|
Editorial: DAWN
[COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Inflation nightmare[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"][B][FONT="Georgia"]10-12-10[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] A FEW things are bad for the economy but good for people, while the reverse is also true. In either scenario, a government has something positive to fall back on and a justification. Inflation is a government`s worst nightmare since it is bad for the economy and it is bad for the people. It erodes purchasing power, discourages savings and productive investments, slows down growth, increases the burden of indirect taxes on the common man and affects the quality of life — just like it has done in Pakistan in recent years. No one has been able to escape the price juggernaut. We were relieved to see prices settling down and the headline Consumer Price Index inflation dropping to 12 per cent at the end of the last fiscal from a high of 21 per cent a year earlier. But that turned out to be only temporary relief. Inflation has been resurging much faster than many in the government might have guessed, let alone prepared for. In November, according to the latest numbers released on Wednesday, prices rose to an 18-month high of 15.5 per cent year-on-year from 15.3 per cent the previous month. The inflationary pressures in the economy have been increasing even before the summer floods exacerbated the situation. The government has already revised upwards its inflation forecast for the current fiscal to 15 per cent from the original projection of 9.5 per cent. It could cross the revised target, and by a big margin. There are many factors that have contributed to the resurgence of inflation after a sustained reduction to 12 per cent during the last fiscal (ending June 2010) from 21 per cent a year earlier. As in the past, the recent surge is also being driven by increasing fuel and food prices, rising global commodity markets, hoarding and disruption in the supply chain in the wake of widespread damage to crops and infrastructure from the floods. More importantly, government borrowings from the State Bank to finance the budget and flood relief and rehabilitation operations are fuelling prices. The government has little choice here. Its first major initiative to increase the tax base and document the economy by implementing the Reformed General Sales Tax is facing tough resistance. External official and private flows are slow to come because the world wants Pakistan to tax its wealthy before it looks towards the international community for help. The bank has repeatedly `advised` the government to slash its wasteful expenditure. The common man will continue to pay a lot because the government has failed to purge itself of extravagance and to tax the rich. [CENTER] --------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Students`protest[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"][B][FONT="Georgia"]10-12-10[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] WEDNESDAY`S raid by students and teachers on the Punjab Assembly sent out different messages to different people. To those who measure general security on the basis of the security available to our lawmakers, the charge was a shocker. How could the police allow a smallish group to penetrate the safety cordon and come close to striking at the lawmakers? To another set of observers, though, the most remarkable aspect to the episode was the violence with which the police eventually blocked the protesters. The protesters were also not averse to a fistfight or two or to burning down a few vehicles, but the police action most certainly betrayed the guilt of a force that had reacted late and which then over-compensated for the delay in typically brutal manner. The protest conveyed at least one more message, and loudly. This demonstration against autonomy to 26 select Punjab coll- eges was an out and out Jamaat-i-Islami show. Islami Jamiat Tulaba, the students` body allied with the Jamaat, was the only one allowed to prosper while a ban was long placed on student unions and they are the only ones visibly upset with the changes unfolding in the educational system in the province now. These changes are far too many involving, for instance, controversial decisions such as a shift from the current two-year bachelors` programme to a four-year BA honours degree. We haven`t quite heard what non-Jamaatis have to say on the subject simply because such an entity doesn`t formally exist on the campuses. The promise of revival of the students union Prime Minister Gilani had made in his inaugural speech in March 2008 is still unfulfilled. Consequently, there are no organisations around to either join the IJT in this quest or to oppose it. Their opposition to or support of the IJT here could have helped greatly in rationalising the issue and in seeing it as a real problem of the students at large. In the event, the current protest against autonomy for colleges is liable to be seen as a campaign by a body that shuns any and all changes on the campus by an administration it is not fond of. [CENTER]-----------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Missing governor [/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="2"][B][FONT="Georgia"]10-12-10[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR] PUBLIC figures are just as entitled as anybody else to travel freely. But when the governor of a province `disappears` without telling anyone people tend to get a bit worried. Lahore was abuzz with rumours when it emerged on Wednesday that Punjab Governor Salman Taseer had been `missing` for 72 hours. Apparently, the governor had not informed the provincial government or the Punjab Assembly speaker — who fills in for the governor when he is abroad — of his whereabouts. Speculation was naturally rife: some (including the Punjab law minister) said Mr Taseer was in Dubai, with others throwing in an element of conspiracy by suggesting the governor was in the emirate on a “secret mission” from the president. Governor`s House in Lahore retorted that Mr Taseer had only gone as far as Sukkur with a brief stopover in Karachi, though the provincial government refused to buy this explanation. To make matters even more interesting, a TV channel suggested the governor was on his way back from Colombo. Wherever he was, it was clear that the Punjab governor was not in Lahore and a constitutional post had fallen vacant for a brief period without proper procedure being followed. Context is important in this fiasco. The PML-N-led Punjab government is known to have a strained relationship with the PPP-backed governor. There is an obvious trust deficit and the political mudslinging has often been downright nasty. The Punjab Assembly speaker belongs to the N-League, so perhaps the governor was wary of ceding power to him, even temporarily. The law minister has promised an inquiry into the matter. Whatever the case regarding the governor`s whereabouts and however bad the blood between political players may be, it must be ensured that constitutional provisions are not violated and the status of a public office is not dragged through the mud. [CENTER] -----------------[/CENTER] |
Editorial: DAWN
[COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Secret funds[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 11, 2010 (1 week ago) [/SIZE][/COLOR] `SECRET` and `information` are opposites that attract. Yet they hardly made an envious pair when, on Thursday, the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly discussed the clandestine distribution of Rs570m by the information ministry in 2007-08. The information secretary conceded that the secret fund had always existed, and this is how far he was prepared to go, seeking refuge in an exemption-based defence that was under attack at another important forum in the capital in the meanwhile. On a day when the Supreme Court got two `premier` secret agencies to confess they were holding 11 men `kidnapped` from jail in May, the secretary said that since the information ministry fund was secret it was not auditable. The stance taken by the information ministry during the PAC proceedings is a sign the SC may want to continue to investigate the concealed operations conducted by the public bodies. The information ministry could be their next case, followed by other departments. Let us recall that in April 2008 the auditor-general complained to the PAC that “the demand for secret funds by other ministries and divisions is on the rise…” The information ministry`s secret fund has for long generated controversy. Courtesy another PAC meeting in 2002, Pakistanis learnt that some Rs15m donated by Mr Nawaz Sharif to a think tank were diverted to the same information ministry secret fund. As the then information secretary refused to elaborate on how this money was spent, it was speculated that at least a part of it had gone into buying the loyalty of some journalists. The current minister of information, Qamar Zaman Kaira, has denied his ministry has any secret coffers — a claim which has now been demolished by his secretary. The PPP government`s denial is particularly reflective of double standards if we go back to a reference filed with the National Accountability Court in the wake of the PAC findings about the use of secret funds during the Sharif government of the late 1990s. The reference was filed by PPP`s Nayyar Bukhari, the man who the party now promotes as the best choice for prestigious posts such as the federal ombudsman and the chairman of the body for the appointment of judges. His letter to NAB said: “The public has the right to know which news items are published on behalf of the government and which journalists are paid out of the Ministry of Information`s secret funds. They cannot be denied the information on the basis of secrecy about the utilisation of public funds.” In power, the PPP has the opportunity to end the practice. [CENTER]-------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]US somersault[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 11, 2010 (1 week ago)[/SIZE][/COLOR] WHILE the world has rightly rebuked Israel for its decision not to halt settlement activity, it is America`s abandonment of its policy on settlements that is shocking. It all but torpedoes the peace process. On Wednesday, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley seemed to justify Israel`s untenable position on Israel`s colonisation of the West Bank by saying America had come to the “firm belief” that a halt to settlement activity “does not create a firm basis to work towards our shared goal of a framework agreement”. If this were the case, and Israel`s continued settlement activity on the West Bank wasn`t a `firm basis` to proceed, one wonders why President Barack Obama repeatedly emphasised the need for a settlement freeze — a point he did not fail to reiterate in his historic address to the Muslim world from Cairo. Israel has, of course, been delighted by the Democratic administration`s somersault on the settlements and said the Likud government believed from the start that the settlements were not at the root of the conflict. Instead, an Israeli spokesman blamed the Palestinian side for