Transit trade spat

THE contrast between tense Pak-Afghan ties and deteriorating Pak-India relations on one side and the fresh impetus in the Indo-Afghan relationship on the other make it extremely unlikely that reason will prevail in the ongoing Pak-Afghan transit trade tug of war. But the pragmatic, sensible and mutually beneficial case for opening up trade routes across Pakistan and Afghanistan needs to be restated — because, perhaps even more so than the north-south trade envisaged under CPEC, the east-west trade across Pakistan and Afghanistan has vast economic potential. First, however, the conflicting positions of Pakistan and Afghanistan need to be understood. The decision by Afghanistan to bar Pakistani cargo from entering Afghanistan en route to Central Asia, as per the terms of the 2010 Afghan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement, will have minimal immediate impact because little, if any, Pakistani trade with Central Asia is conducted overland through Afghanistan. What has been dented, though, is bilateral Pak-Afghan trade in recent months, a development that can be directly linked to tensions in Chaman and Torkham and bickering over security and foreign policy between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the core of the Afghan demand is relatively straightforward: access to Indian imports into Afghanistan via Wagah rather than the Karachi port. The land route is quite obviously cheaper and quicker, but Pakistan only permitted Afghan exports to India to be trucked overland to Wagah — Afghan imports from India are not allowed via Wagah. Pakistan’s official reasons for denying the Afghan demand (one that India is keen on too) are varied and some of them do have merit. Topmost is the concern that Indian goods under Afghan transit trade will either be sold in Pakistan before reaching Afghanistan or re-exported back to Pakistan once they arrive in Afghanistan, thereby hurting domestic businesses. But that is a concern that can be addressed by requirements such as sealed containerised cargo, biometric devices and stricter trade oversight along Pak-Afghan border. In truth, with Pakistan unwilling to normalise trade with India, the acceptability of large-scale Indo-Afghan trade across Pakistan is necessarily low in security-centric policymaking circles. While the costs and benefits of trade must always be carefully evaluated and the interests of local producers and consumers need to be balanced, Indian goods are loaded with political baggage in a way that perhaps Chinese goods, which have long flooded the Pakistani market, are not.

Given the circumstances, however, perhaps the first steps towards a rational trade policy across West and Central Asia, with Pakistan embracing not just north-south trade with China but east-west too with India, Afghanistan and Central Asia, is to try and nudge Pak-Afghan and Pak-India ties on a path to stability. The failure of the Quadrilateral Coordination Group and the stillborn Comprehensive Bilateral Dialogue has rendered relations with both Afghanistan and India juvenile shouting matches, though with potentially very dangerous consequences. Afghanistan demanding closer ties with India is Afghanistan’s right, but overland trade between those two countries is unlikely to go anywhere if Kabul’s approach remains accusatory and rancorous.

PSEs in a shambles

OF late, there have been a number of reminders of the state of drift in the management of large public-sector enterprises in the country. The two behemoths that remain on the active privatisation list are not going anywhere anytime soon — PIA and Pakistan Steel Mills. The management of PIA informed the Senate that it had missed its revenue target for the first seven months of the year by more than 20pc. The effort to privatise the airline, or at least seek out a ‘strategic partner’ who would take management control with minority shareholding, has floundered and little vision remains about any strategic redirection of the ailing national carrier, beyond inducting a few more aircraft and introducing a premier service. These may not be bad ideas but it is quite clear that they are hardly adequate for the job at hand. Whatever attempt at strategic redirection — whether privatisation or through divestment and passing over management control — it appears that PIA is now left to fly rudderless till the next government comes in and makes a fresh attempt at changing its course.

Pakistan Steel, meanwhile, saw the rather ignominious departure of its CEO who had taken a Rs18bn bailout when he got the job promising that he would turn the entity around; however, he ended up squandering the money without any results. Now the mill is being run on a day-to-day basis, with a cabinet committee approving salary disbursements from time to time. Its state of affairs is far more dismal than that of PIA, and it too is sitting idle, waiting for a new government to take the initiative and find a path to turn its fortunes around. And we are still waiting to find out whether the Sindh government is interested in acquiring the mill or not. The present government appears to have run its course in its dealings with state-owned enterprises. It was only two years ago that senior government ministers were blaming the dharnas of the PTI for the setback to the privatisation agenda, while the cabinet committee on privatisation was approving bold plans to raise $4bn in one year from the sell-off of state-owned enterprises. Today that whole effort bears a deserted look. Now we tread water till 2018, and wait to see if there is anybody else out there with any other ideas on what to do with these huge entities and their losses.

Transgenders’ travails

A WORLD run on common sense would be so much more convenient for all of us — men, women and thousands upon thousands of those whose efforts continue to be frustrated by a biased system. Instead, we have to constantly go to court for arbitration on matters that by now officialdom should have found a solution to. A group of transgenders has now moved the Peshawar High Court to take note of the absence of a column in the national identity card and census form that acknowledges them as they are and recognises their presence — in fact, existence — as Pakistani citizens. The group held a news conference in Peshawar last week where its members managed to show that they had some support from civil society. In general, however, this fight for recognition is likely to be a long one.

It has been pointed out how the case of transgenders is more easily and more frequently highlighted in the media than was the case some years ago. Almost every other day there is a news feature about transgenders in one of the newspapers or on television, reminding those who care to note of how these Pakistanis cannot be wished away no matter how distant from them those who operate the system may want to be. Not least disturbing have been news items about the violence that transgenders are routinely subjected to on one pretext or another. Signals that governments in Pakistan were preparing to take some pioneering decisions for relief for the transgenders have so far proved false. The recognition and redressal of the problems that trangenders have long been demanding are nowhere in sight and this fact could further embolden elements who think that the transgender community is an easy target because it has no one to protect it. These Pakistani citizens who are pressing for their representation — and justifiably so — continue to pay a heavy price for a system that is so very reluctant to correct itself.

Published in Dawn September 12th, 2016

Muslim world in flux

KARACHI: As Muslims worldwide have just performed another Haj and are now celebrating Eidul Azha, it is perhaps an opportune moment to reflect on the current state of that abstract construct — the ‘Muslim world’.

While, indeed, the world as a whole is facing myriad challenges to the global order — political, financial, security etc — these problems are magnified manifold in most Muslim-majority states, Pakistan included.

While external players have had a role in destabilising Muslim states and regions, arguably, the greatest challenge is internal, most notably from decrepit and repressive political systems that stifle dissent, as well as from militant movements that thrive in suffocating environments and use Islamic imagery to promote a thoroughly savage agenda.

On the external front, it is impossible to defend the utter devastation that has been unleashed on Muslim states in the name of ‘liberation’, ‘democracy’ and the ‘responsibility to protect’ by external actors.

The invasion of Afghanistan to oust the hard-line Afghan Taliban has failed to produce a working state 15 years after the event.

Meanwhile, functional but autocratic regimes were ousted in Iraq and Libya, only to be replaced by a void thereafter filled by chaos and disorder.

Syria is another tragedy, where an internal movement to dislodge a strongman was seized upon by external players to fight a grinding proxy war; the result has been nearly 300,000 dead and the rise of barbaric groups such as the militant Islamic State group.

Palestine and India-held Kashmir continue to be lightning rods; in the former, Israel continues to suffocate Palestine’s people, while New Delhi has responded to calls of ‘azadi’ emanating from the valley with pellet guns and jackboots.

