Editorials from DAWN Newspaper (22nd Feb 2013)
 

[SIZE="2"][B](22nd Feb 2013)[/B]


[B][CENTER][SIZE="4"]Risk of sanctions[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]


EACH time it appears that the Iran-Pakistan pipeline deal is edging closer towards final status, an old roadblock appears: the objections of the US. With US sanctions against Iran being tightened further this month and talks between the US and Iran on the latter’s nuclear programme apparently going nowhere, Pakistan’s attempt to import gas from Iran was inevitably going to be the source of some friction in Pakistan-US relations. As a Wall Street Journal blog reported on Wednesday from Islamabad, the US embassy in Pakistan had this to say in response to WSJ queries about the IP pipeline: “Our policy on Iran is well-known. We have made it clear to all of our interlocutors around the world that it is in their interests to avoid activities that may be prohibited by UN sanctions or sanctionable under US law.”

If Pakistan does press ahead, would businesses and individuals connected to the IP pipeline really be placed under US, and perhaps UN, sanctions? For now, the US is taking the soft route of quiet discouragement; but with the construction of the pipeline on the Pakistani side due to commence soon and gas scheduled to flow by the end of 2014, the soft voice may turn into the big stick. Pakistan can and should resist this US pressure. To suggest this is not to advocate defiance for defiance’s sake but a calculated risk on Pakistan’s part. These are the bare facts: Pakistan has a huge energy deficit; gas shortages here will grow exponentially over the next few years; there are no obvious quick fixes at home; imported gas, while more expensive than locally produced gas, is still much cheaper than furnace oil and is the most logical choice; and among the imported gas options, the IP pipeline is one of the most viable and cost-effective.

Those bare facts amount to a solid case to press for an on-schedule implementation of the IP pipeline. And it’s not as if Pakistan is the only country trading energy with Iran. Even now, China and India import substantial amounts of oil from Iran and Turkey helps ease payments through. If those countries can do it — and their energy situation is nowhere as dire as Pakistan’s — then why must Pakistan sit on the sidelines? Ultimately, though, Pakistan can make its case on the basis of a sound cost-benefit analysis: are growing energy shortages here, and the social unrest and economic cost that entails, worth the price of adding but a tiny sliver of further pressure on the Iranian energy sector by blocking the IP pipeline? Surely, the answer must be no.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="4"]Eyes on the prize[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]


THE spirit behind the Election Commission of Pakistan’s project to scrutinise election candidates is understandable. Pakistan has long suffered at the hands of corrupt politicians. And while there is no way to ensure that someone running for office has never committed any misconduct and won’t when in office, there is information out there that can point out obviously crooked election candidates. So the calls for scrutinising data to identify those who have dabbled in high-stakes corruption, defaulted on significant loans or avoided paying money they owe the state in taxes or utility bills makes sense — up to a point.

The objective of this scrutiny should be to weed out the truly rotten elements in the system. What it should not become is a process so focused on the minutiae of data gathering and verification that it becomes impractical and gets in the way of the ultimate goal: successfully holding elections. Nor should it become a witch-hunt, or an attempt to meet subjective notions of who is “honest and ameen” — a constitutional clause that was inserted by Gen Ziaul Haq and which there is no conceivable way to apply impartially. A classic example of missing the forest for the trees is the letter that has apparently been sent to parliamentarians asking them to submit their educational qualifications. The graduation condition for election candidates has been done away with. Revisiting the closed issue — presumably in an attempt to establish that people told the truth when they last ran — is a waste of time given all the other information the ECP has decided to verify. What it does do is create a perception of misconduct across the board. And there is not much point going after those perceived to be corrupt if that leaves no one to contest polls — or at least no one people will vote for — or, in the worst case scenario, is used by some as an excuse to delay putting a newly elected government in place. The ECP’s zeal is welcome, but it should be focused on the bigger picture: holding the cleanest elections possible, not making them impossible to hold.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="4"]Ugly scenes[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]


ON Thursday, lawyers in Faisalabad and Sargodha were staging a sit-in for the establishment of benches of the Lahore High Court in their respective cities. But despite the relative calm in the protest camps, violence lurked in the background. A day earlier, lawyers in Faisalabad had resorted to familiar, violent action, apparently instigated by an impatient bar member who threatened to immolate himself in support of the demand for a bench. Sessions and district courts were ransacked. The courtrooms were locked, an image which apart from conveying the desired message of the lawyers conjured up a host of other distressing thoughts. Not least disturbing of these was the symbolism in relation to the many litigants for whom the doors to justice now appeared closed. The summary closure has added insult to injury in the case of these Pakistani citizens. The call for new LHC benches notwithstanding, there is plenty of reason to focus on reforming the subordinate courts. This is what the stranded litigants have been waiting for, only to find a lock blocking them.

The phenomenon of professionals, trained to uphold the principles of justice, taking the law into their own hands has been a common occurrence, and the repeated violence has added an element of despair to the pain such happenings inevitably cause. The tendency for violence is often blamed on “arrogance”, which is then readily linked to the lawyers’ victory in the free-judiciary movement a few years ago. This is as bad an advertisement for justice as there can be. Obviously, a counter-explanation can be attempted by terming such behaviour a sign of desperation among a group that has been denied its demand. In reality, this is disappointment mixed with a sense of power, as if the rampaging protesters enjoy immunity due to their proximity to the law.[/SIZE]

editorial 23 february 2013
 

[SIZE="5"][B]Back and Forth[/B][/SIZE]

HE U-turns and flip-flops when it comes to how the third tier of government in Sindh is to be organised was already enough to make the head spin. And that was before the sudden reversal of the PPP this week, undoing the Sindh People’s Local Government Act signed a few months ago. First, some background. The PPP resented the Musharraf-era local government system because it bypassed the provincial government and was funded, and to some extent controlled, by the centre. So once the constitutional protection given to the Musharraf-era local governments expired in 2009, all the provinces ditched the law in favour of direct control by them of the third tier of government. In Sindh, there was an added complication: the MQM dominates Karachi and Hyderabad, while the PPP, and its Sindhi-speaking base, dominates the rest of the province. As a coalition partner, the MQM demanded direct control of Karachi and Hyderabad. So the SPLGA was mooted: rendering five districts of Sindh, including Karachi and Hyderabad, as metropolitan corporations while the remaining 18 districts were to be run under the commissionerate system.

