politician tried to save the situation by suggesting that the matter be left for the Federal Board of Revenue to probe. If any parliamentarian has made a false declaration of his assets and has not paid the required amount on his income or has not filed his tax returns, the FBR should punish him for his actions. Indeed, this is the proper way of turning the exercise of making public representatives declare their assets and tax details into something more meaningful than mere ritual.

But few in the FBR can muster the courage to launch an investigation into the wealth and tax declarations of MPs. Who would want to stir up a hornets’ nest at the cost of his job, although even a cursory look at the declarations of some of the politicians may be enough to expose the discrepancies between their lifestyle and income and assets. Or why would one risk pointing out that one MP’s house in Islamabad’s sector F-7 is priced at Rs1bn while another’s in the same locality is valued at Rs1.6m? The presence of only six billionaires, including the prime minister, in parliament is as puzzling as the number of legislators without cars. The increase in the fortunes of the premier to Rs1.7bn from the Rs261.6m he had declared when he filed his nomination papers for the May polls needs at least an explanation if not a probe. We’re not saying that the lawmakers have made false declarations. The government must, nevertheless, order the FBR to look into their financial details in order to clear their names. This will also give the board a reason to investigate the wealth of other holy cows — generals, judges, lawyers, journalists, businessmen, etc — to discourage future tax evasion.

Uniform curriculum

THERE is no doubt that the passage of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution that devolved many aspects of governance and administration from the centre to the provinces was a landmark step that met a long-standing demand. The provinces should have control over as many matters as possible that directly concern them. There are, however, some areas where total provincial autonomy has raised concerns, for example, drug regulation and certain aspects of the provision of healthcare. On Wednesday, another tricky area reared its head: curriculum development. The minister of state for education has written to the provincial chief ministers pointing out that poor coordination among provincial departments responsible for curriculum development was ‘creating discrepancies in the quality and content of the courses’.

The government is now proposing to set up a national curriculum commission to ensure that a uniform course of study is followed in schools and colleges across the various provinces. The proposed commission would include representatives of the provincial and federal governments, and its head would be appointed on a rotational basis. Notwithstanding the strong and valid arguments for provincial autonomy, at least in theory the government’s suggestion is a logical step forward. That the curricula of different provinces have been tinkered with at different times and by different governments and political parties to perpetuate one ideology or the other, to the detriment of students’ ability to think critically, is a matter of record. It is in this context, perhaps, that subjects such as history and religion should be standardised — and in a way that there are no biases, and no revisions of historical fact. And yet, in other subjects, how practical is the argument for a uniform curriculum? For instance, students from remote, underdeveloped regions, where teacher absenteeism is rife, may not be at par with their counterparts in urban areas. Would the former be able to attain the same number of marks in exams as those students who have had a better grounding in the subjects being tested? These loopholes require extensive discussions and all the provinces have a crucial role to play in identifying the drawbacks of a uniform curriculum and ways of overcoming them. Without provincial consensus and input, the centre’s suggestion will not work.

Brotherhood’s persecution

BY declaring the Muslim Brotherhood a terrorist organisation, the military junta has taken Egypt a step closer to authoritarianism. Already banned, the Brotherhood has now been accused of bombing a police headquarters last Tuesday, although the organisation has denied involvement in the crime, and an Al Qaeda affiliate has claimed responsibility for the blast. But the attack seems to have provided army chief Gen Abdel Fattah Sisi with the pretext he was looking for to root out the party. The decision to declare the Brotherhood a terrorist outfit hasn’t come from an impartial investigative panel or from a court; it has been so decreed by a general who overthrew the Brotherhood’s elected government headed by Mohammed Morsi. Thousands of Brotherhood workers are in prison and Mr Morsi faces a number of charges, including treason. The party’s supporters had every right to protest against their government’s dismissal. But the military-led government responded with a brutal crackdown that killed at least 550 people in Cairo last August. Since then, Brotherhood supporters have been continuing their protests, and some demonstrations have indeed degenerated into violence. But that still does not make the Brotherhood a terrorist militia.

Egypt is now under a brutal military dictatorship, which has suspended the constitution, is ruling by decree and is in the process of drafting a new basic law which will be put to a referendum, followed by an election. However, the exercise will be anything but transparent because the party that won Egypt’s first fair elections and secured a majority will not be allowed to take part in the polls. The absence of civil liberties has also alienated liberal sections of Egyptian society and added to the military’s isolation. For all practical purposes, the gains of the Tahrir revolution have been frittered away, and Egypt seems headed towards a new Mubarak-style civilian dictatorship.