Indeed, all these scenarios engender a sense of victimhood in Muslim societies, and help extremists exploit people’s sentiments.

But the biggest threats Muslim societies face are internal.

The Iraqi and Syrian conflicts have exacerbated sectarian divisions within Islam, while the Saudi-Iranian relationship is at its lowest point in decades.

Moreover, we must ask how many genuine democracies can the Muslim world boast of? Princes, potentates and presidents-for-life continue to lord it over the people in many countries, while in others the generals are reluctant to share power with civilians.

Poverty and illiteracy continue to be major challenges in Muslim societies — while some statelets wallow in petrodollars, millions in poorer states struggle to put food on the table.

It is these inequities, together with the monsters of extremism and sectarianism, that are today tearing into the vitals of the Muslim world.

There is no magic formula to transform things. However, some essential ingredients — such as democracy, moderation, tolerance, social justice — are critical for there to be any positive transformation.

There may be many miles to go, but Muslim societies must themselves take the initiative to change their destiny by addressing these internal weaknesses, and give their citizens a better standard of life.

Electoral reforms

A BILL winding its way through parliament, nudged along by PPP senators, seeks to address the problem of women being denied their right to vote in certain constituencies. A widely publicised issue in recent years, there remain some black electoral spots where all candidates agree to prevent women from voting — all in the name of conservative cultural practices that have no place in a modern, constitutional democracy. To the extent that the Senate may find a way to pass a bill that not only protects women’s right to vote, but simultaneously ensures that the new rules do not become grounds for yet more electoral confusion, the draft bill may well be worth the effort. Yet, in the very attempt to push through specific, though much-needed, electoral reforms lies an indication of a far bigger problem: comprehensive electoral reform has stalled and the much-touted parliamentary committee on electoral reforms continues with its desultory ways.

More than three years from the last general election and after a number of by-elections, the flaws in the current electoral system are all too clear to experts and laymen alike. Ultimately, however, reforms will have to match capabilities, particularly when it comes to the long-term quest to grant the right of vote to overseas Pakistanis. Some changes will also depend on institution-building and cultural change, especially when it comes to the intrusive, unwarranted and illegal questions asked of candidates in the initial scrutiny of their qualifications. But being an administrative process guided by specific rules and instructions, elections are fundamentally about better processes — and who better than elected representatives themselves to know how to make elections fair and transparent? There is, however, an obvious conflict of interest: a clean and transparent system could see many elected representatives lose their jobs at the next election. But an unfair electoral system imperils more than just a few elected representatives; it casts a cloud over the democratic system itself. There are now roughly two years left before the next scheduled general election. Delaying reforms much longer could mean that the time to implement them before 2018, and especially for the Election Commission to strengthen its capacities, will no longer exist.

Red-faced in the Senate

IT seems that our lawmakers had already hit snooze mode in the run-up to the Eid holidays. Last week, the government had to retreat red-faced in the Senate when Minister of State for Interior Baleeghur Rahman tried to move a bill seeking amendments to certain laws. The problem, as Senator Farhatullah Babar pointed out, was that these laws included the Protection of Pakistan Act 2014 which expired in July. However, Mr Rahman need not have been too embarrassed, for he is in good company. The bill, including the amendment to a non-existing law, has already been passed by the National Assembly in a state of blissful ignorance. The government’s studied silence when PoPA was nearing expiry at the end of its sunset clause apparently allowed the law to slip into history without notice even by those who had enacted it.

Notwithstanding the levity that the incident on Friday arouses, there is a sombre aspect to be considered here. Being elected to parliament is a matter of much prestige, but it also brings with it great responsibility. Parliament is one of the most visible representations of a democratic set-up, the forum where the people’s representatives come together to legislate and oversee the business of government. Yet many parliamentarians do not accord it due importance, or recognise their duty to attend its sessions. As we pointed out in a recent editorial, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, for one, is virtually an unknown quantity in the National Assembly. So is Imran Khan — albeit one must add the same certainly cannot be said of Khursheed Shah, leader of the opposition. When a debate on the Aug 8 terrorist attack in Quetta was being held in the Senate a few days ago, several treasury members did not bother to show up, an inexcusable absence given the topic under discussion. There is also the matter of important bills, such as those pertaining to rape and ‘honour’ killing, long pending before the National Assembly. The public hopes that the lower house can rouse itself to pass them soon.

Published in Dawn September 13th, 2016

__________________
To succeed,look at things not as they are,but as they can be.:)

Islamic banking

THE growth of Islamic banking in Pakistan is hitting its stride, and this is the right time to focus the sector’s energies on where they belong: opening up new avenues in lending and promoting financial inclusion of the unbanked. In December 2003, the total deposits under Islamic mode were a meagre 0.4pc of the total deposits in the banking system. Today, that percentage has risen to 13.2, making it one of the fastest-growing segments within the banking system. To some extent, the growth is explained by a growing preference by depositors for Islamic deposits. The State Bank has, over the years, helped in the sector’s growth by issuing new regulations and bringing new instruments that help in managing surplus cash, fulfilling statutory requirements and opening up new avenues for investing like Sukkuk bonds.

The bottlenecks faced by the sector in its early years are being removed at an accelerating pace. From 2002 onwards, when the sector received its second fillip by the then government, Islamic banks found they could raise deposits faster than they could lend the money due to a paucity of Sharia-compliant instruments to invest in and parties to lend to. Their day-to-day cash management was similarly complicated by the absence of Sharia-compliant overnight lending instruments in the money markets. These problems were dealt with over successive years, and today, Islamic banks are competing with conventional banks for big-ticket lending and in mobilising deposits.

But this debottlenecking carries mixed implications for the banking system. If Islamic banks are going to mobilise a corps of potential depositors who were shy of the formal banking system due to its interest-based nature, then they can be a positive force promoting financial inclusion. Likewise, if they can expand lending to agriculture and small- and medium-size enterprises, they can also play a positive role by bringing the benefits of modern credit systems to sectors of the economy long excluded by conventional banking. But if they set their sights only on the secure returns of government lending and low-cost deposit mobilisation because they are exempted from any obligation on minimum returns, then this growth could have pernicious consequences. It is imperative that as the debottlenecking of the financial system for Islamic finance continues, core obligations to maintain systemic stability are not lost sight of by loosening the regulatory architecture of the banking system to promote one sector. At present, a complicated situation is being created as Islamic instruments circulate alongside conventional ones in the same money market. As the sector grows, this complex situation will present unique challenges regarding pricing and regulation. The State Bank needs to show a little more foresight in fleshing out how it sees these challenges and intends to meet them without compromising on the regulatory framework that safeguards the depositors’ interests.

New Syria truce

THIS year’s Eidul Azha brought additional joy for the war-weary and battered people of Syria as an internationally negotiated truce came into effect on Monday. Despite rhetoric from both the government of Bashar al-Assad and its nemeses, the foreign-backed opposition groups, the ceasefire is holding. The fragility of the matter can be gauged from the fact that the truce — hammered out by the US and Russia — will be renewed every 48 hours. While it is easy to be wary — several ceasefires have come into effect only to crumble soon after — since the Syrian civil war broke out in 2011, any cessation in hostilities in this ravaged nation must be welcomed. With hundreds of thousands dead and millions uprooted, this brutal war ranks amongst the modern Middle East’s bloodiest conflicts.