what obviously is a blow to the peace process, which began in Washington after a 20-month hiatus in September. Settlements were one of the four key issues on which President Obama wanted an agreement within the 12-month deadline he gave to the two sides when Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met in Washington on Sept 2 — the other three being the final borders of a Palestinian state, the return of the refugees and the status of Jerusalem. With Washington itself having abandoned one of the four key issues, there is little possibility there will be worthwhile movement towards the two-state solution to which America and Israel have been committed since the signing of the Declaration of Principles in September 1993. share save 120 16 US somersault [CENTER] ---------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][B][FONT="Georgia"]No workable policy[/FONT][/B][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"] From the Newspaper December 11, 2010 (1 week ago) By Asghar Soomro[/SIZE][/COLOR] HIGHER education is in a shambles in Pakistan. Currently, only a small minority of students (4.7 per cent) goes to university. Sadly, a majority of them, after spending a few years there, return with inadequate skills, knowledge and aptitude which do not help them either in finding a good job in the age of cutthroat competition or providing any effective service to society. The result is a growing number of unemployed persons and frustration for them and their families. Therefore, instead of instilling the value of higher education among citizens it makes them sceptical about its outcome. Nonetheless, one should not be confused to confine the attainment of education to economic returns only; of course, Pakistan badly needs leadership and professionals in every walk of life. The demand for enhanced allocation of funds for education is welcome but it is not the panacea for the problems facing higher education. As we have seen, the huge investment in the sector along with other educational reforms during Gen Musharraf`s era did not seem to bring about significant improvements. The Higher Education Commission`s ranking declared six universities of the country as top class — four public and two private. Unfortunately, none of them was able to get a slot among the top 500 universities of the world, according to the Academic Ranking of World Universities 2010 . It clearly indicates that our education system is not at par with international standards despite best efforts. Time and again, the mantra of education-sector reforms has not worked. Therefore, one feels constrained to ask what should be done to rectify the situation. One of the main problems with our policies is that they are designed either on the basis of best guesses or assumptions without any solid research into the needs and requirements of the country. Another point is that it seems Pakistan has not been able to shake off the effects of the colonial system because it has not had a consistent and effective language policy. A primary agenda of the British colonial education system was to create a cadre of educated people who could serve as a bridge between them and the ruled masses. That system was effective in terms of fulfilling its needs, but do we really wish to continue that system or do away with it and develop something new which suits an independent country? English is a teaching language across all universities in Pakistan, which is fine as we cannot afford to miss out on the latest information and knowledge from all over the world. However, the quality of English — particularly in public universities — can be gauged from the fact that most students are unable to hold a simple conversation in that language, let alone have discussions and debates. Should we expect students in that environment to be innovative? University-level teachers should not necessarily have strong teaching skills but they are supposed to have cutting-edge information and knowledge about the subject and transfer it to the students. Moreover, it is expected of teachers to regenerate and create a body of knowledge and not just be consumers and transmitters of knowledge. Both functions are not up to the mark in Pakistan. The perils of the absence of those functions are very well articulated by Grace Clark in the document titled Reform in Higher Education in Pakistan . “A country that cannot develop the new knowledge unique to its own needs or that cannot impart what is needed to the next generation will remain forever stuck in a pattern of intellectual colonialism, dependent on other countries for knowledge-building and development of new teaching staff.” Our dependency is obvious from the influence of foreign consultants during the making of any important document. The National Education Policy 2009 reveals some interesting things. One finds too much emphasis on creating a knowledge-based economy and creating linkages between industry and universities in the policy. Its strategic vision says: “In the modern global knowledge-economy, employers increasingly look to universities and collages to deliver the well-educated workforce they require in the form of articulate, flexible and readily employable graduates to remain competitive.” One would be naive to deny the importance of the economic aspect of education. But it should also be seen as naivety if one fails to notice certain tacit desires of the policy. The agenda of the policy seems to promote `managerialism` and a pool of human resources for hire under the neo-liberal economy and gives the impression of being indifferent to other core issues of the country. The agenda is pursued through conferences and workshops organised by international organisations in the country. The agriculture sector gets passing mention in the policy, despite being the largest sector in the country accounting for 21 per cent of GDP and 45 per cent of the total labour force. Moreover, there are shamefully 45 million food-insecure people in Pakistan. The policy doesn`t give due attention to the development of this sector. Ironically, out of 132 universities there are four agriculture universities in Pakistan. The number should be much higher. It is evident how we set priorities under the influence of others and try to be at par with the global economy without making proper assessments of our needs. A fast-growing population will first need food, then other things. Should one build on the existing strengths or imitate others? It seems that the education policy is not going to yield longer-lasting results other than producing some symptomatic solutions because our policymakers lack the will and courage to plan independently and democratically while overcoming past and temporary traditional influences. The writer is employed by an international agency working on education in Pakistan. |
Editorial: DAWN
[COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Hangu attack[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 12, 2010 (6 days ago)[/SIZE][/COLOR] WITH Ashura less than a week away, it is alarming that two sectarian attacks in Muharram have already taken place in the country. At least 10 people were killed when a suspected suicide bomber rammed a tractor-trolley full of hundreds of kilograms of explosives into the boundary wall of a hospital in Hangu on Friday. The blast followed close on the heels of an attack on a bus in Kohat`s Tirah bazaar on Wednesday. A number of people were killed in that incident. That sectarian motives were behind the attacks is apparent as the Hangu hospital is run by a Shia trust, while many of the passengers killed in the Kohat attack also belonged to the Shia community. The Hangu attack has been claimed by the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Al Almi while the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan claimed responsibility for the Kohat blast. It is evident that militant groups are not resting easy during Muharram and security forces need to swing into overdrive. Firstly, the nature of the beast must be clear. Lashkar-i-Jhangvi Al Almi has recently raised its profile, being one of the claimants to the attack on the Balochistan chief minister. Is this entity a mutated form of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, or a new outfit altogether? The intelligence apparatus needs to identify and dismantle this emerging threat to public safety before it turns into an uncontrollable ogre like so many before it. Kohat, Hangu and the surrounding regions have long suffered from the twin plague of militancy and sectarianism. Concrete action is required here before the nexus between jihadi and sectarian militants becomes too unwieldy to handle. The Kohat division commissioner has pointed towards Orakzai Agency — where the army is currently engaged with militants — saying it has consistently been the source of attacks on mourning processions. Hence there needs to be extra vigilance in the days to come. Increased troop deployment and better intelligence-gathering are required to secure the aforementioned areas as well as large cities, which have been hit hard in the past. Concerning the ulema`s promises about maintaining harmony during Muharram, clearly militants don`t care about what traditional scholars have to say. Therefore the security forces need to deal with the militants as terrorists — not misguided religious foot soldiers. The ulema also need to unambiguously condemn suicide bombings. The mainstream religious parties have been very disappointing on this count, with some remaining conspicuously silent and others hiding behind the bogey that `no Muslim can do this`. Indeed, it is a tough task to secure large Muharram gatherings. But complacency is not an option. All efforts need to be made to safeguard lives. [CENTER] ------------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Climate summit[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"] From the Newspaper December 12, 2010 (6 days ago):[/SIZE][/COLOR] AS expected, the recently concluded 16th UN global climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, failed to produce a successor to the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, a less than perfect but only legally binding international treaty on emission reductions to combat global warming. There was the usual consensus on the global dangers of unlimited and uncapped emissions of greenhouse gases at Cancun. But the problem, as evident during last year`s global climate summit in Copenhagen, is that there are too many opposing interests. The most prominent differences are between the developed and developing countries. While most developed nations are reluctant to sign a Kyoto redo or replacement unless the commitment on emission reductions is extended to all countries rather than merely to the rich, the poorer countries, some of whose emissions are rising rapidly, are reluctant because they perceive the difficulties and expense of environmental regulations would slow down their economic growth. On the positive side, however, there was more apparent flexibility at Cancun than Copenhagen. Most at Cancun were convinced that something had to be done about carbon emissions, with practically all wanting the climate talks to continue