[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Substandard drugs[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Monday, 27 Jul, 2009[/B]


PUBLIC-sector hospitals in Pakistan are beset by many problem, not the least of which is their inability to provide all the required medicines to patients. Another major problem they pose is that of the quality of the drugs that are being dispensed. As the media has been reporting on and off, more often than not the drugs are substandard and administering these to patients may well prove fatal. Even if they are not lethal they do nothing to ease the patient’s distress and can actually aggravate the problem. At the root of this scourge is the government’s drug policy and inability to check corruption. With the health budget not keeping pace with the escalating number of patients at government health facilities, hospital finances in the public sector are in dire straits. As a result, hospital pharmacies are not well-stocked. Limited resources allow them to provide only a few low-cost drugs. Patients are asked to buy their own medicines elsewhere.

That is bad enough. But what is worse is the corruption. Hospital pharmacists are known to sell their stocks to pharmaceutical stores. Cases have been reported of people purchasing from these stores medicines with stamps indicating that they are meant for use at government hospitals. In many cases these are replaced by substandard drugs at the hospitals. If there is corruption at the health department’s level, then poor quality stocks are supplied to the hospitals with money being siphoned off elsewhere. This problem needs to be addressed seriously if the poor – who regularly visit government hospitals — are to derive some benefit from the healthcare the government has to offer. The least they should be entitled to is attention from medical professionals, decent diagnostic facilities and life-saving drugs that are of good quality and not stocked beyond the expiry date. The proposed health policy will hopefully address this issue.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]The ghosts of Kargil[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Monday, 27 Jul, 2009[/B]


THE ghosts of Kargil continue to haunt us, and will continue to do so, unless we get to know the truth. Surprisingly, nobody talks about it more than the two men responsible for the disaster — the prime minister and the army chief in 1999. We have heard their versions many times, and they keep repeating themselves. Pervez Musharraf says that Nawaz Sharif was “on board” all along and that he was briefed by the military high command beforehand. We have also seen some photographs showing the prime minister being briefed — with maps and all that — and Mr Sharif somewhere in Azad Kashmir. That proves nothing.

In his latest TV interview with an Indian channel, Gen Musharraf referred to Kargil, saying Pakistan had the upper hand militarily. He also claimed that it was Kargil that brought India to the negotiating table on Kashmir. Meanwhile, Mr Sharif’s claims have not enhanced his image. If a war could be planned and launched without his knowledge then what does that say about civil-military relations? Musharraf attributes the disaster to the prime minister’s visit to Washington to meet then President Clinton. As the Musharraf version goes, Mr Sharif surrendered to pressure from the US leader and ordered a withdrawal.

Since Kargil brought the two nuclear-armed neighbours to the brink of war, one would like to know exactly whose brainchild it was. The hope for findings to be made public is slim, because our track record is dismal, and findings by commissions set up with great fanfare have hardly ever been made public. Two decades after the mysterious Ojhri camp blast that sent heat- seeking missiles in all directions in Islamabad-Rawalpindi, we do not even know the precise number of casualties. Two commissions were formed to probe the disaster, but the truth was never revealed as everything was hushed up. Let this not be the case with Kargil. To fix responsibility, we need a bipartisan parliamentary commission that should go into all aspects of the Kargil conflict. Was Clemenceau’s dictum — war is too important a business to be left to the generals — followed or was Kargil an all-khaki affair?


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[SIZE="5"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]OTHER VOICES - North American Press US relations with Iraq[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Monday, 27 Jul, 2009[/B]


IRAQ was George W. Bush’s war, but President Obama now has the complex task of helping Iraqis stitch together a stable nation. To succeed, Obama will have to enhance diplomatic, economic and cultural cooperation, even as the US military role in Iraq shrinks….

Towards that end, Obama held talks this week in Washington with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Iraqi leader [is] … understandably worried about a message Vice-President Joe Biden delivered … that if Iraq experiences a resurgence of sectarian violence, Washington may distance itself from Iraqis and their problems. The Iraqi officials rightly fear that such a public message only encourages terrorist groups to step up their bombings of soft targets.

Obama’s challenge is to distinguish between requests from Maliki that reflect Iraq’s true needs and those that merely reflect his own political interests. Maliki should be heeded when he asks for … lifting UN sanctions on Iraq … and persuading Kuwait to forgo its claim on reparations for Saddam’s invasion of that oil-rich country. Obama should also support Maliki’s campaign to encourage … western investment in Iraq….

The US now should support Iraqi efforts to resolve their disputes over who will award oil contracts and whether regional autonomy is preferable to a strong centre. Obama needs to transform the occupation of Iraq into a respectful friendship.— (July 25)

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Counter-terrorism[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 27 Jul, 2009[/B]

While the Waziristan agencies and other parts of Fata may be ground zero of militancy in Pakistan, the country’s cities and towns are also havens for militants of all stripes. However, as elaborated during a seminar organised by the Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies in Islamabad on Friday, the state’s counter-terrorism capabilities are hampered in the cities and towns by lack of reform in the police forces of the country.

The laundry list of complaints by top police officials is a familiar one: lack of proper resources and equipment, shortage of manpower, lack of specialised training, poor coordination between governmental agencies, etc. And yet, despite repeated promises, committees and proposals, there has not been any significant change for the better on any of those fronts. Given the urgency of the problem and the seriousness of the threat, there is simply no justification for delay in equipping the police with the tools it needs to increase its counter-terrorism capabilities.

However, it must be noted, the problem will not be solved by simply throwing more resources at the police. Even with the present level of intelligence, it is hard to imagine that in places like Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Quetta, Faisalabad and the dozens of smaller cities and towns the success rate in breaking up terrorist and militant networks could not be higher. Many mosques, madressahs, residences and other buildings are well-known havens for militants, and off the record officials freely admit their knowledge of such sites. So why isn’t action being taken against such targets? The answer is clearly political, since meaningful action is beyond the powers of local police officials who work in organisations that are tightly controlled by the political forces.

Moreover, procedural bottlenecks delay the handing over of real-time intelligence to the police in many ways. Consider that the police have routinely complained that while militants and terrorists use mobile phones to communicate, the police must go through a cumbersome process to obtain the relevant data. Admittedly, there are concerns about privacy and the misuse of personal data, but the process can surely be streamlined to reduce the waiting period from months to days, if not hours in some circumstances.

Given that SIM cards are still easily available, despite attempts to register them, the intelligence trail can dry up quickly, or worse the terrorists could have already carried out their plots by the time the police catch up with them. Such problems of semi-, or non-, efficiency are endemic in Pakistan, of course, but they can and must be addressed urgently when it comes to fighting terrorism.

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Consensus awaited[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Tuesday, 28 Jul, 2009[/B]


THE reconstitution of the National Finance Commission is but a small step in the direction of achieving the real goal — a national consensus on the provinces’ shares in the federal divisible pool. On Saturday, President Asif Ali Zardari reconstituted the NFC, removing the numerical anomaly in Punjab’s favour by one and — at least theoretically — paving the way finally for an award acceptable to all the federating units. Under Article 160 of the constitution, the president must constitute an NFC after every five years for giving an award on the allocation of taxes collected by the centre to the constituent units according to criteria on which there is regrettably no agreement yet. The last NFC was constituted in 1997, and even though the award given by it expired in 2002, it continued to be the basis for resource allocation. In 2006, President Pervez Musharraf gave an interim award, providing for a yearly increase of one per cent for the provinces.

The delay in reconstituting the NFC and the absence of a consensual award since 1997 are a true indication of our failure to develop a workable, robust and functioning democratic federalism. Whether it is the perennial dispute over shares in the irrigation waters, building new dams or constructing new cantonments in Balochistan, the constituent units have failed to show that spirit of accommodation which is so essential for the successful working of a federal system geared to the people’s welfare. Also, the 17th Amendment has stripped the constitution of its parliamentary character, given more powers to the president and served to retard the growth of interdependence so necessary for a federation whose peculiar geographical and demographic realities demand a sophisticated handling of all political issues.

The lack of a consensus on the division of taxes has become a political issue and shows both mistrust and aggrandisement on the part of the provinces. Balochistan is the largest province territorially, and Punjab the biggest population-wise. So one could differ as to who should have a bigger share of the cake. Other considerations, too, matter — like backwardness in the social sector, poor infrastructure, poverty and the need for mollifying disgruntled elements. One must here welcome the statement by the Sharif brothers that underdevelopment should be a consideration with the NFC. The PPP-led government hasn’t called a single meeting of the NFC yet, and that has only served to prolong the stalemate and add to misgivings. Given the history of quibbling over this score, one wonders whether the NFC will come up to the president’s resolve that an award will be made “this year”.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Ban violation[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Tuesday, 28 Jul, 2009[/B]


THE serene silence surrounding the Sharifs’ Raiwind farm might be broken by the occasional roar of a tiger if the plans of Salman Shahbaz Sharif, the son of the Punjab chief minister, work out. He is importing two tigers, one of which has already landed in Lahore. Evidently, he is not bothered about the current ban on the import of tigers by the private sector. The ban was imposed by the federal environment ministry in February. That ban seems to have evaporated into thin air. Early last month, the ministry issued two permits to import the tigers Salman Shahbaz fancied for his family farm. He used these to set about importing a pair of Siberian tigers from Canada.

The tigers’ import, however, does not merely highlight the fact that laws in Pakistan are honoured more in the breach than in the observance, at least as far as the high and mighty are concerned. This raises three issues. First, it was the Punjab chief minister’s official secretary who went to Lahore airport to receive one of the tigers. On the face of it, he did not need to be there handling a private consignment for his boss’s son — here is a breach of the golden rule of effective governance that the public and private should be kept strictly apart.

Secondly, Siberian tigers are a highly endangered species. Importing them for one’s personal delight is the height of irresponsibility. Mr Salman Sharif should know that international conventions, agreements and laws on endangered species take pains to emphasise that they should be kept in their original natural surroundings for better breeding and multiplying. Lastly, but equally importantly, Mr Sharif is importing the tigers at a huge expense and is building specially designed, costly cages for them where they will get snowy Siberian conditions in the middle of hot and sizzling Raiwind. Wouldn’t millions of Pakistanis reeling under the burden of economic misery and relentless loadshedding be outraged? Both the Raiwind farm and the hapless people of this country could have done well without the tigers.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Sufi arrested, again[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Tuesday, 28 Jul, 2009[/B]


SUFI Mohammad may not be directly involved in militancy these days but he and the Taliban clearly share an ideology based on extremism. He is a father figure for the Malakand and Dir Taliban who have been hit hard by the military in recent weeks. Indeed, his position becomes all the more significant in the enforced absence of the top Taliban leadership in Malakand, including Sufi’s son-in-law Fazlullah and his inner circle. It is believed that Sufi Mohammad was arrested in Peshawar on Sunday because he was trying to reactivate the Tehrik Nifaz-i-Shariat-i-Mohammadi, a proscribed organisation with strong links to the Taliban. Had he kept a low profile, Sufi Mohammad may not have been picked up by the provincial authorities who were insisting only the other day that they did not wish to make a “hero” out of him. Sufi Mohammad, an NWFP minister had said, was “history” and his detention would only bring unwarranted publicity.

That’s not how things panned out, however. Sufi Mohammad, who has been arrested, released and used as a negotiator between the government and the Taliban, is once again in official custody. Much now depends on the NWFP government’s commitment to preparing a specific chargesheet against the TNSM chief and prosecuting him in court. Holding him incommunicado can backfire and provide fresh ammunition to the supporters of the Malakand insurgency. If Sufi Mohammad, as the Frontier information minister claimed on Sunday, is “the main culprit” in the battle for Malakand then he should be produced in court and brought to book. If he is guilty of inciting violence, Sufi should be made an example of so as to deter others from pursuing a similar course. Finally, it is hoped that the authorities have learnt their lesson and will not indulge in the folly of any new ‘deal’.


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[SIZE="5"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press A conspiracy to destroy law and order[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Tuesday, 28 Jul, 2009[/B]


THREE motorcyclists ambushed a Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz rally in Karachi which was on its way to stage a sit-in on the Super Highway. One JSQM activist was killed while one assailant was shot dead and another injured in the crossfire. This incident sparked protests in different cities and towns of the province.

In Karachi the law and order situation is already bad. There is protection for government officials as is evident by the size of their convoys but it is not the same for the common man. Statements about restoring law and order now seem like empty promises.

Anti-democratic forces can benefit from such a situation but rulers must assess and improve their performance. In fact hidden forces are trying to create chaos in the province. They have caused a blood bath in the city in the past as well. These gangs are still operating easily.

The only way to restore peace in Karachi is gun control.

This decision has been taken a number of times but each time someone or the other has managed to stop it. The government should know that those forces that are active in the NWFP, Balochistan and Punjab are now heading towards Sindh which is already a sensitive area. — (July 25)

Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]CNG buses in Karachi[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Wednesday, 29 Jul, 2009[/B]


KARACHI’S transport woes may not end soon but Monday’s introduction of a fleet of new CNG buses is clearly a step in the right direction. Fifty CNG buses will ply the roads in the first phase of the scheme, which the City District Government Karachi has not only financed but will also run, and budgetary provisions have reportedly been made for another 100 vehicles. Several positives can be taken from this development. First there is the additional means of transport which commuters sorely need in a mega city where distances are vast and public transport is wholly inadequate. Then there is the environmental factor. Overall emissions from CNG vehicles are significantly lower than what their diesel and petrol counterparts produce, and in a city as polluted as Karachi the authorities should consider forcing all public transporters to switch to CNG. That is what happened in New Delhi where pollution levels have fallen dramatically since the law came into effect in 2003. Given honesty of purpose, there is no reason why similar measures cannot be implemented here. A changeover period will be required of course but the cut-off date must be final.

It is also heartening to see the public sector playing a role again in Karachi’s transport system. Many believe that the transporters’ lobby has conspired over the years to keep government-run buses off the roads in Karachi, reducing options for commuters and leaving them at the mercy of private operators. The city government’s CNG venture may be relatively small in size but it marks a healthy change that ought to be encouraged. Now that it has been launched, every effort must be made to ensure the scheme’s long-term success. Much will depend on vehicle maintenance and it is in this area of operations that the CDGK should be particularly vigilant.

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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Trade policy[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Wednesday, 29 Jul, 2009[/B]


THE pledges made in the Strategic Trade Policy Framework 2009-12 to improve the competitiveness of the country’s ailing export sector in three years will be subject to close scrutiny. The policy framework promises a number of interventions to lower the cost of production for exporters. Indeed, the proposed measures may somewhat reduce the cost of exports and make them competitive in the international markets. But will these interventions be implemented at all? If the past is any guide, exporters have solid reasons to doubt that the policy framework will be implemented.

The share of Pakistan’s exports in global trade is shrinking fast. A number of factors like infrastructural constraints, inconsistent policies, economic imbalances, low-value addition, a narrow range of products and markets, decline in investment, etc are to blame for the consistently dwindling share of our exports in the international market. Moreover, energy shortages, conflict and the global slowdown have added to the country’s export blues.

The World Trade Organisation’s data draws a bleak picture of the performance of our exports. The share of our exports has dropped by 40 per cent to just 0.13 per cent from 0.21 per cent since 1999 in global trade. This has happened despite a substantial increase in export revenues, which more than doubled in absolute numbers in the period indicated. It remains a challenge for the nation’s policymakers to boost exports, which declined by almost seven per cent year-on-year during the last fiscal, in the present difficult domestic and economic conditions. The policymakers understand this. Hence, the government has set a very modest export growth target of six per cent for the current fiscal, and 10 and 13 per cent for each of the next two years. The export targets for the next three years should not be difficult to achieve, especially because the rupee is likely to weaken this year and the global commodity prices are set to rise (cotton prices are up by 46 per cent and rice by four per cent since last February, improving the competitiveness of exporters). But the sustainable and quicker growth in exports requires honest and total implementation of the interventions announced in the policy framework.

Surprisingly, however, the strategic trade policy framework has totally neglected domestic commerce. It was only briefly mentioned in the commerce minister’s speech. Policymakers must realise that no country has ever been able to improve its export performance without a strong domestic market. It is the domestic market where brands are developed and tested before these are expanded to global markets. Little wonder then that Pakistan remains an exporter of low-value-added, low-cost products.

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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Nuclear submarines[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Wednesday, 29 Jul, 2009[/B]


FULFILLING a decades-old dream, India launched its first nuclear-powered submarine, INS Arihant (‘Destroyer of the enemies’), on Sunday. A product of the long-running Advanced Technology Vessel project, the eventual addition of this new type of craft to the Indian Navy (testing requirements mean that the submarine will not be ready for service until at least 2011) has raised concerns in Pakistan. Foreign Office spokesman Abdul Basit has criticised the “continued induction of new lethal weapon systems by India” as “detrimental to regional peace and stability”.

However, there are some fundamental questions that need to be answered first. Is the new class of submarines simply nuclear-powered or is it also meant to become a platform to launch nuclear missiles? The distinction has a great deal of import on how the development ought to be assessed. Indian nuclear-missile-capable submarines would introduce a lethal new element in the Indian Ocean and India should clarify if that is indeed its intention. But, separating the political and populist aspects from the strategic, will the new Indian submarines really upset the strategic balance and nuclear equation between Pakistan and India? The ATV project’s creation isn’t a bolt from the blue and the Pakistan Navy is believed to have worked to counter such a capability since the early 1990s. A knee-jerk ‘we must have whatever India has’ game must be avoided.

More to the point, can Pakistan afford such a competition? Nuclear-powered submarines are expensive to purchase — though that is beside the point since none of the world’s producers currently seem inclined to sell them to us — while acquiring an indigenous production capability is staggeringly, break-the-bank expensive. The real danger India’s nuclear submarines pose to Pakistan, then, could well be their capacity to lure us into an arms race we simply cannot afford. Launching the INS Arihant on Kargil Vijay Diwas, the July 26 anniversary celebrating India’s retaking of military posts in Kargil in 1999, was clearly aimed at sending Pakistan a message. But we must not react to provocations, only genuine threats. And it’s not clear yet if the INS Arihant and its siblings will in fact pose a dangerous new threat.


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[SIZE="5"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]OTHER VOICES - European Press Injured soldiers deserve better[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Wednesday, 29 Jul, 2009[/B]


FOR every soldier killed, four are injured. These men and women need more support. The death toll of British troops in Afghanistan has now reached a tragic total of 189. What is less evident is the high casualty rate among soldiers who survive serious injuries but are disabled for life.

For every soldier killed, four are injured. Since 2006, 52 service personnel in Afghanistan have lost limbs, six have been paralysed and seven have lost the use of one or both eyes. As we report today, the changing nature of the Taliban’s tactics means that suicide bombing and improvised explosive devices have replaced conventional confrontations, inflicting injuries that military surgeons describe as “horrific”. Combat Stress, which helps veterans with mental health disabilities — whose symptoms can emerge decades after active service — was one of the charities supported by our last Christmas appeal, and we again commend its work to our readers.

As Sir John Major pointed out in The Daily Telegraph last Friday, the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme, established in 2005, was very well-intentioned but has exhibited some serious flaws. Chief of these is its one-off settlement regime, within a time limit, making inadequate provision for lifelong disability and disabling mental conditions. These defects must be corrected.

The scheme is due for review next spring and we strongly support Sir John’s contention that the review should be conducted by an independent chairman and lay panel, to prevent Treasury pressure to hold down costs. We have a covenant with these warwounded soldiers and it is incumbent upon us to honour it. — (July 25)

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Mumbai probe[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Thursday, 30 Jul, 2009[/B]


ACCORDING to a report in this paper, Pakistani investigators probing the terrorist attacks last November in Mumbai have concluded that “LeT activists conspired, abetted, planned, financed and established a communication network to carry out terror attacks in Mumbai”. The investigators’ findings will now be used to prosecute five members of the LeT being held in Adiala jail, Rawalpindi. Given what has unfolded during the trial of Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman from the attacks, in India and media reports in recent months, news that a firm link between the Mumbai attacks and the LeT has been established is not very surprising. But that does not mean that the investigation and its results are not important. Indeed, they are, and for two very good reasons. First, the fact that this has been Pakistan’s own investigation and not just a case of relying on evidence provided by India demonstrates the seriousness with which the state is dealing with the fallout from the Mumbai attacks. The local investigation is unprecedented and its unflinching conclusions indicate a resolve to get to the bottom of the terrible events of last November, a resolve that has often, and unfairly, been questioned by India since the attacks.

Second, the investigation negates accusations of state complicity and ISI involvement in the attacks. The conclusions reached by the investigators match those of Indian investigators and Ajmal Kasab’s own statements, demonstrating that there has been no attempt to cover up the facts. Pakistan appears to be acting in good faith in trying to prosecute those behind the Mumbai attacks and it is clearly time for India to acknowledge this fact. However, there is no sign that a public acknowledgment is forthcoming; indeed, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh reiterated yesterday the need for ‘concrete action’.

About the trial being conducted by an anti-terrorist court judge inside Adiala jail, we believe it is unfortunate that the court has decided to conduct the trial in camera. Clearly, given the sensitivity of the trial and the nature of the proceedings, there may be national security issues at stake. However, a blanket order keeping the media away is unnecessary. Pakistanis deserve to know the full facts of the case, the hows and whys and whens of what led up to Mumbai. The terrorist attacks jeopardised the standing of the whole country and brought it into a state of near conflict with its biggest neighbour, and as such Pakistanis ought to know as much as possible about organisations and networks in their midst that are bent on dragging them into a state of perpetual conflict.

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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]New Murree project[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Thursday, 30 Jul, 2009[/B]


THE termination of the New Murree project, planned in 2003 by the Punjab government, is a significant triumph for civil society and the environment. Building the Rs40bn tourist resort and township project spread over 4,000 acres of reserved forest land in Patriata, north of Islamabad, could well have had severe ecological and social implications. Apart from causing environmental harm in the Murree area, the project would also have had a negative impact on watershed conditions, affecting the quantity and quality of water supply to areas as far as Islamabad. Risks of physical disaster, caused by landslides, would also have increased.

The New Murree Development Authority was established in 2004 to execute the project. Fortunately, along with NGOs dealing with environmental issues, environmentalists, the media and local communities managed to build up enough pressure to stall the initiative. In 2005 the Supreme Court took suo motu notice of the project, and in 2008, the authority was eventually abolished.

While the termination of the project is to be lauded, there are lessons to be drawn from the saga. It is evident that action is needed to ensure that potentially disastrous development schemes are not approved in the first place. The New Murree project is a classic example of institutional failure. It was approved despite existing legislation and policies aimed at bringing environmental concerns within the ambit of development planning and making Environment Impact Assessments the focus of project appraisal. If we are serious about halting environmental degradation and limiting our consequent vulnerability to natural disasters, it must be ensured that our environmental and planning agencies at the federal and provincial levels have the requisite expertise and resources to ensure compliance with the EIA process. Also, nothing should stop the government from implementing the law when it comes to screening and monitoring development projects to stall environmental damage.

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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Funds for the Taliban[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Thursday, 30 Jul, 2009[/B]


US SPECIAL envoy Richard Holbrooke’s statement in Brussels that the Taliban receive more money from their sympathisers in the Gulf countries than they obtain from the illegal narcotics trade in Afghanistan deserves to be taken note of. As we wrote in these columns in our issue of June 29, “misguided concepts of philanthropy” contribute in no small measure to the Taliban’s coffers. Nato officials estimate that the Taliban raise between $60m and $100m a year from the flourishing narcotics trade. This means that the proportion of what the militants get from the drug trade is less than the millions of dollars that pour in from people who may not necessarily have a Taliban bent of mind but who, nevertheless, have a soft corner for them in spite of the brutality that now characterises their philosophy.

Cutting off funding from abroad is a challenge because it is obvious that pro-Taliban elements do not use normal ban- king channels to transfer money, since the remitter could get caught if the remittee is under observation and is known to have links with the militants. Transfers are thus ‘safe’ only when they are made through non-banking channels like hundi, an informal means of transferring funds. Tackling this is a ticklish job, because not all transfers made by these means necessarily go to the Taliban. Thousands of expatriates send money to their families back home through hundi because this way they evade service charges and get better exchange rates. Similarly, it would be foolish to assume that all money coming to the madressahs from abroad is necessarily meant for the Taliban. The task is to scrutinise all transactions, as is humanly possible, and nab sympathisers of the terrorists. This, of course, requires coordination with the security agencies in the Gulf countries. For some mysterious reason, however, while we continue to hear about Taliban funding nobody seems to focus on the sources of arms for the militants. They have money, agreed, but who sells them such sophisticated arms as rocket launchers and landmines and modern electronic communication gadgetry — and why?

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[SIZE="5"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press US-Syria thaw[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Thursday, 30 Jul, 2009[/B]


… DAMASCUS is a major player in the region ... however, for all the wrong reasons. Some would say Syrian support for the Palestinian group Hamas, its backing for Hezbollah in Lebanon and its close links with Iran are some of those reasons. This … made Syria a pariah in the eyes of the Bush administration. Under President Barack Obama, Washington now views Damascus … [as] a party that can bring peace to the region.

The visit by Obama’s Middle East envoy George Mitchell who is currently in Damascus for talks with Syrian President Bashar Assad is not expected to produce a breakthrough. [F]or now at least, the Syrian-US relationship has become less tense and perhaps a bit friendlier….

The US has always recognised Syria’s [importance and] … is now trying to make sure [its] role [is] a constructive one. — (July 27)

A free judiciary

OVER the last few weeks, the Supreme Judiciary Council has ordered an investigation into corruption cases against 12 members of the judiciary … following the Judiciary Inspection Authority’s reports against them.

Issues such as unduly prolonged cases, bribery, incomplete evidence and procedural mistakes are among the various problems already identified by the authority still to continue its survey for another few months….

The investigation sounds very promising…. But there is no transparency. Such cases remain confidential.

Handing over the files of 12 members of the judiciary system to the Supreme Judicial Council is not good enough, unless both the inspection authority, whose responsibility it is to investigate violations, and the council, whose responsibility is to make decisions based on their findings, are absolutely independent. — (July 25)

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Arms licences fraud[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Friday, 31 Jul, 2009[/B]


THE issuance of thousands of unauthorised licences for weapons of prohibited bores by the interior ministry goes beyond a scandal. It is the height of criminality. Facts provided by the FIA to the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on the Interior are mind-boggling and make one wonder how such gross violations of official procedures and outright fraud could go unnoticed for a year. Even though three section officers have been arrested, it doesn’t stand to reason that a wide-ranging racket of such a nature could be the work of only three individuals. The procedural frauds detected by the FIA include false bank receipts, forged signatures, fictitious stamps and missing records, with pages torn off from the Arms Endorsement Register. For that reason, the FIA sleuths found it difficult to ascertain exactly how many applications had been processed and approved by the competent authority. This means that the number of unlicensed weapons actually issued during the period between March 2008 and June last is probably much higher than the 28,527 on record.

Technically, it is the prime minister who issues licences for prohibited bores. However, on April 4 this year Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani delegated this power to Minister of State for the Interior Tasneem Qureshi. As statistics show, the minister alone issued 6,000 of those licences in just two months. After receiving complaints from several quarters the prime minister ordered an inquiry on June 26, but the standing committee doesn’t seem satisfied with what the FIA has unearthed. It wants more details and action against all those not caught so far by the investigating agency.

There is, however, some irony attached to the inquiry and to the fraud itself. The country is awash with guns, with millions of weapons in the hands of criminals. Sometimes even law-abiding citizens are forced to acquire arms by any means because of the state’s failure to provide protection to their life, honour and property. This is in addition to weapons of all sorts — from Kalashnikov submachine guns to rockets and mines — which the terrorists possess. The arms licences fraud is just the tip of the iceberg.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]No recreation[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Friday, 31 Jul, 2009[/B]


THE day when recreational activities are seen as far more constructive tools than weapons to thwart indoctrination and violence is yet to dawn. The recent announcement by the Faisalabad Development Authority to build an entertainment city with varied recreational choices for the public must be lauded and, needless to say, emulated in a metropolis such as Karachi. The city that over the last six decades should have become home to numerous facilities that feed and distract the mind is ironically witnessing the rapid corrosion of the few that exist — the planetarium, the Karachi zoo, cinema houses are a sorry picture of both despair and disrepair. Meanwhile, successive governments would have done well to develop the Karachi harbour providing it with decent facilities to encourage boat rides, fishing and myriad other activities. It also has a seafront that offers little in terms of adequate huts for the public, lifeguards and security while water sport has been reduced to a private, elitist indulgence. Secondly, other aspects of cultural life that involve the general populace — museums, historical buildings and sites, sports training centres, cinemas, theme parks — are few and far between.

The time is now to address the sad absence of enthusiasm in our people, which cannot be blamed on recession and unemployment alone. It has festered for long as a direct consequence of a dearth of escape routes. This also stunts the next generation which has nowhere to turn to in order to nurture its imagination and creativity or pursue interests such as sports, unless it can afford privileged options. Authorities must remember that the true benefit of recreational alternatives is that they serve as safety valves in trying times. Relevant departments should involve NGOs, town planners and various professionals to design and organise places that will provide employment as well as happiness to the common man.


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[COLOR="DarkRed"][B]PM Singh explains[/B][/COLOR]
[B]Friday, 31 Jul, 2009 [/B]


FROM the floor of the Lok Sabha, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh attempted a delicate balancing act on Wednesday. Following the publication of the joint statement after the meeting between Prime Minister Singh and Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani in Sharm el Sheikh, Mr Singh has been under fire at home. While the opposition has been vociferous in its criticism, more troubling for Mr Singh could be the disquiet in his own party and government about certain parts of the text of the joint statement. What has exercised the Indian prime minister’s detractors the most is the following: “Both prime ministers recognise that dialogue is the only way forward. Action on terrorism should not be linked to the composite dialogue process and these should not be bracketed.” In India this has been interpreted to mean that the ‘no talks until Pakistan successfully prosecutes those responsible for the Mumbai attacks and shuts down the LeT’ approach has been discarded. Additionally, Mr Singh has been accused of needlessly muddying the waters by allowing a reference to Balochistan in the joint statement. (Pakistan alleges Indian support for militant nationalists in the province.)

So on Wednesday Mr Singh decided to take on his critics and denied any change in Indian policy: “We can have a meaningful dialogue with Pakistan only if they fulfil their commitment, in letter and spirit, not to allow their territory to be used in any manner for terrorist activities against India.” Essentially, Mr Singh argued that the joint statement reflected his opinion that Pakistan, in the absence of the composite dialogue, should not claim that it cannot take action against transnational terrorist groups simply because the dialogue is on hold. On Balochistan, Mr Singh said “we are willing to discuss all these issues because we know that we are doing nothing wrong” and denied that a so-called RAW dossier had been given by Pakistan. For now, the prime minister’s explanation has appeared to mollify his critics and following a strong statement of support from his party boss Sonia Gandhi, he can be expected to ride out the storm.

