Jundallah chief’s arrest

Thursday, 25 Feb, 2010

The arrest of Jundallah leader Abdolmalek Rigi on Tuesday should have a positive impact on Iran-Pakistan relations. The terrorist leader and his deputy were arrested by Iranian security forces when a Bishkek-bound flight was diverted to Iran to catch a man whose organisation was responsible for a deadly terrorist attack last October that killed 35 civilians, besides seven revolutionary guards.

While Tehran never really joined the ‘do more’ chorus to pressure Islamabad for action against the plethora of banned — and not banned — militant outfits in this country, the Iranian government had serious reservations about the efficacy of Pakistan’s policy, especially with regard to the anti-Iran terrorists operating close to its border in Pakistani Balochistan. On a visit to this country following last October’s crime, Iranian Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar reportedly provided Islamabad with proof of Jundallah’s activities here and its use of Pakistani soil for acts of terrorism against his country.

For its part, Islamabad was vocal in denying that Rigi was ever based in Pakistan. But the ease with which militants of various nationalities have operated in this country for years has given a hollow ring to official protestations. Look at the most recent example: Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, one of the Afghan Taliban’s top commanders, was arrested earlier this month in Karachi. He reportedly lived in Pakistan for several years and seemingly enjoyed the freedom to direct Taliban operations inside Afghanistan.

Many people have aired suspicions that the so-called Quetta Shura leadership has started moving to the port city now. Against this backdrop, Jundallah’s claim that Pakistani intelligence helped in Rigi’s arrest should serve to remove some misunderstandings between Tehran and Islamabad. Additionally, along with Mullah Baradar’s arrest it may also mark a dramatically different, and welcome, approach by the Pakistani security set-up.


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Judicial appointments

Thursday, 25 Feb, 2010

The special parliamentary committee debating changes to the constitution has reached an agreement on the process for the appointment of judges to the superior judiciary. It appears that the process is essentially the one outlined in the Charter of Democracy: a judicial committee headed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan and consisting of members of the superior judiciary, the relevant bar associations and the government’s legal team will forward its recommendations to the prime minister who will in turn send a candidate’s name for approval to a parliamentary committee consisting of both government and opposition members.

First, the good news: the new process seeks to end the focus on individuals. Presently, the constitution puts the onus on the Supreme Court chief justice and the president for deciding who will be a member of the Supreme Court (the provincial governors and high court chief justices play a role in the appointment of high court justices).

As we have seen in the very recent past, the significant powers given to individuals can lead to a destabilising struggle when the political and judicial sides do not agree. The new process should go a long way in reducing the perception that disagreements are between individuals, a possibility that should be welcomed since it would mean a structural crease in the democratic system will have been ironed out.

Now for the bad news. First, approval by the special parliamentary committee on constitutional reforms doesn’t mean that the proposed amendments will automatically pass when placed before the two houses of parliament. There may yet be some ‘last minute’ changes that could scuttle a very good idea. Second, the numbers and process selected could lead to problems. For example, to approve or reject a judicial nominee, six out of eight votes are needed in the parliamentary committee.

Is this reasonable or will a large number of nominations get stuck in limbo? Also it is not clear what will happen if the parliamentary committee rejects a nominee: could the judicial committee re-nominate the person? The lesson from the recent crisis over judicial appointments ought to be that clear rules are what’s needed.


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Surge in extremism

Thursday, 25 Feb, 2010

For a second consecutive day, members of the National Assembly on Tuesday protested the resurfacing of banned extremist groups in the country. The focus was again on Punjab. The province had given a few concerned MNAs sufficient cause to worry when it was reported that the Punjab law minister had found it prudent to curry favour with the leadership of an ostensibly defunct extremist group.

Although Monday’s debate in the lower house couldn’t quite get the media or public attention that it deserved, on Tuesday lawmakers from the PPP and the PML-Q (aided by a supportive PML-N chief whip) were intent on impressing upon one and all that there were high risks involved in allowing extremists a free reign. PPP’s Sherry Rehman led the strong calls for arresting the trend. Fellow PPP member Nadeem Afzal Chann and the PML-Q’s vocal lawmaker from the Jhang neighbourhood, Sheikh Waqas Akram, also highlighted just how grave the situation could turn out to be, and in not too distant a future. They justifiably asked the Punjab government to take immediate action and demanded that extremist organisations be forced to “cease and desist”.

Unfortunately, a statement by the Punjab law minister gives an indication of just what kind of impact the impassioned pleas from the National Assembly are having on the provincial leadership. The minister explains his recent Jhang hobnobbing by arguing that he is fully within his rights to woo voters, whatever group they may belong to. Simple reasoning which, if anything, adds to the prevailing sense of insecurity. In recent weeks, there have been many reports from various parts of the country of a ‘resurgence’ in the ranks of the extremists. While the administration may be on the lookout for terrorists dispatched by militants from the tribal belt, it also needs to ensure that no local groups are allowed to function through violence and hate-mongering.

Punjab has a huge role in the resolution of this serious problem. Obscurantists are tightening their grip on the province’s southern regions and Lahore itself has repeatedly come under terrorist attack. But that said, even if it has the will it cannot be expected to stem the rising tide all by itself. The National Assembly members are right in demanding that the federal government play a more active role in curbing extremism. There are no shortcuts to dealing with the problem, and for whatever they are worth the old formulas — honesty of purpose, economic development, political empowerment, social partnerships, improved intelligence-gathering — will have to do for the time being. For starters, however, let’s have some law and order.


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OTHER VOICES - Far East Press Battle to save euro

Thursday, 25 Feb, 2010

THE European Union is facing one of the worst economic crises of its life. The immediate trigger is Greece, which has been living well beyond its means. As the prospect of a default looms, the Athens government has pledged to embrace austerity measures, but public resistance is high. The Greek government has pinned its hopes on aid — read: bailout — from other EU governments, which worry about the precedent such a move could set as well as resistance from their own publics. An EU summit has cobbled together a response, but it is likely to only postpone the reckoning. Europe is in trouble …

There is no mistaking Greece’s readiness to run a budget deficit well in excess of the three per cent of GDP set by the treaty that established the euro. It is not clear if Athens engaged in accounting tricks to deliberately hide the size of its deficit; the European Commission has promised an investigation. The extent of that deceit will have a profound impact on the readiness of other EU publics to bail out the country…. — (Feb 20)

Fighting militancy

Wednesday, 03 Mar, 2010

The war against militants inside Pakistan received a boost yesterday. Damadola in Bajaur Agency, for too long a stamping ground of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, has seen the Pakistan flag raised for the first time since 1947, according to Maj Gen Tariq Khan, the Frontier Corps commander.

