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[B][U]Global swine flu infections pass 90,000: WHO [Dawn News] 06 Jul, 2009[/U][/B]
GENEVA: Swine flu has infected 94,512 people worldwide and been blamed for 429 deaths since it was first detected in April, the World Health Organisation said Monday. The A(H1N1) virus has now spread to 136 countries and territories, the WHO said in its latest update, which shows 4,591 new cases and 47 more deaths since the last numbers released on Friday. Argentina reported 34 more deaths — the largest increase among all countries — bringing its death toll to 60. The Argentine government has come under fire for what critics call a slow response to the virus’s spread. It now has the third-highest death toll, behind the United States with 170 and Mexico at 119. Some affected countries no longer keep track of all cases according to the UN health agency, while others do not report for each of the thrice-weekly bulletins. Australia is the worst-affected country in the Asia-Pacific region with 5,298 cases, followed by Thailand, on 2,076, where the number has gone up by 662 cases since the last report. Britain remains the worst hit in Europe with 7,447 cases. — AFP |
[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]SC and taxation[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]
[B]Wednesday, 08 Jul, 2009[/B] THE taxes imposed on petroleum products in Pakistan are unjust and unfair, and in these columns we have roundly criticised the federal government for putting the squeeze on the poor in these already difficult times. But is the carbon surcharge/tax proposed by the federal government and unanimously approved by the National Assembly as part of the Finance Act, 2009 after 10 days of debate unwarranted? Prima facie a bench of the Supreme Court of Pakistan led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry appears to think so, for it has directed the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority to issue a notification suspending the imposition of the carbon surcharge on petroleum products. It is important to understand the events leading up to the Supreme Court’s direction. Days after being restored as the chief justice in March, Chief Justice Chaudhry began to look into the government’s controversial policy of imposing a petroleum development levy to harvest money for the federal kitty. That investigation led the Supreme Court to direct the federal government to reduce the prices of petroleum products to ‘reasonable’ levels in May, as a result of which the government reduced prices by a token amount. Perhaps worried that the legal cover for the petroleum development levy was not strong enough to withstand the Supreme Court’s apparent dislike for it, the government sought to address the matter by legally imposing a new tax — a carbon surcharge on petrol, diesel and kerosene of between Rs6 to Rs10. The surcharge, and this is critical from a legal point of view, has been approved by the National Assembly. Following the unanimous vote approving the Finance Bill, 2009, Sheikh Aftab Ahmed, chief whip of the PML-N, and Riaz Hussain Pirzada, chief whip of the PML-Q, spoke appreciatively of the government’s handling of the budget process and extended their parties’ support for the budget. So, in a very direct way, the Supreme Court has taken on both the executive and parliament and overruled them on a matter of taxation. This is dangerous ground and goes to the heart of the separation of powers and the concept of checks and balances. Stripped to the basics, policymaking is the executive’s domain, legislation is parliament’s and determining legality is the judiciary’s. In the present case, the arguments made before the court for reducing the price of petroleum products appear to have been largely normative — the poor will suffer, the productive sector will be hit, etc — and not technical/legalistic. While the former are worthy of sympathy and must rightly be supported, the judiciary is not the forum in which they ought to be resolved. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][SIZE="5"][COLOR="darkgreen"][FONT="Georgia"]PML-Q breaking up?[/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Wednesday, 08 Jul, 2009[/B] WHERE the PML-Q is concerned, news of the impending demise of the party as we know it is less a case of being greatly exaggerated and more a belated statement of fact. It’s been a while since a majority of those who won the 2008 election on Q-League tickets ditched the Chaudhries of Gujrat and tried to sidle up to the PML-N at the centre and specially Punjab. The ‘party’ has long since been rendered meaningless by ‘forward blocs’ that dwarf the original cadre which was, first and foremost, loyal to Gen Musharraf. The PML-Q was in fact just another version of that peculiar animal in Pakistani politics — the civilian arm of a military dictatorship erected to add a veneer of legitimacy to the patently illegal. As his ‘partners’ in governance, Gen Musharraf chose the duo from Gujrat, Chaudhry Shujaat and Pervaiz Elahi, and while the going was good all three enjoyed their moment — actually multiple years approaching a decade — in the sun. Effectively, President Musharraf ruled the country, making all the big national security, economic and political decisions. As his apparent lackeys, Mr Shujaat and Mr Elahi enjoyed the trappings of power, their role as arbiters of the political careers of countless mid-level politicians and even the privilege of high office — Mr Shujaat made his way into the prime minister’s office, albeit briefly, while Mr Elahi lorded it over Punjab for a full term. But all good things must come to an end and after the unceremonious exit of Gen Musharraf it was only a matter of time before the page was turned on the unsavoury chapter of yet another King’s Party. It couldn’t have been any other way — after all, the party has actively criticised the post-February 2008 governments in Islamabad and Lahore for many of the same policies pursued by it on the Musharraf-Shujaat-Elahi watch. Even by the lowest standards of Pakistani politics, it has been a stomach-churning U-turn. Many will celebrate the demise of the PML-Q. But as a people we should only mourn the lost years of another destructive exercise in ‘democracy’. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]US-Russia accord[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Wednesday, 08 Jul, 2009[/B] MONDAY’S agreement between America and Russia allowing American over-flights to Afghanistan is one of the eight accords signed between the two countries and marks a breakthrough in relations between the former Cold War adversaries. From America’s point of view, the 4,500 annual flights should serve to partly offset the uncertainty of supply routes through Pakistan, because convoys have often been attacked by the Taliban. Washington now needs stepped-up supplies of war material because of the ‘surge’ in American troop levels and the likely expansion of the military operations by US and Nato-led Isaf forces. Supplies through Russia should take some pressure off Pakistan in terms of fuel supply and other material for the coalition forces. However, Islamabad’s role in the war on terror will continue to remain crucial because of the dual nature of Pakistans responsibilities: it has to crush insurgency within its borders as well as coordinate with forces across the Durand Line to stop the Taliban’s two-way movement. The eight agreements, including one on the nuclear arms cut, show President Barack Obama’s keenness to break new ground in relations with Moscow and remove what a Russian foreign ministry spokesman called the “toxic waste of the past” — a reference to the Bush era, when relations between the two powers were almost as strained as those during the Cold War. Treated by the Bush administration in a way that hurt its national pride, Moscow now wants with Washington a relationship based on mutual respect and equality. The series of agreements, especially the accord on the sensitive nuclear issue, should serve to remove mistrust between the two countries, reflecting as they do President Obama’s continued search for a new image for his country — an image that will be in sharp contrast to the jingoism that characterised the policies of the Bush era. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Press Labour defenders trip over own feet[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Wednesday, 08 Jul, 2009[/B] ONLY a few days after The Times strongly criticised the government for a string of shortcomings … it turned its attention to the Labour Party and hit out at it over the impression it repeatedly gave in the European Parliament election campaign that it had a solution to the problem of … water and electricity tariffs. It followed the argument by holding it was time to call Labour’s bluff over this, naturally expecting Labour to spell out its solution. This stand scandalised l-orizzont, the pro-Labour daily … and some columnists …. [B][I]Times of Malta[/I][/B] ...Speaking at a meeting with Labour MEPs, Dr Muscat was reported saying that, in the national interest, the party was prepared to work to bring about a leap in the quality of life for Maltese and Gozitan families. They were prepared to extend their hand, beyond … political confines, and work for the good of the country. The aim was not just to win … votes…. They were, in fact, prepared to offer solutions…. If Dr Muscat means what he says, then this is exactly what all the uncommitted voters had been expecting to see happening in the country: an opposition that does not stand on the sidelines all the time but is also prepared to contribute to improvement in the life of the people…. Yes, it is the opposition’s duty to keep the government on its toes all the time through its criticism but its credibility is primarily built on its ability to propose sound alternative solutions to problems, not on meaningless sound bites or obstructionist postures. In other words, it has to be seen as an alternative government all the time not … when elections approach…. — (July 7) |