The truce raises hopes, however slim, that this long-running conflict can be permanently wound down. According to reports, if the ceasefire holds for a week, it will pave the way for the US and Russia to take joint military action against extremists groups active in Syria. This development — if it occurs — could be a real game changer because until now, Washington and Moscow had worked at cross purposes in Syria, supporting opposite sides, which has given plenty of room to terrorist outfits like the Islamic State group and the rebranded Al Nusra to expand their violent activities. From now on, the foreign powers that have intervened in Syria should pursue two separate but interlinked plans of action. Firstly, they must build on the relative success of the ceasefire and urge their respective Syrian allies — Moscow should convince Mr Assad, while Washington must engage with the various moderate rebel groups it backs — to reach a political settlement. Secondly, with the Syrian government on board, Russia and the US should coordinate the fight against jihadist groups. In fact, this effort could take a larger shape and involve regional players — especially Iran, Turkey and Saudi Arabia — which support different sides in Syria and are heavily involved in the conflict. Reconciling such varying agendas will be difficult, but it must be attempted in order to end the Syrian nightmare. Admittedly, Syria is a mess and the jihadist menace will not be neutralised easily. But with international consensus and, more importantly, all Syrian actors — government and opposition — on board, the mission to uproot the extremists and rebuild Syria can begin in earnest.

Motorway incident

THE images and video are disturbing, as are the first-hand eyewitness accounts and second-hand reports. Indeed, everything about the assault on Motorway police personnel by armed and mostly uniformed army personnel is outrageous — far more serious than the euphemistic “sad incident” and “scuffle” that has been described by the ISPR in its brief official statement. In fact, given the widespread indignation over the assault, though noticeably outside the otherwise rambunctious mainstream electronic media, and the military’s attempt to downplay it, a case could be made for a civilian-led inquiry into the matter and for the civilian courts to be allowed to take their course. Military law does allow for its personnel to be investigated and tried by civilian institutions where the alleged crime committed occurs outside the line of duty. That would not only set a welcome example, it would send a signal that all are equal before the law and that any violence against officers of the law by anyone will be dealt with firmly.

To be sure, when it comes to violence against police personnel, it is not merely military personnel who have been guilty in the past. While assaults by military personnel have occurred before, so have powerful civilians attacked police personnel on numerous occasions. Just last month, Hanif Abbasi of the PML-N led a mob attack against a police station in Rawalpindi after local police had the temerity to detain some PML-N youth leaders for recklessly riding motorcycles, a practice that the Punjab government itself has sought to clamp down on. Meanwhile, across the country, powerful citizens flout the law and arrogantly challenge helpless traffic policemen who may have the audacity to try and sanction them. Yet, when the highly disciplined and ultra-powerful military’s own officers violently attack and even unlawfully whisk away civilian law-enforcement personnel, there is a special, and disturbing, resonance. It sends a message that as a class, the military is above civilians. Surely, that is a message that the military leadership must act to curb.


Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2016

__________________
To succeed,look at things not as they are,but as they can be.:)

Flawed approach to Pakistan

THERE are several choices that Pakistan has made over the decades that have contributed to regional problems and there continue to be areas where official rhetoric and policies on the ground do not quite match. But increasingly apparent is the sense that regional dynamics are once again converging against Pakistan and its interests. And once again, terrorism and Afghanistan are the sources of growing regional differences. Testifying before the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Olson resorted to what has long been a cornerstone, and a flawed one at that, of US policy towards Pakistan: seeing this country through the prism of Afghanistan. With the centrality of US demands of Pakistan concerning in some way or the other the need for stabilising Afghanistan, is it really surprising that so much suspicion still remains here about America’s true goals and intentions?

It is not so much that America’s demands are wrong — a terror-free neighbourhood is in the fundamental interest of all — than the seemingly lopsided focus of demands. For a decade and a half now, the US has directly and indirectly tried to defeat the Afghan Taliban insurgency without quite acknowledging that much of that victory depends on Kabul providing a viable and reliable governance alternative. First, the Hamid Karzai era was propped up regardless of the obviously and massively damaging choices that dispensation made for political stability and governance. Now, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani is also being insulated from domestic pressures by a virtual American guarantee that the National Unity Government will complete its term no matter if it delivers on constitutional and governance reforms. Freed from having to bear the weight of querulous domestic politics alone thanks to US support, Mr Ghani is turning to external issues, which, in this case, means essentially blaming Pakistan for all of Afghanistan’s internal problems and seeking closer ties with India as a counterweight to Pakistan.

Therein lies a major flaw of all three countries when it comes to the Pak-Afghan equation: if Pakistan is seen as the key to ending the insurgency in Afghanistan and helping realise political reconciliation in that country, how is the ganging up of a superpower, an inveterate rival and an always prickly neighbour supposed to encourage Pakistan to align its interests with their demands? While there were many factors at work, it remains the case that the Murree dialogue was scuttled by foreign revelations of Mullah Omar’s death and the QCG’s efforts were devastated by the US decision to drone Akhtar Mansour. It is impossible to suggest that Pakistan has clean hands when it comes to regional militancy and Afghanistan’s struggles. But the current approach of the US, Afghanistan and India portends more danger for the region, not less.

Railways’ safety

TWO separate train accidents on Thursday highlight the problems of infrastructure and safety that continue to plague Pakistan Railways. Some seven deaths have resulted from the two incidents — one occurring near Multan, the other in Fateh Jang. In the first incident, the Karachi-bound Awam Express crashed into a freight train. Though the Railways’ chief has blamed the driver for the tragedy, the driver claims the signal was green and that the freight train had no tail light. There should be no rush to pin the blame as only a thorough probe can establish exactly what led to the accident. In the second mishap, lives were lost when a car collided with a train in Fateh Jang as the vehicle attempted to cross an unmanned railway crossing.

The state of the Railways’ infrastructure is far from satisfactory. Critics say the state has made no major investments in infrastructure, when simple common sense dictates that the Railways’ large network be constantly upgraded and maintained. Critical infrastructure — especially tracks and the signalling system — cannot be left unattended and must be constantly monitored and maintained. As observers point out, some of the infrastructure damaged in Sindh in the aftermath of Benazir Bhutto’s 2007 assassination still awaits repair. Work has started on improving the signalling system in part of the Railways’ network, but the upgrades are taking an abnormally long time to complete. Another area of concern is that of crossings — both manned and unmanned. While there are quite a few manned crossings in Punjab, in the province’s southern half and in Sindh many crossings remain unmanned. Most accidents occur at unmanned crossings, some of which have been constructed illegally. In areas where heavy road traffic intersects with the railway line, the authorities need to place personnel at the crossings to monitor and manage both road and rail traffic. We can learn from India with whom we share a common colonial Railways’ heritage. The authorities there have managed to instal an automated signalling system on most of the main lines. Considering the commonalities, perhaps our Railways’ authorities can study our eastern neighbour’s model. Perhaps the Railways is neglected because the elite have long ago abandoned this mode of transport. However, unless the state concentrates on making the Railways a viable and safe entity, our dreams of economic glory ushered in by greater connectivity will be difficult to fulfil.

