Corporate governance reform

GOING by the early hype surrounding the forthcoming Companies Bill 2016, it would appear that the proposed legislation is gearing up to fill a major gap in Pakistan’s code of corporate governance. We are told by the SECP chairman that the bill will empower the government to demand information on the beneficial owners of foreign companies that are registered in Pakistan. The current law, passed in 1984, does not allow the SECP to ask any questions about the investors involved in the offshore parent of any locally registered company. The absence of these powers was cited by the SECP as a major hindrance to carrying out any investigations of private parties in the wake of the Panama Papers disclosure. If it is true that the SECP is now moving to plug this hole, then it could be a meaningful step towards an updated corporate governance regime that takes into account contemporary realities.

Over the years, as Pakistan’s economy liberalised and opened up to greater participation by private capital, both foreign and domestic, a range of legislation was put in place to provide protections to owners of private capital. These included laws like the Protection of Economic Reforms Act (PERA) of 1992, cited today as the greatest hindrance to investigating money trails associated with offshore companies, as well as a failure with regard to updating the Companies Ordinance of 1984. Our money-laundering legislation was toothless, as well as the disclosure regime mandated upon non-listed private companies. Net result has been the gradual opening up of a vast space of unaccounted for, and unaccountable, money trails along which billions of dollars can travel with little to no scrutiny.

All our laws relating to the governance and regulation of companies with offshore ownership are now in dire need of being updated. Listed companies operate under a strong disclosure regime, but private companies with offshore ownership can enjoy the best of both worlds: the opacity of their disclosure requirements as well as the protections afforded to their foreign transactions. One thing the Panama Papers controversy ought to have taught us — unfortunately, the politics unleashed by the disclosures overshadowed this — is the importance of updating our legislation to ensure that clauses meant for protecting investors are not being abused to shield wrongdoing such as money laundering. The new bill apparently is trying to do some of this by mandating disclosure requirements regarding directors of offshore companies with registered offices in Pakistan, as well as holding the company and its directors accountable for any money laundering either might undertake. If this turns out to be true, as promised by the SECP chairman, it would be a step to emulate in other legislation as well, starting with PERA.

NDTV blackout

IT does not augur well when the state plays a role in sanctioning the media for supposed transgressions. In the first-ever instance of an Indian television channel being subjected to a blackout by the government of India, NDTV has been ordered off the air for a day on Nov 9 as a penalty for its coverage of the Pathankot airbase attack earlier this year. An inter-ministerial committee concluded that the channel had disclosed “strategically sensitive” details about the airbase while broadcasting news of the incident that took place on Jan 2. The committee’s official report alleged that the information could potentially have been used to cause “massive harm” to the lives of civilians and defence personnel as well as military equipment at the site. The Editors’ Guild of India has issued a strongly worded condemnation of the action against the channel as being a violation of media freedom and demanded the decision be rescinded.

While we are not in a position to judge the veracity of the allegations against NDTV in this instance — and there are indeed certain protocols attached to covering terrorist attacks in a responsible way — it is unacceptable for the state itself to take punitive action in such matters. The media in both established and aspiring democracies has always been chary of government regulations pertaining to its conduct because of the obvious possibility of partisan intervention by the state. Last year, NDTV ran a blank screen for an hour in protest against the Indian government ban on airing a documentary about a notorious gang rape in Delhi, thus pushing back against government attempts at content control. In most instances, therefore, the media follows a system of self-regulation, with varying degrees of success. However, it cannot afford to be complacent about its freedom or resort to self-censorship that undermines its very raison d’être — that of being a mechanism of public accountability. Last month, during the nationalistic frenzy that suffused the Indian media over purported cross-border ‘surgical strikes’, NDTV — seen as more temperate than other Indian channels — engaged in the extraordinary feat of muzzling itself when it chose to not air an interview with P. Chidambaram, the former home minister who questioned those claims of military adventurism. As NDTV is now finding out, governments with an authoritarian streak will use any opportunity they can to encroach on the media’s independence and circumscribe its watchdog role in ways both subtle and otherwise.

Returning militants

AMONG the decisions taken by Sindh’s apex committee during its meeting on Thursday in Karachi was the move to compile a list of people “who have been to Afghanistan, Iran and Syria” recently, with emphasis on madressah students. Presumably, the committee has taken this initiative out of concern that extremist fighters from the Middle East’s battlegrounds — as well as other regional conflicts — may be planning to return to this country. This is a wise move and should be replicated across the nation. Media reports indicate that thousands of foreign fighters, hailing from across the globe, have headed to Iraq and Syria since 2011 to fight for the militant Islamic State group and other jihadi outfits. Many of these militants have returned to their home countries. And as reported in this paper in August, over 650 Pakistanis are believed to be fighting in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and the Central Asian states. In fact, the National Crisis Management Cell has sounded the alarm about local militants fighting abroad, while independent analysts have raised similar concerns. Along with locals, it is estimated that some foreign fighters may also try and seek refuge in Pakistan.

With IS on the back foot with the Iraqi advance on Mosul and with the terrorist group also being pounded in Syria, there is indeed a very real chance that Pakistani fighters — along with some of their foreign comrades — may be looking to return to these shores. As it is, the presence of many sectarian and jihadi non-state actors in this country is a troubling reality. The prospect, therefore, of battle-hardened and even more radicalised fighters returning to Pakistan is not a pleasant one. The state must actively monitor any inflow of foreign-returned fighters. Despite a number of mass-casualty attacks in Pakistan over the years, this country has been spared the type of brutal violence that has ripped Syria and Iraq apart. To prevent the situation from deteriorating, it is essential that foreign-returned militants do no open a new front in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn November 5th, 2016

Centralised decision-making

IN the minutiae, the government may have had a legal and a constitutional case to make: the laws governing the executive can be interpreted differently and all governments seek to maximise executive power and discretion. But the Supreme Court is unquestionably the final interpreter of what the law permits and it has sought to use its power to a manifestly good end: curbing political leaders’ impulse to centralise decision-making and exercise power in office imperiously. In dismissing the federal government’s review petition against a Supreme Court judgement limiting the prime minister’s ability to act in fiscal matters without consulting the federal cabinet, the court has pushed back against arbitrary decision-making by the chief executive of the country, the elected prime minister. The government may feel aggrieved and try and preserve what it sees as the prime minister’s sweeping constitutional powers, but it — and the country — would be better served if a basic question was considered: why should consulting the cabinet on all fiscal decisions be so problematic?

If the government were operating smoothly, efficiently and routinely through the appropriate institution, it might make sense to contest the finer points of the law and seek greater constitutional space for the chief executive to act in certain areas. But this government in particular appears to have an arrogant, dismissive attitude towards institutional decision-making. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif himself encourages the trend with his attitude towards parliament and his own cabinet. Rare is the occasion that he visits parliament. When he does, his party gives the impression that he is doing parliament and the country a favour by making an appearance. The federal cabinet too is largely ignored and kept collectively idle, until there is political capital to be reaped. That the government made a point of convening a cabinet meeting on the day Imran Khan was to have laid siege to Islamabad tells a story of its own — the cabinet deployed as a political tool rather than a chief instrument of governance. Then there are the critical inter-provincial bodies such as the CCI that are routinely ignored. Public regulatory and oversight bodies are also understaffed, under-resourced and regarded as an inconvenience.