Behind that duality is a tussle of two key issues: which tier of government effectively oversees land rights and controls the police. The PPP, content to operate through provincial bureaucrats it controls by virtue of its dominance in the Sindh Assembly, preferred the commissionerate system. The MQM, knowing it would lose out at the provincial level, preferred Karachi being administered as a separate whole and Hyderabad divided into several parts to solidify its control at the local level. Unhappily for the denizens of Sindh, none of these arrangements had much to do with better service delivery to the people. It was and remains principally about political control. So with a general election on the horizon and the PPP and MQM having to shore up party bases that are rippling with discontent, the fate of SPLGA was sealed. Once the election is held and the PPP and MQM presumably again emerge as the largest- and second-largest blocs in the Sindh Assembly, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the SPLGA is reverted to in one form or another.

Until then, though, the PPP and the MQM have triggered a dangerous game. Slanging matches in Sindh along ethnic lines can have all manner of unwanted knock-on effects — and all for the sake of parochial political interests of the PPP and MQM ahead of an election. Swapping in and swapping out an entire system of government is a bad joke with the people; and its consequences can linger far beyond what the masterminds have planned.

[B][SIZE="5"]Action against militants[/SIZE][/B]

THE demand for cracking down on militant organisations has picked up in the wake of the Quetta blast last week which killed more than 90 people. The federal government has been taken to task for failing to protect lives and as tough questions are asked, the army has been heard denying any ties with the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi which claimed responsibility for the attack. There has been a build-up of public anger and a number of statements and newspaper articles have pointed out the urgency of all parties closing ranks to defeat terrorist strikes carried out in the name of religion. But even if this mood is seen
as holding out hope for a concerted drive against the militants, in practical terms there is insufficient support by key players. News reports have gone to the extent of shaming political parties over striking convenient alliances with militants for political gains — something which unfortunately is bound to be repeated when elections are held. There have been impassioned pleas for provincial governments, too, to come out of their comfort zones and contribute to the fight against the militants. The government of Mian Shahbaz Sharif in Punjab has been a particular target of criticism on this count, and this criticism has increased after Interior Minister Rehman Malik stated the explosive material used in the Quetta blast had been procured in Lahore and renewed his call to the Punjab government to launch an operation against the LJ.

PML-N circles have reacted to the ‘allegation’ with the standard two-pronged argument. Party members have as per routine countered accusations of links with militant groups by blaming opposing parties of having connections with the same militants. On the administrative level, a PML-N spokesman used an old tactic when he lamented the failure of Rehman Malik and his government to share with Punjab crucial information, gathered by the federal intelligence agencies, about a possible strike. This was a typical exchange between two governments that remain at loggerheads. On the whole it is politics that reeks of disrespect for the dead and apathy for the people of Pakistan whose lives are in peril.

[SIZE="5"][B]Shameful statistics[/B][/SIZE]



IN the din of the Syrian civil war, the world seems not to have grasped the full dimensions of the refugee tragedy. The number of people who have poured into neighbouring countries is nearing one million, and there are an estimated two million internally displaced persons. This means the 23-month old conflict has rendered nearly three million people homeless. As statistics released by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees show, 78 per cent of those in foreign countries are women and children, 52 per cent are children, and one in every five refugee households is headed by a woman. According to the UNHCR 65 per cent of the refugees have been living in the open because there are no camps. Schools and other shelters are overcrowded, and severe winter conditions and lack of adequate medical help have added to the refugees’ ordeal. During a snowstorm in Jordan, tents were blown away, and there was a blaze when embers in the camp caused a fire. The world community’s response has been tardy. At a meeting in Kuwait last month, donors agreed to pay the $1.5bn asked for by the UNHCR, but the agency says it has received only three per cent of the amount. Now Syrians are fleeing to neighbouring lands at the rate of 5,000 a day.

There is a stalemate in the civil war, but that doesn’t mean the miseries of the Syrian people have come to an end. More worryingly, since the UN is routing its aid for internal refugees through the Syrian regime, state agencies help IDPs in government-held areas, ignoring others. While humanitarian assistance must be increased to help the refugees, the greater need is for bringing the conflict to a halt. Of this there is little possibility in the near future, because all peace moves seem to have fizzled out.

Editorials from DAWN Newspaper (24th Feb 2013)
 

[B](24th Feb 2013)[/B]


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Extremism in Sindh[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

AWAY from the media headlines focused on local governments, elections and the like, upper Sindh has been roiled by a series of protests this week. The trigger was a bomb blast near Jacobabad on Thursday targeting a senior Barelvi leader in the province, Syed Ghulam Hussain Shah, custodian of the Dargah Hussainabad in Qamber. Mr Shah survived but a grandson died in the attack, sending sectarian — Barelvi-Deobandi in this case — tensions soaring in upper Sindh. Bomb attacks are still rare in the region, the last major incident being a foiled suicide attack against Ibrahim Jatoi, a leader of the National People’s Party, in December 2010 on Muharram 10. There was also the appalling case last December of the man accused of blasphemy who was dragged from a police lock-up and burned alive. While still too early to identify a definite pattern of violence, bubbling under the surface are all manner of societal changes that may be turning the land of Sufis that interior Sindh has long been known as into a bastion of intolerance and extremism.

As with most such emerging threats, the genesis can be traced to the breakdown of traditional social structures. Generally viewed from the outside as static and stuck several centuries in the past, interior Sindh has in fact changed a great deal in recent years. Feudalism has been weakened, as have the tribal structures predominant in upper Sindh. Sufi Islam too has suffered as succession chains at various shrines have been disputed, often with an eye to the social prestige and domination over land
that control of a shrine can bring. There has also been the emergence of a rural middle class and new urban centres — realities that have been hidden away in part because no census has been held since 1998. While change should be welcomed, the problem in Sindh is that the state has not stepped in to provide direction and structure to the new social and economic realities. Inevitably, then, the space is being filled by a growing private mosque, madressah and social welfare network with its own priorities and agenda.

Is it too early to flag the problem as a serious threat? Perhaps. But it’s in the nature of such slow-moving changes that by the time they emerge as serious threats to the social fabric and national stability, it is too late to stop them. The effects of letting sectarianism grow unchallenged and uncontested in other parts of the country are all too apparent. The core of Sindh is still moderate and non-violent. Now is the time to move to protect it.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Reversed policies[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THE new finance minister, Saleem Mandviwalla, has started his short, stopgap stint in office by helping the Economic Coordination Committee make certain controversial decisions as its chairman. The ECC is reported to have gone back, albeit partially, on three major decisions taken under the chairmanship of Mr Mandviwalla’s predecessor Hafeez Shaikh. This has spawned speculations that Mr Shaikh might have stepped down because of differences over policy matters with his cabinet colleagues and not simply because he wanted to lead the country into the next elections as caretaker prime minister. The picture will become clearer over the next several days as we approach the formation of a caretaker set-up.

