Save the system

Wednesday, 29 Sep, 2010

DID the frenzy of anticipation and apprehension on Monday signify nothing? One answer would be: yes. After all, the government has survived and the Supreme Court has held off on turning the screws. But something did happen on Monday, and it did not help strengthen the democratic project in any way. Little is factually known about what transpired during the meeting between the president, the prime minister and the army chief on Monday, but its significance cannot be overlooked. The two most powerful civilian political figures were in attendance, the supreme commander of the armed forces and the chief executive of the country, but, in truth, all eyes were on the third figure: the army chief. That itself tells a sorry tale about how poorly the civilian government, and other civilian institutions, have managed the transition to democracy. Must every civilian institution always act with the fear of the army bogeyman at the back of its mind? Perhaps not. But civilian institutions simply cannot afford to forget that the infighting which weakens them strengthens undemocratic forces in the country.

Perhaps no side needs to introspect more than the present government. The latest PPP government has confirmed what many long suspected, that the Achilles’ heel of the party is an inability to deliver on governance. Much of the talk about the implementation/ non-implementation/ selective implementation of court judgments would have disappeared if the government had shown some semblance of understanding the structural and long-standing problems that confront the country and had begun to address them. But where commitment of purpose was required, the country got empty rhetoric. Even now, when some of the political ‘crisis’ could dissipate were some of the worst offenders among the outsize federal cabinet to be jettisoned, the government chooses to rule by inaction. Almost certainly, the abject governance record of the present civilian leadership has helped foment the atmosphere of crisis.

However, the onus of shoring up democracy in the country does not fall on the government alone. What is viewed by some as the selectivism of the judicial arm of the state is also a reality that has played its part in the ongoing crisis. This much ought to be obvious: anything that leads the army to intervene in politics, however discreetly, is not good for democracy. The army needs to focus on the security challenges that have disrupted lives across the country, not be sucked into the vortex of politics by squabbling civilian institutions. Unsettlingly, it was not very difficult to tell who among the three pictured at the presidency on Monday appeared the most comfortable.

Children at risk

Wednesday, 29 Sep, 2010

IN the event of a disaster, groups that are already disadvantaged, such as women and children, become even more vulnerable to abuse and exploitation. In the post-flood situation, apart from the victims’ immediate needs such as shelter, food and medical attention, the protection of children is also a major concern. According to Unicef, out of the 20 million or so people affected by the floods, over half are children. A report by the agency on the floods’ effect on children says that “children have been or are at risk of being separated from their families, they are at risk of abuse … and have witnessed death and destruction”. There are also reports that boys from flood-affected families are being lured into prostitution in some parts.

In the aftermath of natural calamities worldwide we have witnessed elements taking advantage of children. After the January earthquake in Haiti some American missionaries were convicted of illegally transporting a busload of Haitian children into the Dominican Republic without any paperwork. In Pakistan, after the 2005 earthquake the adoption of children was banned to prevent the risk of child abductions. Though people may be well-intentioned in wanting to take children away from the scene of tragedy, it doesn’t justify ignoring due process. In the current scenario the trafficking and abuse of children cannot be ignored as the state grapples with the post-flood situation. In present conditions, protecting the welfare and rights of minors is more important than ever as the chances of their exploitation are far greater considering that the whole social structure in many parts of the country has collapsed. Vigilance is key in this regard.

The state and society — especially rights organisations — must play a proactive role in ensuring the safety of children so that they are kept from harm. It is also important that a child protection law is passed and implemented at the federal level. Presently, such a law only exists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It is essential that the federal government passes a law that can protect children from all forms of abuse both in times of crises and otherwise.

Nato’s stance

Wednesday, 29 Sep, 2010

AFTER initially defending the recent aerial attacks inside Pakistan, Nato appeared to change its stance on Monday evening. More than 50 people have been killed in the three recent air strikes. The Isaf spokesman had earlier invoked the right of self-defence but after Pakistan sent a strongly worded protest reminding the military alliance that its mandate for operations ended at the Afghanistan border, the security force reportedly informed Pakistani commanders that it was trying to ensure that helicopters did not cross into Pakistani territory. That the US-led military alliance appears to have realised its mistake is encouraging at a number of levels. First, the reversal regarding the legitimacy of including Pakistani territory in operations focused on Afghanistan will act as a deterrent to future temptations to resort to the ‘rules of hot pursuit’. As Pakistan has reminded Nato, no such agreement exists and such incursions can only be termed a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty.

Secondly, while it is true that the militants recognise no borders and the terrain is uncertain, it is important for allies to respect each other’s mandate and territory. The only hope for effectively breaking the militant-terrorist nexus lies in close cooperation and coordination among the various stakeholders, including the US, Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is doubly important since Pakistan’s forces are themselves engaged in fighting the militants. Incursions such as these are counter-productive to the aims of both Nato and Pakistan as they deepen public resentment regarding cooperation with the United States. The matter is similar to the controversy surrounding drone attacks inside Pakistan: though the issue has quietened down to some extent, it proved deeply divisive in terms of public opinion.

Thirdly, there has been no dispute that the targeted fighters belonged mainly to the Haqqani network, which shows further recognition that the militancy problem is not Afghanistan’s alone.

No funds for dialysis

Dawn Editorial
Thursday, 30 Sep, 2010


Kidney patients in need of regular dialysis have been in the news over the last few years. At one point during the Nawaz Sharif government that lasted until October 1999, government-run hospitals were asked to provide kidney patients with free dialysis.



The rulers afterwards had other preferences even though some patients in need of dialysis and without the means to pay for the expensive procedure were covered by donations or funding by the government under zakat and other heads. But in the absence of a clear directive, patients lived in fear of the facility being taken away from them.

The worst fears of some 225 registered patients who were receiving free dialysis at Lahore’s Sheikh Zayed Hospital have just become a reality. Having been extended the ‘favour’ on the orders of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani until recently, they have been told that from now on they will be required to bring their own disposable kits for the procedure. This paper reported the rather unfortunate development yesterday and confirmed the reason was the shortage of funds. The same report said a disposable dialysis kit cost around Rs15,000 and many patients required more than one dialysis session in a week.



While there are no official statistics, a senior doctor in Lahore is reported to have said that as many as 150,000 new cases were being added to the list of people suffering from chronic kidney disease every year. This is a daunting figure. The situation is further complicated by the government’s habit of cutting expenditure on health to overcome the cash deficits that it is all too frequently faced with. Much more than medical symptoms, it is this dangerous habit that is in need of an urgent cure since it puts the health of the entire Pakistani population at risk.