The government is occasionally right when it complains that sensible and efficient decision-making by the executive is compromised by excessive interference by other institutions and encroachment on the executive’s constitutional domain. But there is a line between rule-based, constitutional decision-making powers and arbitrariness and authoritarianism. Too often this government gives the impression that it sees the structures of the state as inconveniences that are to be bypassed. Democracy is as much about strong institutions as it is about a legitimately elected government. Winning elections is not a pass to damaging institutions.

Market dynamited

APPLYING a draconian law dating back to 1901 at a time when efforts are under way to bring in more progressive legislation is counter-intuitive at best and counterproductive at worst. On Friday, local authorities in South Waziristan’s headquarters of Wana dynamited a two-storey building known as Al-Muhib market in the town’s sprawling Rustom bazaar. Around 130 shops were destroyed in the explosion, which was carried out under the collective responsibility clauses of the Fata-specific Frontier Crimes Regulation. The punitive action was in response to the death of a major and injuries to several others on Nov 1 when an IED was detonated during a search operation by military personnel at the same market. A curfew had been imposed on the entire bazaar since the incident, forcing the closure of 6,000-plus shops, with the security forces taking control of the area.

No one can deny that mopping up pockets of militancy still remaining in the northern areas is a complex task fraught with hazards. However, resorting to archaic concepts of retribution will only reinforce the grievances of Fata residents and underscore that they are unequal before the law in their own country. In fact, a redressal of this sense of alienation — engendered by virtue of living under a political, administrative and legal system divorced from the rest of Pakistan — was considered critical enough to be included in the National Action Plan. One of the FCR’s many clauses that are an affront to notions of fundamental rights is the concept of collective punishment whereby an entire group can be made to suffer the consequences of transgressions by a few people, or even an individual. Decimating the livelihoods of scores of shopkeepers and the resulting hardship for their dependents will not win hearts and minds in a region that remains vulnerable to militant inroads, where those internally displaced from recent military operations are still in the process of returning home. The move towards integrating Fata into Pakistan’s constitutional fabric has been far too long in coming. Although certain amendments were made to the FCR in 2011 to dilute some of its harshest clauses, it is only now with the Fata Reforms Committee having come out with concrete proposals that we may be on the cusp of seeing the sun set on that notorious piece of legislation. This is a historic opportunity to ensure that residents of Fata are never again subjected to primitive codes of conduct.

Karachi sectarian attacks

DESPITE efforts by the state to bring peace to Karachi, sectarian killings in the metropolis continue, putting a question mark on official claims. Within a week, over 10 people have been murdered in the Sindh capital in suspected sectarian attacks. On Friday, six people were gunned down in different parts of Karachi. Three men, reportedly workers of the banned Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, were shot dead while returning from a rally organised by the outfit. In the other incidents, two members of the relatively apolitical Tableeghi Jamaat, along with a prayer leader, were murdered in separate incidents. The killings come in the wake of the recent attack on a women’s majlis in Nazimabad, in which five people, including three brothers, were murdered. Police say Friday’s violence could be a reaction to the earlier incident. On Saturday, police took into custody former PPP senator Faisal Raza Abidi in connection with the killing of the Tableeghi Jamaat members.

It is hoped these acts of violence do not inspire more tit-for-tat attacks. Community leaders, ulema and the state must all play their role in ensuring communal harmony. However, it should be reiterated that there is no Shia-Sunni conflict at the communal level in Pakistan as such. This country has thankfully been spared much of the communal frenzy witnessed in certain Middle Eastern states. Here, outfits like Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan (ASWJ’s old name) and its more virulent spin-off Lashkar-i-Jhangvi have, over the past three decades, played an instrumental role in bringing the culture of takfir (declaring others as being outside the pale of Islam) to the mainstream, along with physically eliminating the sectarian ‘others’. This, in response, gave rise to Shia militant groups such as Sipah-i-Mohammad. Throughout this period, the state’s response to the growth of sectarian militancy has been dismal, as ‘banned’ outfits have operated with relative ease. Hence, to put an end to the recurring cycles of sectarian violence, the state must permanently dismantle the outfits that provide the ideological and material support for violence.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2016

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

US presidential polls

ELECTIONS in two-party systems are meant to provide the voter a clear choice, ie alternative paths to the future that the electorate must choose between. Rarely, however, has there been an election where the choice has been so stark. Tomorrow, the US will elect as its next president either Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton or Republican nominee Donald Trump. A bitter, divisive and lengthy campaign season has exposed both candidates in a manner that is both remarkable and alarming. Both candidates are manifestly flawed at a personal level — Ms Clinton because of her closeness to a moneyed American establishment; Mr Trump because his garish life as a television celebrity and high-profile businessman has exposed a predatory mindset against women and entrenched discrimination against minorities and special-needs groups.

It is at a policy level, however, that America does have a meaningful choice between the two candidates. Ms Clinton represents a worldview that America is not fundamentally broken and on the wrong path, but it does need to adjust its economic, trade and social policies to nudge the state towards a fairer, more equitable place on the back of a strong economy. She is in many ways a continuity candidate, perhaps a sensible, safe approach in a deeply divided polity. Mr Trump is a protest leader, a candidate who has explicitly positioned himself as an avatar of the general discontent that America is suffering from. The answer, as with so many other countries suffering from economic slowdown and a reconsideration of liberal immigration and social policies, for Mr Trump is straightforward — a return to a nativist, nationalist politics built on a rejection of free trade, a return to a muscular American military posture abroad, and a social vision that returns so-called old America, read as white America by critics, to the centre of national politics. Ms Clinton is still the favourite to win, but the very fact that Mr Trump has the support of at least four out of 10 Americans and the warning by experts that polling forecasts could be wrong suggests how bitterly divided America is. It would be wrong to assume that had either party chosen another, more liked candidate, victory for that party would have been assured tomorrow.

What, though, of the day after? It is a tradition in American politics for the winning candidate to pledge to work for all Americans and to heal wounds. But the deep, gashing wounds of this extraordinary election will be difficult to heal. If Ms Clinton wins, she will still be confronted with an America that is the most divided since perhaps the Civil War. Where President Obama had to try and rescue the economy and America’s standing in the world, a Clinton presidency will have to try and salvage the very fabric of American democracy from the destructive forces that have grown inside it. If Mr Trump wins, he will have to prove he is a completely different man to the candidate who has violently marched towards the presidency. The world anxiously awaits the results.

