Thursday 24 April, 2014
 

[B][/B][B][CENTER][SIZE="4"]ISI and media infighting[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

IN the bizarre, whiplash-inducing fallout of the Hamid Mir shooting, an alarming new twist has occurred: the Ministry of Defence — really, the army/ISI leadership — has petitioned Pemra to cancel the TV licence of Geo News while also calling for action against the Jang group’s flagship newspapers under the defamation and press laws of the country. Cloaked in indignation, outrage and outright fury at the allegedly scurrilous coverage of the ISI, the army’s move — and the government’s acquiescence — is deeply troubling because it takes aim at the existence of an independent and free media. Certain basic issues need to be reiterated first. To begin with, Hamid Mir was shot in a targeted attack because of his work as a prominent journalist — and there seems to be little to no concern any longer about who may have been behind the attack and why. Next, the wildly emotional, over-the-top and accusatory coverage by Geo News after the attack on Mr Mir was clearly misguided and far from the best practices of a responsible media.

Yet, for all the missteps and violations of responsible conduct by the Jang group, the army itself seeking to shut down the country’s largest media house because of direct allegations against ISI chief Gen Zahirul Islam is a step too far — and ought to unite the media and the public against this step. For decades, anti-democratic and authoritarian elements have kept the public from choosing who it wants to lead the country and muzzled the media from holding the state to account for its deeds and misdeeds. Now, when a transition is under way and democratic continuity is on its way to becoming irreversible, there is more of a need than ever to have an independent and free media that can operate outside the still-present shadow of anti-democratic forces. The ISI and the army leadership may be rightly aggrieved, but seeking the cancellation of a media group’s TV licence is also a hostile move that can have a chilling effect on the media far beyond just the Jang group — even if Pemra in the end only slaps the group with a fine.

There is though another sad spectacle playing out in the midst of this clash between the state and media: the media at war with itself. Fuelled seemingly by ego, old and new rivalries and, surely, commercial interests, the electronic media has cannibalised itself in recent days. It has been unseemly and worse. With several media groups falling over themselves to denounce each other while simultaneously swearing fealty to the ISI and the army, the core journalistic mission of informing the public and holding the state to account has all but been forgotten. It is time for representative bodies of print and electronic media to come together to defuse tensions and lay down the rules of ethical journalism.

[B][CENTER][SIZE="4"]MQM in government again[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THE MQM’s decision to join the Sindh government is not altogether surprising. The love-hate relationship that it enjoys with the PPP has seen the Muttahida joining and then exiting the provincial government several times in the past. Clearly, the PPP, which enjoys a comfortable majority in the provincial legislature, did not need the MQM seats when the latter party returned to the treasury benches on Tuesday. But former president Asif Zardari — for reasons not entirely clear — had reportedly worked hard to bring the MQM back into the fold. It should be recalled that during the PPP’s last government in Sindh, the MQM came and went a number of times. It left the treasury benches on a variety of pretexts. And in the days since last year’s general elections, relations between the two parties have been less than cordial. However, the nature of politics in Sindh is such that while the PPP has a commanding presence in the rural hinterland, the MQM holds sway in urban Sindh, especially in cities located in the lower part of the province. So, keeping the political realities of the province in mind, the formation of the coalition should be welcomed.

Speaking after two MQM lawmakers took oath as ministers on Tuesday, Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah commented that together both parties could serve the province better. We sincerely hope this is the outcome of this political development. As most indicators show, the province is lagging behind when it comes to development, while the law and order situation in both cities and the interior is deplorable. The PPP and MQM must put aside politicking and work towards addressing the issues that ail Sindh so that good governance can be delivered to its people. To enable this, the PPP must not use its numbers in the provincial assembly to browbeat the MQM and steamroll legislation. For its part, the Muttahida must not act like an opposition party while enjoying the fruits of power. If they make up their minds in earnest, Sindh’s two major political forces can work for the welfare of the whole province and alleviate poverty, crime and corruption, which are among the main impediments standing in the way of the province’s progress.

[B][CENTER][SIZE="4"]Men planning families[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

AFTER decades of witnessing the country struggle to bring its burgeoning population figures under control, with mixed success, there are indications that the penny is finally dropping. In Punjab, men appear to be recognising that family planning is as much their concern as that of their wives. Traditionally, this has been seen as a ‘women’s issue’ in the sense that the need for limiting the family size has been felt more keenly by them. But according to a recent study, men in Punjab are showing greater concern than hitherto about the size of their families and spacing between children. The study, that was undertaken by the Population Council through the World Bank-Netherlands Partnership Programme, found that men indeed want fewer children, and want technical information about family planning.

That this awakening is spurred more by economic realities than concern for women’s health, though unfortunate, is not the point here. More benefit lies in seeing in this change an immense opportunity. The country has been running family planning initiatives and interventions for years, but the fact is that there is still insufficient societal knowledge about the subject. Most importantly, there are still sections of the population that do not have easy and affordable access to contraceptives. Given the higher mobility of men as well as the influence they wield in a patriarchal society, it is time to mobilise them in this regard through male-specific interventions. And if attitudes are changing in Punjab, there is no reason why they cannot be changed, with some effort, in other parts of the country too. At the heart of the matter, as the study pointed out, is the challenge of getting people to start translating intentions into practice. That popularising the use of family planning methods will benefit an already impoverished, populous country is obvious. A side benefit that will yield no less tangible results, though, is the leverage this change can have over empowering women in terms of their spousal relationships.

[B]25-04-2014[/B]

[B][CENTER]Sectarian violence[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]HOW many have died in sectarian violence in Pakistan since 2008? More than 2,000 was the answer Minister of State for Interior Balighur Rehman gave in the Senate on Wednesday. The bald number may be grim enough, but so are the details that Mr Rehman shared: from Fata to Islamabad and Balochistan to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, no part of the country has been spared sectarian violence. What the raw numbers do not tell though is the evolving pattern of the violence. What began as targeted killings of members of the Shia community (and, on a much lesser scale, reprisal attacks against virulently sectarian Sunni elements) has now escalated to indiscriminate attacks on markets, buses, religious sites and really any place where a gathering of a particular sect can be identified and targeted. It is a war on entire communities, even if it has not reached anywhere near the term ‘genocide’ that is unhappily bandied about without much regard for reality. What is real is the pervasive fear that has gripped certain communities and many parts of the country.

What happens next depends on how seriously the state takes the threat and how the communities themselves react. So far, other than in small pockets, there has been no communal violence, but tensions are rising because of the continuing proliferation of hate speech and paraphernalia. The question is really that of a tipping point and how far society is from it at the moment. Historically, despite all the allegations of a proxy Saudi-Iran war playing out inside Pakistan, sectarian violence has been sporadic and, usually, quickly contained. Part of that may have to do with demographics, as the sectarian equation is not overwhelmingly lopsided and sects are not confined to a few geographical zones, so there is much side-by-side existence. In fact, the communities do mingle and mix a great deal. Yet, this much is also clear: the historical pattern can be changed and tolerance can be eroded if elements bent on doing so are allowed to operate freely and the narrative of hate is not pushed back against.