[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Jihad and the state[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]
[B]Thursday, 09 Jul, 2009[/B] TWICE this week President Zardari has spoken about the root of Pakistan’s problems with religious extremism and militancy. In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, the president said that the military’s erstwhile “strategic assets” were the ones against whom military operations were now required. And in a meeting with retired senior bureaucrats in Islamabad on Tuesday, Mr Zardari was reported in this paper to have said that “militants and extremists had been deliberately created and nurtured as a policy to achieve some short-term tactical objectives”. The president is right, and we would add the policy was wrong then and it is wrong now. It cannot be any other way. How is it possible to rationally explain to the people of Pakistan that the heroes of yesteryear are the arch-enemies of today? The militants’ religious justifications remain the same; what’s changed is that the militants were fighting the state’s ‘enemies’ yesterday but have turned their guns on the state and its allies today. Perhaps more than anything else impeding the defeat of the militants today is the inability of the security establishment to revisit the strategic choices it made in the past and hold up its hand and admit candidly that grave mistakes were made. Should we have ever used jihadi proxies to fight the Russians in Afghanistan? Should we have ever supported the idea of armed jihad in Kashmir? Should we have ever sought to retain our influence in Afghanistan through the Taliban? If any of those choices ever made sense, then we should have no complaints about the rise of Talibanisation in Pakistan because we created the climate and opportunity for them to run amok. Blaming the US’s invasion of Afghanistan is no good — the first and foremost responsibility of the state is to ensure the security of Pakistan, and allowing an internal threat to create a space for itself is anathema to that idea. Whatever the catalyst, the fact remains that it was because a jihadi network was allowed to flourish inside the country that we were left exposed to its eventual wrath against us. The fault is of course not ours alone. The US, obsessed with the Soviet enemy, happily colluded in the creation of Muslim warriors. Our Middle Eastern and Gulf allies were happy to create a Sunni army to counter the ‘threat’ from post-revolution Shia Iran. But, at the end of the day, it was Pakistani soil on which they were primarily nurtured. Because they were raised in our midst we should have always been wary of the extreme blowback we are now confronted with. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Trouble in Xinjiang[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Thursday, 09 Jul, 2009[/B] THIS week’s ethnic violence in China’s Xinjiang region — the worst case of political disturbance in that country since Tiananmen Square in 1989 — has come as a serious jolt to the People’s Republic. At a time when it has been trying to effect a smooth political and economic transition to a controlled democracy with a semi-market economy, internal instability is the last thing Beijing would want on its agenda. Hence its concern when the street protests staged by the Uighurs in Urumqi turned ugly and more than 150 people, most of them apparently Han Chinese, were killed, followed by rioting by the latter and a crackdown by the authorities. This was not an iso- lated incident of Turkic Muslim Uighurs clashing with the Han Chinese. Last month the two communities had been locked in violence in Shaoguan over a rumour of ethnic assault. Hence the allegations by the authorities that the riots were instigated by Uighur separatists abroad might appear a bit far-fetched, though one cannot deny that the community enjoys the support of its compatriots scattered all over the world. Ethnic tensions between the Uighurs and the Han Chinese predates the founding of the People’s Republic. Although in 1955 Beijing attempted to pacify the Uighurs by making Xinjiang an autonomous region it didn’t help much because real political power was exercised by the Communist Party that was controlled by the Han Chinese. Moreover internal migration later changed the ethnic ratio and the Uighurs no longer constitute a majority in Xinjiang. Far more disturbing for them is the fact that the Han Chinese who have moved to Urumqi and other cities are better educated and fluent in Mandarin that gives them an advantage in the race for jobs. This has left the Uighurs disgruntled. Some separatist voices have been raised by elements seeking to exploit the situation for political gains. More explosive could be the religious issue, especially complaints by Uighurs that restrictions have been exercised by the Chinese government on their practice of Islamic rites.Given the rise of Islamic militancy in the region, one can understand Beijing’s fears. But it would do well to investigate the matter before reaching a hasty conclusion. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Plight of the disabled[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Thursday, 09 Jul, 2009[/B] IN a country where employment and economic opportunities are a struggle for most people, the plight of disabled people is often neglected. These citizens face discrimination from society at large, where the lack education combined with low levels of awareness about disabilities leads to the handicapped being viewed with anything from derision to fear. Meanwhile, the support offered by the state and its institutions is minimal. Consider that the chief justice of the Lahore High Court recently took suo motu notice of the fact that disabled people were not being appointed to posts in federal and provincial government departments, although a two per cent job quota had been fixed from them. Subsequently, the deputy attorney general informed the court that 800 vacancies in various departments would be filled “soon” against the quota for the disabled, while just over 1,300 people had already been appointed. Meanwhile, the Punjab Social Welfare director stated that committees had been formed for the recruitment of disabled people in 31 districts of the province, and that such committees would soon be formed in the remaining districts. While this is a step in the right direction, it must be asked whether the federal and provincial governments would have acted similarly if they had not been answerable to the courts. Moreover, merely appointing disabled persons to jobs that are their right under the quota is insufficient. Greater efforts are needed to include the disabled in the mainstream in terms of education and vocational training opportunities. This must be underwritten by a move to change societal attitudes and spread awareness about the capacity of the disabled to participate within the mainstream. Earlier efforts have resulted in the country’s active participation in sporting events for the disabled, such as the Special Olympics and cricket for the blind. Such participation much be widened beyond the arena of sport. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press Task of rebuilding[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Thursday, 09 Jul, 2009[/B] WHEN President Rajapaksa … declared victory over the Tamil Tigers in May, he had announced that the war was not against Tamils in the country but against terrorists, and that everyone in Sri Lanka would now have equal rights. It was a war in which he had received widespread support both at home and abroad, since the LTTE was branded as a terrorist organisation by most countries. But more than six weeks after the Tigers defeat, scepticism is running high among the country’s Tamils. The reason: Rajapaksa has done little to convince the country’s three million Tamils — and also the 74 million-strong diaspora — of the sincerity of his intentions. The government still has not allowed the UN staff and aid workers unfettered access to the 300,000 ethnic Tamil refugees in army-run internment camps and the government has not announced any rehabilitation package for the Tamil refugees. Reports paint a grim picture of the plight of refugees in camps — of misery, diseases and an utter sense of desperation and hopelessness. There are also reports that the authorities are building permanent camps to house many of the 300,000 refugees…. The government says that it has set … Aug 8 for elections to representative bodies in the Vavuniya and Jaffna areas, as part of a broader plan to democratise the Tigers’ former territory. The elections will be meaningless if nothing is done to improve the lives…. This is not to say that the Sri Lankan government is oblivious of the plight of Tamils in the country and that it has no plans to rehabilitate them. But the government is losing precious time to win the confidence of Tamils and assure them of its sincerity. One of the root causes of Tamil insurgency was the sense of alienation among the Tamil community and the feeling that their future would be secure only in their own hands. However erroneous this feeling could be [for] the government, the onus is now on the Rajapaksa administration to make sure that the Tamil community feels secure and confident in the post-war period…. — (July 4) |
[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]PDL ordinance[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]