So have the prime minister’s critics won and forced him to back away from what appeared to be an attempt to improve ties with Pakistan? Not necessarily. Indeed, Mr Singh emphasised that “dialogue and engagement is the best way forward” and spoke appreciatively of the frank details provided by Pakistan in the latest dossier on the Mumbai attacks. Parsing the prime minister’s speech, then, it seems that he is still holding out one hand to Pakistan while trying to fend off his domestic detractors with the other.



[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]OTHER VOICES - Pushto Press Who indoctrinated 200 recovered children?[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Friday, 31 Jul, 2009[/B]


SECURITY forces recently recovered 200 children who were being indoctrinated to become suicide bombers in Malakand. Who are they? Who trained them? Where are their parents and relatives? If they are madressah students then who runs these seminaries? Since most of them are victims of kidnapping, where do they hail from? These are the questions which need to be answered and this requires a judicial investigation.

Indoctrinating a child or any youngster to become a suicide bomber ready to kill even his own parents is beyond the mastery of a mullah or a Talib. This is not child’s play but the handiwork of groups who know human psychology well. Who are these mentors? This is what we need to find out. There are reports that some of the IDPs upon their return found fake beards in their houses. What does this indicate?

Also why are the arrested terrorists not being produced in any court? Where do they end up after their arrest? If convicted, in which jails do they end up? And above all, who are they? The government should address these concerns of the public by revealing the facts. After all, in other countries when a terrorist is arrested, the media does disseminate these details.For example, when Ajmal Kasab was arrested following the Mumbai attacks, which has strained relations between Pakistan and India, the Indian media kept the public and the entire world updated on the interrogation. In Pakistan, not one but hundreds of terrorists have been arrested. The government should tell the public about their affiliations, their country of origin and their motives for being involved in the insurgency. They should be produced in courts to face the law. This is how a government deals with the concerns of the people. — (July 29)

Selected and translated by Faizullah Jan

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Taliban witch-hunt?[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Saturday, 01 Aug, 2009[/B]


THE sentiments of the four boys who were kidnapped by the militants to be trained as suicide bombers speak volumes for how an emotional public response to the Taliban could turn dangerous. The four were taken blindfolded to different training camps in Matta where hundreds of other boys were also present. Having escaped and lived to tell their tale, the boys say that they are now treated as outcasts, condemned as terrorists and would-be suicide bombers. They complain of being harassed by the security forces and media, instead of being allowed to get on with their lives in peace.

Now that the militants’ organisational capability has weakened considerably, it is imperative that a process of reconciliation, rather than revenge, be instituted. The anger against Taliban-led militants is understandable, particularly on the part of the thousands who were forced to flee their hometowns and who are now returning to battle-scarred devastation. But the way forward lies in building a future, not avenging the past. Many of the ‘terrorists’ who sporadically continue to be apprehended could well have been victims of the Taliban like other citizens hailing from the affected areas. It is well known that in many cases the insurgents used brutality to coerce recruits to back their agenda. At the same time, the security forces have yet to apprehend or eliminate the top militant leadership. Given that locals are being encouraged to raise private lashkars to take out the remaining militants, there is great danger of individuals being wrongly identified and treated as terrorists by an enraged citizenry. A fair chance must be given to even a reformed militant sympathiser. Otherwise, the effort to uproot the militants would be in danger of turning into a witch-hunt. The ‘eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth’ mindset must be discouraged.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Lawyers turn violent[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Saturday, 01 Aug, 2009[/B]


IN Punjab, the rule of law seems to begin and end outside the lawyers’ workplaces. Just recently, lawyers in Lahore ran amok. They attacked the office of a senior district administration official, forcing the government to transfer her; they locked a family court judge inside the courtroom; they publicly thrashed a police official inside a sessions court and, to top it all, they beat up a cameraman who covered their brutal treatment of the cop. Their ruthless attack on revenue officials in Faisalabad, scuffles with Wapda officials in Kasur and Gujranwala and their internal fracas over the presidency of the Lahore High Court Bar Association are also of recent origin. According to the Punjab police chief, district courts work in awe of the lawyers and cannot give independent verdicts.

This raises some fundamental questions: do the lawyers see themselves standing atop a societal heap after the success of their movement for the restoration of the judges? Do they think that courts owe their independence to them and, therefore, should work in their thrall? Do they believe that they can take on anyone, any department, any authority, any gov- ernment without fear of punishment?

So far the answers to these questions appear to be in the affirmative. The belief that the lawyers movement was nothing but a revolution has led the black-coats to trample on anyone and everything considered anathema. The media and civil society chose to look the other way when they humiliated, insulted and tortured opponents of their movement. But violence begets violence and justifying its use for a noble cause only allows it to be perpetrated for less noble, even ignoble, objectives. The blood-streaked face of the cameraman the lawyers beat up in Lahore confirms this. The leaders of the bar, bar associations and bar councils and, most importantly, the judges of the superior courts should come out openly and unambiguously against those lawyers who take the law into their hands and use aggression and violence to get their way. Shunning responsibility by blaming the violence on ‘elements’ bent upon giving lawyers a bad name is certainly not the way to go about it.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Resolve at Dushanbe[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Saturday, 01 Aug, 2009[/B]



THE resolve expressed by Pakistan and three other states, including Russia, to fight drug trafficking comes at a time when Afghanistan continues as the world’s number one drug producer. Meeting in the Tajik capital on Thursday, Presidents Asif Ali Zardari, Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan, Dmitry Medvedev of Russia and Emomali Rakhmon of Tajikistan didn’t confine their talks to the drug trade alone and touched upon some other equally vital issues like the war on terror, the economy, energy and regional cooperation. All these issues are inter-related. We know, for instance, that money from drug trade is one of the major sources of funding for the Taliban, but it flourishes, because the Karzai regime has failed to come down hard on known drug barons, some of whom are reported to be in the government.

The internal makeup of the four countries whose representatives met in Dushanbe deserves to be noted here, for in some cases many problems are common to them. Afghanistan and Pakistan are fighting a desperate battle against the Taliban. While there are foreign forces on Afghan soil, Pakistan — rightly — is fighting its own battle against the terrorists, though it has to put up with periodic American drone attacks. Afghanistan’s infrastructure is in a shambles, and there are no signs yet that Kabul is anywhere near the task of crushing the Taliban and beginning economic reconstruction. Presidential elections are due later this month, but one doubts if the polls will be fair and whether they will lead to political stability.

Pakistan has had its own domestic problems. The nine-year long military rule, a countrywide lawyers’ movement, militancy in Swat and the situation in Balochistan have destabilised the country, shattered its economy and created social tensions. One major effect of the lack of emphasis on economic development has been the neglect of Pakistan’s energy needs, for power outages have led to widespread riots. As for Tajikistan, it has still not fully recovered from the debilitating civil war in 1992-97, and depends upon foreign aid, especially from Russia and Uzbekistan, for meeting the basic needs of its people, 57 per cent of whom live in poverty.

Russia, meanwhile, seems to be coming out of the shock of the dismemberment of the Soviet Union and trying to find a role in world affairs, especially in what it calls its “near abroad”. President Medvedev’s speech at the four-power summit made it clear he was interested in regional cooperation in security and economy, especially energy. It remains to be seen whether the four states are able to come together in the face of terrorism that stalks the region.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]OTHER VOICES - Sri Lankan Press Destruction of the Jaffna Library[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Saturday, 01 Aug, 2009[/B]



OUR collective memory as a nation is said to be notoriously short…. Our resilience may have resulted from our ability to forget tragic incidents as fast as they occurred…. However defective our … memory may be … atrocities we suffered are indelibly etched in our collective hard disc…. Therefore, it would be a mistake if someone thinks he could … take us for a ride. Deputy leader of the UNP Karu Jayasuriya has said in Vavuniya … that the UNP had no hand in the burning down of the Jaffna Library in 1981! In the same breath, he has claimed that the UNP’s rivals wrongly blamed the J.R. Jayewardene administration for that dastardly arson attack for political reasons….

If he could achieve the feat of convincing the discerning public, by any chance, that the Jaffna Library was not torched by UNP goons and some rogue elements in the police at the behest of the government leaders at that time, he would be able to dupe the world into believing that Nazis did not carry out the Holocaust or that the LTTE did not assassinate Rajiv! Karu is one of the few politicians who still command some respect and he unfortunately risks [losing it]…. The destruction of the Jaffna Library was a crime that … helped terrorist groups operating at that time justify The Island

terrorism….

As for the arson attack on the Jaffna Library, the present-day UNP leaders may undertake to … donate at least 100,000 valuable books. Still, they won’t be able to atone for their sin fully but owning up to it as well as essaying atonement is far better than being exposed for boru katha or lying and losing face. — (July 31)

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]SC short order[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Sunday, 02 Aug, 2009[/B]


THERE has never been any doubt that Gen Musharraf’s Nov 3, 2007 emergency was unconstitutional — indeed, the former president has admitted this himself — so there was never any doubt that a court other than one handpicked by the now retired army chief would find his emergency-related actions to be unconstitutional. Now, 20 months since that hugely damaging episode, a 14-member bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry has duly, and rightly, found that what Gen Musharraf did in November 2007 was unconstitutional. But the main question was always this, what would be the consequences of reversing that illegality? Chief Justice Chaudhry’s short order issued on Friday makes clear what he believes was the primary target of the emergency: Musharraf’s “November 2007 action was a singular in nature, in that, the onslaught was on judiciary alone. All other institutions were intact. The independence of judiciary was given a serious blow.”

Accordingly, the Supreme Court has acted to clear its stables, variously demoting, removing and referring to the Supreme Judicial Council judges who sided with Gen Musharraf or were appointed by the ‘de facto’ chief justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar. Beyond that, the court has acted in a restrained manner. No action has been taken against Musharraf or his military and civilian advisers. The parliamentary, provincial and presidential elections have been endorsed. And parliament and the provincial assemblies have been given 120 and 90 days respectively to decide the fate of the ordinances that Musharraf promulgated during or sought to protect through the emergency. It is by all measures a landmark decision in Pakistan’s chequered judicial and political history.

However, in trying to clean up the constitutional and legal mess created by Musharraf, the court has created some doubt about whether principles of fairness, due process and the law were fully adhered to. The primary, indeed only, victims of the 14-member bench’s decision are the so-called PCO-II judges, while none of the 14 judges of the bench belong to that cohort. Earlier, we had suggested that the court appoint several respected constitutional experts as amici curiae to give their legal opinions on all the serious constitutional and legal issues being inquired into by the court — a move that would have acted to counter the perception that the hearings were being held in an environment hostile to Musharraf and the PCO-II/Justice Dogar-appointed judges.

Having said that, it is time to look forward and work towards strengthening the democratic institutions of the country. On that front, at least two important issues need to be addressed. First, the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry must be mindful of the principles of separation of powers and checks and balances. As stated in Friday’s short order written by Chief Justice Chaudhry “the court acknowledges and respects the mandate given by the sovereign authority i.e. electorate to the democratically elected Government on 18th February, 2008, and would continue to jealously guard the principle of trichotomy of powers enshrined in the Constitution, which is essence of the rule of law”. Given the Supreme Court’s controversial inquiry into the government’s petroleum pricing policy, and especially the petroleum development levy/carbon surcharge, we hope that the Supreme Court will abide firmly by the principle stated by its own chief.

Second, the democratic bulwark against adventurist generals is still fragile and needs to be strengthened. That is not a task for parliament or the judiciary alone, but will in fact require cooperation between the two institutions of the state. It must be recalled that the superior judiciary has once before denounced a military ruler as a ‘usurper’, this being Gen Yahya Khan, and had seemingly shut the door permanently on military rule, but within a matter of years Gen Ziaul Haq took over the country. Keeping this history in mind, parliament and the judiciary must work together to try and forestall a future Ayub, Yahya, Zia or Musharraf.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Fires of hate in Gojra[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Sunday, 02 Aug, 2009[/B]


GOJRA is a mess. There was widespread communal violence in the town on Saturday and initial reports said masked men were on the rampage and a rally had been fired upon, leaving many injured. The administration was struggling to control the situation as local businesses were shut down. Trains were blocked and a number of arson attacks took place. This fresh wave of violence was related to the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran by three Christian men in a village on the outskirts of Gojra. A day earlier, on Friday, a mob had set some 70 houses belonging to the Christian community in the village on fire. It was an administrative failure and even though ‘notice’ of the acts of arson ‘was taken’ by the chief minister, the prime minister, the president and the administration looked totally helpless in the face of the repeat of violence, this time in Gojra city on Saturday. A federal minister and a provincial minister dispatched to the area on Friday could do little to defuse the situation. On Saturday, Dost Muhammad Khosa, Punjab minister for local government, tried desperately to pacify the enraged crowd. Few were prepared to listen to Mr Khosa’s pleas and the police were left with no option but to resort to tear-gas shelling in an effort to restore order. The injured included policemen and at least one senior administration official.

This is a typical blasphemy case in its various details. What is unfortunately changing is the scale and intensity of the reaction as well as its frequency. Only a few weeks ago, rows upon rows of houses belonging to Christians were set on fire in Kasur. Compensation was promised to the affected but while the government might have felt satisfied over the ‘final settlement’ of the issue, observers were shocked by the ferocity and freedom with which the act of violence was carried out. Gojra reconfirms the fear that the state is finding it harder with the passage of time to protect citizens under attack by vengeful, organised and well-armed groups. It is one of the grimmest examples of the tattered nature of our social fabric. It will take contributions from everyone to sort this out.

A major problem is that the very people who are central to establishing peace between communities and sects are the biggest political beneficiaries of violence perpetrated in the name of faith. Missing from our line of defence against intolerance is the local cleric and the leader of the religious party who is prone to resorting to blackmail to get what he wants. He must move before he is also consumed by the raging fires. Meanwhile, the state can at least be unbiased.


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[SIZE="5"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]OTHER VOICES - Indian Press Stem cell research[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Sunday, 02 Aug, 2009[/B]


RESEARCH on reprogramming adult cells to make them behave like embryonic stem cells crossed a milestone recently when two Chinese teams succeeded in producing mouse pups using such cells. Ever since induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells were produced in 2006 by reprogramming adult cells, researchers across the world have been working feverishly to replicate and refine the technique. Though many scientists have succeeded in producing iPS cells, unassailable evidence of their pluripotency — ability of the cells to behave like embryonic stem cells and form all of the 200-odd specialised cells — was lacking. The latest success in producing mouse pups using reprogrammed adult cells has taken research one step closer to proving the pluripotency of iPS cells…. [Two teams] were able to produce mouse pups using iPS cells injected into early-stage embryos that can only become the placenta and not develop into animals.

Many scientists are turning to iPS cell technique to sidestep the ethical controversy of embryo destruction when somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) technique is used. Also, unlike in the case of SCNT, human eggs are not required when iPS cells are used for making embryos. But this technique is fraught with scientific hurdles. For instance, the Qi Zhous team used retroviral vectors to introduce four genes to reprogramme adult cells. Retroviruses are known to induce cancer in mammals. Though some studies have succeeded in inducing pluripotency without using these viruses, more research remains to be done. Similarly, oncogenes were used for reprogramming adult cells. This again raises the possibility of cancer formation when the pluripotent cells are introduced into an animal. The Hindu

Skin cells are routinely used for making iPS cells. Though available in plenty, turning back their clocks to make them pluripotent is a big challenge. Both the teams had hence used more pliable cells taken from late-stage embryos. This approach will not be useful if the iPS technique is used for patient-matched therapeutic applications. However, the technique is nearing maturity and may pave the way for creating cell lines to study genetic diseases. — (Aug 1)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Out of energy[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 03 Aug, 2009[/B]

BOTH immediate and longer-term solutions are needed to tackle an energy crisis that has already spiralled out of control. The misery of power outages across the country is not limited to any one segment of society — it is shared, though perhaps in unequal measure, by residential as well as commercial and industrial consumers. People are suffering in their homes and their workplaces, and factories remain idle at peak hours due to prolonged power cuts or transmission breakdowns. Besides causing productivity losses and a dent in the incomes of entrepreneurs, inactive industrial units further compound the agony of life for labourers, many of whom are daily-wage earners and live continually from hand to mouth. Owners of small-scale businesses are also taking a massive hit.

Publicly at least, the government appears cognisant of the grave dangers associated with a continuing energy crunch. Last week, the federal information minister told the press that “We not only want to do firefighting but also rid our people of the problem” of power shortages. Here it is pertinent to mention that oil- and gas-fired plants may amount to little more than stopgap arrangements in a country with a burgeoning population and a growing demand for electricity. Large hydropower projects, meanwhile, will not only take many years to complete even if work begins tomorrow; they remain a dicey prospect due to political and environmental concerns and the problems associated with large-scale relocation. Without ignoring any other options that may be on the table, such as the exploitation of Thar coal, Pakistani officialdom would do well to focus on harnessing the country’s renewable energy resources. Small dams and run-of-the-river projects must be encouraged and expedited. But most importantly, it is time to make a more serious effort to tap the country’s huge wind-power potential — as much as 50,000MW in the Thatta corridor alone, according to official estimates. Given the right incentives, large-scale wind farms could be set up along the coastline in relatively quick time. The country’s future lies not in thermal plants that guzzle imported oil but in indigenous renewable resources such as wind, biomass, tidal and solar power.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Road to justice[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 03 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE Supreme Court’s verdict that Gen Musharraf’s Emergency Order of Nov 3, 2007, was illegal leaves little room for debate over the validity of many resultant actions, including the establishment of the Islamabad High Court. In Friday’s judgment, the 14-member SC bench held that the creation of the IHC was unconstitutional and that its judges — other than the chief justice — would henceforth cease to hold that position. However, the court also noted that such a court was desirable and suggested that the government look into its re-establishment through constitutional means.

The creation of the IHC in December 2007 was earlier challenged in the Lahore High Court, which issued a stay order later suspended by an SC bench headed by then Chief Justice Dogar. The IHC also came under criticism as it was viewed as an attempt by Gen Musharraf to refer politically important cases to a client bench. Yet there is a need for such a court in the federal territory; this consensus has existed for some time between the bar and the bench. Before the IHC was established, cases were heard in the lower courts in Islamabad and then referred to high courts in other cities, creating problems for lawyers and litigants alike. With the burgeoning population of the capital, there can be little argument against the need for a high court in the area.

Parliament must now urgently take up the matter of re-establishing the IHC through either an act of parliament or a constitutional amendment. There can be little justification for delay since the institutional and administrative infrastructure required is already in place. Speed is of the essence. If re-established immediately, new judges can be appointed to the IHC and the hearing of cases can be resumed without much disruption. Impediments must not be laid in the path of justice.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]US security plans[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 03 Aug, 2009[/B]

PROVIDING security to foreign missions and diplomats is the responsibility of every host government although one can understand if the American embassy and other foreign missions in Islamabad supplement local efforts with their own security arrangements. However, the report in Saturday’s edition of this paper about the State Department’s plans for the US embassy go beyond legitimate security needs and contain elements which are not only astonishing but scary. The Foreign Office has understandably raised its eyebrows. According to the report, the embassy has acquired 18 acres of land, intends to have 1,000 more personnel, including 350 Marines, plans to build 250 housing units and, to cap it all, wants to have hundreds of APCs.

The US embassy already has a staff of 750 people. The proposed surge will raise its strength to 1,750. Given the Obama administration’s commitment to a long-term relationship with Pakistan, one can appreciate a slight increase in the number of American diplomatic personnel and the consequent expansion of building activity. But going by what has become public knowledge the embassy is going to be more than the eyes and ears of the only superpower; for what Pakistan will have on its soil will be more than a mere embassy and its annexes. The American embassy will, in fact, be a full-fledged fortress bristling with armed Marines and APCs. This can hardly be justified on grounds of security, for they will take America’s diplomatic and military presence to a level that any host government in the world would have reason to feel concerned about.

The State Department should look at the plans from another point of view. Will this festung Amerika endear itself to the people of Pakistan or will it add to the misgivings that already exist among large sections of Pakistanis who may not necessarily be the Taliban’s friends? A force of 350 soldiers belonging to the elite Marine corps with APCs at their disposal is a strength that goes clearly beyond the legitimate requirements of security and raises a question or two about its intentions. Ignoring the conspiracy theorists one cannot but see this development in the light of periodic reports in the American media that the Pentagon has contingency plans for taking hold of Pakistan’s nuclear weapons. The surge and the construction plans are unacceptable. During the Shah’s rule in Iran, Tehran was America’s base of operations in the region. Islamabad is not ready for such a role. Maybe Washington could think of having such a base of operations in Kabul or New Delhi, both its friends.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - North American Press Texting while driving[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 03 Aug, 2009[/B]

CALIFORNIA legislators had the good sense to outlaw texting while driving even before a Virginia Tech study showed that truckers who sent such messages were 23 times more likely to end up in a collision. The law took effect in January.

This new research should put any debate to rest. It’s past time for the 36 states that still allow texting while driving to ban the practice.

What is disturbing is that so many drivers know better — and do it anyway. A new poll … showed that 87 per cent of Americans regarded texting or emailing while driving as a “very serious” safety hazard. Yet one out of five drivers acknowledged having done so — and half of drivers 16 to 24.

The most effective way to reduce this danger is to pass and enforce an anti-texting law so that the millions of people who know better will be less likely to be tempted to put themselves and others at risk.

Senator Chuck Schumer … introduced legislation this week that would withhold federal highway funds from states that refuse to prohibit text messaging by drivers of motor vehicles, trucks and mass-transit buses and light rail.

This is a national issue. We may have the law in California, but many of us travel outside the state and most of us have friends and relatives in states where this insane practice is still allowed. — (July 31)

[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Rampant bigotry[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Tuesday, 04 Aug, 2009[/B]


THE frenzied mob that hit a Christian settlement near Gojra on two consecutive days last week proves how easy it is to lose all sense of reason. Masked young men, egged on by religious leaders and actively supported by locals angry over the alleged desecration of the Holy Quran by some members of the Christian community, performed a veritable dance of death in the neighbourhood. They torched houses, smashed businesses and brought routine life to a screeching halt through their seemingly unstoppable violence — until seven Christians were burnt alive and the Rangers called in. On both days the entire area around the targeted settlement was the site of arson, interspersed with stone-throwing, baton-wielding and gunfire.

It is not for the first time that an alleged act of blasphemy has triggered such brutal aggression. Nor, sadly, will it be the last if bigoted mindsets persist. Only weeks ago, Christian houses in Kasur were burnt down because the majority community there was able to allege blasphemy to exact retribution in an otherwise purely secular feud. Yet it seems little is changing to avoid the repetition of such incidents. In fact, while Gojra burnt the local administration made only half-hearted efforts to douse the fires. That is why the Christians there insisted on senior officials being booked for murder as a precondition to ending their protests. They, after all, had a duty to protect citizens no matter what their religion. Are we not supposed to be a democratic society that treats all its members, regardless of faith, equitably?

Unfortunately, the fact that we have blasphemy laws suggests that we are not. These laws have become a ticket in the hands of the majority to persecute and victimise the minority communities if they don’t easily submit to their inferior status in society. In not being blind to the faith of each individual, the state is supporting bias and bigotry against non-Muslims. The narrow-minded who spew venom through their sermons against religious minorities are only the loudest and most abominable symbols of such discrimination and their growing following is an unmistakable sign of the frightening future that we are heading towards. A state held hostage by its own bigots cannot guarantee protection for religious minorities in its jurisdiction. For that to happen, the state will have to ensure that all forms of religious discrimination, including faith-based laws that victimise even innocent civilians, are done away with.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Nigerian Taliban[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Tuesday, 04 Aug, 2009[/B]


THE Nigerian Taliban, as they are being billed, have received crippling blows from the security forces, and their leader, Mohammad Yusuf, has been killed in captivity. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that the religious militancy represented by the Boko Haram group is over. The intensity of fighting and the death of 700 people in six days of clashes show both the militants’ organisational ability and the government’s swift response. The militants overestimated their strength when they attacked a police station in the Bauchi state of Nigeria. The fighting spread to other regions and the government came down hard, destroying Boko Haram’s bastion in Maiduguri. Nigeria is not the only Muslim-majority state in Africa where religious militancy has led to death and destruction and been a source of misery for the people. Besides Sudan, which was once Osama bin Laden’s headquarters, the country destroyed by civil war, of which religious militants have been just one of the reasons, is Somalia. Religious fanaticism in Somalia invited foreign intervention on a big scale, pauperised the people, and in the end achieved nothing except fragmenting the country. In Nigeria, Boko Haram is reported to have received help from militants from Niger and Chad.

Boko Haram means ‘western education is haram’ — a practical demonstration of which philosophy is to be seen in Swat and Fata where the Taliban have blown up hundreds of schools, not all girls’, though it is not clear in what way primary schools were imparting whatever is meant by ‘western education’. Boko Haram spreads hate and pleads for destroying Christian churches. This intolerance and fanaticism have hardly served Islam’s cause, and have resulted in the religion being viewed negatively in many parts. Internal strife in Nigeria in the 1990s caused 10,000 dead. Regrettably, not even the return to power of an elected government has improved matters. Even though rich in oil resources, Nigeria has been plagued by political instability and violence, with the majority of the people languishing in poverty. Like the Pakistani Taliban, the Boko Haram leaders take a dogmatic view of faith. This in the current environment can only have disastrous consequences.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]Still no education policy[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Tuesday, 04 Aug, 2009[/B]


THE Pakistan Coalition for Education has rightly criticised the government’s tardiness in announcing Pakistan’s education policy. It is now four years since the policymakers in Islamabad decided — and correctly so — that the education policy introduced in 1998, and which was meant to be in place until 2010, was highly inadequate and needed far-reaching revisions. As a result, a body was set up under a retired bureaucrat to review the matter and make recommendations. After extensive consultations, in 2007 a white paper was produced, offering a sensible approach. But for unknown reasons the government has been dillydallying on the matter. Last year, a Canadian expert was called in and another draft was prepared in 2009. Even that was shelved in April when it was placed before the federal cabinet which felt it was not good enough and needed more input from the provinces. Nothing has been heard of it since then.

The fact is that education in Pakistan is in a total mess. One basic reason for the disarray is the absence of a policy that has led to a lot of ad hocism with various individuals and organisations acting in an uncoordinated manner. For instance, the education budget for 2009-2010 has not been prepared under the umbrella of an education policy. Worse still, experts now tell us that an analysis of last year’s budget shows that initiatives were taken that favoured the elite, while financial cuts were imposed on sectors vital for the development of quality education for the masses. In the absence of a policy, private-sector education has expanded in an unregulated manner with the provincial governments offering knee-jerk responses to new situations. Under these circumstances, the Punjab government’s move to set up an autnomous body with considerable private-sector representation to regulate private schools may not address the public’s complaints fairly.


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[SIZE="4"][COLOR="DarkRed"][B]OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press Cromwell-type generals[/B][/COLOR][/SIZE]
[B]Tuesday, 04 Aug, 2009[/B]


CHIEF Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry, while hearing the judges’ case … referred to Gen Cromwell who poked his nose in the politics of 17th century England. … [P]eople are compelled to count as to how many Cromwells there are in our country. Cromwell-type, self-righteous generals … imposed martial law in the country, dismissed civilian elected governments and suspended the constitution….

… Gen Ayub Khan was the first general who imposed martial law and cultivated a crop of Cromwell-type generals…. He introduced a culture of forced entry into politics, which continued until Oct 12, 1999. Ayub Khan introduced One Unit which led to the breakup of the country. … Gen Yahya presided over this bloody division. Zia was the third general who rebelled against a popular and elected government. … He cultivated fundamentalism and imposed an intolerant system. Gen Zia is also held responsible for … pushing the new generation into the burning fire of fundamentalism. In the name of jihad, he used the country for American interests and ruled through money earned through the sale of arms and narcotics. He also imparted armed training which led to an army of non-state actors. Zia was the man who destroyed and divided our society….

On Oct 12, 2009, the fourth Cromwell [arrived]…. He was Gen Musharraf, who overthrew the elected Nawaz Sharif government. He too indulged in creating hatred among the provinces and encouraging ethnic politics and pushing the country towards the verge of becoming a failed state. He waged a mini war against the Baloch and fought a false one against the extremists…. The bloody events of Oct 18 (Benazir’s homecoming), December 27 (her assassination), the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti and the disappearance of thousands of people are some of the major injuries inflicted on the people of Pakistan. Let this Cromwell-style general be taken to task…. — (July 31)

— Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]State of non-functionality[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 05 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE euphoria over the Supreme Court’s judgment on the Nov 3 emergency should not make us oblivious to the consequences of the verdict for litigants. Seventy-six judges have been barred from holding office, and, as a result, some high courts have stopped working, thus increasing the backlog of cases and adding to the procrastination typical of our judiciary. The now defunct Islamabad High Court had 10,000 cases pending before it, the Rawalpindi bench of the Punjab High Court over 6,000. A number of cases are also pending with the other high courts. The overall figure for pending cases is flabbergasting — 1.6 million. Ignoring civil cases, where trials drag on for years and sometimes for decades, delays in criminal cases could be painful for people needing action on their bail applications. In this category fall thousands of innocent people who would eventually be set free but for now remain in prison because a number of courts have become non-functional. It is time the apex court looked into this non-functionality of a large chunk of the judicial system.

Some of the decisions taken at Monday’s meeting of the SC judges deserve to be welcomed. The SC rightly decided that courts shouldn’t adjourn cases except in “extraordinary situations and on pressing reasons”. Lawyers need to take note of this, because they have a tendency to seek adjournments on the flimsiest of pretexts. However, for the litigants repeated adjournments mean a prolongation of court proceedings and a painful wait for decisions.

The meeting also decided that those who involve people in false cases must be fined and made to pay for the expenses. There have been examples where some officials working for the police and powerful security agencies managed to fabricate cases against innocent citizens for purely vindictive reasons. The innocents were eventually freed by the courts, but not before they went through humiliation and mental agony. The air of triumph and independence sweeping through our judiciary would be meaningless if an efficient and honest judicial system that is at the service of the people is not put in place.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Winds of change[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 05 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE recent protest by approximately 1,000 Saudi women is rare evidence of what is increasingly being viewed as a suffragette-style movement in the making. The protest appears to have emerged spontaneously after female students were turned away on admissions day from Taif University. Scuffles broke out after female security guards tried to control the protesters, who staged a sit-in and accused the university of foul play in the admission process. In a state where a ban on demonstrations is enforced strictly, this incident is a clear sign that women are gaining the confidence to assert their rights and are joining forces to lobby for changes in archaic customs and laws that do little to uplift their status. Last year, the ban on women driving cars was taken up, in some cases by women physically getting behind the steering wheel. Having being sent petitions in this regard, King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz has acknowledged that the restriction may come under review, although no action has yet been taken by his administration.