Another ‘honour’ killing

AFTER the outrage over the rapid succession of brutal incidents targeting women, it is unfathomable why the government continues to drag its feet on the anti-rape and anti-‘honour’ killing bills. With so many women murdered by husbands, brothers and fathers, it is imperative that female legislators across party lines lobby their male colleagues to push through pro-women legislation. In Thursday’s incident in Multan, Khalida Bibi, a young mother of three, and a man, were tortured and hanged apparently by the male members of her family as punishment for an alleged liaison. The increasing number of women killed by close relatives denotes not only a disturbing pattern in which perpetrators strike with impunity knowing they will be pardoned, it is also an urgent call to the state to protect women. Data documented by Aurat Foundation reveals that 724 women were murdered in Punjab last year; 190 were killed by their husbands, 50 by their brothers and 24 by their fathers. These figures expose the state’s weak record in tackling the factors behind this continuing cycle of violence. Why has there been no movement on the proposed amendments — removing the forgiveness loophole — in the anti-honour killing law? It is inexcusable that Pakistan should forget its commitment to women, especially when it is a signatory to international obligations calling for institutionalising gender equality.

Meanwhile, those who kill for ‘honour’ are almost never punished, allowing the family of a victim to forgive the killer — almost always family. Not only are they forgiven, they are even supported by regressive patriarchies thus increasing the impunity factor — reason enough for removing punishment waivers and compoundability provisions from the law. Where crimes against women are declared crimes against the state, perpetrators have been penalised. As Pakistani women continue to challenge misogyny, their efforts should be supported by holding this government to its pledge to call a joint parliamentary session to pass the anti-honour killing and anti-rape bills so that women are protected against violence.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2016

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To succeed,look at things not as they are,but as they can be.:)

Policing Sindh

THE spectacle involving Khawaja Izhar-ul-Hasan, leader of the opposition in the Sindh Assembly, and SSP Rao Anwar, which played out on TV screens on Friday, is indicative of the deep malaise affecting law enforcement in Sindh. It shows that policing in this province is not an open-and-shut affair where officers make their calls by the book; instead, policing Sindh is an incredibly politicised matter, where many of the men in uniform tend to act in a maverick fashion. Rao Anwar, who led the raid on the MQM lawmaker’s Karachi residence, accused Khawaja Izhar of serious crimes, including extortion and killings. However, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, who quickly sprang into action, was critical of the police’s conduct, saying the lawmaker had been arrested without the Sindh Assembly speaker’s permission. The prime minister also expressed displeasure over the police’s actions. But the tough-talking Rao Anwar, whose reputation precedes him, was unrepentant, even though he was later suspended. Talking to the media, he said he was “not among the officers who bow to their masters”.

While the police’s independence from political pressure is an essential ingredient for better law enforcement in Sindh, it should be noted that Friday’s incident — and the police’s conduct generally — is hardly free from political bias. The fact is that the MQM has fallen foul of the establishment; its reputation for violence has little to do with that. Moreover, Rao Anwar is known for his politicised policing. The officer has been suspended — and been reinstated — on numerous occasions, and has been accused of excesses, including using extrajudicial methods. And the act of dragging a lawmaker with his hands tied in front of the media glare was extremely unsavoury. But the problem is beyond just one controversial police officer: it involves a decrepit policing system where actions are clearly dictated by political motives and vendettas. Instead of such antics, and the spectacles put on by rule-bending policemen in Sindh, what is needed is a professional police force that serves the people according to the law, instead of the various centres of power that hold the reins in this country.

Chief Minister Shah has himself indicated his desire to revamp the force. On the day of the Khawaja Izhar incident, Mr Shah approved an allocation for buying updated weapons for the police, as well as gave the green light for improved training of the force. Along with this, inducting morally upright personnel on the basis of merit must top the chief minister’s list of priorities where police reforms are concerned. Granted, reforming Sindh’s police is a gargantuan task, given the myriad deficiencies of the force. But Mr Shah can take the first steps that can result in lasting change. Sindh, especially the metropolis of Karachi, needs a professional police force — and not the legally ambiguous, politically driven theatrics of men in uniform.

Mohmand bombing

A FRIDAY prayer-time bombing of a mosque in Mohmand Agency has underscored once more the national threat posed by the Jamaatul Ahrar faction of the banned TTP. From Quetta to Mohmand and Lahore to Mardan, the JuA has struck with a viciousness that sets it apart from many other militant groups. The TTP faction, though it mostly appears to operate independently of the umbrella organisation, seems to particularly relish attacking civilian targets, making it all the more dangerous and unpredictable. The Mohmand bombing may be a continuation of a recent disturbing trend, but it does raise at least two questions. First, why is the state still dabbling in the creation of so-called peace lashkars, essentially armed militias comprising locals? As the JuA spokesperson himself has claimed, the bombing was in retaliation for locals attacking and capturing TTP militants, a tactic that has long drawn the ire of militants and should have been abandoned by the state. In tribal areas, where collective responsibility and ancient customs are still deeply rooted, the locals do volunteer to protect their villages and neighbourhoods — but surely that is a practice that should not be encouraged in a place where the military has been fighting for nearly a decade now. The courage and valour of ordinary citizens should not be a substitute for the security forces doing their job of protecting the populace.

Second, what is the state doing in terms of trying to shut down the JuA’s operations inside Pakistan and across the border in eastern Afghanistan? The elimination of Umar Mansour, mastermind of the APS Peshawar attack, in a drone strike in July in Afghanistan and the designation by the US of the group as a global terrorist organisation in August means that the Americans are likely hunting JuA leader Abdul Wali aka Omar Khalid Khorasani, but the group and its leadership appear to be both elusive and tenacious. Elimination of the JuA leader may be important, but it will not immediately end the threat from the group. For that, Pakistan will need to urgently and resolutely take up the matter with Kabul. Yet, given the poor state of Pak-Afghan relations and perhaps the apprehension that the Afghan government will demand reciprocal action against the Haqqani network, the presence of the JuA in Afghanistan is not yet the topmost priority of the security establishment here. How much more blood will be shed before a forthright conversation can be had with the Afghan government?

Banks’ performance

THE latest review of the banking system released by the State Bank shows that a stubborn risk aversion still prevails in the sector. Whereas there is some increase in risk-based lending to the private sector in the quarter ending June, government securities continue to dominate bank-lending preferences even in an environment of declining interest rates. Even though the State Bank has tried to put a positive gloss on the numbers, the review clearly shows that net investments in June grew by almost 26pc in 2016 compared to the same month last year, whereas net advances increased by less than 14pc. Interest margins have shrunk, leading to a shrinking of profitability by 5.4pc, and deposit growth has also slowed, leading banks to rely more on financial borrowings to generate liquidity. Yet the most profitable route out of this state of affairs, offering up innovative products to private-sector borrowers, remains one that the banks are reluctant to take.

To be sure, the details do show some evidence of movement. The power sector is developing a healthy appetite for bank credit, a potentially encouraging sign of activity. And individual borrowers have also doubled their appetite from last year, borrowing almost Rs63bn in June this year, a potentially mixed sign. But 90pc of all investments are in government securities and deposit growth is slowing down. These are not healthy signs at all and the State Bank should elaborate on the reasons behind them, particularly when it comes to deposits. Declining interest rates are not a convincing reason for a slowdown in deposit growth. Perhaps the withholding tax on bank transactions has played a role, and if that is the case it deserves closer scrutiny. Whatever the reasons, the fact remains that the numbers contained in the review actually paint a very mixed picture, and the attempts of the State Bank to assert that they indicate a revival of economic activity could easily be seen as misplaced optimism.