[B]Friday, 10 Jul, 2009[/B] HOURS before the Supreme Court was set to examine the carbon tax on petroleum products that it had suspended earlier this week, President Zardari found a novel way to bypass the court’s inquiry — he issued an ordinance re-imposing the controversial petroleum development levy on kerosene, diesel and petrol, effectively nullifying the need for the suspended carbon tax. Petroleum prices are back to their July 1 levels and Attorney General Latif Khosa told the Supreme Court bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry that his government was ‘withdrawing’ the carbon tax, rendering the court’s inquiry redundant. The government may feel relieved that it has averted the Supreme Court’s censure for now and that its bid to raise an additional Rs120bn from taxes on petroleum products is still in place, but its conduct has been egregious. Whatever misgivings the government may have had about the Supreme Court intruding on the government’s policymaking and parliament’s legislating turf, a middle-of-the-night ordinance was not the right move. Firstly, it was the National Assembly that approved the carbon tax as part of the Finance Act, 2009 and it was incumbent on the government to at least defend in court the tax that it had itself proposed. Flip-flopping on legislative and taxation matters sends a signal that the government is not serious about the business of governance. If the carbon tax was a ‘mistake’ then what does that say about the process by which it was imposed? And if the government needed to keep its budget projections on track — always an important issue and doubly so when the IMF is involved — then why act with such indecent haste? Which brings us to the second point: presidential ordinances are an undesirable way to legislate. The PPP has criticised governments in the past for resorting to ordinances and with good reason — legislation is most appropriately handled by parliament. Making laws is one of parliament’s primary duties, and if the government deemed it necessary to revisit the issue of taxation of petroleum products, there is no better forum than parliament in which to do it. It is not enough to simply keep repeating the mantra of democracy; the government must also demonstrate by its actions that it respects the respective domains of state institutions. Finally, a word about what lies at the heart of the skirmish between the Supreme Court and the government over the pricing of petroleum products: the unjust and unfair tax regime in the country. The poor are overburdened while the rich keep themselves out of the tax net. Legalities aside, this is a policy that must change. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Harming democracy[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Friday, 10 Jul, 2009[/B] PUTTING off matters indefinitely has become almost the norm where the federal government is concerned. This is not a useful strategy, especially in the case of urgent issues. Though local government elections may not come under the latter category, Wednesday’s decision of delaying them gives the impression that our rulers are seeking temporary relief for a task that is bound to add to their future workload. Also, a gaping hole is left in the working of the system at the most basic level of governance. The decision to postpone local bodies’ elections was announced by Prime Minister Gilani after a meeting with representatives of the four provincial governments. The local governments will be sent packing on Aug 14 when their term expires. They will be replaced with non-elected, bureaucrat administrators of the provincial governments’ choosing. The decision is premised on bad law and order, but there appears to be more to it than meets the eye. Considering our circumstances, no elections should have been possible in the country. But we had a peaceful general election last year in a similar situation. If law and order is such an obstacle to elections, countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan should not even think of holding them. Perhaps the real reason for delaying the polls lies in the disagreement between the federal and provincial governments over whether or not to have local governments at all. They are also divided on how to go about devolving power at the local level if this is a necessity, and on what kind of powers should be devolved. Add to these, the reservations that the PPP and the PML-N have about the political utility of local governments, and the reasons behind the official decision become even clearer. However, delaying elections is hardly the answer to their concerns and fears. Bringing local affairs, such as building roads, laying sewerage lines, providing tap water etc. under bureaucratic control is, in fact, a big step backwards as far as empowering the people at the grass-roots is concerned. Elections are a must if we are to see greater democracy at this basic level of governance. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Towards the abyss?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Friday, 10 Jul, 2009[/B] THE report by the Sindh Chapter of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan on politically motivated murders in Karachi should worry every citizen, for it constitutes an indictment of the country’s politicians and gives a fair indication of the kind of violence-prone society we have become. In fact, going by the statistics, there is a menacing rise in the level of political violence. According to the HRCP report, the 100 fatalities during the first six months of this year are up from 74 deaths during the corresponding period last year. The 17-year vendetta between Muttahida and Haqiqi has re-emerged with greater ferocity and accounts for 66 of the 100 deaths. While this should surprise no one, given the two groups’ track record and the bitter differences over extortion rackets typical of the underworld, a number of other political parties, too, were involved in murders, kidnappings and ‘executions’. Contrary to what may appear, all murders do not necessarily have political overtones. In many cases, criminal elements, especially those belonging to Karachi’s powerful land mafia, use political patronage as a cover to advance their vested interests and kill rivals. Nevertheless, this cannot absolve the political top brass of its responsibility, for it would be failing in its duty if it did not take up the issue with the seriousness it deserves and stopped what appears to be an unchecked slide into the abyss. To begin with, the least the top political leaderships can do is to stop shootouts among their student followers. The campuses are places where one acquires not only knowledge but also character and values that go into the making of a law-abiding citizen. Instead, it is not uncommon to find our campuses turning into battlefields. The teaching community is of little help because it, too, is often divided along political lines. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES: Pushto Press[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Friday, 10 Jul, 2009[/B] [B][I]Drone attacks (Daily Khabroona, Peshawar)[/I][/B] JUST recently the United States fired two missiles from drones in South Waziristan killing 13 people and injuring several others. The attack targeted the camp of Mufti Noor Wali, a close ally of Baitullah Mehsud, in Saroki. It is common knowledge that Pakistan’s territory has been under drone attacks for the last few years and the rulers pay no heed to this. This is evident by the fact that the US says that they launch these attacks from within Pakistan. It is regretful that the rulers incessantly talk about the integrity and sovereignty of the country when it is pretty clear that they do not mean it. Under such circumstances the people of the country should rise and stand united against those who are responsible for the foreign attacks on our nation. The government should honour the mandate of the people by telling the US in clear terms to stop infringing on the sovereignty of Pakistan and violating its geographical borders. Otherwise the US will suffer even more in this region than it did in Vietnam. This is an important fact to be kept in mind. — (July 4) [B][I]Hijab — the martyr (Daily Shahdat, Peshawar)[/I][/B] SOME Muslims cannot comprehend the fact that the ‘war on terror’ is in fact an onslaught on Islamic principles and traditions. Afghan Muslims are not the only ones being killed; Muslims living in the West also pass through this agony in the name of human rights and democracy. Loudly trumpeting the emancipation of women, western rulers say that it is a woman’s right to choose how to dress and that those who object to it should be punished. But the so-called champions of human rights do not let Muslims living in the West dress in accordance with their faith. The West has declared a war against the hijab and Muslim women are not allowed to cover their heads while attending universities or working in offices. And now this war has turned bloody: a 33-year-old Muslim woman was killed this month in Dresden, Germany, for wearing the hijab…. Police reached the spot when she was dead with her four-year-old son screaming and her husband critically injured. One wishes that this incident will awaken the conscience of those Muslims who have been intoxicated by wealth and power. — (July 8) |