Thalassaemia screening

PROGESSIVE moves that will have a positive impact on societal health deserve being supported whenever the opportunity presents itself. At the moment, under consideration is a draft bill which, if it becomes law, will make it mandatory for all citizens to have their blood tested before marriage, as is the case in some countries with a high incidence of the disease. The aim is to detect whether either or both of the would-be spouses are carriers of the thalassaemia gene, so that they can then factor into their decision to wed the chances of their offspring suffering from the same genetic disorder. The move has been under consideration for a while, but has been opposed by religious circles on the grounds that it would run counter to cultural norms. The Council of Islamic Ideology too has opposed making mandatory a blood test for those about to wed. Given this, the fact that the draft is being supported by Minister of State for Religious Affairs Pir Aminul Hasnat takes on greater significance. On Friday, in a joint meeting of the Senate standing committees on religious affairs and law, Mr Hasnat asserted that the issue was not related to religion but to improving the health of the nation. Replying to an objection raised by the chairman of the religious affairs committee, Mr Hasnat added that in case there were limited facilities for blood screening in the country, they should be increased.

This is just as it should be. Thalassaemia is a serious condition, and the incidence of it is not just high, but increasing, in Pakistan. As officials of the health ministry informed the Senate meeting, there are about 100,000 patients with thalassaemia major — they require regular blood transfusions — in the country, with an annual addition of 7,000 new patients. Regular blood transfusions are a lifelong necessity for persons afflicted by thalassaemia major, while there are thousands of others who are carriers of the gene but may not even be aware of it. The suffering of children with thalassaemia is heartrending, as is that of their families. Blood screening before marriage is the logical way forward, if only to make would-be spouses aware of any risks they or their children might face. Mr Hasnat’s stance deserves full support; the draft bill ought to be passed into law in a timely fashion, with the state establishing blood-screening facilities wherever they are lacking on an urgent basis.

Shuffling CPEC

THE constant changes being made to the bouquet of power projects under the CPEC umbrella shows the weak state of planning that went into the whole affair. Latest reports suggest that two more projects may have been knocked off the list due to reservations about the use of imported coal. In one case, a 660MW initiative has been disallowed completely, and in another, the project sponsors have been told to arrange foreign financing and shift to local coal, meaning their timeline has been disrupted, putting a question mark on the entire project. At the same time, the government is rushing to commission a new 1200MW plant to run on imported LNG.

The changes come after similar midcourse alterations to the terms in the solar tariff, as well as the collapse of the Salt Range coal-fired power project. Given these frequent changes, it is becoming clear that foresight and planning were missing from the launch of one of the biggest series of energy-sector investments ever in this country’s history. This is one reason why calls for greater transparency in CPEC are so pertinent. Clearly, the impact of imported coal on the external account of the country ought to have been studied long before the projects were approved, granted an upfront tariff, and issued letters of support and generation licences. The change of mind came at the Private Power and Infrastructure Board sometime in October. This is the same body that approved the projects and granted them letters of support earlier in the year. Perhaps such a strong emphasis on coal-fired power plants was never a good idea to start off with, due to their impact on the external account as well as the environment. But the way the government is changing its mind in the middle of the project timelines sends a signal to investors that Pakistan remains a high-risk country, and dampens investor enthusiasm further.

Published in Dawn, November 7th, 2016

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

Respecting the court

The Supreme Court is not a circus. It is the highest court in the land and it must be respected as such — no matter what kind of political theatre some are determined to create.

The Panama Papers issue is now a matter before the Supreme Court, and the various positions of litigants and respondents are being heard by a bench led by no less than the chief justice of Pakistan.

The court has indicated its seriousness of purpose and the politicians and respondents embroiled in the matter have publicly declared their willingness to submit to the court’s adjudication on it.

There must rest the issue until the court delivers its decision — and certainly the circus-like atmosphere created by competing political statements made to the media on the steps of the court needs to end forthwith.

If the court itself is rightly reluctant to be seen to be casting a chilling effect on free speech, especially of the political variety, perhaps the politicians themselves should reconsider their behaviour on the sacred space that is the Supreme Court.

Inside the Supreme Court, on its premises generally and in the immediate vicinity outside, politicians should refrain from bickering and making unseemly political statements. It may not be their intention but the net effect is creating a perception that the Supreme Court is being politically influenced and coming under undue pressure.

To be sure, the decision of the court could be career-altering, and perhaps life-changing, for some of the country’s political leaders. But it is firm tradition and the sound institutional practice of the Supreme Court that litigants and respondents speak through their lawyers alone.

When the court wants to hear directly from political leaders, the court will ask them to speak. What applies inside the court should also apply immediately outside it.

Hard-hitting political statements, exchange of barbs and jibes, and political banter with the Supreme Court building up in the immediate background of politicians making such statements, unacceptably drags the court into the political realm.

Where politicians are failing, it could have been expected that the country’s senior legal fraternity would behave in a more dignified manner. But there too there is a spectacle being created as senior office holders of apex legal associations trade barbs and attack each other for alleged political affiliations and politicisation of the superior judiciary.

Where lawyers are representing political clients, they can and should forcefully defend their clients’ legal position. However, legal associations and regulatory bodies must not be run as political parties.

Much like politicians contest politics, but must respect the sanctity of parliament, elected leaders of the legal community can take rival positions but must show regard for the sanctity of the judicial process. Let the Supreme Court continue its work in an environment free of undue pressure, threat or intimidation.

Khanani’s arrest

THE arrest and subsequent guilty plea submitted by what was once one of Pakistan’s biggest currency dealers raises important questions about the abilities of the country’s law enforcers. Many members of the Khanani and Kalia families were involved in their currency business and arrested back in 2008 for involvement in hundi/ hawala transactions that allegedly led huge sums of money to be ferried out of the country. Estimates provided by the FIA at the time suggested that almost 40pc of all currency transfers from Pakistan were managed by Khanani and Kalia International, and in the months leading up to the arrest of some senior company officials, including owners and employees, in November 2008, billions of dollars had been flown out of the country. Even though the FIA raided their premises and confiscated their computers, meticulously going through the records, and filed multiple cases against the company and its owners and directors, there was not a single conviction.

Yet, within two years, the US authorities not only carried out a simple sting operation but were able to arrest and persuade Altaf Khanani to plead guilty in one of their courts. How did the Pakistani authorities lose this case so badly and the US act on it so fast? The answer is not simple, and the manner in which the cases were mishandled reveals a lot. Across the board, a series of simple and difficult-to believe errors of this sort added up to acquittals for all accused and their eventual release. We could attribute this to incompetence, but it would take a very methodical sort of incompetence to achieve such a feat. Clearly, there were powerful forces at play to thwart the course of justice, and those forces apparently operated the machinery of the law very deftly through a series of interventions that were small enough to be invisible yet sufficiently meaningful to kill the case. It is difficult to point a finger at the political government of the time considering it had itself ordered the raids and investigation. The whole case presents an abiding mystery, and the recent arrest and guilty plea tell us that there was a fair amount of wrongdoing at work. It is imperative that the case be revisited in this country, and the government make a renewed attempt to seek justice in the matter in light of all the facts that have been revealed in the US court.