and looking for a compromise on a new emissions treaty. But time is running out, and to what extent Cancun has been on the right track, moving the world closer to an international climate agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol, would perhaps only be evident in Durban, South Africa, the venue of the next summit. If nothing else, Cancun has spurred developing countries on to voluntarily adopting plans to help cope with rising climate risks. Mexico announced at the sidelines of Cancun such a national adaptation plan harmonising the actions of over 10 government institutions to reduce vulnerability to climate change. A number of other countries, including Pakistan, are also working on climate adaptation plans designed to help prepare for the increased incidence of extreme weather events that experts predict will occur in the coming decades. A Green Climate Fund proposed at Cancun is being set up to assist some developing countries in this, especially for cleaner technology measures and incentives to protect forests. [CENTER]---------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]A forgotten genius[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"] From the Newspaper December 12, 2010 (6 days ago) By Zafar Masud[/SIZE][/COLOR] WHEN Giuseppe de Nittis, a 22-year old Italian artist, arrived in Paris in April 1867, he had no idea he would soon rub shoulders with the likes of acclaimed painters Degas and Manet or reputed writers such as Emile Zola or the Goncourt brothers. He couldn`t envision either that despite his incredible talent and sizeable body of works, given the frugal time span fate would allow him, he would remain unknown to posterity. De Nittis was an impatient youth. At age 17 he was expelled from the Instituto di Belle Arti in Naples for insubordination. He tried to establish himself as an independent painter, but the city`s strict artistic hierarchy wouldn`t have him. In desperation he moved to Paris. “This is my home and I am not going anywhere else!” he wrote to his parents in Italy. De Nittis was also lucky in encountering soon after his arrival Gustave Caillebotte, a noted impressionist painter and a man with means enough to buy works by other contemporary painters. Caillebotte would become godfather to the talented young Italian who seemed to have a passion for open spaces. His early works show an incredible mastery of reflected light over grain fields, country roads, canal banks and seafronts. Encouraged by Caillebotte, de Nettis would return to Italy following a violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1872. A series of works capture from different distances and perspectives not just the angry volcano spitting out flames and ash, but also people reacting to the extraordinary phenomenon — with wonderment, fascination or fright. Once the Mount Vesuvius adventure over, de Nittis hurried back `home` to Paris and plunged headlong into a new passion: street scenes. Going through some two dozen paintings belonging to this phase of his career, one is eerily conscious of two feelings: the young painter appearing pressed for time, as if he knows already he doesn`t have much left, and his fascination with female beauty. With Paris landmarks in the background you see exquisitely well-dressed women crossing the streets, walking their dogs, riding, chatting with other women and sometimes alone, looking forlorn and apparently waiting for someone under a yellow rain of falling autumn leaves or on the banks of a frozen Seine. A change of scene during the same period, around 1877-78, would bring de Nittis to London at the invitation of a rich admirer. His dozen or so paintings of Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, Bank of England, Piccadilly Circus and the Westminster show an uncanny grasp of details of a city that he hardly knew and whose light was very different from that of Paris. All this while his work, done at a frenetic speed, sold. By the mid-1870s he was able to buy an apartment along the fashionable Avenue du Bois de Boulogne (today Avenue Foche) as well as a country residence in the lush green St Germain en Laye; he also bought fairly frequently works by impressionist painters like Monet, Degas and Manet. He was by now married to the daughter of a wealthy French businessman. The young couple would live a busy social life and the lavish parties at their Paris residence would attract painters, writers and musicians. Among frequent visitors, apart from Zola, would be Edmund and Jules de Goncourt, two brothers who ruled over the Parisian literary scene at the time and whose magnificent portraits are part of the painter`s legacy. Two new interests would mark the final segment of the intriguing de Nittis legend; women`s portraits against indoor backgrounds, and pastel. No other painter before him, with the exception of Degas, had used pastel on such large dimensions and the result is most often absolutely breathtaking. Given the widely varied scope of work done by de Nittis in such a short time, the reputation of `the ladies` painter` conferred upon him by his contemporaries appears a bit unfair. But his portraits of beautiful, elegant women in oil as well as in pastel rival any by the more reputed painters of his period. A frequent subject during this final phase is Léontine, Giuseppe`s French wife, who is often seen accompanied by their young son, Jacques. One of these paintings is Breakfast in the garden , completed at the end of 1883. It shows Léontine and Jacques at an al fresco breakfast table set under the shade of a tree on a bright summer morning. In this scene from the garden of their country residence, Léontine stirs her coffee as she looks fondly at Jacques who is giving all his attention to the ducks by the pond. Most significantly, is the scarily premonitory note contained in the back of the vacant cane chair closest to the onlooker. The fruit-juice glass and the coffee cup are empty; the napkin rumpled, as if the occupant of the seat had to get up in a hurry to seize the scene on canvas for eternity. That is what the painter did in this most captivating of his final works, treasuring not only the magical light of a bright summer day reflected on the silverware, but also all the mystery and affection he was inspired by at the moment. Giuseppe de Nittis had a cerebral stroke a few days following the completion of Breakfast in the garden , dying at age 38. The Petit Palais museum at the Alexander III Bridge is rendering through end January a belated homage to this forgotten genius. The writer is a journalist based in Paris. [COLOR="Blue"]ZafMasud@gmail.com[/COLOR] |
Editorial: DAWN
[COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]For better trade ties[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 13, 2010 (5 days ago) By Farman Nawaz [/SIZE][/COLOR] PAKISTANI traders were expecting some kind of announcement during or after the recent visit of Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani to Kabul. But the Afghan president and the Pakistani prime minister were more interested in plans to counter terrorism. No doubt, terrorism must be the top priority of the two sides. However, trade links can also bring closer these two neighbours that are wary of each other. Despite the fact that for the last three decades Pakistan and Afghanistan have had the chance to shake off distrust and come closer to one another, there remain several negative perceptions and misunderstandings between them. This has led to severe mistrust. While at such a tenuous stage of relations and regional politics, Pakistan may feel uncomfortable about revealing all its thoughts to Afghanistan, it would be better to discuss mutual problems honestly before the situation worsens. There is much sense in doing so as that would enable us to find solutions to our own problems. Here in Pakistan it is said that Afghan friends advise Pakistani traders not to disclose their identity as they move around in Afghanistan. In fact, it is considered safer for them to disguise themselves and, if approached, to identify themselves as Indians, as there is a perception here that in Afghanistan, Indians are more respected than Pakistanis. This appears incongruent and awkward because until some years ago, Pakistanis moved freely in Afghanistan. In fact, I still know a few Pakistanis who are working in Afghanistan and they are quite satisfied. Nevertheless, we must pay attention to those who are raising objections. If it is true that there are negative sentiments about Pakistanis in Afghanistan, then we must ask why our Afghan brethren has turned against us. Here in Pakistan it is strongly believed that Indians are indulging in intrigue against Pakistanis in Afghanistan. But then, by the same token, we must also ask ourselves if there is an ongoing intrigue against us in the Arab countries where Indians are better paid than Pakistanis. We may even ask ourselves whether Indian tactics are responsible for the UK not willing to provide its cricket grounds to our team. It is about time that Pakistanis emerged from this cocoon of the Indian fear-fantasy. If we believe that for three decades we helped our Afghan brothers then how is it now possible for Indians to replace Pakistanis in Afghanistan`s markets? In fact, we would do well to reflect on the fact that if our own market is full of Chinese items we are hardly in a position to blame someone else when they occupy our erstwhile position in Afghanistan. Here in Pakistan it was hoped that after the Pakistan-Afghanistan trade agreement, Pakistan would have the opportunity to gain access to markets across the border. Strangely enough, everyone appears to object to this agreement. The traders` association in Peshawar has raised many objections about it. Even motorway authorities are complaining about the right-hand-drive vehicles coming from Afghanistan. Strangely, the same vehicles and drivers face no such impediment in India. Pakistani traders have complaints about the zero tax on Indian items in Afghanistan especially as Pakistani items are heavily taxed. This heavy taxation compels them to adopt illegal methods like smuggling. (In much the same way, Indian items are smuggled to Pakistan which causes losses to Pakistani manufacturers and importers.) As smuggling from India to Afghanistan is difficult that may be the reason that Afghan authorities have levied no tax on Indian items, to help Indian traders compete with Pakistani items. Nonetheless, this issue needs the attention of the concerned authorities in Afghanistan. In fact, the issue of smuggling is a very serious problem for the provincial government of Khyber Pakhunkhwa. Last year, when a judge of the Peshawar High Court blamed the provincial government for the smuggling, a senior official of the ruling Awami National Party made uncalled-for remarks against the judge while talking to the media. He strongly denied the charge of smuggling and asked the court to provide proof of how such smuggling was possible in the presence of international forces on the borders. The problem needs to be identified publicly and tackled. Besides the smuggling issue, Pakistani traders also perceive that Afghan traders find Indian markets more profitable than Pakistani markets. So