[SIZE="3"]Investing in women[COLOR="Indigo"][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Saturday, 11 Jul, 2009[/B] WORLD Population Day today comes as a reminder to the international community that humankind is at great risk from man-made and natural disasters that can be traced to a rapidly growing global population. The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) now recognises the close link between women’s education and health and demographic issues. Women empowered through education, healthcare and employment invariably show a lower fertility rate. This has a positive impact on a country’s population growth and development. A holistic view must be taken of these interacting factors when seen in the context of demographics. In fact, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has expressed concern that the global economic crisis threatens to reverse the gains made so far in these areas because in times of hardship women are the worst affected in terms of education, health and employment. When budgets — national or household — have to be slashed, spending on women is the first to be cut. Hence Mr Ban’s call for supporting the UNFPA theme for World Population Day and to invest in women and girls. For Pakistan the day comes at a time when the country has much to worry about. First, contrary to the emphasis that UNFPA places on data collection and the relevance of the latter to demographic research, we have not been able to hold the census on schedule. The last headcount took place in 1998. The next was scheduled for last October. It was put off to June 2009 but has now been postponed indefinitely. Secondly, with no accurate statistics available — the demographic and health survey of 2007 only provided tentative data — planning and policymaking in every field of national life is impossible. Thirdly, given the country’s failure to improve the status of women substantially, can we hope to see much improvement in the population sector? Population dynamics affect every sector of national life. The issue of concern is not simply the growth rate and population size, which no doubt are key factors in economic development. Also critical are the age structure, fertility and mortality, spacing of children and migration. With unsatisfactory investment in women’s education and healthcare, especially reproductive health, it is unrealistic to expect any substantial change in the immediate future. The female literacy rate is appallingly low while primary school enrolment shows gender inequity. Maternal mortality is still high, reflecting on the state of healthcare women receive and also the low esteem in which they are held in Pakistani society. It is the women’s issue that has to be addressed if Pakistan’s population crisis is to be defused. *************************************** [COLOR="Indigo"]Long journey home[/COLOR][SIZE="3"][/SIZE] MILITARY operations in Swat and Buner have entered the final phase, officials claim, and a few remaining pockets of Taliban resistance will soon be eliminated. On Wednesday, the federal information minister and the DG ISPR stressed that both districts are now safe enough for displaced persons to return home. All of Pakistan can take heart from this news. But it will naturally be welcomed most by those with the greatest stake in the outcome of the Malakand operation, the IDPs who suffered terribly during the conflict and were ultimately forced to flee. The timetable for their journey home became clearer on Thursday when the prime minister told the media that the official relocation process will begin on July 13. Also on Thursday, the head of the army’s special support group said that the displaced will be taken home in four phases. People living in camps are to be given precedence over those taking shelter in schools while IDPs who are housed with relatives in villages will be third on the list. Finally it will be the turn of all remaining IDPs wherever they might be, including those in the care of NGOs. The government has promised that returning IDPs will receive rations for one month and food suppo[U][/U]rt until December. The DG ISPR, for his part, maintains that most essential services have been restored, the local administration and police are functioning ‘adequately’, and troops will remain on hand to provide security cover. But this is just the beginning of the rehabilitation process and the challenge ahead will be daunting. Considerable infrastructure repair needs to be undertaken. The political administration as well as the local security apparatus must be strengthened to ensure that the writ of the state, once it is restored fully, is not undermined again. Schools and houses have to be rebuilt. Farmers who lost livestock or seed grain during exile and entrepreneurs whose tourism- oriented businesses collapsed under Taliban rule may need grants or soft loans to get back on their feet. Equally importantly, the state’s guard vis-à-vis militants must not drop even momentarily. Only then can the people of Malakand hope to regain any sense of security. ************************************ [COLOR="Navy"][SIZE="3"]Sarkozy’s warning[/SIZE][/COLOR] FRENCH President Nicolas Sarkozy is not wide of the mark when he says that an Israeli attack on Iran will be “an absolute catastrophe”. His statement at the G8 summit at L’Aquila, Italy, comes within days of American Vice-President Joe Biden’s remark in a television interview that his country could do nothing if Israel chose to attack Iran. In an interview with ABC News, Mr Biden said Washington could not “dictate to another sovereign nation” and that it was for Tel Aviv to decide what was in its interest. ‘Dictating’ to another country is, of course, against the basic principles of interaction among sovereign nations. But the sole superpower cannot take refuge behind this principle to shirk its responsibility and avoid action where a serious breach of international law is feared and where a recalcitrant state’s or group’s behaviour poses a threat to world peace. The G8 summit called upon Tehran to negotiate, but thanks to Russia the conference decided not to slap further sanctions on Iran. The summiteers thus showed maturity when they gave Tehran until September to negotiate, and refused to impose another layer of sanctions on Iran. Mr Biden’s statement runs counter to the spirit of moderation shown by the G8 summit and to the overtures President Barack Obama has been making to the Muslim world. Mr Obama has also exercised restraint during the West’s Iran-bashing frenzy in the aftermath of the June 12 presidential election, and he has promised a seat for Tehran at the Afghan talks. The American vice-president’s statement, however, is fraught with consequences, for it is tantamount to giving a go-ahead for the attack. The French president perhaps pulled the rug from under Israel’s feet when he said “Israel should know it is not alone and should follow what is going on calmly”. |
[B][SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"]Power sector blues[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B]
[B]Sunday, 12 Jul, 2009[/B] SO decrepit and inefficient is the country’s power sector that fixing all that ails the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity in Pakistan will take many years. But even if the problems are immense and long-term in nature, it does not mean the present federal government should be exonerated for its failures thus far. Start with the power generation side of the problem. The peak difference between supply and demand is approximately 4,000 MW, a gap the governments hopes to close as quickly as possible by bringing new rental and privately owned power plants on line. Past promises of an ‘end’ to power cuts by December 2009 were always treated with scepticism, but even if it will take another few years to achieve that goal, there is a fundamental question that has not yet been answered: desirable as it is to end as quickly as possible the power cuts roiling the country, at what cost to the consumers is the government acting? The numbers suggest that the price of electricity that is to be added to the national grid could be on the high, the very high, side, meaning that consumers could have to pay exorbitant rates for the privilege of using electricity in the future. For now the government has wrangled a concession from the IMF to postpone the elimination of the electricity subsidy until December 2009, but what will happen after that? Consumers may find that from a position of having too little electricity they will find themselves in a situation where electricity is available but too expensive to use. At the distribution end, the government is planning on going down the KESC route once again: privatisation of the eight other distribution companies in Pakistan proper. The Faisalabad Electricity Supply Company is at the top of the privatisation list and could be sold off within the present financial year. But has the government learned from the disastrous experience of the KESC’s privatisation? The government believes it has, arguing that the new process will be transparent, sensible and will ensure that the buyers have clear, enforceable responsibilities and investment strategies. But failing a public inquiry into the KESC fiasco and thorough public debate on the new privatisation policy, electricity consumers will not know, at least until it’s too late, if lessons have in fact been learned. Good governance is about rolling one’s sleeves up and getting down to the nuts and bolts of policymaking and implementation. Unglamorous as it may be, success lies in the mastering of the details of problems. The government has yet to demonstrate it is up to the task. ******************************* [COLOR="DarkRed"][B][SIZE="4"]Israeli intransigence[/SIZE][/B][/COLOR] AN Israeli official let the world know the truth about his country’s intentions when he said on Friday that Tel Aviv would not withdraw from the Golan Heights for the sake of peace with Syria. The statement by Uzi Arad, who is considered one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s closest aides, is among the many Israeli policy moves which have come one after another in a bid to sabotage President Barack Obama’s Middle East peace initiative. It has made known to the world that the Israeli leadership does not believe in the ‘land for peace’ formula. In fact, the reasons given by Mr Arad for Israel’s con- tinued occupation of the Golan are shockingly self-serving. Israel needed the Golan Heights, the Netanyahu aide said, for “strategic, military and settlement reasons … [and for] water, landscape and wine”. Apparently, truth, justice and peace — the principles in which humanity believes and which form the basis of the world’s three major monotheistic faiths — have been ditched to quench Israel’s insatiable thirst for other people’s lands. Golan is not the only issue where Israel has defied Mr Obama. During his last visit to Washington before the American president embarked on his Middle East tour for the epoch-making June 4 speech, Mr Netanyahu displayed an appalling rigidity in his policies and during the joint press conference with the American president made no mention of settlement activity which Mr Obama wanted halted. In his address to the Muslim world Mr Obama again called for a halt to all settlement activity. But, according to press reports, Israel and America have struck a deal under which Tel Aviv will go ahead with the construction of 2,500 more houses for settlers. Israel has already annexed Jerusalem and the Golan Heights in violation of international law and various UN resolutions, and it has decided to continue settlement activity irrespective of what America wants. It is apparent that Israel believes in the law of the jungle. It is sure in the knowledge that the power of the Israel lobby in America is on its side, and what Mr Obama wants is of little consequence. *************************** [B][COLOR="DarkRed"][SIZE="4"]Business of survival?