Polls postponed

Dawn Editorial
Thursday, 30 Sep, 2010

On Tuesday, the Sindh Assembly passed into law the Sindh Local Government (Fifth Amendment) Bill, 2010 effectively postponing LG polls indefinitely. The bill states that it is not possible to hold the polls within a specified time-frame due to the havoc caused by the floods. The law minister told the house elections would be held when the situation became “conducive”, which is an open-ended proposition. As an NPP lawmaker quipped, it appears the government has no intention of holding the polls. Undoubtedly the floods have caused massive destruction, yet there seem to be other causes behind the delay in elections — namely the fact that the PPP and MQM cannot agree upon a new LG law, without which elections cannot be held.

It is clear that in the absence of elected local bodies Sindh is suffering. Observers have said that had local governments been in place the severity of the floods’ destruction could have been lessened. In areas not affected by the floods, such as Karachi, there has been a visible drop in the quality of civic services ever since the nazims were sent home in February. During Tuesday’s session an MP belonging to the PML-Q even alleged that corruption has increased in the absence of local bodies. The local government minister said that the system (adopted in 2001 under Gen Musharraf) had failed to deliver as according to him, 21 out of Sindh’s 23 districts “suffered badly” because of it. If this is true, then the faults in the system should be rectified so that a new law is adopted and polls held. A ‘faulty’ system cannot become a convenient excuse for indefinitely postponing elections and leaving unelected bureaucrats in charge of the districts. The politicians need to reach a consensus and move on. Enough time has been wasted. Giving a time-frame for polls is not an impossible task. The parties must honestly assess the post-flood situation, come up with a new law and set a date for elections.

Reformed GST

Dawn Editorial
Thursday, 30 Sep, 2010


The debate over the imposition of Reformed General Sales Tax may be at an end. The major sticking point had been the dispute between Sindh and the centre over collection of sales tax on services. At stake was approximately Rs50bn in revenue.



Under the seventh NFC agreement forged last December, Sindh expected to get Rs20bn to Rs25bn more in revenues on account of sales tax on services. However, the federal government backtracked, possibly in violation of its legal commitments. It took nine months to resolve, but it appears the government has finally accepted a cut of approximately Rs35bn in its revenue share, as originally pledged, clearing the way for the introduction of RGST.

It is impossible to summarise the changes expected in this space, but suffice it to say two major improvements are hoped for. One, documentation of the economy will increase (improved documentation makes tax evasion more difficult); and two, many of the special exemptions and concessions which riddled the GST regime and caused an estimated loss of Rs100bn annually will be eliminated. It is worth bearing in mind, however, that experts familiar with the tax system and political economy are sceptical that major improvements are likely. Barring seriousness of purpose and political resoluteness, many of the problems the RGST is supposed to fix could creep back in. That Pakistanis do not like paying taxes (and so avoid documentation) and powerful business lobbies find ways of carving out exceptions (hence the special concessions and exemptions) are the underlying problems, whatever the system in vogue. It remains to be seen if the RGST will be able to withstand those pressures, even a few years later.

The idea behind RGST is simple enough: it is a value-added tax that will be imposed on each stage of production. If the zero-rating on the textile industry goes, as promised, the new regime will look something like this: ginners who sell Rs100 of cotton to spinners will add Rs17 (or whatever the rate of RGST) to the selling price; next, spinners who ‘add value’ to the Rs100 of cotton by turning it into yarn, say they double its value to Rs200, will sell the yarn to cloth-makers for Rs234, but will be eligible to reclaim the Rs17 tax paid earlier; and so on up the production chain. It is a good idea but it remains to be seen if the implementation is effective. At the very least, however, income-tax payers should be relieved that the imminent introduction of RGST has apparently created the space to reduce the severity of the proposed flood tax on incomes.

__________________
Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Babri mosque verdict

Friday, 01 Oct, 2010

NEARLY two decades after Hindu zealots tore down the 16th-century Babri mosque in the Indian town of Ayodhya, there appears to be some sense of closure to the divisive issue. Or is there? After all, when religion, mythology and politics come together in issues such as this, the mix is nothing less than incendiary. Whatever the debate over the claims that the demolished mosque was built over the janambhoomi or birthplace of Hindu deity Ram, the Allahabad High Court ruled on Thursday that the disputed site would be divided into three portions: two would go to as many Hindu organisations while the third would go to a Muslim group. Perhaps this was the only tenable solution considering the divergent views of the three-member bench: Justice Sudhir Agarwal felt “the building in dispute was constructed after demolition of a non-Islamic religious structure i.e. a Hindu temple”, while Justice S.U. Khan’s findings were that “no temple was demolished for constructing the mosque”. Certainly, at first glance it appears to be a judgment in favour of Hindu demands. However, it is hoped that the demarcation is done amicably and fairly. The Sunni Waqf Board has decided to appeal the decision in the Indian Supreme Court.

For the Congress-led government — under whose watch the mosque was demolished in 1992 (though a BJP government was in power in Uttar Pradesh and the party’s leaders egged on the fanatics) — the verdict must have come as a relief. A totally pro-Hindu verdict would have put a question mark on the government’s secular credentials while a pro-Muslim judgment would have alienated the government from the Hindu majority. The Indian government was taking no chances as nearly 200,000 troops fanned out across UP — 40,000 of them in Ayodhya alone. Perhaps the memories of communal violence in the aftermath of the mosque’s destruction were still fresh. Both before and after the verdict the Indian government fervently appealed for calm. The verdict also comes at a time when the Indian government is faced with a number of security problems, including securing the controversy-plagued Commonwealth Games, unrest in Kashmir and the Maoist insurgency.

Elements within the Indian political spectrum — especially the Hindu right — have milked the issue for political mileage. The first recorded incidents of violence surrounding the Babri mosque did not emerge until the middle of the 19th century. It was only in the mid-’80s that the Sangh Parivar made building the Ram temple its ideological rallying cry. Though what happened in 1992 is inexcusable, perhaps the verdict will be viewed as pragmatic if it soothes communal passions and ensures such ugly incidents do not happen again.

Tax reforms

Friday, 01 Oct, 2010

ON Tuesday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and two other members of the Obama administration called for Pakistan to tax its wealthiest elites if it wanted to continue receiving monetary assistance from the United States. At the US Global Leadership Coalition conference in Washington, Secretary Clinton mentioned Pakistan’s low tax rate while referring to the country’s expectation of financial assistance during times of crisis. “When there’s a problem, everybody expects the United States and others to come in and help,” she said. This may cause outrage in some quarters but is nothing less than the truth. Pakistan’s taxation issues are reaching proportions that the rest of the world is not only beginning to notice but also growing impatient with.