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

Saturday, December 28, 2013

Not prepared for elections

AFTER having snubbed the provinces a few times for demanding the postponement of local government elections, the ECP has finally thrown up its own hands. It has conceded its inability to conduct the polls either in Punjab or Sindh on the given dates. In a testimony before a parliamentary panel on Thursday, an ECP official deepened the uncertainty surrounding local polls in the two provinces and said that postponement for another few months would help in making arrangements for fair, free and transparent elections. He cited the lack of capacity of the Pakistan Security Printing Press (and of private printers) to come up with as many as 330m ballots required for organising the elections in the two provinces. The short time available between the release of the final list of contestants and the polling days would make it impossible for the ECP to get the required number of ballot papers printed. While the final lists of candidates are scheduled to be displayed on Jan 13, polling in Sindh is set for Jan 18 and in Punjab for Jan 30. Transportation of such a big number of ballots to the polling stations in the remoter areas in such a short period will be another problem.

The ECP, which had previously advised the two provinces to adhere to the given polling schedule to avoid violating a Supreme Court ruling, is now willing to endorse their view should they seek the apex court’s permission to delay the elections by a few months. With the ECP in a spot — having not heeded the provinces’ earlier request for a delay in polls — is help at hand? Perhaps yes given the provinces’ own desire for delay.

Postponement will allow the ruling parties in Punjab and Sindh some more time to ensure a good showing for local government results to corroborate those of the May polls. Also, there are many other issues — objections against delimitations of constituencies, court cases against the new local government laws, etc — that need to be settled before such a massive exercise is undertaken. It was clear from the very outset that implementation of the schedule agreed to by the provinces and the ECP before the demanding judges who were irked by the delaying tactics was extremely tough to follow. Hopefully, the judges will also now look at the issue dispassionately and let the provincial governments and the ECP decide on a realistic date that they can adhere to without generating more controversy and uncertainty about the devolution of power to institutions closest to the people.

Bangladesh polls in danger

THE so-called war crimes trial and the execution of Abdul Quader Molla are not the only cause of Bangladesh’s current turmoil. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed has behaved recklessly, failing to realise how her actions are threatening democracy’s future in her country. Since 1996, interim governments had been supervising general elections, and the system seemed to work well. However, in 2011, through the 15th Amendment, Sheikh Hasina amended the constitution, abolishing the caretaker government clause. Her plea was that elections supervised by non-elected people had led to army takeovers. This explanation for army coups is too simplistic. There have been over a dozen military coups in the country since its formation, and an interim government was not necessarily in power when the military took over. The amendment has angered the opposition, and united parties that otherwise do not see eye to eye on many issues. Led by former prime minister Khaleda Zia, an 18-party alliance has decided to boycott the polls unless a neutral government is installed. Sheikh Hasina has offered to set up an all-party government without being specific — this has been rejected by the opposition.

Ms Zia hasn’t helped matters by calling for a countrywide ‘march on Dhaka’ movement, and asking people to prepare for it and force the Awami League government to quit. The opposition is determined there will be no election unless a caretaker government is involved, while Sheikh Hasina is equally stubborn. She has threatened strict action and deployed the army in nearly 60 districts. This is a recipe for civil war. The bitter rivalry between the two leaders has been a source of instability for Bangladesh. Both women have repeatedly taken recourse to crippling strikes that have often degenerated into violence, leading to loss of lives besides hurting the economy. The controversial war crimes trial has added to the schism in politics, and has polarised society. Those on trial now include two members of Ms Zia’s Bangladesh National Party. An indication of the vindictive philosophy that governs the trial was the prime minister’s declaration that Ms Zia would one day be tried for terrorism. Unless there is an agreement soon between the two sides, elections scheduled for January are as good as off.

Buried in the ‘wrong’ spot

GIVEN the growing polarities in Pakistani society, it is perhaps to be expected that prejudices against people and communities make themselves felt after death too. In recent times, there have been disturbing cases of families being asked to inter their dead in a different graveyard due to their faith or sect, and of the gravestones in an Ahmadi burial ground being defaced and damaged. Now comes the news that late on Wednesday night, an enraged mob gathered at a graveyard in Tando Bago town near Badin and disinterred the body of a man from the Hindu Bheel community. Four years ago, the graveyard was divided into sections for Bheels and Muslims but no clear demarcation lines were put down. The recently deceased Allah Dino Bheel was buried beside the grave of his father, but it turned out that he had been interred in the Muslim section of the cemetery.