Source: Editorials
Published in Dawn September 18th, 2016

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The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion !

TIES WITH RUSSIA
THE timing may be incidental or perhaps fortuitous for Pakistan but the arrival of a 70-man Russian squad, led by the chief of the general staff of the Russian armed forces, for joint drills with elements of Pakistan`s counterterrorism units has more to it than mere symbolism. That Moscow ignored Indian pique at the very thought of the Russian read former Soviet military hobnobbing with its Pakistani counterpart shows Moscow`s wish to reciprocate Islamabad`s quest for a better relationship with a country with which it has had a long, egregious association. For Moscow, there are bitter memories Pakistan was a member of the US-led military alliances; the U-2 incident occurred at the height of the Cold War when the spy plane shot down over the USSR had taken off from a US base in this country; and, finally, Pakistan played the most crucial part in the Soviet retreat from Afghanistan by serving as the conduit for America`s overt and covert aid to its pampered anti-Soviet mujahideen.

The end of the Cold War has provided Islamabad with an opportunity to forge a new level of ties with Moscow, though the process has been painfully slow. Let`s not forget that, even though President Vladimir Putin postponed his visit to Pakistan in October 2012, he had the vision to reaffirm his desire to improve relations with Pakistan and told the then president Asif Ali Zardari in a letter that the two countries should `jointly enhance our efforts` to have `mutually beneficial trade and economic projects`. Moscow now seems to have overcome the trauma of Soviet dismemberment and feels strong enough to assert its Great Power status. It is watching the situation in Southwest and South Asia carefully and, for exactly these reasons, needs Islamabad`s attention. While Pakistan must indeed diversify its defence purchase sources, it must not ignore the limitless opportunities which a closer economic and technological partnership with Moscow of fers. Russia is one of the world`s most scientifically developed nations and has a vast reservoir of skilled manpower. It has immense natural resources, oil and gas being only two of them. The monument to our economic cooperation with Russia is the unfortunately, now rotting Pakistan Steel. Reviving it with Russian help is one of the many benefits this country could reap from a renewed and robust friendship.

The Foreign Office may not feel happy about this reminder, but the bitter truth is that Pakistan is haunted by diplomatic isolation.

The world`s silence on the slaughter going on in India-held Kashmir is a pointer to this reality. With the focus of global economic and geopolitical power moving east, Russia a large Eurasian landmass with nine time zones must form an integral part of Pakistan`s development strategy without this country`s ties with its traditional sources of economic and military cooperation being compromised.

Altaf's Call
THE internal tumult that the MQM has been experiencing ever since its supremo, Altaf Hussain, made an incendiary speech last month has been manifesting itself publicly in strange ways. The latest episode involves an audio clip, attributed to the London-based leader, floating around cyberspace in which Mr Hussain has asked the MQM`s lawmakers sitting in the country`s legislatures to tender mass resignations and get a fresh mandate.

While, once upon a time, one call from the `Quaid-i-Tehreek` would have energised his zealous cadres and unleashed a wave of fear and uncertainty across Karachi, today things are a little more subdued.

At most, the audio clip has sparked a war of words between the Londonand Karachi-based factions, with Twitter being the primary battleground, while some of the party`s lawmakers have questioned the authenticity of the recording. Regardless of the logic behind the call for resignations, the clip has exposed apparently deep fissures within the Muttahida. Clearly, the loyalist faction in London is toeing a hard line and promising to stick by the `Quaid` come hell or high water. The Farooq Sattar-led faction in Pakistan is of course playing a more pragmatic hand, knowing well that defending Altaf Hussain`s outbursts will only add to their troubles with the establishment, and alienate the mainstream voter. For example, the unprecedented resolution passed by the Sindh Assembly the other day fully supported by the MQM`s lawmakers calling for Mr Hussain to be tried for treason, is a clear sign that the local leadership considers the man in London to be a liability.

As for the content of Mr Hussain`s latest appeal, the Muttahida`s lawmakers have done the right thing by ignoring calls for mass resignations. There is no need to create a vacuum and add to uncertainty and instability, which would be the natural outcome were the lawmakers to quit the legislatures. For the MQM after the dust settles where its internal power struggles are concerned the party must look to the 2018 elections and work towards convincing its constituents that rather than being a personality cult, it is a genuine political party with urban Sindh voters` best interests at heart. Meanwhile, the authorities should also consider releasing Karachi`s imprisoned mayor, the MQM`s Waseem Akhtar, as unless he is convicted of the charges he faces, it makes little sense for the city`s highest elected official to be kept behind bars.

Monetary Policy
IT has taken them a long time, but finally the State Bank has come around to the view that the deteriorating situation on the external sector presents risks to macroeconomic stability. The latest monetary policy statement says `the current account deficit is at the risk of widening further owing to declining exports and rising imports`. This is a departure from its usually sunny pronouncements throughout last year as the stresses on the external sector mounted.

In May, for example, it could talk about the `stability in the balance of payments` which owed itself to `[sjteady workers remittances and lower oil prices`. Never mind that exports and FDI were showing deteriorating numbers. As late as July 30, the State Bank could still say that `[t]rends in the external sector are likely to continue in FY17`, even though evidence of worsening was mounting.

It appears the large spike in the current account deficit during the first two months of this fiscal year tipped the balance. The deficit rose by 93pc compared to the same period last year, making it difficult to paper over it by pointing towards remittances and inflows from creditors. There may well be a continued expansion in the economy, in terms of output, from CPEC projects and development spending by the government. But the quality of this expansion needs further comment because it is accompanied by a massive slowdown in agriculture and textiles. The announcement has a short focus on monetary aggregates, and briefly mentions `ongoing stability in the market interest rates`, which have come down all through the year. But again, whether this is healthy or not depends on who you ask. Banks are scrambling to find quality lenders, but the search is taking the form of a price war to bag public-sector borrowers instead of a ramped-up effort to introduce innovative products or venture into areas starved of credit like small and medium enterprises or agriculture. Given the mixed picture, it was prudent to keep interest rates constant.

ISOLATION is a word bandied about all too easily when it comes to discussing Pakistan’s place in the international community. In this century alone, seemingly every other year there has been alarmist rhetoric, by external rivals and internal political neophytes that Pakistan is on the verge of global isolation. ‹ Indeed, isolation and its more draconian cousin, containment, are issues that no country with a modicum of international trade linkages and an interest in being part of the modern world should ever take lightly. No country should want to be in the situation that, for example, North Korea is in, notwithstanding the ties that country has had to Pakistan over the years. Yet, hyperbole and overwrought commentary aside, there are clearly problems that Pakistan has to contend with on the external front.