The next areas to be cleared are the Tirah valley in Khyber Agency and Orakzai Agency, according to Maj Gen Khan. Meanwhile, it appears that another senior militant, Qari Zafar, senior leader of the Fidayeen-i-Islam, a group that straddles the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and sectarian outfits such as the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi and Jaish-i-Mohammad, is dead. Zafar is believed to have been killed in a drone strike in North Waziristan Agency last February — originally based in South Waziristan, he and his cohorts probably fled following the army operation which began there last October.

Considering the evidence since late 2008, it appears that the country may be finally turning the corner in the war against militancy. Military operations have by and large been successful in clearing and, at least initially, holding the areas in which they have been attempted. Enhanced cooperation with the Americans has led to many successes against top commanders in Fata via drone strikes (though there is still too little known about how many civilians have died in such strikes, while Pakistan’s official denial of such cooperation continues to cloud the programme). In the cities, more vigorous counter-terrorism measures and enhanced intelligence have led to the capture of many militants and appear to have reduced the frequency and deadliness of suicide and fidayeen strikes against urban targets.

And yet, there are reasons to be doubtful. Nowhere has there really been the kind of head-on fight between the militants and the state that some predicted. From Swat to South Waziristan to Damadola, there has been fighting but the captures and kills have not added up to the earlier estimates of the militants’ strength. What this implies is that while communication networks and bases of the militants have been dismantled, the militants have often simply melted away — perhaps to return to fight another day. To address this problem at least two things need to be done urgently. One, the existing cooperation on the Pak-Afghan border needs to be ramped up between the Pakistan and Afghan/US sides: militants on both sides have a habit of taking sanctuary in the other’s territory when under pressure. Two, the state here must realise that every stage of counter-insurgency is vital: after clear-and-hold, the build-and-transfer stages are crucial to preventing the militants from returning. At the moment, though, there is no sign of the ‘civilian surge’.


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Tensions in Turkey

Wednesday, 03 Mar, 2010

Besides testifying to the continuation of tensions between secular and religious elements in Turkey, recent events in the country also show unmistakable signs of the gradual ascendancy of democratic forces.

A self-proclaimed guardian of Kemal Ataturk’s secular legacy, the Turkish army overthrew democratic governments four times in 50 years and hanged an elected prime minister, Adnan Menderes. Yet every election brought to power, under a new name, the same party which was outlawed. The turning point came with the Justice and Development Party’s (AKP) landslide victory in the 2002 general election. Led by Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the AKP scored a second triumph in the 2007 election and then went on to make constitutional changes that limited the army’s role and turned the all-powerful National Security Council into an advisory body.

A great deal of the credit for Turkey’s political stability goes to Mr Erdogan. He was highly critical of his mentor, Necmettin Erbekan, who he thought was reckless and who had failed to realise that the Islamist parties he founded one after another were operating in an atmosphere in which secular elements were well-entrenched in state institutions, the judiciary and the media. Mr Erdogan followed a cautious policy, avoided a confrontation with the secular forces, and put the army and the judiciary at ease by declaring that his Islamist AKP accepted secularism as Turkey’s creed and would work to strengthen Turkey’s existing system. More astonishingly, in spite of his religious credentials — he had been jailed for writing an anti-secular poem — it was Mr Erdogan who successfully led the entry negotiations for his country’s full membership of the EU.

The recent arrest of two retired generals and the crackdown on supporters of the extremist Ergenekon group in 2008 show his resolve both to consolidate Turkey’s democracy and to uphold its secular constitution. The army, too, seems to be aware of the fact that the EU is watching Turkey’s internal developments closely and that another military intervention at this stage will rule out the possibility of EU membership for the country and make it even more difficult to resolve the Cyprus crisis.


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Bullet-proof jackets

Wednesday, 03 Mar, 2010

It is unfortunate that matters have come to such a pass that the lackadaisical attitude displayed by Pakistani officialdom does not take anyone by surprise. But when this approach puts lives at risk then those guilty of inaction must be taken to task.
The NWFP police force has been among those at the forefront of the battle against militancy. From suicide attacks to bombings of schools to assaults on convoys and check-posts, the men of the Frontier police are either directly targeted or killed and injured as they strive to protect civilians. Estimates put the number of policemen killed in the NWFP between 2004 and 2009 at over 500. More than twice that number are said to have sustained injuries. When all this is considered, the fact that bureaucratic hurdles are preventing more than 3,000 bullet-proof jackets from reaching the NWFP police is condemnable.

The jackets — worth more than $2m and gifted by the US government — have been sitting in a warehouse in Islamabad airport for the last two months. The gear was initially held up because the necessary clearance from the relevant ministries was not obtained. Though the federal interior ministry issued an NOC on Feb 13, the commerce ministry only completed the required paperwork last week. However, it appears that the release of the jackets is now delayed by PIA that wants its warehouse charges paid. PIA, meanwhile, has cited bureaucratic hurdles which indicate that the government is clueless about what to do to get the jackets released. The relevant federal and provincial government departments must speed up their efforts to have the jackets released and delivered. NWFP policemen are targeted on a regular basis, and it is lamentable that the authorities should not be delivering safety gear to them.


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OTHER VOICES - European Press Retreat from streets

Wednesday, 03 Mar, 2010

GORDON Brown’s speech on law and order yesterday would have had much to commend it had it been delivered by an opposition spokesman. However, his call for more bobbies on the beat sits somewhat uncomfortably with the fact that Labour has been in office for 13 years and has presided over the gradual retreat of the police from the streets.

The number of police officers today is at an historic high of … 145,000 in England and Wales…. Yet fewer are seen … This has something to do with the greater requirements of police to join specialist units; but it also has a lot to do with the way officers are deployed and the amount of paperwork that they are expected to complete. …Mr Brown was right to say that communities want to see more police officers because disorder on streets … remains the biggest day-to-day concern … But what he refuses to acknowledge is that Labour has had three governments … to get this right…. Neighbourhood policing reforms were a step in the right direction but … they have not resulted in officers spending more time on the beat. …For Mr Brown merely to repeat his desire to see more police on the beat will not bring it about if the model is wrong to begin with. …True, it is not all the government’s fault because there is institutionalised resistance inside the police…. But that is why it is worth pursuing the Conservative idea of elected police commissioners to ensure the priorities of local people are followed through….