It is to be appreciated that the police, perhaps having learnt from an earlier incident in which the body of another Bheel was disinterred, took prompt action. Not only did they calm the protesters down, they also negotiated the re-burial of the body at the same site. It was agreed after discussion the next day that a wall would be raised through the burial ground to divide it into two equal parts for the two communities. The unfortunate incident sheds light on the violence and callousness that lie just below the surface of seemingly peacefully coexisting communities in the country, and the ease with which mobs can be whipped up into a state of frenzy. There is an urgent need for community leaders, from politicians and administrators to religious figures and elders, to take emphatic steps to promote religious and communal harmony across the country. In their hands lies the future, for they can promote the hardening of lines or their blurring. Sadly, too often they are found to have been involved in the former for personal or ideological gain.

__________________
Ye sab tmhara karam hai AAQA k bat ab tak bani hoi hai
May is karam k kahan ti kabil ye HAZOOR ki band parvari hai

29.12.2013

The drone challenge

DRONES are a problem, but so is Pakistan’s drift towards international isolationism — that is the essence of what Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif warned on Saturday, echoing the words a day earlier of the Foreign Office spokesperson, who rightly asserted that there was more to foreign relations than just one issue. The problem though is twofold: when the government speaks sensibly, it speaks too timidly; and there is little apparent effort to find a sustainable solution to the drone conundrum beyond accepting both drones and the political heat they bring as faits accompli. Mr Sharif in particular seems to be perfecting the art of saying the right thing, but then doing little or nothing to back it up. And while words matter, so does the venue. A few words about Pakistan’s drift into isolationism at the inauguration of a new Foreign Office building is neither enough nor the right venue.

The problem with drones is that all sides involved are showing little understanding of or consideration for the complex big picture. The CIA, obsessed as it is with retribution or just preventing another 9/11 after missing the first one, has taken killing from the sky to extremes without caring much about the political and diplomatic ramifications on the ground. The White House has backed the CIA in a myopic and misguided continuation of Bush-era policies, perhaps also because no US president wants to be the leader who let the next 9/11 occur, and the other options in Fata are much less palatable. The security establishment here was, and perhaps still is, content to play yet another variation of a double game — this one of private support and public criticism. The civilian governments at the centre have been unable to offer a policy on drones that bridges the gap between US demands and domestic opposition. And then, perhaps looming larger than anyone else on this issue in recent times, there is the PTI and sundry right-wing parties who seem to believe that everything other than militancy itself is the problem in Pakistan.

Troubling as the misdeeds and inaction of the other sides are, what is particularly disturbing about the PTI approach is that it has mistakenly conflated US drones in Fata with the international coalition of troops in Afghanistan. They are not US supply routes that the PTI is bent on disrupting through Pakistan, they are supply routes that many other countries use and will want to rely on as they pull their troops out of Afghanistan. In fact, had it chosen a more patient and mature approach, the PTI may have found that many other countries are also uneasy about drones and want new rules of the game drawn up.

Bilawal’s politics of words

ON Friday, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari provided the much required note of dissent in Pakistani politics. Speaking at Garhi Khuda Bukhsh, he spoke in definite terms against militancy, as a large crowd marked the sixth death anniversary of a popular leader who had bravely stood up to the militants even when she was fully aware of the consequences. At the gateway of his political career, Benazir Bhutto’s son not only declared his determination to fight against militancy, he was also able to show that he was more adept now in the use of words than he had been some time ago. Quite clearly, the Bilawal-Asif Ali Zardari duo has chosen to follow the formula where the father is to display caution while the young man is given a free licence to target opponents. That may be a good strategy but it has to be accompanied by some action and for this action to take place, Mr Bhutto Zardari, as chairman of the PPP, must get the nuances right.

Future action cannot be restricted to flaunting one’s bravado. It has to be about coming up with alternative schemes to improve the lot of the people, economically and socially. The remarks about ‘cowardly’ opponents and the droll allusions to a tsunami as he took pot shots at rivals are not going to do the trick. For the PPP to stay relevant in the country’s politics, the young leader will have to understand what kind of party worker, or ‘jiyala’, the situation demands. And he would have to go one step further to accept that the anger of the jiyalas against the party is symptomatic of the reservations that the people at large have vis-à-vis the PPP. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari’s thunder will signify little unless he takes a look at how some other young scions of known political families are going about consolidating their family and party legacy which the PPP chief too is so eager to strengthen. Flashy slogans have a short lifespan in these times of increased public awareness and informed public demands — shorter than in the past anyway. Longevity requires maturity. The young politician has shown energy. He must now come up with policies to reconnect with the people and their aspirations.