So, what is the state doing about any of that? The interior ministry provided the province-wise breakdown of sectarian violence over the last six years, but how many of the murders have been investigated, how many of the killers identified and how many prosecutions secured? Surely, it is only a fraction, if that, of the violence that has been enumerated by the interior ministry. Meanwhile, the tentacles of fear continue to spread. In Karachi, the Majlis-i-Wahadat-i-Muslimeen have claimed several Shias have been killed in recent days, while the Ahl-i-Sunnat Wal Jamaat has alleged their members have also been killed. And Karachi is just one part of the national sectarian cauldron that is bubbling ominously. Does the state have any answers?[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Gilgit-Baltistan alienation[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]of the growing sense of alienation the region’s people are beginning to feel. Thousands have taken to the streets in various towns of GB, with major sit-ins taking place in Gilgit and Skardu. The ostensible trigger for the protests was the recent withdrawal of the wheat subsidy, which has sent prices of the essential food item spiralling in the underdeveloped region. However, the demonstrations, organised under the banner of the Awami Action Committee, an umbrella group bringing together over 20 political, religious and nationalist parties, are about more than just the price of wheat. The protesters have issued a charter of nine demands, which range from reduction in the prices of other basic items to bringing down load-shedding. The demonstrations are also being seen as a manifestation of popular frustration with the regional government for alleged corruption, especially in the GB education department, where jobs were reportedly doled out through questionable means. It is also noteworthy that protests have cut across sectarian and sub-regional lines, as both the Shia and Sunni communities are participating and people from all districts in the region are marching for their demands.

Though steps had been taken to give GB greater rights during the Musharraf regime and the last PPP government — especially increased autonomy for the region — the protests indicate that Islamabad still considers Gilgit-Baltistan a remote locale not at par with the rest of Pakistan. The major reason for the region remaining in limbo is its historical link to the Kashmir dispute. However, ensuring that the fundamental rights of the people are respected should not have to wait for the resolution of the Kashmir question. While giving the region an elected legislature was a major step forward, democratic goals will not be realised until the regional government is transparent, autonomous and responsive to the demands of the people. Both the GB government and Islamabad — which only awoke to the crisis several days after the protests started — must look into the protesters’ legitimate demands in the short term while in the long term, more must be done to ensure that the local people enjoy the same rights that others in Pakistan are supposed to.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Fatah-Hamas unity[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]ISRAEL has overreacted to Palestinian unity moves. On Wednesday, shortly after Fatah and Hamas announced plans to form a unity government within five weeks, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denounced the move, decided to boycott peace talks scheduled for the day and said that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas had chosen “Hamas, and not peace”. What Mr Netanyahu forgets is that unity among Palestinians is the first, essential step towards having successful talks aimed at ending the occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and creating an independent Palestinian state. Besides, as Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad al-Maliki said, there was an understanding between Hamas and Fatah that Mr Abbas had the mandate to negotiate with Israel on behalf of all Palestinians. The US-brokered talks between Israel and Palestine are scheduled to end next week, but the Likud government has found a pretext to walk out. Israel does not appear to have any plans of quitting the occupied territories, and has continued to establish new settlements and expand existing ones, with the Jewish population on the West Bank having reached half a million. Lately, there have been vague feelers from Israel aiming at doing away with the 1967 borders.

The split between Fatah and Hamas following the 2006 elections hurt the Palestinian cause immensely. There have been attempts in the past, such as those by Hosni Mubarak, to unite the two factions, because the discord and violence had turned the West Bank and Gaza into two cantons with no status in international law. All eyes will now be on Hamas and Fatah to see how long the new arrangement will last. Unity between Fatah and Hamas is the prime condition for forging a united front for the liberation of Palestine from Israeli occupation. The two sides must pledge they will accept the results of the elections, scheduled within six months, whosoever wins.[/LEFT]

[B]26-04-2014[/B]

[B][CENTER]Presence of foreign militants[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]A LITTLE discussed but crucial aspect of the government’s dialogue with the banned TTP is the issue of militants of foreign origin who live or have found sanctuary in militant strongholds in Fata. As reported in this newspaper yesterday, the foreign militants, with an eye on the government-TTP dialogue, are keen to secure safe passage out of Pakistan and move on to other arenas of jihad, especially Syria.

But the principal concern here should hardly be what foreign militants living on Pakistani soil want. It should, instead, be how to devise a coherent strategy to nudge out foreign militants from Pakistani soil while simultaneously reducing their influence on the Pakistani militancy spectrum.

To begin with, what the government ought to demand is a full accounting of foreigners associated with militancy in Pakistan and living in the tribal areas. Given the long history of militancy in the region, there are a number of people from the time of the first Afghan jihad in the 1980s who, in their post-jihad career, settled down in Pakistan, married Pakistanis and are living here having long abandoned militancy and violence. Those particular individuals are of little consequence today and pose no obvious threat to the state.

However, there are other foreigners — in the scores, hundreds, perhaps even a couple of thousand — who live in Pakistan, are active in militancy and pose a very serious danger to this country and possibly other states too. Here the government will have to be more firm and insistent in its negotiations with the TTP. To begin with, the TTP must provide a comprehensive and verifiable list of active foreign militants living in Fata, both those living under the TTP’s umbrella of protection and otherwise.

Next, the TTP must guarantee the disarming and decommissioning of the foreign militants. That has been one of the basic conditions of any peace deal that governments have struck with militants over the past decade and it would be disastrous to move away from that at this point.

After that, the question of safe passage can be taken up on a case-by-case basis, but only to allow foreigners to return to their home countries. For obvious reasons, most foreign militants may prefer to move to yet another country to continue their so-called jihad, but the government here must be careful to take into account the potential ramifications: does Pakistan want to be blamed for exporting its militancy problem to other parts of the globe? The worrying bit is that the government has been quiet on the issue of foreign militants.

The TTP is unlikely to easily cut ties with or abandon its allies among foreign militants, so the lack of clarity and purposefulness on the government’s part may encourage the TTP to demand concessions even on this front. What exactly does the government have in mind here?[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Power sector reforms[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]PRIME MINISTER Nawaz Sharif has promised to bridge the electricity supply gaps in the country in the next two and a half years and add 21,000MW of new power to the national grid over eight years. Both are difficult targets Mr Sharif has set for himself. He, however, seems to have been encouraged by an earlier-than-scheduled commissioning of the two gas turbines at the Guddu thermal power project and the inauguration of the Uch project-II this week.

The expansion of the Guddu project has already added 486MW to the national grid, and the completion of the third turbine next month will take new generation from the project to 747MW. The Uch project will add another 404MW to the system. At the same time, work on several hydel and thermal power projects has already been initiated with financial assistance from multilateral and bilateral donors as well as Chinese and domestic investors.