The ECC has decided to upgrade by one notch the textile sector’s captive power plants on the priority list for gas supplies; allow the import of CNG kits and cylinders for which letters of credit have been opened or bank contracts, as per State Bank regulations, concluded before Dec 31, 2012; and grant transportation cost on every litre of petrol to be produced by Byco Refinery. While the decision to give priority in the supply of gas to the textile industry reflects a continuation of the government’s policy of facilitating the export-oriented industry and protecting jobs, the other two decisions indicate a reversal of earlier policies. The reimbursement of crude transportation costs to Byco, for example, amounts to doing away with the previous plan of deregulating oil freight margins. In the same way, the permission to import CNG kits and cylinders runs counter to the stated policy of discouraging use of subsidised gas by the transport sector in view of the fuel’s increasing shortage for power and industry. It almost seems as if some people in and outside government were waiting for Mr Shaikh to leave his job to get his decisions reversed. Or are decision-makers not in the habit of giving enough thought to an issue before framing policies? With the government nearing the end of its term, it would have been wiser to leave decisions about the reversal or formulation of policies to the next government.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Big-ticket drama[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

FROM the very beginning it didn’t smell right. Perhaps it was just the general mistrust of infamous tycoon Malik Riaz, but even the basic premise didn’t add up. A $45 billion foreign investment in Pakistan at a time when the economy is barely growing? The world’s tallest building in Karachi — where would the tourists and companies needed to fill it come from? A prominent member of the Abu Dhabi ruling family so publicly adding his name to a project with one of Pakistan’s most controversial businessmen? Nothing quite added up, and Mr Riaz’s reputation didn’t help. So it was hardly surprising when ads, seemingly issued by the Abu Dhabi Group and completely denying any investment agreement, appeared in the national press this week. And until Bahria Town officially responds, which it seems reluctant to do, its silence will suggest the ads are genuine. In other words, the much-publicised ‘deal’ seems to have been to a large extent a fabrication.

Whatever the truth of the matter, one thing is for sure: it has made Pakistan look even more laughable as an investment destination. Drama of this kind is precisely what the country’s investment-starved economy doesn’t need. We already have a bad record of scrapping big-ticket foreign investment projects when new governments want to undo the achievements of their predecessors. Those projects that do get off the ground have to subordinate their business sense to the political whims of whoever is in power. And Pakistan’s security situation and political uncertainty are hardly attractive. On top of all this, for one of the country’s biggest businessmen to invent a partnership — with a major foreign investor — that doesn’t exist and launch it with such a splash achieves little more than embarrassing the country and ensuring that foreign partners will think twice in the future.

Editorials from DAWN Newspaper (25th Feb 2013)
 

[B](25th Feb 2013)[/B]


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Watchdog Needed[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THE Supreme Court ordered it earlier last week and so now the report prepared by a special commission to investigate allegedly tainted loan write-offs has been made public. Unsurprisingly, the report contains few bombshells. Many a politician, bureaucrat, general and politically connected individual managed over the past few decades to get substantial sums borrowed from commercial banks written off or rescheduled — most of it done well within the ambit of the law.
But then the law was often specifically moulded to allow such preferential write-offs and rescheduling. Past sins, notwithstanding, what is the position today?

With the privatisation of most of the banking sector — of the big five banks, only National Bank of Pakistan is government-controlled today — the problem of loans, write-offs and rescheduled for political purposes has to a large extent been brought under control. Commercial banks, with shareholders who keep a close watch on financial results and with managements free from the kind of pressures rampant in the bad old days of nationalised set-ups, are more disciplined and better. In fact, the problem has been reversed to an extent in the past few years: with lending to the government such a lucrative proposition, credit to the private sector has all but dried up and desperately needs to be jump-started. Still, the problem has not disappeared. NBP is a banking behemoth in the Pakistani context and the provincial governments of Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa all control their own banks. When the state controls a commercial bank, the possibility of problems creeping into the system is always high. The multi-billion-rupee scam that was Haris Steel unsurprisingly centred on massive loans granted by the provincial government-owned Bank of Punjab (though some private banks were also implicated in the scam).

Ultimately, where there is money to be made, there will be someone or the other who is willing to game the system to their advantage. The only real protection is to have a powerful banking sector watchdog. In this regard, the commission that prepared the report into the history of murky loans has made several important and sensible suggestions. For example, by granting the governor of the State Bank security of tenure and upgrading and speeding up the banking courts, oversight and punishment can be improved.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]KP’s education crisis[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

KHYBER Pakhtunkhwa’s education sector is plagued by both militancy and mismanagement. While the militants have waged a relentless war on education — exemplified by frequent bombing of schools, particularly girls’ schools — the state has failed to deliver a viable system of public education. It is welcome news that the provincial government intends to carry out a survey of all the schools destroyed by militancy to determine the facts and that USAID will reportedly provide $25 million for their reconstruction. Yet the fact remains that while the government embarks on plans to rebuild schools, militants keep destroying them even if the number of attacks has gone down in recent months. Estimates suggest that around 800 schools have been destroyed, fully or partially, by militants in KP. Many schools have also been destroyed due to flooding over the past few years, while some schools damaged by the 2005 earthquake still await rebuilding. The crisis has been worsened by administrative mismanagement and disconnect. A project for the free distribution of textbooks in the province’s public schools illustrates this well. As reported, there is a wide discrepancy between data collected by two official bodies working under the provincial education department regarding school enrolment. Millions of rupees may have been spent on the supply of textbooks to students who do not exist.

To improve matters on the education front in the province, the problems of both militancy and mismanagement need to be addressed. While an overall improved security environment is essential to protect schools from the attacks of extremists, better management is required on the part of the provincial government to improve educational institutes that so far have not been directly affected by militancy. Wasting precious funds due to possibly faulty data is inexcusable. It is obvious that some things (eg natural disasters) are beyond the provincial government’s control. But it can intervene where there are no physical obstacles to improvement. For instance, it can, with some planning, tackle general incompetence and even the politicisation of educational affairs. Merit, transparency and professionalism must be upheld if the public school system in KP is to be improved.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Jewel in the crown[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THOUGH David Cameron may have been keen to promote trade ties on his recent visit to India, the British prime minister turned down a long-standing demand to return the Koh-i-Noor diamond. Mr Cameron felt returning the dazzling gem would not be “sensible”. Questions over the Koh-i-Noor’s rightful ownership stem from the legacy of Britain’s colonial past. Originally mined in southern India centuries ago, the fabled stone changed hands several times, passing through the treasuries of the subcontinent’s Hindu, Muslim and Sikh kings before being presented to Queen Victoria by the colonial government of India. Considered a trophy from perhaps the most prized of Britain’s realms, the diamond is today part of the crown jewels firmly ensconced in the Tower of London. But Britain was not the only European colonial power to have appropriated the cultural property of others. More recently, there was widespread looting of Iraq’s historical treasures following the 2003 United States invasion; the Americans did little as gangs of looters made off with priceless treasures in the anarchy following Saddam Hussein’s fall.