Nighat Dad’s award

WHEN campaigning for democracy, digital governance and security, Pakistan needs determined individuals to lead from the front. In this respect, the achievements of Nighat Dad, a lawyer and digital rights activist, are valuable. Her Digital Rights Foundation supports women victims of online violence and educates the public about online privacy settings — especially significant as information is misused online. Over the weekend, Ms Dad was awarded the Dutch government’s Human Rights Tulip Award 2016 — a well-deserved honour for upholding the right to internet expression and promoting women’s rights. Founded in 2012, Ms Dad’s not-for-profit organisation teaches women how to respond to online harassment; it has also campaigned against cybercrime legislation that gives the state powers of online surveillance. The citation explains how Ms Dad, despite receiving threats, has fought to improve adherence to human rights in a “unique and innovative way”.

In 2012, when she started talking about online privacy, women and technology were perceived an uneasy fit in Pakistan. Since then, not much has changed for women internet users who are repeatedly harassed and trolled. Given societal conservatism, shame and ‘honour’ stop women from reporting trolls. With some 23m Facebook accounts registered in Pakistan, it is primarily women, especially those in the public domain, who are subjected to cyber bullying — for instance, journalists in unpoliced spaces. With cases of online sexual harassment increasing and the FIA investigating hundreds each year, online insecurity is reflective of misogynistic offline behaviour and can contribute to a culture of real-world fear. Uncovering the identity of trolls will not always stop the abuse, although naming and shaming them often works. In the longer term, the state will need to consider, in partnership with digital rights groups, how social media can create proper online protections and a safe environment without focusing on censorship. Meanwhile, when determination drives innovation and human rights protection, it calls for praise. So does Ms Dad’s promise of realising her next project — Pakistan’s first cyber harassment helpline.

Published in Dawn November 8th, 2016

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

More carnage in Balochistan

THE blight in Balochistan continues. This time a shrine in a remote, mountainous region of Khuzdar has been attacked and the death toll and number of casualties are devastating. It was the third monstrous attack in the span of three months – lawyers killed by the dozen in August; policemen killed by the dozen in October; and, now, members of the public killed by the dozen. The numbing scale of the disasters is difficult to process even in terms of a province that has been in the throes of every possible kind of violence for over a decade. Perhaps one day the people of Balochistan will be able to ask why they were cursed to suffer the violence of state and non-state actors alike, a macabre circularity that has seen them experience bloodshed in the name of security and insecurity.

Then post-attack rituals too are wearyingly familiar. In the immediate aftermath, the state stands exposed. Neither is the state able to deliver an acceptable level of security that prevents such devastating attacks nor is it able to quickly arrange for the kind of medical attention the victims require and material attention for the victims’ families. It usually takes the extraordinary intervention of senior government or military leaders for medical care to be made available. Afterwards, it does not seem to occur to that very same leadership that what is really needed are stronger institutions and better service delivery so that if — when — another attack occurs, medical care automatically swings into action. Difficult as it may be to strengthen institutions in the midst of long-term conflict, actual performance is so dismal as to call into question the very competence and priorities of the country’s leaders. As ever, it is the citizenry that has to suffer because of the leadership’s failings.

A day later, the devastation at the Shah Noorani shrine was already receding and a congratulatory narrative taking its place because of the Gwadar port inauguration. To be sure, the potential for the economic uplift of the Gwadar region, much of Balochistan and the country itself ought to be highlighted. It is possible that the trade and transit potential of the country is on the verge of receiving a transformational boost. But security and prosperity are intrinsically linked and if the benefits of economic growth are to be equitable and fair, surely swathes of Balochistan cannot be allowed to remain under the threat of militant violence of every hue. It seems that the only constant in Balochistan is violence — political and military leaders have come and gone with several already forgotten, but somehow militancy and endemic violence appear to have found a way to normalise themselves.

World-class Karachi?

THE city of Karachi is something of an enigma. While it is Pakistan’s largest city and commercial hub, bad governance and lack of vision have turned it into an ever-expanding, lawless sprawl. The World Bank, in its Pakistan Development Update, launched on Thursday, has broken down the city’s problems in a systematic manner and offered solutions as well. It would be worth recalling what ails Karachi. Among other things, the report points out Karachi’s ad hoc planning and weak financial and institutional capacities. If we were to ask the common citizen of Karachi, he or she would offer a long list of what exactly ails this chaotic metropolis — high crime, no public transport system to speak of, monstrous traffic, water woes, broken roads, and mounds of rotting garbage strewn across town would probably top the list of complaints. It is not just the multilateral lender that has pointed out Karachi’s many faults; many respected Pakistani urban planners have been highlighting issues such as weak infrastructure and growing informality for years. But what is to be done? The World Bank says Karachi has the potential to be a “world-class” city; to achieve this, “pillars” need to be erected to put the city on firm foundations. These pillars include “coordinated institutions” and “closing infrastructure gaps”. Indeed, Karachi is blessed with many bounties, such as a natural harbour and a large populace with a variety of skills. The primary challenge is channelling its energies in a positive direction.

The solutions offered by the bank — as well as the suggestions of other experts — must all be considered. However, until there is the political will to transform these suggestions into concrete realities, the fate of this city is unlikely to change. And an empowered local government is the only solution capable of giving practical shape to these suggested remedies. Unfortunately, the Sindh government prefers to keep key local government powers, resulting in toothless and unresponsive civic institutions that are incapable of running this city. Elected local bodies — answerable to the people and overseen by the province — indeed have the potential to create a sustainable city that provides shelter to all income brackets and social groups. But unless things change on the governance front, the fear expressed in the World Bank report that “The city may be headed towards a spatially unstable, inefficient, and unliveable form”, may become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Pakistan’s frail children

ALTHOUGH figures for child survival between 1990 and 2015 have improved, the MDG that aimed for a two-thirds reduction in under-five mortality rates was not achieved. Regrettably, Pakistan is among the 10 countries in Asia and Africa where 60pc of the world’s 5.9 million children died before their fifth birthday last year, according to a new Lancet study. Focusing on 194 countries, this report identifies premature birth and pneumonia as factors in child mortality. Because the death of 2.7m children under age five occurred in the neonatal phase around the time of delivery or due to infection, governments must now focus on improving vaccination programmes, breastfeeding and water and sanitation awareness. In Pakistan, at least 10pc of all under-five deaths are caused by pneumonia. However, pneumonia vaccination coverage is inadequate with 54pc inoculated countrywide. Children with pneumonia suffer malnutrition and cognitive impairment. According to the National Nutrition Survey 2011, one-third of all children are underweight and nearly 44pc stunted. That these figures have hardly changed over two decades is shocking. The government must be held accountable because it is failing yet another generation, stunted and starving to death, and often unable to access life-saving treatment.

Malnutrition has staggering consequences for economic productivity. Adults who are stunted as children will earn 20pc less than those who are not. Improving child health in vulnerable communities as in Sindh is the task of the provincial government — and its abysmal failure is starkly visible in frail children. Given that malnutrition is attributed to reversible factors (food insecurity, early marriage etc) prevention through well-planned interventions is necessary. Harnessing existing poverty alleviation programmes to identify those in need of nutrition is critical. The Lady Health Workers programme can promote nutrition advocacy with its widespread reach. More important, and because women’s health is key to reducing child mortality, girls’ education must be accessible, especially where women are least empowered.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2016

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

Pak-India tensions

Is it brinkmanship or something more? With the decade-old ceasefire along the LoC already in tatters, India appears determined to find new avenues of provocation against Pakistan.