Cricket’s winners

PAKISTAN’S convincing 3-2 victory over Sri Lanka in the ODI series that concluded in the UAE on Friday has a stamp of authority about it, and the emergence of half a dozen youngsters on the scene clearly signals the beginning of a new era for the men in green. While the narrow margin of victory does not amply reflect Pakistan’s domination of their opponent in the five-match contest, it is a fact that Misbah-ul-Haq’s men completely outplayed Sri Lanka in all departments of the game to emerge as the superior force. More importantly, the otherwise erratic batting line-up performed outstandingly this time to post handsome scores in excess of 250 in almost all games barring the last one. This was, indeed, very heartening to see. Riding on the back of their emphatic triumph in South Africa earlier this month, the Pakistani players had a spring in their feet and were determined to win. This attitude bodes well for the future. It is a definite turnaround for the national team that had had a dismal year of international cricket as they experienced defeats in the Champions Trophy in England and in the November series against South Africa in the UAE.

In the final analysis, Pakistan cricket owes this changed scenario to its young brigade of players. The latter have not only put up an exciting show and lifted the pall of gloom that had descended on the dressing room for too long, they have also defied the common, erroneous notion that talent is rapidly drying up in Pakistan cricket. Players such as the brilliant Bilawal Bhatti, Sharjeel Khan, Anwar Ali, Sohaib Maqsood, Shan Masood and Khurram Manzoor now form the nucleus of the Pakistan Test and ODI squads and will carry the country’s hopes to the World T20 in Bangladesh and the 2015 World Cup in Australia-New Zealand. Their skill has been complemented by the welcome return to form of seasoned campaigners like Mohammad Hafeez and Umar Gul while the coming of age of the ever-improving Junaid Khan has been a real boost.

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

Monday, December 30, 2013

D.I. Khan jailbreak: damning report

IN the years that Pakistan has been mired in militancy and terrorism, there has been no dearth of detractors maintaining that it is the inefficiencies of different arms of the state — if not outright collusion — that has allowed matters to reach such a pass. This charge is hotly denied, by state representatives who say they have no part in the mess, and by a citizenry that cannot digest the levels of ineptitude on part of the leadership that this would imply. Unfortunately, there is no denying that with distressing frequency, evidence of such monumental incompetence surfaces that questions cannot but be raised about the state’s levels of political will and operational ability. In this category must be included the revelations about July’s Dera Ismail Khan jailbreak, when militants managed to free over 250 prisoners without so much as a peep from the law enforcement and security apparatus.

The report of the inquiry commission tasked with investigating the incident, the contents of which were made public by this newspaper yesterday, constitutes an indictment of the security and law enforcement agencies. It ought to have served as a wake-up call of no minor proportions at all levels. Instead, it was shelved — to the utter lack of surprise of those familiar with the head-in-the-sand approach in Pakistan. The report notes that over two dozen Mehsud militants, accompanied by several more from Punjab, Uzbekistan and other places, managed to travel all the way from South Waziristan to D.I. Khan. Once there, they set up pickets at 10 strategic locations around the prison, cutting off security and law enforcement personnel’s access to the area. Shockingly, most of these pickets were located not far from police and military checkpoints. The militants blew the prison’s gates open with rocket-propelled grenades and over the next 45 minutes or so conducted a “methodical” search of the cells and barracks, freeing prisoners and even identifying and executing four members of a minority sect. Having done so, they dispersed; some headed back to South Waziristan, others melted into the city. All this was achieved with virtually no interference from the security and law enforcement apparatus, which had in the preceding days been beefed up, according to the report.

It could be argued that a jailbreak on such a large scale would have been difficult to counter — except that not only had a similar incident taken place before, this time there was even intelligence that an attack was imminent. Clearly, no lessons were learnt from the assault in Bannu last April, claimed by the TTP, which resulted in nearly 400 prisoners being sprung from jail. Further, in the case of D.I. Khan, the civilian and security administrations had been made aware of the threat and had even made efforts to ward it off. If this was the state of preparedness of the authorities in an area which has long borne the brunt of militancy and terrorism — one that has, with great fanfare, been announced as having been brought back into the fold of the state’s writ — what the situation must be in other areas can only be guessed at. Most worryingly, perhaps, the report notes that about half an hour into the assault on the jail, a militant came onto the police wireless frequency to taunt the law enforcers and to say the city would be razed to the ground. The confidence is astounding; the image conjured is of a savvy, well-equipped militant network running merry rings around a helpless state and security apparatus.

