Fiscal uncertainty

September 10th, 2012

It's an important question, and admittedly a delicate one. Can Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves hold up through the election cycle? In an interview to Dawn, the finance minister says yes, but leaves the door open to any exigency that might arise given the uncertainties that are about to be unleashed with the election cycle. He says “if the situation warrants, one can consider … a new arrangement with the [International Monetary] Fund” but sees it fit to expand no further. It’s an entirely appropriate response, given the enormity of the implications. Nobody should want to stir sentiment in the money markets by speculating or sensationalising news and views regarding the reserves.

But likewise, nobody should seek to create a false sense of security either, because it’s precisely when there is a perceived disconnect between the mood being conveyed by the government and reality as seen by the stakeholders that uncontrollable events tend to break out. A false sense of security is exactly how we created the stock market crisis in 2008, which nearly became a systemic financial crisis. We don’t want a repeat of that episode again, and it’s worth our while to remember that the election cycle of 2007 and 2008 began with “record high reserves” and ended with Pakistan rushing to the IMF for rapid emergency assistance.

The timeline for the election cycle begins with the announcement of the election schedule, and continues to the announcement and arrival of a caretaker set-up, to the conduct of polls, and then the tallying up of the new parliamentary arithmetic and parleys to form a ruling coalition, and then the summoning of the next assemblies and election of the new prime minister and appointment of the full cabinet. By the time this cycle ends, and we have a new cabinet in place, we will be close to or past the end of this fiscal year. The finance minister can reassure us that the economy will be looked after while he occupies the office, but what happens between the arrival of the caretaker and formation of the next cabinet is the real question at hand. That time period is when our reserves situation will be at its most delicate, and the fiscal facts of life will be mute and helpless. It’s worth a thought to consider how things could play out in that intervening period.

‘Coin flip race’

September 10th, 2012

With the Democratic Party formally nominating President Barack Obama as its candidate on Thursday, the election has become what the media is calling a ‘coin flip race’. Even though the president still enjoys a slight edge over Mitt Romney, the Republican nominee is making rapid gains and hitting President Obama hard where he is vulnerable — the economy: 8.2 per cent unemployment, three million jobless; and unsatisfactory healthcare. Mr Romney — with a personal fortune of $250m — claims he can fix the economy, though the Obama camp derides him because of his corporate background, saying it is big business that would gain at the expense of the American people. They have a point, for Mr Romney’s election pledge includes a brazen tilt in favour of the profit-maximising industrial conglomerates — tax relief for the rich and cuts in government spending.

President Obama inherited his predecessor’s mess, with a $3tr deficit. The economy was in recession because of the bank crash, and it goes to President Obama’s credit that he avoided a second recession by reviving the auto industry. The issue today is the American middle class, which feels squeezed and finds it difficult to maintain its lifestyle. Mr Romney’s cuts, the Democrats allege, could affect even education and research, thus further hitting the middle class. Very embarrassing for Mr Romney, his own policies on healthcare, gun control and abortion as Massachusetts governor bear a striking resemblance to the Obama policies he is criticising. In foreign affairs President Obama claims successes: he has ended the Iraq war, the Afghan pullout is set for 2014, Al Qaeda has been crippled and Osama bin Laden taken care of. Mr Romney, he says, is “new to foreign policy”, though the Republicans claim that America’s image in the Muslim world is worse than what it was under the Bush administration. Basically it is domestic issues rather than foreign policy that would determine the outcome of
the presidential race.

The Muslim world will judge the man in the White House by his policies towards the Palestinian issue and watch whether his anti-terror policies acquire an anti-Islamist hue.

Clogged drains

September 10th, 2012

Come the monsoons and many city dwellers start dreading the prospects of urban flooding. And as a picture published in this newspaper recently — of a storm-drain in Karachi oozing with mounds of garbage — showed, these fears are not unfounded. The picture belies the civic agencies’ claims of being prepared for the rains. During the recent spell of wet weather Peshawar and Karachi seem to have borne the brunt of rain-related havoc. Thankfully, the damage was limited, but that was more due to the fact that less rain was received, at least in Karachi. Still, problems were caused which could have been avoided with proper urban planning. Low-lying areas in both cities were flooded, while prolonged power outages due to creaky infrastructure were also reported. Traffic jams were also a major problem, especially in Karachi, mostly caused by panicky motorists in a rush to get home to avoid getting caught in a flood of water. However, traffic officials in the metropolis also attributed the gridlock to drainage issues, as stagnant water caused bottlenecks.

Clearing clogged drains to allow for the proper drainage of rainwater is the best solution to minimise the effects of urban flooding. Yet civic agencies across the country fail to realise this year after year. In Karachi there are spots that are notorious for drainage problems, while Peshawar’s sewerage system is also in bad shape. These deficiencies need to be addressed to prevent perennial flooding and the ensuing havoc. The need to clear clogged drains was highlighted several times before the arrival of the monsoons, but these warnings were not taken seriously. And it is not as if the rains came suddenly — the authorities had plenty of time to prepare as this year’s monsoons came quite late in the season. If rainwater drainage issues continue to be ignored by the civic bodies, it will only add to citizens’ woes.

Pricing mechanism

September 11th, 2012

Pricing reform in the oil and gas sector has received a boost lately. The days since the end of Ramazan have seen two important initiatives which were long overdue. One is the new petroleum policy, which provides incentives to the private sector to enhance output of gas from existing fields and to expand the search for new gas finds. The second is the reform of petroleum pricing, a measure that was passed in the days just prior to Eid, and has been implemented subsequently. As a result of the latter reform, prices of fuels like petrol and diesel are no longer set by the government as they used to be. Rather, the oil marketing companies set the price and announce it to the government and consumers. Moreover, where the government used to set the price every two weeks, now the OMCs will announce a new price every week, depending on the direction in which oil prices have moved in the international market.

Two things need to be said about this reform of petroleum pricing. First are the contradictory statements given by the petroleum minister when the reform measure was still under consideration. It was disappointing to see the minister sit before the relevant standing committees in the legislature and oppose the reform. All three standing committees that held hearings on the reform measure opposed it and instead argued for capping oil prices at levels obtaining on July 21. It was puzzling to see the minister add his voice to this populist consensus, and agree to carry this recommendation to the prime minister with his support. It was equally perplexing to see him go public with the bizarre proposal to cap oil prices for Eid, as a “gift to the people”. This step cost the government more than Rs1bn in subsidy payments until it was rescinded days after Eid, at the insistence of the finance minister. It is to the prime minister’s credit that he ignored the populist advice that was proffered with the support of the petroleum minister, and that he opted for the saner advice of the finance ministry instead.