It is time that Saudi Arabia revisited its policies in terms of women’s rights and took a less-restrictive view of religious edicts. The fact that the kingdom’s women are denied rights considered basic in most other parts of the world must be addressed. In neighbouring Bahrain, for example, women are allowed to drive and society has suffered no resultant ill effects. Saudi women have had the right to education since the 1960s and many now earn their own livelihoods. Other such progressive measures must be encouraged. The kingdom has significant influence in the politics of the Islamic world and is one of the most important members of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference. It should be playing a worthy role in leading by example to improve the lot of women in Muslim countries around the world.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]End of dictatorships?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 05 Aug, 2009[/B]

IN the wake of the Supreme Court’s unprecedented decision to punish judges of the superior judiciary who sided with a military dictator and his hand-picked ‘de facto’ chief justice, a wave of triumphalism has swept through some quarters in the country. The door has been shut forever on dictators, it has been argued. But such sentiments, while well-intentioned, are perhaps premature. The main issue is not about punishing Gen Pervez Musharraf (retd) and those who supported him during the 2007 emergency because whatever happens on that front will not erase the latest unsavoury chapter in Pakistan’s chequered constitutional and political history. The main issue is what effect the historic decision of the 14-member bench of the Supreme Court and the subsequent actions of the civilian set-up will have on posterity. Clearly, the 14-member bench’s decision is sig-nificant and has laid down a much-needed marker against adventurist generals. But by itself it is not as significant as its most ardent supporters have claimed.

The fact is, we have had military dictators because the polity has accepted, if not welcomed, them. That issue goes beyond legal niceties and constitutional safeguards. Until this country — the people, the politicians, the ‘establishment’, the media, civil society and the army — internalise the values of a constitutional democracy, democracy in this country will always be vulnerable to those promising quick-fix solutions and ‘clean’ politics. The internalisation of democratic values can appear a nebulous concept and there is no predetermined road map to achieve it; nevertheless, its importance and significance are real. What we can, and must, do is make the conditions for a military takeover unfavourable. First and foremost, that means the civilian politicians must clean up their act and not constantly push each other’s backs against the wall. Looking at the history of military takeovers, whatever the intentions of the generals involved, it is clear that political instability makes military interventions that much easier. Good governance and stable politics would significantly deprive a would-be dictator of justification.

But rules and the law do matter, and could possibly act to constrain generals champing at the bit. Currently, a parliamentary committee is drawing up recommendations to amend the constitution and we suggest it also look at ways of constitutionally and legally raising the cost of a military takeover, something significant which may give the next adventurist general pause. Perhaps also, as suggested in the code of conduct in the Charter of Democracy, parliamentarians ought to be required to renounce support for military intervention in politics.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Press Early public retirements[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 05 Aug, 2009[/B]

IT is less than reassuring that so many senior gardaí have decided to opt for early retirement at a time when drug arrests have reached record levels. When considering crime figures, it is always important to retain a sense of perspective but the Central Statistics Office confirmation that gardaí made a drugs arrest every 20 minutes, 24 hours a day, in the 12 months to the end of June, should give us all pause for thought. Controlled-drugs offences are up 15 per cent in that period, with 23,749 offences detected. This is reflected in the increasingly violent culture which has seen so many young men murdered right across the country. This upward trend is reflected in nearly every area of serious crime.

Add the latest report from the European Commission to those domestic statistics and the threat posed by drug gangs can be seen for the great, daunting challenge it is. The commission tells us the war on drugs has not cut the production, trafficking, availability or use of drugs. Ironically, the cost of illegal drugs in Europe has fallen dramatically … despite the great efforts made to suppress the trade…. That 251 gardaí have retired in the first five months of the year, including 223 early retirements, is most certainly a cause for concern….

These officers, and so many more state employees right across all sectors, have decided to retire because they fear that their retirement lump sum will be taxed after the December budget. Their fears are well-founded…. We are losing senior gardaí, senior local authority staff, senior health workers and many, many more from education and other vital areas because of this…. Their retirements represent an expensive and significant blow to the effectiveness and morale of our public services. It also highlights … the great chasm between the options available to state employees and those … in the private sector.

This brain drain is an unimagined but very real consequence of the reckless economic mismanagement of this country over the last decade and represents yet another powerful indictment of so many of those still in government.... — (Aug 4)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Malakand police[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 06 Aug, 2009[/B]

IN another heartening development in Malakand division, a recruitment drive for the police forces in Swat, Buner, Upper Dir, Lower Dir and Shangla has been met with an overwhelming response by locals. More than 12,500 people have applied for the 6,700 posts of which 3,000 have already been filled. Resurrecting the police in Malakand division will be a key factor in returning normality to the area. For one, having locals involved in providing security to neighbourhoods, towns and villages sends a positive signal to the local population — army troops, while currently absolutely necessary, are a constant reminder that an area is in a state of war or has been recently, and that in and of itself sends a disconcerting signal to those trying to rebuild their lives. For another, local policemen can be, and have been, used effectively in joint patrols and raids with the paramilitary and army troops because the locals have much better knowledge of the terrain and can help troops find and arrest or kill militants still hiding in the area.

The latter becomes doubly important in a situation where the so-called HVTs, high-value targets, among the militants’ leadership have yet to be found. One of the greatest fears in Malakand right now is that those militant leaders may be hiding in the hope of living to fight some day again. Many, if not most, of them have gone incommunicado and this makes it all the more difficult to trace them. Intelligence-gathering, therefore, takes on a much greater role in such a scenario, and the more locals there are involved in that process the greater the likelihood that some valuable information leading to the capture or elimination of militant commanders will be found. A note of caution though: in rebuilding the decimated ranks of the police, care must be taken to not repeat the mistakes of the past. Clearly, there must be a sense of urgency in the process, but it should not come at the cost of including undesirable elements in the police force and at the cost of imposing an under-trained force on the locals.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]A step forward[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 06 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE bill outlawing domestic violence passed by the National Assembly on Tuesday is a step in the right direction. The abuse of women and children is endemic in the country, particularly in the domestic sphere where some estimates put the figure over 95 per cent for various forms of physical and emotional violence taken together. Once enacted into law, the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill will make Pakistan one of the few dozen countries to adopt specific legislation on the issue. The 28-clause bill lays out provisions for protection orders and monetary and other forms of relief for victims, and punishment in the form of fines and jail terms for those who violate protection orders. The fact that the courts will have to set hearings and give decisions within a stipulated time frame is also of value: justice delayed is justice denied. The bill must be passed by the Senate so that the law can come into force as soon as possible.

Domestic abuse is rampant partly because the lack of legislation is understood as a refusal by the law to recognise violence in the domestic sphere as a crime. As a result, although certain severe forms of abuse merit being treated as assault as defined in the Pakistan Penal Code, such transgressions often go unreported as they are considered a private matter. Bringing domestic violence into the domain of the justice system will promote societal consensus against it.

It is noteworthy that the bill defines a “domestic relationship” as one inclusive of ties through kinship, adoption, joint family, employment and domestic help. “Vulnerable” persons are defined as those at risk because of “old age, mental illness or handicap or physical disability or other special reasons”. The definition is also applied to domestic help. The law would thus extend protection to domestic servants — men, women and children who are abused and whose economic dependence renders them silent. It addresses the plight of family members such as daughters-in-law and stepchildren who are commonly abused at home. It is imperative that vulnerable persons be made aware of their rights and the protection provided by law to safeguard these. Once the bill becomes law, the federal and provincial governments must immediately constitute the stipulated protection committees and install protection officers. Awareness campaigns sensitising society at large to the issue of domestic abuse must also be undertaken. Most importantly, this bill must be followed up with further stringent legislation protecting the rights of the vulnerable.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Fatah’s mistakes[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 06 Aug, 2009[/B]

FATAH’S decline in the aftermath of Yasser Arafat’s death is a major tragedy for the Palestinian liberation movement. As one of the factions of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, Fatah, founded in 1954, played a major role in reviving the Palestinian question, which most thought was dead after Israels 1967 victory over the Arab armies. Fatah’s stunning resistance to the Israeli attack on Karameh added to its stature, and Mr Arafat and Fatah became symbols of the Palestinian people’s resolve to gain freedom. The defining moment came when Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Mr Arafat had that famous handshake and signed the historic Declaration of Principles on the lawns of the White House in September 1993.

Yasser Arafat’s death led to Fatah’s rapid decline. There were allegations that the aid coming in from Arab and non-Arab sources for running the Palestinian Authority was not well utilised, that there was corruption among Fatah cadres, and that jobs had been given to favourites to create a bureaucracy that was out of proportion with the PA’s needs. The result was to be seen in the parliamentary election in 2006 when the Palestinian people voted overwhelmingly for Hamas and Fatah suffered a devastating defeat. Hamas had also won the people’s sympathies by running a well-organised social welfare network that provided healthcare and monetary benefits to widows and orphans. Among the mistakes to which President Mahmoud Abbas did not refer in his address to the Fatah congress in Bethlehem on Tuesday was its failure to reconcile to loss of power. The fratricide between Hamas and Fatah has frozen the peace process, and the West Bank and Gaza have become two cantons with no status in international law. Fatah can undo this mistake by ending its feud with Hamas, because unity is a prerequisite for a successful struggle for the liberation of Palestine.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press Doomed to suffer Doomed to suffer[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 06 Aug, 2009[/B]

WHILE Egypt’s output of natural gas continues to increase, reaching 65.7 billion cubic metres in 2008, consumers in certain governorates are complaining of an acute shortage of butane gas cylinders…. Residents of provincial towns and villages … depend entirely on … cylinders for domestic purposes. The problem is that exploitation has reared its ugly head, depriving consumers of their right to get these cylinders at the subsidised price determined by the government. Distribution centres find it far more profitable to sell their quota of cylinders on the black market…. Nowadays, it’s not unusual to see long queues of consumers waiting outside the distribution centres … hours before they actually open….

The crisis is not due to low production but to poor supervision by the agencies concerned…. Meanwhile, poultry farms and brick kilns have shifted to using butane gas cylinders instead of fuel oil which has caused a shortage for domestic users. Egyptians suffer crisis after crisis, because of poor planning and lack of proper control. First it was bread and then fuel, so what’s next...? — (Aug 2)

Industrialising Oman

AL BATINAH has begun playing a major role once again in shaping the industrial destiny of the sultanate. The Batinah coast as the area is popularly known … [is] the hub of agriculture, fishery and trading with easy access to the sea, opening on to the Gulf of Oman. Indeed, after the petroleum industry, Sohar … has begun playing the most important role in the industrial revolution of Oman….

The first phase development of Free Zone Sohar has begun with an ambitious initiative that has the potential to transform the Batinah region into Oman’s industrial hub. Free Zone Sohar will be developed in phases eventually covering an area of 500 hectares. The zone will feature a number of downstream industrial and petrochemical ventures, warehousing and logistics services…. It has been announced that priority will be given to investments that add value…. The policy of no minimum capital requirements, 100 per cent foreign ownership, free repatriation of capital and profits, relaxed corporate tax holiday, competitive land lease tariffs, has been hammered out to give a boost to industry and attract investors…. — (Aug 3)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]NA treason resolution[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 07 Aug, 2009[/B]

IN response to a demand from the PML-N that the government seek the trial of Gen Pervez Musharraf, Prime Minister Gilani has pledged to do so if the National Assembly passes a unanimous resolution on the issue. The prime minister’s suggestion creates an interesting dilemma for at least two parties, the PML-Q, a party essentially created by Mr Musharraf and one that sanctified his military takeover in October 1999, and the MQM, which is presently a part of the ruling coalition in Islamabad and Karachi but was also an important member of the Musharraf-era governments at the centre and in Sindh. It remains to be seen how the two parties will vote on a resolution calling for the trial of Mr Musharraf on charges of high treason, if indeed such a resolution is eventually tabled in the National Assembly. Will loyalty to their former benefactor trump political considerations of the day? There is also some irony in the fact that the PML-N, which enjoyed the patronage of a previous dictator, Gen Ziaul Haq, and became a significant national force during his rule, is now pressing for the trial of a dictator that the party found itself on the wrong side of. It seems there is simply no escaping the twists and turns of Pakistan’s chequered constitutional and political history.

Be that as it may, if the National Assembly does pass a unanimous resolution calling for the trial of Gen Musharraf, it may set a good precedent. A clear signal that military strongmen can be held to account for their actions, even after they have been ousted from power, may alert would-be dictators in the army’s ranks that there could be a steep personal price to pay for their actions. That really ought to be the main issue in pursuing Mr Musharraf in a court of law — the effect it will have on posterity. Therefore, we suggest that the National Assembly resolution be a comprehensive statement against military dictatorships and provide a mechanism to bind politicians and military men to upholding the constitution in future. In this regard, the Charter of Democracy contains a code of conduct for politicians and a set of recommendations to redress the gross imbalance in civil-military relations that provide practical, sensible and potentially game-changing suggestions. A resolution incorporating the CoD recommendations would have much more significance than one simply focusing on Mr Musharraf because it would be forward-looking and not just about settling scores against an individual who ruled illegitimately with the help of many others.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Choice before Iran[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 07 Aug, 2009[/B]

AS reported by the western media, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speech at his second inauguration on Wednesday seemed to focus more on Iran’s foreign policy than on the country’s domestic politics. At a ceremony that was boycotted by the opposition, and which included such prestigious figures as Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Mr Ahmadinejad lashed out at America, saying the Iranians welcomed neither “your scowling and bullying nor your smiles and greetings”. He pledged continued defiance of “oppressive powers” and resolved “to try to correct the global discriminatory mechanisms” in a way that would help all nations of the world. It is not clear in what way this rhetoric will help the Iranian people, improve the economy and create political normality in a country still reeling from the shocks of the anti-government rioting in the wake of June’s controversial presidential election.

President Barack Obama has given Iran the end of September by which to resume talks on its uranium enrichment programme. Regrettably, in Wednesday’s speech, the Iranian president gave no hint about Tehran’s stance on the nuclear question. There are two reasons why Iran should have meaningful talks with the West. First, a failure to reach understanding with America and the EU is likely to lead to harsher sanctions. As reported in the press, the sanctions could include action against multinationals doing business with Tehran and a ban on Iranian ships and planes from using western harbours and air space. Second, talks with the West will foreclose Israels military option against Iran.

With another four years ahead of him, Mr Ahmadinejad should be clear about his priorities. His first one should be the domestic scene. What the people want is a less oppressive political climate, an end to inflation and reforms, especially with regard to the media. His second priority should be to avoid an attack by Israel. This means Iran must find a solution to its nuclear question in a way that removes western apprehensions about Iran’s real aims regarding uranium enrichment. The West must reciprocate every step Iran takes in the right direction.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Influence of pirs[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 07 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE murder in Bahawalnagar of a five-year-old boy by his own father cannot fail to shock. Accused of slitting his son’s throat, the man told the police that he committed the crime upon the command of his pir. The barbaric act is illustrative of the manner in which so-called spiritual leaders and faith-healers gain inordinate influence over a superstitious and under-educated populace. There is no dearth of cases where pirs exploit their devotees to extract livestock, goods, cash and even land. In some reported incidents, women and children are given over into the ‘care’ of pirs, condemned thereby to anything from a life of prostitution to slavery. In the Bahawalnagar case, it is difficult to immediately perceive how the pir stood to gain from instigating the crime; nevertheless, it is clear that if the pir indeed gave such instructions, his influence was unquestioned and absolute.

Such ‘spiritual leaders’ can exploit with ease because of the combination of a backward societal mindset and an inefficient state. For example, a large number of women in the rural areas approach pirs, seeking ‘cures’ for childlessness or mental instability. The actual medical problem often goes unrecognised because of lack of awareness, or cannot be treated properly because of poverty, although blind faith in pirs is not restricted to the disadvantaged sections of society.

Certainly, the institution of the pir has a long history in the subcontinent, stemming partly from the Islamic Sufi tradition and partly from the more general ascetic ‘holy man’ traditions in other subcontinental religions. But the manner in which they have gained unbridled influence amongst Pakistan’s citizenry is unacceptable. The ambit of their authority must be curtailed through education and awareness-raising. Improving socio-economic conditions in general would go a long way towards undermining a superstitious societal mindset.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Pushto Press PPP’s performance[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 07 Aug, 2009[/B]

IN the wake of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision President Asif Ali Zardari has directed the PCO-II judges to suspend their work. The fate of 82 judges hangs in the balance until the Supreme Judicial Council makes a decision. The Supreme Court has transferred the services of the former Chief Justice of the Islamabad High Court, which has been dissolved now, to the Lahore High Court. Similarly, seven other judges of the defunct IHC and six in Peshawar have been asked to stop working.

President Zardari’s directives in the light of the Supreme Court decision show that the PPP came into power as it was the people’s choice and was given their mandate. The opposition on many occasions has claimed that policies of the incumbent government are a continuation of the Musharraf regime — they have been proved wrong.

The PPP has been taking concrete steps for the strengthening of democracy and removing the remnants of the last dictatorship.

We expect that the government will take more steps like this in the near future. After all the people want solutions to other problems as well. — (Aug 4)

[B][SIZE="3"][COLOR="Green"]Upcoming elections[/COLOR][/SIZE][/B]

TALIBAN’S shura in Quetta has decided to sabotage the upcoming presidential elections in Afghanistan by directing its members to use every possible means.

The Taliban’s machinations are of utmost concern especially at a time when the Afghan government is pursuing a policy of reconciliation in the country which has also been welcomed by the international community. There is no doubt that this is in fact the policy of intelligence agencies in Islamabad which prefer crisis to peace in Afghanistan.

These agencies still consider a sustained crisis in the region as part of their strategy. But now the question is: whether western countries, especially the US, can deal with Pakistan’s intelligence agencies.

The upcoming elections are important for Afghanistan, but they are far more important for the western world in general and the US in particular. It is yet to be seen whether the West will keep mum about the Taliban threat or it will take notice of it.But keeping silent is unlikely because the western governments are answerable to their people. — (Aug 5)

[B][I]Selected and translated by Faizullah Jan[/I][/B]

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Pre-Ramazan prices[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 10 Aug, 2009[/B]

PRICES have an odd relationship with demand and supply in Pakistan. When demand rises and supply comes under pressure, prices go up with unfailing regularity. But when demand slackens and supply is abundant, they refuse to climb down. Come Ramazan, and this anomaly becomes more apparent. Even though the holy month is still some days away, we are once again witnessing a steep rise in food prices. Sugar, wheat flour and fruit are selling at rates much higher than what they were only weeks earlier. If this is the case before the month of fasting, how high will prices go once we are well into it? It would be fair to say that it is difficult to assess to what extent the rise in prices is a function of demand and supply. Commonsense suggests that the consumption of meat, fruit, drinks and cornflour will rise in the holy month. But shouldn’t it be accompanied by a corresponding decrease in the consumption of bread, roti, vegetables and tea? Also, these changes in the intake of food occur in Ramazan alone, not in the days and weeks preceding it. Why should prices soar when food consumption patterns have yet to change?

One of the key explanations is that there are large cracks in the administrative mechanism for price control. Keeping prices under strict official check has hardly been the priority of any government, all the price-control committees and task forces notwithstanding. Sporadic price checks and occasional raids against hoarders are the way such bodies go about their job. For effective price control, however, we need proper alternatives and the will to crack down on those who do not follow the price lists issued by the government. Failure to do so will deepen financial woes.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]A nuclear-free world[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 10 Aug, 2009[/B]

MILITARY strategists regard the atom bomb as the ultimate weapon of security because of its potential for mass destruction. Mercifully there are statesmen who know how deceptive this security can be. That is why the call by Hiroshima’s mayor on Thursday for the abolition of nuclear arms by 2020 is both timely and poignant, coming as it does from a city that lost 140,000 of its citizens and lay in ruins when the atomic bomb struck in 1945. The mayor’s appeal carries weight because he linked it to President Barack Obama’s statement last April on America’s “moral responsibility”, as the only nation to have used the atomic bomb in combat, to rid the world of nuclear weapons. The significance of this should not be lost on anyone. Until now, the nuclear-weapon powers have only spoken in terms of arms reduction.

With 24,000 nuclear weapons deployed around the world, disarmament can be tricky. With the US as the only superpower today, it is only logical that the initiative come from Washington. Hence the conference of the UN Security Council members in September at America’s invitation will be welcomed since it has nuclear disarmament on its agenda. The need is also for the big powers to move with greater speed towards ending the divide between the nuclear-haves and have-nots. This can be done by devising a new security framework that doesn’t rely on nuclear arms. Many proposals have been put forward in this context. The time has come to address them seriously such as developing nuclear-free zones and non-nuclear umbrellas.

While it makes sense for the members of the nuclear club to launch an arms-cut process, the latter doesn’t absolve others of their responsibility in the matter. How can India and Pakistan justify their massive spending on nuclear weapons when millions of their people live below the poverty line? To begin with the two countries could enter into an agreement on a moratorium on developing or producing nuclear arms, non-resort to first-strike and other self-restraining measures to boost confidence-building. This would pave the way for an arms-cut initiative.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Rental power[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 10 Aug, 2009[/B]

FEDERAL Minister for Water and Power Raja Parvez Ashraf has angrily rejected allegations of corruption and kickbacks involving rental power projects in Pakistan and claimed he is “prepared to be hanged” if any of the allegations are proved. Hyperbole and political mud-slinging aside, the government’s ferocious pursuit of 1,909 MW of rental power to help bridge the power deficit in the country does raise some troubling questions that have yet to be answered satisfactorily by the government. It is an established fact that rental power will be more expensive than the power currently available, though the precise figures are disputed by all involved. So the first question to be asked is: do we necessarily need expensive rental power? Currently, partly due to the circular debt and partly due to operational reasons, a chunk of power-generation capacity available with the Independent Power Producers is lying unutilised. So rather than opting for new rental projects, could the government not focus more on solving the financial problems facing existing power-generation facilities?

Moreover, fixing operational problems at the power-generation end as well as in the transmission and distribution systems could help the system provide more electricity to end-users. Given that rental power projects are being signed on for three- to five-year periods, couldn’t the government in the same time-frame fix many of the problems at the generation, transmission and distribution levels? There is no obvious reason why it cannot.

Next, the process by which rental power projects are being introduced has raised questions about transparency and fairness. Of particular concern are the advance payments, to the tune of 14 per cent, that the government has apparently agreed to provide the RPPs. How was this figure arrived at and has the government been overly generous? Furthermore, there is a big question mark over where the RPPs will be able to raise the funds from to finance their projects — currently estimated to be Rs214bn. At a time when the international credit markets are dry, the only likely option is the local banks. But the local banks seem to be baulking at the possibility — and when financial institutions do so, it immediately raises the question whether they believe it is a good investment or not. Perhaps the banks are simply wary of additional exposure to a power sector that they are already deeply involved in, or perhaps they have been scared off by the prospect of deals in which problems are apparent down the road. So if the government does get its way, it will also need to reassure the public that the funding is being arranged transparently and judiciously.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - North American Press As long as it’s still a war[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 10 Aug, 2009[/B]

THOUGH the White House says it hasn’t confirmed the reports, it appears that a CIA-directed drone missile attack has killed Baitullah Mehsud, leader of the Taliban in Pakistan. If true — as many credible reports from the region suggest — that’s good news indeed. As presidential press secretary Robert Gibbs said, Pakistanis are a whole lot safer with Mehsud dead.

Ironically, news of this major victory in the war on terror comes even as the Obama administration was confirming that the United States is no longer engaged in a ‘war on terror’. John Brennan, head of the White House Office of Homeland Security, disclosed in a speech Thursday that the terms ‘war on terror’, ‘global war’ and ‘jihadists’ are now off the table, as far as the administration is concerned. That’s because “terrorism is but a tactic”, and “you can never fully defeat a tactic like terrorism, any more than you can defeat the tactic of war itself”.

All that Obama & Co. are prepared to declare, he said, is that “we are at war with Al Qaeda ... [and] its violent extremist allies”. That’s all gibberish, of course — but at least it’s better than “overseas contingency operation”, which the Pentagon’s Office of Security Review put forward last March as its preferred term. What’s important, in any event, is that the CIA apparently is prepared to keep launching drone missiles that manage to bring down the Middle East’s leading jihadists — oops, tacticians.

So, in the long run, it really doesn’t matter what the White House calls such operations. Better to wage a war on terror without calling it such than the other way around. — (Aug 8)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]More IMF money[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 11 Aug, 2009[/B]

ON Aug 7, the IMF Executive Board agreed to increase lending to Pakistan by $3.2bn, taking the total lending in the latest phase of the country’s long history with the IMF to $11.3bn. Was this an indication of the country’s progress and the IMF’s confidence in Pakistan’s reform agenda or an emergency stopgap measure to prevent the teetering economy from keeling over? A careful reading of the IMF’s press release and country survey suggests the latter. “The main purpose is to provide bridge financing until donor support pledged at an April donors conference in Tokyo starts to come in. Donors pledged $5.7 billion to Pakistan over three years,” states the country survey report. The press release reiterates this point: “This financing is temporary and should be used as a bridge until the revenue reforms bear fruit.” Translation, no one else is stepping up to give Pakistan the money it needs immediately, so while the country gets its act together, here’s a financial lifeline. It’s difficult to state with certainty, but perhaps if Pakistan wasn’t a frontline state in the fight against Al Qaeda and militancy, such beneficence would not have been forthcoming.

The IMF has clearly stated that Pakistan has got the money despite missing at least three end-June 2009 performance criteria. One, the fiscal deficit target was missed by an equivalent of 0.9 per cent of the GDP. Two, parliamentary legislation for enhancing the State Bank’s supervision of the banking sector was not introduced. Three, legislation harmonising the sales- and income-tax laws and reducing exemptions was not passed. Therein lies the rub, while IMF money may keep the economy temporarily afloat, long-term improvement can only come about by introducing structural reforms that enable the government to raise the revenue it needs to pay for its expenditures — reform that is always promised, but in the end somehow always evaded.

Reform of the taxation structure in the country is perhaps the most fundamental change that is required. There are two major flaws in the sector. One, the amount of tax raised by the government is abysmally low, coming in at less than 10 per cent of GDP last year while the government needs somewhere between 15 to 18 per cent to pay for the country’s and her people’s needs. Two, the tax revenue that is currently raised is done so in a highly unjust manner, with indirect taxation — which hurts the poor more than the rich — far exceeding direct taxation. Reform has been pledged by the government, but its pace and degree raise questions about the government’s sincerity.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Underage driving[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 11 Aug, 2009[/B]

Implementing traffic laws in Pakistan has traditionally proved difficult. The challenges range from illiterate drivers who are unaware of the regulations to others who are virtually above the law. Meanwhile, low salaries and political interference have meant that corruption and bribery is rampant among the traffic police. The revamping of the traffic police in Lahore and Islamabad, with changes such as raising salaries and increasing the departments’ autonomy, has yielded some dividends. Strict policing can dramatically improve the traffic pattern, as has been proved in many areas in terms of wearing motorcycle helmets and desisting motorists from talking on the phone while driving. An important issue that remains to be addressed, however, is that of underage drivers. The legal age for obtaining a provisional learner’s driving licence is 18 years. Yet underage children, mainly boys, commonly drive cars, jeeps and motorcycles on public roads. These drivers pose a serious danger to their own and others’ safety; on Sunday, for example, an underage driver killed a labourer and seriously injured three others in Karachi’s DHA.

The issue with underage drivers is not just that the law is being broken. It is also that a theory exam followed by a practical must be passed before a driving licence can be issued. Underage drivers, clearly, have taken neither and may be entirely incompetent or unaware of road and driving rules. The means of preventing such potentially life-threatening infringements of the law is two-fold. First, a method must be devised and strictly enforced for penalising underage drivers, and traffic wardens must remain vigilant. Secondly, and more importantly, the parents and guardians of underage children must instil in them a respect for the law and educate them about the dangers of driving without the proper qualifications. Underage children do not own the vehicles they pilot. One must ask why their families are allowing them to put themselves and others at risk.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Lyari’s mobsters[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 11 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE killing of Rehman Dakait, notorious underworld kingpin of Lyari, Karachi, in an alleged encounter with the police raises some troubling questions about law enforcement and the political process in the city. According to the police, the mobster was intercepted at a police checkpoint and died in a hail of gunfire after trying to resist arrest. But the circumstances of Dakait’s and his accomplices’ deaths suggest extraordinary luck and fortitude by the police. In a city with a long, unfortunate history of ‘extra-judicial killings’ and ‘police encounters’, the deaths must be fully investigated. It has been known to happen before that wanted criminals were in the custody of some or the other law-enforcement or intelligence agency and then mysteriously killed in encounters for equally mysterious reasons. If Karachi’s police is to rid the city of its criminal elements, it must be done in a lawful manner. Anything less and it would be difficult to distinguish between the law enforcers and the criminals and it will not serve the long-term security of the city.

Furthermore, the death of Rehman Dakait may not in and of itself be a big blow to organised crime in Lyari. Others will step forward to take his place and may launch yet another violent phase in that unfortunate neighbourhood. The point is, politics and the underworld appear to be entwined in Lyari and too often the city’s administrators have either looked the other way or only half-heartedly tried to clamp down on organised crime there. True, Lyari is a poorly developed area, its lanes and neighbourhoods are difficult to navigate and crime is rampant in other parts of the city as well. Yet, the scale of the criminal organisations that have taken root there and the impunity with which they control the area is difficult to explain away. For too long, the emphasis seems to have been on ‘managing’ crime rather than eliminating crime through the transparent and firm enforcement of the law. That must change. The people of Lyari have been living in fear for years and the city’s administrators must help them rebuild a strife-torn community.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press Water protests[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 11 Aug, 2009[/B]

The protests of growers against shortage of water have become the order of the day. Reports pouring in from Sindh reveal that growers in almost every district are complaining of water shortage. At some places growers are on hunger strike…. Worse, irrigation officials are exploiting the situation and are minting money.

Sindh is not getting its due share of water. On the other hand, whatever quantity of water it gets, it is not distributed fairly and judiciously….

One thing is clear: mismanagement of the irrigation department has deepened the water crisis in the province…. There also reports of breaches in the canals. The media is trying to draw the attention of high-ups in the Sindh government but to no avail. The government should to look into the matter of acute shortage of water and mismanagement of the officials. —(Aug 8)

[B][SIZE="3"]Minister’s killing[/SIZE][/B]

BALOCHISTAN Minster for Excise Mir Rustam Khan Jamali was recently killed in Karachi. The Sindh government has constituted a committee headed by DIG Karachi to probe this high profile murder…. The Sindh chief minister has said that his government was not informed about the visit of the minister, otherwise the government would have provided him security.

This incident shows that there appears to be no law and order in the province. The interior of Sindh is bearing the brunt of kidnappings and robberies while in Karachi target killings have claimed the lives of over 150 activists of different parties. The federal minister for interior has recently said that from now onward there would be no incident of target killing. But it continues. — (Aug 9)

[B][I]Selected and translated by Sohail Solangi[/I][/B]

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]The Geneva Conventions[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 12 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions today draws attention to the paradoxes of international relations in the modern age. The humanitarian spirit underlying these conventions can be traced to 1864 when the ICRC was founded and the first convention signed. But in due course, the number of conventions grew to four; the last one was signed in 1949. Since then some protocols have been added. Given the wide prevalence of conflict in present times, the broadening of the parameters of war by non-state actors and the development of weapons of mass destruction, it is something of a contradiction that the world community should have failed to abolish war but is unanimous in seeking to humanise it. That is what the Geneva Conventions seek to do by putting checks on how wars are to be fought, and it is a remarkable achievement that 194 states have agreed to be signatories. But that has in no way ensured the implementation of these conventions, the first three of which deal with the treatment to be given to combatants while the last focuses on civilians who are caught in the crossfire.