[/SIZE][/COLOR][/B] ILLEGAL though their trade may be, it must be recognised that sex workers often pay with their lives to earn a livelihood. Last week’s efforts to address the health hazards of their occupation may have taken a long time coming, but must be lauded as a significant step. The United Nations Population Fund reportedly set up a three-day training session for sex workers with the collaboration of the National Aids Control Programme to generate sexual health awareness in the community through ‘skill building and implementation of strategies’. Disturbing figures thrown up by surveys in 2007 revealed that an alarming 80 per cent of these workers have either been abused or suffer from disease. The reasons remain age-old: illiteracy, biological constitution, male domination, poor hygienic conditions in red-light localities, negligible health facilities, and most importantly, the absence of a say in safe-sex practices. Undeniably the aspect that makes the exercise all the more timely is the issue of the discordant times, fuelled by conflict and global recession, that we live in. Historically prostitution has risen in times of dislocation and become increasingly rampant in areas plagued by conflict. Women become the worst victims of turmoil and economic hardship, particularly when they are bereft of occupation and resources. It is therefore crucial to sensitise the public and policymakers to monitor STDs and formulate precise strategies to thwart them. The media can strengthen such endeavours through aggressive attempts to create an environment that encourages prevention plans. For example, commercials on television need not be overly discreet to the point of becoming abstract for the layman. Also, relevant departments should focus on the demands — the flesh trade being one of them — of desperate times and tackle not just causes but also groups that are particularly vulnerable in these difficult times and that turn to prostitution for sustenance and shelter. |
[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Chemical poisoning[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]
[B]Monday, 13 Jul, 2009[/B] SO rapid is the rate of degradation that slow poisoning may no longer be an accurate description. As speakers at a workshop pointed out last week, irrational use of chemicals in both rural and urban settings is killing the environment as well as the people of Pakistan. Agriculture is a major culprit, with run-off from farms that rely heavily on chemical fertilisers and pesticides polluting waterways and contaminating groundwater aquifers. Polluted water not only harms human health and biodiversity but also affects agricultural productivity — which, ironically, is what pesticides and other chemicals are meant to boost. Pesticides comprise an overwhelming majority of deadly toxins classified as ‘persistent organic pollutants’, which accumulate in body tissue over time. Despite international restrictions, some of these pesticides are still used in Pakistan and have entered the food chain. Studies have also shown that fruit and vegetables grown with polluted water can contain alarming levels of heavy metals. At times this ‘water’ is obtained by directly tapping into the effluent discharged by factories located on city outskirts. Improper storage of expired pesticides is another cause for serious concern, as is the release of untreated waste into the sea. Industrial air pollution and vehicle emissions are also hurting human, animal and plant life in a country where relevant environmental laws exist on paper but are routinely flouted. Serious physical and psychological ailments are on the rise in large cities with unacceptable levels of air and noise pollution. Irrespective of where it occurs, the poor are always the biggest victims of environmental degradation. Farmers, herders and fisherfolk lose their livelihoods as land and water resources shrink. The urban poor tend to cluster in the most polluted parts of cities and towns, and as a result are exposed to serious health risks on a daily basis. The state healthcare system cannot cater to their needs and poor health in turn affects productivity and life expectancy. Children are deprived of adequate schooling as well as the nourishment they need for future development. Among other socioeconomic measures, environmental laws must be rigorously implemented if this vicious circle of poverty is to be broken. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Need for dialogue[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Monday, 13 Jul, 2009[/B] HOPING for the best can do no harm but the signs aren’t promising. There is considerable anticipation surrounding what could happen on the sidelines of this week’s Non-Aligned Movement summit, where top-level talks are expected between Pakistan and India. It is being hoped, at least in Pakistan, that this interaction in Egypt may help kick-start the composite dialogue process that came to a halt following the Mumbai massacre last year. The Pakistani and Indian foreign secretaries are expected to confer on Tuesday, setting ‘the tone’ for talks the following day between PMs Yousuf Raza Gilani and Manmohan Singh. It could be argued that ‘the tone’ ought to have been set much earlier, not 24 hours before the prime ministers’ tête-à-tête. Things have been left a bit late, it seems, for any breakthrough. India’s position was understandable in the heat of the moment. The Mumbai attacks traumatised the country and it was soon clear that Pakistani militants had orchestrated the massacre. But what has happened since then is a different story. New Delhi exploited global sympathy in a calculated manner to drive Pakistan to the brink of international isolation. Forgotten in all this was the distinction between state- and non-state actors. India’s strategy began unravelling in May this year when the Pakistan military launched a telling operation against the Taliban. Global and local opinion vis-à-vis Pakistan’s hitherto questionable commitment to the fight against militancy began to change. Yet India kept up the offensive. It demanded that the alleged masterminds of the Mumbai assault be brought to book, ignoring the argument that taking a shaky case to court would serve little purpose. The release in early June of Jamaatud Dawa chief Hafiz Mohammad Saeed added more fuel to the fire. Again India overlooked the fact that under the law as it stands the court had no option but to order Mr Saeed’s release. Most recently, an Indian defence ministry report openly accused organs of the Pakistani state, not individuals or organisations, of aiding and abetting terrorism in India. Pakistan, for its part, has admitted that non-state actors operating from its soil were behind the terror unleashed in Mumbai. To overcome the trust deficit, Islamabad also needs to demonstrate that its decision to take on militants is not limited to ‘jihadists’ operating within the country or on the western front — those who seek to destabilise our neighbour to the east must also be neutralised. Sincere cooperation in the battle against militancy and dialogue on outstanding issues can point us to a new and healthier direction. The need to talk has never been greater. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]A sad goodbye[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Monday, 13 Jul, 2009[/B] MIXING food with politics is sure to leave a bad taste in the mouth. The way that ‘food street’ in Lahore’s Gwalmandi area has succumbed to politicking confirms that. A food court overlooked by tastefully painted and well-lit balconies of traditional Lahori houses, the place was the delight of gourmets and a favourite haunt of tourists and other visitors to the city. Now the curtain has fallen on all that. With vehicular traffic allowed through the street during all times of the day, shopkeepers have lost the open space for seating and serving their customers. The lights are out for good it seems. It all started last month with city authorities telling the shopkeepers in the area to pull down their shutters for a few days to facilitate the laying of a sewerage line. Next the officials said the street could no longer remain a restricted area. They said those living in the vicinity were dismayed that their access to nearby roads had been blocked. In fact, a couple of banners hung over the gates of the now desolate street praise local and senior leaders of the PML-N for restoring the people’s right to free passage. Given that the street is part of a thickly populated neighbourhood, this would sound reasonable — if it were true. First, the street is not the only route available to local residents to make their way out of the side lanes. Second, it is surprising that the residents who haven’t complained for nearly a decade should do so now. Perhaps the real reason for the closure lies in how the management of ‘food street’ has lost the political support it enjoyed before the 2008 polls. It seems that Punjab’s new rulers cannot stomach anything that started during Gen Musharraf’s regime — how could they allow the street to flourish in the heart of their political stronghold knowing that it enjoyed the former president’s patronage? Certainly, in doing away with this popular haunt they might have rid the country of yet another remnant of the Musharraf era but not without depriving Lahore of one of its star attractions. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - North American Press Global warming: the heat is on US[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Monday, 13 Jul, 2009[/B] THIS week’s Group of 8 summit has pretty much lived down to the low expectations it generated from the outset, yet it did produce a long-overdue agreement to fight climate change. The club of industrialised nations agreed to cut greenhouse gas emissions 80 per cent by 2050. It was less than President Obama had hoped for — he had aimed to get developing countries such as China and India to sign on as well — but it represents the first time the US has taken the international lead on climate change since the 1990s, and demonstrates to recalcitrant nations that the industrialised world is willing to take responsibility for its outsized contribution to the problem. Such international pacts are usually meaningless without the backing of Congress…. The clamour from global-warming deniers has heated up as the nation gets closer to taking action, yet their comprehension of climate science hasn’t improved. A particularly common obfuscation from rightwing pundits is the “revelation” that global temperatures have been declining since 1998, even as carbon emissions during the intervening 11 years have risen. — (July 10) |