With a tax-to-GDP ratio of just nine per cent, Pakistan can hardly be said to be taking steps to lessen its economic crisis. In fact, it is not even making the attempt to do so, considering that important tax reforms such as bringing agriculture and certain other sectors into the tax net have yet to see the light of day, despite being talked about for years. This is an unacceptable state of affairs, particularly given how often Pakistan has to appeal outside its borders for financial assistance. The post-flood situation is a case in point. President Zardari asked the government on Wednesday to impose a one-time flood tax on the wealthy. Fair enough, but the fact that Pakistan can no longer ignore is that the entire taxation sector must be fixed. First, there is the matter of strictly enforcing the laws to prevent tax evasion and fudging. Second, the laws need revision and rationalisation, for it is no secret that some of the wealthiest citizens and enterprises remain virtually untaxed while certain groups, such as salaried citizens, bear the heaviest burden in proportion to their incomes. Third, reforms are needed to bring more sectors into the tax net, the most important of these being agriculture.

Dengue risk

Friday, 01 Oct, 2010

NO exact count is available for how many people have succumbed to dengue fever since it first became an issue some years ago, but the number is bound to be considerable. In the current post-monsoon season, dozens of people in many parts of the country have been diagnosed with it, particularly in Karachi. While many patients have recovered, there have been cases of dengue-related death as well. Yet the disease has not received the attention that its life-threatening nature merits, and the health authorities’ attempts to reduce its risk or raise public awareness about it have been piecemeal.

This must be rectified since in the post-flood situation the risk is greater than ever. Dengue fever is transmitted by mosquitoes and one of the consequences of the recent inundation of large swathes of land is bound to be the increased breeding of mosquitoes. Efforts must be made to make available preventative tools such as mosquito netting and disinfectants in high-risk places such as IDP camps. The fever is more likely to strike people with lowered immunities, from which most of the flood-affected people are already suffering. A greater effort must be made to keep camps and cities clean, particularly congested urban areas where stagnant pools of water and heaps of garbage are common features. Furthermore, awareness-raising is needed amongst the citizenry. In particular, people need to be on the watch for the initial signs and symptoms of the disease. Given that these include headaches, exhaustion and muscle pain, they can easily be taken for mild flu or other non-serious conditions. In this illness, as in many others, early diagnosis can save lives. In Karachi on Tuesday, the Dengue Surveillance Cell admitted that there has been a surge in the number of patients. The situation must not be allowed to get out of hand.

__________________
Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Fresh tensions

Saturday, 02 Oct, 2010

PAKISTAN-US relations have been, and it seems always will be, fraught with a certain degree of tension and mutual suspicion. But the spike in tensions between the two countries in recent weeks appears to be out of the ordinary. CIA chief Leon Panetta is believed to have delivered a tough message to his interlocutors in Islamabad and Rawalpindi, warning that Pakistan will have to learn to accept US/Nato raids from across the Pakistan-Afghan border and ever-increasing drone strikes if Pakistan continues to do little, in America’s reckoning, to shut down the safe havens Afghan-centric militants enjoy in Fata. For its part, the Pakistan Army has conveyed its deep unhappiness with the helicopter raids in particular. That the Nato supply routes through Pakistan have come under attack and the border crossing at Torkham has been closed appear to be part of a larger scheme of Pakistani ‘protest’ against aggressive US action.

The action-reaction cycle may seem familiar, and to an extent it is, but it is extremely unsettling given the present context. With a crucial review of US strategy in Afghanistan expected to be completed by December, there is almost certainly a great deal of pressure to show results on the counter-insurgency front. Eastern Afghanistan, the stronghold of the Haqqani network, has witnessed fierce fighting in recent months and the insurgency there is believed to have been dented to some extent, but the American side continues to argue that the Haqqani network draws its strength from its bases in Fata. The Pakistan Army appears to have pledged some sort of eventual action against militant bases, in North Waziristan in particular, but thus far has failed to deliver — which is very likely the crux of the dispute at the moment and the reason for the escalating tensions between the US and Pakistan.

Whatever the reasons or justifications on both sides, the US and Pakistan must desist from the brinkmanship on display at the moment. American officials high and low routinely claim Pakistan is a valuable ally in the fight against militancy, but unilateral strikes inside Pakistani territory run completely counter to that narrative. The fact of the matter is that the US, for logistical and strategic reasons, needs Pakistan. That alone should be enough to render ill-advised escalating the pressure on Pakistan because of political timelines that the US has to adhere to for domestic reasons. Pakistan has been no saint in the partnership with the US; however, if the shoe was on the other foot, the US would likely have made many of the same decisions Pakistan has. The pressure must abate.

Lawyers on the rampage

Saturday, 02 Oct, 2010

FRIDAY’S ugly clash between police and lawyers in Lahore was a far cry from the movement for the independence of the judiciary that the city had played its part in only recently. Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has been a prime backer of a free and independent judiciary and the lawyers have been the army that the campaign has banked upon. Friday’s clash between the lawyers and the police force under the command of Mr Sharif marked the biggest, if not the first, instance of those in the pro-judiciary camp taking on each other since the movement began in 2007. The face-off and the subsequent arrests came in the wake of the deplorable incident a day earlier in which infuriated lawyers had attacked the chamber of the chief justice of the Lahore High Court. The lawyers had been pressing for the transfer of a district and sessions judge. Many lawyers were booked under the Pakistan Penal Code as well as the anti- terrorism act and some arrests were made. Apparently it was the violent culmination of the lawyers’ rally on Thursday that elicited a sterner response from the police a day later. The inevitable happened. Seeking to block the lawyers’ way, the policemen arrested the participants of the rally and resorted to baton-charge and tear-gassing as the lawyers tried to start the rally, and beat them in the most brutal manner.

Even though some people insist that the attack on the LHC chief justice’s chamber was a conspi- racy to defame the pro- judiciary movement, facts betray a grimmer reality. The attack did not come out of the blue. There was a build-up in which a large number of lawyers were involved. If the lawyers’ leaders were to back the strange conspiracy theory, they would be doing a great disservice to not only their profession but to all those who sided with them in their demand for the rule of law. They must now demonstrate that theirs was a principled campaign directed at a set of judges appointed unconstitutionally and that their anger was not aim- ed at judges per se or judges disagreeing with a lawyer’s argument.