The Conservatives are campaigning under the election slogan ‘vote for change’, but are struggling to explain … what that would entail. Here, then, is an opportunity … to show that … upholding law and order is more than rhetoric … a real return to community policing. — ( March 1)

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Land mafia and the law
By Rafia Zakaria
Wednesday, 03 Mar, 2010

If success against the collusion of land mafias, political conglomerations and capitalist profiteering is solely at the discretion of Pakistan’s Supreme Court, then chances of ordinary citizens prevailing against the domineering tactics of land mafias are minimal.

In the outskirts of Lahore lies the village of Bagriyan, a once rural enclave of farmland and livestock that was of little interest to developers. This has changed in recent years as the population of Lahore catapulted to nearly 10 million and the village became part of the city district of Lahore.

Property values have risen and farmland is fast being converted into housing by enterprising real-estate developers looking to benefit from the urban sprawl.

The latest casualty of the unabated proliferation of housing societies has been the Government Model School for Boys, Bagriyan, which has had the unfortunate luck of being located in the path of a housing development scheme. Documents filed in the civil court in Lahore indicate that the land belonging to the school was seized by an ex-councillor of the area and a local political leader.

Literally overnight, a road was constructed right through the school’s property to provide access to the housing development scheme. According to reports published in the Urdu daily Ausaf, the school staff was terrorised when armed representatives of the land mafia showed up and supervised the construction of the access road. Adjacent rooms of the school that had been under construction at the time were demolished to enable the construction of the thoroughfare. The road was made operational by the continual presence of representatives of the land mafia, leaving students to study amid the noise and traffic now passing right through the middle of their premises.

The hapless school officials sought the help of Khawar Mehmood Khatana, a local attorney who runs the NGO Synergy International. According to advocate Mehmood’s statements, also published in the Ausaf report, each PML-N representative in the area was contacted but none was prepared to come to the aid of the school. In fact, the ex-councillor was able to obtain a stay order from the Lahore Civil Court prohibiting the school officials from obstructing the road. In this way, the Government Model Boys School, Bagriyan, which was established in 1960 and has been educating poor children of the area since then, had a significant portion of its premises taken over, apparently at the behest of those that seek to benefit from commercial development in the area and wield both political and economic power over the poor students and staff at the school.

While the school seems to be losing the battle against politically-backed land mafias, there has been some success in other quarters. As recently as last December, the Supreme Court of Pakistan — thanks to the efforts of the NGO Shehri CBE and eminent Dawn columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee — issued a decision reversing a land grant to commercial giant Makro-Habib to evacuate 4.9 acres of land originally meant for a playground.

In the Makro-Habib case, the then president Pervez Musharraf had granted 4.9 acres of prime land to the Army Welfare Trust (AWT) for 90 years at the nominal rent of Rs6,020 a year. The AWT then transferred the land to Makro-Habib in 2006 for a profit, with no thought given at all to the fact that the land belonged to the citizens of Karachi and was legally mandated by statute for public use as a playground. Because of a column written on the subject, the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the issue and ordered Makro-Habib to vacate the premises and hand it over to the city district government that has jurisdiction over public land.

Of course had the Supreme Court not taken notice of the issue, Shehri CBE’s campaign may not have been successful. Other cases in which the NGO has agitated against incursions on public land have been less successful and have even led to fatal consequences for its activists. Prominent among these was the case of Nisar Baloch who was gunned down allegedly because of his activism on the land-grab of Gutter Baghicha, another tract reserved for a public park.

The case of Bagriyan is similar. If success against the collusion of land mafias, political conglomerations and capitalist profiteering is solely at the discretion of Pakistan’s Supreme Court and its taking notice of the issue, then chances of ordinary citizens prevailing against the domineering tactics of land mafias are minimal. In the Bagriyan case, advocate Khatana did register an appeal with the Lahore High Court (LHC) through the special human rights cell of the court, but failed to garner any attention from the LHC chief justice.

Undoubtedly, the disruption in studies at the school is not a cause that resonates with many and the road that traverses through the school signifies just how low the matter stands on the list of priorities. All this could change if the Supreme Court of Pakistan would take notice of the issue. Indeed, no case can be as deserving and no plaintiffs as hapless and ignored as the hundreds of students eking out an education in this underprivileged school.

While such action may not eliminate the ever-stronger land mafias operating in Karachi and Lahore, nor solve the systemic problems with the provision of justice and land ownership in the country, it would demonstrate to those with the least power that those with the most can stand up for justice even when political calculations do not dictate that they do so.

The writer is a US-based attorney and teaches constitutional law and political philosophy.

rafia.zakaria@gmail.com

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The best kind of wealth is to give up inordinate desires.HAZRAT ALI A.S

ISI chief

Thursday, 11 Mar, 2010

The speculation surrounding the future of the ISI chief Gen Pasha has been confirmed: he has been given a one-year extension in service, thus deferring his retirement later this month and allowing him to continue in his present position.

The first, and most important, question the extension raises is: why? Much of the reporting in the media has focused on Gen Pasha’s impeccable credentials and the army’s desire for ‘continuity’ in the ISI chief’s office while the state is waging a counter-insurgency. But these are really not very good reasons. Gen Pasha may be an exemplary spymaster and he may deserve the nation’s gratitude for services rendered but is he really indispensable? The Pakistan Army is supposed to be the nation’s finest institution, an organised and disciplined force that nurtures and trains its future leaders over decades of training. Surely, then, there must be another officer in the entire Pakistan Army who is capable of stepping up and filling Gen Pasha’s shoes. (Technically, the ISI chief, supposedly selected by the prime minister, can be a civilian but the army has traditionally not allowed anyone from outside the service to occupy that office.)

It is also a bit of a red herring to imply that the security situation in the country demands ‘continuity’ in the highest office of the ISI. Next door, in Afghanistan, the Americans and British have been struggling to contain a deadly insurgency for years now but there has been no talk of ‘exemptions’ and ‘special considerations’ for top military offices there. Arguably, the case for extensions in military service should be even stronger for American or British leaders in Afghanistan: after all, the generals leading the war there are operating in a foreign land and do in fact possess unique knowledge about that war. Pakistani military leaders do not suffer from these disadvantages.

There is a further problem: the Pakistan Army high command showed an astonishing lack of foresight when it appointed Gen Pasha. One glance at a calendar should have alerted those involved in Gen Pasha’s appointment that he would reach the age of retirement before his term as ISI chief would expire. Had someone who had at least three years to go before reaching the age of retirement been appointed in October 2008, the question of an extension would never have arisen. Perhaps Gen Kayani, who appointed Gen Pasha, thought he would cross that bridge when he came to it. But ad hocism of this sort cannot strengthen institutions. The army needs to accept that it must not act as a law unto itself.