Over the weekend, first an Indian submarine attempted to intrude into Pakistani waters, according to official accounts, and then a small Indian surveillance drone was knocked down after it strayed across the LoC, again according to official statements.

While each incident may individually seem small and both sides will likely dispute what really occurred, it is alarming that incidents, especially one involving a submarine, are taking place at the moment.

Pakistan-India ties are not merely in a deep freeze, but appear to be further unravelling. Seemingly that is the intention of the Indian leadership. Do both sides truly understand the risks they appear so willing to stoke?

While it is difficult to definitively ascribe motives to the actions of an external rival, it does seem that the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has rejected the idea of engaging Pakistan in dialogue and is determined to go down a path of increasing military tensions.

Perhaps this is because the Indian state wants to deflect attention from its troubles in India-held Kashmir or because a strong, militaristic nationalism is the campaign platform of choice for the BJP, which faces crucial state elections once again in the year ahead.

With the election of a hawkish Donald Trump in the US, Mr Modi may even now be gambling that the year ahead will see closer cooperation between India and the US and more pressure on Pakistan from the new American administration to address US and Indian concerns about specific militant groups allegedly operating on Pakistani soil.

So the combination of pre-existing preferences and the introduction of a new, unpredictable factor in the election of Mr Trump may be the cause of a fresh spike in Pakistan-India tensions.

Perhaps all sides, including the incoming US administration, should pay heed to the words of the outgoing team in Washington.

Commenting on the efforts by some anti-Pakistan elements in the US Congress to declare Pakistan a state sponsor of terrorism, the US State Department spokesperson suggested that it is better to engage with Pakistan on counterterrorism issues than to seek punitive measures. In the words of John Kirby, the spokesperson, there should be a “focus on the importance of regional, collaborative, and effective counterterrorism operations”.

While the current US administration’s policies in the region have hardly been ideal and certainly more than a little lopsided, it is worth paying heed to sensible advice at this uncertain juncture in regional dynamics. Pakistan too must promote sensible and peaceful policy outcomes.

Ban on militant groups

WITH the latest round of bans, the total number of proscribed militant groups in the country has now touched 63. The Jamaatul Ahrar and the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami certainly appear to have earned their respective bans: each has claimed responsibility for several of the more grotesque militant attacks in recent times in various parts of the country. Separately, investigations by the security apparatus appear to have confirmed many of the claims of responsibility by the two groups, according to reports in the media. The status that the two banned groups have acquired ought to trigger action against them. But there lies the problem: what exactly are the steps that are required to be taken and how will progress towards those goals be measured? Or to put it bluntly, how many of the 61 previously banned groups have been made extinct ie verifiably put out of action as their banned status demands? Few examples exist and it is virtually impossible to identify any group that has truly been dismantled and made operationally extinct. Instead, the record suggests that most of the banned groups reconstitute under different names or split and fragment into a number of sub-groups with even more violent agendas. The Jamaatul Ahrar and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami are themselves examples of that phenomenon.

While there are specific instances of aggressive actions taken by the state, the general experience is of few successful prosecutions of members of militant groups and virtually no leaders being captured, prosecuted and successfully imprisoned. Indeed, some of the more high-profile militant leaders roam the country with impunity and in several places appear to be afforded official security while their public activities are facilitated by the state at the local level. Why, for example, does the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat leadership continue to hold public gatherings where the group’s patently illegal and violent agenda is openly propagated? In other cases, why do leaders of groups facing international sanctions and on local watch lists seem to fearlessly give statements to the media that espouse explicitly violent agendas? While the questions are many, the answers are few. Part of the problem certainly is the very repository of the list of banned militant groups: Nacta. Seemingly, no government is capable of mastering the riddle of an agency that everyone agrees is vital to the counterterrorism and counter-extremism fight but that somehow has not been able to evolve beyond institutional infancy.

Exhumation of bodies

ONE would imagine that after years of suffering terrorist attacks in which tens of thousands of Pakistanis have lost their lives, criminal investigation authorities here would have put in place procedures to streamline their work. Not so, apparently. It has emerged that this week a medical team, under the supervision of a judicial officer, is to exhume the bodies of the 10 attackers killed during their assault on the Karachi airport on June 8, 2014. The four-member team will collect samples to carry out DNA tests for the purpose of establishing the identity of the assailants, who were buried in an Edhi-run graveyard in Karachi.

The airport attack, which was claimed by the banned TTP, was carried out — or so the investigation appeared to determine — by Uzbek militants, with local elements having provided them with logistical support, funds and weapons. Three men are presently on trial for being accessories to the crime. While the purpose of the impending exhumation is not yet clear, it may be linked to the recent arrest of a member of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, who is very much a Pakistani and has claimed that his brother was one of the attackers killed during the assault. It is inexplicable that DNA samples were not taken from the 10 men as a matter of course, and that over two years later, exhumation has to be resorted to for the purpose. In the West, decades-old cold cases are being solved through latest forensic science techniques simply because investigators all those years ago had the foresight to preserve the evidence. Here, on the other hand, there remains an alarming lack of protocols for processing crime scenes. Scarce attention is paid by police to preventing the public from contaminating evidence, which can fatally compromise a successful prosecution — particularly in an environment where witnesses are reluctant to testify. This haphazard, lackadaisical approach to gathering and preserving evidence must be replaced with strictly professional methods reinforced by access to the best forensic tools.

Published in Dawn, November 21st, 2016

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

Army chief’s retirement

GEN Raheel Sharif will retire next week, the first army chief to do so on time and after a single, three-year term since Gen Waheed Kakar in 1996. Moreover, in the last 18 years, the Pakistan Army has been commanded by only three men — a dismal rate of turnover that had harmed the reputation of the institution and undermined much else. Now, a fourth general will assume command next week and hopefully he will build on the commendable example set by Gen Sharif and will abide by the institutional norm of a single three-year term for an army chief. Certainly, Gen Sharif will be a hard act to follow.

After the stasis of Gen Ashfaq Kayani’s second term, the army needed a jolt in the right direction on the anti-terror front. Gen Sharif was that jolt — an indefatigable traveller to the front lines and redirecting his institution for a relentless fight against the banned TTP and sundry anti-Pakistan and sectarian militant groups. Zarb-i-Azb and the Karachi operation are the two counter-insurgency and counterterrorism legacies respectively that Gen Sharif will be remembered for. While the PML-N belatedly embraced Operation Zarb-i-Azb, it remains the case that the North Waziristan action was originally the plan and vision of Gen Sharif. Once Prime Minister Sharif authorised the operation, it was Gen Sharif who worked tirelessly to sustain the morale of the troops on the front lines and, later, to try and accelerate the return of IDPs to various parts of Fata. The Karachi operation has been an altogether more controversial affair, especially since its scope widened beyond narrow counterterrorism goals. But the role played by Gen Sharif in stabilising the country’s largest city and pulling it back from the edge of the precipice is undeniable.