Equally mystifying was the minister’s presence at the meeting of the Economic Coordination Committee where this measure was agreed upon, with the proposal for deregulating prices in his hands. How can one support deregulation at one forum, and back price caps at another? Secondly, there is also an important need to stabilise prices at the pump by absorbing the adjustment in prices in the petroleum development levy instead of passing fluctuations through to the pumps.

No lessons learnt

September 11th, 2012

If the picture hadn’t appeared on our pages with a caption delineating its archaeological status, the reader could be forgiven for thinking of the ruins of Mohenjodaro as a low-income settlement in a poor country where people, lacking technology and awareness, still went about their work in a rudimentary way. The picture shows a ragged labourer attempting to clear an area of rainwater with a bucket, protecting one structure even as he endangers another. Given the site’s archaeological significance, we would have thought that the government would have prioritised putting in place a more effective system to protect the ruins from degradation. In fact, the actual work accomplished is a case of too little, too late. The Sindh culture department had allocated Rs3m for pre-monsoon preparations, but the rains — which came late this year — started while work was still under way. Whether anything was actually completed can be gauged by the drainage methods being used after the deluge.

This lack of administrative preparedness is not confined to historical sites; the picture is no different in the rest of the country. Just prior to the start of the monsoons there was agreement in meteorological quarters that the rains were likely to be heavy. The need for provincial and district-level administrations to take pre-emptive measures such as shoring up embankments, de-silting canals and evacuating populations along embankments was underscored. From the state, there were assurances that such work was already under way, with that favourite catchphrase of the administration — ‘on red alert’ — being bandied about by all and sundry. And yet, here we are again: many people dead, vast tracts of agricultural land inundated and embankments washed away with the corresponding toll on the economy. During the most recent spell of rain, people have been swept away by flash floods or died as roofs and buildings collapsed. While some of the onus lies with the citizenry — every year there are cases of people refusing to evacuate a threatened area even when directed — there is too much evidence that the state machinery creaks into action only after the event. Can the Pakistani administrative edifice not learn?

Buddhist sites

September 11th, 2012

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has more than natural beauty. For Buddhists worldwide it has Takht Bahi, near Mardan, which Unesco rates as Pakistan’s most complete Buddhist monastery. Organised on modern lines, even this small segment of Pakistan’s vast tourism potential can prove to be lucrative. However, no Buddhist faithful, no matter how keen on pilgrimage, would come to Pakistan if he does not feel safe. Providing security for him is thus the first task the authorities should think of as they strive to organise Pakistan’s tourism industry according to international standards. Swat’s virtual occupation by the Taliban had dealt a blow to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s tourism industry; the terrorists’ expulsion from that tourist paradise, however, had only a marginal impact on tourist traffic because of the larger national image in which Pakistan has come to be associated with violence directed against minorities in the country and non-Muslim visitors.

The provincial government’s eagerness to revive tourism and make use of an opportunity to do so must be welcomed. Under the 18th Amendment Islamabad has handed over nearly 100 archaeological sites to the provincial government. The latter also wants the Starving Buddha, a Gandhara masterpiece in the Lahore museum, back in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. There are nearly 4,000 Buddhist relics in museums all over Pakistan, and Peshawar quite legitimately lays claim to them. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Tourism Corporation is also expanding and reconstructing the Swat museum with Italian help. However, tourism cannot click without a flourishing domestic industry, and more effort is needed to boost this.

Terrorism has driven away foreign visitors, investors, artists and scholars and discouraged Pakistanis themselves from exploring their own country. Buddhists from Japan, South Korea and other Far Eastern and Southeast Asian countries would flock to Pakistan in droves if they could be sure of the safety of life and limb.

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga

Sectarian attack

September 12th, 2012

A powerful car bomb on Monday shattered the relative calm that had prevailed in Parachinar over the last few months. The bomb exploded in a market, killing and injuring a number of people. A similar blast had struck a bazaar in the Kurram Agency capital in February. The TTP’s Ghazi group — a hitherto unknown outfit — has claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was targeted at Shias. However, too much effort should not be spent on scrutinising the names of groups, as militants have a habit of regularly splintering into factions and re-branding themselves — such is the amorphous nature of militancy in Pakistan. In this case, there are suggestions that the attack could have been the handiwork of some elements from the TTP chapter in Darra Adamkhel.

While many parts of the country are currently being affected by sectarian terrorism — and Parachinar cannot be detached from this wider narrative — the region also has its own particular dynamics, as tribal vendettas get intertwined with sectarian politics. Yet while some degree of tension has existed between Kurram’s Shia and Sunni tribes in the strategically important area for the past few decades, in the current situation it has been witnessed that elements from outside the Agency are working to sabotage peace efforts. Such attacks often occur whenever normality is beginning to take root in Kurram. Hence, the security forces need to concentrate their efforts on ensuring that militants from outside Kurram are unable to sneak in to carry out acts of terrorism.

It has been noted that the opening of the Thall-Parachinar road last October has made militants’ access to Kurram easier. When the arterial road was closed for several years, it presented a different set of difficulties for Kurram residents, severing communication links with the region and the rest of Pakistan. Now that the route is open, blocking the militants’ access must be ensured. Thankfully, there has been no communal violence after Monday’s bombing. But if the situation is not contained, tensions can easily escalate. The area has witnessed horrific violence in the past. The security establishment must increase troop deployment in all troubled areas to reassure residents while the state should take tribal representatives and elders into confidence in an effort to maintain communal harmony. The tribes in the past have pledged to work towards peace, hence all external irritants attempting to harm the peace process must be neutralised. The intelligence apparatus must also work towards thwarting further attacks while most importantly, there’s a need for security forces to remain vigilant regarding elements from outside Kurram trying to get in and disturb the peace.

Mystery deepens

September 12th, 2012

In an already enigmatic case, a mysterious piece of reporting has appeared that carries potentially disruptive implications for Pakistan’s most tortuous bilateral relationship. The interview of the jailed Dr Shakil Afridi that has been published on the Fox News website and is highly critical of the ISI prompts many questions: where and how was it carried out? How did the reporter gain access to the doctor?