[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Bordering on censorship[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]
[B]Tuesday, 14 Jul, 2009[/B] PAKISTAN is no stranger to ill-conceived laws and regulations that eventually prove crippling to the national good. Take the blasphemy laws, which over the years have become an instrument for the victimisation of individuals and minority communities. Though less pernicious, the most recent example of discriminatory laws is the government’s announcement that the sending of “indecent, provocative and ill-motivated stories and text messages” via email and cellphones will henceforth be punishable by up to 14 years of imprisonment under the Cyber Crime Act. According to the interior ministry, the government is initiating a campaign against “ill-motivated and concocted stories against the civilian leadership and the security forces.” This borders on officially sanctioned censorship of the free flow of ideas and the people’s right to engage in debate over the actions of the government and its institutions. For one thing, the ‘law’ is dangerously loosely worded: the parameters of ‘indecent’ or ‘ill-motivated’ have not been defined. Neither have any conditions been identified under which potentially prosecutable offences will be delineated from legitimate discourse. This leads to the possibility of the regulation being misused to harass and silence the government’s critics. Indeed, the decision carries disturbing echoes of past attempts at censorship, for email and SMS messages are now an important means through which the voice of the people makes itself heard. By criminalising what is essentially the people’s freedom to debate and comment, the government exposes itself to the charge of stifling political opposition rather than changing or reconsidering policy. Certainly, no person should be allowed to fan communal hatred or incite others to violence. But the laws governing freedom of speech must be specific and tightly worded, as they are for slander and libel. The government would do well to remember that upholding the tenets of democracy, amongst them the freedom of legitimate expression, is an important part of retaining its democratic credentials. The political parties currently in power may tomorrow find themselves in the opposition, facing the sharp end of the stick they wield today. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Child rights denied[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Tuesday, 14 Jul, 2009[/B] BALOCHISTAN law minister Robina Irfan has called upon the government and parliamentarians to work for the protection of children’s rights. Noting the increase in child labour, incidents of sexual abuse and violence against children, she termed the situation “very alarming” and demanded that the government take notice. Certainly, the minister’s concerns are valid. Although Pakistan ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990, the rights of the country’s children continue to be violated. Child labour and trafficking, violence in the home, school and workplace, sexual abuse, child marriages and the handing over of underage girls in dispute settlements are a few examples of direct transgressions against child rights that take place virtually every day across the country. Also pressing is the issue of juvenile offenders: the Juvenile Justice System Ordinance was formulated in 2000 but the codes of conduct laid out therein have never been properly implemented. In reality, minors falling foul of the law rarely benefit from their right, as specified by the ordinance, to state-provided legal counsel or alternative sentencing measures. And beyond these issues, there are the less immediately apparent ways through which children are routinely denied their due: lack of education, healthcare, economic opportunity or even adequate food and potable water. With the country’s population skewed heavily towards the young and a rising birth rate, it is high time that the protection of child rights became a priority of the state and citizenry alike. It is ironic, meanwhile, that the minister has called for the attention of a government that she, in her professional capacity, is part of. It is the task of the country’s parliamentarians, and the elected government they represent, to not only formulate legislation and policy but also ensure implementation. In the case of child rights, the legislators’ performance has been unjustifiably slow. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Why this delay?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Tuesday, 14 Jul, 2009[/B] THE delay in doing away with the 17th amendment with all its aberrations is astonishing given that there is a virtual consensus on its repeal. On Sunday the prime minister repeated his resolve to annul the Musharraf-gifted law that is now part of the constitution. Speaking at the convocation of the International Islamic University in Islamabad, Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani reiterated his determination to amend the basic law, pointing out that the present system of government was neither parliamentary nor presidential — a ‘hodgepodge’, as he put it. Almost every political entity is in favour of scrapping the 17th amendment. In fact, the very first paragraph of the Charter of Democracy, signed in London on May 14, 2006 with Benazir Bhutto and the Sharif brothers present, declared categorically that “the Seventeenth Constitutional Amendment shall be repealed”. Armed with this national consensus, the democratic government should have translated this idea into reality long ago. Clearly, the resistance against reverting to a true parliamentary system comes from within the PPP. The most pernicious part of the 17th amendment is article 58-2b which gives the president the power to sack the government, even if the prime minister enjoys the National Assembly’s confidence, and dissolve the lower house. Ziaul Haq inserted it into the 1973 Constitution by decree and it enabled him to sack the Junejo government. Subsequently, Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Farooq Leghari exercised this power to sack three prime ministers — Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and then Benazir again. Incidentally the article makes it clear that the president can exercise this power only if a situation arises where the government of the federation cannot be carried on according to the constitution. In each case, no such situation existed and Ziaul Haq, Ghulam Ishaq Khan and Farooq Leghari used it for purely political purposes. In his second term, Nawaz Sharif had the article repealed. Pervez Musharraf brought it back through the Legal Framework Order. What is involved now is the PPP’s credibility. Both the prime minister and President Asif Ali Zardari stand publicly committed to the repeal of the 17th amendment. However, mixed signals from the presidential camp smack of dithering and lack of resolve. The president may say one thing in public but his views are perhaps best couched in the statements of loyal functionaries. One cannot but recall here the inordinate delay that went into the restoration of the sacked judges. They were restored, no doubt, but not before mob fury forced the federal government to act. Let the 27-man committee formed last month by Speaker Fehmida Mirza expedite its work. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press Transfer of LBs to the provinces[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Tuesday, 14 Jul, 2009[/B] AFTER presiding over an inter-provincial meeting, Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani announced the handing over of local bodies to the provinces and said he would advise the president to issue a notification for the appointment of administrators. Local government was a purely provincial subject which had been taken over by the federal government by including it in the sixth schedule during the Musharraf era. Local bodies helped the former military dictator create constituencies favouring him in order to perpetuate his rule. Ayub Khan’s entire system of ‘basic democracy’ was condemned because of the way he used it as an electoral college. Zia’s system could not yield any results and slowly died. Gen Musharraf advocated devolution of power and through propaganda he tried to make people believe that this would lead to the provision of speedy justice. Military dictators rely on local government as a means of creating new constituencies of support which is why people view it as the illegitimate offspring of undemocratic forces. The district government system practically destroyed all institutions. As far as financial matters were concerned, local bodies were made completely dependent on the federal government. Districts were distributed like jagirs — fiefdoms for feudal lords. Now the prime minister has said the provinces will decide when they will hold elections and whether they will be on a party basis or otherwise. We appreciate this but insist that the elections be held on a party basis. Other reforms and changes are needed so that the people can benefit. For example, conflicts between bureaucrats and nazims have led to numerous problems and the situation is in need of remedy. Why are administrators being appointed as opposed to holding elections? Only the NWFP has objected to elections due to the ongoing military operation and issues regarding the IDPs which make the polls impossible. Why are they not being held in the other three provinces? It should also be noted that elections held on a party basis will determine the current popularity and vote bank of the political parties. We appreciate the announcement of the prime minister and demand immediate implementation because promises haven’t been kept in the past. Hence arrangements should be made for elections in the three provinces without delay. — (July 12) [B][I]Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi[/I][/B] |