Netanyahu’s intransigence

Saturday, 02 Oct, 2010

MAHMOUD Abbas has done well by not walking out of the peace talks immediately, despite Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision not to extend the freeze on housing. A final decision about continuing the peace talks will be made by the Palestinian president after he meets Arab foreign ministers in Cairo next week. Settlements are one of the key issues which President Barack Obama wants the two sides to tackle so that peace is achieved within the 12-month deadline given by him — a mere dream, considering the fate of previous such plans and hopes. The US, the European Union and all those who wished to see peace in the Middle East expected the Likud government to extend the moratorium, which expired on Sept 26. However, by refusing to extend the freeze Israel has once again demonstrated consistency in its intransigence. When they began talking in Washington last month Mr Abbas made it clear that a renewal of construction activity would sabotage peace efforts, and he would pull out. True to its record, the Likud government allowed the Sept 26 deadline to pass, with Mr Netanyahu saying he would only allow “restricted” construction activity. Palestinian leaders have already said they would not accept a compromise on settlement activity.

While the fate of the talks hangs in the balance, one is amazed to see America pampering Israel with fresh incentives, including arms deliveries and a promise to block any move to bring the Palestinian issue to the Security Council if Israel freezes construction activity. Mr Netanyahu is not likely to do that, taking cover behind the plea that his coalition government is heavily dependent on the religious right. Ultimately, Israel will have its way as it is feared that it will continue settlement activity and still receive arms deliveries and benefit from Mr Obama’s decision to pre-empt a UN referral.

__________________
Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

NAB controversy

Sunday, 03 Oct, 2010

THERE is so much wrong with the circumstances surrounding the presidential ordinance to amend the National Accountability Bureau law promulgated some two weeks ago and only coming to light a couple of days ago that it is difficult to know where to begin. First of all, the law ministry’s feeble defence of the ordinance can be sum- marily dismissed. For once, the details matter little — Law Minister Babar Awan has tried to portray the changes as procedural and inconsequential — because the context and the overall picture are what are clearly more relevant and important. Surely the cloak-and-dagger ordinance is in some way connected to the tussle between the government and the Supreme Court over control of NAB (the SC wants a more autonomous NAB, as the law requires; the government, wary of the implications for key figures were NAB to be truly independent, wants to keep NAB under its thumb). To believe otherwise is to stretch the boundaries of credible theory.

Moreover the government’s energies, to the extent they are directed towards putting together a comprehensive, fair and across-the-board account-ability bill, ought to be focused on the legislation for the creation of a National Accountability Commission, as promised by the government but seemingly ignored for some time now. Rather than working on tweaking the NAB law, law ministry officials and the presidency ought to put more effort into addressing the objections of the opposition to the NAC bill languishing at the committee stage in parliament. In any case, presidential ordinances are generally not a good way of legislating — something directly acknow- ledged in the 18th Amendment, which has introduced fresh curbs on the practice. The PPP itself has in the past criticised the practice of using ordinances to bypass recalcitrant parliaments, but appears to have found the convenience of the legislative shortcut too hard to resist now (as, it must be said, have all other governments before it). However, it is telling that Senator Raza Rabbani, chief architect of the 18th Amendment and a PPP stalwart, saw fit to join a walkout in the Senate against the NAB-amending ordinance and that even the prime minister appeared hard pressed to defend the ordinance.

At the end of the day, it is up to the inner core of the PPP leadership to mend its ways. Without a doubt, the government has come under pressure from other institutions, pressure which has on occasion been unfair and unwarranted. However, two wrongs never have and never will make a right. By taking the low road yet again, the government is feeding the very cycle that threatens to consume it.

Deadly virus

Sunday, 03 Oct, 2010

THE incidence of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever has risen in recent weeks. On Friday, 15 patients believed to be suffering from it were admitted in Rawalpindi hospitals. The sufferers belong to Chakwal and adjoining areas. A day before that, the National Institute of Health said that tests conducted on the blood samples of eight employees of the city’s Holy Family Hospital confirmed that they were suffering from CCHF, probably contracted while attending to two patients, one of whom died on Sept 24. Similarly on Friday, four suspected CCHF patients were hospitalised in Peshawar and the executive district health officer told the media that the NIH had confirmed that the Congo virus was responsible for Dr Hasnain Shah’s death in Abbottabad early last month. There have been similar reports from Karachi too with at least two CCHF deaths last month and other confirmed cases.

CCHF can spread very fast. Caused by a tick-borne virus, fatality rates in hospitalised cases can go as high as 50 per cent. The virus often affects animals including cattle, goats and sheep and can be transmitted to humans through contact with infected animal blood or the virus-carrying ticks. It can also be transmitted through contact with infected body fluids. In hospitals, CCHF has been documented as occurring due to poor sterilisation of medical equipment and contact with infected blood or body fluids. The healthcare authorities need to wake up to the danger. Public awareness needs to be raised, particularly since the symptoms can be mistaken for dengue fever of which many cases are being reported these days. Hospital staff in particular must be made aware of the risks, so that suspected patients can be put in isolation and given suitable treatment. Meanwhile, the use of protection such as insect repellents and fumigation must be promoted.

Musharraf in politics

Sunday, 03 Oct, 2010

PERVEZ Musharraf did not ‘enter’ politics on Friday in London; he has been in politics in Pakistan since the day he and his brother generals seized power and overthrew an elected government. His renewed political ambition to seek power through the electoral pro-cess merely constitutes the continuation of a poli-tical career that began with the ‘hijacking from ground’ drama on the evening of Oct 12, 1999. In 2002 he went through the charade of a referendum, which he won and in which he — like Ayub Khan and Ziaul Haq — was the sole candidate. Again, while still in the army chief’s uniform, the commando general was authorised by the Supreme Court of the day to contest a presidential election, to which a retired SC justice lent credibility and sanctity by taking part. Even though he often proved himself to be good at political manoeuvring, the mistakes Gen Musharraf made were stupefying. That he managed to survive as a strongman for nearly eight years was a tribute less to his political skills and more to the power that flowed from the army chief’s baton. He was supported by some seasoned and habitual turncoats who helped him form the ‘king’s party’ which enabled him to have parliament enact constitutional amendments that whitewashed his crimes.

The former president is good at apologising, as he did after the referendum hoax, and on Friday he apologised again, saying men made mistakes. It will now be interesting to see whether his ‘enlightened moderation’ is able to make an impact on the nation’s political scene without the benefit of what he used to call his ‘second skin’. After all he is not the first retired general to enter the dangerous, often fatal waters of Pakistani politics. Gen Musharraf has no constituency, even in urban Sindh, though undoubtedly he has a sprinkling of support all over. He has some sworn enemies, but he also has supporters in the business class, which benefited from the economic boom until the 2005 earthquake. Ultimately, let us have faith in the people of Pakistan. As history shows, they have always shown collective wisdom while voting.

__________________
Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Bar-bench crisis

Dawn Editorial
Monday, 04 Oct, 2010

What began as a bench-bar tussle over a single district and sessions judge in Lahore has quickly snowballed into a welter of fighting, strikes and acrimony making national headlines.