When Dr Afridi spoke to the reporter, was he aware that he would be quoted in a widely available interview, and did he do so willingly despite knowing he would still be at the mercy of Pakistani police and intelligence the next day? Knowing the answers to these is important because, for one, the fate of Dr Afridi has become a point of disagreement between Pakistan and the US, and the authenticity and reliability of such sensitive reporting on the issue needs to be established. Second, Dr Afridi appears to make broad claims about the ISI’s strategies, tactics and militant links, and it is unclear what qualifies him to do so. A domestic audience may be able to determine how much is speculation and how much fact, but internationally, his words will be taken s further evidence of Pakistani duplicity whether or not they are rooted in actual knowledge of the ISI’s links and actions.

Much of this could have been avoided if Dr Afridi had had access to a fair and transparent judicial process. Instead, carried out under the Frontier Crimes Regulation and charging him with crimes that had nothing to do with the Abbottabad raid, his trial has only given rise to suspicions at home and abroad that the goal of the Pakistani authorities is to detain him one way or another. It has also raised legitimate questions about why they want to do so despite Dr Afridi being either unaware of his role in the plot or, even if he was aware, helping to capture an enemy of both Pakistan and the US. Sadly, it is Pakistan’s own dubious treatment of Dr Afridi that has left it vulnerable to the further accusations that this interview will lead to.

Loose words

September 12th, 2012

“Is … [Pakistan] a banana republic?” So went the angry rhetoric to which a PML-Q senator resorted in the National Assembly while criticising the recent arrival of a delegation of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. By his own account, Mohammed Raza Hayat Hiraj fears that the team’s report might be used to highlight the views of the “one per cent” separatists of Balochistan. However, he needs reminding that the euphemistically named but very serious issue of ‘forced disappearances’ has been with us for several years now. Repeated efforts and appeals from human rights organisations, the families of the disappeared and even organs of the state have failed to produce any meaningful answers as to who, within what agency, is indulging in unlawful detentions and how those thought to be in illegal custody can be recovered. The unhappy fact is that too often, suspected ‘kill-and-dump’ victims turn out to be those thought to have been made to forcibly ‘disappear’. While Balochistan appears to be the main theatre of operations of such transgressions, there are indications that similar tactics are being employed elsewhere too.

The missing persons issue is already being investigated by the Supreme Court and a parliamentary committee on national security. If the country’s security forces are not involved, as they have repeatedly affirmed, then there’s nothing to hide. The UN committee ought to be given full access and support at every level of the administration. This murky issue needs to be cleared up. At the international level, it casts an ugly shadow over Pakistan, which already has a poor human rights record, while at the national level it erodes public faith in a security apparatus that is stretched to the limit trying to contain threats from myriad quarters, and which needs every drop of support it can muster.

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga

Karachi’s inferno

September 13th, 2012

Clearly the country’s worst industrial disaster, the factory blaze in Karachi will be seared in memory as the Pakistani worker’s 9/11. Like the factory fire that struck Lahore on the same day killing over 20 people, it had long been building up in the casinos of government officials who make their fortune gambling on the lives of the hapless millions. The tragedy that began to unfold on Tuesday has taken the entire country in an asphyxiating grip of grief mixed with rage. Questions, though belated, are being asked about the non-implementation of safety standards and the massive corruption in government ranks which led to such flagrant violations of the law. These questions must also be put to all departments concerned — whether labour, industries or local and provincial administrations — and responsibility affixed for the catastrophe. Compensation too must be given to the families of the dead or injured, many of them the sole breadwinners for old parents and children in a society where poverty has struck deep roots.

With this tragedy, it has become imperative for all factories in the country to undergo regular inspections and a thorough cleanup. Anything short of that will be an insult to the hundreds who over the years have paid with their lives for a system that is rotten to the core. Changing the system will be a challenge to stranded workers looking for an exit from the virtual hell that still must erupt into an inferno to get noticed — a challenge which others in civil society must help the workers take on.

Factories in Pakistan are kingdoms unto themselves. They are concentration camps where workers are denied their basic rights enshrined in the constitution, in the country’s labour laws and in international conventions. Even a proper appointment letter is more often than not a favour, and not a rule, and those who are not employed as per the regulations have no claim to privileges, not even compensation in accident cases. Trade unions are a luxury which can hurt the owners’ interests. The government promises to reinvigorate them but is either too meek or too overwhelmed by petty profits to even try and implement the existing law. The presence of unions could have ensured better working conditions — more fire exits at least — for those lost forever in the industrial holes in Karachi and Lahore. But then recent anti-terrorism cases against workers in Faisalabad and Karachi spell out just how difficult it is to even demand something as basic as a union. This betrays a flawed policy and must change. Organised, active unions are the first and vital defence against greedy employers and their equally selfish partners in government. Allowed enabling space, these organised workers could ultimately provide the country with the forward-looking front so desperately needed.

Numbers yet again

September 13th, 2012

Once again the power bureaucracy has been asked to provide a list of defaulters, and once more they have produced their favourite list which gives names of government departments and ‘influential individuals’ who are not paying their electricity bills and whose connections cannot be disconnected due to political influence. The list has been provided by the Water and Power Minister to the National Assembly in response to a question fielded by an opposition MNA. The total outstanding receivables that the power distribution companies are claiming stand at Rs232bn, according to the minister’s response which gives a slightly more detailed breakdown of which distribution companies are owed how much by what category of consumer.

But here ends the whole affair. Except for those with a fondness for lists and figures nothing good ever comes of these exercises. Similar lists and figures of power-sector losses have been produced on many occasions in the past, only to be remarked upon and then buried. The last such figure made the news only a few weeks ago, when finance ministry sources leaked that power-sector receivables had crossed Rs472bn, and were accumulating at the rate of Rs1bn per day. Note these figures don’t tally with the figure provided by the minister to the National Assembly, unless a payment of around Rs240bn has been made in the past fortnight, something that has not been reported. It’s not unusual for power-sector numbers provided by the government to not tally. Very little effort is made by the ministry to conscientiously vet the numbers. Instead of these episodic and ad hoc disclosures of unverified numbers, what the power sector needs is a disclosure regime mandated by law which sets a template for all the data that needs to be released on a weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis. Only then will we be able to get a proper picture of what is going wrong where in the power sector’s finances.

Safety of routes

September 13th, 2012

On Tuesday, the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa information minister announced that a special security force for the protection of passengers using the Karakoram Highway was being raised. This announcement, coming in the wake of several deadly ambushes on the highway and on the route connecting Quetta to Iran, should be welcomed. Nevertheless, it is hoped that the exercise in planning protection for these vulnerable routes is undertaken keeping the state’s capacity in mind. Most of those pulled out of buses and killed both on the Karakoram Highway and Balochistan belonged to the Shia community. Ambushes have taken place in Kohistan, Mansehra and Quetta this year while pilgrims bound for Iran were massacred in Mastung last year. Concerned officials have met at the interior ministry in Islamabad, but so far little has been done to visibly increase the security of those using these two volatile routes.