It is valid to ask if historical artefacts whisked away from former colonies and now sitting in Western museums will receive proper care if returned to their countries of origin. We in Pakistan, for example, have allowed our heritage to crumble. Also, it is true that ancient collections in the Louvre or the British Museum have become part of world heritage. But how many of the world’s people can simply hop on a plane to enjoy the treasures taken from their countries? Ethically, there is weight in the argument that treasures looted in the age of empire be returned to their countries of origin to right historical wrongs and allow the people of former colonies to better appreciate their own heritage, while placing responsibility on those countries to preserve the artefacts.

Editorials from DAWN Newspaper (26th Feb 2013)
 

[B](26th Feb 2013)[/B]


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]In the dark[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

FOR the third time in a decade, Pakistan experienced a sudden and massive power breakdown, plunging swathes of the country into darkness on Sunday night. The technical details have quickly been released: one power station shut down due to a “technical fault”, triggering a domino effect that knocked out most of the power stations across the country. Also revealed is that there was spare capacity available in the system, but not the fuel to get the power stations up and running to pick up the slack. But behind those bare details lies a deeper set of problems, more troubling and intractable. Start with the technical fault. It was immediately blamed on the Uch Power Station but Hubco may actually have been where the trouble started — further investigations will reveal more. Was the technical fault unavoidable? Some power-generating units are being overworked across the country because there isn’t the fuel or money to overhaul other units to run them more efficiently. When machinery is asked to do something it wasn’t constructed to do, it will inevitably break down. Without scheduled maintenance and repair operations, power units will break down.

Once the technical fault had occurred, though, was it inevitable that the entire national grid would be affected? No. But the equipment required to contain problems and keep them localised is not installed in the national grid. Known as directional relays, had they been part of the national grid, they could have prevented a national meltdown. Why isn’t the equipment installed to plan for just such an eventuality? The distribution network has undergone some upgradation in recent years but the lack of a thorough plan, financial resources and the will to implement reforms has meant basic problems are still unaddressed. Finally, with some power units knocked out of the system, why was the spare capacity not utilised? Again, an old answer: no money for fuel and because the spare capacity is mostly offline, the units are in no shape to be quickly switched on.

If the mismanagement on the technical side was bad — though hardly new or surprising — could not the panic that spread through the country have been better handled? With information so scarce and administrators and government officials failing to quickly put out a coherent explanation, for a few hours on Sunday night all manner of speculation and conspiracy theories erupted. Had there been a coup? Was another Abbottabad operation unfolding? Was the government somehow being wrapped up? All completely avoidable had officials had a crisis-management and information-dissemination plan in hand. Will any lessons be learned? Probably not.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]An impressive turnout[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THE literature festival in Lahore has made a promising beginning. The city had been longing for such an event. The organisers were able to gather a large number of renowned literary figures for the inaugural show and to run the programme smoothly. The turnout was impressive even if, like the list of speakers, it could have benefited from diversification. A large number of those who attended were students and professionals, and many of the issues raised by the audience, often with women in a majority, reflected the people were prepared to ask questions. Of the more secure colleges and universities, this was an example of more public defiance against the silence and resignation. This was a rare opportunity for Lahorites to come face to face with celebrated English-language writers like Nadeem Aslam, Daniyal Mueenuddin, Bapsi Sidhwa, Tariq Ali, Ayesha Jalal, William Dalrymple and a host of others. These English-language writers debated, lectured, read out from their work and launched books to frequently overflowing halls. No less remarkable for a city hosting a literary event of this scale for the first time was the attendance at sessions where Intizar Hussain and Zehrah Nigah, two venerated veterans of Urdu literature, held sway.

The fair has provided Lahore with a platform to build upon. It can expand by including a bigger number of writers from local languages the next time — even though, some festival participants concluded there was little merit in seeing the English that has evolved in South Asia as a foreign language. In any case, Urdu, Punjabi and other languages need to be given a larger presence in future festivals, which would consequently help attract a wider pool of followers. The variety in the festival’s content and its largely anti-status quo themes owed hugely to it being a private initiative, which was facilitated by the government. Fortunately, it did not bear the official ownership stamp. The diversification and sustaining of the project without too great a dependence on officialdom will be central to the success of future literary festivals in Lahore so that they retain their independence and appeal.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Grounded aircraft[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THE fact that 19 of PIA’s aircraft have been grounded due to lack of proper maintenance and age becomes all the more disturbing when it is considered that this figure comes to nearly half of the flag carrier’s fleet. Though the airline’s management claims the large number of jets is sitting idle due to “routine maintenance”, there are reasons to be sceptical. As per figures submitted to the Senate, the majority of PIA’s delays have been attributed to the inefficiency of the engineering department. Also, if so many planes are on the ground, it is fair to ask what state those in the air are in. A number of emergency landings of PIA aircraft have been reported recently. Maintenance delays have also been blamed on the purchase and procurement department as key posts in this department are lying vacant. This is ironic: while PIA is severely overstaffed, key departments where staff is required have vacancies.

PIA’s woes can be traced to one basic reason: mismanagement. In truth, all that ails the flag carrier is really all that ails Pakistan. Decades of corruption, lack of vision and inefficiency displayed by those tasked with running the airline have turned a once-exemplary carrier into a liability. If PIA’s management complains that Gulf carriers are ‘poaching’ its customers or that domestic airlines are giving it tough competition, it must remember that aviation is a business. If PIA doesn’t offer passengers punctual flights with a semblance of service at a fair price, fliers will gladly choose other airlines. In theory turning PIA around seems straightforward — stem the massive losses, hire professional managers well-versed in the aviation business, induct younger aircraft and maintain these. Above all, political meddling in PIA’s affairs should end. The airline’s steep descent can be halted if the state has the will to do so.