Rumour and allegations continue to fly thick and fast, with conspiracy theorists claiming political ‘hidden hands’ are at work and the protests and fighting in Lahore being seen through the prism of national politics and even the perceived executive-judiciary tensions in Islamabad. The truth, however, appears to be more prosaic, at least to the extent it can be discerned. Unhappiness among lawyers belonging to the Lahore Bar Association with Judge Zawwar Sheikh’s style and manner of conducting business in his courtroom — some of it valid, much of it not to the neutral observer — was the original trigger of the bar-bench problems. But, following the heavy-handed tactics of police to break up relatively non-violent protests last week, the focus has shifted to a wider struggle that encapsulates all that is wrong with the judicial mechanism in Pakistan.

To be sure, none of the protagonists have acted in the wisest of manners. And the politicians sitting at the fringes of this unseemly battle have certainly given the impression that they are not above exploiting the situation where possible. Forgotten among all of this, as usual, is the ordinary public, the very people the judicial system was built to protect and serve. With fresh strikes and protests planned for this week, including today, it seems the disruption, if not total shutdown, of the judicial machine in Lahore and beyond can be expected for some days to come. Matters have come to such a pass that it may not be possible to resolve the situation without at least transferring Judge Zawwar Sheikh to placate enraged lawyers.

Beyond that, in the medium and long term, certain measures have to be put in place to ensure a more transparent judicial process. It is an open secret that senior members of the bar associations usually expect special favours when it comes to adjournments and other friendly gestures for their clients. It is also an open secret that the administrative side of the judicial system is rife with corruption, with peons and other courtroom staffers amenable to bribery. At the same time, a culture of impunity which runs up and down the judicial ladder certainly affects its lowest rungs, encouraging the subordinate judiciary to ride roughshod over the bar. A message needs to go out from the very top that focuses on returning the judiciary to its rightful position of quiet dignity operating discreetly in the background.

Power sector reforms

Dawn Editorial
Monday, 04 Oct, 2010


Does the winding up of Pepco, the body entrusted “with managing the transition of Wapda from a bureaucratic structure to a corporate, commercially viable and productive entity”, mark the beginning of a new chapter of power-sector reform or a continuation of the half-hearted, intermittent reform of the past two decades?

Power consumers will hope it is the former, but there are some serious questions. Two and a half years since coming to power, the government in Islamabad has proved singularly incapable of implementing reforms even, as is the case with the power sector, when the reforms were initiated by previous PPP governments. True, the government has taken the politically unpopular step of stripping out untargeted power subsidies — a necessary measure — but there has been little follow-up. Two big things need to happen: one, the generation and distribution companies have to be made commercially viable in order to attract much-needed investment; and two, the regulatory framework for trading electricity among independent, private entities along the entire power sector chain needs to be put in place. Both are tough tasks even at the best of times — Pepco was unable to do much in over a decade of existence — but become massive challenges when a government with seemingly very little interest in reform and regulatory issues is in charge.

And this before the circular debt crisis which threatens to shut down the entire power sector. The government has thrown hundreds of billions of rupees at the problem but appears to have had little success in dealing with the underlying causes, while at the same time adding massively to the fiscal deficit. Why have things come to this pass? Simply, the lack of reforms. Compare the telecom industry with the power sector. Over the past 20 years, one has gone from strength to strength; the other is on the verge of collapse. It is not a coincidence that telecom reforms were mooted, agreed upon and then pursued vigorously while power sector reforms were abandoned midstream. On the plus side, at least the reforms necessary in the power sector are known and understood. The downside? Those in charge of implementing the reforms.

Public-private ventures

Dawn Editorial
Monday, 04 Oct, 2010

The development of a new commercial area on a 54-acre strip of state land in northern Islamabad is being hailed as the first public-private venture of its kind in town development in the capital city.

The CDA’s declining revenues and the rising cost of developing new sectors for housing, commercial, industrial and other activities, as well as its inability to retrieve public land from encroachers, led the development authority to initiate the above project with a cooperative housing society last year. While the CDA needed to only contribute land, with its partner pumping in over Rs1bn in cost and compensation for native settlers, it will earn revenue from the auction of 57 per cent of developed plots under an agreed 43-57 per cent formula between the housing society and the authority respectively.

Although this type of partnership enables cash-strapped public entities to pursue development and generate funds, it needs to be implemented carefully and in tandem with other kinds of public-private partnership arrangements, especially those in which the government retains ownership of state land while generating a regular income for itself. Examples include service, management and lease arrangements which allow the government to maintain ownership of public facilities and control over public services but also benefit from private-sector management and operation.

Most importantly, the revenue which the government derives from leases, management fees or service concessions can be used to extend and maintain the city infrastructure. While they may no doubt have their shortcomings, the various forms of public-private cooperation are valuable instruments for leveraging the resources of both the public and private sectors in achieving development goals. Cooperative housing societies in particular should be engaged in such cooperation to meet the rising demand for low-cost housing, but only if there is careful planning and implementation. The contracting processes must also be transparent and carefully supervised.

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Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Commonwealth Games

Dawn Editorial
Tuesday, 05 Oct, 2010


The Commonwealth Games opened on Sunday with a glittering spectacle at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium amid tight security after a controversy-plagued run-up. The event has been touted as proof that India has ‘arrived’ as a global player, yet the preparatory stage saw hiccups aplenty.



There has been wide-ranging criticism — much of it valid — both within India and abroad regarding alleged corruption and mismanagement of the sporting spectacle. Most of it has centred on faulty infrastructure, unexpected delays and less-than-ideal living conditions at the athletes’ village. The fact that many top athletes pulled out added to the organisers’ woes while the fact that Queen Elizabeth II deputed Prince Charles to open the games was seen by some in India as a slight. So loud was the chorus of discontent that at one point there was serious talk of the Games being cancelled. But as the CWG federation president said at the opening ceremony, with the event now open it is time to focus on sport.

It was pleasing to note that the crowd gave the Pakistani contingent a warm welcome on Sunday night. Yet Pakistan’s participation was not without controversy, as there was disagreement about who would carry the national flag at the opening ceremony. Shujauddin Malik, a gold medallist weightlifter, was supposed to do the job but the head of the contingent, who is also Sindh’s sports minister, decided to carry the flag himself. The weightlifters threatened to go home, but thankfully the issue has been resolved and they are ready to compete. Tennis stars Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan have their sights set on a medal while Pakistani athletes in other disciplines are also hoping to bring home medals. Beyond politics and controversies, the Games will hopefully turn out to be a showcase for sporting ability and memorable performances.