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Protection for women

Thursday, 11 Mar, 2010

Pakistan entered a new era on Tuesday when the president signed the Protection against Harassment of Women at Workplace Bill 2010 that is designed to provide a safe working environment for women.

Considering that one factor that deters female mobility outside the home is sexual harassment and that no other country in South Asia has a law like this, it is indeed a landmark event. But can we be certain that this law will actually change the situation on the ground? Although the title of the bill is not explicit on this score, the definition of ‘harassment’ is quite comprehensive in the text. It encompasses any “unwelcome sexual advance or request for sexual favours” or “sexually demeaning attitudes, causing interference with work performance”. The act is also significant for the mechanism it requires every employer and the government to set up, where women can take their complaints. A comprehensive code of conduct has also been spelt out to guide employers in drawing up their own rules and publicising them.

The problem with many good laws in Pakistan is that they fail to get implemented. If they are then they are not put to optimum use by those for whose benefit they are introduced. Thus every organisation — whether in the public or private sector — is required to set up an inquiry committee to receive complaints and award penalties, and draw up a code of conduct for its employees.

The government has to appoint ombudsmen in every province to provide an avenue for appeal to anyone who feels he has been wrongly charged. It must be ensured that this machinery is created for an even-handed approached. There is also the need to create awareness among women about their rights under this law and how they can seek redress in an effective way if they are harassed. One hopes that all the stakeholders will proceed to do what they need to so that the law does not remain a dead letter. No doubt, they will encounter problems along the way, but the end result will be a more confident female working force.



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Oghi attack

Thursday, 11 Mar, 2010


Militants blow up charity’s office in Mansehra, kill six Militants blow up charity’s office in Mansehra, kill six Wednesday’s attack on the office of an American charity in Oghi, in the NWFP’s Mansehra district, reflects the insecure atmosphere in which foreign NGOs work in Pakistan.

Suspected militants stormed the office of World Vision, a Christian charity, killing at least five workers of the NGO, including two women, and injuring around half a dozen people. The five victims are said to be Pakistani. The NGO — which had been active in the area since the October 2005 earthquake — has decided to suspend operations across Pakistan.

This is not the first time foreign NGOs and aid agencies have been attacked in the country. Four local staffers were killed in a similar attack on the office of a British charity in Mansehra in 2008, while its building was torched. Last year the office of the United Nations’ World Food Programme in Islamabad was also targeted, while seven people were killed in the gruesome attack on a Christian charity in Karachi’s Rimpa Plaza in 2002.

Though no group has as yet claimed responsibility for the Oghi attack, local police and observers strongly believe the Taliban or allied extremists to be involved. A local police officer was quoted as saying that those behind the attack were the same forces responsible for blowing up schools.

Oghi is situated next to Kala Dhaka, where militants fleeing Swat are believed to have taken refuge. Religious extremists, in fact, bear particular animus towards foreign NGOs, especially faith-based charities. Foreign NGOs should liaise with the government where matters of security are concerned, especially in areas where the threat of extremist attacks is high. For its part, the government must beef up security for these organisations lest they are forced to pack up and leave, which would have a negative impact on those underprivileged sections of society who benefit from their activities.


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OTHER VOICES - Southeast Asian Press Starting all over again

Thursday, 11 Mar, 2010

THE spate of resignations of its central committee members has paved the way for new elections in the MCA [Malaysian Chinese Association] on March 28. This is to be welcomed. … The trouble is that, while … the MCA knows what it has to do … it has done a bad job of renewing itself. Instead it has done a good job of sleepwalking through the trauma of defeat and pressing the self-destruct mode of infighting …

Whatever is done to try to turn this lost ship of a party around … we can be quite sure that new faces untainted by the past will not yet appear. The best we can hope is that the party polls will result in a more even-handed way of dealing with problems. When its grand unity plan has gone down faster than the Titanic, the MCA’s relevance is being tested with some prepared to abandon it…. — (March 6)

Military needs big shake-up

TWO questionable matters throwing grave doubts on the judgment of the top military commanders have come up almost simultaneously. The army and other services have spent almost one billion baht on useless bomb detectors.

The GT200 devices have proved worthless at finding explosives. Even more seriously, they have actually resulted in casualties …

The dangerous GT200 devices and the grounded airship are putting heat on the government and the military. A major reason for the immense public interest in the fake bomb detectors and failed flights by the airship is the long history of such poorly thought-out purchases. …The apparent waste of money came as the country struggled with a recession that touched almost every family. … — (March 8)

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Medical education

Monday, 15 Mar, 2010

The state of public health in Pakistan is appalling, with doctors often failing to diagnose the illness, let alone successfully treating it. One of the key reasons for this — one that is often cited by experts in the field — is that our medical students and young doctors are not as familiar as they should be with the ailments that afflict the public. Perhaps this is so because the curriculum taught in our medical schools is outdated and out of touch with the health needs of most Pakistanis.

The regional director of the World Health Organisation raised similar points during a recent workshop in Lahore. He said that the country’s 30-year-old medical curriculum needed to be updated keeping in view the public’s health needs. He also pointed out that the high rate of infant and maternal mortality in Pakistan indicated that much needed to be done to equip doctors with the skills to promote public health. Part of the remedy, it was observed at the workshop, lay in promoting community-based medical education.

The indifferent approach of most medical schools in the country can be gauged by the fact that they teach only the basics of medical science. Technological advancements, research and development in medical science are hardly touched upon. Moreover, the examination system needs to be updated, while at the practical level medical students must be instructed in dealing with patients with empathy and sensitivity, so that as doctors they keep their socio-economic situation in mind while prescribing treatment. It must also be instilled in them that serving in remote areas of the country is crucial not only to the welfare of millions of people but also to their understanding of health problems in the country. For all this to happen, an overhaul of the medical curriculum, with a focus on public health, is essential.


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Diamer-Bhasha settlement

Monday, 15 Mar, 2010

It is hoped that discontent in Gilgit-Baltistan will now die down following the federal government’s out-of-court settlement with the thousands of families who will be displaced by the Diamer-Bhasha dam.

Last month’s tragic incident in which two protesters were shot dead by security personnel is still fresh in people’s minds, and any further delay in arriving at a consensus solution could have exacerbated matters. The demands raised by those affected by Diamer-Bhasha included market-rate compensation for land acquired by the government, a healthy quota for local workers in jobs generated by the dam and demarcation of the GB-NWFP border. It seems the first two concerns have now been addressed, though the compensation accepted by the affectees is less than what they were claiming at the outset. Some 30,000 families from 31 villages are to collectively receive Rs40bn over a period of three years, and we are told that nine ‘model villages’ will be built for their resettlement.