Pakistani authorities must facilitate Afghan traders because only a long-term solution to this problem can bring harmony to our trade relations. Unless this happens, this friction will lead to a deadlock on the Pakistan-Afghanistan trade agreement, which can exacerbate the situation — although, Pakistanis and Afghans would also do well to remember that ups and downs in our trade relations should not be allowed to upset religious, cultural and political relations between the two countries. Afghan trade is in its initial stages and it will come across many hurdles. Secondly it may hurt Afghans but it is a fact that Afghanistan is still not a sovereign country like Pakistan. It is under the yoke of international forces and Afghans will have to look towards them for many issues, although in all fairness, it must be said that Pakistan, after six decades, continues to wait for foreign help to bolster its economy — and in recent times to recover from the devastation of the summer floods. The Afghan war was more severe than the recent floods in Pakistan. It is also our fault that we did not exercise a beneficial influence on the civil war in Afghanistan which is now dominated by a number of forces. [COLOR="Blue"]farmannawaz@gmail.com[/COLOR] [CENTER] --------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]New strategy of soft targets[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"] From the Newspaper December 14, 2010 (4 days ago) By Syed Irfan Ashraf[/SIZE][/COLOR] IT is becoming increasingly evident that militant groups are struggling for survival in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Their capacity to launch organised attacks against security forces is considerably less than before. And yet, there has been no let-up in terror tactics in many troubled areas where militants are now opting for a less challenging alternative — soft targets. The increasing number of incidents of kidnapping indicates this. In November 2009, Kohat University`s vice chancellor (VC) was abducted. Reportedly, a sum of Rs50m for his release was paid. Shortly after, the VC of the Islamia College University met the same fate. His release is still awaited. So far militants have kidnapped some 13 high-profile diplomats and foreign nationals for ransom and to pressurise the government to release their comrades. More than 190 people are reported to have been kidnapped in the last 11 months in Peshawar alone. The figure is believed to be higher than what is reported to the police. “Many interconnected networks are involved, but militant groups have emerged as those most involved in kidnapping incidents,” said a police official. Additionally, militants have started fresh targeted killings aimed at pro-government elders and activists of the Awami National Party (ANP). Some 1,200 tribal notables and civilians have been killed over the last two years. The ANP claims to have lost over 400 activists including three legislators and the son of the information minister. In October, more than 100 people were killed in a single day in three separate attacks carried out inside mosques in Darra Adam Khel, Badaber and Swat, despite the heavy presence of security forces in the areas. Why do they kill innocent people? Conspiracy theorists would have us believe that Blackwater or Indian money is behind the attacks on civilians. However, such allegations are meant to serve the agenda of religious parties, which hardly miss a chance to score political points at the cost of national unity. At the other end, it would be wrong to believe that such attacks against civilians smack of a defeatist mentality. Since miscreants have failed to translate violence into political power, they are willing to strike at anything. The ruling ANP in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa propounds the same theory that random terror incidents are a prelude to the bloody end of militancy in and around the province. The ground realities seem different. Militants, no doubt, have been weakened. But they are committed to neutralising official gains by keeping the terror torch burning. They are moving in the right direction with awesome precision. It is hardly a surprise to know that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan in Mohmand Agency has extended targeted killings to other parts of the country e.g. its spokesman claimed responsibility for the killing of two tribal elders in Lahore. Militancy was dealt a heavy blow when the self-defeating creed of Talibanisation imploded under its own weight. The crumbling began in 2009 when common people in Malakand division became aware of the Taliban`s true colours and agenda. This brought civil society on the same page as the government. Subsequently, the displacement of the former enabled the latter to fight the militants. Civilians later formed lashkars and peace committees meant to prevent militancy from revisiting the troubled zones. However, after reaching the halfway success mark, policymakers appeared content with maintaining the status quo in the restive areas. Initially, after clearing the areas of militants, the latter were not pursued further. This defensive strategy was looked upon as a success. The lack of official commitment helped the ragtag militants to regroup. This time they have shifted their attention towards the less challenging but more rewarding enemy — non-combatants. This approach has made clear its deadly effects in all spheres of public life. Terror tactics, including kidnapping, have resulted in damage to the economy and also the flight of capital down country or abroad. More appalling is the insensitivity of policymakers, who are least interested in coordinating efforts to ensure the safety of lives and property. It has been seen that tribal jirgas are `invited` to the offices of political agents in their respective agency to organise lashkars. However, the lurking militants strike at such gatherings killing tribal elders. Is there anyone to ask political agents in Fata why they are inviting tribesmen to their garrison offices if they are not able to provide them security in the first place? Given the situation, where should people go from here? Many observers blame the rulers for insensitively using civilians to achieve short-term interests. In not adopting a proactive policy to engage militants in hot pursuit and punishing them according to the law, the government has done damage to civil society. “We have chopped them into pieces, but now every piece has become a whole to fall back on us,” said a security official. A senior army official, while talking to this writer, admitted that “the advantage of the aggressor still goes to the militants because it is practically not possible for the army to chase after every single militant or group”. Thanks to military operations, the command and control system of the terrorist network has been dealt a heavy blow. However, after dismantling the top leadership, a variety of independent groups have sprung up to fill the vacuum. This has meant a more localised agenda for militancy. Instead of attacking the fortified bunkers and garrison forts of the well-equipped security forces, the new lot has found it more convenient to take revenge on elements such as pro-government civilians, peace committee members and mobile police parties. Under the circumstances, militancy has assumed a more dangerous form and direction. It requires a change of strategy to aggressively take up the challenge. By remaining in defensive mode, the government cannot stop militants from striking at will. Such an approach can only reinforce the status quo, which, in turn, will lead to more civilian deaths in the days to come. [COLOR="Blue"]The writer teaches at the Peshawar University.[/COLOR] [CENTER]---------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Fake leaks[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"] From the Newspaper December 13, 2010 (5 days ago)[/SIZE][/COLOR] AS if the torrents unleashed by the real WikiLeaks were not overwhelming enough, it seems that now some clever souls are keen to use the opportunity to `contribute` to the heady flow of information. On Thursday, some Pakistani newspapers carried a news story which claimed there was sufficient proof of Indian involvement in Balochistan and Waziristan. Additionally, in an attempt to cater to a sense of security and superiority not uncommon among Pakistanis, it trivialised matters as serious as the attack in Mumbai in 2008 and resorted to caricaturing senior soldiers on the other side. The piece appeared to be based on a series of WikiLeaks cables that American missions had sent to Washington — only for its publishers to later realise that it may have been planted news. One newspaper group which carried the item has since sent a legal notice to the agency which originally ran the fake story. The group has accused the agency of filing suspect stuff in the past as well and warned that it may be constrained to not subscribe to it in future. With the final responsibility of allowing it in print resting with the newspapers, we must question how, with such a history, the agency managed to make a splash with the story. The answer to this may lie in various tendencies we Pakistanis have perfected over time, and in our inability to come to terms with the emergence of multiple sources of information. Our idea of patriotism encourages us to promote causes even when the damage such promotion on our part can do to the country should make us extremely careful of what we report and how. Today it is one set of newspapers which has been misled into portraying ill-conceived propaganda as information; tomorrow it can be another. This is a warning for all those in the media. Sadly, the rush to provide information, and in this particular case an abundance of it, led to some of us losing the cherished balance — and scepticism — though hopefully momentarily. The incident also illustrates how the more conventional media can falter easily in its quest for popular reporting as it strives to keep abreast of new competitors. In the case of the fake WikiLeaks cables that have now been condemned, the publishing of the news either coincided with, or was preceded by, its release on several websites. Not all these sites are known for their fairness, let alone objectivity. It will only be in the interest of the media to be a bit wary of the information suppliers that exist outside their pool of trustworthy sources. |
Editorial: DAWN
[COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Gas cuts[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 14, 2010 (4 days ago) [/SIZE][/COLOR] ON Sunday, gas supplies to industry and CNG stations in many parts of Punjab were cut for an indefinite period. This action was taken by the supplying agency to bridge the gap of 400mmcfd in demand and supply due to falling temperatures and the objective was to facilitate domestic consumers. The supply to the industry will be restored as soon as the “situation becomes normal”, the suppliers say. But its `explanation` has failed to calm the anger of the industry in the province, which had to face gas cuts for more than 100 days during the last one year. The businessmen have been protesting against the suspension of gas supplies for the last several months. At many places, including Lahore and Faisalabad, the factory owners and their workers have been venting their anger against the gas utility. The worst sufferers of the gas cuts are small industrial units that cannot afford expensive energy substitutes. Many, over 1,300, according to one estimate, have already closed down in Punjab and while unemployment is rife in the sector the fall in exports has been huge. Among the domestic consumers whose interest the government claims to protect, even housewives have come out in anger to protest low pressure of supply or prolonged suspensions. The energy crunch is not only threatening to pull down the economy it is also hurting inter-provincial harmony as evident from the statements from Punjab-based businessmen and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif alleging discrimination in the distribution of gas and electricity. The government appears totally clueless as to what needs to be done to beat the crisis. It has yet to form a clear strategy on the issue let alone take action to fill the gap between the mounting demand for energy and its shrinking supply. There has hardly been any investment in the energy sector in the last 10 years. The plans to fill the gap through expensive rental power plants too have come across delays. The government`s credibility is low due to the gap between promise and delivery. True, the government had inherited energy shortages from its predecessor, but it has contributed significantly to exacerbating the situation by doing little or nothing to address the problem on a fast-track basis. Little wonder then that the government is faced with growing pressure on energy shortages from all sides. The domestic consumers as well as the industry are demanding an end to power and gas cuts. The signing of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project on Saturday must be welcomed. But what the people and industry need is an immediate solution to their energy woes. That will not be possible unless the government evolves a clear plan of action to fill the energy gaps in the short- to long-term. It cannot afford further delays. [CENTER] -----------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"] A good time to meet[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 14, 2010 (4 days ago)[/SIZE][/COLOR] THIS is a good time for a meeting between President Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif. Mr Sharif has accepted a presidential invitation to a banquet to be hosted in honour of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Saturday. His spokesman states Mr Sharif has accepted the invitation purely out of respect for the Chinese leader. The clarification is reflective of just how careful the PML-N leader currently is to keep his distance from a troubled President Zardari. It amounts to saying that, but for the common friend from Beijing, whom he would not want to upset, Mr Sharif might have outright spurned the president of Pakistan as he hosted a foreign dignitary on behalf of the state. Mr Sharif, who is reportedly free from a bond that “had required him to stay away from electoral politics for 10 years”, appears to have grown increasingly wary of Mr Zardari. As the PPP government struggles to introduce a reformed version of the general sales tax, the PML-N leadership is using the public forum to oppose the proposed levy. At his rallies in Punjab towns recently, the PML-N chief attacked the RGST with rediscovered fervour. His opposition, loud and clear as it reached the people, was accompanied by a clever proviso though. Mr Sharif said the PPP government must first end corruption and purge itself of ostentation before imposing the tax on the people. Obviously, what he was saying was that he was not against the tax on principle, and once the country was rid of corruption and the corrupt the RGST could be imposed by a clean and austere future government. Did he have one led by his own party in mind? Given this tone and tenor, Saturday’s banquet will be closely watched for clues as to what direction the relationship between an aggressive Mr Sharif and a stumbling Mr Zardari will take. They may not concur on many issues, but they can at least agree to keep the political discourse free of acrimony and mudslinging. They must seek to stop the hostile bulls of the 1990s from re-entering our china shop. [CENTER]---------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Is America faltering?[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 14, 2010 (4 days ago) By Shahid Javed Burki [/SIZE][/COLOR] “WE can focus on what`s necessary for each party to win the news cycle or the next election. We can do what we`ve been doing. Or we can do what this moment demands, and focus on what`s necessary for America to win the future,” said President Barack Obama in a meeting with his supporters a few moments before he struck a deal with the Republicans in the US Congress on extending, among other things, the tax cuts passed during the presidency of George W. Bush. The deal was popular with the Republicans but was received with anger by the president`s Democratic supporters. They called it a capitulation. But Obama began to sell it as “our generation`s Sputnik moment”. The reference to the Sputnik was to remind the Americans that they can be provoked into action once challenged. That happened in October 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the first Earth-orbiting satellite into space. The United States reacted by creating the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Nasa, that put an American on the moon in 1969, 12 years after the Sputnik launch. This could become a `Sputnik moment` if the Americans are able to set aside their deep differences and save the country from sliding into history, no longer the pre-eminent and most prominent power militarily and economically in a fast-changing world. Which way America will go matters not only for Americans but for the rest of the world as well. If history is any guide, each time the leading power has been brought down from the pedestal on which it has stood, a period of extreme chaos has ensued. If such a transition occurs it will have enormous consequences for Pakistan and the countries in its neighbourhood. Pakistan`s neighbourhood is full of countries in which the old and new rising powers will need to compete; for the former to retain power, for the latter to acquire it. The flurry of recent activities such as President Obama`s visit to India and that of the Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to Pakistan in December indicate that that competition has already begun and will intensify for as long as the global system remains in a state of flux. That may be for a very long time. Chaos inside its borders and around it are the last things Pakistan needs at such a delicate moment in its history. Some historians argue that the moment of transition has already arrived. It began perhaps in 2003 when President Bush launched an ill-advised and unnecessary invasion of Iraq that was to cost more than 4,000 American lives, lead to hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths plus an expenditure of trillions of dollars. The burden left by the war in Iraq has weighed America down. According to historian Alfred McCoy, “despite the aura of omnipotence most empires project, a look at their history should remind us that they are fragile organisms. So delicate is their ecology of power that, when things start to go truly bad, empires unravel with unholy speed: just a year for Portugal, two years for the Soviet Union, eight years for France, 11 years for the Ottomans, 17 years for Great Britain, and in all likelihood, 22 years for the United States, counting from the crucial year 2003.” Going by this calculus, the United States is likely to quit the world stage as the sole superpower by the year 2025. It would have occupied that position for 34 years starting with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. When 2025 arrives it may not entirely leave the stage but make space for such rising powers as China and India. As historians tell us wars not won usually lead to the demise of empires and the fall of the imperial power. It does not happen quickly; it takes many years of chaos and confusion before the new order establishes itself. The situation for America is more complicated than those faced by the powers that had dominated the world in earlier times. Washington has done poorly in the two wars it fought recently. It is in the process of getting out of Iraq but still does not know how not to get trapped in Afghanistan. But this indifferent performance in two conflicts is not the only reason why so many are now talking about America`s decline. The New York Times The United States faces a different kind of challenge. As Thomas Friedman wrote recently for , “We don`t seem to realise: we`re in a hole and still digging. Our educational attainment levels are stagnating; our infrastructure is fraying. We don`t have enough smart incentives to foster both innovation and manufacturing; we`re not importing enough talent in an age when we have to compete for jobs with low-wage but highly skilled Indians and Chinese — and we`re still piling up debt. Responding to all this will require a whole new hybrid politics for where to cut, where to save, where to invest, where to tax and where to untax. Shaping that new politics is a revolutionary role I still hope President Obama will play.” In other words, what is failing for America is not lack of success on the battlefield but the inability of its political system to make to the country move forward. This movement is needed in particular in an area in which America had excelled for many decades and which had contributed to the country`s rise. It was quality education which made it possible for America to invent and innovate. It is the slippage in education that will lead to America`s fall from the pedestal it has occupied since the collapse of the Soviet Union. How poorly America is doing compared to several rising powers is revealed by a test developed by the Programme for Student Assessment and given to 15-year- old students by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, OECD. With a score of 511 in science, 500 in reading and 487 in mathematics America ranks well below a number of Asian countries including Singapore, Korea and Taiwan. The test was given separately to the students in Shanghai, Hong Kong and Macao in China. All three ranked higher than the US with Shanghai on top of the table in all three areas. China is preparing well to ascend the ladder as America loses its step. |
Editorial: DAWN
[COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]The Tapi pipedream[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 15, 2010 (3 days ago)[/SIZE][/COLOR] IT is a good project — on paper. The energy-starved AfPak region and India need oil and gas, and the pipeline from Turkmenistan would take care of part of the gas deficit, if and when the project sees the light of day. An indication of the problems involved is the secrecy surrounding the document signed by the Pakistan, Afghan and Turkmen presidents, and India`s energy minister. The document has not been made public, and nobody knows the cost of the project or when work will begin. The ambitious 1,700km pipeline project was conceived in the late `90s but was abandoned because of strife in Afghanistan. Peace and finances are the two major problems, the latter being the lesser of the two. The Asian Development Bank`s representative at Ashkabad was noncommittal about funding, and it is doubtful whether any of the western energy giants will chip in given the disastrous security situation across the pipeline`s prospective route. In sharp contrast, we have the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project which, despite India`s pullout under American pressure and other considerations, is at a relatively advanced stage. The pipeline`s security will be a problem in the Pakistan part of it, and that is undeniably a hurdle that must be crossed by political means. Washington could possibly continue to pressure Islamabad against such a deal for geopolitical reasons but those are hardly relevant to a commercial deal between the two neighbours. Tapi could remain a pipedream for years, for it is linked to a final peace settlement in Afghanistan and America has said it will stay in the AfPak region till 2014. That is hardly conducive to Tapi`s fruition. On the other hand, the bilateral Pakistan-Iran project could become a going concern, if only Washington realised that despite its reservations about the deal, an economically stable Pakistan is in America`s interests. [CENTER]-------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Baloch killings[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 15, 2010 (3 days ago)[/SIZE][/COLOR] A HUMAN Rights Watch report has underlined the grim situation in Balochistan with regard to the killing of teachers and other education personnel. According to HRW, “Between January 2008 and October 2010, suspected militant groups targeted and killed at least 22 teachers and other education personnel in the province. Militants have also threatened, bombed, or otherwise attacked schools, resulting in injuries, deaths, property damage, and curtailed education for Balochistan`s children and youth”. To anyone familiar with the troubled province of Balochistan, the facts are depressingly all too well-known. But HRW and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, which contributed to the report, have done a valuable service by going a step further and explicitly linking the violence to certain groups. The focus on the `nationalist groups`, i.e. militant Baloch groups demanding independence from the Pakistani state, is particularly striking. Naming the BLA and the BLUF, HRW explains the reasons behind the violence perpetrated by such groups: “teachers and students constitute a significant proportion of [target-killing] victims because militant groups view schools and educational personnel, particularly ethnic Punjabis, as representatives of the Pakistani state and symbols of perceived Punjabi military oppression of the province”. HRW is right. Unhappily, however, it has too often been left to rights groups and outsiders to highlight and condemn the crimes committed in Balochistan by the Baloch. Moderate Baloch politicians have remained silent on the matter, allowing the extremists to dictate the narrative and mode of communicating Balochistan`s grievances. Parties such as the BNP-M, National Party and other right-thinking politicians and prominent citizens of Balochistan must speak out against the violence perpetrated by the extremists. As the HRW report makes clear, it is Balochistan and her people who suffer the most from the violence. In 2009, state schools in the province were open for a mere 120 days (the average for the rest of Pakistan was 220). Two hundred teachers have transferred out of the province or to the relatively more secure Quetta, while another 200 transfers are pending — extraordinary when it is kept in mind that the province`s educational needs are already severely under-resourced. To be sure, Balochistan is a province with many legitimate grievances against the state. It has historically been treated poorly by the centre, with Balochistan`s resources being funnelled to other provinces with little compensation and the province`s geographic location meaning security fears/obsessions have often trumped development and social needs, etc. However, in pressing for their rights, two things need to be clear: one, a solution has to be found within the framework of the Pakistani state; and two, violence, particularly against ordinary citizens, must end. Baloch moderates must stand up and be counted. [CENTER]------------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Unnecessary outburst[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 15, 2010 (3 days ago)[/SIZE][/COLOR] THE vast majority of Pakistani politicians need to learn a thing or two about statesmanship and avoid outbursts that achieve no purpose. This need was certainly felt after Sindh Home Minister Zulfiqar Mirza`s comments at the Karachi Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday. In his tirade against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, a coalition partner of the Sindh government, the minister held the party responsible for the on-and-off waves of targeted killings in Karachi. He linked the MQM with ethnic violence in the metropolis, particularly mentioning incidents following Dr Imran Farooq`s murder in London. For its part, the MQM said it would take up the issue with the president and prime minister while counselling restraint to its workers. This is not the first time Dr Mirza has upbraided the MQM or other political players in such a harsh tone. The outburst raises a number of points, a primary one being that if the home minister feels so strongly about the MQM`s alleged responsibility for targeted killings, why does the PPP not ask the Muttahida to leave the coalition? Also, the minister`s divisive, irresponsible comments, promoting an `us against them` mindset and stirring ethnic passions, were in very poor taste. They have the potential to disturb Karachi`s fragile peace and are unbecoming of a senior politician. The forum — a gathering of business leaders — was also inappropriate. The MQM indeed has a lot to explain, especially regarding allegations of orchestrating violence in Karachi. Yet it is commendable that the party has shown restraint in this instance and chosen to use democratic methods to lodge its protest. We hope this spirit is maintained and political rivalries do not lead to fresh bloodshed on the streets of Karachi. Dr Mirza rightly admitted that he has failed to maintain law and order in the metropolis and that his coalition partners share the blame for this. It is impossible to maintain peace in Sindh unless all political stakeholders are on board. Rogue elements that break the law must be punished legally without regard to their political affiliations. However, irresponsible statements such as Dr Mirza`s certainly do no service to peace. |
Editorial: DAWN
[COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Coalition cracks[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 16, 2010 (2 days ago)[/SIZE][/COLOR] THE federal government is striving desperately to stay afloat after the events of Tuesday. The prime minister has been forced to sack two of his ministers and his government has lost a crucial ally in Maulana Fazlur Rahman and his JUI-F. This is a staggering blow to the Zardari-Gilani set-up which has in recent months been struggling to keep its coalition partners reasonably happy. The MQM has repeatedly threatened Prime Minster Yousuf Raza Gilani with withdrawal of its support. Even the ANP says the PPP leaders did not consult it on all important matters. The JUI-F`s exit at this stage has indeed endangered the proposed imposition of the reformed general sales tax which the MQM among the PPP allies opposes strongly. Much more than this, the very survival of the government is at stake. It is no surprise then that Maulana Fazlur Rahman`s angry walkout has sent PPP troubleshooters on a search for new partners. The PPP would be happy to court just anyone, and it would be willing to pay the price, just as it was ready to buy the expensive JUI-F favour. Support for the Zardari-Gilani government had earned the maulana prizes such as a few ministries and recently the chairmanship of the Council of Islamic Ideology. His departure now opens up a window for potential PPP allies to blackmail the party for even greater gains than what the JUI-F had managed. Again, given the nature of Pakistani politics, it is hardly a surprise that Maulana Fazlur Rahman`s name is prominent on the list of `probables` who could yet join and secure Prime Minister Gilani. In any event, the government will be even weaker than it has been. Coalitions are tough to sustain and partners hard to please. On many occasions it had appeared as if the thin thread linking the PPP and the JUI-F was about to snap. The most recent example was that of the RGST on which the JUI-F has some reservations. It is either that the party is using Mr Azam Swati`s ouster as a cover to camouflage its resentment against certain bigger issues or that it considers the sacking of one man more significant than the PPP`s blunders that it had so far chosen to ignore. True Maulana Hamid Saeed Kazmi was the accused here and Mr Azam Swati an accuser. Yet Mr Swati forced the prime minister`s hand by blatantly refusing to adhere to a code and a protocol incumbent upon him as a member of Mr Gilani`s cabinet. Maybe not an act of corruption, but surely, he was guilty of something. [CENTER]------------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]FMCT rejection[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 16, 2010 (2 days ago)[/SIZE][/COLOR] WITH the first plenary of the 2011 session of the Conference on Disarmament due to be held in January in Geneva, the National Command Authority in Pakistan — the body tasked with shaping the country’s nuclear policy — has declared that Pakistan will not support a Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty unless existing stocks of fissile material are also made part of a treaty. The position taken by the NCA is not surprising. Pakistan’s nuclear programme is explicitly linked to that of India and the argument here is that an FMCT which does not take into account existing stocks of fissile material would put Pakistan at a permanent disadvantage because of India’s greater existing stockpiles. While the facts are often shrouded in mystery, here’s what is argued by experts and policymakers in Pakistan. India’s civilian nuclear deal with the US, its growing conventional military superiority over Pakistan, its long-term plans for a ballistic missile defence system and its interest in dangerous war strategies such as Cold Start are all believed to put pressure on Pakistan’s declared goal of maintaining a credible minimum nuclear deterrent. The more offensive and defensive capabilities the Indian war machine acquires, the more Pakistan would need to ensure its own nuclear deterrent is viable. An FMCT negotiated without taking into account existing stockpiles would mean Pakistan would be at a permanent