Editorials from DAWN Newspaper (27th Feb 2013)
 

[B](27th Feb 2013)[/B]

[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]A Step Forward[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THIS month has seen some progress towards a more robust legal framework for combating terrorism. The Fair Trial Act was signed into law, the National Counterterrorism Authority Bill was approved by the cabinet and tabled in the National Assembly, and the latter passed an amendment to the Anti-Terrorism Act that focused on terrorism financing in response to international pressure. Now the lower house is debating a more extensive amendment to the ATA. Like the other pieces of legislation, though, this one represents some welcome progress but also long delays, complicated human rights issues and lingering gaps in the legal framework.

The first thing to note about it is that it is being debated at all; much-needed changes to the ATA have been stuck in parliamentary limbo for years now, and the introduction of this second amendment raises some hopes that recent incidents of terrorism and the country’s response to them have resulted in renewed focus on that key law. Second, the amendment proposes some changes that should significantly increase the authorities’ ability to prevent acts of terrorism before they occur.
Significantly, organisations that are simply renamed after being banned but continue to be involved in similar activities — a common and powerful tactic in Pakistan — would also be banned. Other changes include, for example, allowing the government to order up to 90 days of preventive detention that cannot be challenged in court, and disallowing activists of banned organisations who continue their activities from travelling, borrowing money from banks or bearing even licensed arms.

But some of the most important gaps still remain unaddressed. One of these, for example, is lack of protection for judges and witnesses, an obvious hurdle in the way of prosecuting terrorists. There is also the problem of how the ATA defines terrorists and terrorist acts; the current broad definition has meant that only a tiny fraction of cases disposed of by anti-terrorism courts have to do with terrorism as most Pakistanis would understand it. Then there are the human rights issues. The amendment allows, for example, the federal government to authorise any person to intercept calls and messages or trace calls “in the interest of national security”. The 90-day preventive detention clause could be misused, and another says that a person accused under the ATA in an area in which the armed or civil armed forces have been deployed will be presumed guilty unless proven otherwise. These are just a couple of examples; amendments to the ATA are long overdue, but this is an extensive and detailed piece of legislation that needs close scrutiny from experts on both militancy and human rights before it is signed into law.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Tax Evaders[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THE region-wise breakdown of data on potential wealthy tax thieves makes interesting reading. The data, compiled by the Federal Board of Revenue with the help of the National Database and Registration Authority, shows, and predictably so, that Punjab is home to a majority of the suspected tax evaders followed by Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. While more than 85 per cent of them live in Punjab and Sindh alone, Karachi tops the list of the cities with over 725,000 wealthy people who should be but are not paying taxes. With a little less than 450,000 such people, Lahore stands not very far behind on the list. Other industrial cities of central Punjab — Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, etc — can also boast of the heavy presence of potential tax thieves.

Though numerous factors, ranging from the concentration of population at one place or another to the level of economic development to the uneven distribution of industry and wealth, can easily be identified as reasons behind the number of tax evaders in a particular province or city, these explanations don’t really matter. What matters is action, or the lack of it, taken so far by the FBR to nab them and punish them for not paying taxes. The tax collectors are for the last several months in possession of the data listing owners of cars and large houses in upscale localities, who frequently travel abroad, maintain multiple bank accounts and pay hefty utility bills but who do not file tax returns. Most of them don’t even possess a national tax number let alone file returns. It is sad to note that the FBR is yet to initiate action against them in spite of the tall claims made by its senior officials, including its present chairman. Rather than moving against the identified potential tax evaders, the FBR authorities have wasted many months in pushing a controversial amnesty scheme, which is unlikely to be approved by the outgoing parliament because of widespread opposition. It is advisable for the FBR authorities to scrap its plans of facilitating powerful lobbies and move against tax evaders before it is too late.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Melting glaciers[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THOSE who think that climate change is hype propagated by environmentalists should perhaps rethink such assertions. There is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that rising temperatures indeed pose a clear and present danger to man including in this country. Glacial lake outburst floods in Pakistan’s north may threaten regional villages in the summer months, according to officials of the Pakistan Meteorological Department. The fact is that in Pakistan, as in the rest of the world, glaciers are retreating even as rising temperatures, believed to be caused by global warming, are playing havoc with the ecosystem as glacial floods are becoming a yearly phenomenon. Meanwhile, large segments of the population are settled in floodplains as well as along the coastline, which is vulnerable to flooding. Blocking the natural flow of water to facilitate irrigation has also been cited as a reason for worsening floods. On the other hand, some glaciers in the north are thinning out at an alarming rate, while others have disappeared altoge-ther. Climate change means that not only does the frequency and intensity of floods increase, retreating glaciers may also result in rivers drying up.

While reversing climate change is not in the control of the state, steps can be taken to mitigate the effects of natural disasters. The installation of weather stations in Gilgit-Baltistan in order to help predict glacial floods and avalanches is a positive step, as solid data is essential for proper planning. Experts say that planned land use and sustainable agriculture can also play a role in lessening the impact of natural disasters. Also, along with contingency plans to evacuate communities before disaster strikes, disaster management bodies — especially at the district and local levels — must be made active. The key to save lives is to plan ahead and learn from previous disasters.

Editorials from DAWN Newspaper (28th Feb 2013)
 

[B](28th Feb 2013)[/B]

[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Money for PIA[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

FOR several years now, the national carrier has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. It has made headlines because of frequent emergency landings, flight delays and disputes within its senior management. And more recently PIA staff was accused of helping alleged criminals flee the country. The airline is in a total state of disrepair due to decades of political interference, corruption, mismanagement and overstaffing. Half its fleet of 39 ageing aircraft has not been operational because of shortage of funds for maintenance and repair. Some planes have been declared “not airworthy”. The average fleet age for PIA is more than 16 years, the highest in the region. The average fleet age for the far bigger Air India is 8.8 years and for Emirates 6.4 years. No wonder PIA’s revenues are falling and its expenditure and debts rising. PIA’s revenues fell by 21 per cent in 2010-11 and by over 14 per cent in the last financial year. According to the State Bank, the accumulated losses of the last two fiscal years were more than Rs61bn.

It is in this background that the government has approved a bailout package of Rs100bn for the national carrier as suggested in a business plan. The plan will be implemented over the next five years, and will start with the issuance of fresh sovereign guarantees during the current fiscal year to help the airline cope with its liquidity crunch. Funds will also be arranged to help it acquire five narrow-bodied aircraft. The Economic Coordination Committee, which approved the business plan that had been in the works since 2010, believes the measures will help the carrier increase its market share and revenues, separate its core and non-core business and restructure its financial liabilities.