[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Mangrove plantation[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]
[B]Wednesday, 15 Jul, 2009[/B] TRYING to set a world record for trees planted in a single day generates publicity and helps raise awareness of the urgent need for environmental protection. In this connection, credit must go to the Sindh forest department which in conjunction with the federal environment ministry hopes to plant as many as 450,000 mangrove saplings around a barren island near Keti Bandar in Sindh. What is particularly encouraging about this initiative is the emphasis on local participation. Members of the indigenous community will be in the forefront of the plantation drive and, it is envisaged, will ultimately be paid to monitor and preserve the new mangrove stand as it matures. While this initiative must be lauded, it needs to be said that tackling the destruction of mangrove forests is a fight that must be fought on many fronts. New plantation drives cannot be a substitute for the massacre of existing forests, nor can one-off schemes suffice in the absence of a comprehensive preservation strategy. It is estimated that Pakistan’s coastline boasted nearly 605,000 hectares of dense, normal and sparse mangrove vegetation in 1966. Today this figure is said to stand at roughly 170,000 hectares, though some believe it is much lower. A combination of factors has contributed to this heavy loss of life (yes, it is time we started thinking of plants and non-human animals in those terms as well). Faced with a lack of alternative fuel and timber sources, coastal communities have been guilty over the decades of over-harvesting what were once abundant mangrove resources. A burgeoning population also comes into it, as does destruction by influential developers who can flout environmental laws at will. Then there is the growing shortage of freshwater supplies in the delta region, which has increased sea-water salinity and resulted in the stunted growth or slow death of mangrove stands. Discharge of untreated effluent into the Arabian Sea and pollution generated by port activities are other major culprits. Mangrove forests are rich in biodiversity, serve as marine hatcheries and present a buffer against tidal surges and tsunamis. They must be protected at all cost. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Return of IDPs [/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Wednesday, 15 Jul, 2009[/B] NOW that the IDPs have started returning to their hometowns with the government’s help, we can hope that normalcy will soon be restored to the conflict-hit areas. Nearly 200 displaced families left the Jalozai camp on Monday, while another 26 started their journey from Charsadda. Many said that their nightmare appeared to be coming to an end. Repeated assurances have been given that the areas, dominated by the militants until quite recently, are now safe; administrative services such as water and electricity supplies as well as banking facilities are also being restored in many areas. This constitutes some evidence of the government’s commitment to its stated resolve of facilitating the IDPs’ return. Nevertheless, it must be recognised that major challenges continue to confront both the government and the IDPs. More than two million citizens were displaced by the conflict and their return to and rehabilitation in the battle-scarred areas, devastated by the use of heavy artillery, will not be easy. The attacks and counter-attacks have taken their toll on the civic infrastructure; the scale of reconstruction required is immense. That services such as water, gas and electricity are being restored in some areas is no doubt encouraging. But beyond this basic step other measures such as rebuilding schools and hospitals are required. Furthermore, a support system for the returnees will have to be put in place until they are able to resume their normal income-generating activities — and this may take some years. Meanwhile, chances of a lasting normalcy will hinge on the security situation. The army’s claim that the militants have been routed in the affected areas has held so far. However, militant activity by even a handful of the remaining Taliban would be enough to spread terror and severely disrupt civic life. After all, we have witnessed little success when it has come to arresting or eliminating the militants’ top leaders. It is evident that the IDPs are aware of this danger: the Emergency Response Unit had made arrangements for over 2,000 families to leave the Jalozai camp, but the majority of them refused to do so, citing security concerns. Lasting peace in these areas requires not only that civic life be restored to what it was before the militants launched their attacks, but that the earlier position of the citizenry be improved upon. The region needs increased investment in development: better educational facilities, more income-generating opportunities and greater economic contact with the rest of the country. Only then will it be possible to eliminate the risk of disillusioned citizens turning against the state in the future. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Madressahs as a cover[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Wednesday, 15 Jul, 2009[/B] IT was not a suicide bomber who left 12 people, including seven children, dead in a village near Mian Channu on Monday; it was a huge quantity of ammunition stored in a seminary that blew up, spewing death and destruction. This is just a small indication of what some of those who run madressahs do behind what would appear to be an innocuous, even laudable, activity. The man who ran the seminary, Riaz Kamboh, was known to have militant links, had gone to Afghanistan for training and was arrested twice but then released. Seemingly, the madressah he ran was teaching the Holy Quran to village boys and girls. However, the recovery of propaganda literature and suicide jackets from the debris makes it abundantly clear that he was using the madressah as a cover for organising a terrorist cell which brainwashed and trained young people to become terrorists and suicide bombers. What happened at village 129/15-L in south Punjab is symptomatic of a larger phenomenon throughout the country, for many — though not all — madressahs have links with banned militant organisations and serve as recruiting grounds and as centres of indoctrination for both boys and girls. Let us not forget that Jamia Hafsa was an intrinsic part of the Lal Masjid empire run by the Aziz-Rashid duo, and it used girls for unlawful activities like raiding and occupying a government library and kidnapping a woman. There are thousands of such madressahs and seminaries in Pakistan, and though all of them cannot be tarred with the same brush the security agencies must be able to separate the wheat from the chaff. That Kamboh’s activities remained undetected constitutes a sad commentary on the efficiency of our security agencies whose performance leaves a lot to be desired. We do not know how many other Kambohs are using madressahs as cells for terrorist activity. ********************************************************** [B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Press Crisis in tourism[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B] [B]Wednesday, 15 Jul, 2009[/B] THESE are very bad times for the Cyprus tourism industry. Arrivals are down, spending is down, hotel occupancy rates are low and bars, cafes, clubs and restaurants are struggling… but everyone knows there are no quick fixes. In the last couple of weeks we have even witnessed bickering between the coastal resorts, with the mayor of Ayia Napa implying on radio that Paphos was exploiting … cases of … swine flu in the Famagusta district to attract more local tourism…. The message by the Hotelier’s Association chairman Haris Loizides was clear — things were bad enough, without the media making them worse…. Loizides … said the economic crisis created an opportunity to upgrade the Cyprus tourist product — we could improve our hotels, our tourist areas and the image of tourism in general. This is indeed a great opportunity to make improvements…. But to achieve this we need a proper strategic plan, with short-, medium-, and long-term goals. First, we need to decide what type of tourist destination Cyprus could be. Everyone talks about attracting high-quality tourism, while we have always been a destination that caters for mass tourism. Resorts full of karaoke bars, below-average restaurants and tacky cafes will not attract the high-income tourists we dream of…. Perhaps, it would be very costly to make the switch, both financially and politically…. This may not be a financially viable option, in which case efforts would have to focus Cyprus Mail on regaining our competitiveness. This might also be very difficult, given the way the cost of living has been rising, but the crisis is more than likely to force tourist businesses to lower prices…. There is no denying, however, that this is an opportunity to return to the drawing table, re-think our tourist policy, take decisions and devise a strategy for implementing them.… (July 14) |