Delivering on promises, however, has never been the strongest suit of Pakistani governments. Compensation claims related to Tarbela dam are still pending from the ’60s, and it can only be hoped that Diamer-Bhasha affectees will receive fairer treatment. Among more recent projects, the Ghazi-Barotha Hydropower Project has long been subject to disputes over loss of livelihood while the Lyari Expressway project in Karachi has also played havoc with people’s lives. And even if the government pays those displaced by Diamer-Bhasha on time and builds new villages as promised, the costs of resettlement go beyond monetisation.

The Asian Development Bank puts the problem in a nutshell: affectees of mega projects must be “assisted so that their economic and social future will generally be at least as favourable with the project as without it”. In other words, the land provided ought to be of a quality comparable to that acquired by the state, livelihoods must not be lost and — equally significantly — the resettled should not be stripped of their culture and traditional way of life. These are issues that require sustained thought and, above all, honesty of purpose. Nothing less will do.


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Saudi invitation

Monday, 15 Mar, 2010

An interesting twist appears to have been added to Pak-India relations. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has revealed that his Saudi counterpart has invited him for a briefing on the recent visit of Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Saudi Arabia — a trip that culminated with Mr Singh telling the Indian media that he had requested the Saudi king to use his ‘good offices’ to prevail on Pakistan to desist from ‘aiding, abetting and inspiring’ terrorism in India.

But was this the entirety of the Indian PM’s message? Given domestic compulsions, Mr Singh could perhaps not say publicly what he told the Saudi king privately: that the Indian government may be amenable to the Saudis playing some kind of role to help break the impasse in Pak-India relations. Could this be the reason for Mr Qureshi’s visit to the Saudi kingdom?

Even if it is not, the Pakistani FM will be keen for at least two reasons to speak to the Saudis. First, a host of regional issues will have been discussed in the talks between King Abdullah and the first Indian prime minister to visit the kingdom in nearly three decades, and Pakistan will want to know the details of what was discussed. It is quite possible that Mr Singh had some kind of indirect message for Pakistan about his country’s agenda in Afghanistan or even about Pak-India relations. Second, Pakistan will want an update from the Saudis on their push for talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban. Pakistan has made it clear that it wants a central role in whatever settlement emerges on the future of Afghanistan and so will be determined to not be sidelined or bypassed in any talks with the Taliban.

At the moment, though, only this is clear: there is an impending security shift in the region that will in many ways be as profound as the change after 9/11. The status quo will simply not hold much longer. Either the American surge in Afghanistan will work or it will not, and that outcome will to a large extent determine the winners of the ‘scramble for Afghanistan’ which will follow. Pakistan and India, however, must realise that it is also their own futures that are at stake. Competing for influence in Afghanistan is only part of a numbing array of challenges the two states must overcome. From the age-old like Kashmir and the threat of war to the relatively new like water and the ‘Cold Start’ doctrine, the two states need to resolve their differences — and if the ‘good offices’ of the Saudi king can help, then no time should be wasted.


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OTHER VOICES - North American Press The Paralympic spirit

Monday, 15 Mar, 2010

MANY of us watched in awe as our Olympic skiers fearlessly raced down icy mountains at more than 100 kilometres an hour and curlers landed their rocks precisely on the button. Today, we welcome the beginning of another international sporting event in Vancouver, where athletes manage those same feats with visual impairments, prosthetic limbs and wheelchairs. The 2010 Paralympic Winter Games may follow the Olympics, but they are no afterthought….

The much lower degree of commercialisation that occurs at the Olympics, makes the Paralympics truer to the original ideals: love of sport, competition and personal challenge.

Canada is fortunate to be hosting these Games at a time when we’ve begun to evolve from seeing Paralympians as disabled athletes to seeing them for what they are — powerful champions in their own right. Over the next 10 days, 55 Canadians will compete with 1,300 athletes from 43 countries. Cheer them on. — (March 12)

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Sharif and the Taliban

Tuesday, 16 Mar, 2010

Even by the wretched standards of the cesspit of lies and cravenness that can be the Pakistani political establishment, the comments made on Sunday by Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif are extraordinary and demand the most vigorous condemnation possible.

Essentially, Mr Sharif has argued that his party, the PML-N, shares a common cause with the Taliban —that of opposing Gen Musharraf and his policies and rejecting ‘dictation’ from abroad — and therefore the Taliban should ‘spare’ Punjab. The very thought that any mainstream politician, let alone one as high-profile and powerful as the serving Punjab chief minister, could find anything in common with the Taliban ideology is despicable.

But Mr Sharif has gone so much further than that. By asking the Taliban to ‘spare’ Punjab, what does the Punjab CM mean? Does he mean that the Taliban should launch their attacks elsewhere, in Sindh, Balochistan, the NWFP, Fata, Pata or other places? And what does the CM mean when he says that his party is fighting foreign ‘dictation’ just like the Taliban are? Does he mean that Pakistan should not fight the threat of militancy? What does Mr Sharif want to do instead — accommodate the Taliban like they were accommodated in Swat last year? Or should ‘peace deals’ be struck with the Taliban like they were in South Waziristan for years? The chief minister’s half-hearted ‘clarification’ issued later will not suffice; he must apologise to Punjab and the nation.

That Mr Sharif could possibly be ignorant of the threat posed by the Taliban is impossible. As chief minister of Punjab he has sat at the apex of that province’s administration for over a year and a half now. Countless secret and not-so-secret memos will have arrived on his desk detailing the atrocities and crimes committed and planned by the Taliban. The secret interrogation cell that was attacked in Model Town, Lahore, only a few days ago was run by provincial authorities. The Punjab chief minister is mocking the sacrifices made by the very people who serve his administration by finding common cause with the enemy.

Why is it so difficult for the PML-N to condemn terrorism outright, with no ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’? It surely cannot be a question of the reluctance to use violence against ‘fellow Pakistanis’. Like Mr Sharif’s first tenure as chief minister in the late 1990s, Punjab is once again witnessing a spike in ‘encounter’ killings of alleged dacoits, kidnappers and sundry criminals. The men who have been killed in dubious circumstances are also ‘fellow Pakistanis’. But Mr Sharif has no sympathy for these men; in fact, he has on many occasions announced rewards for the policemen for ‘cleaning up’ the province of criminal elements. There has been no talk of an amnesty for such criminals, no appeals to their better sides, no exhortations to recognise that they have much in common with the largest party in Punjab. The ordinary criminals must be wondering what they must do to get on Mr Sharif’s good side. Perhaps a statement against Mr Musharraf will do the trick.