Dr Farooq’s courage

Dawn Editorial
Tuesday, 05 Oct, 2010


Shocking though Dr Mohammad Farooq Khan’s assassination was, it was not surprising. There is a pattern to it: the religious militants do not tolerate criticism from Islamic scholars. This doesn’t mean they accept, much less welcome, criticism from others. They know that opinion across the political spectrum is against the Taliban, for people are simply appalled at their cold-bloodedness, especially at the conscience-less ease with which they bomb schools, mosques and religious processions and spill the blood of innocent men, women and children.



Neither do they tolerate criticism from an Islamic scholar who argues that their murderous philosophy is against the fundamental principles of Islam and goes public with his disapproval of the militants’ perverted concept of jihad. Mufti Sarfaraz Hussain Naeemi, a respected scholar, was assassinated by a suicide bomber in a Lahore mosque in June last year. A scholar of repute, Mufti Naeemi was a firm believer in sectarian unity and was highly critical of the very concept of suicide bombings and, in spite of threats, used to condemn religious militancy in his Friday sermons. The Taliban could take it no longer, and a suicide bomber was sent to silence him

Like Mufti Naeemi, Dr Farooq was an Islamic scholar and was vice chancellor of the Swat Islamic University. A psychiatrist and former member of the Jamaat-i-Islami, which found it fit to expel him for ‘ideological’ reasons, Dr Farooq authored six books, denounced suicide bombings as un-Islamic, spoke his mind in television talk shows and remained unruffled despite threats to his life. Finally, the militants had their way when they assassinated him and one of his assistants at his clinic in Mardan on Saturday. Dr Farooq will be remembered for the courage he showed by refusing to surrender to terrorist threats. His valour and sacrifice are in sharp contrast to the behaviour of some other, less bold clerics who denounce suicide bombings in principle but do not have the courage to specifically censure Pakistan’s countless militant outfits, which consider violence and the murder of civilians as their weapons in the jihad against Islam’s perceived enemies.

The forgotten floods

Dawn Editorial
Tuesday, 05 Oct, 2010


This summer the worst humanitarian crisis to have hit Pakistan — a country which has seen earthquakes, floods, droughts, insurgencies small and large and the loss of territory to date — in its entire history took place. But listen to the comments of politicians, glance through a newspaper or watch the news on television and it would seem like nothing of the sort took place over the summer.



Instead, political non-events, a judiciary-executive ‘clash’, a sporting scandal and sundry other, more minor, issues have combined to push the floods and their aftermath off the national radar. Where once politicians rushed to be seen among the ‘20-million’ flood victims, where TV anchors jostled to report breathlessly on the damage caused to hundreds of thousands of homes and rural infrastructure, where newspapers reported gravely on the destruction of millions of acres of standing crops and hundreds of thousands of livestock lost, now there is nothing. And ‘nothing’ is really not an understatement.

With the floodwaters having receded in most areas, excluding some significant parts in downstream Sindh, the emergency relief phase ought to be moving into the medium- and long-term rehabilitation and reconstruction phases in most flood-hit parts. But Pakistanis at large, other than the actual victims of the floods one presumes, know very little about what is being done by the state or international aid agencies or even the private sector here. It is as if the greatest natural disaster to hit this country, or most other countries for that matter, never really happened. Surely, with the nation’s attention diverted towards the theatre (or is it farce?) of politics in Islamabad, the on-ground realities of the flood victims and their future is being adversely impacted. To say this is not gratuitous criticism, but to know that even where the full attention of the state and society is applied to a problem, the desired outcomes are rarely achieved.

The point here is not to specifically criticise a particular government, a broken bureaucracy, an apathetic state, a disillusioned public or a cynical media. It is a collective failure that something so spectacularly disastrous as the floods was unable to jolt nation and state into paying close attention for more than a few weeks. The failure here is of the national consciousness. Investing in improving the human condition, especially of the underclass, has never been a priority in Pakistan, be it in terms of health and educational facilities, economic opportunities or life-saving interventions to recover from disasters, natural and man-made. State and society need a radical reorientation, a revolution of the mind, as it were, more than of the system.

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Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Foreign militants

Wednesday, 06 Oct, 2010

AMERICAN drones rain down missiles in record numbers in North Waziristan Agency, the stamping ground of the Haqqani network, Al Qaeda and sundry foreign militants. The US issues a travel advisory to its citizens travelling to Europe, urging them to be cautious in public places because of the possibility of an attack by Al Qaeda. On Monday, eight militants, including several ‘Germans’, are allegedly killed in a drone strike in Mirali, North Waziristan Agency. Do the dots connect cleanly or is this just another series of data points that can be connected in myriad ways? To be sure, a US travel advisory concerning Europe is rather unusual. Europe is not Pakistan or some place the average American travels to infrequently. Then again,

The Wall Street Journal had this to offer on Monday: “Several intelligence officials have privately challenged the quality of the US information, describing the US alert as an overreaction. One intelligence official said the decisions to issue the alerts were based in part on the bureaucratic need to ‘be on record with an alert to the threat’ rather than a belief that a threat is imminent.”

What is clear is that Fata generally and North Waziristan in particular continue to play host to foreign militants. The most well-known and numerous group consists of the Uzbeks, who attracted the ire of the Pakistani state because of their desire to attack it. Other, western and European, nationalities are also believed to be operating here from Turks to Germans. They do not consist just of men of Pakistani or Arab or other Muslim origin, but also of converts to Islam. The German Eric Breininger, who died earlier this year, and the American Adam Gadahn, Al Qaeda’s ‘spokesperson’ and media manager, are two of the most famous converts believed to have made their way to Fata. Al Qaeda, which fights against both the Pakistani state and western nations, is also believed to be active in the agency. Here foreign militants are not limited to a few areas or the Haqqani network-controlled swathes of territory, they are believed to have fanned out across the agency, including Mirali, where the Germans were alleged to have been killed.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Pakistani state appears to have few ideas about how to tackle the menace of foreign militants. Enforcing a uniform, zero-tolerance policy towards foreign militants in Fata is difficult because local commanders and groups often make use of the services of foreigners and offer them protection in return. But doing nothing is not an option: a strike in the West traced back to Pakistani territory could have devastating consequences for us.

Power shortages

Wednesday, 06 Oct, 2010

PAKISTAN has always been electricity-starved. Over half its population remains without electricity connections. The other half faces 10 to 16 hours of power cuts a day. As our policymakers daydream of attaining a double-digit economic growth rate, the industry faces closures due to power (and gas) cuts. The situation will get much worse in the next few years because the country needs to “add 20,000MW of new generation capacity by 2010 to overcome shortages with the main focus on indigenous resources” — water and coal. The cost will be a whopping $32bn. Even the most optimistic will not bet on the plan.