The package will certainly save the national carrier from total collapse, but for a very brief period. The long-term revival of PIA’s past glory hinges on how quickly and honestly governance reforms are implemented, the private sector involved in its restructuring to make it commercially viable and free from political and bureaucratic interference, and new aircraft added to the existing fleet. Comprehensive strategies have already been formulated. The government has time and again reiterated its “commitment” to implement these reforms. Still, it hasn’t been able to muster enough courage to go ahead with implementing them as in the case of other loss-making public-sector entities that are further straining the government’s tight fiscal position. With the ruling coalition completing its term in a matter of weeks, it is unlikely to move further on reforms or even on the newly approved interim business plan.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Power Game[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THE season of political alliances and seat adjustments is almost in full swing. Leading the way is the PML-N, confident of its chances of success in Punjab but having a minimal footprint outside the province. Being a one-province party — or just a GT Road party to its critics — isn’t good for a party that hopes to form the next federal government, so the PML-N has been casting a wide net to find allies unable to adjust into the PPP camp. The non-PPP bloc in Sindh, Fazlur Rehman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and sundry other smaller political forces in Punjab and Balochistan are being roped in to present a ‘national face’. It’s not just the PML-N that has been busy: the PPP, ANP and MQM, all part of the ruling alliance at the centre, have been laying their own electoral groundwork ahead of what is shaping up as an intensely competitive general election in which razor-thin margins could be the difference between sitting on treasury or opposition benches.

To the extent that coalition politics has become the new normal in Pakistan, adjustments and alliances between political parties are a necessary feature, and perhaps even desirable. Given the kinds of reforms that the next governments will necessarily have to attempt to push through by force of circumstances, the art of negotiating and hard bargaining will have to be mastered by all, perhaps even more so than the Asif Zardari-led PPP has demonstrated over the past five years. Unhappily, though, little of the present manoeuvring appears to be rooted in anything more than a potential division of the spoils after the election. The PML-N, centre-right in character, has natural allies on the political and religious right, but none of them appear ready to work together to address the serious challenges that militancy and extremism pose. Power for power’s sake, an end not a means — that is a recipe for more trouble, not less. Just as unhappily, the manoeuvring and bargaining will only get more frenetic from here, with everyone waiting for the assemblies to be dissolved before making a pitch for one another’s candidates.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]No longer voiceless[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

FROM one-time obscurity, Pakistan’s tribal areas have been much in the news during the past few years. Dominated by the militancy and the counter-offensive by the military, it is all a very macho narrative. The fallout of the militancy is also almost exclusively seen from a male perspective. Now, for the first time, tribal women and their supporters are raising a voice for their rights in a democratic system. At a recent protest in Peshawar, they demanded they be given representation in parliament. A group of women’s rights activists and educationists, again in Peshawar, has also set up a forum to campaign for reserved seats for tribal women and for them to be included in local jirgas and on the Frontier Crimes Regulation tribunal.

Although Fata has 20 seats in parliament, its representatives are invariably men. With elections around the corner, this is an opportune time for tribal women to assert their right to engage fully in the political process. As Pakistan’s laws do not extend to Fata, which is still governed by the FCR, it would require a constitutional amendment to enable women from Fata to be elected on reserved seats. Last month, a private member’s bill tabled by a PPP MNA asking for precisely such an amendment met with a lukewarm response. While this deserves censure, the least that the political parties can do for now is to ensure that women in Fata are allowed to exercise their right of franchise in the coming elections. In past elections, local chapters of virtually every political party in the running made agreements with local jirgas to prevent women from voting in several tribal areas, not to mention some settled ones as well. Political parties must rise above patriarchal attitudes that exclude tribal women from decision-making processes. These women must no longer exist in the shadows.

[B][U][SIZE="3"]02 March 2013[/SIZE][/U][/B]

[B][U][SIZE="4"]CEDING SPACE[/SIZE][/U][/B]

THE language of the latest multiparty resolution promoting talks to “restore peace” is telling. “Lawlessness” is the problem it identifies. There is no mention of terrorism or militancy. Nor is there any mention of militants. Instead, they are now “stakeholders”. There is talk of compensation for victims, but no mention of what they are victims of. It is a vague, if not spineless, statement that borders on appeasement, and was reportedly the result of pressure from religious parties that wanted to water down stronger language proposed by others. And what it points to is a refusal among a section of the political leadership to either recognise or admit the nature and extent of Pakistan’s militancy problem.

Whether for the sake of pre-election politics, genuine conviction or as part of a more complex agenda, Pakistan’s major political parties seem to have decided that talking to militants is the way to go, or at least the first required step. Putting aside for a moment the risks of this strategy, even dialogue needs to begin with an open recognition of the problem. There is some logic to tailoring language such that it is not so combative that your opponent refuses to come to the table. But there are also ways to do that without failing to take any stand at all. This latest resolution is clearer than the earlier, ANP-sponsored one in terms of actionable next steps — expand an existing jirga and begin dialogue. But it completely avoids expressing the concerns of the Pakistani people or establishing the values the state wants to defend.

Then there is the issue of the viability of talks. Over the last decade, Fata-based militants have eliminated the maliks of the tribal areas in large numbers, seeking to supplant their authority in the region. Whether or not they will now engage with a jirga composed of tribal leaders remains to be seen. There is also the dismal record of past peace deals. Some will argue that it is the military that didn’t honour them. But it is clear, for example, that despite repeated requests from the state that militants stop harbouring foreign fighters on Pakistani territory, that has never happened. There is also ample evidence of militants agreeing to certain conditions and then proceeding with their activities regardless of any deals made. In their recent public statements, too, the Taliban have set unacceptable conditions for a ceasefire. If civilian leaders are still unanimous that dialogue is important, they should give it a shot. But they are destined to fail if they go into talks without a strong stand against the violence that is tearing Pakistan apart.

[SIZE="4"][B][U]THE TREAT WITHIN[/U][/B][/SIZE]
BURIED in Defence Secretary Asif Malik’s comments on Wednesday to the media after his appearance before the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Defence was a disturbing admission: the military is aware of continuing, and serious, threats against security installations in the country and army commandos have been deployed to protect naval and air force establishments. The two smaller arms of the military have been attacked several times in spectacular fashion over the past couple of years and each time insider information and assistance has been suspected. While information is hard to come by, particularly since the armed forces are impervious in terms of accountability and outside scrutiny, there is a lingering sense that the navy and air force have an extremism problem that has resisted whatever cure the military high command has thrown at it. Last month alone two small-scale attacks against naval personnel in Karachi, one inside PNS Karsaz, have underlined the threat — though it is in the nature of such threats now that separating sectarian motives from anti-state attacks is becoming increasingly difficult.