[SIZE="5"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B][U]Karachi killings[/U][/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Thursday, 16 Jul, 2009[/B] GOING by Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s statement, it seems the federal government has finally woken up to the Karachi killings, which have led to scores of deaths this year. On Tuesday, the interior minister told a press conference in Karachi that the government intended to form a judicial commission to probe the recent spate of political violence in the city, fix responsibility and take action against the guilty irrespective of political considerations. The last point is important, considering the fact that the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, which is involved in the present spree of violence, is PPP’s coalition partner in both Islamabad and Karachi. The interior minister then repeated that this situation had been created to destabilise the country’s commercial hub. Mr Malik didn’t tell us precisely how he and the plethora of security agencies he commands can check the present nightmarish wave of violence. ‘Target killings’ is a euphemism for the blood feud between the Muttahida and the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-Haqiqi. It all goes back to 1992 when the army launched a crackdown on Muttahida (then the Mohajir Qaumi Movement) strongholds, bulldozed the security walls that had turned large parts of Karachi into ghettoes and opened up ‘no-go’ areas. Haqiqi rode into these areas on the back of the army. Even though this feud, arising as much from personality clashes as from disputes over extortion rackets, has been going on for 17 years, there has been a surge in recent days, with both Haqiqi and Muttahida claiming a number of casualties among their workers. Because Aamir Khan, the Haqiqi leader, is likely to be out of prison on bail soon, his organisation believes that the Muttahida has gone on a killing spree to prevent him from mobilising his party. There is some justification in the Karachi police chief’s claim that this is not a police problem, that police resources are overstretched because of the terrorist threat and that what is needed is a political solution. Mr Malik seemed to show an awareness of this truth when he said he had requested the Sindh chief minister to meet political personalities to learn their points of view and evolve a strategy. While the interior minister thanked the Muttahida chief for offering his cooperation to end the bloodletting he should ensure that the security agencies do their duty impartially. Forming a judicial commission might be a step in the right direction. But more than that the federal leadership as well as opposition groups need to exert pressure on the two rival organisations to resolve their turf war through talks before matters take a more serious turn. ****************************************** [SIZE="5"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B][U]Right to equality[/U][/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] [B]Thursday, 16 Jul, 2009[/B] IN a country where the rights of citizens are abused routinely, the importance of the recent Supreme Court decree that the federal and provincial governments take steps to protect the rights of transvestites is welcome. Discriminated against by virtually every section of society, this group of people is separated from the mainstream because of a backward societal mindset and lack of awareness about physical and emotional gender-related conditions — it must be remembered that the term ‘transvestite’ is used generally in Pakistan to describe hermaphrodites, eunuchs, cross-dressers etc. These people are often forced into the lowest strata of society, subjected to mental and sexual abuse and denied their right to education and employment. Indeed, it is not unknown for families to wash their hands of the responsibility of raising children with gender-related physical abnormalities by handing them over to ‘gurus’, or leaders of ‘transvestite’ gangs, to be raised as prostitutes, beggars or dancers. In the absence of a law or a sizeable forum actively reiterating their rights, these people have been routinely harassed by many, even the police if approached for help. After hearing the petitioner argue that as a welfare state, it was the government’s responsibility to look after this community, the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday that as equal citizens of Pakistan, ‘transvestites’ should benefit from the federal and provincial governments’ income support schemes such as the Benazir Income Support Programme and that they were entitled to funds from the Baitul Maal. These are encouraging developments and it is hoped that they will lead to an improvement in the financial and societal status of ‘transvestites’. However, there is also a need to address the educational and vocational training requirements of this section of the citizenry. An awareness campaign is just as crucial if societal attitudes are to be changed. ****************************************** [SIZE="5"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B][U]Investment troubles[/U][/B][/COLOR][/SIZE] [B]Thursday, 16 Jul, 2009 [/B] CAPITAL needs a peaceful environment in which to maximise profits and multiply. In that sense, Pakistan has never been the ideal destination for global investors and it is not surprising that foreign investment in the country has plunged by 31 per cent to $3.7bn in 2008-09 compared to the previous corresponding period. There are many explanations for this drop in foreign investment levels: security concerns, global financial troubles, domestic economic woes, political turmoil and the power crunch. Nevertheless, rising levels of foreign investment in Pakistan during the last several years, until fiscal 2007-08, showed that investors were prepared to dismiss security concerns if the economy offered them an opportunity to make profits on their investment. That’s why we continued to receive direct and portfolio investment in spite of poor law and order and conflict in parts of the country. Even the turmoil generated in 2007 by the judicial crisis, the imposition of emergency and Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, together with terrorist attacks in major cities ahead of the 2008 elections, couldn’t deter the investors. Foreign investment continued to pour in until the first half of the last fiscal up to December 2008 when it became clear that the economy was shrinking and opportunities for maximising profits dwindling. The global financial crunch too has had much to do with stalled investment inflows. But the major blow was dealt by the eroding confidence in the economy on the back of surging inflation, worsening macroeconomic fundamentals and a severe energy crunch. Pakistan lost whatever attraction it had as a destination for foreign and domestic investors. For years foreign investors ignored security concerns. But now they are not prepared to invest in an economy plagued by energy shortages and economic uncertainties. Even when the global recession is over and international investors have liquidity to spare for countries like ours they are unlikely to return to Pakistan unless we overcome the energy crunch and remove obstacles in the way of profitability. The government cannot tackle this on its own and must take domestic businessmen and investors on board before it seeks international investment to prop up the economy. ******************************************* [SIZE="5"][COLOR="Teal"][U][B]OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press G8 fails to set practical targets[/B][/U][/COLOR][/SIZE] [B]Thursday, 16 Jul, 2009[/B] THE important meeting in Italy of the G-8 gathering of the world’s leading industrialised nations came up with very disappointing targets when they discussed the vital topic of global warming. They simply restated two important scientific facts which they converted into targets for themselves, with no hint as to how they were going to be achieved, and no call to the rest of the world to try and follow these targets. Their first aim was for the world’s temperature to not rise two degrees above what it was in 1900, which was when the world started to use oil and gas in a major way. The second aim was to cut carbon emissions by 80 per cent by 2050. Both these targets are so huge that they need many more specific details on how they will be managed. No one country can affect the world’s temperature on its own. A target needs a tough but achievable number, which government officials can work to define, so that the public, or businesses, or anyone affected by the target understands what they have to do. For example, maybe we all have to switch to driving electric cars. We have to waste less water. We have to reduce our carbon footprints. All these actions are things that we or our employers or our governments can work to make happen. This is where the G-8 failed by not setting immediate or medium-term goals. This gap now puts a huge responsibility on the Copenhagen meeting on global warming later this year to get it right. Let us hope that many more specific results emerged from yesterday’s meeting when several significant African leaders joined the summit to push for new funding for farming in the developing world so as to tackle global hunger. They certainly cannot wait until 2050 to achieve their targets. — (July 10) |
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