The government will bear 53 per cent of the cost and the private sector the rest of it. Where will the government get the money when it does not have enough to end the power sector’s circular debt? Private investors appear little inclined to invest in power generation. Domestic investors do not have the kind of money or capacity to undertake mega projects. Foreign investors are not interested. The reason is obvious: our power generation and distribution system is flawed, inefficient and corrupt. Governance issues and terrorism will also keep foreign investors from making long-term investments. The future of the power sector reforms being undertaken under the pressure of multilateral lenders is uncertain. Thus, there is little chance of private parties investing in generation, at least not until governance issues are resolved, the law and order situation improves and power sector reforms begin to show results.

The reality is that electricity shortages are here to stay for a very long time. Even if we assume that the country will overcome its electricity troubles in 10 years, we still need to devise some practical ways to tackle the shortages in the interim. The distribution losses must be brought down to the minimum and the existing generation capacity should be used in a cost-effective manner. More importantly, we need to give up luxurious lifestyles and start saving electricity. We can begin by making maximum use of daylight. Hopefully, a little change in our attitude can solve some of our problems related to the power crunch.

Children’s literature

Wednesday, 06 Oct, 2010


Raushni is one of the increasingly few publications that are oriented towards young minds. While Pakistan has a reasonably vibrant literary industry in Urdu and even publications in English by Pakistani authors are increasing in number, the needs of children remain unmet. In neither language, let alone the provincial languages, are there enough locally written and published books for children and teenagers — despite the fact that the link between reading and honed intelligence is well-established.

Some may argue that if internationally published reading material is available in locally accessible languages, there is no real need for a Pakistan-based children’s literature industry. This assessment misses the point. Reading material that is written by Pakistanis and published in the country is not only culturally relevant, it is also likely to be more affordable. Meanwhile, the lack of diverse reading material further discourages children from reading. The reading habit is already on a trajectory of rapid decline in the country, aided in no small part by factors such as the lack of public libraries and the temptations of computers and the Internet. Tomorrow’s Pakistan will need citizens who are not just literate but also world-aware. For that, the children of today need both fiction and non-fiction books, neither of which are being produced in significant numbers. Pakistan must encourage writers, poets and scholars to turn their attention to children’s needs. Meanwhile, the publishing industry should realise that this is an untapped market. At the policy level, it should be understood that higher education reforms will not count for much unless they are bolstered by improvements at the lower levels.

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Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

A pointless resolution

Thursday, 07 Oct, 2010

IT is like flogging a dead horse. On Tuesday, the Punjab Assembly passed a resolution asking the federal government to develop consensus among the federating units for building the Kalabagh dam at the “earliest”. The Punjab lawmakers should know that there is little chance of the Kalabagh dam being built. If they are unaware of this aspect of Pakistan’s politics of hydrology, it is time they registered it and reconciled themselves to it. The dam’s rejection by the other provinces is categorical, with three provincial assemblies and politicians of all hues joining hands to form a united front to meet the perceived threat to their share of the Indus waters, besides having ecological concerns. Even the money needed for building a reservoir of that proportion is not likely to be available because foreign donors have made it clear they are not going to fund a politically controversial project. That the Punjab Assembly still believes the construction of the dam is possible shows how detached it is from reality. More mind-boggling was the PPP’s support for the resolution. The motion was passed unanimously because no PPP member was present at the time. Yet, extraordinary as it sounds, it had the blessings of the PPP’s parliamentary leader, who said he saw in the resolution nothing that went against his party’s policies.

The resolution is a commentary on the political acumen of the two leading political parties. The country is groaning under the weight of problems ranging from whopping inflation and the gigantic task of post-flood reconstruction to the state of war in which the nation finds itself because of the Taliban insurgency. A new addition to Pakistan’s problems is the crisis that has developed in relations with the US and Nato following the menacing rise in the number of drone attacks and the violation of Pakistan’s territory by Nato-Isaf helicopters. The gravity of the situation demands national unity and a mobilisation of the people’s energies to pull Pakistan away from the brink. Instead, the assembly of the country’s most populous province wastes its time in passing a resolution that adds to the nation’s misery instead of mitigating it.

From the PML-N’s own point of view, the resolution couldn’t be more counter-productive, for
instead of creating space for itself in the three other provinces, the PML-N resolution has handed the nationalist parties a new opportunity for Punjab-bashing. In Sindh especially we can expect a new round of protests and rallies against a project which, despite being dead, will come in handy as a rallying point for all nationalists, thanks to Tuesday’s pointless resolution.

Clarity needed

Thursday, 07 Oct, 2010

AS Isaf convoys bound for Afghanistan continue to be attacked in parts of Pakistan and one of the two entry points at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, the Torkham crossing, remains closed, it has become increasingly clear that the latest rise in tensions between the US and Pakistan is not likely to abate any time soon. Predictably, the blame for this unfortunate, and potentially dangerous, state of affairs must be shared by both sides. The Isaf helicopter incursions into Pakistan and missiles fired from across the Afghan border were simply bad ideas. Worse, Isaf/the US have shown a reluctance to disavow the attacks themselves and have gone only as far as to show some sympathy for the loss of Pakistani soldiers’ lives in one attack in Kurram Agency. It is clear that American frustrations with the slow pace of Pakistan’s efforts to dismantle, or even aggressively tackle, the militant sanctuaries in North Waziristan Agency have reached a new high. But whether the frustrations are justified or not is beside the point: in foreign policy and particularly in the midst of a war, states should always focus on outcomes, not avenues for expressing counter-productive frustrations. Few neutral observers would give the American sabre-rattling much chance of success, given that Pakistan has counter leverage (impeding non-lethal Isaf supplies’ delivery) and that its strategic choices have not bowed to political timelines in Washington over the last decade. So it makes little sense to vitiate the atmosphere between the two countries further when there is little possibility of inducing a serious shift in policy through such tactics.

On Pakistan’s part, there is a need to bring some clarity, in public as much as possible, on its partnership with the US in the fight against militancy. What is the policy on drones? What is the policy on cross-border ‘hot pursuit’ or other raids? Are there special exceptions for the very highest of high-value targets, such as Bin Laden, Zawahiri or Mullah Omar? The benefit of having clarity on such issues would be that the Americans would not be able to unilaterally amend the rules when it suits them.