The call by Sri Lanka to postpone the Saarc summit may have been a mere formality given the earlier withdrawals, but the very fact that the Sri Lankan government felt it necessary to state that the “prevailing environment in the region is not conducive” to holding the summit is telling. Moreover, the condemnation by Sri Lanka of “terrorism in all its forms and manifestations” should not go unnoticed. A change of government in Sri Lanka in January 2015 installed an Indialeaning administration in that country, but Pakistan-Sri Lanka ties are decades old and military and diplomatic cooperation have historically been reliable. With Bangladesh, Bhutan, Afghanistan and, of course, India already having declined to attend the November summit in Islamabad, five of seven
countries in Pakistan’s immediate neighbourhood are unwilling to attend a symbolic conference in the nation’s capital. Surely, that must call for some serious debate — a debate that goes beyond passionate denunciations of Indian machinations.

‹ Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Khurshid Shah has already made a sensible call for a joint session of parliament to discuss tensions with India and such a session can easily be expanded to discussing the overall regional security and diplomatic environment. Admittedly, joint sessions have not yielded substantive policy inputs in recent years, but they have become a symbol of democratic counsel, and command the attention of policymakers and sections of the public. If opposition politicians can resist grandstanding and unnecessary political attacks and the government can demonstrate a genuine interest in parliamentary debate, a joint session could help at least frame a debate about Pakistan’s foreign policy and national security policies more effectively. By any rational measure, Pakistan is far from isolated internationally. Yet, it is undeniable that countries with which Pakistan has had long-standing relationships — relationships that are worth protecting and nurturing — are increasingly uneasy with this country’s perceived policies. To the extent that Pakistan has legitimate interests to protect, it must do so robustly and without fear of outside opinion. Surely, however, more effective diplomacy is called for.

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NOW that the long-awaited PTI rally in Raiwind has been held, a number of important questions need to be asked. Foremost amongst these is what exactly has been achieved? No doubt the rally itself was a larger affair than most people were ‹ anticipating, but, given that its main purpose was to command the headlines, it cannot be said to have been successful. The announcement of a ‘final showdown’ was met with jaded applause because it was only the latest in a series of such dramatic announcements by party leader Imran Khan. If he is trying to build momentum for his electoral campaign, then sustaining it for another year and a half will prove to be a burden, especially given the prevailing discord within the party.

But there is an important fact that must be kept in mind after the follies of this style of perpetual protest have been pointed out — along with the personal nature of the attack by holding the rally near the private residence of the prime minister. That fact is that the PTI has a legitimate point in pursuing its politics of protest. There is, indeed, a dire need for accountability in the wake of the Panama Papers disclosures, and no amount of cynical acceptance of the questionable financial practices prevailing in the country should be allowed to cloud that truth. What else is the party supposed to do if all paths to pursuing the matter appear to be blocked? If no institution of state, from the tax authorities to law enforcement to the regulators, is able to raise questions about the concealed assets revealed by the Panama Papers — and allegations against the prime minister’s family stand out on this count — then should political parties simply give up their efforts? Obviously not. Since it is difficult to find a way of pursuing accountability within the system, they are not left with much choice but to protest. If such a vital matter is clouded by the distressing events on the Pak-India front, it is unfortunate but not a reason to drop the matter. Keeping that in mind, the PTI’s protest campaign, even if it is not likely to produce results and is quite often disruptive, can still be seen as justified by other opposition parties — unless, of course, the government decides to take corrective steps, and investigates the allegations to show that it is serious about addressing corruption-related concerns.




IN these times of terrorist violence, securing religious gatherings in Muharram — especially during the month’s first 10 days — is a major administrative task. Countrywide, hundreds of mourning assemblies and processions of varying sizes are organised during this period, and gatherings in the major urban centres can attract thousands of participants. In years past, Muharram-related gatherings have been attacked by extremists with deadly consequences, but over the past few months sectarian violence — both targeted killings and masscasualty attacks — has come down noticeably. As news reports have indicated, the authorities in different parts of the country are going through the paces, gearing up to ensure security during Muharram. For example, the Sindh chief minister has called for a ban on pillion riding from the 8th to the 10th of the lunar month, while cellular and internet services will also reportedly be blocked on Ashura. Meanwhile, the administration in Islamabad has imposed a ban on a number of clerics from different sects to ensure that communal peace prevails.

Despite the drop in sectarian violence in the run-up to Muharram, the state must remain vigilant as militant elements are always on the lookout for ‘soft’ targets to strike. For example, on Eidul Azha militants tried to attack a Shia congregation in Sindh’s Shikarpur district. While militant groups may well be lying low, many of their political patrons — especially of the more sectarian variety — are very much active; the state must keep a close eye on these elements.
Moreover, clerics of all denominations bear a major responsibility to not misuse the pulpit; at a time when religious passions are running high, provocative speeches can have destructive consequences, especially in cities and towns known to be sectarian flashpoints. And in this age of social media and ‘instant’ news, even local flare-ups can spread like wildfire on a national scale. The ulema, community leaders and the state must all put in extra efforts to ensure that Muharram is observed safely across Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2016

http://www.dawn.com/newspaper/editorial/

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"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling ,but in rising every time we fall". (Nelson Mandela)

Fourth Schedule in disarray

ONE would imagine that a document listing individuals described as “proscribed persons under the law” would be of paramount importance for a country in the throes of a do-or-die battle against militancy. However, the confusion surrounding the Fourth Schedule of the Anti Terrorism Act 1997, which catalogues precisely such individuals, is symptomatic of the way in which the state has approached the fight against militancy — scattered, disjointed and incoherent. For one, it seems the government has not bothered to keep the document updated. A consolidated list provided to Nacta by the provinces, GB, AJK and Islamabad contains around 8,000 names. However, according to a senior interior ministry official cited in this paper, 20pc of these people may be dead, while another 5pc have either left the country or are too old and infirm to pose any threat. Secondly, the law is not being applied even in the case of individuals included in it for apparently legitimate reasons. It is difficult to comprehend this lackadaisical approach. According to Section 11EE of the ATA, the Fourth Schedule is to include “any person who is an activist, office-bearer or an associate of an organisation kept under observation … or proscribed … or … affiliated with any group or organisation suspected to be involved in terrorism or sectarianism”.

In order to prevent such individuals from disseminating their extremist/militant ideologies, the same section of the ATA places severe limitations on their social interactions. For example, with certain caveats, they are not allowed to visit institutions where persons under 21 years of age study, receive training or are housed permanently or temporarily. The same goes for public places such as restaurants, television and radio stations or airports. Neither can they be found at the scene of public meetings or processions, or in an enclosed location in connection with any public event. Nevertheless, on Thursday the leader of the banned ASWJ, Maulvi Ahmed Ludhianvi, was invited to the inauguration in Rawalpindi of the new building of the Taleemul Quran madressah which was burnt down during sectarian violence in November 2013. At the same time, the ASWJ leader, who recently returned from Haj without any impediment, is also among the 2,021 individuals on the Fourth Schedule whose accounts were ordered frozen by the State Bank a few days ago, also under a provision of the ATA.

Inconsistencies like these, of which there are many examples, serve only to degrade and diminish the government’s efforts against militancy; and embolden the very elements it claims to be fighting. The Fourth Schedule is a vital corollary of the National Action Plan: it should be rationalised and streamlined so that action is directed where required. Only a cohesive counterterrorism effort, in which all aspects are in sync, can triumph over the complex, multilayered problem that we face.