The completion of these projects will certainly mitigate the pain of industrial and domestic consumers who are suffering from long power cuts despite paying a price said to be the highest in the region. Indeed, the Nawaz Sharif government is more focused on removing the electricity supply gaps than its predecessor. Even a partial success in implementing the proposed projects will significantly bring down the duration of the power cuts by the end of its term in 2018.

But the focus on new generation is not enough. The government should also be implementing the required power sector reforms that it had promised in its energy policy last year. For example, the government has so far done little to check power theft, reduce transmission and distribution losses and recover unpaid bills from public and private defaulters.

Nothing has been done to improve the management of or stop rampant corruption in public-sector power companies. Consequently, we are seeing a fresh build-up of the inter-corporate power sector debt of slightly less than Rs300bn in nine months after having retired the previous one of Rs480bn last June.

The economy and consumers may continue to suffer power cuts and pay a high price for a much longer period than the one stated by Mr Sharif unless governance reforms are implemented in the energy sector.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]One shoe fits all[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]THE list on the internet says it was Pakistan which began the trend, reviving a way of showing disapproval that dates almost to the time when man first learnt to take aim. Six Aprils ago, Arbab Rahim, a former Sindh chief minister, was attacked with a shoe as he came to take oath as a member of the provincial assembly.

For the attacker, democracy which had brought his party to power was not revenge enough. Since then, shoes have been lobbed at various venues around the globe, and this manner of ugly protest was, on Thursday, once more visible when the chief minister of Punjab found himself at the receiving end. In between, a Chinese leader has been subject to a limp shoe attack — in Cambridge of all places.

The then US president George Bush, too, has been targeted in Iraq, and only recently former secretary of state Hillary Clinton managed to duck one in the US. In India, politicians such as Manmohan Singh and L.K. Advani have been aimed at and our very own Gen Pervez Musharraf has been a recipient both in his country and abroad. The Iraqi who threw the shoe at Mr Bush was paid in the same coin in Paris later.

The reaction, generally, has been sober. In a majority of cases, the targeted leaders chose to take these attacks in their stride, avoiding additional embarrassment. Some damage was, of course, done, but the incidents did provide the leaders with an opportunity to be magnanimous and forgiving.

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif reacted similarly on Thursday when he ordered the release of the shoe-throwing journalist, who, it was learnt to the general satisfaction of the surprised gallery, had his origins away from Punjab.

This was the right response. It allowed for the freak incident’s quick removal from the media radar, after the efficient security and agitated party workers had done their best to make a prolonged unpleasant spectacle out of it by thrashing the offender.[/LEFT]

[B]27-04-2014[/B]

[B][CENTER]Rights violations in 2013[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]ANOTHER annual report by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan and we are reminded that the expression ‘it cannot get any worse than this’ really does not apply to this country. The report, which is spread over some 350 pages of horrifying everyday details about rights in Pakistan, confirms the deepening malaise and continued lack of effort to address this by those at the helm. It was a bad year for minorities, a year during which hundreds fell to sectarian violence. After Balochistan, nationalists were now killed in Sindh and their bodies dumped by the wayside. It was the year of Hindu migration resulting from their persecution by the majority in their homeland, of forced conversions and marriages and of growing pressure on journalists. If the case of a former bonded labourer, a Hindu woman, taking part in the general election sought to create a rare happy example, the violence in Joseph Colony, Lahore, and the Peshawar church blast intervened to ensure that the gloom hanging over Pakistan persisted, even thickened. An ugly manifestation of faith-based violence was present in several acts of terrorism.

There were no signs of reform. The law enforcers remained weakly motivated and ill-equipped, and as the HRCP report rightly points out, the legislators could not bring themselves to perform their job with greater responsibility. The lawmakers appeared disinterested; they consisted of both, those who had been members of the parliament that completed its term in early 2013 and those who were brought into the house after an election marred by violence and blatant rights violations of its own. The militants did not allow some of the major parties to campaign and the system was in no condition to foil their designs.

The year could have been better had some in the lead cared to make an effort to deliver on their promises. For instance, it was Mr Iftikhar Chaudhry’s last year as the country’s chief justice. However, if anyone had hoped that the last few months of his term would be spent on trying to improve the system in aid of justice to the people at large, that was not to be. As millions of litigants remained stuck in the system, the judiciary’s priority in taking up select high-profile cases was questioned. The advent of a new government also raised hopes, but a few months down the road, HRCP reports that minorities are feeling increasingly threatened in Pakistan. Just as the minorities are wary of talks with the proscribed Taliban, the PML-N’s attempts at establishing control by applying a draconian law called the Protection of Pakistan Ordinance raises serious concerns. The law brings out the essential flaws of thinking in a country where those who believe that they have power prefer to use force to settle issues. That lies at the root of rights violations.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Surge in Karachi violence[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]THOUGH a steady stream of targeted killings — mostly sectarian — has been occurring in Karachi over the past few weeks, bombings have struck the metropolis in the past few days after a lull of over two months. On Thursday, Shafiq Tanoli, a police officer who was involved in anti-militant operations, was killed in a suicide bombing along with several other people at a shop. The next day, at least six people were killed and many more injured in a bombing in a busy Clifton area. Though there were no claims of responsibility at the time of writing, police say they have a fair idea about who carried out the attack. Senior police officials say a bus carrying members of the Shia community back from Friday prayers was the intended target, and that the atrocity bears the hallmark of the banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi. Similarly, in the Shafiq Tanoli case, while the officer had pursued a variety of criminals, his encounters with suspected religious militants seem to have been the trigger for his tragic murder. Mr Tanoli had survived at least seven earlier assassination attempts. After his death, a spokesman of the banned TTP described the officer’s violent end as “natural” as, according to him, he had “killed several TTP men”.

Following the Clifton blast, Sindh’s information minister has stated that there had been an uptick in violence in Karachi ever since the TTP ceasefire expired in the middle of this month. It is certainly a valid observation by some that these attacks are pressure tactics being applied by the militants and their affiliates to browbeat the state into ceding more ground for their extremist agenda. If the militants are deliberately perpetrating violence to blackmail the state, it shows how little they care for the ongoing peace talks. If there are ‘rogue elements’ involved, then the Taliban must openly condemn the atrocities and help the state identify the culprits — and give serious thought to the Jamaat-i-Islami’s call for them to declare a permanent ceasefire. And if the TTP is incapable of reining in rogue groups, we return to square one: why is the government talking to the militants if they are unwilling to forgo terrorism or unable to control splinter groups?[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]PCB’s inept policies[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]THE spate of controversies that the Pakistan Cricket Board has attracted in recent weeks, mainly due to its chop and change policies, does not augur well for Pakistan cricket and its future. The frequent changes in the team management, the unfortunate Rashid Latif episode pertaining to the chief selector’s post, the announcement of a large selection committee comprising half a dozen people, the confusion over the hiring of coaches and PCB chairman Najam Sethi’s over-reliance on the rusty bureaucratic set-up in the board have all reflected poorly on the workings of the PCB of late.