Outdated stereotype

Thursday, 07 Oct, 2010

THE sentencing of Faisal Shahzad on Tuesday to life imprisonment is a reminder of how the stereotypes and political discourse surrounding militancy and extremism are out of sync with reality. Traditionally, militancy of the variety witnessed in Afghanistan and Pakistan has been understood as a phenomenon linked to poverty and political disenfranchisement. Extremist ideologues, it is argued, use these social issues as pegs to challenge existing power structures and view the ranks of the poor as recruiting grounds. This may still be true but it does not apply to persons such as Faisal Shahzad with roots in the secular, upper middle class who first went to the US in 1998 to study for a university degree.

He showed no remorse during court appearances, reportedly telling investigators that he had hoped to pull off a second bombing. Worryingly, evidence has emerged that he received cash and advice from the TTP. In terms of his background, Faisal Shahzad is not alone. Young men with similar profiles have been found to have participated in a number of terrorist attacks in recent years, including 9/11. Omar Saeed Sheikh, who studied at Lahore’s Aitchison College and the London School of Economics, is another example. Clearly, extremism is an issue that is no longer confined to minds that have been rendered susceptible by poverty, or the lack of awareness and education. This aspect of the matter merits attention, because the new breed of terrorists comes not from the tribal areas but from cities, including western ones. The West must ask itself why increasing numbers of people are succumbing to extremist ideologies and quoting perceived western inequities as their motivating force. Faisal Shahzad told the court that he had acted in reaction to US military action in Muslim countries; why is this becoming an oft-repeated statement in the context of terrorism?

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Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Unclear strategy

Dawn Editorial
Friday, 08 Oct, 2010

Media reports of American contacts with the leaders of the Afghan insurgency have grown from a trickle to a torrent in recent days, suggesting something may be about to change, for better or worse, in Afghanistan in the near term.

Or is it? Virtually nothing concrete is known about the contacts with the Afghan insurgency and the American strategy is anything but clear at this point. The only thing that can be discerned with any degree of confidence is that the American side, for long the lone voice opposed to talks, or even talks about talks, with the upper echelons of leadership of the Afghan insurgency, appears to be slowly coming around to the idea of the need for discussions sooner rather than later. Beyond that, little can be said with any certainty. It appears all sides — foreign, Afghan and insurgent — are hedging their bets, calculating that while something is likely to change come next July (the date when President Obama has pledged to begin the drawdown in Afghanistan, if some as yet unknown conditions are present) there is little certainty about which way the war in Afghanistan will break. In this atmosphere of strategic uncertainty it makes sense for the warring sides to initiate some back-channel discussions, even as they fight each other fiercely on the battlefield.

Much will depend on certain variables. For example, can the Taliban leadership ever be convinced to work inside a governance framework that may also be acceptable to the West and the non-Pakhtun constituencies in Afghanistan? There are two opposing views on this. One camp believes the Taliban’s millenarian ideology is simply incompatible with anything resembling a modern state and no middle ground can ever be found. The other camp believes that the roughest edges of the Taliban — a wholesale rejection of anything even remotely modern, amputations, stoning, other such punishments, etc. — can be smoothed out.

Also, what could ever persuade the Taliban to stop fighting, nearly a decade into a war they are clearly not losing (which means, in the upside-down logic of counter-insurgency, they are winning)? Again, there are competing views. Some believe war fatigue may be a factor: the American war machine has certainly dented Taliban ranks and possibly sapped morale. Others say the Taliban are a nationalistic force which only wants that Afghanistan be cleared of foreign forces — and if that is worked towards, then the Taliban could decisively break from Al Qaeda, the original target of western forces in Afghanistan. The months ahead may reveal the answers to some critical questions. Until then, we can expect more conflicting signals from all sides.

Welcome addition

Dawn Editorial
Friday, 08 Oct, 2010

With the newspaper industry across the world going through tough times, it is gratifying to see a new English daily hitting the newsstands and enlivening the media scene.

Pakistan Today, which follows the Express Tribune launched some months earlier, has come at a time when the world of print journalism is in danger of being overshadowed by the WikiLeaks-like revelations on the new media. Even though Pakistan’s economy is not fully integrated with the world’s financial system, our media has not escaped the adverse effects of the international economic crisis, for advertisement revenues have fallen.

The reduction in the number of pages, the rehash of pagination schemes and the shrinkage of the size of the page have meant a regrettable fall in the quantum of news and views for the reader. Of late, there have been redundancies in the electronic media too because the channels’ mushroom growth that was characteristic of the first half of this decade has come to a halt. Today, the print medium in Pakistan has to compete with TV and the Internet, with the young ones abandoning grandpa’s breakfast table to spend more time on Facebook and Twitter.

Because of a literacy rate that has barely crossed the 50 per cent mark, and the absence of the reading habit, Pakistani newspapers, even those in Urdu, have a low circulation in proportion to the population. The problem gets worse when we realise that the market for English newspapers is already choked. For new ventures to come out under such circumstances is encouraging, for they create jobs for media professionals and add to the reader’s choice. We hope our new competitors will uphold the standards of journalism and contribute to the strengthening of press freedom at a time when it is under attack not only from the government but also from non-state actors, the latter life-threatening.

A level playing field

Dawn Editorial
Friday, 08 Oct, 2010

After spending three years in limbo in the shape of an ordinance, the competition law is finally on the books. Following a somewhat bumpy ride through parliament, the Competition Bill 2010 received presidential assent on Wednesday, thereby giving the Competition Commission of Pakistan a permanent, statutory status.

The CCP had become defunct since mid-August when the Competition Ordinance 2009 had lapsed. Its revival is welcome news in a country where big business tends to manipulate the market at will and where cartels gang up to squeeze the consumer by increasing prices. The law is designed to protect consumers from monopolies and cartelisation. Certain corporations — those most threatened by the CCP — had tied up the commission in a web of litigation; constitutional status will now allow the watchdog body to defend itself and its actions more robustly in court. The CCP had given those businesses suspected of involvement in unfair trade practices sleepless nights. It had investigated and taken action against several sectors that included the cement and sugar industries as well as banks for fixing prices and monopolising the market. Hence it is no surprise that business lobbies flexed their muscles and through their friends in parliament, particularly the Senate, attempted to block the passage of the law while trying to reduce the CCP’s status to that of a toothless tiger.

The government must now take steps to set up an appellate tribunal, as envisaged by the law. This will allow those business concerns censured by the CCP an opportunity to plead their case, while it will also take the pressure off an already overburdened judiciary. However, the tribunal’s decisions should be relatively swift so that corporations don’t find a loophole in the form of initiating a never-ending appeals process, thus nullifying the CCP’s efforts to maintain a level playing field and punish violators of the law. It is ultimately hoped that this development will encourage fair competition, help control prices and create a more consumer-friendly atmosphere where the rights of small businesses and consumers are protected from the avarice and dubious trade practices of major corporations.

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Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________