While some policy aspects and parts of the strategy and tactics used can be debated, it remains the case that the current army chief has played an important part in returning the country to a significantly more stable and secure place. In time, the full legacy and impact of Gen Sharif will be evaluated in the proper context. For now, however, it is necessary to acknowledge the precedent-setting decision to retire after three years in an era where old institutional norms appeared to have been abandoned. In January, Gen Sharif had announced he would retire at the end of his term this month. The subsequent 10 months have been some of the longest in recent memory. Urged by friends, allies, politicians and activists to reconsider his decision, the army chief did appear to waver. The Panama Papers, the PTI’s abortive Islamabad lockdown, plummeting ties with India — opportunity after opportunity came for public pressure to be put on the government to consider requesting Gen Sharif to continue his command. But good sense has prevailed in the end and a good officer can be given a fond and formal farewell this week.

PPP’s quest

THE truth is that nobody knows what the truth is. The topic, once again, is how to revive the PPP. The territory is Punjab, where the party was born almost five decades ago. The choice is between those who promise to bring in a few ‘electables’ and those who want to or who can revamp the party and turn it into a truly popular outfit. Both sides — the feudal and the awami — have taken turns to guide and manage the PPP. Both have failed because the image of the top leadership of the party remains tainted. For the moment, Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari is shown to be in charge of the latest push for the renewal of the party’s fortunes in the country’s biggest province. But the presence looming large over the proceedings is that of his father. Even if such a desire existed somewhere deep in the PPP’s consciousnesses it has been next to impossible to take out Asif Ali Zardari from the PPP. Indeed, he continues to form the nucleus.

In this case, the change that Mr Bhutto-Zardari is attempting, presumably with his father’s active guidance, can be seen as a positive one: Qamaruzzaman Kaira as PPP president for central Punjab and someone as promising as Nadeem Afzal Chan as his general secretary. That is as good a partnership as the party in a crisis could hope for. The two men enjoy some respect, not least because they have defied predictions of departing and have remained by their party’s side under dire conditions. There are expectations of them given the energy they have displayed in pursuing their choice of politics. The biggest asset at their command is perhaps their refusal to be embarrassed by the smear-and-taunt campaign the PPP has been targeted with. But as they prepare for the challenge, they have no previous model to bank on. In tackling the current crisis, there is no example from the past they could be inspired by since at no time during the last five decades was the PPP image as dark and gloomy in the province as it is today. It is a distant third contestant, trailing the PML-N and PTI by a long margin. That is how difficult it is and maybe the PPP’s cause will be helped by starting from zero, and by party leaders refraining from raising old slogans. The new PPP must try and find a new rallying slogan, or be doomed.

Punishing children

SEEN in educational institutions, madressahs, homes and workplaces, corporal punishment is one of the most pervasive forms of violence against children in Pakistan. Most cases go unreported because of tacit cultural approval of acts of violence against children for disciplinary purposes. The fact that such physical punishment has often resulted in serious injuries, and even death, means little to society at large. When 14-year-old Mohammad Ahmed Hussain, an eighth-grade student studying at Cadet College in Larkana, was severely thrashed, allegedly by a teacher in early August, he was left paralysed — unable to talk or walk. The fact that an FIR is yet to be registered against the perpetrators and the victim has not so far received medical care from the state is shameful, especially when the government is bound to protect the rights of children. Then, Cadet College is no ordinary educational institution, preparing students to serve and protect their country. Therefore, the preservation of human rights and dignity is integral to its ethos. Whatever behaviour is witnessed inside the college will serve as an example to graduating cadets.

Additionally, prohibiting the culture of corporal punishment requires the implementation of existing legislative protections such as the Sindh Children Act, 1955. The Larkana incident must serve as a catalyst for enacting the pending Prohibition of Corporal Punishment Bill, 2013. Indeed, Pakistan is obligated to do so under international covenants. Judging by the severity of ‘punishments’ reported in places of learning — whipping, beatings on the head and face, sexual abuse, etc — one is able to discern that such behaviour is traditionally sanctioned by parents and teachers as disciplinary measures. Unicef research in 2014 found that 81pc of children, from one to 14 years, in Punjab and Sindh were violently ‘disciplined’ through forms of psychological aggression and/or physical punishment. For that reason, public awareness about the harmful effects of corporal punishment is imperative with the objective of shifting attitudes towards promoting positive forms of child-rearing and education.

Published in Dawn November 22nd, 2016

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

Census urgency

AFTER promising to hold the census in March this year, the government is now giving assurances it will be held next year. But its words ring hollow at this point. The last time, too, we were given assurances that the exercise would be held on time, and then a postponement was announced, with the authorities citing the unavailability of army personnel needed for security and supervision during the population count. To most observers though, a delay was expected long before the last-minute announcement; little groundwork had been done, and funds had not been released. In fact, it was baffling to see the government trying to convince parliament that the census would be held on time when there was no sign that preparations were under way for the count.

This time, once again, parliament has been assured by the law minister that the census will be held next March. Several questions naturally arise: have the requisite funds for the exercise been released? Has the preparatory work for such a mammoth exercise begun? After all, the census is not like counting chickens in a coop. And how exactly does the government intend to ensure that this time there will be enough military presence for security and supervision? Considering that the last census was held in 1998 and that subsequent dispensations shied away from conducting a population count, one would not be surprised if the government were once again to go back on its commitment.

If we remain stuck on the question of availability of military personnel, the census will never be conducted. It is unlikely that the myriad engagements the military is caught up in will subside in the near future. It is also difficult to believe that there is no way around this issue. It is common knowledge that compelling political considerations revolve around a census exercise due to the ramifications it has for provincial seat shares in parliament. Even here a solution can be found in the model that freezes provincial seat shares for a certain number of years, irrespective of the outcome of the census. The point is that the state is largely working blind in its policy formulation, given that the census data it relies on is 18 years old. If, with its majority in parliament, the government cannot muster the will to rectify matters, and can only put up an appearance of being keen to hold the census, only to back down at the last minute, then it cannot expect its governance track record to be taken seriously. The census is a priority for the state, and it must be conducted within the next few months — before preparations start for the general elections due in 2018. The rulers should not leave this unfinished business for the next government.

Poll reform

THE transfer of electoral rolls from Nadra to the Election Commission of Pakistan may seem like an obscure bureaucratic exercise that has little substantive relevance to the holding of free and fair polls at the time of the next general election. In reality, however, the process of transferring electoral rolls — done as per an agreement between the ECP and Nadra — indicates just how far off the agenda poll reforms and the holding of meaningfully free and fair elections have fallen. According to a recent report in this newspaper, no less than an ECP member himself raised concerns about the electoral body’s capacity to handle an electronic databank of approximately 100m voters. Moreover, the procedure for adding new voters to the electoral rolls has yet to be determined. These developments reiterate at least three flaws with the electoral process in the country. First, the holding of free and fair polls, while vital to the democratic process, is inherently a technical and bureaucratic exercise. Within that process, the sanctity and accuracy of electoral rolls is paramount — if the list of voters itself is compromised, tampered with or in some way incomplete, voters are disenfranchised and the electoral process is damaged. Incomplete and inaccurate electoral rolls are a historical problem that surely should now finally be resolved.