The PML-N needs to come clean with the people of Pakistan. On which side of the divide does it stand? Is it against militancy in all shapes and forms or is it ideologically sympathetic to the ‘justness’ of some facets of the militants’ cause? This is not about political expediency but about the very worst form of moral corruption. Pakistan’s leaders have a sacred duty to protect the people and the sovereignty of the state. There is absolutely nothing in the Taliban’s agenda that is any way even remotely compatible with that sacred duty. In fact, finding common cause with the Taliban is to take the country one step closer to the abyss. Ordinary Pakistanis have shown remarkable courage in resolutely backing the fight against the militants for a year now. Shahbaz Sharif and the PML-N need to accept who the enemy is. Otherwise, they have no business being involved in the affairs of the state.


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Water woes

Tuesday, 16 Mar, 2010


Nationalists in Sindh accuse Punjab of deliberately starving the lower riparian of water, while some otherwise informed inhabitants of Punjab hold to this day that discharges into the Arabian Sea amount to a waste of a precious resource. We need to get away from these conspiracy theories and work together, for the collective good of the country. Pakistan is already categorised as a water-stressed nation and is, in fact, hovering around the water-starved level. The vagaries of climate change and the burden of a burgeoning population will only add to our troubles. Consider this: Pakistan’s per capita availability of water stood at 5,300 cubic metres per person in 1951. By 2006 this figure had fallen to 1,105 cubic metres. The situation today is probably even more dire.

The Ravi now is little more than a sewage drain in its incarnation near Lahore. Downstream of Kotri, the once mighty Indus, the river Sindhu, has been so choked by dams that cattle wander along its beds. Agriculture in Sindh has taken a huge hit due to water scarcity and riverine fishermen have suffered too. Even more troubling perhaps is the problem of sea intrusion. The Indus was historically strong enough to push back the sea but that is no longer the case. Estimates vary, depending on the political affiliations of those producing the figures, but the sum total is staggering by any count. Unbiased observers believe that at least two million acres of arable land has been devoured in Sindh by sea intrusion over the last 20 years. Crops, homes and livelihoods have been lost, and extra pressure exerted on urban infrastructures. Human dignity is also a victim. Farmers and herders, who once had their own land and animals, are now being forced to clean shrimp for a pittance in Karachi’s outlying fishing communities.

Sunday marked the International Day of Action for Rivers. The nationalists were out in force, as expected, but conspicuous by their absence were those whose voices could be called tempered. Our inter-provincial disputes must now give way to a more informed discourse on India’s illegal water appropriation in Indian-administered Kashmir. We must also say goodbye to our profligate ways. Agriculture accounts for nearly 97 per cent of all water usage in Pakistan, and everyone knows that we waste this resource every single day. Canal lining and land-levelling projects are behind schedule and there has been little or no government support for modern irrigation systems. The problem doesn’t end there. Pesticide-ridden run-off from overly watered farms is polluting waterways and natural aquifers. Water can no longer be taken for granted and integrated management is the need of the hour.


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OTHER VOICES -Sindhi Press Lahore blasts

Tuesday, 16 Mar, 2010

TWIN suicides attacks followed by a series of low-intensity explosions made a mockery of the security apparatus … in Lahore. The … government only repeated its orthodox statement that it will not bow before the terrorists. … Unfortunately, such statements by agencies and the interior ministry prove hollow as they fail to control terrorist acts in the country. The ruling party and opposition condemn such incidents and express sorrow…. In fact such statements by our politicians, instead of creating a ray of hope, disappoint the people.

…Gen Musharraf promised to eliminate those jihadi groups that were created by Gen Zia and … initiated a proxy war in the whole region, which, on the contrary, resulted in strengthening the jihadi networks. Religious extremism exploited anti-American sentiments ... Though no major operation was carried out against the terrorists Gen Musharraf was still considered a staunch supporter of the US, and after his removal from office he is still being protected.

The recent wave of terrorist acts indicates that an Indian hand is involved in these brutal attacks. Their attacking elements have become weak and are now scattered in various cities of the country to strengthen themselves. …[B]ut the ground reality is that the government has failed to control terrorism. …This situation demands that the government revise its policy of making alliances with those parties that support the Taliban. — (March 14)

— Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi

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AG resignation

Sunday, 04 Apr, 2010

Another round in the judiciary-executive tussle has ended on a note of uncertainty. On Friday, the attorney general, Mansoor Khan, resigned, claiming that “non-cooperation and the non-cooperative attitude” of Law Minister Babar Awan and the law ministry were to blame for the non-implementation of the NRO judgment.

Mr Khan’s statement was unusually blunt — usually vague ‘personal reasons’ are cited for resignations where differences are involved — and indicate that the government is still undecided about implementing the Supreme Court’s order to write to Swiss authorities to reopen old cases and claims that affect President Zardari. What happens next? It’s difficult to say. However, what is clear is that both sides, the government and the Supreme Court, need to reassess their strategies.

First, the government. On Saturday, Law Minister Babar Awan addressed the press and dismissed the suggestion that he had done anything wrong and claimed that his ministry was fully aware of its duties and responsibilities. On Thursday, the law secretary told the Supreme Court that the letters drafted by NAB and addressed to the Swiss authorities were in his possession and that he needed to study the law before deciding what to do with them. True, legal issues should not be resolved in haste and need to be deliberated thoroughly, but the government has had plenty of time now. If the government believes that the review petitions need to be heard and adjudicated before it can implement the NRO judgment, then it should state this clearly. Or if the government believes that the president’s constitutional immunity prevents the government from writing to the Swiss authorities, then it needs to tell the court this plainly and move the matter forward. Additionally, the government needs to perhaps reassess the composition of its legal team. The law minister is mired in charges of alleged corruption and while it is true that allegations alone do not warrant the removal of a minister, propriety must be kept in mind, too. It is unseemly, to say the least, to have a law minister who is facing the kind of allegations that Mr Awan is.

Next, the judiciary. The Supreme Court triggered murmurings of disquiet last week even among those who have no overt political leanings for its elbows-out approach to getting the NRO judgment implemented. Due process must be followed in all instances and, as Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry himself said from the bench, there should be no hint of the personal involved. The government may be deliberately delaying reopening the Swiss cases, but its objections have some legal merit and they deserve to be heard fairly and impartially.





Sunday, 04 Apr, 2010

Foreign equity inflow at $113m in March Foreign equity inflow at $113m in March The State Bank’s view in its second quarterly report that drastic fiscal reforms are needed to retain macroeconomic stability echoes what many experts have said for some time. Recently, at a panel discussion on civil service reforms in Islamabad, a former SBP governor, who also headed the National Commission on Government Reform, said that the government should overhaul the civil services, making ‘fundamental changes’ before it was too late.