Hence not surprisingly the ICRC has used this occasion to appeal to all states to show the political will required to observe their obligations under the Geneva Conventions. It has done well to conduct a survey in eight war-affected countries where it found opinion to be overwhelmingly in favour of making a clear distinction between combatants and civilians when fighting takes place. Three out of four people asked for limits to be set on combatants. But do the views of civilians matter to those who are responsible for violating the conventions — the armed forces and those non-state actors taking up arms? The war crimes that have been reported in recent conflicts — in Bosnia, Iraq or Swat and Fata — were the doings of armies and militias that seem to recognise no limits. While the observation of the Geneva Conventions will go a long way towards easing the suffering of people during wartime, the real effort will have to be in the area of conflict resolution.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Musharraf FIR[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 12 Aug, 2009[/B]

ON the orders of a sessions court, the Islamabad police have registered an unprecedented FIR against a former army chief, Pervez Musharraf, alleging that he illegally confined judges of the superior judiciary after his Nov 3, 2007 emergency. An FIR is only a first step towards a criminal prosecution and it remains to be seen if the former dictator will actually be prosecuted; nevertheless, it may signal the start of a dangerous confrontation between Mr Musharraf’s critics and those who supported his imposition of the emergency. As army chief, Mr Musharraf may have signed the Proclamation of Emergency and the Provisional Constitutional Order, 2007, but the text of the proclamation makes clear that he acted after the “situation [had] been reviewed in meetings with the prime minister, governors of all four provinces, and with Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee, Chiefs of the Armed Forces, Vice-Chief of Army Staff and Corps Commanders of the Pakistan Army”.

The proclamation also states that the emergency was imposed “in pursuance of the deliberations and decisions of the said meetings”. Logically, then, a trial of Mr Musharraf would open the door to the trial of those who advised him in their official capacities to impose the emergency and take the subsequent actions that he did. Could we be about to witness calls for the trial of other military and civilian high officials who supported Gen Musharraf (retd)?

Institutional support or not, however, there is no denying that were it not for Mr Musharraf’s own self-serving determination to cling to power come what may, the country’s political and constitutional framework would not have been damaged so badly. So there is some logic to the demand that at least Mr Musharraf, as the fountainhead of the last era of dictatorship, be held responsible for acts that clearly violated the constitution. But if that is in fact the course the country’s political spectrum wants to embark on, then it should also be prepared to deal with the potential impact on the current democratic dispensation. It’s difficult to imagine Musharraf and his former supporters meekly surrendering themselves at the altar of justice. Since few in Pakistan can genuinely claim to have clean hands or an unambiguous record of opposing dictators, the question then is, should not the focus be on looking forward and sustaining the transition to democracy? The lesson of the Musharraf era, and of the dictators before him, is clearly that institutions need to be strengthened and imbued with a democratic spirit. That perhaps is where the nation’s energies should be focused.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Swine flu risk[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 12 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE health ministry’s confirmation of the country’s first swine flu case is cause for concern. The pandemic H1N1 influenza virus has been confirmed in at least 168 countries and has claimed some 800 lives worldwide. The World Health Organisation warns that the number of cases will rise significantly, predicting that two billion — or one in three — people would be infected over the next two years. The rising figures have caused fears that the gathering of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia for Haj this year will become a flashpoint for the spread of the virus. After some Muslim countries proposed a suspension of the annual pilgrimage, an estimated $7bn industry, Arab health ministers decided to bar individuals under 12 and over 65, and those with chronic illnesses. Precautionary measures such as laboratory scanners and health quarantine wards are also being put in place. Nevertheless, some countries such as Egypt, Syria and Iran have issued warnings against performing Haj this year.

No such warning has been issued in Pakistan, and indeed WHO does not recommend travel restrictions noting their limited benefit — the virus is already present in most countries. Yet it is essential that the health authorities implement measures to detect possible carriers and prepare for a possible outbreak. Hospitals and health service providers must be put on standby, while the rapid identification of cases and the provision of proper medical treatment must be ensured. An awareness campaign regarding swine flu and its symptoms needs to be set in motion. Intending pilgrims should be made aware of the risk and informed that those who are sick should cancel their plans this year. Returning travellers found to be ill should be exhorted to seek proper medical attention. Furthermore, airlines carrying pilgrims must ensure properly ventilated cabins and provide masks and hand-sanitisers for the protection of the crew and passengers.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Press The little things that matter most[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 12 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE growing feeling of a sense of lack of political leadership seems to be permeating the country. At least, we know the prime minister’s grip on public matters is being called into question…. But … Lawrence Gonzi is no longer riding on a high wave as he was back in 2008 after re-election.

… His cabinet is far too small with the limited number of ministers having large portfolios, which only one or two can cope with.

The prime minister’s challenges are further compounded by his own large portfolio, rather than him ruthlessly overseeing his ministers’ implementation of cabinet policy. …

…Government must address people’s concerns, amongst which is an ever-growing difficulty for persons to keep up with the cost of living, caused amongst other things by government-induced costs; growing unemployment … the horrendous state of the roads; the general untidiness in the environment; long waiting lists in hospital; the delays in the courts.

…This week the National Statistics Office revealed data of how more people are depending on part-time employment. That is a cause of concern. Likewise, the hike in the price of gas. Businesses are gasping at the costs which they are finding insurmountable, having to pass them on to consumers.

… Much as Lawrence Gonzi advertises his government’s success in dreaming up grand projects, the perception of his success will be moulded at street-level. That’s where the small things start to matter. — (Aug 9)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Baloch ‘independence’[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 13 Aug, 2009[/B]

ON the so-called ‘Kalat Independence Day’ on Aug 11, Mir Suleman Dawood, grandson of the last ruler of Kalat, announced the creation of a council of Baloch separatist elements in Pakistan and Iran who will press for the formation of an ‘independent Balochistan’. Mr Dawood’s demand for an ‘independent’ Baloch state clearly cannot be countenanced; tomorrow marks the 62nd anniversary of Pakistan’s creation and there simply isn’t any room for debate about altering the physical boundaries of the country today. Pakistan’s problems — and, yes, there are many — can only realistically and viably be solved within the framework of Pakistan. Yet, while Mr Dawood’s demand must necessarily be dismissed, it points to ongoing problems in Balochistan that show no sign of abating, and this 18 months after national elections to usher in a new, democratic government in the country.

Mr Dawood’s personal grievances date back to March 1948, when his grandfather, Ahmad Yar Khan, negotiated an agreement with Mohammad Ali Jinnah that brought the State of Kalat, located in the centre and southwest of present-day Balochistan, into the fold of Pakistan. According to the then ruler of Kalat, the agreement had been to accept the state’s unique status and to incorporate it into Pakistan as an independent and autonomous unit along the lines of countries that are part of the European Union today. But this has never been proved and is rejected by Pakistan. Resultantly, a sense of having suffered a great injustice has continued over the decades, even as the Khan of Kalat’s family receded into relative obscurity. A return to prominence was effected in the wake of Nawab Akbar Bugti’s killing in August 2006 as Mr Dawood convened a grand jirga — the first in approximately 100 years — that brought together virtually all of Balochistan’s tribal leaders. Even so, what was decided there has been diluted somewhat by the fact that some of the most prominent tribal leaders are today part of the federal and Balochistan provincial governments. But Mr Dawood has continued his dissent against the constitutional status of Balochistan, leading up to the commemoration for the first time of Kalat’s independence on Aug 11 — the day in 1947 that the British allegedly accepted the independence of the State of Kalat.

Whatever the history, the fact is that Balochistan has continued to suffer from the relative neglect of the country’s new leaders. Change has been promised, but in fact the trust deficit between the nationalists and the state has widened. That must change. Whatever the challenges in the rest of the country, the legitimate grievances of the people of Balochistan must be addressed.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Trivialising the issue[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 13 Aug, 2009[/B]

MR Rehman Malik should have thought twice before saying that the onus was on the Taliban to prove that Baitullah Mehsud was still alive. It should have occurred to him that many would consider it his responsibility to verify the death of one of Pakistan’s most-feared terrorists, especially after similar claims earlier on were proved wrong. It was America which said that there was a high probability that the TTP leader was killed in a drone attack. One hopes that Islamabad accepted the US view after verifying his death through its own sources. This takes us to the question of Islamabad’s quality of intelligence-gathering. Ultimately, notwithstanding all the technical intelligence and the laser technology that zeroes in on a target, it is human intelligence — or humint — that counts in locating, if not killing, the enemy.

From this point of view, Pakistan’s humint has been shockingly below what is required in militancy-infested places like Fata and Swat. In fact, the DNA test that an interior ministry official said would be conducted to ascertain Baitullah Mehsud’s death appears highly unlikely considering the inaccessibility to the location of the drone attack that is said to have killed him or even to his grave if the site of the latter is verified. Moreover, we were also told that Hakeemullah and Waliur Rahman, both candidates for the TTP leadership, were killed in a shoot-out. Now the interior ministry wants the ‘dead’ Hakeemullah to give proof of Mehsud’s existence.

The government should not confound the issue further as this would give the Taliban spokesmen a chance to keep spreading what could well be disinformation. If Baitullah Mehsud is dead — and there is a strong possibility that he is —the truth will come out sooner or later, claims and counterclaims notwithstanding. Let the TTP choose his successor. That will settle the issue. The least Mr Malik can do is to spare us his daily press talk that serves no purpose. The media too should approach the issue with caution, for no newsperson was around for miles when the drone did the job.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Ban on Indian films?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 13 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE moral outrage displayed in the National Assembly on Tuesday against the airing of Indian films on the country’s cable television networks can hardly be considered legitimate grounds for a Pemra ban on such movies. MNAs Bushra Rahman of the PML-Q and Maulana Fazlur Rahman of the JUI-F argued that the projection of Indian culture is causing “grave concern among the public”. This claim is belied by the immense popularity of Indian films in Pakistan. Secondly, the traditions of freedom of choice and a free media demand that citizens be allowed the right to access whatever legal form of the media they desire. An arbitrary or selective ban imposed by the government amounts to censorship.

The fear underlying the outrage refers to the swamping of Pakistani culture by foreign influences. What is needed, therefore, is for the state to actively support and promote the local film, television and performing arts industries. In these fields, there is a dearth of state-supported training institutes in Pakistan. The government-run arts councils can do far more to meet their brief of promoting local cultural productions.

A case against the airing of films — whether they are from India or elsewhere — on local cable television networks can be made, however, in terms of economic and copyright concerns. Such broadcasts made by private cable operators and channels from DVDs are usually pirated. No royalties are paid, and the government earns neither tax nor any other form of revenue. The broadcaster, by contrast, earns through selling advertisement slots. Given that the country has often been criticised for its failure to control piracy and enforce copyright laws, there is a need to devise codes under which foreign films can be legally aired on local television networks, and no party is denied due revenue.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press Resisting Israeli designs[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 13 Aug, 2009[/B]

ISRAEL’S angry reaction to a resolution passed by Fatah Congress that the Palestinian movement still stands by its right to resistance to achieve its goal of a Palestinian state shows the intolerance of the Jewish state … At its first congress in 20 years and the first ever on occupied Palestinian soil, Fatah stressed “its commitment to the pursuit of a comprehensive peace but reiterates the Palestinian people’s right to resistance to occupation in all its forms in line with international law,” its new charter said….

Fatah’s reiteration of its right to resistance is a welcome sign…. …Palestinians have been the heavy losers in the conflict, with a recalcitrant Israel trampling on their rights … as in the construction of the separation wall, expansion of settlements and uncompromising stands on all issues.… — (Aug 10)

[B][SIZE="4"]Sudan’s Lubna Hussein[/SIZE][/B]

IN a world where press freedom is under relentless assault, we know the situation well in Turkey… But … a more urgent subject … is the case of Lubna Hussein, a Sudanese journalist sentenced to 40 lashes. Her crime? Wearing trousers…. Hussein … was arrested with a dozen other trouser-wearing women…. Ten of the women accepted the punishment of 10 lashes, but Hussein and two others did not.

She sent out hundreds of cards inviting people to her trial … [W]e support her … It is easy to defy oppressive governments from a distance. It is always difficult to defy them from within. And it [is] for this that we commend Ms Hussein….

Your support for the rights of women can be directed to the Sudanese minister of justice, Abdul-Basit Sabdarat. The address is: [email]moj@moj.gov.sd[/email] … — (Aug 8)

[CENTER][SIZE="3"][COLOR="Green"]Defending democracy [/COLOR][/SIZE][/CENTER]Sunday, 16 Aug, 2009


A very curious thing is playing out in the national media: some officials known to be close to President Zardari are fiercely rejecting the possibility of the implementation of a so-called ‘minus one’ formula. Without explaining the origins of this rumour or why they are denying something that has yet to be traced back to any public statement, the president’s supporters are rallying around him and decrying ‘undemocratic’ forces trying to ‘undermine’ the present set-up.

It is difficult to assess the ‘threat’, if any, because not much, indeed nothing, is known about it publicly. However, there is little doubt that a mere 18 months since the country’s latest return to democratic governance, the threats to democracy that have bedevilled Pakistan over the decades have not been defeated. While mere rumours cannot of themselves create great instability, the fact is that a stable institutional framework has yet to be erected from the detritus of Pakistan’s constitutional and political history.

We need look no further than the debate over the fate of former president-cum-general Pervez Musharraf to find some of the dangers to democracy today. Nawaz Sharif, speaking at an Independence Day function in Lahore, has rightly asked: ‘If a violator of a traffic signal can be penalised, why should a person who violated the basic law of the land go scot-free?’ But in the same speech, as reported in this paper, he also said that
the ‘country could not afford another martial law.’

Therein lies the rub: while holding Gen Musharraf (retd) responsible for his unconstitutional actions is an independently sound demand, the possible repercussions for the present democratically elected set-up in Pakistan must be carefully weighed. This is not to say that holding Mr Musharraf accountable is necessarily precluded, but that if it is to be done it must be done in a way that does not pit politician against politician or the judiciary, the politicians and the army high command against one another.

As with many other political problems faced today, the Charter of Democracy signed by Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto in May 2006 has some good suggestions that may lead to a sense of closure on the Musharraf era. Specifically, the CoD’s Code of Conduct section calls for the creation of a Truth and Reconciliation Commission ‘to acknowledge victims of torture, imprisonment, state-sponsored persecution, targeted legislation, and politically motivated accountability. The commission will also examine and report its findings on military coups and civil removals of governments from 1996.’ The country clearly needs truth and reconciliation more than it needs politics potentially infused with vendettas

[SIZE="3"][CENTER][COLOR="Green"]Swat suicide attack[/COLOR][/CENTER][/SIZE]

Dawn Editorial






The day after the residents of Swat came out on the streets to celebrate Independence Day, a suicide bomber struck on a road about a dozen kilometres from the district’s headquarters, Mingora, killing three soldiers and two civilians at a security checkpoint. A grim juxtaposition and a reminder, if one was needed, that the battle for the control of Swat is far from over.

Despite the apparent successes of Operation Rah-i-Rast, launched over three months ago, there is still at least one major outstanding issue: the capture or elimination of the top tier of the militant leadership in Malakand division. While the second- and third-tier leadership is believed to have been dealt severe blows, the capacity for the militants to potentially reorganise themselves and launch a guerrilla war remains a grave danger as long as the top leaders of the TTP remain at large.

It appears that several top commanders may have decamped to the northern fringes of Swat, hiding in the hills at heights of over 7,000 feet above sea level. Worryingly, not all the militant leaders have even felt the need to have gone incommunicado. Muslim Khan, the TTP spokesman in Swat, continues to communicate with reporters and media personnel via mobile phone, a quite astonishing fact given that the security forces are supposed to have reasonable surveillance equipment at their disposal. No one from the government or the security forces has been able to explain yet why Muslim Khan feels comfortable enough to continue to use mobile phones to communicate with the outside world.

The contrast between the return of hope to Swat and the continuing problems with eliminating the militants could not be starker. On Aug 14, the confidence and the exuberance of the people of Swat was palpable; reports from the area indicate that people, including women and children, were out on the streets in a festive atmosphere until 3 a.m. The suffering of those people over the last few months, and even before, was extraordinary and yet they have shown that they are willing to pick up the pieces and build their lives anew. But if suicide bombings return and the militants begin to ramp up attacks against the security forces again, fear will once more take over the lives of the people of Swat.

Classical counter-insurgency doctrine suggests that victory cannot be had until the top leadership of the insurgents is defeated. In Swat, mere rumours and governmental claims that Maulana Fazlullah is injured or worse will not do. The demands that the security forces ‘do more’ are not mere carping; ‘do more’ is essential to reclaiming Swat once and for all.

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]It’s all in the timing[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 18 Aug, 2009[/B]

KEEP the leash on monetary policy a little longer than needed, and the economy goes into a tailspin. Loosen it somewhat earlier than is advisable and the economy goes belly-up. No doubt some aspects of the economy are showing signs of recovery. But the easing of inflationary pressures, signs of external adjustment and reserve stability are still in a nascent state. On the other hand, the crisis in the power sector, the high budgetary cost of subsidies and the problem of inter-corporate circular debt are factors that, if unresolved before the current fiscal year is out, would nullify the effects of any easing of the monetary policy. There is also the volatility of world oil prices to keep in mind.

Circumstances beyond its control forced the government to seek the IMF’s emergency assistance and buy a lifeline at a high price. It would be wrong to assume that the extent of recovery achieved so far would have been possible without adhering to the Fund’s prescription. No doubt, the common man is suffering, truly and deeply. But his suffering is not the result of the current IMF programme. An untimely easing of the monetary policy can only add to his woes. The common man’s problem is not the high interest rates but the low tax-to-GDP ratio. This is so because the rich have so far refused to share the burden of the price that an IMF programme demands from the recipient nation. Behind every failed IMF programme we can discern the impatience of the private sector with the Fund’s prescriptions, especially those conditions that demand that it share the resulting dislocation. Even following the latest Fund review the condition of withdrawing some tax exemptions given to certain sectors was waived on request. This is not to say that it was the wrong time to cut the interest rate, but to endorse what the State Bank chief said while announcing the new monetary policy: the challenge is to strike a balance between stabilisation and sustainable recovery in an environment of nascent ‘positives’ on the one hand and complex structural ‘negatives’ on the other.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]The best option[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 18 Aug, 2009[/B]

US SPECIAL Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke has claimed that the US will focus more on “energy-related issues”, a laudable objective given Pakistan’s acute electricity crisis but an area in which it is difficult to see an immediate American contribution to the solution. Presently, circular debt is crippling power generation, with many IPPs producing electricity significantly below their capacity because they claim they have no money to purchase fuel. So will the Americans nudge the IFIs to help sort out the circular debt issue? Medium to long term, the problem is really of securing new energy supplies and changing the mix of power-sector fuel to reduce our unhealthy dependence on imported-oil-based fuels.

One of the major initiatives that the Government of Pakistan is hoping to push through is the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, in the hope of using much of the gas thus acquired to produce electricity here. But the Americans are opposed to the project because of the source — Iran. The Americans prefer the proposed Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan pipeline, but security concerns in Afghanistan and the need to first verify that the assigned gas fields in Turkmenistan actually have enough gas to make a pipeline feasible have put that project in doubt. So will the Americans continue to block access to international funding for the IP pipeline or will they give Pakistan a viable alternative? With civilian nuclear cooperation ruled out by the US, there aren’t many other options.

Trade though remains the best bet if the US really wants to help Pakistan stand on its own feet economically. A report of the Pakistan Policy Working Group last year highlighted the tariff issue:

“We raise the same tariff revenue from Pakistan’s $3.7bn in exports to the US as from France’s $37bn in textile exports to the US. The average US tariff rate on Chinese exports to the US is three per cent, compared to 10 per cent on Pakistani exports.” The recently announced textile policy here hopes to raise textile exports to $25bn by 2014, a three-fold rise from present levels. More access to the US market by lowering the tariff barriers could significantly help achieve that goal. Even with the worst recession in decades gripping the US economy, the fact is that Pakistani textile imports contribute only a fraction to the US market, meaning that there is a great deal of room for growth. The question is: will Congress allow it? Protectionist sentiment is running high in the US, so it may find it easier to simply sanction more aid. But, as ever, we need more trade and not just aid.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Flash floods[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 18 Aug, 2009[/B]

TORRENTIAL rains leading to flash floods have devastated large areas of Mardan, Swabi and Peshawar districts. District administrations have declared emergencies and called for help in a crisis that has already killed over a dozen people and destroyed hundreds of houses. The damage is likely to mount since extensive flooding leads to waterborne and hygiene-related illnesses while posing a continued risk to still-standing structures.

To compound their problems, although the residents of these areas were spared the military operation against the Taliban in Malakand, they have not been able to escape the ripple effect of the hostilities. The affected districts hosted thousands of IDPs from other areas. Many IDPs have returned to their native areas, but there are still several families waiting to do so. The village Shahbaz Garhi, one of the most badly affected by the flooding in Mardan district, was in fact one of the transport points for the IDPs.The provincial and federal governments must, therefore, double their efforts and expedite the repatriation of the IDPs. Everything possible must be done, meanwhile, to aid all affected citizens in terms of shelter, food, potable water and medical aid. The areas devastated by the floods must be drained and cleaned as soon as possible, and a contingency plan formulated in case of further rain. In the long-term, however, the state must develop a strategy for minimising the risk of flooding and its consequent effects. Mardan and Peshawar districts have always been prone to flash floods but few precautionary measures have been taken. One possible solution, for example, could be the construction of small reservoirs that could contain the seasonal deluge while also countering the imminent water-stress predicted for Pakistan. To be sure, natural calamities cannot be prevented; but planning and some blue-sky thinking can reduce the damage.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press The supremacy of parliament[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 18 Aug, 2009[/B]

PRIME Minister Gilani … has expressed the determination of his government to scrap the 17th Amendment and Article 58-2(b), along with all other laws that negate the spirit of the 1973 constitution.

…He also reiterated [the need] to eliminate the sense of deprivation in Balochistan and reformulate the NFC award to meet the financial needs of the provinces. In fact, the award is a major bone of contention between Punjab and the other provinces. …It was only after the separation of Bengal, that Punjab became a majority province; hence ... Punjab decided the NFC on the basis of population. Sindh was the worst sufferer. If the NFC award is decided on the basis of area, Balochistan is the largest province; if population is the yardstick Punjab has the largest number of people; if revenue is the criterion then Sindh tops the list.

Sindh contributes 70.2 per cent of the federal government’s revenue but gets less than its share in return. … Punjab’s monopoly continues to hit the smaller provinces. Punjab also enjoys a majority in the armed forces and civilian bureaucracy. …

Sindh has received unaccountable political, cultural and emotional injuries from the big province over the past 62 years. Balochistan experienced … operations....

In this situation what can the federation offer which is acceptable to the smaller provinces? The only option is to implement the 1940 resolution…. The NFC award should be decided on the basis of revenue generation and provincial autonomy be given in letter and spirit. … Parliamentary stability and supremacy are only possible through this means. …We respect the … supremacy of parliament. But the rights of the provinces should not be ignored…. — (Aug 16)

[B][I]Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi [/I][/B]

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]PM Singh’s comments[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 19 Aug, 2009[/B]

INAUGURATING the Chief Ministers’ Conference on Internal Security, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh made a disturbing claim: “There is credible information of ongoing plans of terrorist groups in Pakistan to carry out fresh attacks. The area of operation of these terrorists today extends far beyond the confines of Jammu & Kashmir and covers all parts of our country.” Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and the Foreign Office have reacted sharply to Mr Singh’s claim, and there have been calls for India to share with Pakistan whatever information it has on the alleged plots.

Whatever the truth behind the allegations, it is regrettable that Mr Singh chose to air his concerns publicly rather than take up the matter with Pakistani authorities in private. Other than pandering to a domestic lobby that is increasingly hawkish on Pakistan, it is difficult to see what purpose Mr Singh’s remarks serve. If there is indeed a threat — and it is unrealistic to believe that there is absolutely no possibility of attacks on Indian soil — then the primary aim of the Indian authorities should be to thwart it. That translates into meaningful cooperation with Pakistan, not sensational claims at high-profile events. And if the Indian security establishment needed to be informed, which the chief ministers undoubtedly do, then there are other channels of communication open to the Indian prime minister.

But Pakistan should not get too carried away in its official response. On Aug 15, Prime Minister Singh marked Indian Independence Day with a speech that was noticeably restrained on Pakistan. “As far as our neighbours are concerned, we want to live with them in peace and harmony. We will make every possible effort to create an environment conducive to the social and economic development of the whole of South Asia.” ‘Neighbours’ is usually code for Pakistan in India. And when Mr Singh did refer to the Mumbai attacks, he made no mention of Pakistan, but instead focused on the steps taken to beef up India’s security and intelligence apparatus. Similarly, the mention of Indian-administered Kashmir did not bring any claim of cross-border infiltration, but the prime minister did speak of the need to respect human rights and ensure the people live “a life of peace and dignity” there. Here in Pakistan, meanwhile, Prime Minister Gilani, in his speech on Aug 14, refrained from criticising India for dragging its feet on resuming peace talks with Pakistan. The net effect: Mr Singh continues to be tugged in opposite directions, but his instincts, rightly, appear to be to restart talks, and for that he has a ready partner in Pakistan.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Extrajudicial killings[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 19 Aug, 2009[/B]

CITING “credible” information gleaned from local accounts, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has called for a parliamentary probe into allegations of extrajudicial killings in Swat. The issue is cause for great concern. There is no doubt that Swat and other districts in the Malakand division suffered greatly at the hands of the Taliban. But the country cannot afford a vengeful response — on the part of the people or the security agencies —for this could lead to uncontrollable violence that would plunge the area into deeper chaos. The HRCP team reports a number of Swat residents as having seen mass graves and being witnesses to mass burials. In some cases, the dead appeared to be Taliban militants. There are also harrowing accounts of bodies strung up in public places as a warning to supporters of the militants.

These accounts are reminiscent of the fear tactics used by the Taliban. The public’s anger is understandable — particularly on the part of the thousands who were forced to leave their towns and villages and are now returning to devastated homes. Yet a collective policy of revenge can only spell disaster. Local populations of the conflict-hit zones are being encouraged to raise private lashkars to ward off remnant militant cells and individuals. But they must be encouraged to do so in a manner that does not violate legal norms. There is great danger of individuals being wrongly identified and treated as terrorists, or for the lashkars to be used as tools to settle private scores. A Taliban witch-hunt must be avoided at all cost. Neither state nor society should be allowed to resort to tactics that smack of Taliban brutality: all suspected militants must be dealt with through a transparent judicial process. Anything less would mean adopting the same lawless means that characterised the Taliban’s actions.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Avoidable lapses[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 19 Aug, 2009[/B]

OUR economic managers are guilty of yet another lapse. This time they were unable to anticipate the looming sugar crisis despite a timely warning of a 20 per cent shortfall in sugarcane production. With demand outstripping supplies, sugar prices were sky-high — a welcome development for hoarders who, together with mill owners, took full advantage of the situation. By the time it was decided to import the commodity in order to stabilise prices, the latter had already gone through the ceiling at home and from $410 to $620 per tonne in the world market. In the developed world, such a lapse would have taken a huge political toll, with the concerned ministers resigning and economic managers being shown the door after being made to face a probe. The government, too, would have tendered a public apology.

Indeed, if in 2005-06 former President Pervez Musharraf had not stopped the National Accountability Bureau from going ahead with a probe into an almost identical crisis perhaps we would have been spared the current predicament. At that time, a number of prominent members of the then ruling party, including certain federal ministers, all sugar mill owners, were named and shamed by the media for allegedly influencing the economic decision-making process, manipulating the sugar market to make a killing and blackmailing the president to get them off the NAB hook. This time too the same powerful lobby, whose members belong to both sides of the political aisle, is said to have adopted identical tactics to achieve the same ends. As was the case previously, the government is again blaming the hoarders and mill owners while the latter are holding the former responsible for the crisis. Both parties wish to escape accountability. Should they be successful in doing so, it would leave the door open for them to wreak more of them same with greater impunity in future. It is imperative that this time a comprehensive probe is conducted into the sugar crisis so that the real culprits are named and made publicly accountable for their lapses.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Press Child crime must be tackled[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 19 Aug, 2009[/B]

IN Britain’s cities, there are many children who are left unsupervised, and who have not been taught even the most basic elements of civilised behaviour. There was outrage last week when it was claimed that Britain locks up more children than any other country in Europe. Outrage will also no doubt be the principal reaction to our revelation today that thousands of children are stopped and searched by the police in Britain every year. In truth, however, much of the indignation will be misplaced. Police stop, search and arrest a lot of children because there is a very high level of child crime. The young are used by adult criminals to commit offences such as transporting illegal drugs or guns, because children under the age of 10 are below the age of criminal responsibility, and so cannot be convicted of any crime. The terrible effects of family breakdown also mean that, in Britain’s cities, there are many children who are left unsupervised, and who have not been taught even the most basic elements of civilised behaviour. Those children, as we all know, can be an intolerable nuisance at best, and a serious danger to public order (and even to public safety) at worst. The police and the law are the only institutions left that are capable of dealing with them.

The problem with so much of the venom directed at the police for their treatment of juvenile criminals is that there is no realistic alternative. The best that critics can come up with is an insistence that child criminals should be given “community punishments”. But the The Telegraph

record of the Youth Justice Board’s replacements for prison is so dire that officials in the service have falsified records to try to convince the inspectorate that they were able to ‘help’ child criminals in their care. The police and the law are blunt instruments by which to stop children from becoming criminals. But they are better than nothing — which, at the moment, is the only alternative. — (Aug 15)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Maulvi Umar[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 20 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE capture of Maulvi Umar, a success hot on the heels of the killing of Baitullah Mehsud, is another blow for the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. Umar is the most high-profile of TTP leaders captured to date and, as a member of the TTP central shura, he will know much about the dynamics of that network, its strengths and weaknesses and its future plans. Hopefully, information obtained from Umar will lead to the capture and elimination of more militant leaders in the days to come. In the wake of Mehsud’s death, the succession issue has still not been sorted out by the TTP and indications are that the various commanders unified under Mehsud could soon seriously start fighting one another. Indeed, it appears that Umar was travelling to Orakzai Agency for consultations or to mediate on the succession issue. So, in such an already confused situation with the foot soldiers of the TTP potentially demoralised, the capture of a senior leader of the TTP could lead to rapid successes against its various factions.

Yet, Umar’s capture will cause renewed concern about the state’s tenuous writ in vast tracts of Fata. Initial media reports put the success down to the actions of a tribal lashkar in Mohmand, but it now appears that the individuals involved in Umar’s capture may in fact be pro-government Taliban fighters. And the ease with which Umar was reportedly travelling between the Mohmand, Bajaur and Orakzai agencies is also unsettling. No doubt Fata is a vast area of treacherous terrain and tracking the movement of small groups of people is very difficult. However, all three agencies that Umar was reportedly traversing are agencies in which the security forces have launched various operations in the recent past. Whatever the successes of those operations, clearly more, much more, remains to be done before the state can claim to have an acceptable degree of control over the situation there.