To begin with, the PCB chief, like his predecessors, has shown little verbal restraint, a tendency which has already landed him in trouble during his short tenure so far. Though Mr Sethi has repeatedly expressed his intentions of purging Pakistan cricket of the fixing menace and getting rid of PCB red tape, his own poor knowledge of the game’s administrative set-up and its intricacies have not helped. Mr Latif, who enjoys the reputation of being one of the most competent and honest people in Pakistan cricket, was given a raw deal by the PCB when certain preconditions were set for him prior to his taking over the chief selector’s job. He abruptly backed out amid a lot of media furore as he was discouraged by the presence of too many cooks in the cricket board. On the other hand, former captain Moin Khan has now been saddled with three challenging jobs — that of chief selector, national team manager and as a member of the coach-finding committee. How he will do justice to all three is anybody’s guess. While the attempt to hire prominent former players for resurrecting the game could be termed as a laudable move, the PCB’s willingness to bring in controversial ex-players such as Mushtaq Ahmed, Waqar Younis and Ijaz Ahmed for key assignments has raised serious questions and belied the board’s much-trumpeted policy of zero-tolerance for corrupt practices in cricket. The PCB should work towards rectifying its mistakes.[/LEFT]

[B]28-04-2014[/B]

[B][CENTER]Funds for Steel Mills[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]THE Economic Coordination Committee of the cabinet has approved a new plan to restructure the Pakistan Steel Mills through yet another monetary injection. The restructuring plan aims at reviving the PSM and making it profitable though it will set taxpayers back by a hefty Rs18.5bn. The amount is in addition to funds worth Rs100bn that the government has spent on the company, which has been on the ventilator for the last several years. Its demise has been delayed by the Supreme Court that annulled its sale to private investors in 2006.

The plan envisages that the mill will be able to achieve 77pc capacity utilisation by the middle of next year. At present, that figure is 3pc to 6pc. Its management has reportedly assured the ECC that the company will not only pay all its liabilities but also start earning a monthly profit of Rs38m from the beginning of next year. The shortage of funds has been blamed for the declining capacity utilisation. However, in the face of reality such reassurances sound hollow.

It is possible that inadequate funding by the government in recent years has led to the virtual closure of the mill. But the very fact that the company has been dependent on federal funds for several years now shows that it was not able to make enough profits to sustain itself. What ails other state-owned enterprises also afflicts the PSM: corruption, mismanagement, overstaffing, bureaucratic and political interference, leakages, and so on.

Not very long ago, Privatisation Commission chairman Mohammad Zubair had told businessmen in Karachi that the government would not privatise the mill if anyone could transform it into a viable, profit-making company in the public sector.

In Lahore last month, he informed a media gathering that 26,000 out of its 46,000 employees had never gone to college but still occupied important positions in the firm. His statements clearly indicate his lack of faith in the revival of the PSM as long as it remains in government hands. What has made him change his mind in the last few weeks and support a fresh financial injection for turning the firm around without giving it to private investors?

If he and finance minister Ishaq Dar, who is also chairman of the ECC, think that the mill can be made a profitable concern in such a short time just by injecting funds into it and without taking tough decisions, they are mistaken.

And if the belief is that improved capacity utilisation will fetch a better price for this ‘national asset’, it is far-fetched. Instead of wasting the taxpayers’ money, policymakers must not lose their focus on the privatisation of the PSM and other SOEs that cannot be transformed for the better in the public domain. It would require much more than money to turn around these black holes.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]LHWs’ regularisation[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]IN a country where the healthcare system is in a shambles and vast swathes of the population cannot access even existing facilities because they are too far away, lady health workers and community midwives play a vital, life-saving role. While their qualifications fall short of medical degrees, this army of health workers — 26,000 in Sindh — is nevertheless adept at addressing the needs of the people they tend to, and it is all the more admirable that they do it for a pitifully small remuneration, and sometimes in a dangerous atmosphere as in the case of polio vaccinators.

Considering the nature of their job and the low pay, the long-standing demand by the LHWs and CMWs of Sindh for the regularisation of their services is more than justified. It is therefore worthy of appreciation that on Friday, the Sindh health secretary, Iqbal Hussain Durrani, reiterated the provincial government’s commitments to LHWs and CMWs, and said that the services of some 22,500 such health workers and their supervisors would be regularised by the end of the month.

He was speaking at a programme to present awards to workers who had performed outstandingly in their areas. The programme had been organised by Save the Children in collaboration with the Sindh Health Department’s LHW programme, and its maternal, neonatal and children health programme.

It is hoped that the government does indeed make good on this promise. The fact is that even with this army at work, Sindh is nowhere near being able to meet the basic medical needs of all its population. As conceded by Mr Durrani, the present LHW-CMW workforce manages to cover merely 50pc of the population. According to the provincial health secretary, the government has a plan for this and intends to increase the coverage to 70pc by increasing the numbers of LHWs and CMWs substantially.

For this, he added, compromises would have to be made on the qualifications, etc, of those working in remote parts. It is necessary here to sound a note of caution: compromises may be a necessity, but standards must not be allowed to slip. The underprivileged of Sindh should not be forced to put their trust in health workers who do not know their jobs.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Sued for being nuclear[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]THE US has already paid hundreds of millions of dollars to the Marshall Islands in restitution, and now this tiny Pacific nation has set in motion a procedure that might require that the world’s only superpower repent even more for one of its sins. On Thursday, the Marshallese government filed lawsuits against nine countries, including the US, in the International Court of Justice at the Hague. These countries are economically and culturally disparate, but here’s what they have in common: they have been sued for being nuclear-armed.

They stand accused of the “flagrant violation of international law” for failing to pursue negotiations required by the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which requires states to pursue nuclear disarmament “in good faith”. The five original nuclear-armed states were all party to the NPT, and according to the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, which is backing the legal action, the countries that acquired nuclear weapons — Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea — were “bound by these nuclear disarmament provisions under customary international law”.

We now live in an age when nuclear weapons are taken as a fact of life; barely in evidence are the misgivings and outrage this technology provoked in earlier decades, when the fates of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were well within living memory.

This is a timely reminder, then, that while present-day geopolitics may require contortions such as the doctrine of nuclear deterrence, the fact remains that the world would be an infinitely safer place without nuclear weapons. It is entirely understandable why the Marshall Islands took this action: it was on its atolls, after all, that the US undertook the testing of the hydrogen and atomic bombs repeatedly.