A month and a half ago, an international NGO warned in a special report that bureaucratic dysfunction was undermining the government’s ability to ensure law and order and provide services such as education and healthcare, which are just as vital to containing the spread of extremism as the use of force against militant groups. Earlier in 2008, the NCGR had submitted a report to the current government identifying important civil service reform needs. Among the measures recommended were increased salaries and training, security of tenure and strengthened accountability mechanisms.

Why reforms are necessary is obvious from the general state of our bureaucracy. In the public perception, Pakistani bureaucracy is ineffective, corrupt and unresponsive to citizens’ needs because its members are more concerned with pleasing their superiors. State institutions are seen as performing poorly where public welfare is concerned. The frequent — and often disruptive — transfer of civil servants is often used as an example of the malaise in a civil service where merit and performance no longer matter. Similarly, the failure of the public-private partnership framework and the local government system to deliver has also been attributed to the lack of necessary bureaucratic reforms. If reforms to make the civil service efficient and effective are delayed any longer, corruption will replace all development. This in turn will continue to erode the already limited capacity of the state to address the needs of its citizens.

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Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.

TTP strikes again

Wednesday, 07 Apr, 2010


In Miranshah, North Waziristan Agency, the Taliban had warned that Afghanistan and Pakistan were “one” in terms of a war theatre. And then the TTP struck on Monday, launching a sophisticated attack on the US consulate in Peshawar and a devastating car bombing of an ANP rally in Timergara, Lower Dir. The threat that the TTP continues to pose is very real and very serious.

So yet again, some questions have to be asked. First, where are the Qari Hussains and Hakeemullah Mehsuds (he has risen from the ‘dead’) hiding? The intelligence and security agencies have made some decent progress in the war against militancy but they have still, by and large, failed to capture or kill most of the top militant commanders. For example in Swat, of the 50 most-wanted militants about 80 per cent have been accounted for by the security forces, but the ones who are missing are part of the top leadership. In other militancy-hit areas, too, a similar pattern has been established. Where is Tariq Afridi? Where is Faqir Mohammed? The reason it is important to get these top leaders is becoming increasingly apparent. Sophisticated and devastating attacks like those launched on Monday would be infinitely more difficult for middle-ranking or lower-tier militants to pull off on their own. Moreover, the top commanders have repeatedly pledged to keep on attacking targets, indicating that they have no intention of melting away and giving up the fight.

Second, what exactly is going on in North Waziristan Agency? Many, if not most, of the recent militancy trails appear to end in the agency. The state is trying to put pressure on Hafiz Gul Bahadur via the tribal structure to either stop the violence emanating from NWA or to dismantle the safe havens that have been established there. But it is not clear yet who is in fact in control of NWA. Is it Hafiz Gul Bahadur or is it Hakeemullah Mehsud? And while the army maintains it has a fair amount of resources in the area (which it does), the state has perhaps the least direct influence. Sooner rather than later, the army needs to establish its control over the area. The Taliban may be on the run but they have proved they still have the capacity to launch strikes almost anywhere in the country. They must be denied whatever space they have found in North Waziristan.

World Health Day

With high population growth, infant and child mortality rates, a high maternal mortality ratio and the burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases, we rank amongst the countries with the worst health indicators. And not surprisingly, since our total expenditure on health as a percentage of the GDP remains amongst the lowest in the world: 2.0 per cent as compared to 5-14 per cent in developed countries.

Improvement in the country’s health indicators during the next decade will depend on a new vision in the national health policy 2010. This policy is in the process of being finalised by the Health Policy Task Force initiated in 2008. With health being a provincial subject and service delivery having devolved to the district level since 2001, it will not do for us to have another top-down approach in the new policy. Rather than a heavy-handed policy giving across-the-board guidance on how service delivery will be managed, the new national policy should provide general guidelines on the federal mandate of resource mobilisation and spell out the principles of service delivery. The policy should also clearly state the federal positions on important health issues ranging from implementing globally binding agreements such as the Convention on Tobacco Control, to regulating domestic health matters such as medicines/drugs, workforce, medical education and pharmaceuticals. However, the effectiveness of the new national health policy will depend eventually on the institutional capacity of the provinces and districts to deliver.

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Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.

Media ethics

Friday, 09 Apr, 2010

Sections of Pakistan’s electronic media need to take a close hard look at their priorities and the frivolous manner in which they sometimes operate.


Take, for instance, the tone and tenor of the coverage given to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik’s impending marriage to Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. When the story was first confirmed by the two families it was flashed over and over again as ‘breaking news’.

Later, it was Ms Mirza’s successful attempt to secure a Pakistani visa that dominated the headlines on some television channels. And then came the field days — or appalling lows, depending on your viewpoint — when Mr Malik’s alleged previous marriage to another Indian woman became the news du jour. Coverage of the eventual out-of-court settlement ostensibly involving a divorce was just as sensational and an equally poor advertisement for Pakistani journalism.

In the race for ratings, media ethics, contextual significance and perhaps even common sense were thrown out the window. What we saw on our screens was tabloid journalism of the sort usually purveyed by the dregs of the profession. Media organisations are businesses of course but the ethos of journalism demands that ethics must not be sacrificed at the altar of the bottom line. Good taste also comes into it, though that is a more subjective issue. But consider this: in a country racked by militancy and terrorism, should a celebrity marriage dominate the news on a day when dozens are killed in suicide attacks? Should gossip about what is at best a footnote in the day’s events be deemed more important than the serious socio-political problems facing the country? News involves information, not sordid entertainment, and the line differentiating the two must be redrawn if the industry is to retain its integrity. It is not a news network’s job to titillate its audience or provide the kind of catharsis offered by film or channels dedicated to entertainment.

Yes, the Shoaib-Sania story is news, especially in the context of the strained relations between Pakistan and India. By no stretch of the imagination, however, is it headline news in a country that is struggling to make ends meet.



Friday, 09 Apr, 2010


They’ve done it. Proving all the naysayers wrong, dismissing all the conspiracy theorists, rejecting all those who would be spoilers, the National Assembly of Pakistan has approved a constitution that for the first time in decades will have the broad support of the people’s elected representatives.

Such was the bonhomie in the house yesterday that regular watchers of parliament may have rubbed their eyes in disbelief: was that really Chaudhry Nisar, leader of the opposition, the PML-N attacker-in-chief, a seemingly perennially angry man, praising the PPP co-chairman, President Asif Ali Zardari? Yes, it was. It was that kind of a day. A historic day in Pakistan’s parliamentary history, one that the MNAs deserve a heartfelt thanks for.