Indeed, the main question has yet to be answered: does the state have a coherent, workable plan for regaining some semblance of control over Fata and eliminating the safe havens of militants there? Complicating that question is the fact that it is not clear yet if the security forces are in the process of mopping up in Malakand division or whether they are hunkering down for a guerrilla war in the months ahead. If the security forces get bogged down in Swat, it is debatable whether they will seriously consider tackling the vastly bigger mess that is Fata. So while Maulvi Umar’s capture is a boon, it raises more questions than it answers.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Local government blues[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 20 Aug, 2009[/B]

DESPITE facing stiff opposition from those a notch above them in terms of power, the beleaguered local governments are getting a lot of support from elsewhere. The PML-Q has emerged as their staunchest champion, as have some others under the leadership of Daniyal Aziz, a former head of the National Reconstruction Bureau that can take the credit — or blame — for the existence and performance of the current local government system. But is a struggling opposition party clutching at every straw to remain afloat or an individual that some say is still eyeing the job he had to relinquish not so long ago the only ones clamouring for the continuation of the local government system? Certainly not. Most local government members, numbering in tens of thousands across the country, are not happy with their impending send-off. (After all, it is only too natural to be reluctant at the prospect of having to let go of the reins of power.) Civil society organisations, local and international donors and experts-cum-consultants — in fact all those who have invested time, money and energy in devising, financing and running the local government system — are also agonised.

So should be the proverbial man in the street. Even though his support for or opposition to the devolution of power has remained mute, it is he who is supposed to be the main beneficiary of the local government system that devolution intended. Those who want to scrap these governments, therefore, should also keep the ordinary people in mind as they go about searching for alternatives. But before the scramble for alternatives starts, the existing system should be dispassionately analysed for what it is and what it could not be. If, even in its flawed current form, it turns out to have enabled relatively faster development and comparatively easier service delivery at the local level, then it would be advisable to retain it while making the necessary changes. Pushing the system off the cliff is not a smart choice when a pull here and a nudge there can make it work better.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Shalamar conservation[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 20 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE news of the completion of some conservation work by Unesco at the historical Shalamar Gardens, Lahore, is nothing short of exhilarating.

For years, the 17-century monument has been in dire need of proper upkeep. There was once a plan to reactivate the gardens’ hydraulic system which pumps water to the dozens of fountains, but then the perennial paucity of funds scuttled it. The Shalamar is one of originally three, and now two surviving, Mughal gardens from Shah Jehan’s time. The other one in Srinagar is only half as spectacular. The Delhi Shalamar was decimated when the British dug up old Delhi in the aftermath of the 1857 uprising.

The Shalamar (also called Shalimar) in Lahore would have met a similar fate had it not been for Maharaja Ranjit Singh (d.1839). The Punjab ruler was very fond of the annual festival of lights, Mela Chraghaan, linked to the nearby shrine of Madho Lal Hussain which both Muslims and non-Muslims revered equally. The festival used to take place inside the Shalamar Gardens. It was only in the 1960s that better sense prevailed and the holding of the festival inside the historical gardens was banned. In fact, whatever remains of Lahore’s Mughal heritage owes largely to the efforts of Ranjit Singh who after his initial vandalism was prevailed upon to safeguard the Mughal monuments for posterity. Unesco has now taken the lead in conserving this heritage after listing the Lahore Fort and Shalamar as World Heritage monuments. The Punjab government must push the international body to also put Jehangir’s tomb on the list. At the moment, the tomb lies in ruins across the river in Lahore. Dubbed as the forerunner of the Taj Mahal, the tomb complex also houses the mausoleum of Asaf Khan who was Jehangir’s prime minister and the father of Mumtaz Mahal.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press Something bad[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 20 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE case involving the stolen credit card and gun of a very senior officer in the Israel Defence Forces is the latest affair to shine a problematic light on events there. This case was preceded by a number of controversies that on the face of it are unrelated, but they all show that the army urgently needs a comprehensive organisational shake-up. We have seen the hazing of soldiers in many IDF units, including the Armoured Corps, the Nahal and Golani infantry brigades and the air force; two serious training accidents within 36 hours in which two soldiers were killed; alleged improprieties by two senior officers … and now the theft….

All these affairs took place in the months after Operation Cast Lead…. The IDF, which recently commissioned a wide-ranging survey ranking schools according to the number of graduates who enlist in combat units, needs to correct its failures before it ranks schools and seeks to be a magnet to attract youngsters to elite units. These latest affairs certainly do not help it attain this goal….

…This case has public and criminal elements, and the people have a right to know all the circumstances… — (Aug 17)

[B][I]Al-Megrahi[/I][/B]

NEWS in the British media that Abdul Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, is likely to be freed on compassionate grounds … has provoked a mixed reaction among relatives of the 270 people who were killed in the attack. ... Al-Megrahi, 57, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, has always maintained his innocence. But he is not alone — the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, a statutory body made up of senior police officers and lawyers, has found after years of sifting through the evidence that a major miscarriage of justice may have occurred. Jim Swire, whose daughter was killed when Pan Am flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town, said: “I don’t believe the verdict is right....”

Al Megrahi, who was working as chief of airline security for Libyan Arab Airlines in Malta at the time of the attack, may indeed be released on compassionate grounds.

…But, there are questions about how much the decision to free al-Megrahi … has to do with justice and compassion and how much of it concerns the commercial interests of British companies eager to do business in Libya.… — (Aug 14)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]The politics of treason[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 21 Aug, 2009[/B]

WHILE Prime Minister Gilani has repeated the claim that his government will act on a unanimous National Assembly resolution calling for the trial of Gen Musharraf (retd) on treason charges, reading between the lines it is clear that the prime minister believes a unanimous resolution is a non-starter and therefore the government is not inclined to go down that road. On principle, at least in legal terms, it is difficult to defend the prime minister’s call for a unanimous resolution. It is not required by law and the prime minister has unnecessarily, and perhaps unwisely, entwined the law with politics by making a legal process conditional on political support. It was always clear that the MQM and the PML-Q would not support a resolution calling for Mr Musharraf’s trial, if only because that could possibly open the door to those parties becoming embroiled in legal complications for having supported a dictator during his reign. So by indirectly relying on the fact that the MQM and PML-Q would baulk at supporting a resolution, the prime minister has opened himself to the criticism that he has sacrificed the rule of law at the altar of political expediency.

Yet, all politicians are guilty of a degree of cynicism on the issue. Consider that the PML-N has refrained from attempting to table a resolution on its own and stuck, so far, to making passionate speeches in the National Assembly. Perhaps the PML-N does not want to embarrass the government by upping the ante and forcing the government to vote against a resolution. Or perhaps the PML-N is worried that if a resolution is tabled and it is defeated then the demand to try Musharraf will be relegated officially to a minority position among the country’s elected politicians. While its motives or agenda may not be clear yet, it is clear though that the PML-N has other options to try and bring Mr Musharraf to justice, options which the party has studiously avoided so far. One route could be to move the courts directly on charges other than treason. After all, just as an FIR has been registered against Mr Musharraf for the illegal detention of judges following the Nov 3, 2007 emergency; Nawaz Sharif could demand an FIR be registered against Mr Musharraf for detaining him after the Oct 12, 1999 coup. But if, as is possible, the PML-N is using the ‘try Musharraf’ demand to keep the government under pressure, then perhaps it should turn to raising the issues that are the source of its real unhappiness with the federal government.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Jaswant Singh expelled[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 21 Aug, 2009[/B]

A TEARFUL, bewildered Jaswant Singh has been expelled from his party of old, the BJP, and his new book, Jinnah: India–Partition–Independence, has been banned in Gujarat. The reason? ‘Ideological deviation’, according to the BJP’s party leadership, because Mr Singh has praised Mohammad Ali Jinnah and criticised India’s first home minister and hero of the independence struggle, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. “I thought this book would set Pakistan on fire. But it is troubling India,” Mr Singh told reporters after his sacking from the party which he helped form nearly 30 years ago. The furore over the book, the ban imposed by the Gujarat state government and, not least, Mr Singh’s expulsion will be received in some quarters in Pakistan as yet more evidence that India remains congenitally allergic to the idea of Pakistan and that sections of its political establishment have, and never will be able to, come to terms with this country’s existence. The corollary: peace with India is not possible.

But that is far from the case. India does have its hawkish elements, but to tar everyone with the same brush of jingoistic nationalism is not fair. The reaction, indeed over-reaction, by the BJP is already being criticised in India itself and voices are being raised in favour of freedom of expression and the need to determine if sacrosanct ‘truths’ stand up to genuine scrutiny. Indeed, the fact that a stalwart of the BJP has once again praised Jinnah — L.K. Advani famously praised Jinnah on a visit to Pakistan in 2005 and was forced out as party chief as a result — is an indication of just how untenable a black-and-white view of history is.

Here in Pakistan, the more important question is: can we imagine a similar statement about India’s independence leaders? Mr Singh has been treated shabbily, but the whole affair demonstrates that India, or parts thereof, is at least trying to come to terms with the ghosts of partition and assess it in a frank, honest manner. Can anyone in Pakistani politics claim such boldness?

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Human rights excesses[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 21 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE National Assembly was informed on Wednesday that over 8,000 cases of human rights abuse are pending action across the country. Of the nearly 11,000 such cases collectively recorded in all the provinces over the past three years, only 2,632 saw prosecution. Most of the others remain in limbo because there has been no follow-up by the relevant provincial departments which are supposed to take action on the directives of the Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights. This shows the low priority we attach to ensuring that human rights are not violated with impunity as they are now, compounding the country’s already negative image. Part of the concerned ministry’s mandate is to obtain information, documents and reports regarding complaints and allegations of human rights violations, refer and recommend investigations, and even develop and conduct information programmes to foster public awareness of human rights, laws and the remedies available against violations.

The human rights minister has complained that his ministry is short of funds. In fact, the authorities’ lethargy in bringing human rights violators to book is aggravating the situation. By failing to make such cases a priority, the state is turning a blind eye to transgressions, an attitude that can only embolden potential perpetrators. Thorough and prompt investigations and successful prosecutions are key to discouraging and preventing crime of any sort. In a country where there is already poor public awareness about basic human rights, it is incumbent on the state to step up its efforts to prosecute human rights violators. The law-enforcement personnel must be encouraged to treat such abuse as a serious crime, and investigations must be thorough enough to enable prosecution. It is only then that the government will be able to send out a clear signal that such violations will not be tolerated.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Pushto Press Our education system[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 21 Aug, 2009[/B]

EDUCATION worldwide is free of cost…. Unlike Pakistan, in most countries, quality schools, colleges and universities have been established to launch well-qualified people into society. The state gives them a stipend until they get a job. In this situation why shouldn’t these countries touch the heights of development and prosperity? In a country like Afghanistan education is free, but in Pakistan, the situation is the opposite: here every province has implemented its own syllabus. Also the children of the poor study in schools that are quite different from those meant for the scions of the elite. For upper-class children there is an English-based syllabus taught by well-qualified teachers who train students in the best possible way.

In government-run schools, costly books are prescribed and that too in greater numbers … which students find difficult to carry….

In Balochistan, schools remained closed for years as teachers come only to pocket their monthly salaries. … Children … have an inferiority complex. In a school where the teacher does not know the spelling of ‘teacher’, what can a student learn? Will he not become an extremist after attending such a school? Will there be no corruption in society?

The government should start free education across the country with a unified syllabus to do away with the distinction between the rich and the poor. — (Aug 20)

[B][SIZE="4"][I]Elections in Afghanistan[/I][/SIZE][/B]

ALL is set for the election of the provincial and national assemblies for a democratic state in Afghanistan. The election materials have been supplied to all the polling stations, while Nato has announced strict security measures across Afghanistan for a peaceful polling exercise that would engage 100,000 Nato and 1,75,000 Afghan forces. This is for the second time that the Afghan nation will be electing a president for five years. Thirty-seven candidates, including the incumbent Hamid Karzai, are in the run for the presidential slot. The Taliban have already threatened that they would be disrupting the elections and are asking the people not to step out of their homes on the day of the election. In view of these threats, security has been beefed up in all the provinces as well as in Kabul. The security forces are keeping a vigilant eye....

The Taliban have threatened to cut off the fingers of those [voters] who have indelible ink on them…. If the elections are held successfully and the Afghan people exercise their right to see their lofty democratic goals materialise, it will herald a new beginning in the region.

Today every Afghan should ... and trek to the polling station to show the world that the Afghan nation is not oblivious to the development, peace and prosperity of their country through a democratic process. — (Aug 20)

[B][I]Selected and translated by Faizullah Jan[/I][/B]

[COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="4"][B][U][CENTER]Caught in a jam [/CENTER][/U][/B][/SIZE][/COLOR]
Saturday, 22 Aug, 2009



After former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his family got stuck in a vehicular mess on a narrow bridge connecting Murree and Patriata, things moved extraordinarily fast. Mr Sharif called the chief secretary of Punjab who in turn sent his local minions rushing over to clear the traffic jam. Soon the vehicles were moving as smoothly as ever. A day later, 30 or so traffic officials were suspended for failing to ensure a smooth passage for Mr Sharif’s cavalcade.

The fact that the ex-premier heads the ruling party in Punjab where the incident took place and his younger brother is the chief minister of the province appears to be the reason behind such speedy administrative action. Such is our culture that even a somewhat lesser mortal with connections in government could have achieved the same result, though perhaps with less immediacy and fewer penalties for the traffic officials. In fact, it all depends on the kind of influence one exerts in the world of politics and officialdom. Without that influence, Mr Sharif’s car would have been stuck indefinitely in the traffic mess.

Ordinary citizens appear to be resigned to the situation. They may be seething inside but their anger has perhaps not reached boiling point yet. Nevertheless, the bloody revolution that Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif often warns of may indeed come about if the powerful continue to flaunt their influence in an increasingly unseemly manner.

Mr Shahbaz Sharif would be well advised to curb this trend and empower ordinary citizens so that their voice can be heard too.





[SIZE="5"][B][U][CENTER]Afghan elections [/CENTER][/U][/B][/SIZE]


Dawn Editorial
Saturday, 22 Aug, 2009




The Taliban’s threat to wreck the polls failed, for people did come out to vote, though the turnout was understandably low. The election was termed a referendum on Mr Karzai’s policies, which have failed to give his people what they want first and foremost — peace. The Taliban insurgency has acquired a new vigour, and on polling day alone there were 73 acts of terror. More than 20 people died in election-related violence.

If and when he settles down for a second term, Mr Karzai must take note of the shift in America’s policy. With the Iraq war virtually behind it, the Obama administration is now concentrating on Afghanistan where the number of American troops is likely to go up from the existing 20,000 to 68,000 by December. At the same time, Washington has made it clear that the ‘surge’ does not preclude the possibility of talking to ‘moderate’ Taliban.

What Mr Karzai must note is that it is not only the Afghans who want peace; there is evidence of considerable war-weariness among the Nato nations, coinciding as the situation does with the international economic crisis. It is doubtful if Mr Karzai is ready to make bold policy decisions and chart a new course of action that could bring the war to an end. His years in power since the 2004 election have been characterised by corruption and incompetence.

More regretfully, Afghanistan remains the world’s number one drug producer, and he has allied himself with warlords known to be criminals, like Tajik chief Qassim Fahim and Rashid Dostum, the Uzbek who has been accused of suffocating hundreds of prisoners to death in sealed containers. It remains to be seen whether a new mandate will enable Mr Karzai to reach out to the militants for a durable peace in his war-torn country.

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Helping Pakistan[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 24 Aug, 2009[/B]

ASKED in an interview for the New York Times Magazine whether American military aid could “have been better spent on education and healthcare for girls and women”, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton replied: “Yes. The answer is yes”. And referring to the Kerry-Lugar/ Berman non-military aid in the pipeline, Ms Clinton added: “we hope to try to make up for lost time”. The secretary’s comments have come on the same weekend that a team of American experts arrived here to assess the country’s ailing power sector and begin work on a long-term solution to the recurring crisis. Taken together, it appears that the US is looking to invest in the future of the people here and perhaps put behind it the ‘transactional relationship’ of years past.

While concrete plans have not yet been unveiled, the past does give an indication of what serious input from the Americans can help achieve. The Indus Waters Treaty, which even five decades later represents the high-water mark in Pak-India negotiations, was in large measure made possible by the pledge of American dollars for new mega-projects in the water sector. And nearly 35 nears since the construction of the Tarbela dam, the Mangla and Tarbela dams remain the country’s largest water reservoirs and significant sources of hydel power. This is not to say that the Americans are contemplating something on a similar scale in the education and power sectors today, but with the right level of commitment, financial backing and technical expertise, Pakistan may finally be able to turn the corner in those critical sectors with American help. For example, consider that the long-term energy security of the country can only be achieved with the exploitation of indigenous options such as coal and hydel power, but these options require enormous amounts of capital that the state and the private sector will not be able to muster easily. Ame-rican backing can make what may other- wise be a pipedream a reality.

But Pakistan must wait and see what the Obama administration comes up with finally in terms of non-military aid to Pakistan. There are some obvious hurdles, not least the fact that the security environment in the country is not conducive to the large-scale presence of non-military American experts. So even if the American will is genuine — and Washington will have to a lot more to convince Pakistanis that it is — that will not easily translate into meaningful, long-term commitments on the ground.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Iran’s positive move[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 24 Aug, 2009[/B]

UNOFFICIAL western reactions pooh-poohing Tehran’s decision to give greater access to IAEA inspectors are unlikely to be helpful in solving Iran’s nuclear question. Sources close to the International Atomic Energy Agency say the Iranian government recently gave inspectors of the Vienna-based nuclear watchdog body greater access to the Arak heavy-water plant. Tehran has also upgraded its facilities — like installing more cameras and surveillance equipment — to help IAEA inspectors carry out their inspections at the Natanz plant. The decisions come ahead of the IAEA’s report on Iran’s nuclear programme, but unofficial reactions from unnamed western diplomats attach no importance to these moves. An unnamed American official said Iran was still not providing “full and comprehensive cooperation” to the IAEA about its uranium enrichment programme. Western diplomats say Iran must immediately stop uranium enrichment and must “come clean” about its past nuclear activities if it wants to avoid new sanctions.

Given the sensitive nature of the issue and President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s hard line on Iran’s nuclear policy, the West should welcome whatever flexibility Tehran shows. Apparently, Mr Ahmadinejad’s victory in the June election has given him a new sense of confidence, enabling him to show greater flexibility on foreign policy and domestic issues. A clear indication of Iran’s desire to defuse tensions with the West came from Ali Akbar Salehi, Tehran’s new chief of the atomic emergency organisation. He said last month that the West and his country should undertake efforts to build trust, and at least one European diplomat reacted positively, saying the West should welcome Iran’s move to cooperate with the IAEA.

At the moment, Mr Ahmadinejad’s record in his new tenure is a mixed bag. Strong authoritarian tendencies continue, like the ban on two newspapers and the mass trial of opposition workers. But there are signs of liberalisation, like the inclusion of three women in his cabinet. Sagacity demands that, while Mr Ahmadinejad should liberalise the cultural and political scene, and free the media, the West should give him time to settle down and encourage him rather than react negatively to whatever positive moves he makes.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Away from development[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 24 Aug, 2009[/B]

NOTHING would give nature lovers more pleasure than the sight of a tree being moved and replanted out of harm’s way. This was the scene captured in a series of four photographs carried by this paper last week when Islamabad’s municipal authorities armed with heavy equipment dug up two pine trees in the path of construction of the Zero Point Interchange, and then transported and replanted them nearby. Not only is relocating trees a way of preserving them from development-related destruction, it is also environmentally healthy. Relocating trees is a difficult feat and a highly skilled operation that requires trained staff and proper equipment. But the practice helps to save mature trees which are irreplaceable because saplings take time to grow before they can become environmental assets.

Careful planning, preparation and transplanting are key to the survival of relocated trees, but so is diligent post-relocation care and maintenance of the transplanted trees. The relocated pine trees in Islamabad’s Zero Point area stand out from other undisturbed ones of the same variety because they are anchored by cables which are important to prevent them from toppling over in the replanting stage. Several other smaller trees around the same locality had earlier been shifted to safer locations when construction work began. If this experiment in tree relocation proves successful, the practice could help save many other mature trees in Islamabad from being destroyed by development, particularly those in the Margalla Hills. Existing mature trees should be given top priority from the early stages of Islamabad’s development project. Development plans should ideally take their welfare into consideration and should be prepared in a way that they accommodate changes to avoid harm to the natural environment. Saving mature trees and planting new saplings will go a long way in arresting deforestation in the country.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - North American Press Online harassment[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 24 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE tragic case of Megan Meier, the … teen who committed suicide in 2006 after being bullied on MySpace, is still rippling through the courts and Congress. Meier’s tormentors weren’t charged locally because Missouri law only barred harassment by mail or phone. Although state legislators have closed that loophole, prosecutors and lawmakers seem determined to even the score by overreacting to noxious behaviour online.

In the latest example, .... Elizabeth Thrasher was charged last week with a felony for allegedly creating a salacious personal ad on Craigslist for a 17-year-old girl who had berated her on MySpace. The bogus ad caused the teen to receive disturbing calls.... But it seems absurd that Thrasher faces up to four years in state prison for committing the online equivalent of writing “For a good time, call ... ” in a well-used bathroom stall. The blame doesn’t rest with the state legislature — if something’s a crime in the physical world, it should be in the virtual one too. The problem is with prosecutors who think that transgressions are automatically magnified if they occur in cyberspace.

Meanwhile, Rep. Linda T. Sanchez and 16… House members have sponsored a bill to make cyber-bullying a federal crime.... The measure … would ban using electronic communications to “coerce, intimidate, harass or cause substantial emotional distress” through “severe, repeated and hostile behaviour”. The bill is so vaguely written … that it could be used against people who lobbied elected officials, demanded refunds for shoddy goods or organised boycotts online, if their words were ‘severe’ enough.…

Members of Congress often try to expand the powers of federal prosecutors and courts when state law doesn’t produce the results they seek, especially when confronted with cases as heart-wrenching as Meier’s.— (Aug 22)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]No exit strategy[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 25 Aug, 2009[/B]

IT is quite obvious why 51 per cent of the respondents in an American opinion poll said the war in Afghanistan was not worth fighting — the conflict is going badly. The militants have not only not been defeated, the Taliban insurgency, according to Admiral Mullen, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has become “better, more sophisticated”. In July, the Americans launched a major offensive in the Helmand province, which is a Taliban bastion. But barring limited successes in the initial stages, the offensive has not served to destroy the Taliban’s power. In fact, as reports confirm, the Taliban feel themselves strong enough to move out to the country’s north and northeast. No wonder the casualties suffered by the US-led allies this year are higher than those in the corresponding period in any previous year.

Unfortunately, the organisation of the Afghan National Army has not kept pace with the consistent increase in the strength of US-Isaf forces, now estimated at 100,000. The ANA is officered heavily by Tajiks, and that is one reason why the Pakhtuns have shied away from joining it in numbers that should reflect Afghanistan’s ethnic reality. Washington has also placed too much reliance on Hamid Karzai, whose record in power does not inspire much confidence in his ability to deliver, for he has re-aligned himself with powerful corrupt warlords like Qassim Fahim and Abdul Rashid Dostum. Frankly, America doesn’t have a credible exit strategy. The more foreign troops stay in Afghanistan and the more their numbers increase, the more they provoke the Afghan nation’s traditionally zero tolerance for foreign soldiers on its soil. In the ultimate analysis, there has to be a negotiated end to the war. But there is very little evidence that Washington is trying vigorously to formulate a sound exit strategy.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Minus-one again[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 25 Aug, 2009[/B]

PRIME Minister Gilani has added his voice to the growing chorus of PPP leaders rejecting the so-called minus-one formula, saying that there is no place for it in a democracy and that it is an attempt by the PPP’s “opponents” to send the entire government packing. Curiously though the prime minister left the country none the wiser about where precisely the minus-one formula originates from. So what are we to make of these recent ‘events’? First, it is significant that Mr Gilani has himself spoken out against minus-one — after all, were President Zardari to exit, the prime minister stands to be the major direct beneficiary. The PPP has tried to paper over the cracks in the relationship between the president and the prime minister, but that has become increasingly difficult in recent weeks. The sacking of the chairman of Pakistan Steel Mills and then the removal of the acting chairman in quick order by the prime minister are particularly vivid examples of disagreements over key appointments. Yet, Prime Minister Gilani’s emphatic statement in defence of the president indicates that while he may want to strengthen the democratic system he does not want to do anything to Mr Zardari’s detriment.

The fact is, given Mr Zardari’s impregnable constitutional position, for minus-one to become a reality it would require direct military intervention in politics yet again. Therefore, the second point to note is that even Nawaz Sharif has emphatically rejected intervention in politics by the army high command. This is a welcome signal sent by the leader of the largest opposition party in the country and we hope that the politicians have finally learned the lesson that military intervention is in part triggered by the disarray and chaos that the politicians can unleash with internecine fighting among themselves. Whatever differences the politicians have with one another, they can only defeat undemocratic forces when they stand united against systemic threats — a fact Mr Sharif appears to have now understood, at least going by his public statements.

The third point to note is that minus-one has another, more positive, formulation that has not gained much attention. If parliament, which includes the president under the constitution, strips the presidency of its substantive powers through a constitutional amendment, Mr Zardari would become no more than a titular head of state. This benign version of minus-one has many pluses: the parliamentary system would receive a boost; a demand of all parties in the country would be met; and President Zardari could boost his poor ratings by fulfilling his pledges. This and only this formulation of minus-one is what the country needs.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Sugar crisis[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 25 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE ruling elite — in government and in the opposition — is hardly familiar with the worries that soaring sugar prices bring. Indeed a part of that elite must have benefited from the doubling of sugar prices over the last two months. But the Competition Commission of Pakistan is aware — and active. It has expressed its strong disapproval of the agreement between the government and sugar millers. The agreement, which allows the mills to raise the ex-factory price to Rs45 a kilo from Rs28.28, is in violation of the Competition Ordinance, 2007. In order to facilitate the mills slash prices the government has also cut the general sales tax on their sales by half in spite of the serious threat that low tax-revenue collection can pose to the economy. The commission finds the agreement “difficult to condone” as this amounts to “legitimisation of practices (such as cartelisation) prohibited under law”. The commission says the government must not provide any patronage to anti-competitive practices and measures encouraging “collusive behaviour”. Thankfully, we have at least one institution that can rise to the occasion to protect the interests of the hapless millions.

Policymakers must understand that the market economy can function in the face of excessive government intervention on behalf of either the producers or consumers. The government must balance the interests of both. That is possible only if the market forces are allowed to function in a competitive environment, where the government neither fixes the prices nor allows the millers to form a cartel. The commission is right in pointing out that the fixing of prices and output has always had “the most detrimental effects on competition” that erodes or seriously reduces the benefits a competitive market can deliver to consumers. The ball is not in the government’s court. The consumers are watching and prodding the government to withdraw its ‘unlawful’ decision and show some respect towards public institutions.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press A worrisome issue[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 25 Aug, 2009[/B]

IT is a cause of concern when subordinate bodies refuse to accept the authority of the rulers; however, it is even more disturbing when the rulers do not take cognisance of it. Despite the government’s announcement that the controversial Kalabagh dam project has been shelved some government organisations are unable to accept this decision. This issue is being raised again and rendering official announcements irrelevant. Earlier the water and power ministry had ridiculed the government and now the Pakistan Engineering Council is questioning the government’s decision. Strangely, the Pakistan Engineering Council has declared Kalabagh dam a viable project and suggested the start of its construction along with Bhasha dam.

The people of Sindh and experts have rejected Kalabagh dam. But those with vested interests are not giving up which has caused hatred between the two major provinces of the country. The biggest argument against the construction of Kalabagh and other big dams is that there is not enough water available.

When the federal government has rejected this project, why are feasibility reports being prepared?

The lesson is that the announcement of the government will remain ineffective until a resolution by parliament is passed. The government should also take notice of such official bodies. — (Aug 23)

[B][I]Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi[/I][/B]

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]The CII’s illogical stance[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 26 Aug, 2009[/B]

IT is difficult to understand the logic behind the Council of Islamic Ideology’s criticism of the Domestic Violence (Prevention and Protection) Bill, recently passed by the National Assembly. Expressing its reservations, the CII referred to the bill as “ambiguous” and “containing few reforms”. It warned that in its current form, it would fan family feuds, push up the divorce rate and allow the police to violate what the council referred to as the “sanctity of the home”. In fact, the bill against domestic violence is one of the more significant steps taken recently by the country’s legislators. The abuse of women and children, particularly in the domestic sphere, is endemic in Pakistan. In most cases such transgressions — even those that merit being treated as assault under the Pakistan Penal Code — go unreported as they are considered a private matter. The domestic violence bill brings rights abuse in the home into the domain of the justice system, thereby promoting societal consensus against forms of violence that could otherwise be considered acceptable. Domestic violence is rampant partly because the lack of legislation on the issue was understood as a refusal by the law to recognise such abuse as a crime.

The CII also criticised the bill on the grounds of gender-discrimination, saying that it ignored the possibility of old or weak men suffering. In fact, the bill covers a variety of situations by defining a “domestic relationship” as inclusive of ties through kinship, adoption, joint family, employment and domestic help. “Vulnerable” persons are defined as those at risk because of “old age, mental illness or handicap or physical disability or other special reasons”. The definition also includes domestic help. This clearly extends the protection of the law to anybody in a domestic situation, regardless of age or gender. Indeed, the protection granted to domestic staff is significant, given that economic dependence often forces such people to silently witness the trampling of their rights.

It is true that no piece of legislation is perfect; the body of a country’s law represents, in fact, a continuous process to identify issues and create safeguards. Yet the grounds on which the CII has based its reservations represent the regressive and parochial thinking that has kept this country mired in the dark ages. It can be said that those who subscribe to this attitude condone domestic violence and believe that the issue should remain unaddressed. The CII could spend its time more usefully by projecting moves meant to prevent rights abuse and launching its own initiatives in this regard.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Jinnahpur debunked[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 26 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE ghosts of Pakistan’s violent political past continue to haunt the country. Extraordinary statements by a former IB chief and a former corps commander of Karachi have triggered a bitter row between the MQM and PML-N this week. First, some history. During Nawaz Sharif’s first tenure as prime minister, Sindh was facing a grave law and order crisis. Banditry had reached epidemic levels in the interior of the province and the cities in the south were unsettled. At the time, the MQM and the Nawaz Sharif-led alliance, the IJI, were in government together, but the MQM was blamed for fomenting the crisis and the army was called in to deal with the issue. As is the nature of such matters, few things are known for certain. It does seem though that the PML and the MQM were sucked into a conflict where other players, such as President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and army chief Asif Nawaz, had other agendas and axes to grind. The upshot was that the MQM was weakened as a party and its reputation sullied by the allegation that it wanted a separate homeland, the so-called Jinnahpur, which stretched from Karachi to Thatta.