The problem with attacks on military installations is not just the physical damage caused — planes worth billions of rupees have been damaged or destroyed — but the psychological damage they inflict. A military unable to defend its own property and personnel has a devastating impact on public confidence and on Pakistan’s already poor international standing (in the back of security experts’ minds will be the knowledge that the air force is a central delivery platform for Pakistan’s nuclear deterrent). The solution is neither ad hoc nor immediate. More thorough vetting procedures and sustained intelligence gathering, particularly of recently retired military personnel who are often implicated in attacks and are harder to track once they leave the self contained environment of military bases, requires complex cooperation across the services, which are often rooted in cultures that are insular and not easily amenable to deep scrutiny. Ideology too plays a role: Gen Kayani’s repeated exhortations that the internal threat is greatest are only a small step towards reorienting the military’s security paradigm. Ultimately, the threat can be addressed, but only by relentless purposefulness.

[B][U][SIZE="4"]ALL ABOUT STANDARDS[/SIZE][/U][/B]
IT is welcome news that two firms have recently been allowed to export their fish products to the European Union after the bloc stopped importing Pakistani seafood in 2007. The EU had conducted an audit that year and found local facilities not up to the mark where handling of the catch and hygiene standards were concerned. In fact, it apparently took long for exports to resume because the Marine Fisheries Department was lethargic when it came to meeting the EU’s criteria. It was only a few years ago that the authorities made serious efforts to meet the Europeans’ standards. The measures taken by local stakeholders include the updating of laboratories and improvement in hygiene conditions at harbours and in vessels. Foreign experts were called in to advise local firms on how to improve hygiene in order to meet international standards.

While the local fishing industry was said to be losing around $50m annually because of the EU ban, Pakistani exporters had found other markets, namely in China and the Middle East. Fish exports crossed $300m last year. Yet the EU is Pakistan’s biggest trading partner and accessing European markets can only be a good thing for the local fishing industry and all those who make a living from it. This is an opening and if EU officials do visit in 2014, more Pakistani firms may get the green light to export seafood to Europe. The challenge now for those allowed to export is to maintain standards, while other firms need to make the necessary changes in order to access valuable foreign markets. On a related note, the state needs to address overfishing. Stock surveys must be carried out so that sustainable fishing policies are framed in order to safeguard livelihoods and protect marine species from overexploitation.

Editorials from DAWN Newspaper (3rd March 2013)
 

[LEFT][SIZE=2][B](3rd March 2013)
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[SIZE=2][U][B][CENTER]
[SIZE=5]Jobs for Voters[/SIZE][/CENTER]
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THE patronage-heavy political system here is moving into overdrive ahead of the general election and government jobs are the prized offering. With the ECP already having intervened to prevent mass inductions into state-run organisations and government departments, the Sindh, Punjab and federal governments have found a failsafe route: regularising contract employees. In Sindh, 24,000 contract employees of the health department have been given permanent jobs. In Punjab, all contract employees in government grades 1-16 are to be granted the prize of a permanent job — with the chief minister, who announced the scheme on Friday, not even bothering to inform how many employees will be affected and what it will cost the province. The difference between a government job on contract and one that is regularised, as it is known in local parlance, is substantial: pension and other long-term benefits and the near-impossibility of being made redundant in a bloated government and semi-government sector.

To the lucky thousands who are to benefit from such entitlements the largesse of the respective governments will not be forgotten in the polling booth, jobs for votes being one of the oldest quid pro quos of politics. But for everyone else, more permanent jobs paid for by the government means a further burden on the state — with no obvious benefits. That’s because the principal criterion for handing out permanent jobs is neither merit nor some genuine requirement for a larger workforce: it is purely about politics and patronage. If burdening the state with more permanent employees is bad enough, the federal government has gone one step further: it’s stacking key commercial posts in Pakistani embassies abroad with political appointees. The commerce ministry is, over the objections of a parliamentary committee, seeking to quickly send abroad 44 trade officers handpicked by senior government officials; officers who have been selected over candidates with better qualifications and, in some cases, officers who are believed to not even meet the minimum qualifications. When the centrality of exports to Pakistan’s wobbly macroeconomic framework is factored in, the move by the government is almost criminal: incompetent or under-qualified trade officers are being sent out to drum up business for Pakistan instead of meritorious candidates at a time when higher foreign currency inflows are urgently needed.

Can anything be done to prevent such abuses of power? Politicians won’t do it: they are after all the ones abusing their powers in the first place. Perhaps, then, the ECP can use its platform to further discourage wholesale changes in government jobs and appointments before the election.


[CENTER][SIZE=5][B][U]Bangladesh violence[/U][/B][/SIZE][/CENTER]


BANGLADESH seems to be headed towards a major political crisis as the fatality toll in three days of violence, following Thursday’s sentencing to death of a Jamaat-i-Islami leader, has crossed 50. The widespread violence resulted from clashes not only between the police and Jamaat workers but also between the latter and supporters of the ruling Awami League. A disturbing development for the government is the decision by the main opposition party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, to join the protests. Reacting to the death sentence passed on Jamaat vice president Delwar Hossain Sayedee and using strong language, BNP leader Khaleda Zia denounced what she called “brutality” and “mass killing” by the government and asked the people to “come out on the streets”. Bangladesh can expect more violence as Ms Zia has called for a strike on Tuesday, in addition to the one given by the Jamaat for today and Monday. Mr Sayedee is the third Jamaat leader to be convicted for alleged war crimes. The prosecution had accused him of crimes ranging from arson and torture to rape and murder. However, the tribunal that decreed the ultimate punishment is controversial. Rights groups say the court’s procedures do not conform to international standards, and the opposition accuses Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wajed of using war crimes allegations to persecute opponents — two BNP members are also being tried.

We know that crimes were indeed committed during those dark and painful days when the army was trying to crush popular resistance. Among those who helped the army in the civil war were the Jamaat’s Al Shams and Al Badr militias. But trying alleged war criminals more than four decades after the event smacks of vindictiveness and a political witch-hunt. The AL had been in power earlier, too, so it must explain, first and foremost to its own people, why it has chosen to start this judicial drama now. All sides should realise that the violence could snowball and perhaps pose a threat to Bangladesh’s democracy. The better alternative would be to embark on an exercise of reconciliation and forgiveness to put the past behind and move on.