disadvantage in the nuclear equation with India because of India’s alleged greater fissile material stockpiles. Yet, experts outside government circles suggest the real motivation may be that Pakistan has fissile production facilities which are expected to come online soon, meaning that a treaty any time soon would render those investments useless. Meanwhile, the WikiLeaks cables suggest that key army personnel may also have opposing views on the FMCT: DGMO Gen Javed Iqbal was allegedly in favour of the treaty, arguing that the Indo-US nuclear deal would allow India to pull away in the long term; SPD chief Gen Khalid Kidwai (retd) was opposed to the treaty. Perhaps key though is another suggestion buried in the WikiLeaks cables: if the US were more willing to address Pakistan’s strategic concerns, the possibility of a deal on the FMCT would increase. share save 120 16 FMCT rejection. [CENTER]------------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Richard Holbrooke[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper December 16, 2010 (2 days ago)[/SIZE][/COLOR] WITH the death of Richard Holbrooke Pakistan has lost a well-wisher of the region who until his last moment was aware of the importance he attached to his peace mission. “You`ve got to stop this war in Afghanistan,” he apparently told his Pakistani surgeon as he was being wheeled into the surgery room. That even in his dying moments he was thinking about issues rather than himself speaks volumes for his personality. Indeed President Barack Obama couldn`t have chosen a tougher man for a job that tasked him to work for peace in a region that has been in strife since the former Soviet Union`s 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. By any standards, this was a challenge far more exacting than the agreement he clinched at Dayton in 1995, ending the Bosnian war. Unlike the Balkans, the `Af-Pak` region has its own rules of the game that do not always conform to the norms of textbook diplomacy, with non-state actors wielding greater authority than those in the corridors of power. While he was not exactly on the finest of terms with President Hamid Karzai, he seems to have got along well with the civilian and military leadership in Islamabad and, unlike some other American leaders, had developed a deep understanding of Pakistan`s economic and security concerns. No country in the world, this “true giant” of diplomacy once said, faced so many problems of a grave nature as Pakistan. While he did indeed talk of the need for Islamabad to “do more”, Holbrooke was conscious of Pakistan`s limitations and never forgot to emphasise that peace in Afghanistan was not possible without the cooperation of its eastern neighbour. That his mission remained unaccomplished was due to the formidable nature of the complexities built into a situation that has defied a solution for more than three decades. |
Editorial: DAWN
[COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Common enemy[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR]
[COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper 17-12-10[/SIZE][/COLOR] IT does not matter what the name is; the aim and tactics are the same. Jundallah and Lashkar- i-Jhangvi or its `international` (al-Almi) chapter believe in shedding the blood of fellow Muslims simply because they insist that everyone must follow their interpretation of Islam. On Wednesday, Jundallah claimed responsibility for the deadly attack on the Muharram procession in the south-eastern Iranian city of Chabahar, killing some 40 people. The attack, it said, was revenge for the hanging of its leader Abdolmalek Rigi, the militant who was found guilty of involvement in acts of terror. As a Red Crescent official disclosed, a suicide bomber walked up to some ambulances belonging to the humanitarian group and blew himself up. We in Pakistan are quite familiar with this fiendish modus operandi, for quite a few times sectarian networks have blown up hospitals and ambulances. In Karachi earlier this year, on the occasion of Chehlum, terrorists struck Jinnah Hospital`s emergency ward, where the wounded from an earlier blast targeting a bus had been brought. The 125 killed and injured in the two explosions belonged to different faiths and sects. Again last Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a Hangu hospital, killing 10 people, while attacks on shrines in Lahore and Karachi are still fresh in the public memory. Iranian officials have blamed America, Britain and regional intelligence services for the attack, though Washington has condemned it. However, this is no place for us to go into the whole gamut of Iran`s ties with the West. What we in Pakistan — and Afghanistan — should be concerned with is the fact that the enemy is within. In all three countries, Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, terrorists regularly target mosques and congregations without any qualms and for reasons that lack not only religious sanction but common sense. This is a challenge not just for the governments of the three countries but for the people themselves. Islamabad, Kabul and Tehran may differ on the US role in the region and taking the monster of terrorism head on, but it is time they cooperated in earnest if they wish to give their people one of the essentials of civilised living — the right to practise religion according to one`s own light. Sectarian networks cooperate across frontiers. We know that Rigi had spent time in Pakistan and had been assisted by local terrorist networks. The same situation exists along the porous Afghan-Pakistan border, with terrorists of all hue crossing both ways. This only serves to emphasise the urgent need for the three governments to develop a joint strategy and mechanism to destroy the common enemy. share save 120 16 Common enemy . [CENTER]----------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]Killing of journalists[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper 17-12-10[/SIZE][/COLOR] THE killing of journalists in Pakistan has become so routine that it doesn`t quite entail the protests and probes it once used to. Recently, Muhammad Khan Sasoli, in his 30s and the president of the Khuzdar Press Club, was the eighth Pakistani journalist to have been violently eliminated in 2010. The Committee to Protect Journalists says some 42 journalists have been killed during the year worldwide in connection with their profession. Another report, by Reporters Without Borders, puts the number of journalists killed in Pakistan in 2010 at 12. These are extremely worrying figures — and it is not just a single conflict the journalists in Pakistan find themselves caught in. Mr Sasoli was shot dead last week in an area which has been in the news for clashes between nationalist insurgents and security forces. Many other mediamen have met a violent death while covering the war on terror from close range, mostly in the north-western region of the country, and elsewhere as well. Clearly, the danger for journalists — even if they are victims of the general insecurity and not directly targeted — is imminent everywhere in Pakistan, yet we no longer have the reaction we witnessed in the past as, for example, in the wake of the killing of Hayat Muhammad Khan in Fata in 2006. Protest has given way to scepticism. Worse, a sense of resignation prevails partly because in none of these cases has the killer been brought to book. It is also true that concerted calls for providing newsmen with the best possible protection have failed to elicit an emphatic response from media organisations. The year 2010, which leaves behind another set of gory tales of reporters falling in the line of duty, had begun on a promising note. Senior journalists belonging to various organisations had come together to work on `voluntary guidelines about covering violence` and called for `implementing safety training` and `getting the proper protective gear for people in the field`. After that initiative, the process has stalled somewhat, and journalists stand exposed to danger that takes an ever more sinister tone with the passage of time. [CENTER]------------------[/CENTER] [COLOR="YellowGreen"][SIZE="6"][CENTER][U][B][FONT="Georgia"]A changed world[/FONT][/B][/U][/CENTER][/SIZE][/COLOR] [COLOR="DarkOrange"][SIZE="2"]From the Newspaper 17-12-10[/SIZE][/COLOR] THAT Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has been named Time magazine`s Person of the Year reflects how far, and how fast, technology is changing human lives and society. The world is no longer quite as we knew it. The distinction is awarded on the basis of who, for better or for worse, has done most to influence the events of the year. And there is no doubt that Facebook, the number of users of which crossed 500 million this year, is a global society altering reality. Making the announcement, Time `s editor Richard Stengel said that “[Facebook is] affecting human nature in a way that we have never even seen before”. That may quite literally be true. Facebook and the sort of online social networking it popularises has changed the way users see themselves and relate to each other, essentially erasing geographical boundaries while becoming a platform of sharing ideas and ideologies with a never-dreamt-of-before potential. That it has meanwhile placed Mr Zuckerberg in the ranks of the world`s youngest billionaires, with a privately held company projected to have a revenue of $2bn this year, is an expected outcome. At 26, Mr Zuckerberg is the second youngest person ever to have been given this distinction. To put things in context, the youngest was Charles Lindbergh, 25 years old in 1927, when he was named the magazine`s first Person of the Year for being the first pilot to fly solo across the Atlantic. As Mr Lindbergh`s endeavour changed the world then, so today we live in an age where technology, the Internet in particular, will delineate one generation from the next. It is not just changing societies but also necessitating changes in the way they are governed. From Facebook to WikiLeaks, new ground is being broken in the information age. Where it will lead us, only time will tell. |
[B][U][SIZE="2"][U][CENTER]Taking stock[/CENTER][/U][/SIZE][/U][/B]