Now, Brig Imtiaz Ahmed (retd), formerly close to Mr Sharif and rumoured to have had his recent overtures to the PML-N rebuffed, along with Gen Naseer Akhtar (retd) has claimed that the Jinnahpur maps were fake and the separatist claim baseless. The MQM has leapt on the admissions and gone into overdrive to proclaim its bona fides as a Pakistani party that was maliciously slandered by its opponents. Puzzling as the timing of the retired army officials’ statements is and unseemly as the MQM-PML-N spat is, Altaf Hussain has perhaps made the most pertinent suggestion: the need for a truth and reconciliation commission. In truth, few political parties in this country can claim to have clean hands when it comes to dealing with one another. So perhaps, as they collectively steer the country’s latest transition to democracy, what the parties need most is to demonstrate that they can bury the past and genuinely work with one another towards institutional stability. A truth and reconciliation committee would be an important first step in that direction.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Expensive Ramazan[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 26 Aug, 2009[/B]

COME Ramazan, and the price of food goes through the roof. The holy month has become synonymous with the unholy greed of the bazaar. In many other countries, such occasions are used by traders to offer generous discounts to consumers to make the observance of rituals affordable. But in Pakistan, exploiters have no qualms about fleecing customers at such times. In fact, this year the sugar millers forced the government to halve the general sales tax rather than see their profit margins reduced to bring the commodity within the reach of the common man. This, when one rule of thumb has it that on average a sugar-mill owner makes enough in a year to set up another outlet.

Nevertheless, it is the state’s responsibility to look after the minimum food needs of its people at all times. Ramazan-related food subsidies have never worked because of a defective delivery system. Such schemes add to the hardship of the poor who are made to stand in long queues for hours, often in the scorching heat, only to return home empty-handed because others have beaten them to it. There is another unsavoury side to the story. Some of us have turned the month of fasting into a month-long food festival. Considering the way in which food is gorged at dawn and dusk by both the haves and the have-nots it is not surprising that food items otherwise in adequate supply become scarce overnight. This increase in demand spurs the hoarding of Ramazan-related items, causing them to be in limited supply in the market, thus aggravating shortages and resulting in price hikes.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Press Recession hits Cyprus[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 26 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE bad news on the economy has been coming thick and fast: a fortnight ago, we learned there was a gaping hole in public finances of 600 million euros, likely to send the public deficit spinning beyond the eurozone’s permitted threshold of three per cent; last week came confirmation of what everyone has been dreading, as Cyprus officially slipped into recession with its second consecutive quarter of negative growth….

Asked last week to comment on the situation, Finance Minister Charilaos Stavrakis, replied, “I am on holiday. I cannot talk. Thank you.” Well, the holiday is well and truly over for Cyprus, thank you very much…. The danger of course, lies in the favourite recourse to denial, a collective burying of heads firmly in the sand, in which government, opposition and trade unions are complicit, none of them willing to face the grim reality of unpopular remedial action…. Only last December … Stavrakis spoke of Cyprus as a “financial oasis” in the global economic storm — a startlingly optimistic scenario….

[B][I]The government can no longer play with figures….[/I][/B]

In the first six months of 2009, public sector expenditure rose by 13.2 per cent, while total revenues fell 4.1 per cent. Those revenues will fall further in the second half of the year, making current spending levels unsustainable. There are signs that the government has realised the party’s over: while the first reaction to the global economic crisis last year was to spend its way out of trouble — an acknowledged economic stimulus that coincided with the communist administration’s preference for big government, pumping money into grand public projects and handing out generous social assistance — ministers have now begun to make noises about cuts….

This is a chance for the government to show real leadership by overriding vested interests for the greater good. Will it take that chance, or will it continue … hoping the problems will just go away? — (Aug 23)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Friends’ reluctance[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 27 Aug, 2009[/B]

NO one questions the urgent need for the reconstruction and further development of war-torn areas or the immediate as well as long-term rehabilitation of those affected directly by the conflict with the Taliban. It is also acknowledged across the globe that this monumental task cannot be tackled single-handedly by a country as cash-strapped as Pakistan. To date, however, we have received only a fraction of the $5.7bn in assistance pledged by donors in April this year. Islamabad has been pushing for the speedy disbursement of aid, and presented its case again this week at a meeting of the Friends of Democratic Pakistan. The conference was a success on some fronts, with donors apparently lending their approval to the government’s development package for Malakand. But the request for immediate cash inflows clearly did not bear fruit. It also remains uncertain whether the assistance, when it comes, will be in the form of cash injections or investment in key projects.

Some donors apparently want more details of how the money will be spent. This is a fair demand. Fiscal prudence, or even propriety, has not been the hallmark of successive Pakistani governments. Bloated bureaucracies and poor planning have combined over the years to squander both taxpayer rupees and donor dollars. Corruption too is endemic in official quarters. Against this backdrop, our ‘Friends’ cannot be faulted for wanting a more detailed breakdown of Islamabad’s development plans for the country’s northwest. Indeed, it is not just the donors who are entitled to such information. The people of Pakistan also deserve to know how the funds that are being raised in their name will be utilised by the government. There can be no compromise on transparency or quality of work. Also, all too often projects are initiated and then abandoned after millions have been spent — this time round they must be taken to their logical conclusion. It is further hoped that the majority of funds will go towards work on the ground, not the administrative costs of wasteful bureaucracies in both the public and private sectors.

The forces of obscanturism cannot be defeated without addressing the conditions that breed extremism. Hearts and minds need to be won and this will involve security of life and property, access to justice, job creation, provision of water and electricity, as well as vastly improved education and healthcare systems. A huge job lies ahead and we need all the help we can get. The global response has been slow and the role played by our oil-rich Muslim brethren has been particularly disappointing. It is time they stepped up to the plate.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Post Baitullah[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 27 Aug, 2009[/B]

FAR from being dead, as claimed in some quarters, Hakeemullah Mehsud is the new chief of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan and has seemingly buried the hatchet with his rival Waliur Rehman. At least that is the gist of the interview given to the Associated Press by the two militant leaders on Tuesday. In truth, however, little is clear about the TTP’s future. The attempt by Mehsud and Rehman to paper over the cracks in their relationship has not convinced many observers. It is believed that the Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda intervened in the succession issue and brokered the new arrangement, but only time will tell if the TTP will hold together in the wake of Baitullah Mehsud’s killing.

There is certainly tension within the ranks of the TTP leadership and earlier reports of fighting between Mehsud and Rehman are believed to be true. Unity has not been threatened by one issue: all TTP leaders agree that the foreign forces in Afghanistan must be fought. However, the consensus has broken down on two other critical issues. One, should the TTP continue to attack the Pakistani state and other targets inside the country? Two, who should lead the TTP? While Baitullah Mehsud was alive, the answer to the latter question was never in doubt while Baitullah’s answer to the former was an unequivocal yes. But now that he is dead, there is no clear answer to either question yet.

Does that mean though the state should pat itself on the back for a job well done? Not quite. The TTP as a fighting force has certainly been degraded after military operations in Swat and Bajaur, the two major strongholds of the TTP outside the Waziristan agencies. And the myth of the Taliban as an omnipotent force that could usurp the state’s writ over huge swathes of northwest Pakistan has certainly been dented. But the TTP still has the capacity to launch suicide attacks and destabilise the country. So while cautious optimism may be warranted, unbridled glee is not — at least not yet.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Restive Balochistan[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 27 Aug, 2009[/B]

THREE years after security forces killed the Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Balochistan remains far from normal. Baloch nationalists observed a ‘black day’ yesterday as life ground to a halt across the province. Violence claimed at least two lives; arson and bombings aimed at vital government installations were also reported. These are not just symptoms of the hurt the Baloch feel at the state’s apathy towards their grievances. They also indicate that the current situation can develop into a bigger problem if it is not tackled by Islamabad with foresight and wisdom. Unfortunately, the Balochistan government, too, has been looking the other way instead of assuming a more proactive role in bridging the political divide in the province which saw the nationalists boycott the 2008 elections.

Baloch nationalists are very angry at the disappearances of their cadres and the harassment of their workers and some of their leaders in exile have also called for independence. But the family of the slain sardar has still not given up its quest for justice. On the family’s plea, a court in Balochistan has ordered the police to register a murder case seeking justice for the killing of Mr Bugti. Gen Musharraf (retd) and his top provincial executives have been named as accused. This is an indication that if the law is allowed to take its course and justice is seen to be done, there is hope of Baloch nationalists coming back to the national mainstream. It is time the government actively engaged the nationalists in a meaningful and comprehensive dialogue aimed at normalising the restive situation. As a confidence-building measure, security forces must be made more accountable for their actions. They must be made to shun their gung-ho, highhanded approach, which is greatly responsible for the sorry situation in Balochistan today.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press Lockerbie legacy[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 27 Aug, 2009[/B]

FREED on compassionate grounds … Lockerbie bombing convict Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi may have a tale to tell. The condemned Libyan, suffering from terminal cancer, is finally back home. A lengthy diplomatic tug-of-war and incomprehensive legal wrangling have certainly pitched public opinion in two different spheres….

Irrespective of the concerns pouring in on his ‘heroic’ welcome in Tripoli, the point is that Megrahi had never pleaded guilty. He has always denied any part in the atrocity, which killed 270 people in the bombing of a Pan Am airliner in 1988….

But relatives of those who died have a valid reason to express their … outrage at the decision to release Megrahi. This sense of disgust can only be overcome by bringing to light a comprehensive version of history — from the finer points of the bombing incident to the untapped avenues of justice. Deep retrospection is the need of the hour…. — (Aug 22)

[B][SIZE="4"]Candle in the dark[/SIZE][/B]

YEMEN today has so many problems that depression and complaints have become the norm…. Despite all this gloom, there are a few … organisations who still believe that they can make things better through development and charity work. One of these organisations is the Seyaj Organisation for Childhood Protection…. The organisation defends children whose rights are violated….

Child abuse in Yemen is both overlooked and underestimated…. Corporal punishment is common among Yemeni families. Only very few understand or know about other non-violent techniques…. Yemeni children are not only neglected at policy level, but also looked down upon at home…. This is not only probably because they have too many children to look after — and too little resources to do so — but mainly because the concept of respecting children as individual human beings is unheard of in Yemeni culture…. — (Aug 24)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]NFC accord[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 28 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE NFC’s current session has an onerous task before it. In terms of the time-frame, it is a welcome hostage to what the president and the finance minister have said so categorically. While President Asif Ali Zardari said the award would be made this year, Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin advanced the deadline by saying earlier this month that it would be finalised by the end of September. If that really happens, the nation will have cause to celebrate. We are aware of the difficulties involved, the biggest being the criteria for giving to the provinces their share of the federal money, besides meeting the federating units’ demands for raising their share of royalties on gas and power production. It is a measure of how little we have done to advance federalism that the last award by the National Finance Commission was made in 1997. The five-year award expired in 2002, and since there was no consensus among the provinces on what should constitute a new award, the Musharraf government gave an interim award in 2006. If the NFC’s current session succeeds in its mission, the sixth award will not be enforced before July 2010. This means, barring the interim decision, an award based on provincial consensus will be in place after 13 years.

Given the various demands of the provinces, it would be extremely difficult to clinch the issue unless delegates realise that one single criterion cannot be the basis for the NFC accord. Balochistan has laid claims to a higher share because, besides being the largest province territorially, it is the country’s most backward province. Sindh says it has suffered a loss of Rs175bn because of “errors” in the NFC awards. In the NWFP feelings on the question of royalties run so high that some parties had asked the provincial government to boycott the NFC meeting. Frankly, this kind of approach negates the concept of federalism and is unlikely to be helpful in arriving at a formula based on consensus. All considerations — territory, population, underdevelopment etc — that a province has made at a given time must go into the formulation of the award. Another issue is linked to how the provinces allocate their shares to the districts. Senator M.A. Durrani said on Wednesday that the governments spent most money on provincial capitals and the hometowns of “influential people”. While one hopes that considerations apart from population will be factored into the making of the final award, it is essential for the provinces to ensure that no district loses out on the benefits.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Accountability law[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 28 Aug, 2009[/B]

A NEW accountability law is on the anvil. A parliamentary committee of the National Assembly has approved the draft of the Holders of Public Offices (Accountability) Act, 2009. The latter, if passed into law, will replace the Musharraf-era National Accountability Ordinance, 1999 under which functioned the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). However, reports coming out of the capital suggest that the draft law is full of loopholes and will actually go soft on those guilty of corruption. Also, the point raised by a local think-tank that the bill fails to meet Pakistan’s international obligations is cause for concern. A judgment cannot be passed until the final draft is seen, and observers suggest the bill might be sent back to the parliamentary committee for amendments.

To say that the accountability of those in power is essential if Pakistan is to become a relatively corruption-free nation is to state the obvious. However, the nation’s past experiments with instituting an accountability mechanism have left much to be desired. NAB and its predecessor, the Ehtesab Bureau, were seen by many as instruments of political victimisation, used to settle scores and silence opponents rather than bringing those guilty of financial impropriety to justice. This should not happen with the new accountability law.

Having said that, it must be ensured that the law under consideration is not merely a cosmetic measure which enables those guilty of looting the national exchequer to escape justice. The new accountability law should tread the middle path. It should neither be a tool of vengeance nor a slap on the wrist. Above all, it should ensure that the process of accountability is fair, transparent and thorough. Perhaps the suggestions that the NA committee invite feedback from experts and the public before the law is finalised, as well as reinstate the ‘good’ provisions of the National Accountability Ordinance, should be considered. The prime minister recently said that the process of accountability would be free from political victimisation and that it would be an “across-the-board and transparent process”. Let us hope that Mr Gilani is proved right.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Interpol’s red notice[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 28 Aug, 2009[/B]

AN Interpol red corner notice, as opposed to an international arrest warrant, is not binding on member states. It is for this reason that Islamabad is not in as tight a corner as New Delhi would like Indians and the rest of the world to believe. Despite India’s efforts to extract maximum mileage out of the red notice issued recently against Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, Pakistan is under no obligation to arrest the Jamaatud Dawa chief. Indeed, the gravity of the Interpol notification can perhaps be gauged from the fact that it does not even feature on the agency’s website. Instead of trying to internationalise the issue, New Delhi would do well to further assist Islamabad in producing solid evidence — as opposed to statements of the lone surviving gunman — that Hafiz Saeed was indeed the mastermind behind the Mumbai carnage of November 2008. Upping the ante will not help bring the culprits to book.

That said, the Pakistani investigation needs to pick up pace and be taken to its logical conclusion. It is widely believed that the Jamaatud Dawa is a front for the Lashkar-e-Taiba whose violent agenda is largely anti-Indian. Some key Lashkar operatives are already behind bars and awaiting trial in connection with the Mumbai assault. If the authorities here can establish that Dawa and Lashkar are one and the same, there may be ample grounds for arresting Hafiz Saeed again. It would be untenable, then, to argue that the Lashkar’s top commander was involved but the organisation’s head played no part in so high-profile an attack. It is imperative that all guilty parties are charged and brought to trial at the earliest. Equally if not more importantly, the trials must be open and seen to be fair. Justice would be served and India’s demand for extradition of the accused could lose steam. Both countries would be winners.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Pushto Press Karzai’s victory Karzai’s victory[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 28 Aug, 2009[/B]

HAMID Karzai has been elected president of Afghanistan for a third term by getting 68 per cent of the votes in the recent general elections. According to reports, Afghan minister Omar Zakhilwal told newsmen in Kabul that Karzai had won the first round of elections in which five million Afghans exercised their right to vote. The minister said that the turbulence in southern Afghanistan is not a problem because Karzai has won the majority of votes in the rest of the country. Despite complaints of rigging in the elections, which are being investigated by a commission, the fact is that Karzai has won because of his seven-year rule during which he worked for the betterment of Afghanistan.

In Pakistan, the repatriation of Afghan refugees has stopped and the UNHCR has closed its offices in Peshawar. Reportedly, one of the reasons for this was the election in Afghanistan. Now that elections are over it is expected that the process will resume soon so that the refugees can return to their home country. — (Aug 26)

[B]Menace of sectarianism[/B]

PAKISTAN is in the grip of sectarianism which is affecting the lives of innocent people. This is mind-blowing because among the 50-plus Muslim countries, Pakistan is the only one that is plagued by this menace. Why don’t Muslims kill each other in countries like Egypt and Turkey in the name of religion? Why is Pakistan being torn apart by so many sects? There is no conclusive answer to this. But it is the responsibility of the government, as the custodian of an Islamic constitution, to do away with sectarianism.

Who created sectarian outfits which are bent upon tearing the social fabric of society for their narrow and bigoted ends? The common man is baffled at the fact that all these groups have the same ideals and still cut each other’s throats. The government and religious parties should join hands to ensure harmony in society. There is no compulsion to impose one’s opinion on others in Islam which is in fact the need of the hour. — (Aug 26)

[B][I]Selected and translated by Faizullah Jan.[/I][/B]

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]US admiral’s advice[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 31 Aug, 2009[/B]

IT is not just the Obama administration but the American media too that must take note of the observations made by Adm Mike Mullen on US policies towards the Muslim world. In an article he wrote for a military journal, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said America must “worry a lot less about how to communicate [its] actions and much more about what [its] actions communicate”. Declaring that American behaviour was often perceived as arrogant, uncaring and insulting, Adm Mullen pleaded for building a relationship of trust with the Muslim world and listening rather than “telling our story”. His article in Joint Force Quarterly ended by pleading for understanding the Muslim world’s “culture, needs and hopes” for countering extremist propaganda. “Let our actions,” he said, “speak for themselves.”

The admiral’s advice should be seen against the harsh reality of the Bush administration’s record vis-à-vis the Muslim world. America invaded Iraq in 2003 even though the Hans Blix commission’s findings to the UN declared categorically that Iraq possessed no weapons of mass destruction. Saddam Hussein was, of course, overthrown and executed, but the resistance to American occupation and counter-insurgency operations by the US-led coalition led to a minimum of 200,000 civilian deaths. In Afghanistan, eight years of war have merely multiplied the Afghan people’s miseries, and there is no sign yet that the militants are on the run. In the case of Pakistan, drone attacks, first launched during the Bush presidency, have continued. Although these have targeted militants, there has been considerable collateral damage. Also, the Bush administration’s blind support for Israel and its abstention from voting on a UN resolution calling for a cessation of Israeli strikes in Gaza created revulsion in the Muslim world.

The Obama administration must try to find a negotiated solution to the Afghan war, and it must translate into reality its commitment to the two-state solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict. Adm Mullen’s observations should be noted by the American media, especially some of the leading dailies which have played a major role in distorting reality and portraying the Taliban as the true representatives of Muslims worldwide.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Gilgit-Baltistan[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 31 Aug, 2009[/B]

THE Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order, 2009 approved by the federal cabinet on Saturday has received mixed initial reactions. At least one change has been universally applauded though: renaming the Northern Areas Gilgit-Baltistan has met a long-standing demand of the people of the area who chafed under an appellation that was simply the geographical expression of the area’s position vis-à-vis Jammu and Kashmir, i.e. the ‘northern areas’ of Jammu and Kashmir. But while the federal government and its allies have trumpeted the other changes to the administrative structure of Gilgit-Baltistan, the people of the area have been less than impressed. What are we to make of the changes then? In fairness, the government deserves some credit for taking the step of recognising that there is such a thing as Gilgit-Baltistan and moving to redress at least some of the local grievances against the system of governance and the delivery of justice.

Yet, we are also sympathetic to the local claim that they are denied any clear constitutional status and the rights that would flow from it and the fact that the absence of a high court in Gilgit-Baltistan means the locals have to go to Islamabad to seek justice. The problem though has to be seen in the international context because of the Kashmir issue. Historically, Gilgit-Baltistan was not merged into Pakistan proper because the fear was that it could undermine our claim on Kashmir and it was not merged into AJK because it could complicate a settlement on the area. If, for example, Gilgit-Baltistan is made a full-fledged province within the constitutional framework of Pakistan, India could perhaps argue that the state it has carved out of the disputed area, Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir, is also a legitimate entity and that it is a settled issue.

This, then, is the government’s dilemma; acting on the desire to see to it that all the people who live in Pakistan have the same constitutional rights versus potentially further complicating an already intractable problem like the Kashmir issue. What the government appears to have done is to try and occupy the middle ground by moving towards replicating the AJK template of governance in Gilgit-Baltistan. It is certainly not ideal — there are real questions about whether the federally dominated council will overshadow the locally elected assembly — but it at least opens the door to further changes down the road once the new system is operational. The people of Gilgit-Baltistan dese- rve all their rights; how- ever, realistically, that goal can only be achieved incrementally.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Where are the judges?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 31 Aug, 2009[/B]

NO doubt the separation of the judiciary and the executive is necessary for achieving judicial independence. A major policy initiative to realise this goal has been the stopping of serving judges from holding executive government posts. But the sudden implementation of this policy in May has resulted in staffing problems. As has been reported in this paper, work in the legislation section of the National Assembly Secretariat has been paralysed since the repatriation of seven judges who had been on deputation there as additional, joint and deputy secretaries looking after legislative matters. The absence of expertise when it comes to vetting bills is affecting their drafting and passage. As a stop-gap measure, bills are being forwarded to the law ministry for vetting but the process is cumbersome and slow, and new legal experts are urgently required in the secretariat.

The absence of legal experts is being felt elsewhere too. High court work in the twin cities has ground to a halt for about a month now since the Supreme Court declared the Nov 3 emergency unconstitutional. The verdict might have been welcome but the resulting abolition of the Islamabad High Court and the departure of PCO judges from the Rawalpindi bench of the Lahore High Court have obstructed access to justice. A total of 16,000 cases are reportedly pending with the Rawalpindi bench, 10,000 of which were transferred from the defunct IHC. Litigants involved in these cases as well as new ones now have to travel all the way to Lahore where the high court is overwhelmed by thousands of cases from its two other benches. Urgent measures are needed to remedy this judicial void in the twin cities as well as elsewhere in the country so that affordable and timely justice can be delivered to those who seek it.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - North American Press Ted Kennedy’smilestones[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 31 Aug, 2009[/B]

FOR once, the extravagant elegies for a departed public figure are appropriate. Sen Edward M. Kennedy, in President Obama’s words, was “the greatest United States senator of our time”, at least for those who shared his passion for an activist federal government attuned to the needs of the poor and the marginalised…. Kennedy was one of the few senators to leave an imprint exceeding that of most presidents….

Kennedy lost that position … in 1971, a year and a half after fleeing the scene of an auto accident that killed Mary Jo Kopechne, who had worked in his brother Robert’s 1968 presidential campaign…. It’s inconceivable today that any senator guilty of such recklessness and cowardice would be returned to office by the voters. Thanks to the family mystique in Massachusetts, he was. ‘Chappaquiddick’ was an indelible stain on Kennedy’s reputation and a boon for Republicans….

Yet, without ever exorcising the ghost of Chappaquiddick, Kennedy reclaimed much of the moral authority he squandered in that tragedy through the painstaking performance of his duties.— (Aug 27)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]PML-N’s ultimatum[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 02 Sep, 2009[/B]

PROVING yet again that politicians will be politicians and that that is not necessarily a good thing, a fresh spat has broken out between the presidency and the PML-N. Ahsan Iqbal, the PML-N information secretary, has given a 48-hour “ultimatum” to President Zardari to end the “smear campaign” against the PML-N and its leader Nawaz Sharif, a campaign the PML-N believes originates from or is being nurtured by the president’s men. Two things are apparent in this latest unseemly affair. One, it is factually correct that in the late ’80s and early ’90s many political opponents of the PPP were given money by the ‘establishment’, that the IJI was created by the ISI and that there was a concerted campaign to undermine the PPP as a national political force. Two, the president has not done enough to distance himself from the raking up of the past. If the PML-N is guilty of making infantile demands, the president is guilty of not acting like a statesman. President Zardari must denounce the needless distraction of the PML-N’s past sins and reach out to Nawaz Sharif to assure him that neither he nor his aides are involved in the present ‘smear campaign’.

Difficult as it is to make sense of the madness that is ever so often Pakistani politics, there is a need to understand what lies behind the washing of dirty PML-N laundry in public. Conventional wisdom has it that it is meant to distract from the demand to try Gen Musharraf (retd) for treason. But if that is indeed the case, then it is difficult to blame the president for the affair. Whatever deal the PPP may have struck with Mr Musharraf, it is unlikely to destablise its own government for the sake of protecting him. And we have already seen what a deal is really worth; after all, a condition of the deal was to allow Mr Musharraf to remain president, but we know how long that lasted.

Perhaps the answer lies in the politics of the constitutional amendments that the politicians are wrestling with at the moment. President Zardari has publicly pledged to give back the powers that Mr Musharraf arrogated to the presidency at the expense of parliament, but the suspicion lingers that he may not relish the prospect of being merely a titular head of state. So is a spat with the PML-N being engineered to scuttle amendments to the constitution? Whatever the case, the politicians are again playing with fire and seem to be forgetting that lurking in the wings, as ever, are the undemocratic forces.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]US general’s views[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 02 Sep, 2009[/B]

AMERICA is on the horns of a dilemma. The more troops it sends to Afghanistan the more it gets bogged down in Afghanistan and suffers high casualties. It is unable to justify this to a nation where a majority already thinks the war is un-winnable. At the same time, America cannot leave in a hurry and create a vacuum which would obviously be filled by resurgent and revenge-seeking Taliban. In any case the reinforcements are not going to turn the tide of battle quickly. Experts say it will take at least 18 months before the effect of the surge in troops will be felt. No wonder speakers at a recent seminar at the Brookings Institution feared that Afghanistan could turn into another Vietnam. While casualties among the allies are increasing — 35 Americans died last month — the Taliban seem to have no shortage of recruits and arms. More significantly, they have fanned out from the southeast to the northern parts of the country. No wonder Gen Stanley McChrystal, the commander of Nato and American forces in Afghanistan, says the war situation in Afghanistan is “serious”. In a report given to the Pentagon and Nato, Gen McChrystal said success was “achievable” provided the US and the allies revised their war strategy. The long-expected report, termed by insiders as a “sweeping review” of the war, comes in the wake of the arrival of more American troops in Afghanistan, raising the allied troop level to 100,000.

While ordering the surge, President Barack Obama had hoped that the reinforcements would concentrate on training the Afghan National Army and increasing its numbers. However, this requires an efficient and honest government in Kabul, and that unfortunately is not there. Whether or not he wins the expected run-off after last month’s presidential election, Hamid Karzai is not the man who can pull America’s chestnuts out of the fire and lead Afghanistan to peace. His regime has corrupt warlords and Afghanistan is the world’s leading drug producer. This means that Washington must seriously probe the possibility of talking to moderate Taliban and prepare a credible exit strategy.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Geneva concerns[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 02 Sep, 2009[/B]

IT is a pity that Pakistan has chosen to block progress on nuclear disarmament at the UN-sponsored Conference on Disarmament in Geneva. Islamabad’s stance goes against the position adopted by the 64 other members of this forum who were looking forward to starting substantive negotiations on a nuclear arms cut in their next session in 2010. Since 1996 the conference had been deadlocked because of differences between Russia and America on the issues to be discussed. It was therefore a breakthrough when the Obama administration modified its stand in May and a ‘consensus text’ was worked out. This text envisages the establishment of four working groups to carry on parallel negotiations on general nuclear disarmament, guarantees to non-nuclear states against nuclear attacks, ban on nuclear weapons in outer space and the fissile cut-off pact. To achieve the required consensus, different states wisely put aside their differences to launch the talks — which no one expects will be trouble-free. Nevertheless, issues can at least be debated and a way found to resolve the differences.

Now these hopes have been dashed because Pakistan has chosen to stall progress at the procedural stage. One can understand Islamabad’s concern for its security as well as its demand that “the security interests of all states must be promoted in an equitable and non-discriminatory manner”. Broadly speaking, the consensus text takes this into account when it provides for parallel talks. Of course there might be specifics that worry Pakistan, for instance whether the fissile cut-off pact will only ban production of new material or call for the destruction of existing stocks. But this is an issue that will have to be sorted out at the negotiating table. In view of the negative impression being created, not many would attach credibility to Islamabad’s proclamation that it “subscribes to the goals of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation”.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Press Japan’s new challenges[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 02 Sep, 2009[/B]

APART from an 11-month break, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in Japan has been in power for 55 years since 1955. Last Sunday, it was swept out of power by … [the] Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ). ….

As with so many politicians returned to power … the new prime minister was reported as saying: “We will not be arrogant and we will listen to the people … angry with politics and the ruling coalition.” The DPJ, he said, had reached the starting line. “This is by no means the destination….”

Mr Hatoyama inherits a country with the second largest economy in the world but one that is in recession. His two main tasks are to turn the economy round and deal with an unemployment level that is the highest it has ever been. His intention to extend help to consumers and workers rather than corporations may, apart from the social benefit angle that this promises, give a fillip to consumer spending. But Mr Hatoyama has other measures in mind that may blow up in his face … an audacious plan to introduce a child benefit that, set at an annual $3,000 until age 15, is a massive spend. He has promised not to increase consumption tax for the next four years and to lower fuel tax, making it difficult to see where he hopes to get the money for his child benefit project.

… On matters of foreign policy, the world must sit and wait but not for long. Although Washington was quick to hail the new government’s victory … Mr Hatoyama has indicated he will not be following blindly in the footsteps of the LDP. … On both the domestic and foreign fronts, it is clear that Mr Hatoyama’s programme will demand strong leadership…. The devil, however, remains firmly ensconced in the scale of his spending programme in a country where a third of the population will soon be pensioners. — (Sept 1)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Climate for change?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 03 Sep, 2009[/B]

CLIMATE change is already evident in Pakistan. We have been experiencing erratic weather over the last few years, particularly along the coastline, and the seasons too are shifting. Cyclones have become more frequent, sea levels are rising and agriculture is suffering on account of drought as well as unseasonable rain. In the north, Himalayan glaciers are receding by 30 to 50 metres a year and may be a thing of the past in half a century. If that happens, the Indus may dry up after the initial deluge and the irrigation system could collapse. Supplies to towns and cities too will be severely curtailed, changing life as we know it. A few decades down the road, wars may be fought not over ideology or oil and gas but water. And the battle for shrinking resources will not be limited to nation states that share borders. Provinces could be at daggers drawn, cities within a province may dispute allocations for other towns, and neighbour might be pitted against neighbour in the battle for water and food. This is not a distant doomsday scenario. It can happen in a matter of decades, even though our own contribution to greenhouse gases is minuscule. But then climate change is a global phenomenon.

A UN report released on Tuesday says that developing countries need a $600bn ‘Marshall Plan’ to tackle the changes associated with climate change. Financing a switch to cleaner, renewable energy is envisaged under this scheme whose authors believe that reducing emissions does not necessarily involve a cut in economic growth. That may be true theoretically but it is unlikely that rich nations, especially in the current economic climate, will fork out the kind of funds mentioned in the UN study. The report rightly points out that carbon trading cannot by itself counter global warming and climate change. Indeed, there are many who argue that carbon trading is simply an excuse for developed countries to carry on with business as usual after paying a small ‘fine’. They are the ones who have to make the biggest sacrifices, in keeping with their emission levels and history of industrialisation.