The largest-ever detonation of a nuclear weapon occurred on March 1, 1954, on Bikini Atoll — a blast that the Marshallese government says was 1,000 times more powerful than what destroyed Hiroshima. The world may have moved on, but it is evident that nuclear weapons remain more dangerous than ever.[/LEFT]

[B]29-04-2014[/B]

[B][CENTER]No action on banned groups[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]IF banning terrorist and militant groups has not led to any credible or effective results, does that mean the government should quietly give up on the practice altogether? Or if the government is engaged in dialogue with the TTP leadership, does that mean that self-avowed splinter groups should continue to escape the state’s legal scrutiny or sanction? According to a report in this newspaper, the PML-N government has not banned a single militant or terrorist outfit since coming to office almost a year ago. A partial explanation could be the government’s avowed stance of pursuing dialogue with the outlawed TTP first, but, if true, it would be a thoroughly unsatisfactory explanation.

Even the government has suggested repeatedly that there is no guarantee that talks will succeed, while consistently also maintaining that all options remained open if talks eventually failed. So it would make sense to keep monitoring and officially labelling new groups that emerge during this phase. That way, swift — and, importantly, legal — action could be taken if talks fail.

Yet, it appears that another part of the explanation for the government’s inaction lies in the procedure for banning terrorist and militant groups: the interior ministry is in charge and the minister leading that ministry, Nisar Ali Khan, has hugely invested in the dialogue process to the point of tunnel vision and an inability to focus on other aspects of his job perhaps. For example, if the TTP splinter group Ahrarul Hind is what it and the TTP claims it is, then it deserves to be banned at the very least for the attacks it has claimed responsibility for.

If nothing else, it would give the interior minister and his negotiators some extra leverage at the negotiating table with the Taliban when it comes to demanding that the TTP rein in or hand over affiliates who are unwilling to talk peace. But the interior minister’s seeming willingness to give up every possible leverage he has in the talks process appears to prevail.

What can — and does — get overlooked because of the ineffective and sometimes non-existent implementation of the ban on certain groups is that it can be a rather powerful tool. At the very least, it gives the state the authority to clamp down on funding — a crucial lifeline for any group — seize bank accounts and make international travel for individuals difficult.

Those measures alone can have a significantly disruptive effect, and that’s before the advantages when it comes to investigations and securing prosecutions in the courts. To be sure, the ease with which groups evade existing bans by simply changing the name of their organisations needs to be looked at. Yet fixing the system of banning groups will only matter if the government shows some interest in the system to begin with.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Increasing the retirement age[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]WHILE the Finance Division has denied that the IMF at the Washington meeting suggested that the retirement age of state employees be increased, such a proposal would, in fact, merit consideration. Indeed, past dispensations too have mooted the idea of increasing the retirement age of state employees to put the brakes on ballooning pension bills. State expense, federal and provincial both, on wages and retirement benefits of public-sector employees has spiked quite rapidly in recent years.

The federal wage and pension bill for the present fiscal year, for example, has already swelled to Rs450bn. It is expected to rise further as the increasing cost of living creates a demand for a hefty raise in salaries, and in pensions every year. The need to control this expense cannot be overstated at a time when the government is living on borrowed money and is struggling to bridge its growing budget deficit. Thus, it will not be wrong for public pension reforms to remain the focus of any plan to cut the government’s expenditure.

In fact, cutting the pension bill by increasing the retirement age is a trend that has caught on globally in recent years. This move has allowed governments to utilise their employees who still have some active, productive years left, and somewhat reduce post-retirement expenses. Powerful bureaucrats, who get jobs in the private sector even before they retire from government service because of their connections in the right places, can, perhaps, resist such a move.

But they will be in a minority. Low-grade employees who are in a majority would want to stay in their jobs for a few more years rather than be forced into years of inactivity and a lower income. They will welcome such an extension.

There is an argument that the increase in the retirement age would affect the prospects of millions of younger people who join the job market every year. This point is often exaggerated. A government with enough fiscal space to provide better public services like education and healthcare creates more jobs through its own enhanced spending on development as well as by helping the private sector to expand. That should be the focus in an era when the state’s capacity to give jobs directly has decreased because of its changed role.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Video of Gilani’s captive son[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]AS father of a kidnapped son, Yousuf Raza Gilani had a point when he expressed his anguish over the interior minister’s decision to report the existence of a video showing his son’s plight in captivity. The contents of the video were a source of torment to the family, because Ali Haider said his kidnappers had kept him in chains and that his family and the government were not doing enough for his release.

The former prime minister wasn’t wide of the mark when he said Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan’s decision was an irresponsible one. For the interior minister, Ali Haider is one of numerous people who are kidnapped in Pakistan almost daily, but for Mr Gilani the captive is his son whose life is in danger. Almost a year has passed since

Mr Haider was kidnapped, but the government still has no clue as to the kidnappers’ identity. Yet, without sharing the video with the family, the interior minister chose to inform the media about it and, based on Ali Haider’s remarks, declared that the outlawed TTP wasn’t involved in the kidnapping. How is Chaudhry Nisar so sure of this? Didn’t it occur to the minister that the TTP would want to be absolved of the crime? Obviously, if they accepted this act of kidnapping, they would be asked to free him — and Shahbaz Taseer and former VC of Peshawar University Ajmal Khan — because an obliging government had already released 19 Taliban ‘non-combatants’.

What is at play is not only irresponsibility but the utter lack of professionalism in dealing with cold-blooded and ferocious militants. If the minister lacked expertise in this, the least he could have done was to seek guidance from the Karachi-based Citizen-Police Liaison Committee, which has decades of experience in dealing with kidnappings and securing the freedom of a number of victims. The issue is the government’s mindset, for the consistency with which it has been kowtowing to the Taliban seems to be in display in this case, too.[/LEFT]

[B]30-04-2014[/B]

[B][CENTER]Dialogue with the TTP[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]THE details leaked from the government-army huddle to discuss the ongoing talks with the TTP were surely meant to underline the government’s clarity, resolve and determination when it comes to achieving meaningful results in a clear timeframe on the dialogue front. Yet, the vague details passed on to the media about what was discussed and decided at the meeting only underscored just how shoddily the dialogue process has been managed so far.

The very fact that the participants had to direct the interior minister to push the TTP to finally reveal its demands and to indicate to the TTP that the process will not be open-ended, suggest something that could already have been guessed at: negotiations so far have been desultory and conducted inside only the barest of frameworks and timeframes.

It already seems a lifetime ago when, in late January, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced his final push for negotiations — a final push that was supplanted by yet another final push after the TTP ended its ceasefire recently and which is now apparently supplanted yet again by yet another so-called final push for a results-oriented dialogue.

What can be extrapolated from the government’s contortions over the dialogue issue is two things: one, the government wants dialogue to succeed at nearly any cost; two, the government is so keen to convince the TTP of its bona fides that it is willing to let the TTP dictate the pace and the content of the dialogue process.

This is unfortunate in the extreme and can only set the stage for achieving the opposite of what the government is publicly claiming it is seeking through dialogue. But then, with an agenda that seemingly goes no further than seeking a reduction in violence — to bring it down to a level that the public can live with — and does not appear to have a problem with engineering peaceful co-existence between the state and the TTP, can the government really be said to have even a conceptual understanding of what negotiations with insurgencies seeking the violent overthrow of the state are supposed to be all about?