[CENTER][SIZE=5][B][U]Return of 'King'[/U][/B][/SIZE][/CENTER]


GEN (retd) Pervez Musharraf has threatened to finally make good on his repeated and as-yet unfulfilled promise to return to Pakistan to rescue the country. Presumably he is betting on the calculation that a caretaker government will be less likely to get in his way than the current administration, giving him room to argue that keeping himself out of the country was a political plot driven by his intention to lead his All-Pakistan Muslim League into the general elections. Perhaps he is also entertaining hopes that the military will not want to see one of their own tried and sentenced by civilians. Or that the incompetence of the current government has created an appetite for a former military dictator — now with democratic trappings — to step in to save the nation.

However, the general might find that the country he is returning to will not match his expectations. His being away from the scene for five years may have dampened the unpopularity he had earned by the time he left, and some people may now choose to look back fondly on the perceived achievements and stability of the earlier part of his tenure while forgetting the ways in which Pakistan suffered under his rule. But, while Gen Musharraf has been away, other parties have been busy politicking, keeping themselves in the public eye, doling out patronage or, in the case of the PTI, trying to build up a support base. Nor does he have the large and decades-old constituencies that PPP and PML-N leaders can bank on even when they return from years of being away. The suspicious public response to Dr Tahirul Qadri has proven how difficult it is for people to swoop in from abroad and be taken seriously without significant political legwork. Gen Musharraf would do well to adjust his expectations.
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Editorials from DAWN Newspaper (4th March 2013)
 

[B](4th March 2013)[/B]

[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Karachi Blast[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

A CITY already battered by a cycle of violence has been rocked by a deadly attack targeting the Shia community — the tragedy in Karachi yesterday is compounded by the fact that the description could apply to several other Pakistani cities, not least Quetta and Peshawar. After each such attack as yesterday’s in Abbas Town (located in an area prone to attacks) the same set of questions are asked — and never answered. Leave aside why the attack took place at all and what the intelligence apparatus did to try and prevent it, where are the lessons learned by the law-enforcement personnel, emergency services and first responders? Law-enforcement personnel are often worried about their own safety after such attacks because angry crowds can turn on them, but that still leaves a vital job to be done: helping emergency services and first responders rescue the injured and saving lives. Instead of helping impose order, an all-too-familiar scene of chaos broke out: ruptured gas lines were not quickly closed, rescue equipment was late in arriving and expertise was missing from the site. Much as bystanders and citizens want to help in such situations and can do some good, collapsed buildings pose a special danger and rubble moved hastily by untrained volunteers can cause more harm to survivors. But then, with the state absent, can people stand by and watch others die unnecessarily?

After the dust settles and the dead are buried and the injured are discharged from hospitals, the next set of usual questions will be asked. Among them, why is Karachi’s security and intelligence apparatus unable to detect militant cells and groups capable of mounting such devastating attacks in the city? But perhaps more pertinently, the past has to be re-examined first. What exactly has been done to find, prosecute and shut down the groups that have perpetrated previous major attacks, in Karachi and elsewhere? The answer, known to one and all, is damningly little. Little can be fixed in the present if the recent past continues to go unaddressed.

Perhaps the greatest challenge is the geographical spread of violence against Shias: from Quetta to Peshawar and Karachi to Gilgit-Baltistan with Lahore thrown in for good measure recently, no one federal or provincial intelligence or security agency can address the threat on its own. But with meaningful cooperation between various tiers being intermittent and institutional turf wars a reality, the country is no closer to finding a solution to a problem that just keeps growing in complexity and scope.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Forgotten victims[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

WHILE laws have been framed to counter terrorism in Pakistan, hardly any legal framework exists to address compensation issues facing victims of terrorism and their heirs. Administrative orders regarding state help are issued on an ad hoc basis, usually depending on the severity of the incident and the number of fatalities. Hence it is welcome that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government has registered people disabled in acts of terrorism and natural disasters as well as widows of victims. Nationally, there are no definitive figures regarding the number of fatalities due to militancy, though nearly all projections say the number of civilian victims is higher. Various government officials cite a total of 40,000 dead, though other sources dispute this figure. Therefore there is a need to establish a central database of victims and their dependants to better facilitate compensation. While the military takes care of its own, civilian victims, in the absence of a social safety net, are left out in the cold, though compensation for members of the police force is considerably better, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

A thorough legal framework both at the federal and provincial levels is needed to address issues of compensation for the dead and injured. Disabled victims need special attention so that they can be rehabilitated. Timelines must be set so that people are compensated within a reasonable period. Legal provisions should also be made to look after the health, education and household expenses of victims’ families, especially in cases where the deceased was the sole earner and for those from low-income families. Disbursement of funds should also be hassle-free; there have been cases in the past where victims’ families have been asked for a cut of the funds by corrupt officials before releasing them. While taking care of the victims is primarily the state’s job, considering Pakistan’s social milieu, where clan and community play important roles, community leaders with means should also play their part to rehabilitate those affected by terrorism. Monetary compensation and state support may never fill the void; but it will send a message to victims that the government stands by them.


[B][CENTER][SIZE="5"]Collateral damage[/SIZE][/CENTER][/B]

THE fallout of the terrorism that has been visited upon Quetta of late seems to be having an ever-widening effect. Now 310 ‘O’ and ‘A’ level students in the city, including 250 from nine private schools and 60 private candidates, have been told their final exams will not be held in Quetta as scheduled in May and June. Instead, students will have to travel to Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad to take their exams. The British Council, which conducts these, says it has taken the decision in light of the law and order situation in the city. To help defray some of the expenses that the measure will entail for parents, it will refund one component of the exam fee and cover the cost of another. It is also exploring options to help students secure affordable and secure accommodation in the city where they choose to sit their papers.

Given that Quetta has witnessed two horrific terrorist attacks this year amidst prevailing lawlessness in general, one can understand the British Council’s concern. However, its efforts to minimise the impact notwithstanding, this step will unfairly penalise the students by putting them to enormous inconvenience at a crucial point in their academic careers. Moreover, it seems a rather excessive reaction. After all, local board exams continue to be held in Quetta despite the law and order problems. As some parents have suggested, perhaps comparatively secure locations such as the Quetta Cantonment or a secure hotel could serve as an exam venue. The number of students is also small enough to be accommodated in either of these two locations, provided their administration is amenable to the idea. Ultimately however, it is the Balochistan government’s duty to assume the responsibility of providing security to its students and it must step up to the plate.