Some solutions towards securing both routes are common, while others require action particular to the situation. For instance, buses should be grouped in convoys and travel with security escorts on both routes. However, locals in Gilgit-Baltistan point out that it is beyond the authorities’ capacity to realistically patrol the entire Karakoram Highway because of its length and treacherous terrain. Instead, they want the administration to address the root of the problem by prosecuting and punishing hate-mongers active in Gilgit town. Underpinning such measures would be a stronger effort by the intelligence apparatus to identify militants and alert security officials to impending attacks. Allegations that elements within the security apparatus are either colluding with or looking the other way while militants carry out their butchery also need to be investigated. Unless such definitive measures are planned and implemented, the assertion that the state has no concern for vulnerable travellers targeted by terrorist groups would stand justified.

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga

Time to act

Several inquiry teams have been set up, suo motu notice has been taken and glib promises made about the payment of compensation. At the provincial and federal levels, officialdom has loudly reiterated that those found responsible will face that favourite of governmental red herrings, ‘stern action’. More than 250 people died when a garment manufacturing unit in Karachi’s SITE area turned into a raging inferno; the horror faced by most of the workers in their last moments does not bear thinking of. Can we nurse hopes that their lives were not lost entirely in vain? Could future researchers on labour reform in Pakistan look back at this tragedy as the turning point that caused the sluggish administration to wake up to its responsibilities towards enforcing labour and safety standard laws?

Sadly, if the past is taken as an indicator, the chances are slim. It is in the manner of things in Pakistan that each new tragedy, each preventable accident — even those as heartbreaking as this one — is met with promises of good intentions to fix the system, only to be forgotten within days and weeks as the lethargy returns. Whether it is a road accident that could have been prevented by more stringent tests for road-worthiness, a CNG cylinder explosion that could have been averted had installation and manufacturing taken place under honest governmental oversight, or a building that collapsed because the construction codes were not enforced, the administration’s response is to wait it out until some new outrage forces it to the back of society’s memory.

In cases involving the industrial lobby, groups that have a vested interest in maintaining the status quo — and these are comprised of individuals for whom such tragedies have a monetary, not human, dimension — find the state to be quite compliant and unwilling to improve working conditions for the voiceless labour force. The state’s predilection towards capitulating is quite clear: since the late 1990s, different administrations in Punjab and Sindh bowed before the industrialist lobby and barred inspectors from entering the factory premises to check if safety and other standards mandated by the law were being met. And while Punjab overturned the ban early this year, the dysfunction of the labour inspection system is evident from the similar tragedy that befell workers of a Lahore unit on the same day. The labour inspection system is an essential first step from where workers’ rights issues can be addressed. Will the government ever find the will to stand up in support of the rights and safety of the millions that are its raison d’être?

Fixing accountability

NAB’s appointment of a new adviser to the chairman is a reminder that the agency is often in the news for developments that have little to do with its mandate. Viewed as a body on its way out pending the creation of a new watchdog under a new accountability law, and at the same time considered vulnerable to government influence, the so-called National Accountability Bureau appears to have become largely toothless. Its now-overturned appointment by the attorney general to take the lead in the Arsalan Iftikhar-Malik Riaz case, for example — a matter arguably beyond its jurisdiction — has reinforced the impression that the administration views it as a tool to be used strategically. Restrained from pursuing high-profile cases against those close to the ruling party or against important opposition figures — witness the obstacles it has faced in pur-suing corruption cases against the Sharifs — it has only been able to tackle smaller cases even after the long-awaited appointment of the current chief in October, when the body had been without a chairman for several months. NAB is also dogged by rumours of nepotism, with the chairman having been charged by the body’s own officers — although the petition was later withdrawn — of appointing his favourites in key positions in violation of procedure. From frequent personnel changes to allegations of bias and questions about its relevance, NAB needs an overhaul if it is to be taken seriously as an anti-corruption organisation.

But will the new accountability law being circulated between the ruling party and the opposition do much to change this? Leaks to the media suggest the draft bill goes some way towards creating a more autonomous body; its head would be appointed by a parliamentary commission consisting of both treasury and opposition members. But apparently there are still loopholes such as a bar on investigating foreign assets, a time limit on pursuing cases, no jurisdiction over cases already in process when the law is enacted and protection for acts committed “in good faith”. NAB has already gone from a body seen as aggressively pursuing politically motivated cases to one that isn’t doing much about high-level corruption. Will its replacement be even more ineffectual?

A common platform

A few months after it was reactivated at the national level, the Milli Yakjehti Council held the first major meeting of its Sindh chapter in Karachi on Wednesday. With Qazi Hussain Ahmed heading the grouping of religious parties, participants of the meeting made all the right noises, pledging to combat communal divisions and sectarian terrorism in Pakistan. It is a positive move by religious leaders, especially considering the current noxious atmosphere in the country. Qazi Sahib also clarified that the MYC is not an election alliance. The former Jamaat-i-Islami chief has long been trying to bring together different Muslim factions; the MYC is an interesting mix of Shia and Sunni parties, including representatives of various sub-groups. It was symbolic to hold the moot in Karachi, bearing in mind the city’s recent history of sectarian strife. Perhaps the council should also meet in other hot spots across Pakistan where communal violence is threatening the social fabric. The MYC also passed a resolution condemning sectarian killings in Karachi, Quetta and Gilgit-Baltistan.

But beyond condemnations, the men of the cloth need to take practical steps to help stem the seemingly unstoppable tide of hatred and bigotry that is sweeping this country. The council must address the root causes of sectarian violence: the spread of hate material and the existence of sectarian militias. The ulema must devise a code of conduct that comes down hard on preachers who use the pulpit or the media to fan the flames of hatred, especially when it comes to declaring others kafirs or non-believers. Also, the mainstream clergy needs to rein in sectarian militants; while some ulema indeed have no control over these elements, there are certain figures within the MYC whom the militants look up to. The MYC’s efficacy will only be proved if it can make progress on these two critical fronts.