Added to the already existing and known problems has been another dimension in recent weeks: tensions between the military and the civilian leadership. It is surely not a coincidence that the otherwise voluble and loquacious TTP spokespersons have been rather quiet of late, preferring to let the media wars and the civil-military tensions remain centre stage.

Surely, when the ISI is turning to using posters and banners to promote and defend its chief in the style of a political party and ministers have waded needlessly into controversies by politicising the trial of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the TTP need not worry about a united state achieving anything meaningful when it comes to rolling back militancy and extremism through dialogue.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Summer without power[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]PUBLIC frustration seems to be bursting at the seams as the duration and frequency of power outages in large parts of the country has increased with surging summer temperature. Powerless consumers capturing a grid station in Taunsa and ransacking a distribution company’s office in Larkana indicate where the situation is headed, as tempers rise with the mercury. Reportedly, 135 demonstrations and rallies have been organised in south Punjab alone since last weekend.

And while the protests have more or less remained peaceful, there is no guarantee that the protestors — whose life is affected and livelihood threatened by the outages of up to 18 hours a day — will not turn violent.

While the prime minister took the matter up in a special meeting on Monday, so far the government has betrayed no sign of taking measures to bring the closed generation capacity of around 3,000 megawatts into operation. More remarkable is the decision of one of its ministers, who looks after the water and power ministry.

Instead of arranging funds for fuel to power the closed generation capacity, he has chosen to cut supplies in parts of Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for non-payment of bills. Some would defend his action, but the timing is questionable.

The decision has kicked off yet another dispute between the centre and the provinces and appears to be more of an excuse for the sloppy performance of a government that has failed to add new generation, and control massive theft and distribution losses since its return to power on the promise of resolving the nation’s power woes. Power shortages are the principal constraint to growth in the country.

They have led to massive losses of jobs, productivity and exports in the last seven to eight years, shaving 3-4pc of GDP annually. Research undertaken by the Pakistan Institute of Development Economics shows that outages forced each electricity consumer to spend an average Rs31,000 — or one quarter of per capita income — to make alternate arrangements in 2012. Such a situation should not be occurring in a country trying to project itself as an investors’ heaven.

The government and its ministers had better focus on reviving the idle generation capacity and the formulation and implementation of the energy conservation strategy to reduce blackouts rather than resorting to theatrics.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Farcical trials in Egypt[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]TIME and again, it’s proved true: once a country’s military tastes power, it’s loath to let it go; the situation in Egypt illustrates how much vengeance can be unleashed. On Monday, 683 more Muslim Brotherhood members were sentenced to death. The flippancy of the trial is evident from the way the death penalty is given and revoked. Last month, the same court gave death sentences to 529 Brotherhood supporters.

On Monday, it changed the sentence for 492 of them to a life term. Mohammad Badie, the Brotherhood’s supreme guide, is among those convicted for the death of several policemen in rioting last August. However, what the regime is trying to downplay is the death of over 1,000 people in the police crackdown on two Brotherhood camps in the wake of the army’s July coup.

It is quite possible that some of the 683 people convicted on Monday may also have their sentences commuted. Yet the issue is not the fate of some individuals but of the Arab Spring. Along with other elements of Egyptian society, the Brotherhood played a major role in the Tahrir uprising and later went on to win the parliamentary elections. This elected government, Egypt’s first, had every right to rule.

It is true president Mohammad Morsi made many mistakes and effected controversial amendments in the constitution, but the resistance to his Islamist agenda was bound to come sooner or later from Egyptian liberals within the democratic framework. Instead, the army chose to sabotage a democracy achieved after immense struggle against Hosni Mubarak’s military-led despotism. The military’s perfidy became obvious the day its chief, Gen Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, announced his decision to contest the election.

It is, of course, a foregone conclusion that his election will be as bogus as the current bout of trials, but that will not serve to crush the Brotherhood. As examples in the region show, parties banned by the force of arms bounce back to power when there is a free vote.[/LEFT]

[B]01-05-2014[/B]

[B][CENTER]Message to power defaulters?[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]IN a country where the rich and powerful are all too often wilful violators of the law and the state itself often considers itself above the law, there is something fleetingly satisfying about seeing the electricity switched off, however briefly, in various state institutions in Islamabad on Tuesday.

Yet, was it little more than a PR stunt devised by the Ministry of Water and Power to deflect attention from the increasing load-shedding across the country as the mercury rises? Or was it a genuine signal that the government is getting serious about addressing the seemingly intractable problem of billing in the power sector? For now, the answer appears to rest somewhere in between those two extremes.

Perhaps a basic, though broadly overlooked, problem when it comes to virtually all debates about the electricity sector and how to reform it is that very few of the facts are actually known.

What is the scale of the receivables? Who owes what and to whom? Are the receivables accepted by both sides or are they disputed, and if they are disputed, what amounts are involved? Why are government departments perennial defaulters and who is responsible for paying up and why aren’t they held to account? Thej various numbers — all in billions of rupees though — mentioned by various officials indicates that even now the government has not done its basic maths well on the billing side.

Even more complicated is the system of tariff determination. Between fuel adjustments, delayed notifications, the government and Nepra tug-and-pull, un-provisioned for mark-up liabilities and delays in releasing tariff differential subsidies, the faulty pricing mechanism of electricity itself is in a mess. It is unsurprising then that the recovery side of the billing equation continues to show an increase in slippages.

Yet, it is also possible to read too much into the details: while an efficient and fully functioning electricity system would need the minutiae addressed, a marginally more efficient and better functioning electricity system is surely within grasp if a few big-picture issues are addressed. It is here though that the government’s failing has become apparent.

Why was dealing with systemic issues on the recovery side delayed until the onset of summer? Would it not have made more sense to iron out the problems when the load on the system was less intense, so that by now some of the benefits of higher billing recoveries could have translated into greater electricity output? But consider the priorities of the political class itself, with the opposition leader in the National Assembly Khursheed Shah pouncing on Minister of State Abid Sher Ali’s reference to politicians as power thieves. Or, indeed, Mr Ali’s ability to find power thieves everywhere but in Punjab. Once again, politicians are playing politics with the electricity sector — while the consumer suffers.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Sindh’s child marriage law[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]THE Sindh Assembly deserves praise for being the first legislature in the country to have passed a bill prohibiting child marriage. The provincial assembly unanimously passed the Sindh Child Marriage Restraint Bill, 2013, on Monday, which makes it illegal for anyone under 18 to contract marriage, while also penalising parents and others who facilitate child marriage. It is a brave step to pass such a bill, especially in an atmosphere clouded by obscurantism.