01 January, 2011 AS Pakistan enters the New Year, there are many reasons to be apprehensive about the trajectory the country is on at the moment. But a New Year can be the chance for new beginnings, so let us first concentrate on the positives on the national landscape. First, the political process appears to have matured somewhat. The 18th Amendment approved last April was a landmark event, one that demonstrated that when politicians are given the time and space, they can and do produce results. Yes, the amendment was no panacea and much always depends on the implementation phase in Pakistan, but the victory for politics and politicians was undeniable. Next, the much-talked-about `clash` between the judiciary and the executive was avoided. What is noteworthy about this particular development is that usually when institutions and personalities seem like they are on a collision course, a collision has more often than not been the final outcome. But the judiciary and executive avoided a fate that would have damaged both and instead negotiated a path of progressively less confrontation. Through the interim order on the challenges to the 18th Amendment, the judiciary backed off from challenging the constitutional prerogatives of parliament. On their part, parliament and the government demonstrated sensitivity to the concerns and fears of the Supreme Court via the 19th Amendment, which addressed many of the institutional concerns of the judiciary with regard to the appointment process for superior court judges. Going forward, a similarly cooperative attitude from both sides could help forge consensus on other controversial matters, be it the implementation of the NRO judgment or bureaucratic appointments. Third, politicians appear to have begun to internalise the value of even a poorly performing democracy versus the possibility of military rule, whether direct or indirect. At various points, when there has been a hint of danger from extra-constitutional forces, the mainstream political forces with genuine electoral support have spoken out against threats lurking in the shadows. This is a trend every sensible Pakistani must hope will continue into the New Year and beyond. Undeniably, however, serious challenges remain on many fronts. The economy is of particular concern, with the government`s macroeconomic stabilisation efforts unravelling over much of the last year, leading to renewed pressure on the budget deficit and inflation. Thus far there is no evidence the government is serious about economic reform or that it is willing to take hard decisions on this front. The debate over the RGST, for example, has already consumed much political oxygen without yielding any results — and it has since become clear that the immediate benefits of RGST are minimal while the long-term benefits would require many other pieces to fall into place first. Of most concern in 2011 is the very real possibility that the government will be tempted to abandon even a semblance of fiscal restraint in a bid to win over potential voters through handouts and subsidies as the country gears up for the next election cycle. Local government elections during the year are quite likely, while by the end of 2011, the national election cycle will have begun. On the security front, too, there are tremendous challenges. Externally, the uncertainty in Afghanistan and the frozen relations with India top the list, and if not handled deftly the consequences for Pakistan could be severe. Moreover, the increasing isolation of Pakistan in the global community because of the perception this country has become a hotbed of global jihad is likely to continue to hurt this country`s security and economic prospects — a reality the security establishment here appears to be in denial of. Internally, the faltering counter-insurgency strategy in Fata and the virtually non-existent counter-terrorism strategy in the cities and towns will also present a grave challenge. At the moment, there appears to be little fresh thinking on these issues, particularly from the political government but also from the security establishment. Despite all these challenges, however, 2010 appears to have marked a break from the near-constant crisis and chaos that gripped Pakistan from March 2007, when Gen Musharraf attempted to sack Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, to December 2009, when the Supreme Court`s NRO judgment was handed down. If 2011 brings some more respite, perhaps Pakistan will get the space it needs to begin to address its most serious problems. [CENTER]<><><><><><>[/CENTER] [SIZE="2"][B][U][CENTER]Anti-terrorism courts[/CENTER][/U][/B][/SIZE] EVEN as terrorism becomes an increasingly grave concern, Pakistan appears to lack a cohesive legal mechanism to effectively deal with it. The anti-terrorism courts set up under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1997 were expected to be an effective measure. This has not been the case, however. Indeed, on Thursday Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was moved to express dissatisfaction with, among other things, the poor functioning of the ATCs during a meeting at the Karachi registry of the Supreme Court. There are a number of points to be noted with regard to the effectiveness of the ATCs which now operate under a certain degree of legal uncertainty. The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance 2010, which was originally promulgated by the Musharraf administration in 2002 and which granted additional powers to law-enforcement agencies in taking action against the terrorists, lapsed in June. Now, with the passage of the 18th Amendment, the president does not have the power to re-promulgate it without the National Assembly’s approval. This deprives the state of certain powers that are crucial to dealing with terrorism, such as a bar on banks and financial institutions on providing loans or financial support to members of proscribed outfits. Similarly, it was this ordinance that barred members of banned organisations from obtaining passports and travelling abroad. Pakistan needs a cohesive legislative framework to deal with terrorism and under which the ATCs can function. Then, in many of the cases that come before the ATCs, poor police investigation causes the prosecution’s case to fail. This is true of criminal cases in the regular court system too, but in terms of terrorism cases the deficiency acquires starker significance. Successful prosecution is not possible without sufficient and solid evidence. Therefore, it is vital that the police are better trained in investigation and crime-scene examination. The lack of an effective witness-protection programme is also a considerable roadblock in the path to successful prosecution in terrorism cases. Without such a programme, witnesses crucial to the prosecution’s case can easily be intimidated into silence, particularly given the sort of heinous crimes that are handled by the ATCs. Now that the chief justice has voiced concern, we hope that active steps will be taken to improve the performance of the ATCs which function under the monitoring of the Supreme Court and the high courts. [CENTER]<><><><><><>[/CENTER] |
[B][CENTER][U][SIZE="2"]Rental power[/SIZE][/U][/CENTER][/B]
03 January, 2011 EVEN by the remarkable standards of incompetence and egregious misdeeds on the governance front of the present political leadership, the case of Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervez Ashraf is particularly riveting. On Saturday, the enigmatic Mr Ashraf turned up to inaugurate a rental power plant in Lahore. The only thing is, the plant in question is already a year behind schedule, has still not begun its commercial operations, has only a quarter of its purported generation capacity installed and appears to meet all the criteria for the government to take punitive measures against the operators. Amazingly, a spokesperson for the water and power ministry had this to offer when asked about the delay in the rental power plant`s operations: “All rental plants got delayed for reasons like third party audit by the Asian Development Bank, that were beyond their control.” The `third party audit` dismissed so glibly by the spokesperson is of course the report prepared by the ADB which questioned the very basis of rental power and the manner in which the government has pursued it. It seems Pakistani taxpayers and electricity consumers have to accommodate the business concerns of the very entities that are accused of providing them dubious services at exorbitant prices. To this day, no official of the water and power ministry, and certainly not its boss, Mr Ashraf, has been able to provide a detailed and coherent explanation for why Pakistan needed to pursue rental power in the manner and form the present government has. Yes, there was and is a measurable shortage of electricity and quick fixes were needed to bridge the gap between supply and demand in the short to medium term. But at what cost? And what were the alternatives available? Clearly, government officials would prefer to gloss over the costs and the alternatives. While arguably the Supreme Court, opposition politicians and the media at large may not have the technical expertise to judge the net benefits of rental power agreements struck, surely some evidence supporting the government`s position ought to have come by now from more technically sound quarters. The real question at present, however, is, why is the government allegedly not even pursuing the options available to it within the contracts signed with rental plants? If there is an option to renegotiate tariffs or even cancel the contract in certain circumstances included in the rental service agreements, then common sense demands exploring those avenues where appropriate. Pakistanis, who had been promised an end to `loadshedding` by December 2009, are hardly likely to miss the few extra megawatts of rental power in 2011. [CENTER]<><><><><> [B][U][SIZE="2"]LG debate[/SIZE][/U][/B][/CENTER] THE country has been without elected local governments for close to a year now. Their absence has been acutely felt, particularly during last year`s devastating floods, while key development projects in cities such as Karachi have been lying idle or proceeding at a snail`s pace ever since the local governments were sent packing. In Sindh, the two main political players — the PPP and the MQM — could not agree on the legislation that would replace Gen (retd) Musharraf`s Local Government Ordinance of 2001. Yet a breakthrough appeared on this front as on Friday, both parties decided that the government would not table the amended local government bill in the Sindh Assembly. This move is significant as it heralds a decrease in the tensions that have soured relations between Sindh`s principal political forces. The MQM favours the 2001 local bodies` system while the PPP wants a return to the commissionerate system. The move should hopefully pave the way for local government elections. There is valid criticism of 2001`s LGO: critics say the reforms envisaged in the law failed to materialise and that there was no system of checks and balances or little accountability of local officials. Credible research suggests there is a high level of public dissatisfaction with the quality of municipal services nationwide. Yet it would be wrong to assume that a return to the commissionerate system would solve civic problems, with many perceiving the aforesaid as a remnant of the colonial era. There also appear to be major reservations against the 2001 LG law in Punjab. Apart from the perception that the PML-N has issues with the system due to its links with Gen Musharraf, the official line is that local government polls cannot be held because of the security situation. The debate over the system of local governance in Pakistan should continue. But it should not mean that polls are delayed indefinitely. New local governments should be elected and allowed to decide what system works best. The problem is not so much with the 2001 LGO as its implementation and lack of accountability. But that is an issue that plagues all tiers of government in Pakistan. [CENTER]<><><><><>[/CENTER] |
| 08:57 AM (GMT +5) |
vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.