And yet the 18th Amendment is neither the panacea that its proponents suggest it is, nor will it transform Pakistan’s polity unless implemented with sincerity and purpose. There are four broad areas that this constitutional amendment package addresses: the repeal of the 17th Amendment; enhancement of provincial autonomy; the appointment process for the superior judiciary; and ‘other’ issues. That is a sizeable agenda and necessitated nearly 100 clauses of the 280-article constitution to be amended. But many big issues were never put on the table. For example, the Islamic clauses gratuitously inserted by Gen Zia in the constitution were not touched and the colonial-era status of Fata was not looked at. Perhaps the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms headed by Raza Rabbani should not be disbanded and should instead be allowed to work on the next raft of changes that are needed. Consider that the security threat that has radiated from Fata is unprecedented in the country’s history and yet the committee did not see fit to amend its constitutional status at this stage. In fact, even the relatively minor changes (allowing political parties to participate in elections, for example) promised by the president have not yet been signed into law by the NWFP governor. The security challenge in Fata has to be dealt with by more than just guns and money — the ‘wild west’ political status of the place is part of the reason that the area has become the greatest threat to internal security.

Democracies must necessarily be forward-looking. To suggest that more needs to be done at this stage is not to detract from the historic achievement of the present parliament. Mr Rabbani and his committee have done a phenomenal job — which is all the more reason to keep them together and set them to work on the next set of constitutional reforms. ‘Do more’ in this context is not a quibble; it is the essence of democracy.

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Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.

Embracing identity

Monday, 12 Apr, 2010


Identity is what distinguishes heritage from history. We can ignore, if not redo and delete, portions of our history that we choose not to like but we cannot avoid our heritage. It is, after all, what makes us what we are.

Even when we are not consciously aware of the origin of our architecture, customs and traditions, at a subconscious level we follow them as a silent tribute to our forefathers who first came up with them. This justifies our urge to save our heritage from disappearing. Motivated by this urge, a citizen has moved the Lahore High Court for the protection and preservation of two major heritage sites in the Salt Range. He told the court that the Malot and Katras forts have not just suffered due to the ravages of time and the elements, they are further threatened by unceasing mining and industrial operations in the area. His petition also highlighted the apathy of the federal and the Punjab governments in taking no note of the precarious condition of the two forts built more than a thousand years ago.

That the court has taken up the petition is a welcome development. It may divert official attention to the plight of the forts that may one day collapse because of mining beneath them and corrosive industrial activities around them. It may also help the government, local residents, mining companies and factory owners realise that monuments such as the Malot and Katras forts are the roots of our culture.

Letting these roots wither at the altar of commercialisation is as dangerous as the idea of ignoring them due to their pre-Islamic origin. Taking immediate steps for their preservation will not just be a compliment to the great civilisation we have inherited from those distant times. It will also be an acknowledgement of the soul-stirring synthesis that emerged with the confluence of Islamic and sub-continental culture. Conserving Malot and Katras could become one big step towards retrieving that synthesis from under the heap of some recent and not so helpful influences.



Islamabad security has come under focus once again, thankfully not because of a deadly attack. The disclosure that practically the entire urban area of Islamabad has been designated a high-security zone has come soon after it was announced that the capital police’s diplomatic protection department will be manned by the Sindh Rangers instead of the Frontier Constabulary.
These two new security measures have apparently been prompted by the disclosure that some personnel of the Frontier Constabulary posted in Islamabad may have links with militants. Particularly unnerved by the discovery are the city’s diplomats, for whose protection some 2,000 personnel of the Frontier Constabulary were deployed in the city in June 2008 after the attack on the Danish embassy. Adding to the renewed security concerns in Islamabad was the blast at a car park in a major market of the city, even though the explosion was of low intensity and caused little damage. Yet another minor incident but worrying from the security angle is the snatching at gunpoint of a vehicle of the military’s National Logistics Cell.

While there is a general accord on the need for tighter security, there is at the same time concern that the new security measures should not unnecessarily inconvenience the public. Achieving this would require turning Islamabad into a high-tech security zone with an integrated security system comprising the latest security gear including video cameras, scanners, sensors and even biometric identification tools.

In addition to better detection, improved communications and data transfer links for managing monitoring efforts are needed, as well as enhanced procedures allowing security personnel to investigate alarms without clogging up traffic. Last but not least, the federal authorities will also need to ensure that they have the ability to devote such resources without cutting into routine policing and everyday crime-fighting in the city.

Bad old ways

What is the PPP leadership thinking? In the same week the party earned plaudits for shepherding the 18th Amendment bill through parliament, it has gone and reminded the country that politicians will be politicians — and that that is not necessarily a good thing.
On Saturday, the PPP parliamentary board, headed by party leader President Zardari, announced the party’s candidates for the by-elections triggered by the recent resignations of some national and provincial assembly members after their fake degrees were exposed. Bizarrely, the PPP leadership has seen it fit to nominate the very same members who humiliatingly had to submit their resignations before the Supreme Court. And in another sordid twist, the PPP has even given its party ticket to a PML-Q legislator who had to resign his National Assembly seat from Vehari on similar grounds.

There are several points to note here. While the Bachelor’s degree requirement for assembly men and women has been dropped (which is a good thing), the men were hauled up before the SC for submitting fake documents, which can be grounds for disqualifying an elected representative. So the point here isn’t about higher education but the moral and legal lapses by the elected representatives. Why is the PPP continuing to support members who so clearly do not deserve to be the representatives of the people?

The government is sending a terrible signal to the electorate and the political class: political expediency trumps everything else. Saturday also brought news of a ‘deal’ between the former attorney general, Sardar Latif Khosa, and the complainant who accused him of demanding a Rs3m bribe. The disciplinary committee of the Pakistan Bar Council, which was holding hearings on the matter, has now adjourned until May 8 when it will presumably announce its decision. We hope the PBC will not accept the ‘deal’ at face value and will determine the facts and share them with the public. For too long now corruption and misdemeanours have been dealt with sympathetically because of concerns about ‘stability’ and ‘democratic continuity’.

The obvious question that the PPP tickets handed out for the by-election raise, though, is: is the presidency thumbing its nose at the SC? Remember that it was a SC bench led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry that had shown great disgust at the shenanigans of the politicians caught lying and left them with no choice but to resign. Such is the poor state of relations between the judiciary and the executive that the question will be on the minds of many. The president is of course known to stick by his friends, but many will be hoping this isn’t the mindless start of a new round in the tussle between the judiciary and the executive.

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Faith is the bird that sings when the dawn is still dark.