It sends a strong message against the deplorable ‘custom’ of child marriage while also reiterating the elected representatives’ right to frame laws, as opposed to unelected bodies such as the Council of Islamic Ideology. It should be recalled that it was the CII which had earlier this year said that laws prohibiting underage marriage were ‘un-Islamic’. The new Sindh law replaces a colonial-era legislation dating back to 1929, and declares child marriage a cognisable, non-bailable offence, punishable with rigorous imprisonment.

However, simply passing a law is just the first step; the only way society’s ills will be addressed and done away with is if these laws are enforced through a proper mechanism. For example, various progressive laws against crimes such as honour killing, sexual harassment and domestic violence have been passed at various levels over the past few years. Yet these crimes continue unabated largely due to lax enforcement. And when regressive customs such as child marriage are so deep-rooted in society, it will take considerable time and effort from both the state and communities to eradicate them.

Lawmakers in the Sindh Assembly rightly pointed out the need to create awareness about the child marriage law. Efforts through the media and at the grass roots need to be made to educate people about the psychological and physical harm child marriages can cause, especially to young girls. Public representatives can play a crucial role in communicating this message to their constituents. And while a complaint can be filed with a judicial magistrate in case the law is broken, perhaps a body can be set up where violations of the law can be reported. Other provinces would do well to follow Sindh’s example.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]‘Sinful’ traffic violations[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]MOST countries struggle to get drivers to follow the law. Rarely, though, has anyone had the sort of idea dreamt up by Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti, who struck upon a potential solution back in 2010.

Back then, he had issued an edict saying that anyone who caused the death of another person because of a traffic violation was guilty of involuntary manslaughter. More recently, on Tuesday, he issued a fatwa against drivers who jump red lights, terming such a transgression as ‘haram’. In other words, in that conservative kingdom, a driver who jumps a red light risks not just action against him by the law, but his very standing in the eyes of his Maker.

There is no denying, though, that the problem is a serious one: Saudi Arabia has one of the highest rates of car accidents in the world, with an average of 17 fatalities a day. According to a 2010 report, almost a third of traffic accidents in Riyadh occurred because drivers failed to follow traffic signals.

But for much of the rest of the world, regular, man-made traffic rules do seem to achieve the desired results, i.e. road safety, especially where these are strictly enforced. Unfortunately, Pakistan does not count amongst these states, and the outside observer would be forgiven for thinking that only divine intervention could sort out our traffic problems. Jumping red lights is but one of the multitude of violations that occur constantly on our roads. From reckless driving to not following one-ways to illegal stops and turns — all these violations are committed under the very noses of our traffic police.

The latter might take some of the offenders to task but will invariably let off the influential among them. Clearly, greater checks by the traffic police on wayward drivers, and penalising, without fear or favour, those who violate traffic rules and endanger lives will have a more, immediate, deterring effect than any fatwa warning of divine wrath in the Hereafter.[/LEFT]

02/05/2014
[CENTER][SIZE="3"][B]Army chief`s speech[/B][/SIZE][/CENTER]
THE Martyrs` Day speech by army chief Gen Raheel Sharif had extra significance this year for two reasons: one, the recent civil-military tensions; and two, the recent military-media tensions. As is the army`s way, Gen Raheel addressed both those issues in an elliptical manner. On democracy and adherence to the Constitution, the army chief said that both were necessary if Pakistan is to join the club of developed nations in effect, dismissing over-thetop and breathless rumours of an imminent disruption to the democratic system. On the other issue, the army chief praised both the historical contributions of the media and underlined the need for a free and responsible one in effect, instantly lowering the temperature in the ongoing media wars. While surely a single speech cannot erase the words and deeds to the contrary in the recent past, at least a marker has been laid down directly by the army chief himself about where he stands on democracy and afree media.

Yet, there was another issue that the speech was always going to touch upon: the army`s position on talks with the outlawed TTP. Without directly naming the TTP, Gen Raheel staked out two positions. The first was the familiar refrain of the army being willing and able to do whatever it takes to secure peace and thwart internal threats to the country. The second position was reading between lines support for dialogue only so far as the end result is the TTP acknowledging the state`s writ, the supremacy of the Constitution and the need to return to the national mainstream (which presumably means renouncing violence). This bare minimum is a sensible one and it is a sad commentary on the state of affairs that the army chief, instead of the political government, had to stake out the common sense position on internal security. What Gen Raheel said amounts to the TTP being warned that it either end its insurgency or face a militaryresponse a warning that really should have come directly from the government with the military in lockstep.

Yet, much as the army`s willingness to go after TTP elements that have savagely and methodically attacked the security apparatus, state and society is desirable and ought to be welcomed, it is necessary to maintain some perspective too. If it were not for the craven and supine attitude of the PML-N government in dealing with the TTP threat, the army`s own prioritisation approach whereby it has not jettisoned the very idea of non-state actions, but merely focused on tamping down the anti-Pakistan elements in the militancy spectrum would hardly be considered a sustainable and long-term solution to the militancy threat. Yet, possibly anything could be better than this government`s approach to bringing peace internally. Gen Raheel`s formulation made sense but will the government heed the advice?

[CENTER][B][SIZE="3"]Indian arms for Kabul[/SIZE][/B][/CENTER]
ALL eyes are now on Afghanistan where the scene is set for a run-off vote between the two main presidential contenders, one of whom is expected to oversee the withdrawal of American troops later this year. At issue is the next Afghan government`s ability to give peace to an ethnically divided country that has been pauperised by more than three decades of conflict. The latter, unfortunately, is a long way from resolution: the reconciliation process with the Afghan Taliban has stalled not only because of the elections, but more crucially because the key players comprising the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan, the US and Afghanistan have been unable to trust each other. In this unfriendly regional setting, the reported arms agreement between India and Russia is being viewed with misgivings. Initially, reports said, New Delhi would `source` Russia for the supply of smaller weapons such as light artillery, but eventually this flow of arms paid for by India would include heavy artillery, tanks and helicopters. From India`s point of view, such a deal would consolidate the influence New Delhi has already built upin post-Taliban Afghanistan. But in regional terms, it will not help the cause of peace especially with Islamabad looking upon it as a ploy to weaken its own influence over Kabul. While Islamabad`s differences with Kabul remain, the fact that Pakistan is key to the reconciliation process cannot be wished away, and other countries would do well to realise this point. Hence it would be disastrous if regional states and outside powers were to adopt policies that could once again make Afghanistan an arena for proxy wars.

With the troops` exit drawing closer, a constructive dialogue on peace has become urgent. Islamabad has to convince Kabul that its involvement in the peace process will be restricted to supporting efforts that have the consensus of the Afghan people, while Kabul must reciprocate by assuring its neighbour that Afghan territory will not be used for launching attacks inside Pakistan. With all players required to tread carefully, any suspect move, such as that by Russia and India, can extinguish hopes of reconciliation. This must be avoided at all cost if Afghanistan is to see a democratic, peaceful future.