Second, the stalled ECP reforms continue to be a troubling road block in the quest for free and fair polls. While parliament has gone to the extent of passing a constitutional amendment to modify the composition of ECP membership, the quantum of resources, the staff and the powers at the disposal of the body are still areas of significant problems. Ultimately, the ECP can only be effective if the orders issued by its members are implemented scrupulously and in a disciplined manner across the country. The ECP apex consists of four members and a chief election commissioner, but below it sits a vast implementing system — and it is often at those tiers, especially at the local level, that problems arise. Thus far, the very valid needs and enhanced resource allocation for the ECP are matters that have largely been ignored. Third, are overall electoral reforms really a part of the government and combined opposition’s agenda? While some persistent MNAs continue to pursue specific electoral reforms, the parliamentary committee responsible appears to have all but run out of steam. Electoral reforms cannot happen without parliament’s interest and attention.

CII’s irrelevance

SOMETIMES, reform is not the answer. A case in point is the resolution unanimously passed by the Senate on Tuesday recommending that women be given increased representation in the Council of Islamic Ideology.

The strength of this constitutional body is stipulated to be between eight and 20, which must include at least one woman member. The fact that a PPP senator, Sehar Kamran, had moved the resolution was particularly curious. Only a few months ago, another PPP senator, Farhatullah Babar, had called for the CII to be disbanded altogether. Along with some other members in the Senate committee on human rights, he had denounced the CII’s misogyny and its inordinate focus on issues pertaining to women and marriage.

The CII is among several elements of a regressive legacy that continue to bedevil Pakistan. With the Constitution containing the proviso that no law shall be framed contrary to the Quran and Sunnah, a body tasked with assessing whether laws conform to Islamic principles or not, is entirely redundant.

The argument that it has only an advisory role is specious, for even in this capacity the CII has derailed or, at the very least, watered down attempts at legislation seeking to empower women. It serves as a platform for representatives from right-wing groups outside parliament to exercise influence over the process of legislation and introduce confusion in the public debate often through misinformation and flawed reasoning.

In an environment where violence against women can take the most horrific forms, the CII uses its bully pulpit — not to mention its Rs100m budget — to try and further rob women of their agency. It has denounced a minimum age for marriage as un-Islamic, rejected the use of DNA as primary evidence in rape cases and slammed Punjab’s new women’s protection law — and this is only a sampling of its recent ponderings.

Having more women on the CII is no solution: the council should be written out of the statute books.

Published in Dawn, November 23rd, 2016

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

LoC violence

THE Line of Control is exploding, and once again the potential for greater conflict is growing. With low-level, cross-LoC violence seemingly ignored outside security circles in both countries and overshadowed by other events globally, there was always the risk of an escalation at a time when neither India nor Pakistan appear to be interested in anything other than hurling accusations at one another. Now that escalation appears to have arrived with several civilian and military casualties on the Pakistani side — including three soldiers and nine bus passengers killed by Indian firing and shelling on Wednesday — and the Indian military claiming one of its soldiers has been beheaded. While the present violence is similar to several other episodes in recent years — and each episode saw better sense eventually prevail — when it comes to Pakistan-India relations, and especially the LoC, nothing should be taken for granted. Moreover, the Uri attack in September and the so-called surgical strikes by India in response may have altered the previous dynamic and created dangerous new expectations on the Indian side.

What is clear is that the 2003 ceasefire ought to be returned to at the earliest. It proved to be durable not only because it was sensible and both sides were committed to its implementation, but because it was rooted in an understanding that LoC violence hurts local populations and always carries the risk of a wider conflagration. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi appeared to not understand or appreciate the delicate balance in place along the LoC when, soon after assuming office, he not only ordered disproportionate Indian military responses across the LoC but also allowed government officials to boast about it. Now, with India-held Kashmir roiled by protests and under a suffocating curfew for months, New Delhi is making a thinly veiled attempt to shift domestic and international — to the extent it exists — attention away from India’s problems and towards the old ruse of escalating Pakistan-India tensions.

Here the temptation may be to believe that the imminent transition at the top of the army leadership and the election of a hawkish presidential candidate in the US has given Modi-led India further incentive to test Pakistan’s resolve. It is a temptation because, whether true or not, it deflects from what Pakistan does need to do: hold its nerve along the LoC; work towards a quick de-escalation of the latest violence; and continue with the diplomatic mission of highlighting the Kashmir dispute and the latest repressive measures by India in IHK. If, instead, the language of brinkmanship, retaliation and counter-retaliation is allowed to prevail, Pakistan too will be hurt. Internal security priorities are paramount while the external situation is brittle — the state of Pakistan must not allow itself to be goaded or distracted by Indian provocations.

Amnesty scheme

AS a general rule, tax amnesties are a bad idea because they rarely work and end up penalising honest taxpayers. In Pakistan, the track record of such amnesties has been particularly bad. Therefore, the recommendations made by a National Assembly committee for an amnesty for those with undeclared real-estate wealth should be rejected. Instead, the advice of the FBR opposing the move should be heeded. The government had announced its intention of beginning documentation of the real-estate sector this year, and the FBR valuation tables to be used for tax purposes were a step in that direction. Expectedly, the move met with fierce resistance from the powerful property market stakeholders, since a large amount of the country’s ‘black money’ is parked in real estate. Thus far the government has not backed down, even though the move has caused property prices to drop and transactions have come down sharply. But the recommended amnesty, provided people availing themselves of its provisions agree to pay 3pc of the total amount they are unable to reconcile, would be a step backwards.

The figure of 3pc makes a mockery of the whole exercise. On top of that, allowing a one-time waiver to whiten black money is unlikely to serve the cause of documentation of the economy. The government should learn from its experience of a similar amnesty plan offered to traders earlier this year, which drew a dismal response, and it should not repose so much trust in the scheme recommended now. The earlier move against traders turned out to be little more than a revenue measure. But this move is unlikely to yield any revenue, or result in people declaring the full value at which property deals are being made. If neither the revenue interest of the state, nor the documentation of the economy is served by the recommendations, then they amount to little more than a backdoor exit for the government to end its stand-off with the property dealers. The property market is not as central to the day-to-day life of the economy, nor does it disrupt people’s lives by much if it has to suffer a prolonged slump. The government should not fear the consequences of dragging the affair out and should firmly stick to its original plan. Any climbdown at this stage will only signal weakness on its part and damage its credibility.