Defusing tensions

NO escalation, no increase in tensions desired and no warmongering — the message from DG ISPR Lt-Gen Asim Bajwa from the Line of Control was both clear and welcome. The combination of the Uri attacks and Indian claims of so-called surgical strikes had raised the spectre of escalating violence across the LoC and the Working Boundary and the frightening possibility of conflict spreading beyond the disputed Kashmir region. While the facts about both the Uri attack and the Indian claims of strikes across the LoC have yet to be established, the leaderships of the two countries do appear to be aware of the dangers of brinkmanship in an overheated political environment. Of course, far more sensible and a great deal more welcome would have been if the Uri attack had not precipitated over-the-top rhetoric by India, and, instead, diplomatic channels had been activated to ascertain the facts as quickly as possible. Nevertheless, the belated onset of good sense by India and Pakistan’s measured, restrained response throughout suggest that bilateral tensions may soon subside from the present acutely and unacceptably high level.

Surely, however, if tensions are to subside and Pakistan and India find a way to address each other’s concerns through diplomatic dialogue, the political leaderships of the two countries need to re-examine their conduct. On the Pakistani side, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and the PML-N government have been virtually invisible at a time of serious Pak-India tensions. Yes, there was a cabinet meeting and the government has issued several statements, but none of the national security forums that are within the civilian ambit have been activated and the prime minister himself has kept a remarkably low profile. Being anonymous in a time of crisis will make it that much harder for the government to bring to bear its influence on foreign policy and national security. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi needs to reconsider his approach of ignoring altogether the elected government in Pakistan. Whatever Mr Modi may believe, it serves neither country’s interests when an elected government is progressively shunned by a myopic leadership on the other side.

Helmets for bikers

IT is the unhappy but mandated task of governments everywhere to enact legislation and enforce laws aimed at keeping the citizenry safe, even if the latter is initially myopic and reluctant to comply. This is the context in which the Sindh government’s latest drive for traffic safety must be placed. In recent days, the administration has been running an advertisement campaign underscoring the need for motorcyclists and pillion riders to don helmets. In attempting to enforce the law, the Sindh government lags behind other places, with Punjab, KP and Islamabad having shown resolve in ensuring the wearing of helmets and seatbelts years ago. While it must be admitted that the results have been mixed — there always exist elements that try to get away with non-compliance — there is certainly greater awareness amongst road users now. The Sindh government must be commended for finally following suit.

That said, the governments of Sindh and all the other provinces need reminding that blindly issuing tickets to those who refuse to comply with the law is only part of the task. Consider, for example, the reports emanating from Karachi recently that in the wake of the recent crackdown, vendors of motorcycle helmets have raised their prices. Such malpractice needs to be checked, while it must be ensured that the protective gear available in the market meets safety and quality standards — greater demand can easily open the doors for substandard equipment. Further, the requirement for pillion riders to wear helmets has in some quarters raised hackles insofar as women are concerned. Yet the populace needs reminding that regardless of local apparel traditions, female pillion riders are also deserving of protection. Perhaps a concurrent awareness-raising campaign in this regard would help convince people of the importance of this. Meanwhile, state authorities should take heart from international experience, where the stringent enforcement of the law has eventually led to voluntary compliance.

Published in Dawn October 3rd, 2016

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To succeed,look at things not as they are,but as they can be.:)

Mining tragedy

BEHIND the words outlining the facts lies a world of tragedy and horror, leavened though it may be by some shining examples of human comradeship. On the evening of Sept 24, the rope of a makeshift lift carrying four Chinese engineers and a Pakistani electrician snapped, and the conveyance fell 1,000m down the shaft of the Dudder lead and zinc mine in Balochistan’s Lasbela district. Two of the engineers managed to make their way out, but the others remained trapped. Of these, the two trapped Chinese engineers also in due course found a way to exit, but finding the electrician still missing, they headed back into the shaft in a rescue bid. They took with them the safety basics, but contact with them was soon lost. Now, with water flooding the shaft to a depth of 90m and the power system providing electricity and ventilation having been destroyed, there is little hope of the three men being found alive. Sadly enough, the rescue work was suspended on Sunday. Though all hope must not be given up, those of us who can continue to derive joy from the blue sky might want to take a moment to reflect on what these men must have suffered, and the courage it would have taken to head back into that shaft.

The tragedy should indeed provide a reason to ask how many such incidents and how many deaths it will take for Pakistan to take action to rectify the abysmal safety conditions that prevail in its mines. According to the miners’ trade union authorities, up to a dozen men die every month during mining work. Again and again, tragedy produces hue and cry but little actually changes. The deaths of nine coal miners in Balochistan’s Loralai district in February produced the expected responses — but not much else, unfortunately. Surely, the men who enter the tunnels and shafts to dig up the country’s buried wealth deserve more than the callousness displayed by both state and society.

Impediments to CPEC projects

IT appears the bouquet of power-sector projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has hit a number of road blocks of late. The latest in a series of snags that these projects have run into is the Matiari to Lahore transmission line, the first private-sector initiative in power transmission that Pakistan has seen. The line is vital to the overall CPEC vision because it will carry additional power to be generated under numerous other CPEC power-generation projects in Sindh, including Tharparkar and Hub in Karachi. If the line is not built, that additional generation capacity will have no means to get to load centres in Punjab, rendering it redundant. Given the $2.1bn cost of the line, the Chinese were asked to build the project, but the tariff that they wanted was higher than what the regulator, Nepra, could allow. The net result has been a stalemate of sorts for almost a year now. In August, Nepra approved a tariff of 71 paisa per unit, but the Chinese want a tariff of 95 paisa instead, 30pc higher, and the government is spinning all its wheels to persuade the regulator to grant the revised tariff.

This is not the first time that we have seen a large CPEC project run into financial difficulties. Earlier, the complex of power plants envisioned at Gadani was scrapped because of the costs of building the jetty. Many investments in the Quaid-i-Azam Solar Park in Punjab have landed up in litigation because the government cannot honour the upfront solar tariff it offered to woo the Chinese. A large coal-fired power plant to be built in Kallar Kahar has also been scrapped due to an escalation in cost, while the Thar coal plants have landed up in litigation because of the costs of compliance with environmental regulations.

The fact that all of these were scrapped at advanced stages of execution shows the lack of foresight while highlighting the abundance of triumphant rhetoric under which these projects were being carried out. In almost every case, it is being discovered that the hidden costs are large enough to erode whatever cost advantages the projects are supposed to bring. Accommodating these costs in every case runs the risk of creating a separate class of investor in the power sector that enjoys privileged access to the sector’s resources, from revolving funds to dollar-denominated settlement and a special security force. This situation must be avoided to safeguard the future integrity of power-sector investments. And the temptation to simply pass all these costs on to the consumers must also be resisted. If the investment coming under CPEC cannot justify itself on financial grounds, then it is worth considering why we should go down this path rather than walk the hard road of power reforms to promote competitiveness instead.

Women as property

LAWS enacted in Pakistan that guarantee equality and protection for women have never been extended to Fata. Treated as personal property, their fate tied to tribal customs or riwaj, tribal women have limited recourse to the law under the colonial-era FCR. Because the underlying component of tribal society is patriarchal, women must live by the rules of engagement set by men. This is the context of a report in this paper over the weekend that focuses on the appalling practice of buying and selling women, a custom codified under Turizona law in Kurram Agency. Established under British rule in 1944, this law allows for tribal women to be purchased like cattle for the purposes of matrimony and at varying price tags — rasmana or money that the heirs of a woman receive when she is sold. Her price depends on whether she is single, married, widowed or even abducted. Indeed, such sordid customs — vulvar and swara included — must have no legal standing whatsoever in the 21st century. The challenge is to ensure that anti-women customary laws are not codified in the process of instituting reforms in Fata. However, pro-women reforms will not be widely accepted without changing the perceptions of tribal men. This is doable through education and instituting gender equality via legal and political reforms. One way to weaken tradition is to repeal outmoded laws that are replete with inhumane and discriminatory clauses.