[CENTER][B][SIZE="3"]KP`s education push[/SIZE][/B][/CENTER]
AS the aphorism goes, the more things change, the more they stay the same. This seems to be the case in Pakistan, particularly when the issue is one of interventions that would improve the lot of the common man. Consider, for example, that the KP government led by the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has in recent days initiated a push on education. This is a worthy initiative indeed, for there is no doubt that whatever the range of problems faced by the country in general and the province in particular, matters can only improve once levels of education start climbing. So far, regardless of the fact that we have signed pledges to provide free education to all, besides making this a constitutional right, enrolling every child in school remains a distant dream. So there is every reason to appreciate that the KP government has made this goal a priority.

And yet, what casts doubt over the eventualeffectiveness of thisinitiative is the fact that, not too long ago, the mediawas full of advertisements by the KP government about its determination to curb the spread of polio and to ensure the immunisation of every child under its Sehat ka Insaf programme. Where is that now? Has the goal been achieved, and is the provincial government satisfied enough on the issue of children`s health? Quite obviously, there is some way to go before immunisation is ensured for all children; headlines around the world continue to identify Pakistan, and KP in particular, as the world`s most dangerous polio flashpoint, where the lists of polio cases grow longer every day. The fact is that too often in Pakistan, issues such as polio, or education, or development all of which make a substantive difference to the lives of the people are taken by those in power as good opportunities to curry political favour, with barely any real work done to back it up. Until this attitude changes, concrete progress will remain non-existent.

[B]03-05-2014[/B]

[B][CENTER]Where will the workers go?[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]AS the country went through the motions of celebrating May Day on Thursday, representatives of labour groups across the country had a very different and painful story to tell.

Unemployment, under-employment, job insecurity, denial of workers’ rights, a state indifferent to the working class — the list of woes is long and seemingly intractable. Yet, as labour representatives have argued, the trouble for employees of public-sector enterprises may only just be beginning with the PML-N’s determination to push ahead aggressively with its privatisation plans.

Any debate about privatisation breaks down along predictable lines: one side argues that the state should not be in the business of business; the other side argues that only the state can run businesses efficiently and it also has an obligation to provide employment to the citizenry.

Yet, it is how those respective ideological positions are translated into action that is more problematic. In allegedly getting the government out of the business of business, the PML-N appears to put the rights of wealthy investors ahead of the infinitely less well-off middle- and working-class employees. As for the PPP, it appears to treat public-sector enterprises as little more than a means of disbursing patronage through granting employment to political supporters.

So now that a PML-N government has followed a PPP one, the PML-N can argue that it is the PPP’s poor policies that have left it with little choice but to sell off public-sector enterprises. Lost in all of this is the balance between the need to have a healthy job-creating economy and looking after the vulnerable sections of society.

What makes the PML-N’s line on privatisation difficult to accept is the focus on efficiency and best practices — but not across government, just when it comes to particular businesses that it wants to sell off. For example, a bitter bureaucratic war over the country’s largest social protection scheme, the Benazir Income Support Programme, has been allowed to play out without much concern for its impact on the running of the programme itself.

Or while so focused on privatisation, the government appears to have little interest in creating a reasonable regulatory environment, paving the way for monopolies and oligopolies that hurt the public interest. True, entities like the Steel Mills and PIA have too many employees and the workforce will eventually need to be rationalised.

But how much money do the vast majority of those employees really cost the state and how do those sums stack up against the extraordinary waste, corruption and leakages elsewhere in government? Would not the withdrawal of just a handful of tax SROs that favour wealthy and politically connected special interests more than compensate for this great loss the state suffers from? But those are issues the PML-N would rather not talk about.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Strike politics[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]ON late Thursday afternoon, the people of Karachi witnessed an unfortunate series of events they are all too familiar with. Soon after the MQM gave the call for a ‘day of mourning’ for Friday to protest what it says are the extrajudicial killings of its workers, the Sindh capital went into lockdown mode, with markets and fuel stations rapidly shutting down and transport disappearing from the streets.

The fear factor was palpable as people are well aware that violence can and usually does follow calls for such shutdowns — following the party’s announcement, at least two people were shot dead by unknown gunmen in the metropolis while a bus was set ablaze. It was only after the funeral of two Muttahida activists on Friday afternoon that Karachi started limping back to normalcy, after staying shut for almost 24 hours.

It is regrettable that the MQM, which joined the Sindh government last month, would choose to protest in such a manner, when it knows full well that strike or mourning calls can paralyse normal life in Karachi and in other urban centres of Sindh as well.

The Muttahida — and every other party — has a democratic right to protest, especially if it feels it is being victimised by the state. The party claims the four slain workers, whose identification triggered Thursday’s events, were arrested last month, while it has on numerous occasions stated that its supporters are being picked up and murdered ever since last year’s operation began in Karachi.

While the need to address crime and militancy in the metropolis is self-evident, all state actions must be within the limits of the law, and under no circumstances can extrajudicial killings be tolerated in the name of restoring order.

The administration needs to investigate the Muttahida’s claims and bring anyone involved in extra-legal actions to book. Having said that, political parties must adopt alternative methods of registering their protest, such as staging marches or rallies. Strike and mourning calls fill Karachi with dread, mainly because the possibility of violence is never far off during such protests. Also, the battering the economy takes — with daily losses in the billions — is too much to bear, especially for those who have to earn their bread on a daily basis.[/LEFT]

[B][CENTER]Mr Bush makes world leaders[/CENTER][/B]

[LEFT]IT is a habit hard to suppress, it seems. Former American president George W. Bush has moved from painting his pets and other subjects in his vicinity to creating world leaders he had an opportunity to observe during his time in the White House.

He thus joins an illustrious group. Winston Churchill, Dwight Eisenhower, Jimmy Carter, Adolf Hitler and in recent years Vladimir Putin have all been drawn by the charms of art to create visuals on canvas. None of these gentlemen could quite rise to the heights of critical acclaim but most of them have been intent on painting, showing the way to other leaders who can spare themselves — and in many cases the people they have ruled over — for pursuits away from the art of the possible. Their works have certainly been raising some money, though mostly for charity.

And they have been raising eyebrows, and eliciting inevitable remarks about what it would have been like had these amateur painters decided to focus their full attention on producing art pieces. We know that from among the lot Hitler did try to gain admission to an art school. Interestingly, he was averse to painting people and his preservation effort was limited to depicting buildings etc.

But George W. Bush has no such inhibitions. He has a bagful of recognisable faces — from Gen Pervez Musharraf to the Dalai Lama to Manmohan Singh with his customary smile and a stone-faced Vladimir Putin as mementos from his days as president and he has no problem flashing these proudly.

His portraits of world leaders, on exhibition for a month from Friday in Dallas, Texas, have led to some grimacing but they do vindicate their maker in a big way: he had most certainly been watching them more intently than the world had given him credit for.

There would be moments when the accusations of American ignorance and indifference would be justified, but surely not during Mr Bush’s tenure. His paintings are evidence the man was deeply into his subjects.[/LEFT]