Chronic traffic issues

THE IDEAS 2016 exhibition got under way in Karachi on Tuesday, and while thousands of ordinary citizens may or may not have agreed with its slogan, ‘Arms for peace’, invariably most were left frustrated as the event caused a massive traffic logjam. Vehicles, including ambulances and school vans, remained stuck for hours, with traffic police personnel rendered helpless. Where, on the one hand, there was lack of planning on part of the senior traffic management authorities, on the other there was a lawless public. Unfortunately, gridlock in the congested heart of the city has become a chronic problem. But nothing has been done to address it, even though solutions are available. For instance, the Lyari Expressway is a major alternative route. One track of it is operational, but the other has been left dangling for years in a state of near-completion. Why can’t the government finish the job, given the extent to which it would ease the daily commute of tens of thousands of people?

In fact, the problem is evident across the country’s urban landscapes that witness millions of vehicles on poorly maintained road networks creating all sorts of civic and environmental problems. The state’s response is overwhelmingly to either widen the roads — as though this can be done endlessly — or try tricks and stratagems such as signal-free corridors, craftily placed U-turns, or diversions. But the central problem remains. There are simply too many vehicles on the roads, with thousands more being added every day. This is the result of the government’s failure to put in place workable public transport and mass transit systems. Two big-ticket systems have in recent years been created in Lahore and Rawalpindi-Islamabad. But they too have attracted controversy for not being the best bang for buck, and they cover just a tiny portion of the commuting routes. Until the state bestirs itself, the citizenry must carry on fending for itself as best as it can, under the most testing of circumstances.

Published in Dawn, November 24th, 2016

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

Karachi operation

ALTHOUGH the outgoing army chief’s counterterrorism efforts in the tribal areas have been widely cited as his biggest success, many have also lauded his involvement in bringing a semblance of peace to Karachi. On a recent farewell visit to Corps V, Karachi, Gen Raheel Sharif told his men that the results of the ongoing law-enforcement operation in the Sindh capital must not be reversed with the change of command in the army. The president also echoed these concerns on Wednesday. Indeed, most residents of Karachi will concur that ever since the Rangers-led operation began in September 2013, the levels of violence in the metropolis have come down. The number of terrorism-related incidents, extortion bids, kidnappings and political murders all appear to have dropped as compared to the days before the operation. Police officials say 3,000 criminals have been apprehended, while business activity has also picked up.

However, Karachi still has many miles to go before it can be declared a safe city. For example, despite the reduction in violence overall, street crime remains endemic — a fact that has been acknowledged in the highest echelons of government. People are held up during traffic jams and in markets and other public places by armed men who do not hesitate to pull the trigger should their victim resist the mugging attempt. Without a sustained campaign against street crime, the gains of the operation will remain limited. Also, while incidents of sectarian terrorism may be down, militant cells are clearly still active in the city, as the killings during Muharram have demonstrated. The operation then has not been without criticism, especially when there have been reports of staged encounters and the torture of suspects in custody.

To truly consolidate the gains of the three-year-old operation, the authorities — specifically the provincial government, the elected mayor, the police force and the military — must look at the bigger picture. While a militarised approach to policing — by having the Rangers spearhead the operation — may have brought temporary respite, in the long term, peace in Karachi can only be established through a depoliticised, professional local police force recruited on merit, and that knows the city and its problems. Also, law-enforcement efforts must be complemented by good governance, something the city has been lacking for decades. Arguably, Karachi’s vast ungoverned spaces and growing informality provide oxygen to a plethora of rackets, including criminal and militant enterprises. Along with a strong police force, it is critical that the elected local government — led by the city mayor — has genuine powers to govern all aspects of civic life. The provincial cabinet and bureaucracy cannot be expected to assess the conditions and needs of Karachi’s sprawling neighbourhoods; this is the job of the representatives elected from these areas. Good governance and law and order have a symbiotic relationship and cannot work in isolation.

Empowering women

GIVEN its multidimensional context, women’s empowerment in Pakistan is defined as the power to effect socioeconomic change if structures that dictate social, political and economic power-holding are altered. Because economic empowerment is intertwined with gender equality and equity, changes in policy and social structures, such as land and labour reforms, educational opportunities, and autonomous decision-making for women, are prerequisites. According to the Mahbub ul Haq Human Development Centre’s report, Empowering Women in South Asia, two out of every 10 women participate in the labour force in Pakistan, with the majority working in low-quality jobs, unrecognised and unaware of their rights. In fact, with 12 million women home-based workers in Pakistan and more than 3m concentrated in urban areas and 8.5m in rural districts, the government’s failure to improve working conditions and workers’ rights has widened labour inequity. This gross negligence will impact economic development projects if fiscal policies do not include gender-based budgeting plans. The fact that increasing women’s pay to equal that of men would raise per capita income by 14pc in 2020 in developing countries is an interesting observation in this context. Moreover, pending issues of low wages, the lack of social security, including discriminatory laws and poor working conditions, persistently impede women’s socioeconomic indicators. In the case of home-based workers, they toil long hours at the cost of their health, and have little access to and knowledge of the market. Even so, these invisible women are unrecognised in official statistics, with no minimum wage or health benefits. Although their abject working conditions are known, the government has yet to work on a national policy that focuses on legal protections for them.

Meanwhile, with 12.5m children in the labour force deprived of an education and vulnerable to exploitation and abuse, the government must develop child protection mechanisms and legislation to ensure children go to school. Child labour will only contribute to disillusionment over lost opportunities among a generation liable to go towards militancy. Allocating increased resources to support families to keep children out of income-generating activities is another recommendation. While Vision 2025 is the PML-N’s golden blueprint, it is capacity-building and implementation of ideas for inclusive and pro-poor macroeconomic policies that are crucial. Reducing the wage gap and lending directly to women will set the direction for future progress.

Pay raise for lawmakers

PERHAPS if one thinks hard about the justifications given for the recent pay increase that the government has approved for members of the National Assembly and Senate, one can see a glimmer of logic in the move — but nothing more than a glimmer. The raise is as high as 146pc of the pay they were getting until now. Most people, including civil servants, have to wait many years before their pay is doubled, let alone increased by 146pc. The government offered the justification that this pay has not been adjusted for 14 years and the lawmakers were having trouble managing household expenditures within the current salary. When asked about the wealth of these parliamentarians, the government spokeswoman said that most of them were “from the middle class” and their wealth statements were available on the ECP and FBR websites.

This last part strains credulity. If we are expected to believe that people who own multiple mansions and arrive at the National Assembly in vehicles that cost more than the houses in which most middle-class people live, own or control nothing more than the meagre wealth shown on their asset declarations then the government has clearly no confidence in the average citizen’s intelligence. In fact, the asset declarations are a joke given the visible lifestyles led by most of the members of parliament, as are whatever declarations they file regarding election expenses incurred during campaigning, and their tax returns. It is a sad fact that one can live the lifestyle of a billionaire in this country while appearing like a pauper in one’s declarations before the state. But it adds insult to injury when these same people vote for a pay raise for themselves, the likes of which most middle-class people can only dream of, and then expect citizens to believe they are using their salary to meet household expenditures. The government should have used its time to tend to more important matters that are genuinely in the public interest.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2016

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