If a global catastrophe is to be avoided, a comprehensive post-Kyoto protocol must be hammered out in Copenhagen in December. Unlike the Bush regime, a more environment-friendly administration is in place in Washington these days. The same is true of Canberra where the likes of John Howard no longer call the shots. That said, emerging powerhouses such as China, India and Brazil must also agree to emission caps. Otherwise there will be no consensus on how to save the planet.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Rushing to Saudi Arabia[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 03 Sep, 2009[/B]

EVER fond of blaming others for all that ails democracy in Pakistan, the politicians rarely seem to realise that they themselves invite ‘interference’ often enough by soliciting outside mediation for problems that should be resolved by the politicians. If Americans, the British, Saudis, sundry officials from the Gulf and other parts of the world are not prowling the corridors of power in Islamabad, our politicians pop up in foreign capitals and centres of power to ‘discuss’ local affairs. So it is this week that Saudi Arabia has become the port of call for Pakistani officials, retired and serving. Interior Minister Rehman Malik, Gen Musharraf (retd) and, next week if speculation is correct, Nawaz Sharif — what exactly do these Pakistani political luminaries have to share so urgently with their Saudi hosts?

Mr Musharraf’s trial for treason, rumours of a minus-one, i.e. minus-President Zardari, formula in recent weeks, ugly allegations between the MQM and PML-N about events from the early ’90s that have snowballed into a confrontation between the presidency and the PML-N — take your pick of what could be agitating the minds of Pakistan’s politicians. But what does any of that have to do with Saudi Arabia? The answer should be ‘nothing’. Yet the fact is that the Saudis have been used as brokers/mediators/arbitrators so many times in the past, including in some of the issues roiling the political landscape at the moment, that their intervention is desperately being sought once again. Like errant schoolboys who need the wise counsel of an elder to settle their disputes, our politicians seem unable to resolve domestic disagreements without the help of foreign interlocutors.

We have noted time and again that the undemocratic forces in the country are the only winners when the politicians drag each other into a spiral of acrimony and recriminations. And yet, depressingly, the politicians seem oblivious to this fact. Whatever the disagreements between the PML-N and the PPP or the PML-N and the MQM or all of them combined, they should learn to settle their differences themselves. Otherwise, what’s the point of a national leadership?

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]New skyline on the horizon[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 03 Sep, 2009[/B]

PLANS seem to be going full steam ahead to alter Karachi’s skyline. Apparently President Zardari thinks that Karachi deserves a modern skyline boasting skyscrapers, in keeping with its status as one of the world’s largest cities. Foreign consultants are being hired, while a High Density Zone Board has been established by the Karachi Building Control Authority. Legislation is due to be tabled in the Sindh Assembly to regulate the construction of skyscrapers. The chronology of Karachi’s skyscraper development schemes shows that a grandiose plan to build 100-storey-plus structures in the city was shelved as it clashed with the Karachi Strategic Development Plan 2020. The KBCA then suggested that 40-storey skyscrapers be built along any of the city’s 23 declared commercial roads. When Karachi’s leading architects and planners were consulted, they rejected the recommendations which if carried out would have transformed the whole city into a ‘high-rise density zone’. It was rightly pointed out that putting in place the infrastructure for these buildings would not be possible. The current situation is that two zones have been earmarked for the construction of skyscrapers.

Does the government have the capacity and resolve to properly regulate these massive structures? The KBCA has proved itself to be deficient in the enforcement of building-control laws for existing structures. Secondly, as the city’s chief controller of buildings has pointed out, skyscrapers cannot be built until modern fire-fighting, sewerage and water-supply systems are in place. The magnitude of an accident in a skyscraper could be devastating without essential emergency services. It is a good thing that the government has chosen to consult experts and citizens on the matter. We hope this process of consultation continues and whatever the final decision is the interest and safety of the city’s primary stakeholders — its citizens — are prioritised.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press A giant fleet[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 03 Sep, 2009[/B]

THE recent ordeal involving 33 Egyptian fishermen, abducted by Somali pirates, raises the question of the Egyptian fisheries and the northern lakes, whose fish yields have dwindled alarmingly…. These lakes used to yield huge quantities of fish, [mostly] for export, contributing considerably to the national income. The [destruction] … of these lakes have forced many fishermen to go fishing in the Mediterranean along the Libyan coast or south in the Gulf of Aden, where 33 of them were kidnapped by Somali pirates.

These fishermen risked their lives for the sake of a good catch, not unlike the hundreds of young men who sail north in … search of a better life in Europe…. [T]he Ministry of Agriculture and Fish Wealth Authority did nothing to help the kidnapped fishermen … [and] blamed them for illegal sailing into the territorial waters of another country…. The solution is to create a giant fishing fleet … [which] would be able to sail far into international waters, making good catches, providing enough fish for the local market and a surplus for export. — (Aug 29)

[B]‘Perspective opening’[/B]

WE cannot and will not pretend to have a set of easy answers as Turkey continues the painful process of peeling back the many layers that in sum [is] the ‘Kurdish issue’…. Is it an ‘issue’, a ‘problem’, an ‘opening’? One writer recently used the term “democracy opening” to describe the work in progress towards reconciliation…. Another recently argued that Turkey does not have a “Kurdish problem” so much as it has a “Turkish problem”, a reference to the ambiguous distinctions between ‘Turk’ as an ethnic identity or the same word as the term for a citizen of the Republic of Turkey….

[A] survey of more than 10,000 people … found there is widespread support … among both those calling themselves Turks and those identifying as Kurds to bring this … conflict to a close….

These results fly in the face of many widespread assumptions about the dynamics driving this unresolved conflict. They warn against simple analogies to America’s civil rights movement or the Protestant-Catholic fight in Northern Ireland…. — (Aug 31)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Sharif’s sound advice[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 04 Sep, 2009[/B]

MIAN Nawaz Sharif’s rising stature suffered no harm on Wednesday as he distanced himself from the politics of confrontation. The ultimatum issued earlier to the PPP to stop its ‘vilification campaign’ against the second-most popular party in the country was withdrawn. Mr Sharif made it clear, in plain words, that the People’s Party had been elected by the people and as such has a right to rule. “We must respect each other’s mandate,” said the PML-N chief in a welcome departure from the pettiness that is the hallmark of Pakistani politics. He dismissed claims that his party was in favour of mid-term polls. He stressed that the political process cannot be derailed at any cost, adding that “together we can easily foil the agenda of the establishment”, whatever that may be. With these words, Nawaz Sharif seems to have emerged a bigger man than his critics. He will, however, have to walk the talk and not engage in the kind of intrigue he is rightly condemning. The problems facing Pakistan are huge and we cannot afford the politics of recrimination that dominated the 1990s.

Mr Sharif wants the PPP to implement the Charter of Democracy, scrap the 17th Amendment and institute legal proceedings against Gen Musharraf. By his own admission, Gen Musharraf violated the constitution and is guilty of treason, a crime punish-able by death. Taking Musharraf to court would send a clear signal to aspiring dictators that the people of Pakistan have lost patience with the adventurers who ruined this country. But is it doable, to use a word much favoured by the prime minister? Will the army stay neutral if its former chief is dragged into court? And don’t we have more pressing matters to address — militancy, poverty, climate change — than pursue a political and social non-entity like Gen Musharraf? He deserves his comeuppance but do we have time for administering it? His innings is over.

Scrapping the 17th Amendment is doable. The government has constituted a committee to look into the matter but it really shouldn’t be so complex if the PPP and the PML-N are on the same page. The Nawaz League has left no doubt where it stands on this count, and there was no ambiguity in the PPP’s position either until its candidate won the presidential election following Gen Musharraf’s resignation. That there has been so little movement on this front is enough to raise doubts about the sincerity of the PPP’s avowed opposition to the 17th Amendment. The People’s Party must be answerable to the people, and remain committed to its promises regardless of the offices its leaders hold.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Assassination attempt[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 04 Sep, 2009[/B]

SINCE the death of the TTP leader Baitullah Mehsud in a drone attack last month the Taliban under their new leadership have mounted an offensive that has caught our security forces on the wrong foot. The latest to fall victim to an assassination attempt is the religious affairs minister, Hamid Saeed Kazmi. He suffered bullet injuries but the driver of his car was killed and his guard seriously injured. This is shocking especially because the incident comes after the government had been reassuring the people that security had been beefed up. Moreover, the Taliban have clearly indicated that the present strategy is a no-holds-barred one. Two suicide bomb attacks took dozens of lives in three days last week in Torkham and Mingora, followed by Wednesday’s incident in Islamabad.

Although it will only be known after due investigation if there were security lapses that made Mr Kazmi a vulnerable target, some questions can be raised. The minister, who had condemned suicide bombing, had been receiving threats from the militants, and the authorities had been duly informed. That itself should have prompted the government to step up protection for him. Yet reports state that his car was apparently not bullet-proof and there was no police patrol accompanying his car when he was attacked. Obviously the investigators are expected to look into this matter as they seek to track down the assassins.

What is more worrying is that complacency seems to have set in lately due to the let-up in suicide bombings in the past few months. This is dangerous because the Pakistan Army’s war against the Taliban is only one prong of the security strategy. The trickier one calling for greater skills is the pre-emption of suicide attacks. This involves efficient intelligence-gathering as well as precautionary measures at vulnerable points. There seem to have been lapses on these scores. Even more disturbing is the possibility of the militants having penetrated the security outfit. Some mechanism needs to be instituted to screen the personnel responsible for the security of all citizens.


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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]On the wrong side[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 04 Sep, 2009[/B]

IN what is becoming common practice, yet another legislator of the PML-N is reported to have fallen on the wrong side of the law. Anjum Aqeel Khan stands accused of ugly rowdiness after failing to have his way at a college in the capital. Despite his claims that he was only trying to help one of his constituents seeking admission to the college, his deeds have once again raised the issue of action against errant lawmakers. The PML-N occupies the moral high ground in national politics to such an extent that people expect it to act swiftly in such cases. In a couple of cases, it has indeed done just that. A few months ago, it forced its legislator from Rawalpindi to resign his National Assembly seat after his involvement in an exam scandal. More recently, it made one of its Punjab legislators relinquish her post for using a stolen credit card. However, some other incidents have gone unpunished. A Punjab minister got away with two brawls in full public view. A provincial legislator accused of raping a woman in Lahore was not even arrested before he struck an out-of-court deal with his accusers many days after the incident.

Instead of trying to punish or absolve all its erring cadres on its own, the party should have allowed the law to take its course in each case. By turning over the erring legislators to the police and the courts it would have easily avoided the charge of being choosy, and by being neutral would have helped restore the much-needed trust in the judicial system. After all, a functional legal system does not involve political parties taking up police and judicial responsibilities. The PML-N that claims to stand by the rule of the law should know better.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Pushto Press America’s world policy[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 04 Sep, 2009[/B]

RENEWED and vigorous attacks on the United States and its allied forces in Iraq and Afghanistan lay bare the fact that even if all the imperialist forces gang up and make a bulwark against the ‘forces of the just’ to reinforce their aggression, they will not succeed. This is because ‘good’ can never cede space to evil.

Those who believe that the world is an amalgamation of contradictions, must keep in mind that the United States uses countries that are impoverished as a front to colonise oil-rich countries. This has added to instability and anarchy across the world and has created more contradictions.

Poor countries of the world have fallen for the American trap that goes by the name of New World Order; they have nothing against each other, but the United States has bedevilled relations amongst these states by [aggravating] problems like the Palestine and Kashmir issues, by playing a bloody drama in Afghanistan, by raking up the history of victimised imams in Iraq and by plotting an exercise in bloodletting in Iran and Pakistan.

The day is not far off when the forces of truth will rise to do away with the US and its shenanigans since this is the law of nature, philosophy and science. The forces of ‘good’ and ‘evil’ have been up against each other from day one wanting to overpower one another. Therefore, the former [good] has to sustain itself to maintain the inherent [balance] in the universe.

Those who fell in Iraq and Afghanistan belong to the forces of ‘good’ and glitter amidst the ashes rising up in flickers at times. A day will come when this flicker will change into leaping flames engulfing the US and, of course, the whole world. But for this to happen the zealots … are needed to keep stoking these cinders giving them a life of their own. — (Sept 3)

[B][I]Selected and translated by Faizullah Jan[/I][/B]

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]US debate[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 07 Sep, 2009[/B]

A CLASSIFIED assessment of the war in Afghanistan by Gen Stanley McChrystal, commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, has, according to media reports, intensified a debate among senior members of the Obama administration on the need for more troops in Afghanistan. At the moment, the US has 62,000 troops in Afghanistan, a figure that will rise to 68,000 by the end of the year, while the rest of the international presence is approximately 40,000 troops. The dilemma for the planners in Washington is acute: while more troops may be necessary to ‘stabilise’ Afghanistan, the war is not only increasingly unpopular in the US but an enlarged military ‘footprint’ runs the risk of alienating the Afghan people.

Here in Pakistan, the debate is no doubt being followed very closely by policy makers because the situation in Fata and the stability of Pakistan generally figure prominently in the Americans’ calculations. On Thursday, Adm Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, talked of the need for a “pincer movement” to squeeze militants along the Pak-Afghan border, though it must be noted that rather than the ‘do more’ mantra of days past, the admiral emphasised the need for more to be done on the Afghan side. Adm Mullen will certainly be aware, for example, of Pakistan’s concerns about men and material coming from Afghanistan in recent days to reignite the fight in Bajaur Agency, a disturbing trend that may require another round of serious fighting in the area by troops as the lashkars of Mamond have increasingly complained of being helpless against the militants. And the recent strike in Kunduz, Afghanistan, has highlighted the fact that Talibanisation in the north of that country has grown on Nato’s watch there.

Whatever the deficiencies on the Afghan side though, we here in Pakistan must not forget that the Taliban pose as much a threat to Pakistan as Afghanistan. The Waziristan agencies fully illustrate the problem; while North Waziristan’s militants may be more focused on Afghanistan, South Waziristan’s are Pakistan-centric. While it is true that the state is genuinely fighting some militant networks, there are still questions about whether it is committed to shutting down all militant networks operating from Pakistani soil. It’s not quite a double-game — there are legitimate concerns regarding resource constraints and the opening of multiple fronts — but if relations between the American, Afghan and Pakistan governments deteriorate, the only winners will be the militants.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Forensics upgrade[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 07 Sep, 2009[/B]

THE news that the Sindh police are upgrading their forensic division in Karachi and expanding its facilities to Hyderabad and Larkana is heartening. As crime goes hi-tech, it is imperative that Pakistan’s law-enforcement agencies keep pace with new methods of investigation as traditional and rudimentary ones are no longer effective. However, much more needs to be done to enhance existing forensic facilities across the country. So far, plans to create a network of modern laboratories in all four provincial capitals with the main facility in Islamabad, under the aegis of the National Forensic Science Agency (NFSA), seem to be moving at a snail’s pace. Apparently, budgetary constraints related to the multibillion-rupee scheme have slowed down the pace of the project, which had been in the pipeline for several years.

Currently, the provinces do have forensic divisions, but their facilities can at best be described as basic. The NFSA project envisages facilities for a proper fingerprints section, chemical examination, forensic microbiology and ballistics investigations in all four provincial centres as well as Islamabad, while the DNA laboratory will only function in the federal capital. Keeping in mind the currently abysmal law and order situation across the country, the government needs to attach priority to updating the capabilities of all law-enforcement agencies. Modern forensic facilities making it easier for police personnel to conduct investigations along scientific lines are crucial to redressing the lacunae in the investigation process, eliminating crude methods such as torture and intimidation as well as curtailing dependence on informers.

Members of the police force must also be made to follow proper scientific investigation procedures. It was recently reported in this paper that despite the fact that it is mandatory for the Karachi police to call in forensic experts in specific cases of crime — homicide, bank and house robberies, etc. — the department was hardly doing so. These attitudes must change. Observers also point out that law-enforcement agencies lack specialists in forensic science. If the government can muster the will to invest in human capital and modern equipment including forensic facilities, the dividends of solving cases and preventing crime would be considerable.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Security versus access[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 07 Sep, 2009[/B]

STRIKING a balance between security and access can be a delicate task. Fewer restrictions on public access could mean greater security concerns whereas too much security could obstruct public access. The latter point was underscored during the recent assassination attempt on the minister for religious affairs who was admitted to a hospital in Islamabad after sustaining injuries. Criticised for security lapses that led to the attack, the Islamabad police zealously banned public access to the hospital, apparently even for emergency cases. The tragic outcome was that a snake-bite patient, who was turned away because of the security cordon, died outside the hospital. True, there have been instances where better sense has prevailed and security restrictions related to VIP presence have been relaxed as in the case of a taxi driver taking his pregnant wife to hospital. However, reports in other parts of the country show that others have not been so lucky as their paths to hospitals have often been impeded by traffic jams caused by similar security cordons.

No doubt measures like roadblocks, checkpoints, cordons, etc. are required for the security of VIPs and the general public. But it is equally essential for the police to plan and put in place procedures that facilitate public access to hospitals and emergency services. Such procedures would give the officer in charge at any checkpoint the authority to decide whether a case is indeed a medical emergency. The patient should then be allowed to proceed for medical treatment. In case a road is closed to traffic because of VIP travel, the police must ensure that there is at least one lane that can be accessed by those seeking urgent medical help. Achieving the correct balance between security and access is important if the public is to accept the inconveniences of tight security.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - North American Press Coal plant deserves closer watch[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 07 Sep, 2009[/B]

ONE of the state’s ‘Filthy Five’ coal-burning power plants is trying to turn itself into a Cinderella of clean-burning electricity generation. … In 2003, pressure for a clean-up of NRG Energy’s heavily polluting Somerset plant led the New Jersey-based company to promise to close it down or switch to a cleaner fuel …by 2010. After that, NRG took a second look at the plant … and decided it could get rid of many pollutants by first gasifying the coal and replacing 35 per cent of it with wood biomass. The state in 2008 unwisely approved this approach.

… Under its current plan, NRG could still be using up to 65 per cent coal. Meanwhile, if the company were to avail itself of the option to switch entirely to biomass fuels, different environmental concerns would have to be addressed. …[T]he state should take a close look at whatever evidence the firm has…. The plant NRG is proposing will be the first of its kind in the [US]. That fact alone should earn it … close scrutiny … the state has so far failed to provide.— ( Sept 5)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]American aid[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 08 Sep, 2009[/B]

PRIME Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani has a point when he insists that development work on the ground should receive as much donor money as possible. The greatest public good, he argues, will not be achieved if a forthcoming American aid package is channelled through non-governmental organisations and US agencies instead of the Government of Pakistan. As things stand, the Obama administration is said to be working on a $1.5bn package, of which only $300m will go directly to the government. Administrative costs, says the PM, could eat up as much as 40 per cent of the funds disbursed through NGOs and other agencies. Even if this assessment is correct, the reasoning behind Mr Gilani’s no doubt well-intentioned demand is flawed on certain counts.

For one thing, we are the ones asking for aid and the US has every right to decide how it should spend its money. Then there is the credibility problem. Corruption has long been part and parcel of governance in Pakistan and the world knows it, as do citizens of this country. Even if foul play is ruled out, our bloated bureaucracies are notorious for their apathy or incompetence, or both. Fiscal as well as operational audit and accountability are key concerns for foreign donors and they may not be comfortable with Islamabad’s ability to deliver on these counts. The administrative costs of leading international agencies are no doubt considerably higher than the genuine expenses of the government machinery. Salaries of foreign consultants are commensurate with going rates in the West and then there are travel costs, accommodation expenses and possibly allocations for new or larger offices. But here too it has to be kept in mind that implementing agencies of global repute tend to hire the cream of the crop. True, their bureaucracies can be vast, resulting in waste that could ideally be avoided. Still, it needs to be asked whether the best efforts of top professionals may not produce better results than those of low-paid government functionaries. Or could it be that local people best understand local concerns?

A middle ground has to be found, for close cooperation is essential if the greater good is to be achieved. Donors have learned from the ’90s and are unlikely to throw money at the kind of fly-by-night NGOs that used to crop up like a rash whenever any development project was floated. The government, for its part, must make an honest assessment of its capacity and present a detailed plan of operation that will satisfy lawmakers in the US. Capitol Hill is in no mood for a repeat of the blank cheques issued to the Musharraf regime.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Lapses in private security[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 08 Sep, 2009[/B]

A MULTIMILLION-rupee bank robbery in Karachi has once again exposed the woeful state of private-security companies in the country. This time the criminals walked off with Rs9.8m. What is more appalling is that the guards at the premises did not appear to know how to use their weapons. Also, when the panic button was pressed to raise the alarm, it emerged that it had been switched to silent mode. This incident highlights the poor training imparted to private security guards as well as the absence of professionalism that characterises such firms. Underpaid, overworked and barely trained guards are expected to put up a solid defence against increasingly tech-savvy and ruthless criminals. Statistics underscore the gravity of the situation: private security guards outnumber police officers in Karachi by a ratio of nearly three-to-one. According to official estimates, there are 80,000 security guards in the metropolis as opposed to 29,000 sanctioned police officers. Observers say that in a few years, the number of private security guards will exceed that of police officers throughout the country.

Serious thought must be given to regulating Pakistan’s nearly 600 private security companies. Whenever a high-profile bank heist occurs, officials say they will cancel the licence of the security firm employed to guard the premises. That is not enough. The home department must keep an eye on the recruitment and training methods of security firms to make sure they are hiring capable people and equipping them with the requisite knowledge and tools. It is also troubling that many security companies are not verifying their guards’ particulars with Nadra. The requirement that guards posted at a bank register with the area police station is also not being met. Given the weak enforcement of the rules by the government, banks and other institutions that employ private guards must exercise greater scrutiny at the time of hiring. However, this does not absolve the state of its responsibility of providing security to its citizens. In the long run, the pros and cons of outsourcing security to private firms must be debated.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Rohtas Fort in danger[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 08 Sep, 2009[/B]

IT is baffling how the Punjab government could have approved a road project that will put a heritage site in harm’s way. The Rohtas Fort, near the city of Jhelum, is not unknown, and there are laws providing for the preservation of such historical sites. The 16th-century Muslim military marvel, which is said to have had a profound influence on the development of architectural styles in the Mughal empire and, by extension, on European colonial architecture is not only protected under the 1972 Unesco World Heritage Convention to which we are a signatory. The monument is also protected under the 1975 Federal Antiquities Act, as well as by subsequent provincial heritage preserva-tion legislation and rules. After Rohtas Fort was put on Unesco’s heritage list in 1997, a joint federal government–Unesco programme was conceived to restore and preserve it. In 2006, a newly established museum at the fort was inaugurated.

The road which the Punjab government is said to have planned runs from Rohtas to Chakwal and is bound to encourage the general use of the road passing through the fort. This will result in encroachments associated with a major thoroughfare, in addition to the present ones. The Supreme Court had ordered the removal of these encroachments two months ago but to no avail. These encroachments, and the fact that the road was not originally planned to avoid traffic going through the fort, are indications of the weak enforcement of existing laws on heritage preservation. Getting the road plan changed and removing the existing encroachments is the easy part. It would be far more difficult to ensure that such kind of development activity, that is detrimental to the conservation of the fort, or any other protected site for that matter, does not take place again.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press Fraudulently issued arms licences[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 08 Sep, 2009[/B]

THE disclosure of the Sindh Assembly’s standing committee on home affairs regarding the issuance of fake arms licences is startling. The report says that during March to June 2009 some 29,450 licences for prohibited bore arms were issued. Of them 150 were fake, one licence was issued fraudulently while some 50 pages of the main register are missing.

This was all done in a sophisticated manner as the report points out. A private computer was converted into a Nadra server and fake challans for prohibited bore arms licences were issued. We can hardly find a department in our country where irregularities are not committed. But when irregularities are committed in the area of prohibited arms and fraudulent challans are issued by breaking into the Nadra record, fraud and forgery are indicated on a large scale....

It is clear that the people who got the licences through fraudulent means … would not use these arms for any good. Officials of the home department … might have been paid handsome amounts…. [T]hough at this stage only 150 fake licences were detected, this would not be the first incident of its kind. This practice might have been going on in the past also. It appears to be well organised….

[T]he matter should be investigated from all angles, and should include the determining of the affiliation of the people involved in the issuance of fake licences and the applicants. The misuse of these cannot be ruled out … This is not a minor offence.

Converting a private computer into a Nadra server is also not an ordinary matter technically.… The home department is a very important and sensitive one, from where 150 licences of prohibited bore weapons were issued within a period of three months. It raises many eyebrows. This disclosure reveals the [poor level of] working and efficiency in our government departments. Where is the writ of the law? What type of governance is this?

… [H]ow is it that this fraud was not detected at any stage? How have 50 pages from the relevant register gone missing? [T]hough the government has announced it would investigate the matter, it is feared that the result of this probe would not be any different to earlier ones. Some lower grade officials would be made the scapegoats and high-level officials would be saved from punishment.... [T]hose who got the job done and the entire network would remain intact.

We think this is not an ordinary matter which can be left to a departmental inquiry. It demands a high-level inquiry to expose all the culprits and break their network. It would also be relevant to mention here that the affiliations of those officials involved in this should be probed. … [W]e demand of the prime minister to probe the matter in an impartial and transparent manner. As it would have been a matter of routine for the officials concerned, why limit the period from March to June 2009? This period too should be extended. — (Sept 6)

[B][I]Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi[/I][/B]

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]The Baloch issue[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 09 Sep, 2009[/B]

THE government seems to have realised that only substantive measures in Balochistan can address the insurgency in the province. Chief Minister Aslam Raisani has said that the prime minister will shortly announce the first measure: to stop work on the new cantonments under construction in Dera Bugti and Kohlu. Hopefully, this should be among the first genuine moves to start the reconciliation process. This was a major Baloch demand that was endorsed by a parliamentary committee some years ago, and the government’s attempt to meet it should go a long way towards reassuring the people of the province that Islamabad is serious about looking into their grievances. The government must implement the decision in good faith. The Baloch are sensitive to the militarisation of their province. The military is seen as the source of oppression and tyranny by them and a means to stifle their demand for provincial autonomy.

Considering the number of issues that have plagued relations between Islamabad and Quetta, it is clear that stopping work on the cantonments alone would not resolve the Balochistan problem. The federal government is fully aware of this. Four committees in the last few years — the latest being the Raza Rabbani committee that made its recommendations a few months ago — have studied the grievances of the Baloch and made sensible recommendations. Action is needed on the missing persons, the Gwadar port and fiscal matters that have been raised at the NFC forum. These together with other issues have led to a sense of deprivation in the troubled province. Unfortunately, the government has not been able to decide how to start a dialogue with the nationalists and party leaders without whose cooperation no agreement can be worked out. Dialogue is absolutely essential if there is to be good faith between the two parties. Perhaps that is why Raza Rabbani suggested the release of political prisoners, the recovery of missing people and a judicial enquiry into the murder of some Baloch leaders. These would essentially serve as confidence-building measures and ensure a good start to the dialogue process.

It is a pity that the government is still mulling over the format to be adopted for negotiations. It sometimes hints that a jirga might be held to announce the measures. On other occasions there is talk of an all-parties conference. Now we are being told that the prime minister will unilaterally announce a special package for Balochistan. What needs to be understood is that no plan can succeed without the active participation of all stakeholders which include the Baloch representatives.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Renaming NWFP[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 09 Sep, 2009[/B]

REIGNITING what lately had appeared to be a settled issue, Nawaz Sharif has demanded that a referendum be held in the NWFP on the renaming of the province. Mr Sharif’s demand flies in the face of an overwhelming majority in the NWFP Assembly, which has passed a resolution endorsing the name Pakhtunkhwa. Moreover, while a constitutional amendment has yet to be passed, the nomenclature has already been amended at the centre informally with everyone from the president to the prime minister to federal ministers referring to the NWFP as Pakhtunkhwa. Overlooking the near unanimity, Mr Sharif has instead apparently opted to focus on shoring up support for his own party in the Hazara region, a traditional PML-N stronghold that is Hindko-speaking. But even on that count, the PML-N leader may be misguided. The 1998 census shows that Mansehra is evenly divided between Pushto- and Hindko-speakers, while in other districts such as Haripur and Abbottabad a significant Pushto-speaking population too now resides. Moreover, there is the fact that in the NWFP generally Pushto is the mother tongue of three-fourths of the population. Why then should the people of the NWFP continue to live under a colonial-era name? Names matter to identity, something we have seen very recently with Gilgit-Baltistan, an appellation that has been hailed by the people of the erstwhile Northern Areas. Looking at the other federating units — Balochistan, Punjab and Sindh — there is also the question of why the NWFP alone should have a name with no regional identity.

The problem, then, isn’t about a referendum — Pakhtunkhwa is supported by the majority and the people’s elected representatives — but why Mr Sharif would want to impede the process of changing the name of the NWFP at all. Since his return to the country, Mr Sharif and his party have done a fair bit to challenge the perception that the PML-N is a one-province party, most noticeably by reaching out to Balochistan and sounding a conciliatory note to the smaller provinces during the ongoing NFC discussions. By digging in his heels on Pakhtunkhwa, however, Mr Sharif is unnecessarily reinforcing old perceptions and needlessly alienating a province.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]PCB chairman must go[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 09 Sep, 2009[/B]

ALL is not well at the Pakistan Cricket Board. The PCB’s workings have never been a byword for stability but the flux seen these days is remarkable even by the board’s standards. Within a space of three months, two senior members of the PCB set-up have resigned while another has been sacked. Outspoken chief selector Abdul Qadir was the first to quit, citing ‘unacceptable’ interference in selection matters. The second resignation came from National Cricket Academy director and former captain Aamer Sohail. It is believed the PCB chairman’s apparent failure to give him a free hand in running the academy and starting new development programmes convinced Mr Sohail that it was time to go. Meanwhile, reports of chief operating officer Saleem Altaf’s increasingly tense relationship with chairman Ijaz Butt had been doing the rounds for quite some time. He was dismissed a week ago.

Ijaz Butt, who has also been in slanging matches with the Senate’s standing committee on sports, is the central figure in this sorry saga. His attitude towards the media has occasionally bordered on hostility and he is not averse either to making inconsistent statements. It doesn’t end there. In the aftermath of the attack on the Sri Lankan team, Mr Butt lashed out at match referee Chris Broad who had claimed that security for players and officials was lax in Lahore. Resorting to language unbecoming, he called Broad a liar even though the massive security lapse was apparent to all and was subsequently accepted by Pakistani officials. Mr Butt may have also botched Pakistan’s chances of holding its World Cup matches at neutral venues. He allegedly became stroppy with the ICC and alienated the other co-hosts by demanding that the whole tournament be moved out of the subcontinent. Pakistan cricket needs stability in these testing times and Ijaz Butt is not the man to provide it. He must be shown the door.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Press Short memories in Short Strand[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 09 Sep, 2009[/B]

THE area around the Short Strand … in east Belfast is a notorious interface with a long and inglorious history of inter-community violence.