Surely the government knows that what is due to women needs attention in the tribal region; laws justifying customs deny them their right to gender equality and fuel religious intolerance and violence, whether they disenfranchise women or subject them to forced marriages to settle feuds. The latter is criminalised in the rest of the country, but not in Fata. Even though political agents have appellate power over jirgas, they acquiesce in decisions adversely impacting women. The superior court’s jurisdiction must be extended to Fata so that women can seek constitutional protection. That their lives have been gravely threatened by militancy and disrupted by military operations further underscores the necessity of removing legally enshrined gender-based discrimination when mainstreaming Fata. If ever there was the right moment for debate around reforming a much-neglected region and the status of its women, this is it. Further, for counter-insurgency to succeed, women as one of the most affected groups must be at the core of peace-building and political decision-making.

Published in Dawn October 4th, 2016

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To succeed,look at things not as they are,but as they can be.:)

Missed opportunity

ANOTHER multiparty conference, another missed opportunity. The political leadership of the country gathered in Islamabad on Monday at the invitation of the prime minister to discuss the national security and foreign policy challenges created by the recent Pak-India tensions. There were several substantive things that the leadership could have discussed, agreed upon and highlighted in the joint statement afterwards. Instead, the political leadership opted for an anodyne, instantly forgettable and regrettable set of talking points. Solidarity was expressed with the people of India-held Kashmir; unity on matters of unspecified national importance was reiterated; support was extended for the armed forces; and condemnation and lamentations of various Indian acts were voiced. It was both unedifying and unimaginative, and certainly did not behove an assemblage of the senior-most political leaders in the country. Consider that the single concrete proposal in the communiqué was a call to reconstitute the national security committee of parliament — a move that hardly required such an extraordinary gathering.

That the so-called parliamentary group leaders were unable to draft anything meaningful bodes ill for the joint parliamentary session. Perhaps, however, the joint session will be free of the shackles and sensitivities of political rivals being invited to the Prime Minister’s Office. If that does prove to be the case — though hopes cannot be too high at the moment — there are several things that parliament could discuss that are relevant to Pakistan’s internal security and its external situation. Specifically, parliament could be told about the true status of the country’s relationship with various international powers and informed why there is a growing perception of a drift towards regional and international isolation. How is it that a country of nearly 200m people with a reasonable economy and located at a self-declared geo-strategically vital centre is the subject of a relentless barrage of criticism and dissatisfaction by large chunks of the very international community that it wants to deepen its engagement with?

A frank assessment would also call for asking several tough questions domestically. Why, given the stated policy under NAP and countless statements by the political and military leadership, is a zero-tolerance policy against militants of all hues not yet visible? Why are several banned militant groups still able to operate openly and seemingly with impunity across the country? How is it that Pakistan is unable to even investigate certain alleged militant leaders and their cadres at a time of military courts and other constitutional distortions targeting anti-Pakistan militants? To ask those questions is not to internalise the blame for the cacophonous and myriad external allegations made against Pakistan. Surely, however, if Pakistan is to remain a responsible member of the international community, it must accept a certain set of responsibilities towards that community. What the parliamentary leaders’ group could not ask, parliament should: why is Pakistan ostensibly doing everything it can and yet drifting further away from a global consensus?

Overseas workers’ dues

CONSIDERING the decades-old Saudi-Pakistan economic relationship, and the fact that around 2.6m Pakistanis work in the kingdom, citizens of this country are beginning to feel the pinch of the ongoing Saudi labour crisis. Over the past few weeks, hundreds of Pakistani workers have returned home due to financial hardships that several major Saudi firms — especially in the construction sector — have been facing. Last month, around 300 individuals were flown back to Rawalpindi, while smaller batches have been arriving in Karachi. The fact that the out-of-work labourers are back is welcome; eyewitness accounts from the workers, as well as Pakistanis still in the kingdom, suggest deplorable conditions prevailing in the camps the men had been housed in, including food shortages and lack of sanitation facilities. However, what is worrying is that many of these workers have left behind several months of pay; one recently returned worker told this newspaper that he was owed nine months of pay. Moreover, some foreign media outlets have reported that certain Saudi firms only returned their workers’ passports after securing promises that the men would not pursue claims of delayed wages.

Pakistan is not the only country affected by the Saudi labour crisis; thousands of workers from India, the Philippines and other states are in similarly dire straits. There have even been extremely rare strikes in the kingdom — which have included Saudi workers — over delayed pay, while the kingdom has also recently announced cutbacks in the salaries and privileges of ministers and other public servants. All these indicators point to the fact that the Saudi labour crisis, and, in fact, the overall Saudi financial crisis triggered by the drop in oil income, won’t be resolved anytime soon. The Pakistani state must use its good offices with the Saudi government to ensure the dues that workers have left behind are paid. These hardworking individuals have contributed to the economy and now, in their time of difficulty, the state must stand by them to see that their rightful wages are paid. In the longer term, a contingency plan is needed so that the returning workers are either absorbed locally, or sent to other foreign labour markets for employment. As things stand, the economic stability of the petrodollar-fuelled Gulf sheikhdoms looks a little shaky too, and Pakistan must be prepared for the fallout if more of its citizens are affected by financial woes in these places.

Fallout of war on refugees

ON the one hand is Afghanistan, rent apart and mired in poverty and conflict. On the other is Pakistan that has hosted over the years millions of Afghan refugees whom it can neither afford to support, nor conscionably force to return. In this situation, tragedy is an expected outcome. Since 2002, the UNHCR has facilitated the voluntary return of over 3.5m registered Afghans from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Even so, some 1.5m remain, a fair number of whom are either born or have been bred in this country, or who are deeply invested here through livelihood or marriage to Pakistani citizens. No wonder, then, that there are a multitude of heartrending accounts. Consider the case of hundreds of Afghan musicians based in Peshawar who, as reported by this newspaper on Monday, are packing up to return to a country that is theirs in name but that they hardly know. Reportedly, some 80pc of Afghan artists have already left the city, not necessarily because they wanted to but because their status as aliens was being brought to bear against them. But back ‘home’, what many of them will face is grinding poverty and subsistence living, Afghanistan not being a country that can generally be considered conducive to the arts, regardless of the few admirable initiatives in Kabul.

It is necessary for Pakistan to acknowledge the contribution of Afghan musicians who have kept alive certain strands of musical tradition here, and who have introduced several barely remembered instruments. Yet it must also not be forgotten that musicians are hardly alone in their participation in the Pakistani culture and economy. The authorities in Pakistan need reminding that the repatriation programme for registered Afghans is — and must remain — voluntary, and on no account should space for them be squeezed. As for Afghanistan, it can only be hoped that the government will do its utmost to settle and find livelihood for all who choose to return, especially those in fields that are out of the ordinary.

Source: Editorials
Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2016

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