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga

A delicate moment

September 15th, 2012

A dubious character of unclear nationality makes a highly offensive film about Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the US. With the help of others who, based on the available footage, had little purpose beyond tastelessly mocking the religion, a portion of it reaches the Arab world on the Internet. Understandably, in a part of the world where many are protective of their faith above all else, these clips spark deep offence. And the protests that follow once again feed into the false and destabilising impression that there is a war between civilisations, raising questions about whether Muslim countries and the West can survive peacefully alongside each other in an increasingly globalised world. The reality is, though, that controversies such as the one over this film or the Danish cartoons or the Quran-burning in Texas are not in fact conflicts between monolithic concepts of ‘Islam’ and ‘the West’. Nor are they attempts by certain countries or governments to destablise others. They are storms brewed by small numbers of incendiary, irresponsible people with little regard for global sensitivities or the consequences their actions can have.

The best way to respond to such actions is to ignore them or to protest peacefully, and that is where the reaction to the film clips in some Muslim countries could have been different. Attacking American missions and their innocent employees holds a government responsible for the actions of independent actors. It chooses violence over the rule of law. And it works against Muslims themselves, strengthening the paranoid impression that has developed around the world that they harbour a deep and dangerous hatred of all things non-Muslim. Responding violently to the creations of fringe elements simply feeds into the false impressions of Islam these elements believe in and are trying to perpetuate.

But in the days to come it is not just violence, but politics and diplomacy that will also be at stake. How this plays out will in part depend on how the issue is handled by America and Egypt, where the president is trying to balance the country’s newly won democracy with his obligations to the outside world. The US-backed Arab Spring has, as a natural consequence of increased freedom, given more space to religious conservatives. The way to tackle this increased complexity is for America to honour sensitivities in the Muslim world and for Muslim countries to keep violence in check. Neither can afford to let democracy in the region, or relations between America and Muslim countries, be held hostage to the actions of a group of reckless and insensitive film-makers.

Unclear changes

September 15th, 2012

The revisions to the Anti Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Regulations may be a positive move but hardly go far enough. For instance, under the new regulations “banks/DFIs shall not open or maintain anonymous accounts or accounts in the name of fictitious persons or numbered accounts” and “shall not provide any banking services to proscribed entities and persons or to those who are associated with such entities and persons, whether under the proscribed name or with a different name”. The layperson can be forgiven for being puzzled. Does this mean that before the new regulations, banks were able to open anonymous accounts, numbered accounts, accounts in the name of proscribed entities and persons connected with the latter? If so, how was this possible after years of fighting a war against internal insurgent groups widely reported to be using funds earned from illegal activities to finance their operations? If not, why were these regulations issued in the first place?

There is much in the new regulations that makes one wonder if we have been serious in our campaign against militancy all along. For example, we know that money is moving through the clearing houses of Quetta and Peshawar in quantities so large that one cannot even guess what kind of economic activity is driving these. If it’s true that banks have not been maintaining enough data about the intercity movement of funds, especially data that would help identify the beneficiary, then that is an oversight that must be explained. Will banks now maintain a list of proscribed groups and individuals associated with them so as to be able
to deny them account-

opening privileges? Much of what needs to be done to ensure the financial system has no entry points for illicit money — for money belonging to proscribed groups and for tax-evaded wealth — requires greater cooperation between the financial system and authorities such as the Federal Board of Revenue and interior ministry. Let’s hope this first step towards cleaning up our financial system is followed up by other measures required to make anti money-laundering and terror-financing efforts more effective.

An impatient ANF

September 15th, 2012

The Anti Narcotics Force could have avoided the unsavoury episode outside the Supreme Court on Friday. It is true that the force was tasked to arrest MNA Ali Musa Gilani and there were also reports the accused had gone into hiding. Yet the visibly forceful interception when a court hearing was just a few yards away made little sense. With live cameras at hand, the ANF roughed up the young MNA before arresting him as he arrived to appear before the SC.

In something of an anticlimax, Mr Gilani was free after barely an hour in custody — and he was free to contribute to his party’s case against the ‘selective persecution’ of its members. Speaking outside the court following the acceptance of his bail plea in the ephedrine quota investigation, he found the moment opportune for a comparison between those who abided by the law and those who didn’t. His emphasis was on his status as an elected representative and he was soon joined by party colleagues protesting, one, the humiliation of parliamentarians and two, singling out PPP for this treatment.

By the looks of it an incident that could have been averted is going to spur another charged round in the ongoing debate. The PPP will come up with more ‘evidence’ to prove its allegations and its political opponents will try to paint the PPP government as corrupt beyond redemption. Along with its more obvious fallouts, its political gains and losses, this politicisation of the affair could stall the start of a wider, more thorough probe into the pharmaceutical industry that the emergence of this case had promised. Few have been able to venture into this territory even when it is a constant source of rumour and suspicion and is so worthy of some intervention by an authoritative force.

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga

Unnecessary words

September 16th, 2012

When Abdul Qadeer Khan speaks, there’s always a sense that perhaps it were best if he hadn’t. In a fawning interview given to a section of the local media, the controversial key figure in Pakistan’s acquisition of the nuclear deterrent has claimed that he was ordered by then prime minister Benazir Bhutto to transfer nuclear technology to two countries essentially, giving Mr Khan’s activities an official imprimatur. Prima facie, as with much else that the erratic Mr Khan has claimed in public since his spectacular fall nearly a decade ago, the latest allegations are fairly implausible. In both her terms as prime minister, Ms Bhutto was known to have been kept far away from decisions on the nuclear programme by the self-appinted nuclear guardians, i.e. the army high command. Indeed, this was true for civilians generally, with Nawaz Sharif, the other leader of a civilian dispensation between generals Zia and Musharraf, having no input in the safety and security of the nuclear programme.

The more riveting truth that the interview glossed over was that this is the first time Mr Khan has of his own volition admitted to being involved in proliferation. When he appeared on TV during the Musharraf years to take responsibility for the nuclear proliferation from Pakistan he later claimed it was done under duress. Now that he has finally owned up to his role, he has seen fit to transfer blame to the civilian leadership of the time and just cast himself as someone following orders. That is a narrative that even the most credulous of observers would find hard to take at face value; the powers-that-be in Pakistan are well known to all.

There is a broader problem with Mr Khan’s public pronouncements, however. The Pakistani security establishment has worked hard to formalise and strengthen control over the country’s nuclear programme and while much of the work has taken place away from the public eye, there is a growing consensus among experts, national and international, that both the safety and security of the Pakistani nuclear programme have been vastly improved. Of course, in nuclear matters, particularly with the very serious internal security threats Pakistan faces, there is no room for complacency. In that environment, A.Q. Khan’s assertions are an unnecessary and unwelcome distraction from present-day concerns. And, as he embarks on a fledgling political career, if Mr Khan continues to hold forth on his controversial past, it will only give more ammunition to hardliners in the international community who want Pakistan to be treated as a nuclear rogue state with a terrorism problem. A.Q. Khan should weigh his words more carefully.