The report refers to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan as a “Frankenstein” and warns that as long as “even a semblance of these outfits” exists, the violence will continue unabated and all strengthening of the security apparatus will be in vain. Is the state refusing to look the threat in the eye? Is it shying away from recognising the enormity of the problem? Or, even more disturbingly, is it impotent, unable to muster the strength and intelligence that the task requires? On the answer to this question hinges the future of the country.

Unfair land allotment

LAND is back in the news once again, specifically public properties and state land to which public and elected officials claim an undue right. The so-called Bilawal House wall which has become a target of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s sole MNA from Karachi is emblematic of the problem, as is the demand by former chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry for a special land grant in Islamabad under a now discontinued special prime ministerial scheme. Start with the Bilawal House wall. While there is undoubtedly a severe and continuing security threat to former president Asif Ali Zardari and his children and the PTI has surely taken up the anti-wall cause with gusto in reaction to the PPP’s recent criticism of the party, this much is also clear: the wall, which stands some distance away from the Zardari residence, is unnecessary, unjustified and a severe disruption in a previously thriving commercial and residential area of Karachi. It exists only because there is absolutely no sense of proportionality or propriety among those who approved the wall and allowed both sides of a main thoroughfare to be closed to the public for years. It exists only because public properties and spaces are considered to be first and foremost for the private use of public representatives.

Then there is the request by former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry to have a property in an upscale Islamabad neighbourhood allocated to him — four years after he had rejected the very same property. True, there is nothing illegal in simply making a request under the then applicable rules. But the problem is with the rule itself, introduced by Shaukat Aziz as prime minister in 2006, and generally rules that grant civil servants public land must be questioned. Why must any public official be entitled to state land on retirement? Often the properties in question are in some of the most expensive residential neighbourhoods in the country. Surely there is something very wrong with an incentives structure that instals decades-long servants of the state and the people among the propertied elite of the country once they have retired.

Of course, no debate on the unfair and unjust appropriation of state land can ever be complete without reference to the military and its property schemes that can be found across the country. The vast Defence Housing Authorities in particular are an egregious example of completely unjustified property investments that have spawned many a multimillionaire in the army while there is no real justification of the need for such projects. Across the board then, what is needed is a thorough re-examination and overhaul of the rules that entitle public and state officials to state land or the use of public properties, as well as an impartial and full enforcement of the new rules.

The drone challenge

DRONES are a problem, but so is Pakistan’s drift towards international isolationism — that is the essence of what Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif warned on Saturday, echoing the words a day earlier of the Foreign Office spokesperson, who rightly asserted that there was more to foreign relations than just one issue. The problem though is twofold: when the government speaks sensibly, it speaks too timidly; and there is little apparent effort to find a sustainable solution to the drone conundrum beyond accepting both drones and the political heat they bring as faits accompli. Mr Sharif in particular seems to be perfecting the art of saying the right thing, but then doing little or nothing to back it up. And while words matter, so does the venue. A few words about Pakistan’s drift into isolationism at the inauguration of a new Foreign Office building is neither enough nor the right venue.

The problem with drones is that all sides involved are showing little understanding of or consideration for the complex big picture. The CIA, obsessed as it is with retribution or just preventing another 9/11 after missing the first one, has taken killing from the sky to extremes without caring much about the political and diplomatic ramifications on the ground. The White House has backed the CIA in a myopic and misguided continuation of Bush-era policies, perhaps also because no US president wants to be the leader who let the next 9/11 occur, and the other options in Fata are much less palatable. The security establishment here was, and perhaps still is, content to play yet another variation of a double game — this one of private support and public criticism. The civilian governments at the centre have been unable to offer a policy on drones that bridges the gap between US demands and domestic opposition. And then, perhaps looming larger than anyone else on this issue in recent times, there is the PTI and sundry right-wing parties who seem to believe that everything other than militancy itself is the problem in Pakistan.

Troubling as the misdeeds and inaction of the other sides are, what is particularly disturbing about the PTI approach is that it has mistakenly conflated US drones in Fata with the international coalition of troops in Afghanistan. They are not US supply routes that the PTI is bent on disrupting through Pakistan, they are supply routes that many other countries use and will want to rely on as they pull their troops out of Afghanistan. In fact, had it chosen a more patient and mature approach, the PTI may have found that many other countries are also uneasy about drones and want new rules of the game drawn up.

__________________
Ye sab tmhara karam hai AAQA k bat ab tak bani hoi hai
May is karam k kahan ti kabil ye HAZOOR ki band parvari hai