Stone throwing attacks and personal assaults are frequent events in the area. It is little wonder, therefore, that Sinn Fein has been accused of reckless behaviour in organising a rally in the area … to celebrate the closure of the local Mountpottinger police station. While the rally may have passed off peacefully, Sinn Fein cannot wash its hands … of what happened afterwards.

Indeed it is difficult to justify the rally in the first place. Sinn Fein has signed up to policing; it wants policing and justice powers to be devolved to the executive and its members constantly call for more community policing to clamp down on petty crime. What then was it celebrating in the closure of a police station…? … Sinn Fein can also be accused of double standards…. … It is almost a given that any rally or procession in an interface area will result in violence. The holding of a rally to celebrate the closure of a police station was sheer triumphalism. … It cannot accuse others of similar provocative behaviour while failing to practise what it preaches.

… Sinn Fein has come a long way since its days of unequivocal support for the “armed struggle”, and deserves credit for its forthright stance against dissident republicans, for example. Yet it must also be aware of its status as a partner in government and not just a party of street politics. — (Sept 2)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Orakzai outrage[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 10 Sep, 2009[/B]

TUESDAY’S tragedy in Orakzai offered further proof, as if any were needed, of the inherent barbarity that defines the Taliban. They do not subscribe to the norms of civilised people and view Pakistani culture in its myriad forms with contempt and loathing. Four boys, all of them reportedly under the age of 16, were on their way to school on Tuesday when they were shot dead by the Taliban. Six other children were wounded in the attack. What was their crime, how could the Taliban possibly view them as a threat? Were the children gunned down simply because they were going to school? The Taliban, who thrive on illiteracy and ignorance, have long sought to destroy the mainstream schooling system in the tribal areas and parts of the Frontier. Or did the killings have something to do with the fact that the victims were Shia Muslims? Everyone knows that members of the Taliban, as well as some other hard-line organisations in Pakistan, have been brainwashed into believing the lie that Shias are not true Muslims.

Then there is another theory doing the rounds. Such gruesome acts involving the targeting of civilians, it is said, may be replicated if the Taliban continue to be pounded in their hideouts and on the battlefield. Forced on to the back foot in the theatre of war, the militants could try to blur the focus of the state by creating new law and order situations. Terrorising the people of Pakistan, who are now thoroughly behind the military operation, may be another objective. The biggest fear though is that the Taliban could try to stoke sectarian unrest to open a new front and take the pressure off themselves.

These fears are not unfounded given that we live in an intolerant society, thanks to what transpired in the 1980s under the Zia-US-Saudi combine. Seeking ‘strategic depth’ in Afghanistan and Kashmir, the state promoted groups that could act as proxies in its own and the CIA’s foreign agendas. What was ignored in this misguided campaign was that the people who were being indoctrinated to hate Indians or Russians or communist Afghans were at the same time being taught by local clerics to detest fellow Pakistanis. Shias have been targeted in recent years all over the country, in Kurram Agency, Hangu, Dera Ismail Khan, Quetta and elsewhere. Christians have been killed and their homes burned down. Naturally there can be no reasoning with the extremists. What the state must instead ask, if not plead, is that the communities on the receiving end show patience in the face of barbarity and let the law take its course.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]UK visas[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 10 Sep, 2009[/B]

WHEN the UK decided two years ago to merge the Border and Immigration Agency, Customs and UK Visas into a single body called the Border Agency (UKBA), the authors of the plan, it seems, did not know what they were getting into. Integrating the vital and time-consuming functions of securing borders, controlling migration, enforcing customs regulations, processing visa applications and assigning the job to one body with a staff of 25,000 dispersed over 130 countries has proved to be a costly experiment in terms of the country’s image. We don’t know how the Border Agency has fared elsewhere but it has certainly received bad press here as well as in its home country. In Pakistan the undue delays in issuing visas by UKBA, its failure to respond to queries and the exorbitant visa fees have invited a barrage of complaints from applicants — even those who have applied well in time. It may be a case of a poorly managed institution’s inability to organise itself but what has complicated matters for Pakistani applicants is the centralisation of the work in Abu Dhabi. It is virtually impossible to retrieve one’s passport if the delay is inordinate.

The new system was introduced in April 2008. By now UKBA’s workings should have been streamlined and the problems that applicants face taken care of. The UK would do well to study the procedure adopted by some other European governments that are equally mindful of security concerns. For instance, why can’t applicants be asked to submit the photocopies of their passports for visa processing? Once a decision has been taken to grant a visa, the passport could be sent for and stamped without delay. In the case of background checks of sponsors in Britain, there should be an arrangement to do this at the local government level before the visa application is even entertained.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Thar coal[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 10 Sep, 2009[/B]

THE public-private partnership inked by the Sindh government to exploit Thar’s coal resources for power generation could be a watershed event in Pakistan’s painful history of power-sector woes. Poor planning over the decades has meant that whenever the country has experienced a spurt in economic growth, the power sector’s deficiencies have invariably crimped that growth. To forestall another boom-and-bust cycle now is the time to plan for the future, and Thar’s coal could hold the key to energy security in the years and decades ahead. It is by no means a sure bet; a feasibility study will be concluded in early 2011 and depending on a positive result, the first megawatt of power from the project will flow somewhere in early 2016, if all goes according to plan. There are several technical hurdles to overcome. Thar’s coal is believed to be high in moisture content, which makes it unsuitable for transport or easy use in power generation. Then there is the issue of acquiring adequate water to run a power plant, and overcoming the inter- and intra-provincial water disputes that will inevitably ensue. And finally, any new power plant in Thar will have to be connected to the national grid at great cost and effort.

Perhaps more than the technical problems though, politics and funding hang heavy on the Thar power project. For one, disputes between the centre and Sindh over who has the ultimate say on Thar’s coal and its use for power generation could yet scuttle the project. Additionally, there is the question about how exactly power projects in Thar will be financed. Domestic banks are wary of additional exposure to the power sector given its recent troubles, while Pakistan’s poor standing in the international financial market could render the project prohibitively expensive to finance. Clearly, we must do more to put our overall economy in order to make credit cheaper. And from an environmental and local point of view, it must be ensured that clean-coal technology is employed and that the people of the area benefit directly and fairly from the exploitation of Thar’s coal resources.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Middle East Press Iraq-Syria ties[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Thursday, 10 Sep, 2009[/B]

UNDER normal circumstances, the latest spat between Iraq and Syria would not be overly worrying. The two neighbours have a historically testy relationship. But in the wake of last month’s horrific bomb blasts in Baghdad that killed over 100 people, there is cause for concern. After Iraq demanded that Damascus turn over two Iraqis living in Syria who are believed to be part of the attack in Baghdad, Iraqi authorities sent additional national police brigades to the border with Syria, and Syria and Iraq each recalled their ambassadors from the other country at Iraq’s request.

… Turkey’s foreign minister has shuttled between Baghdad and Damascus, carrying messages between the two capitals, and Secretary-General of the Arab League Amr Moussa quickly made calls to Baghdad and Damascus…. However, the wounds of the victims of the string of bombings that struck Iraq’s capital … are still open…. — (Sept 7)

Afghan stakes

THE Afghan war is turning nasty by the day. Two bloody events in as many days — Nato air strikes on two Taliban-hijacked oil tankers in which at least 90 were killed … and the killing of Afghanistan’s deputy chief of intelligence … indicate that both sides are in for prolonged battles .... If the US-led troops are using their air power to eliminate the Taliban, the rebels are resorting to ground tactics…. The Taliban suicide bomber’s attack in the provincial town of Mehtar Lam demonstrates that no target is out of reach.…

Last month’s Afghan presidential election has added fuel to the growing criticism. ... Since there is an element of uncertainty over the poll outcome, it is doubtful whether the US plan to build a stable and secure Afghanistan is possible at all. … It is not just [about] winning the hearts and minds of people to wean them from the influence of rebels but establishing a workable government in Kabul. These are the tasks that demand Washington’s attention.... — (Sept 5)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]
Crisis in the sugar sector[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 11 Sep, 2009[/B]

THE sugar crisis is an unwelcome example of how poor governance can directly hurt the people. As the politicians have squabbled, the courts intervened and the growers, millers, middlemen and retailers argued, the price of sugar has remained stubbornly high. Now the federal government has set up a commission that, in the words of Finance Minister Shaukat Tarin, will “develop a formula for resolving the sugar crisis forever”. A very ambitious goal. Start with the immediate problem: the Lahore High Court has ordered the Punjab government to ensure the supply of sugar at Rs40 per kg in the province. If implemented, the Punjab government is worried that sugar will be trucked out of the province to service markets in other provinces and perhaps even neighbouring countries where the price of sugar is higher. Hence the Punjab government’s demand for a ‘uniform’ sugar price across the country. An apparently reasonably demand, but one that raises the next question: how is the price of sugar determined in the first place? Eighty per cent of the price of sugar (minus taxes) sold by mills is determined by the price of sugarcane. Therein lies the next flaw: cane is priced by the provinces and differential prices at that level make a ‘uniform’ national price for sugar difficult.

Turn next to the growers and millers. Growers have a cartel of their own while some have switched to more lucrative rice. Millers are accused of their own manipulations: calculating the price of cane on weight rather than sucrose content; delaying payments to growers, etc. Amidst all of this there is no forum for the protection of consumers, so, for example, when the international price of sugar is low suppliers urge the government to impose duties on sugar to prevent its import, while when the price is high in the international market suppliers raise domestic prices on that pretext. Can the government-appointed commission fix all that ails the sugar industry? We shall have to wait and see.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]
Maternal mortality rate[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 11 Sep, 2009[/B]

VARIOUS initiatives have done little to lower the maternal mortality rate in the country. According to the World Population Foundation Pakistan, there are 276 maternal deaths per 100,000 births each year. Indeed, in a press release issued in June, the organisation had urged Pakistan to recognise and treat maternal mortality as a human rights issue. Meanwhile, at a recent forum in Karachi, women parliamentarians underscored the need to strengthen the country’s midwifery and nursing cadres and improve the delivery of primary health services in the country. It was pointed out that over 80 per cent of pregnant mothers delivered at home, attended by unskilled birth attendants.

Often families living in far-flung areas do not have the funds to take their women to a proper medical centre. Even if they manage the journey, a majority of secondary and tertiary healthcare centres do not offer emergency obstetrical care on a 24-hour basis. As a result, community midwives play a crucial role. There exists a pressing need to run programmes aimed at training midwives, a move that would bolster the healthcare system. The agreement recently reached between the Aga Khan Foundation and the health ministry’s Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health Programme is a step in the right direction. Acknowledging that community midwives could play an important role in decreasing infant and maternal mortality at the grass-roots level, the public-private partnership pledges to provide training and financial support to midwives in the Chitral district. The country needs more such initiatives to support efforts to improve the healthcare network. Skilled birth attendants are of great importance if the health authorities are to successfully reduce the level of preventable complications and deaths among both newborns and mothers.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]
OTHER VOICES - Pushto Press CIA chief on drone attacks[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Friday, 11 Sep, 2009 [/B]

CIA CHIEF, Leon Panetta, has said the US would continue with its drone attacks in Pakistan’s tribal areas as these have helped break the back of Al Qaeda. He added that during the last few months the US had intensified its clandestine military operations and drone sorties in Fata to take out Al Qaeda hideouts.

The CIA chief’s statement came in the wake of Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi’s press talk that Pakistan had asked the US to give it spy planes….

CIA, the Afghan government and Nato officials are of the view that Al Qaeda and the Taliban leaders are hiding in the tribal areas of Pakistan and plot terrorist attacks inside Afghanistan from there. Pakistan’s stand is that if intelligence on terrorist hideouts is shared, its own forces would be capable of taking out the militants.

As long as the US does not stop its aggressive policies against Pakistan and the rest of the Islamic world, anti-American hatred cannot die down. The US should respect the sovereignty of Afghanistan and Pakistan by employing diplomacy, dialogue and economic assistance to tackle issues in this region. — (Sept 8)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Blow to ME peace[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 14 Sep, 2009[/B]

TWO recent events have amply demonstrated Israel’s resolve to sabotage President Barack Obama’s Middle East peace mission. On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced his government was going ahead with the construction of hundreds of new housing units in the occupied West Bank. Earlier, President Obama’s special peace envoy George Mitchell had a meeting in New York with two top Israeli officials — Mr Netanyahu’s special representative Yitzhak Molcho and the defence ministry chief Michael Herzog — and they told Mr Mitchell point blank that Israel had no intention of freezing settlement activity. Mr Mitchell had got the same response when he visited Israel earlier in a vain bid to pressure it to freeze all settlement activity and help revive the peace process.

Monday’s announcement by the Israeli prime minister’s office spoke of authorisation for 455 settler homes. These homes are part of a larger scheme — 2,500 new units — which Tel Aviv wants to build as part of its new policy to colonise the West Bank. The houses are to be built in areas which Israeli sources said Tel Aviv intends to retain in a possible peace deal with the Palestinian Authority. However, Israel knows very well that a peace settlement is doubtful, because it has no intentions of pulling out of the occupied territories. In fact, Israel’s infrastructure minister, Uzi Landau, used the Hebrew term for the West Bank, saying he saw no reason why it should stop housing activity in “Judea and Samaria”.

The Obama administration has done little that is practical to make Israel behave. All that the White House said was that the decision to build more houses was harmful to peace efforts, and America did not accept its “legitimacy”. In other words, Israel seems to be getting away with something against which President Obama spoke so forcefully in his June 4 address to the Muslim world. The fate of the Oslo accords (1993), the roadmap (2003) and the Annapolis agreement (2007) is before us. Israel scuttled these with full help from the Clinton and Bush administrations. President Obama has yet to prove that he cannot be trifled with.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Corrupt policemen[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 14 Sep, 2009[/B]

WHILE corruption in police ranks is pervasive in Pakistan, it nevertheless comes as a shock to know that close to 10 per cent of the Islamabad Police has been penalised for illegal activities and poor performance. According to a report, the Islamabad Police took disciplinary action against 925 of its members ranging from constables to inspectors. The total strength of the force is over 10,000. The action was taken under a new accountability system in which police performance is being closely monitored. Punishments range from the termination of service, suspension and demotion to salary deduction, the stopping of increments and censure. Deviant behaviour in police ranks includes extortion, the patronising of gambling dens, liquor theft and looking the other way when under-trial prisoners escape.

The fact that errant policemen are being punished should be reassuring. Nevertheless, what is disconcerting is that some suspended policemen have alleged that they have been disciplined for refusing to obey the illegal orders of their superiors. It is also strange that no policeman above the rank of inspector has been found to be corrupt. This exercise in accountability can only be effective if it entails a sincere effort at controlling corruption within police ranks. It should not be a mere public-relations exercise to justify the new and improved salary package that was approved for the force earlier this year. Ensuring that those handling accountability in the force are honest is the key to success. Police corruption cannot be completely eradicated, but we can hope to control it at a certain level. In this effort, the public too has a role to play. It must resist harassment and intimidation by corrupt policemen and refrain from bribing them. By giving in to corrupt elements in the police force, the public will only contribute to the very menace that it has been denouncing for years.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Country for sale?[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 14 Sep, 2009[/B]

AMERICAN drone attacks against the Taliban are routinely condemned as violations of national sovereignty. But there is little criticism of how our own government is threatening the country’s territorial integrity by engineering the lease of millions of acres to foreign investors. It seems that the democratically elected government, ostensibly a people-friendly administration, has wholeheartedly embraced the Musharraf regime’s corporate agriculture farming (CAF) policy. Arab conglomerates are to be leased vast tracts of land and will be allowed to repatriate all produce and profits, even in the case of a food deficit. This much has been confirmed by the federal minister for investment, and it is said that foreign-owned farms will also enjoy extended tax and rent holidays. All this has been decided without tabling the move in parliament. This is a gross injustice to the people of Pakistan and stands in clear violation of the UN General Assembly resolution on Permanent Sovereignty over Natural Resources.

No long-term benefits will accrue from such deals. True, the government will receive cash payments that will most likely fund the day-to-day profligacy of Pakistani officialdom. But that’s about it. Corporate farming, which is capital-intensive, will not generate significant employment and may well lead to an increase in rural poverty. Input levels will be high, yet no details have been provided of how the water and electricity needs of these huge farms are to be met. Will water be diverted from the irrigation network, compounding the misery of small-scale farmers who are finding it hard as it is to make ends meet? Will water flows be depleted further to cater to these corporate farms that will not contribute a single grain to our food stocks? Has any thought been given to how reduced river flows will speed up sea intrusion, which has already devastated vast swathes of the coastline? Perhaps these mega farms will rely on an army of tube wells, in which case the water table in places like Balochistan will be lowered even further, much to the detriment of local farmers.

According to a recent study, Pakistan is at “extreme risk” in terms of food security. A combination of climate change, deforestation, poor water management and a burgeoning population has led to food scarcity and the problem will worsen in the coming years. Yields need to be raised through modern, water-efficient farming techniques and this is not possible without hefty government support. Also, access to credit must be made easier for farmers. This is the time to help local farmers and landless peasants, not wealthy foreigners and their food needs.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - North American Press Beating swine flu[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Monday, 14 Sep, 2009[/B]

WITH the H1N1 flu pandemic expected to flare up this fall and no vaccine available until next month, nervous Coloradans are seeking all kinds of possible remedies. A story in this week’s Denver Post … details many of the natural remedies that folks are seeking to either ward off the flu or at least lessen its severity. They range from garlic and goji berries to ‘swamp tea’ and duck liver dilutions.

… While those remedies may make people feel more protected, they’re not going to halt the virus. Some people swear by the natural remedies, saying they’ll lessen the severity of the flu if taken early enough.

… One natural form of protection, however, likely does exist, and that’s vitamin D. Recent research has shown that vitamin D, not C, does more to boost a body’s immunity and to ward off illness. We can get a good dose of D just by getting out into the sunshine, which we’re blessed with more than 300 days a year in Colorado.

Of course, if you truly believe in them, all of these alternative remedies can at least do one good thing, and that is put your mind at ease. If you’re downing duck liver, and feeling immune from H1N1, chances are your stress level will be lower. And doctors do say that stress can make you more susceptible to illness.

So order a double of swamp tea if it makes you feel better.

But you also might want to follow the most common advice being doled out this flu season: wash your hands thoroughly and often. Spritz them with anti-bacterial gel when possible. Cough into your sleeve, not your hand. And get vaccinated if you can. — (Sept 11)

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Rights for Bagram prisoners[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 15 Sep, 2009[/B]

DESPITE George Bush’s departure and the election of a president seemingly more in tune with global opinion, America’s standing in the Muslim world remains low. And for good reason. The physical and psychological scars of the Bush legacy run deep and in many cases the wounds are still festering. First came the invasion of Afghanistan which caused deep resentment in several Muslim countries. But that was nothing compared to the outrage triggered worldwide by the wholly unwarranted Iraq war. Many Muslims acknowledged that the US invasion of Afghanistan, justified or not, was an act of retaliation. But no such excuse could be found for the Iraq war which was based on lies and disinformation. Here, there seemed to be a consensus in the Muslim world: it was America that was doing the terrorising and killing. Reports of horrific prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib added more fuel to the fire.

Barack Obama is clearly more popular among Muslims than his predecessor. Still, the road ahead is bound to be tortuous but every small step will help. Washington’s decision to frame new rules allowing prisoners at Afghanistan’s Bagram air base to challenge their detention is one such move in the right direction. Unlike detainees at Guantanamo Bay, prisoners at Bagram have so far been denied this basic right and many have been behind bars for years without even knowing the specific charges against them. Legal and moral considerations demand that the new policy be put in place at the earliest and cases expedited. Moreover, difficult as it is, Mr Obama needs to meet his January 2010 deadline for shutting down the notorious Guantanamo Bay detention centre. Washington must also exert more pressure on Israel to put a halt to new settlements in Palestinian lands. It is deeds, not words alone, that will win America more friends in the Muslim world.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Organ donation[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 15 Sep, 2009[/B]

THE struggle to have in place an effective and ethical organ transplantation programme has been a long and uphill one for health professionals in Pakistan. Many milestones have been reached. The most noteworthy has been the success in creating awareness among potential live, related donors. While the task of creating a legal framework by adopting a comprehensive law providing for organ donation — both live and deceased — was arduous, this was accomplished in 2007 in the face of stiff opposition from vested interests. The latter had commercialised transplantation, bringing a bad name to the country as a centre for kidney tourism. The Tissues and Organ Transplantation Ordinance allowed the government to crack down on unethical practices to a large extent. Much of the credit for this and other achievements regulating organ transplantation goes to the Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation.

The time has now come to step up the campaign for deceased organ donation which is the most common means of procuring organs for transplantation all over the world. The SIUT launched this programme in 2008 once the law was in place, and 800 people have signed its donor card. But this figure is far from satisfactory: it is highly unlikely that most of the 800 will actually become donors since brain death is the first requirement for organs to be harvested after a stringent procedure of certification by an independent team of neurologists.

So far only three deceased donors have provided organs for transplantation in Karachi. Obviously, the reluctance is due to socio-cultural reservations. With deceased organ donation programmes working successfully in many Muslim countries religious taboos are not involved. It is therefore essential for the media and health authorities to join hands in a campaign to familiarise people with the practice of deceased organ donation and motivate them to sign donor will cards. With greater understanding of the issue — especially in the context of how many lives can be saved — people will come forward to help. This will reduce the pressure for organs — 15,000 patients die of end-stage kidney failure every year in Pakistan.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Tragedy in Karachi[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 15 Sep, 2009[/B]

THE tragedy of yesterday’s events in Karachi, where perhaps two dozen women and children lost their lives in a stampede at the site of a food distribution set-up overseen by a private individual, is more than another grim statistic or sad event in the pathetic lot of the poor. It is an indictment of the state itself — of its inability to provide for the most basic needs of its people; of its apathy when it comes to protecting the life and dignity of its most vulnerable citizens. The system will now swing into action, making a show of punishing the individual whose altruism led to yesterday’s disaster. But who will indict and punish the state? The women and children who jostled and pushed their way towards handouts were not driven by greed; they were driven by hunger and the fear of starvation. And they, and countless others like them across the country, have been pushed to the point of wretchedness by a state that has failed twice over in fulfilling its responsibilities.

One, desperation of this kind has no place in a country where the leadership never tires of telling the world that it is a player on the regional or global stage because of its sophisticated weapons, its fearsome army, its ‘strategic importance’, its economic ‘potential’ and the trappings of its wealthy and powerful. The accoutrements of state power and prestige ring hollow when people are dying in their search for food. Two, even if it is an unfortunate legacy of decades of misfeance and malfeance at the governance level that the poor today have to line up for food handouts, the state can surely ensure a modicum of dignity for the people by organising such activities in a decent manner.

The Punjab government, for example, has won praise for its sasta atta scheme that has doled out thousands of tonnes of wheat flour at subsidised rates. However, there are cringe-worthy, shame-inducing sights at the point of delivery: people clambering over each other with policemen baton-charging them, the wheat flour tossed out from trucks or temporary stalls to the distressed men and women surrounding them. Surely it is not too much to ask for a less chaotic way of delivering food aid to those who seek it. Poverty and desperation are damning enough, but it would not be out of place to say that it is the indignities heaped atop that are the most unbearable.

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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - Sindhi Press Healing Balochistan’s wounds[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Tuesday, 15 Sep, 2009 [/B]

THE parliamentary committee on Balochistan … finalised its recommendations … [which] include redressing some basic issues…. According to this proposed plan all cases against Baloch leaders would be withdrawn and a general amnesty granted to political prisoners, leaders and activists in exile as well as those implicated in anti-state activities. This would also include members of Nawab Bugti’s family.

This is a welcome decision which would help heal the wounds of the Baloch…. In the past their demand for their rights led to [the Baloch] being bombed and persecuted…. If the Baloch demand royalties on their resources and non-intervention in their affairs, there is no harm….

Earlier, the PPP leadership had publicly apologised for the atrocities and injustices committed against the people of Balochistan. Hence the foundation of a good tradition was laid….

In fact there has been a lobby in the establishment that never wanted a solution to the Balochistan issue. … Whatever happened in Balochistan during the Musharraf era is a black chapter in history.

… Talks should be initiated with all representative political parties of Balochistan…. … [I]t would be the best decision …. — (Sept 12)

[B][I]Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi[/I][/B]

[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Pak-Afghan border[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 16 Sep, 2009[/B]

IF the US does go ahead with a plan to engage militants near the Pak-Afghan border from the Afghan side, it will fulfil a long-standing demand of the state here for more to be done on that side. Yet, there are risks, and the details and implementation of the plan will be key to ensuring that relations between the Pakistani, Afghan and American governments do not deteriorate. Pakistan has long complained that it is unfairly blamed for the militants’ activities along the Pak-Afghan border because while we have a significant number of security forces on our side of the border, there is relatively little done on the other side to interdict militants foraying into Afghanistan to launch raids and attacks. Then there is the fact that the flow of militants is not one-way. In recent weeks, militants have upped their attacks in Bajaur and it is believed that this has been made possible by the infusion of fresh supplies and men from eastern Afghanistan, particular Kunar, an Afghan province that borders Bajaur. So if the US is in fact going to do more to clamp down on militancy along the Pak-Afghan border, it should be welcomed in Pakistan.

But there are risks. Increased activity by American troops along the border runs the risk of ‘hot pursuit’ into Pakistani territory, a possibility that would escalate tensions. Worse, if clear red lines are not drawn beforehand, we could see a repeat of the controversial US raids, some aborted or repelled, in the Waziristan agencies in September 2008. Unilateral action by the Americans inside Pakistan would be a diplomatic and political disaster. Even joint military actions would be fiercely opposed inside Pakistan and are untenable. So the Americans must stay sensitive to Pakistan’s internal political and security dynamics, or else risk creating an even bigger mess.

As relations between Pakistan and the US have improved in recent months, there is little reason to believe that the risks outlined above will be realised any time soon. However, there are other issues that would still need to be sorted out. A press against militants from both sides of the border would be the hammer-and-anvil strategy that has been talked up before, but such a strategy can only work when the mechanics are clearly worked out by both sides. For example, would Pakistan be the anvil and the US the hammer or the other way round? Defeating militancy along the Pak-Afghan border will require close cooperation between the governments and security forces of both sides. Ignore that fact and the militants will be the only winners.


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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Climate change crises[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 16 Sep, 2009[/B]

THE fallout of climate change, such as the increasing number of unusual and extreme weather events and glacial melt, is already in evidence across the globe. Even if the world’s major polluters reach a consensus soon over emission-reduction targets it would be years before the damage inflicted is reversed even partially. It is therefore imperative that developing countries such as Pakistan, which will be the worst affected by the consequences of climate change and that are poorly equipped to deal with these, take steps to prepare for a grim future. Pakistan’s population is expected to reach 300 million in 15 to 20 years. By that time water and food needs would have increased manifold. Shortages of dietary staples and potable water are already in evidence, and it is predicted that the country will be extremely water-stressed within the next decade and a half. When the desertification effects of global warming are factored in, it can be said with certainty that the country will soon be facing the dilemma of having a lower acreage of arable land provide for the food needs of a far larger population. Unfortunately, this frightening scenario does not seem to have dawned on our policymakers.

Pakistan must formulate and implement effective safeguards against such an eventuality. Aggressive measures include resolving contentious issues such as the construction of dams. Small- to medium-scale reservoirs may prove useful, particularly in areas such as Mardan, Swabi and parts of Balochistan and Sindh that experience heavy rains or floods during the monsoons but are water-stressed at other times. Other measures can range from employing modern farming techniques and making it profitable for small-scale farmers to grow food crops, to enforcing environmental laws, curbing deforestation and preventing any further reduction in catchment areas. It is ironic that while the world’s richest countries are collectively responsible for much of the historic emissions that have led to this fast-building environmental crisis, it is the developing countries that stand to suffer most. As the planet warms up, Pakistan will have to meet the challenge of effectively utilising every possible resource, or else face disaster.


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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="darkgreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]Safe exit[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 16 Sep, 20[/B]

TO the surprise of no one, President Zardari has admitted that a ‘safe exit’ was engineered by international powers for Gen Musharraf (retd) to allow the former president-cum-army-chief to “play golf in his post-presidential life”. Left unsaid by President Zardari, but equally obvious, is another aspect of the deal: the point of getting Mr Musharraf safely out of the picture was to allow the civilian politicians to get on with the transition to democracy and to prove that they can govern effectively.

So, where does President Zardari’s admission and Nawaz Sharif’s recent meeting with the Saudi king leave the PML-N’s demand to try Mr Musharraf for treason? To be sure, as a matter of principle the PML-N is not required to adhere to a deal struck with outside powers without its consent on an internal, Pakistani issue. But what the PML-N must do is respect the collec-tive voice of parliament. Therefore, if the PML-N really does want to see Mr Musharraf tried it should take up at the earliest the government’s offer and table a parliamentary resolution calling for Mr Musharraf’s trial. Let parliament vote on the issue and if it decides to call for Mr Musharraf’s trial, let the chips fall where they may.

But it is obvious that at the moment the PML-N does not have the support of a majority of the country’s elected representatives in parliament. There is clearly a cynical element in the MQM’s and the PML-Q’s resistance, for those parties were direct beneficiaries of the Musharraf era. But there are also more pragmatic reasons to avoid a fresh political crisis. The country is faced with myriad problems, none of which will be solved or mitigated by trying Mr Musharraf. More crisis-solving and less crisis-creation, then, is clearly the demand of the times.


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[B][U][CENTER][COLOR="DarkGreen"][SIZE="5"][FONT="Georgia"]OTHER VOICES - European Press National interest[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER][/U][/B]

[B]Wednesday, 16 Sep, 2009[/B]

LAST Wednesday, the UN General Assembly passed a resolution, condemning the forced displacement of people from Georgia’s territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The resolution also underlined the right of all displaced people to return to their homes in these territories, which it recognised as part of Georgia, and stressed the need for property rights to be respected.

All this must sound familiar to the Cyprus government which, for 35 years, has been demanding the return of all displaced persons to their homes in the occupied north and full respect for their property rights. …Given the similarities with Cyprus’ experience at the hands of Turkey, it was a big surprise to hear that Cyprus’ permanent representative did not back the resolution, abstaining instead. Cyprus was the only EU member-state not to back the resolution…. And the explanation by government spokesman was the “the two issues must not be put on the same level”. Why, he did not say, although he defended the government’s decision as “a large number of countries took the same stance”. All EU member-states voted for the resolution as did all Nato member-states apart from Turkey, so which countries had we sided with?

…We may well have taken a stand on principle, inadvertently siding with our EU partners, had not Russia been the target of the UN resolution. But our government considers Russia a dependable ally at the UN Security Council, not to mention our lucrative business links…. In other words, the government allowed its foreign policy to be dictated by what it regarded as the national interest, rather than principles. … Russia-Turkey ties have become much closer since they signed a series of energy deals. And that may well mean us not being able to depend on Russia taking a principled stand on the Cyprus problem … for much longer. — (Sept 15)