Times of fear

September 16th, 2012

As two recent incidents indicate, everyday life in many parts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the tribal areas is on the verge of paralysis due to fear of the Taliban. The extremist militants have put up threatening posters in Matani Bazaar in the outskirts of Peshawar. Such is the dread of the Taliban that locals prefer not to discuss the posters amongst themselves for fear of being ‘reported’ to the militants. While advising traders to ‘focus on their business’, the message conveyed by the posters is that the Taliban have eyes and ears in the area. In a related development, motorbikes have been banned in the Salarzai tehsil of Bajaur Agency for ‘security reasons’, as the authorities fear militants could use motorbikes for ‘anti-social activities’. The logic of this decision is difficult to comprehend and we can safely assume the ban will hit the common people a lot harder than it will the Taliban. In the past barbers have been threatened for shaving beards while cellphone shop owners have been warned against uploading songs or movies on the phones. The current situation bears comparison to what was going on in Swat before security forces evicted militants from the region in 2009.

If the state cannot pull down threatening posters from the outskirts of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa capital, how can it be expected to protect people from militant attacks? Locals have been quite critical of what they say is the police’s inaction over the posters. The Taliban cannot be allowed to dictate people’s lives. Instead of being silent spectators, the authorities need to actively prevent the creeping growth of Talibanisation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Fata. If the Taliban can have informers within the civilian population, the intelligence apparatus needs to stay one step ahead and keep better tabs on the militants. One major problem that has been pointed out is that the tribal lashkars the state has supported to counter the Taliban are being neglected. It is essential the authorities take locals into confidence so that effective counter-intelligence and counterterrorism moves can be taken against the militants to check the growth of extremism.

A symbolic gesture

September 16th, 2012

Resignations in protest have been witnessed occasionally but Friday’s resignation by Abdul Rauf Siddiqi from his post as Sindh’s industries minister is different. This occasion stands delineated from others because it appears to be about a senior government functionary’s frustration at his inability to plug the administrative holes that allowed Karachi’s fire tragedy to occur. Mr Siddiqi says that he found himself “helpless and with no authority to move against the people responsible” for the blaze that killed over 250 people. The tragedy is on a scale where heads would have rolled in countries in which politicians have more of a conscience than what is usually displayed by their counterparts in Pakistan. Yet while the country is no stranger to disasters that could either have been averted by proper administrative oversight or whose effects could have been mitigated by efficient administrative reaction, more often than not politicians are content to ride out the storm rather than shoulder any responsibility.

Mr Siddiqi’s resignation is a gesture that betrays more symbolism than culpability, for the key institutions responsible for safety measures and labour rights are the civil defence department and the labour ministry, neither of which fell under his purview as minister. Nevertheless, his move sends out a strong signal that may lend some small measure of strength to the bereaved. More importantly, though, the creaking edifice of administration and governmental oversight is in desperate need of a thorough overhaul. The labour inspection system needs to be revitalised — in the case of Sindh the bar on inspectors entering workplaces must be lifted. The most important thing officialdom can do in the memory of the victims of the country’s biggest industrial calamity is to make sure that such a tragedy does not happen again.

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga

A delicate dance

September 17th, 2012

The first step in a carefully choreographed two-step has been pulled off with diplomatic dexterity: US Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Marc Grossman, and his team have completed a two-day visit to Islamabad without any fireworks. The next step is Foreign Minister Hina Khar’s visit to Washington later this week where it is hoped that a whittled-down and more focused framework for ties between the two countries will be formalised. If that sounds relatively straightforward, recent history suggests it will be anything but that. A low-key operator who eschews public drama, Mr Grossman’s visit nonetheless pulled the curtain back ever so slightly on the deep differences that separate the two sides. President Zardari was quoted as demanding an end to drone strikes, while the US side made sure that its demand for the release of Shakil Afridi, the imprisoned Pakistani doctor who aided the Americans in their attempt to hunt down Osama bin Laden, was given a public airing. Clearly, then, much bad blood and mistrust characterise a relationship that neither side really wants to be in but cannot afford to break off entirely either.

Confused — and confusing to the outsider — as the official Pakistani approach may be to its relationship with the US, there is also an unmistakable sense that the Americans themselves are unsure about how to proceed with Pakistan. The White House is focused on a re-election campaign in which foreign policy, particularly Pakistan, barely figures. The special representative position held by Mr Grossman may not exist come the next presidency, Republican or Democrat. The US military, which pushed hard for the designation of the Haqqanis as a foreign terrorist organisation, is thought to be looking at Pakistan as a plausible scapegoat when the inevitable military failure in Afghanistan is accepted in the US. The CIA, having dealt directly the most with its intelligence counterparts in Pakistan, has seen too much double-dealing over the last decade to be won over by any assurances at this stage. The counterterrorism and national security agencies are rabid about international jihadis and want to squeeze Pakistan further. And the US Congress has many hostile elements and no real friends of Pakistan. All those disparate elements have yet to be brought together in terms of a coherent and focused approach on Pakistan; in the near term, it seems virtually impossible that it will happen.

Here in Pakistan, at least one good option is still available: put our own house in order for Pakistan’s sake. For regardless of whether ties with the US improve or deteriorate, regardless of whether Afghanistan emerges fairly stable or slips back into chaos, Pakistan’s primary interest ought to be to ensure domestic stability security-wise, economically and politically. A zero- tolerance approach to militancy is the starting point for an internally secure Pakistan that would ensure that regional and international relationships are engaged in from a position of strength.

Pre-poll Punjab

September 17th, 2012

A former MNA’s short ‘trip’ to the PML-N last week is representative of the games going on at the moment in Punjab. Ahmed Raza Maneka, an ex-MNA from Pakpattan, had joined the party on Thursday. The news was duly flashed in the media and the magnetic powers of the Sharifs, close to a general election, were celebrated. But lo and behold! It took Mr Maneka only a day to emerge from the Sharif cocoon and return to the terrain of harsh political realities. On Friday he reposed his confidence in his old party, the PML-Q, leaving the N-League red-faced. PML-N’s Senator Pervaiz Rasheed took the safest option the situation allowed him: he disowned the party statement which had announced the Maneka catch only a day earlier.

At stake is the party nomination for the general election — and this is what seems to have determined Mr Maneka’s Q-uick retreat. The rush for the ticket has led to much traffic on inter-party routes in the country and he is only one of a large number of passengers. The crossovers are more pronounced in Punjab where many parties have done well in the last few polls, throwing up in their trail candidates who are fresh enough in public memory to want to retry their luck with the voters. The PTI’s entry as a serious contender makes the scenario even more difficult to predict. PTI is the ‘X’ factor whereas PML-Q continues to surprise by drawing election aspirants who cannot be simply written off. In certain parts of the province, the Q-League is more active, or more attractive, to candidates than its bigger ally, the PPP. PML-N with the biggest share of elected representatives in the province right now has been able to woo a large number on its own. The all-too-familiar PML-N slogan that the anti-PPP vote must be consolidated is getting louder and louder. The Maneka volte face is a bump. It is proof that this time round the Sharifs will have to do much more than simply raise the PPP bogey to win an election.

A loss for literature

September 17th, 2012

Literature in Pakistan is a lot poorer after the death of Hajra Masroor. However, the veteran short-story writer has left an impressive body of work that will continue to influence future generations of Urdu writers. Born into a Lucknow family with literary tastes, Hajra Masroor was a versatile writer who worked in various media. She began publishing her short stories before Partition, with her first story published when she was only 16. Together with her equally gifted sister, writer Khadija Mastoor, she also recorded stories for All India Radio before Partition. To their credit, both sisters rose quite quickly on the subcontinent’s literary horizon, which at the time also featured major women writers such as Qurratulain Hyder and Ismat Chughtai. Hajra Masroor also worked for a time with the women’s wing of the Muslim League. After migrating to Pakistan, Hajra Masroor co-edited the literary journal Nuqoosh with Ahmad Nadeem Qasimi. However, the publication would court trouble from the authorities of the time due to its progressive leanings. Demonstrating her versatility, the writer also wrote the story and dialogue of a film Aakhri Station, which was shot in East Pakistan.

Critics described Hajra Masroor’s writing style as ‘simple yet effective’, while her use of symbols in her stories was also appreciated. Acquaintances recall she had a rational line of thought and was concerned about how society could be improved. Keeping with her progressive ethos, the writer also highlighted the oppression of women — especially in the rural areas — in her work. There was also an element of subtle satire in her writings. She won a number of awards, including recognition from the Majlis Taraqqi-i-Adab as well as from the Anjuman Farogh-i-Urdu Adab. Sadly, the writer was not able to pen her memoirs despite expressing a wish to do so.

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga

Far from the circus

September 18th, 2012

The contortions of leaders as the deadly cut and thrust of politics plays out in Pakistan could easily lead an observer to believe that, as in some Machiavellian court, the be all and end all is power. But as the circus of politics goes from one impossible feat to the next, from time to time stories — usually tragedies — make their way through the headlines about ousted prime ministers and clashing institutions to raise the issue of silent sufferers whose welfare is almost an afterthought for the state. Last week, Pakistanis learnt to their horror that an ineffective labour-inspection system corroded by powerful groups with vested interests had caused over 250 people to perish in circumstances that defy the imagination. Meanwhile, the rains have destroyed the lives and livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of people, particularly in Baloch-istan, southern Punjab and Sindh. In just two districts of Balochistan — Naseerabad and Jaffarabad — an estimated 600,000 people have been marooned.

Predictably, the state’s response has been to creakily roll out rescue efforts after the damage has already been done. Can the state administration say with honesty that everything possible was done pre-emptively to mitigate rain-related havoc? Given the experience of the past two years, the state ought to have been more prepared, particularly with regard to planned evacuations, camps for displaced people, rations stored against future needs and a coordinated rescue strategy. Instead, what we are witnessing, as usual, is different agencies — including the army, national and provincial-level disaster management cells, etc — doing what they can but generally appearing as though they’ve been caught napping.

For years, there have been warnings about the effects of climate change; Pakistan will undoubtedly be affected. This is the third consecutive year that the country has been hit by a destructive monsoon. The Met office is forecasting heavy rain over the week in the northern parts of the country, water that will make its way south. There is still time to plan for the coming deluge over the next weeks and months. Better mechanisms and systems need to be put in place urgently. Demonstrably, it is not enough to establish emergency response agencies unless these are equipped, trained and interested in fulfilling their mandate. In many countries, what has proved most effective is the involvement of local leadership and administrative mechanisms, with their on-the-ground knowledge and stakes in the welfare of an area. Is it too much to ask for politics to be put on hold and for political elites to come together to plan for the welfare of this country’s hapless millions?

Rising tensions

September 18th, 2012

It remains to be seen whether the Obama administration wavers on its Iran policy as the presidential vote nears. Two developments are cause for concern. Israel has upped the ante, and in two TV interviews coming in rapid succession Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has asked America to draw a red line, claiming Iran has done “90 per cent” of work on weapons-grade uranium. The greater cause of worry is Mitt Romney’s categorical support for the Likud government. In Israel in July, the US Republican presidential candidate said he would not stand in the way of a unilateral Israeli strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. He also said Jerusalem, now under occupation, was Israel’s capital and that any US criticism of the Likud government’s policy on settlements helped Israel’s enemies — provoking immediate denunciation from the Palestinian Authority.

Over the weekend, US officials didn’t agree with Mr Netanyahu on the “red line” and said the Obama administration also believed Iran shouldn’t be allowed to manufacture nuclear weapons. Defence Secretary Leon Panetta said governments the world over didn’t operate with “a bunch of red lines”, and American ambassador to the UN Susan Rice said the existing diplomatic and economic pressures on Iran were working. She claimed that the Iranian economy was in a mess and that oil production and currency had gone down by 40 per cent. The truth, however, is that there is a tacit, bipartisan agreement on America’s Middle East policy. There may be differences in shades, but — with Congress firmly in the hands of the Israel lobby — there is little possibility that any US administration would adopt a policy other than one of unabashed kowtowing to Israel. Mr Netanyahu, of course, knows this is the best possible time to extract maximum concessions from the two presidential candidates on its trigger-happy policy. It would be myopic for the two candidates to surrender to the pro-Israel lobby for electoral gains and ignore the long-term effects of such a policy. At the same time, it is just as important that Iran be more transparent about its nuclear plans and lower its confrontational rhetoric.

Diseased livestock

September 18th, 2012

It is indeed a relief that the Sindh government has begun to cull thousands of infected sheep that were brought into the country from Australia. However, it is safe to assume that if it were not for the hue and cry raised by the media, the meat from these sheep may easily have ended up on our dinner plates. Health officials said the culling was necessary as the infections — the animals were infected with foot-and-mouth disease, among other ailments — could have spread to local livestock. The episode raises questions primarily regarding government oversight, or lack thereof, when it comes to the import and export of livestock. For instance, why were the sheep, imported by a private concern, allowed into the country when they had already been rejected by Bahrain? Also, the authorities must explain why the animals were released before being properly examined in quarantine and why they were kept with healthy animals.

The stakeholders’ urge to cut corners and the government’s willingness to look the other way has cost Pakistan’s livestock, fisheries and agriculture sectors dearly. For example, the European Union has banned the import of Pakistani seafood since 2007 due to concerns about the lack of hygienic handling of the catch in local harbours. Fruit export has also suffered due to local exporters’ failure to meet international standards. All this amounts to shooting ourselves in the foot. While importing diseased animals, presumably for local consumption, is tantamount to playing with people’s lives, ignoring safety and hygiene standards for export products translates to shutting ourselves out of foreign markets. The government needs to ensure livestock raised in the country for export or animals brought in for local consumption are healthy not only in the interest of public health, but also to prevent Pakistani exports from being labelled as unfit for consumption.

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga

A new target

September 20th, 2012

Karachi was already on edge before Tuesday’s twin bombings struck a predominantly Dawoodi Bohra neighbourhood in the North Nazimabad area. The city was in the grip of protests against an anti-Islam film and targeted killings continued unabated. Elsewhere, in Balochistan’s Mastung district — the same area where pilgrims were pulled out of a bus and killed last year — a car bomb targeted a bus carrying Shia pilgrims returning from Iran. However, in the Karachi killing, the perpetrators targeted, perhaps for the first time, the Bohras, a peaceful, industrious, mercantile community. The perpetrators knew what they were doing: the site of the blasts is close to the city’s main Bohra mosque, while community members usually gather in the bustling commercial-cum-residential area after evening prayers, which is when the bombings occurred. The blasts came only a day after Mufaddal Bhaisaheb, son and designated successor of the current Bohra leader, was in the metropolis. Last month, a bomb had been discovered and defused in the same spot.

The bombings add a new dimension to the bloodshed, pulling the apolitical Bohra community into the vortex of violence. The authorities still need to confirm whether the attack was purely sectarian in nature, or if it was motivated by the desire to extract protection money from the community. All angles need to be examined. Nevertheless, what the blasts prove beyond any doubt is that nobody is safe in Karachi: if a peaceful community such as the Bohras can be targeted, anyone is vulnerable. Aside from spreading fear, such attacks also undermine the city’s economy. The Bohras constitute one of the city’s oldest and more financially stable business communities. But if people’s lives, properties and businesses are not safe from terrorist violence, who will want to invest in Karachi?

Even as other motivations for the killing are investigated, police have pointed to the possible involvement of a faction of Lashkar-i-Jhangvi believed to be one of the most active militant groups in Karachi, while its acts of terror in Balochistan are already established. Hence, instead of making half-hearted claims about investigating the attacks, the state needs to crush Lashkar-i-Jhangvi, as the outfit is fast becoming the primary source of terrorism in this country. Such action is needed against all terrorist groups as there are reports that members of smaller sects within Islam in Karachi are also being threatened. By not taking decisive steps to curb militancy so far, the security establishment has only facilitated the killers. Until the extremists’ infrastructure is dismantled and their operatives and planners tried and punished, there is little chance of the bloodshed abating.

Overhaul required

September 20th, 2012

The establishment of the National Database and Registration Authority and the computerisation of identity cards rationalised and codified the system. Applicants now found that there was no need to pay the touts that loitered outside government offices issuing documents to ‘help out’. That success, unfortunately, has not been replicated where obtaining a passport is concerned. Even as machine-readable passports become indispensable because they are required for most visas and at a growing number of airports, delays in the system are routine. As reported by Dawn yesterday, some 5,000 passports are issued each day against a daily application rate of 15,000 to 20,000. The backlog has reached a peak of 250,000; applicants are waiting up to two months for a document issued through the ordinary process, and for two weeks or more for passports processed on an urgent basis. The touts are back, and people who do not have the luxury of waiting for the Directorate General of Immigration and Passports (which functions under the Ministry of Interior) find themselves having to resort to the services of an organised network that is in collusion with parts of officialdom.

The current delays are being caused primarily by the non-payment of over Rs640m to the Printing Corporation of Pakistan, which issues the lamination paper used in the document. Other contributing causes include inadequate staff at passport offices and an overloaded online system through which the applicant’s data is verified against the Nadra database. Regardless of the hurdles, the issue must urgently be resolved. A passport is too important a document for people to be kept waiting — especially considering that for a large number of applicants urgent travel is necessitated by medical treatment abroad, employment or immigration. In any case, every citizen has the right to a passport. Whether what is needed is more staff, paper or proper presses to print machine-readable passports, including at Pakistan’s large foreign missions abroad, the state must get on with it. It pulled a rabbit out of the hat with Nadra. It should be able to do the same for travel documents.

Political or spiritual?

September 20th, 2012

A report in our paper on spiritual advice sought by our prime minister on matters presumably political should come as no surprise. Not only is Raja Pervez Ashraf following in the footsteps of his predecessors and political contemporaries, the example of world leaders like Ronald Reagan, whose wife is known to have regularly consulted an astrologer on her husband’s public activities, is also before him. Indian politicians too are deeply influenced by the pronouncements of these gurus, and come election time, the whole country evolves into one huge crystal ball. In Pakistan, leaders from Benazir Bhutto to lesser political mortals like Imran Khan are reported to have consulted pirs and spiritual gurus on their life choices and strategies, the PTI chief talking of it at great length in his most recent book. Black goats, astrologers, numerologists, holy men have all figured in the lives of our leaders. But at the end, we are left with that niggling thought: how would Pakistan have fared without the occult intervening every now and then in our national life?

True, the realities of politics are harsh in Pakistan; the Machiavellian games of rivals, the ever-hovering shadow of an external player, etc don’t make matters easy for the wavering politicians. However, that uncertainty might be quelled if political leaders were to place their faith in the institutions of democracy as firmly as they do in their spiritual gurus. After all, over the years, it is institutions such as parliament and judiciary all over the world that have weathered the storm of wars, rivalries, dissent and external threats to emerge more powerful than any soothsayer. In Pakistan, these institutions are still at a nascent stage, but believing in them would not only strengthen the pillars of state, they would also impart some measure of confidence to an insecure public.

__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga