(12th April 2013)

A state of fear: Militants threaten electoral process

FEAR rules in Fata, with the militants deciding who can and cannot contest the general elections. Candidates out of favour with the extremists face threats and are not allowed to campaign. This has resulted in some hopefuls camouflaging their party affiliations and contesting as independents. What is more, ANP and PPP candidates have been told not to hoist their respective party flags in Wana for fear of militant attacks. But other parties, including the JUI-F, JI and PTI, face no such restrictions in the South Waziristan town. Last month, an ANP public meeting in Bannu was bombed, while yesterday the TTP claimed responsibility for the killing of an MQM candidate in Hyderabad. Such intimidation amounts to queering the pitch and making a complete mockery of the democratic process.

It was accepted that holding elections in the tribal areas was going to be an uphill task. While areas like Mohmand and Bajaur fare relatively better, the state’s writ is practically non-existent in places like North Waziristan, where only those candidates approved by militants stand a chance of winning. The TTP — which does not believe in democracy — cannot be allowed to screen candidates and deprive the public of their right to elect representatives of their choice. It is the responsibility of the security forces to provide protection to all candidates so that they can campaign freely. Equally important, those parties that have been allowed by the militants to campaign must protest against the exclusion and intimidation of other contenders. Otherwise, one-sided races and victories going to militant-backed candidates will render the results of many seats open to question. Such a situation will detract from the fairness of the electoral exercise, which is already threatened.

Moves have been made in the recent past to reform the electoral process to ensure more credible polls. These include the selection of the chief election commissioner and caretaker set-up with the consensus of both the treasury and opposition. However, unless the people of Fata, as well as of other ‘no-go’ areas, including those in Karachi, are allowed to exercise their right of franchise without let or hindrance, a question mark will continue to hang over the electoral process in Pakistan.

Re-establishing the state’s writ in the tribal areas, where security forces are already present in large numbers, should be the first step; ensuring relatively free and fair polls should become a much easier process thereafter.

Cost of power crisis: Closure of surgical instruments’ units

THE shutdown of almost 500 small and medium enterprise units involved in the manufacture of surgical instruments in Sialkot is another reminder of who pays the real price of power outages. Small and medium enterprise owners are almost always at the forefront of protests against loadshedding, whether against gas or electricity shortage, in all cities from Faisalabad to Gujranwala to Sialkot. The surgical instruments sector, which is located entirely in Sialkot and relies heavily on outsourcing its work to small manufacturers, may not be a giant in the econo-mic field. It brings in somewhere around half a billion dollars in export earnings, and no data is available on its revenue contribution. As such, they have a hard time competing for attention with other sectors, such as textile processing, that are able to leverage their story far more effectively in the media by virtue of their size and volume of exports.

But sectors such as the Sialkot surgical instruments’ manufacturers are crucially important because a large part of our economy consists precisely of these fragmented small and medium enterprises held together by cooperative outsourcing arrangements. Whether it is ceramics in Gujranwala, or weaving in Faisalabad or ginning in Rahim Yar Khan, our economy and its employment capacity depends in very important ways on clusters of small and medium enterprises whose ability to buy their way out of national crises is very limited. The Sialkot cluster in question, for instance, employs more than 500,000 people, and about 200,000 of them have been rendered jobless due to shutdowns brought on by loadshedding. Since surgical instruments depends largely on exports, their capacity to wait out the difficulties is also limited, and a foreign buyer lost today is very hard to bring back tomorrow. The voice of the Sialkot surgical instruments’ business leaders must not fall on deaf ears, and the impact of loadshedding on other small and medium enterprises across Pakistan should be a sobering reminder of the true cost of the power crisis.

Morality rhetoric: Raids on sheesha cafés

IN a conservative society, it is tempting to couch issues in the rhetoric of morality. But precisely because Pakistani society is already sliding towards the right, it becomes doubly important to resist it. That we are often unable to make this distinction is evident in the manner in which the debate over sheesha cafés is being framed. Earlier, Lahore’s sheesha cafés were criticised for the amorphous sin of “misleading young people” — code, as everyone knows, for providing young people the opportunity to meet and talk. Recently, Karachi’s Defence Housing Authority went a step further and banned all sheesha activities, with a DHA spokesperson telling the media that this was in order to “save the youth” from lounges that are “instrumental in spreading waywardness in society”. In at least three cases, most recently on Monday, the police conducted full-scale raids and confiscated the offending “equipment”.

That there was a need to involve the police at all beggars belief. But far more dangerous in the long term will be the couching of the anti-sheesha debate in terms of morality. The only defendable reason to shut down such an activity is on the grounds of health, as is the case against smoking in public places. If the DHA or anyone else has the medical evidence to back this argument, they should produce it, given that in many places sheesha is generally allowed, even in some countries that are against smoking as a matter of policy. Pakistan’s young people already have too few avenues of public and peaceful entertainment; and if the police force is looking for criminal gangs that contribute to violence and lawlessness, there’s no shortage of those either. Young people’s morals are their own concern, or at best that of their parents.

(13th April 2013)

Why the shuffle? Shake-up in bureaucracy

THE challenge to ensure free and fair polls manifests itself in different forms, including making sure that the state machinery is not used to influence the electoral process. In this regard, the Election Commission of Pakistan ordered the Sindh government on Thursday to transfer over 60 bureaucrats; the ECP had received complaints that the officials in question had loyalties towards the PPP. On April 2 it had ordered the federal and provincial administrations to change the respective secretaries, though the governments were given the option of retaining officers if they deemed it necessary. Sindh had witnessed some bureaucratic shuffling in the days before the caretaker government took over, while some political elements have complained that the interim provincial set-up is itself not free from bias.

There can be little argument that the ECP must level the playing field as much as possible to ensure credible polls. Suspicions about civil servants linger because the bureaucracy nationwide, particularly in Sindh and Punjab, has been stuffed with ‘lateral entrants’ and political appointees often at the cost of merit, thanks to the patronage-driven political system prevalent in the country. But having said that, there must be solid evidence that an official has used or intends to use the state’s machinery to influence the polls; merely having sympathies for a party should not be the only reason for transferring an official as no one is completely free of bias. There is also the danger of tarring all officials with the same brush and possibly making things difficult for civil servants when the next elected government takes over. Such a large-scale transfer has not been ordered in the past and it seems this is another example of a newly empowered ECP trying to assert itself.

Also, what guarantee is there that the batch of officials brought in will be completely neutral? The ECP should proceed with care and only take action where there is clear proof of misuse of power or similar concerns. For example, transfers make sense if an official is posted in a constituency where his or her relatives or associates are contesting. In the longer term, the country’s political culture needs to change so that the civil service and other organs of the state are immune to the effects of patronage politics. Red lines must be drawn so that political inclinations do not colour the decisions or duties of officials during the elections or at other times.

A welcome thaw: Reaching out to Balochistan

THIS week has seen activity in Balochistan that promises a thaw after a long and lonely winter. On Wednesday, former Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif said that the decision by the PML-N government to sack the Akhtar Mengal-led government in 1998 was a mistake. Such an admission can heal wounds faster than countless visits to Balochistan by the Sharifs and other politicians and their endless condemnation of Gen Musharraf’s actions in the province. And those looking anxiously for other cracks in the ice hardened over the past decade can also take heart from the words of caretaker Prime Minister Mir Hazar Khan Khoso in Quetta on Thursday. He argued that the people of Balochistan wanted to participate in the coming elections.

It is heartening that a Baloch politician is so sure of his people’s desire to take part in the political process. What lends credence to his words is the decision of the mainstream nationalist parties to return to the electoral fold after having stayed away the last time. Elections and the political process can make a difference even if violence is being perpetrated by forces that are not in the control of those who were voted in. Wary though they may be, nationalist forces do seem to have realised that their five years in the wilderness were of no help to them or the province. They only ended up ceding ground to an incompetent and allegedly corrupt government — no one tried to talk to those who had picked up arms; the ugly disappearances that had begun under Gen Musharraf manifested themselves further in the dumping of mutilated bodies; and a sectarian monster reared its head to nearly engulf a community. Leaders such as Akhtar Mengal and Mehmood Khan Achakzai, representing a large section of the Baloch and Pakhtun populations of the province, may not be able to reverse this altogether but their participation in the polls will be a step in the right direction. The winter has been a long one but it now needs to end.

Brutalised society: Attack on wardens

OVER the years, Karachi has become used to the most horrendous kind of violence with political, criminal and religious dimensions. Even so, the pattern of murder and mayhem seems to be taking a turn for the worse. There are increasing reports of targeted attacks on people not directly involved in anything that could be said to have attracted the ire of those bent on killing. A case in point is the shooting that took place in the Soldier Bazaar area on Thursday night: three city wardens — constituting a nominally paid, 1,500-strong force of volunteers that aids traffic management and buttresses law enforcement agencies during crises — were targeted by armed men on motorcycles. All three died. Earlier, on March 30, three others had been gunned down in almost exactly the same manner in North Nazimabad. As a result, the commissioner of Karachi has decided to withdraw all city wardens from duty unless more security for them can be guaranteed, an unfortunate, though understandable, move that is bound to negatively affect the city.

No group has owned up to having carried out the attacks, which could be connected to political or other motives. But no affiliation to a particular group can justify the targeting of civilians. A person’s political inclinations or belief in a certain ideology cannot be held up as an excuse to silence them. It would seem that the theatre of violence in Pakistan is being expanded to include private individuals — the same pattern can be discerned in different parts of the country. For example, recent months have also seen polio vaccinators targeted in Karachi and elsewhere, their ‘crime’ being that they believe children should be protected against a dangerous virus. In this barbaric situation, what the future will bring is anybody’s guess.

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Yes We Can Do It!

(14th April 2013)

Frank admission The drone debate

PERVEZ Musharraf`s admission on a foreign TV channel that Pakistan was in the know about US drone strikes inside this country during his rule only confirms what has been suspected for a long time. The retired general`s frank disclosure is in stark contrast to the state`s longstanding policy including the period of Gen Musharraf`s rule of denying any role in the drone war. The statement shows, among other things, that the state can be economical with the truth, showing one face in public, and another in private.

There have been indications in the past about Pakistans knowledge of the strikes, such as WikiLeaks cables stating that the Americans kept the government informed, as well as the vacation by the US military of the Shamsi airbase in Balochistan in the aftermath of the Salala incident; the base was believed to be a launching pad for drone strikes. It is difficult to say when (and if) information-sharing on drones ceased, though the CIA is believed to have stopped obtaining advance Pakistani approval sometime in 2008. The Raymond Davis affair in 2011 further soured relations between the US and Pakistani intelligence set-ups, thus affecting how the drone war was being executed.

Regardless of when the Americans decided to go solo with drones, the fact remains that unilateral strikes create multiple pro-blems for Pakistan. Their legal status is murky.

There are no substantiated figures for collateral damage but estimates have suggested that hundreds of civilians have died in drone strikes, along with suspected militants. Collateral damage adds to creating more militants while unilateral strikes fuel antiAmericanism in Pakistan.

The UN has taken serious note of the situation, with its special rapporteur on counterterrorism and human rights saying that the strikes violate Pakistan`s sovereignty. Within the US establishment itself, some senior officials have questioned the longterm effectiveness of the drone campaign.

Drones have taken out some high-profile militants, but they have arguably done more harm than good to counterterrorism efforts. If drones are needed, Pakistan must give its approval while the weapons must be used only in areas that cannot be accessed by Pakistani troops. If the drone campaign had tacit government approval during the Musharraf era the issue of violated sovereignty did not arise. That is why the Americans need to take Pakistan on board if drones are indispensable. Once there is cooperation, the government must take ownership of the drone war and tell the public why the strikes are necessary.

Basically, more openness is required from both Washington and Islamabad.

Strange bedfellows 10-party alliance in Sindh

THE stronger a party is, the more likely it is that it will face the challenge of a broad-based alliance in this case a 10-party patchwork in Sindh. The pieces on their own may militate against one another, but they stick together when confronted by a common enemy. Of the parties in the country, the PPP is particularly good at uniting its opponents on a single platform. Its opponents in Sindh are once again trying to discover if this is the vulnerable moment they had been waiting for.

Their thinking must be aided by reports of the difficulties the PPP faces in other provinces. As the PPP`s partners in government after the 2008 polls, both the ANP and MQM must also answer tough questions about the failures of the last government which the Sindh alliance is ostensibly trying to exploit. The strange mix is not without its predecessors. So what if it comprises parties that are far from allies elsewhere, such as the Jamaat-i-Islami and JUI-F in KP? That has hap-pened in the country before, with old alliances paling before the uniqueness of the ever newer ones.

All these mutually `incompatible` elements in the 10-party front appear to justify their coming together by creating imaginary divisions in the provinces. For instance, for the `more progressive` components in the alliance, Karachi may exist in a distant zone away from their own realities, where the JI and to some extent the PML-N can be allowed to dictate the alliance`s politics. The upper areas of Sindh, by contrast, bring together under one umbrella a few `electables` craving to somehow overtake the PPP. Some nationalists and a few sect-based outfits have been thrown in to give the shop a more wholesome look but in the end it could well be about the candidates of the PMLN, the National Peoples Party and the PML-F in the upper parts with the JI asserting its right to have a go at the Karachi seats.

Deadly addiction Seizure of gutka

THANKS to a shared cultural history, Pakistanis and Indians have many things in common. Our love for cricket and Bollywood movies is perhaps among the most obvious.

One of our less appealing affinities is an unfortunate inclination for chewing gutka. An addictive mixture comprising betel nut, lime, catechu, flavourings and tobacco, gutka is a health hazard known as the primary cause of oral cancers. Appropriately enough, the government of Sindh banned its sale and purchase in the province in late 2011. Over 20 states and four union territories in India have also banned gutka.

However, the substance still finds a ready market in Pakistan, which leads unscrupulous individuals to try and circumvent the ban. On Wednesday, five containers of Indian-manuf actured gutkalpaanmasala were confiscated at the Karachi port. The consignment, worth a staggering Rs130m, had arrived via Dubai on `fake docu-ments` showing the contents as building material.

Locally produced gutka is also easily available in Karachi, particularly in low-income areas. The statistics are sobering; recent studies indicate that the incidence of oral cancer in Pakistanis is among the highest in the world. Children are particularly vulnerable because of the substance`s easy availability, attractive packaging and low cost. According to medical experts, the chances of gutka addiction among children leading to the pre-cancerous condition, submucous fibrosis, are 400pc. Given these facts, and the health burden this entails on the country`s limited resources, the laxity in enforcing the ban on gutka is indefensible. Also, India should ensure that gutka manufacturers in that country perhaps out of work after the clampdown are not able to dump their toxic product in Pakistan. That`s not the kind of crossborder cooperation that would do anyone any good.

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Yes We Can Do It!

(15th April 2013)

Depressing figures Taxes paid by politicians

IT is an impressive list, even if for all the wrong reasons. Details of assets, taxes paid and loans written off give all sorts of scintillating glimpses into the ways and lifestyles of those who purport to be the representatives of the people. They are players in the great game of democracy upon which is riding the hope of rescuing this country from the savagery of religious militancy and the dangers ofa sinking economy. Here are some tidbits from the disclosures: many of those in the corridors of power own billions of rupees in assets, yet paid less in taxes last year than a midlevel reporter would have.

Ms Faryal Talpur, the presidential sibling, paid less than Rs300,000 in annual taxes against an income of more than Rs22m, while her husband, who owns substantial land and assets, paid less than Rs100,000 on an income of Rs8.64m.

Meanwhile, former foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar, whose expensive dress sense has received international press, paid a collective tax that was less than the cost of her much-admired Birkin handbag. Her husband, Feroze Gulzar, got a bank loan of Rs56m written off. On the other side of the political divide, Aftab Khan Sherpao paid Rs58,882while his income was almost Rs3m. Similarly, self-confessed billionaire Humayun Akhtar paid a little more Rs200,000.

The list is long. There are those who don`t even have an NTN number, despite declaring assets in the billions. There are politicians whose income is far more than what they have declared. There are those who have paid less than Rs30,000 in taxes in years when their annual income has been almost Rs5m. This lack of any sense of wrongdoing by themselves or their families who benefit from their position, is depressing.

Not all cases are the same. The politician with billions in assets and no NTN number, for instance, comes from Kohistan. But what excuse do Ms Khar and Mr Sherpao have? They cannot claim to be representing a region where the state`s footprint is negligible. This is more than a crying shame.

Given the kind of challenges our country is facing, and the kind of vilification we have to take on the international stage, it is criminal on the part of such politicians to be taking so much and giving back so very little.

Fortunately, democracy is about openness and in this context the Election Commission of Pakistan has done well to post the details on its website.

Needless death Diarrhoea and pneumonia

HAVING realised that strategies to tackle pneumonia and diarrhoea tend to run parallel instead of being integrated in a way that would produce more targeted interventions, Unicef and the World Health Organisation launched a new global action plan on Friday. For Pakistan, the initiative comes not a day too soon.

According to the estimates presented at the launch, the country annually loses some 144,000 children under five years to just these two preventable and treatable illnesses. Our under-five mortality rate is already amongst the highest in the world: 89 deaths per 1,000 live births more than 30 per cent of the burden is the result of pneumonia and diarrhoea.

The state of the health sector in general is already precarious, and the issue of prevention and the proper treatment of childhood illnesses is not given due attention.

Children who are most vulnerable those from lower-income, less educated families are also the ones least likely to benefit from interventions. Basic health-protection measures such as vaccinationsare a case in point. While the government provides most vaccines either free or at a subsidised cost at public health centres, this is not well-known nor is the importance of having children vaccinated.

Similarly, sanitation and the careful and regular washing of hands play a crucial role in helping prevent a range of illnesses. Yet the awareness and implementation figures for this country remain low. As international agencies launch their own initiatives, the state must also do whatever it can.

Its efforts could include a public-awareness campaign on the importance of vaccination, hygiene and sanitation, and a serious effort to improve the public health sector. At a time when all political parties are presenting their manifestoes and campaigning, this is a crucial dimension upon which they must focus. Health, especially that of children, must become more of a priority. Pakistan, with its youth-oriented population, desperately needs a healthy and disease-free workforce, quite apart from health being a primary human right.

Enemies within Need for vigilance

A POLICE inspector`s arrest in Karachi on Friday for allegedly supplying sensitive information to the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and other criminals, the round-up of many suspects in a clean-up operation, the deactivation of a time-bomb near a mosque, and the arrest of an Abbas Town blast suspect show how diligence can yield results. Police Inspector Rana Ishrat is not the first security official accused of supplying militants with sensitive intelligence.

Diverse motives have prompted some armed forces personnel to pass on information to those who attack security and civilian targets. Some did it for ideological reasons; some apparently were trapped, while in this case it was lucre that allegedly motivated the policeman to pass on the information.

In fact, as investigations have revealed, the tips he supplied to some groups of outlaws led to the murder of an assistant subinspector of police. AsRana Ishrat visited Fata, he was unaware that his movements were being watched. His activity had a wider range, because the intelligence he was leaking to the TTP and others aimed at eliminating some of Karachi`s top police officials, including the chief of the Anti-Violent Crime Cell, to which he himself belonged.

The penetration of the security forces is one of the militants` major tactical aims. The attempts on Gen Musharraf`s life and the attacks on GHQ and other military bases show the enemy had collaborators within the security establishment. This calls for high-level vigilance to block the militants` penetration of the security apparatus and weed out the state`s enemies. Rangers may be good at `clean-up` operations, but it is the local police and the Crime Investigation Department that know their areas well and are in a better position to trail criminals and smash mafias.

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Yes We Can Do It!

18.04.2013

Tragic silence: Electoral violence

A DAY after he narrowly escaped a suicide attack in Peshawar in which at least 18 lives were lost, Ghulam Ahmed Bilour was the picture of determination at a news conference on Wednesday. He said the ANP would not be cowed by attacks on its members and that it remained committed to fighting the elections. In keeping with the party’s spirit of defiance in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the veteran politician was justifiably angry at the responses of some politicians as well as of state institutions to the unending series of violent attacks on his party. One more attack, he warned, and the ANP would lodge a criminal complaint against not only the politicians who were maintaining a deafening silence on these violent assaults but reportedly also against the men sitting in important state positions: the president, the chief election commissioner, the army chief and the chief justice of Pakistan.

It cannot get more impassioned than this — from a man who has lost a brother and many party colleagues to acts of terrorism, and who knows that his own life is on the line, even if the TTP said he was not the intended target on Tuesday. Amid official promises for improved security measures, fear hangs thick in the air and has elicited varied responses from the politicians, including those wanting to satisfy their conscience by seeing the ANP’s predicament as of the party’s own making. In the short term, the failure to condemn the militants may well improve their electoral chances at the expense of the ANP and other parties directly threatened by the militants. But this point can be powerfully countered by the argument that the militants are not ready to see reason and what we have before us is danger that is not specific to a certain brand of politicians. It is, in fact, a fire that can engulf everyone — including those who take the side of the militants today. They say they want to talk to the militants, but then dialogue is what every political party wants.

The ANP itself tried to create the right atmosphere for the polls by committing itself to talks as the ultimate remedy.Politicians who think their speech will find the militants more receptive must take note that their mild requests for a smooth election are not registering, as electoral violence is on the rise. It is the democratic process that is being threatened and everyone stands to lose. To protect the system, all politicians must first play an active role in protecting the elections.

How prepared are we? Earthquake hits Pakistan

ALTHOUGH the epicentre of Tuesday’s earthquake, measuring a potentially devastating 7.8 on the Richter scale, was in Iran, the bulk of the damage has been borne by Pakistan — and, tragically, that too by villagers who were extremely poor and marginalised by even domestic standards. The number of dead and injured has been mercifully low in proportion to the scale of the tremor, but thousands have been affected as their mud houses have collapsed in the Balochistan border area of Mashkail. The Pakistan Army has deployed men and helicopters to perform rescue operations and provide medicine, food and other essentials; these efforts should be boosted by those of a concerned citizenry in other parts, not least because images from the 2005 Kashmir earthquake have not yet ceased to haunt.

That the damage was limited to the border area of sparsely populated Balochistan is merely the result of chance; an earthquake is impossible to predict. Are Pakistan’s settlements and society prepared for such a disaster, particularly given that several inhabited areas lie along earthquake fault lines? The chaotic manner in which thousands of people tumbled out of their homes and offices in Karachi on Tuesday provides a clue. Nowhere were any building evacuation plans in evidence. The various strategies supposedly prepared by disaster management authorities have hardly been disseminated among the public, and it is quite clear that many of our urban areas would present an apocalyptic picture if struck by an earthquake. From the unregulated construction of high-rise buildings to patchy zoning and building laws, the unbridled expansion of cities — Karachi in particular — means that they would become death traps. Questions can legitimately be asked about the state’s ability to respond to disaster, but that is only half the story. Disaster-mitigation starts with preparedness: ensuring that construction is stringently regulated and conforms to safety standards, that evacuation plans are formulated and practised, that the administration does not panic even as people do. Here, again, it would seem the state is failing.

Sahibzada Fazal Karim: Death of SIC leader

IN the death of Sunni Ittehad Council chairman Sahibzada Fazal Karim earlier this week, the country has lost a staunch opponent of militancy and terrorism. He was not only an outspoken critic of the TTP for carrying out suicide attacks on mosques and Sufi shrines besides killing innocent people; he also condemned its supporters in political parties and religious groups. The SIC chairman was one of the few religious leaders who openly denounced the Taliban for trying to kill young Malala Yousafzai for speaking out in favour of girls’ education in defiance of TTP threats. The founders of the Difa-i-Pakistan Council, an amalgamation of religious and jihadi outfits, could not persuade him to join the alliance because it contained certain banned sectarian groups in its fold.

Deeply committed to his views, it took him little time to part ways with the PML-N on whose ticket he had returned to the National Assembly from Faisalabad in the last election and to the Punjab Assembly in 1993 and 1997. He found the PML-N leadership wanting in its denunciation of acts of terror and suicide attacks, and was not happy with its alleged links with a militant sectarian group in Punjab. His Barelvi beliefs dictated his political life ever since the time he fought elections from the Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistan’s platform in 1993. But he consciously refused to be dragged into a sectarian discourse, preferring to advocate religious tolerance — even though he led a vociferous campaign against government efforts to change the blasphemy law in 2010. His demise may have deprived the country of a religious leader who raised his voice against suicide bombings, terrorism and sectarian violence, but it is to be hoped that others of his ilk will be guided by his example.

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)

(19th April 2013)

Moment foretold Gen Musharraf`s exit

IT was a moment foretold many times over but nevertheless came as a surprise. On Thursday morning, former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf headed to the Islamabad High Court for his bail application in the judges` detention case.

Perhaps he expected a positive response a day earlier he had been given bail in the Benazir Bhutto murder case. But he was in for a disappointment: the IHC rejected his application and ordered that Musharraf be arrested but the former chief of army staff`s security personnel whisked him out of the court premises and rushed him to his farmhouse.

It is hard to believe that he had not foreseen this.

The lukewarm reception he received on his return; the rejection of his nomination papers from one constituency after another; the disdain with which the media and civil society reacted to his return even as political parties maintained a silence indeed, it had been evident that `everyone ended up finding his place in the world, everyone except him`. If nothing else, as a man who had been part of the political system for so long, Musharraf should have realised that no guarantees from any quarter could have ensured how he was treated uponreturn. He could simply have recalled the fate of his `deal` with Benazir to understand this. But now that he has miscalculated once more, Musharraf who has time and again said that he would abide by the law needs to toe the legal line. He should hand himself over and court arrest; anything short of that will reflect badly on him. Indeed, the jokes that were circulating about the commando who ran away on Thursday should be enough to convince him that the honourable course lies in surrendering before the law rather than defying it.

At the same time, it is necessary to caution the judiciary. With the history of the courts` clash with the dictator still fresh in our memory, the former should be careful as the cases against the latter are heard. Not for a moment should anyone be able to accuse the courts of pursuing vengeance rather than justice. The general has already been judged by history. Had he been allowed to contest the elections and been delivered a sound defeat, there would have been little that the law could have added to this. Indeed, the people`s verdict would have sealed his fate far more effectivelythananylegalorderthat still runs the risk of making a martyr out of him.




AN urban bias tends to run through all parties` manifestos in Pakistan, although far less so with the PPP. This bias tends to see rural society as basically an agricultural platform, and views economic benefit primarily in terms that are unique to the urban economy. To be fair, the PPP`s manifesto makes plenty of reference to rural schemes and economic issues such as livestock cooperatives and boosting milk processing and crop insurance. But coming from an incumbent party, it is entirely reasonable to ask for the track record first and the manifesto second. It`s true that this government initiated a large-scale transfer of government and economic resources towards the rural economy, primarily through the administered pricing mechanism such as the wheat procurement price; but it is equally true that much of the benefit of the redirection has accrued to large landowners and wielders of influence in rural society rather than the small-scale farmer, who was supposed to be the beneficiary.The manifestos of the other two big parties in the upcoming electoral race the FML-N and the PTI are more obviously urban in nature and talk mostly of the concerns of the formal urban economy. They are silent on crucial reforms required in the rural economy. The PML-N, for instance, speaks of deficits and investment and `industrial revival` in its manifesto, and despite the existence of a subheading on `agriculture,` even here the underlying emphasis carries an urban bias by talking about the productive aspects of rural society and not about the kinds of reforms required for its uplift. The PTPs manifesto, drawn up by some of the best professional minds in the country, similarly talks of rural society only as a productive platform for the economy, but not as a social zone with its own problems and requirements.

Considering that the rural vote can turn the tide in an election, it is puzzling that the manifestos of the largest parties carry such a deep urban bias.

Polarised debate Film industry`s revival

ONE of the topics debated in the recently concluded International Conference on Film and Television in Karachi was on ways to revive the country`s film industry.

Opinions are deeply divided on one aspect of the matter in particular: is it advisable to allow films from other countries, particularly India, to be aired here? One camp argues that Indian films take away local productions` audiences, thus hurting the domestic industry.

The other side maintains that such protectionist measures cannot work in a globalised world, and point out that a years-long ban on Indian films on these very grounds failed to have the desired effect of rejuvenation.

What`s missing from this picture, though, is the middle ground of good sense. It is true that audiences will watch whatever appeals to them more, ie quality content, and if they are denied this in the country`s cinema houses, in an increasingly intercon-nected world they can simply find other avenues.

And it should not be forgotten that the absence of legal import of foreign cultural content is one of the reasons behind the country`s large-scale piracy market. Yet it is also true that several countries in danger of being drowned out by fare from larger powerhouses Canada, for instance have put in place a network of protectionist laws designed to promote the local industry.

But, crucially, these do not include bans; they focus on promoting collaborative work which highlights and raises the standards of the local industry. What Pakistan`s film industry needs is investment and promotion, particularly by the state. The potential is there films of good standard have been wellreceived, the competition notwithstanding. Were the state to start injecting funds in subsidising training and providing opportunities to filmmakers, there would be a sudden rise in quality.

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Yes We Can Do It!

(20th April 2013)

A lacklustre affair Election campaigning

SO far, several reasons have hampered parties from campaigning enthusiastically for the May 11 vote. These have included the initial uncertainty of the elections being held at all. Indecision over party candidates and valid security concerns have been other reasons, with some candidates and their supporters falling prey to acts of terrorism. All this has taken away from the festivity of the election season that has its own distinctiveness in this part of the world. Traditionally, after the Raj days, public meetings and processions were the most effective mode of political mobilisation. This time, it is TV and social media on which the parties and candidates have largely relied to convey their viewpoints to potential voters, and this mode of campaigning has not contributed to electoral vitality. However, with the deadline for the withdrawal of nomination papers over, the stage is now set for a historic election that will, for the first time in this country`s history, see an elected government taking over from another that completed a full five-year term.

The task facing the Election Commission of Pakistan and the interim government is challenging. At stake are 849 general seats in the national and provincial assemblies, contested by candidates whose number before the final list stood at23,079, an average of 27 for each constituency. The number of registered voters is 86,189,802, including 37,597,387 women. The latter figure, although less than half that for male voters, indicates that the number of women participating in the political process has kept pace with the growing population.

And it is refreshing to know that women from the conservative tribal areas will be contesting alongside other women, including a former bonded labourer from Sindh.

Since all campaigning must come to an end 48 hours before the vote, the contestants have three weeks in which to maximise their efforts. This way, this will be the shortest campaign period in Pakistan`s history.

Will the candidates conform to the strict criterion laid down by the ECP? Will violence not linked to the terrorist threat obstruct electioneering? Will rules against providing transportforvoters on polling day be flouted? It will be interesting to see how these problems are tackled by the ECP and the law enforcement authorities. There are of course limits beyond which the ECP and the law enforcers cannot be fully effective. Ultimately, it is the candidates and their supporters who have to demonstrate restraint and make it a violencefree and transparent exercise.

In the line of fire Police casualties

THE number of policemen killed in Karachi since the beginning of the year is a matter of grave concern. On Tuesday, a police constable was shot in the city`s Korangi area, bringing the number of police personnel killed in the metropolis to 45. It is only the fourth month of the year and it almost seems certain that last year`s tally of murdered policemen will be equalled, even surpassed; over 100 police officers were gunned down in Karachi in 2012. Policemen are also being killed elsewhere in the country. Among the victims of Tuesday`s suicide bombing that targeted an ANP rally in Peshawar were five policemen; hundreds of police personnel have died in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa over the last few years. In Balochistan, the situation is not much different, as some estimates suggest around 400 policemen have been killed in a little over two years, while Punjab has witnessed comparatively fewer policemen dying in the line of duty. While the list of victims includes officers from higher ranks, the majorityof the men hailed from the lower ranks.

In Karachi`s case, policemen`s killings have taken place across the city, though District West has proved to be particularly deadly for the law enforcers. This is the same area where significant TTP activity has been reported. Religious militants and criminal elements are believed to be among the killers of policemen in the city, while law enforcers have been targeted by violent extremists in KP as well. There is a need to better equip policemen posted in volatile areas across the country. In the Karachi police`s case, only those law enforcers involved in operations are issued flak jackets, and then not all policemen wear these as standard operating procedure.

Even in KP, not all police personnel are equipped with these. The supply and wearing of flak jackets and other safety gear should be made mandatory, especially for those who serve in danger zones.

First-aid training should also be provided to policemen to enhance their capabilities.

Swept under the carpet Ban on YouTube

MATTERS tend to move so fast in Pakistan that headlines appear always to be pushing others out of the way before being replaced themselves. Old issues, once they`re out of the running news, get left by the wayside. A case in point is the ban on YouTube imposed last September. Over seven months have passed, the issue at the centre of the blockade has been relegated to history and the damage done by rioters in major cities has long been forgotten. Even the government that imposed the ban as a placatory gesture to douse inflamed passions has gone. But the video-sharing website remains inaccessible.

What justification is there for this? The provocation, an offensive movie trailer, behind the shutdown is hardly recalled.

The caretaker set-up now in place would do well to turn its attention to this matter, not least because the interim minister for information, Arif Nizami, is a seasoned journalist who has often reiterated the importance of citizens` right of free access to information. A reversal of the ban falls within the mandate of a caretaker government, which is also free from the sort of political pressures that resulted in the shutdown of YouTube in the first place.

This is an opportunity for the administration currently in charge to leave behind a lasting legacy by putting in place a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the US under which, amongst other matters, an internet company such as Google can be directed to comply with the laws of other countries and through which method countries including Egypt and India, rather than putting in place a blanket ban, were able to have the offending YouTube material rendered inaccessible.

Really, it`s been long enough; it`s time to take action and move on.

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Yes We Can Do It!

Put the past behind: — Call for Musharraf’s trial

RETIRED General Pervez Musharraf has once again united a polarised polity and society. On Friday, as he and his legal eagles were running from court house to the police headquarters, the rest of the country came together to criticise him in the media and on the streets; in the Senate, politicians once again called for his trial under Article 6, merely underscoring the legal woes of the former dictator. In this context, it’s hard to not join this “sound and fury” calling for a trial of ‘public enemy number one’ but to do so would not be just. Indeed, no one can deny the role played by Gen Musharraf in the coup of 1999 and then in November 2007 when he imposed an emergency, deposed the judiciary, tried to censor the media and threw many people behind bars. But was he acting alone both times? In all honesty, he was not.

If the 1999 coup was bloodless it was because it enjoyed more widespread support than Pakistan would today like to admit to. And this is exactly why the emergency was rolled back in 2007 because it was unacceptable to the public at large. More than that, a trial of Gen Musharraf alone would simply throw a cover over his accomplices — the generals who helped him, the judiciary that validated the coup, the politicians who joined him and many others. To hold him guilty alone would simply perpetuate this myth that a military coup and the subversion of democracy is the ‘sin’ of an individual instead of a collective act.

This has even been acknowledged in the historic Supreme Court verdict on the 2007 emergency that pointed out the role played by judges and politicians in upholding undemocratic acts. In fact, that verdict was a sign of the maturity of Pakistani society — it had acknowledged past mistakes and was now ready to move forward. To now focus on Gen Musharraf and press for his trial would be reversal of our society’s evolution. His trial, if the current national mood prevails, will smack of vindictiveness and a desire for revenge — emotions that are best avoided. It needs to be realised that Gen Musharraf’s departure in 2008 and his arrest at present are possible because the door to military coups has been shut than to presume that his trial alone will prevent further coups. Sometimes justice is best served by letting history be, rather than forcibly dragging it into the present. Gen Musharraf too is part of Pakistan’s past and he should be left there.

A provocative deal: US-Middle East arms sales

THE US is reportedly working on a $10bn deal to sell weapons and aircraft to Israel, Saudi Arabia and the UAE, ostensibly to counter Iran. Though approval is still required from Congress, US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel is due in the Middle East to seal the deal with the states concerned. News of the deal came a day after the Iranian president criticised “a foreign presence” in the Gulf, claiming it was a “source of insecurity”. It is not difficult to imagine how the arms sale will be perceived in Tehran. The arrangement will retain Israel’s military edge in the region while significantly boosting the capabilities of America’s Gulf Arab allies. As it is the Gulf is a lucrative market for the US arms industry. Both Saudi Arabia and the UAE have previously inked similar arms deals with Washington.

Considering the already volatile atmosphere in the Middle East, the deal will only ratchet up tensions in the region. It sends an aggressive signal to Iran indicating that should diplomacy fail on the nuclear stand-off, the heavy firepower will be rolled out. It also serves as a blunt reality check regarding the state of the Muslim world. While there is certainly no love lost between Tehran and Tel Aviv, the weapons deal speaks volumes for the mistrust between Gulf Arabs and Iranians, despite claims of Muslim brotherhood. The proposed deal is a stark reminder of the region’s geopolitical divisions, pitting Iran, Syria and Hezbollah on one side and the Gulf monarchies and Israel on the other, under the American umbrella. In a more rational world, the Gulf states could have put their considerable petrodollars to more productive use, instead of buying deadly toys aimed at their perceived enemies. Instead of raising the temperature through provocative rhetoric and questionable arms purchases, both the Arabs and Iranians should solve their outstanding issues through dialogue on a regional basis, while external players should refrain from fanning the flames of mistrust.

Long-term solution needed: ‘No-go’ areas

ON Thursday, the Sindh High Court, while hearing a petition seeking the recovery of a kidnap victim in Karachi, directed the provincial chiefs of police and the Rangers to eliminate ‘no-go’ areas in the city. This echoes the Supreme Court’s orders to the police and Rangers a few weeks ago while hearing the case pertaining to Karachi’s law and order problems. At the time, it had come to light that localities within the jurisdiction of at least seven police stations contained “partial no-go areas” where law enforcement officials could not enter without enormous risk to their lives.

One can scarcely quibble with the order per se. It is unacceptable that some neighbourhoods should be out of bounds for law enforcers while criminal gangs hold residents hostage by dint of intimidation and threats of violence, particularly with an election around the corner and the additional security concerns it entails. There has been some forward movement on this score during the last few weeks, with the Rangers carrying out clean-up operations in certain localities, arresting a number of alleged criminals and seizing weapons caches. However, to expect a comprehensive and sustainable clean-up of the city’s militant- and gang-infested areas within a short span of time is perhaps unrealistic. The likelihood that any such move would be vocife-rously resisted was illustrated soon enough with an attack on the Rangers outside their Korangi office, which killed four of its personnel and injured three. After all, a host of factors perpetuated over several years have led to this situation: among them, parochial politics, an influx of migrants due to natural disasters and militancy, unchecked proliferation of weapons and a highly politicised police force. This is a problem that will requ-ire both comprehensive action and political will to resolve.

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If you tremble with indignation at every injustice then you are a comrade of mine.(Che Guevara)

(22nd April 2013)

Obsessive focus Gen Kayani`s comments

PERHAPS it is a sign of the times that Gen Kayani`s comments at the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul will attract little meaningful attention or comment. `Pakistan was created in the name of Islam and Islam can never be taken out of Pakistan .

The Pakistan Army will keep on doing its best towards our common dream for a truly Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Gen Kayani said. In truth, however, both the timing and the content of Gen Kayani`s speech ought to be parsed carefully. Given the recent travails of election candidates facing new, and unwarranted, scrutiny of their Islamic credentials and a debate being triggered on the true ideology of Pakistan, the army chief ought to have considered whether weighing in on such matters at this time was the appropriate thing to do or not. The political battle lines have already been drawn, with religious elements and anti-democratic forces beating the drum of an exclusionist version of Pakistan`s ideology and trying to make it an election issue. Has Gen Kayani, wittingly or unwittingly, given those religious elements and antidemocratic forces a boost going into next month`s election? The substance tooofthe comments requires closeexamination. Who is trying to take Islam out of Pakistan; where is the threat to the public`s right to practise their Muslim faith? In fact, the threat is in the opposite direction: to those of other faiths who are also Pakistani and some of whom don`t even enjoy the theoretical right to practise their faith without fear or intimidation. If Islam is in fact the core of the Pakistani state, does that mean non-Muslim Pakistanis have no place in this state and society? Even among Muslims, from the early 1950s, the question of which of the many different interpretations of and schools of thought in Islam ought to be given precedence over the rest has been a dangerously divisive issue when the state has seen fit on occasion to tackle it.

More relevantly to Gen Kayani`s institution, the exclusive, obsessive even, focus on using Islam to galvanise the armed forces is precisely where the origins of the tragic and disastrous policy of statesponsored jihad has arisen. Gen Kayani and the army high command should stick to questions of national security and leave it to the politicians to sort out for whom and why Pakistan was created.

The ideology of Pakistan should be an issue for politics, not the armed forces.

Time to act Gas allocation

CNG STATIONS are back on the policy radar.

Following complaints from industry, the government has agreed to review its gas allocations to various sectors of industry, and look once more at the wisdom of resuming supplies for CNG stations. It would be proper for the caretaker government to return to the original gas allocation priority list that carnes the approvalofthe Economic Coordination Committee since that list has the widest possible consensus of stakeholders and industry experts. It makes no sense that gas should be supplied to captive power plants of the textile industry while it is diverted away from the large power plants of the independent power producers and Wapda. It makes equally little sense to pump precious natural gas into highly inefficient automobile engines while our fertiliser plants are gasping for their vital fuel, impacting food prices. The priority list for allocating gas among various stakeholders has been made; it only needs to be implemented.

It`s time the caretakergovernment lived up to its name. It is understood that its mandate is limited, but there is a reason why it is called a caretaker government: it is supposed to look after things until a new government is sworn in. Given a limited mandate, the petroleum minister has the perfect reason to return to the original allocations agreed upon by the ECC. It might be a tightrope act at times, but he should realise that in an appointed government with a limited mandate, he is free from any political constraint or reciprocal obligation. This freedom should be utilised and the limited mandate exercised to provide gas first and foremost to the power plants that feed the national grid, followed by the fertiliser industry. The textile sector needs to audit the efficiencies of its captive power plants before pressing its demands, and efficiencies in utilisation should become important criteria for deciding allocations.

Anything else would be exercising more than a limited mandate, and would justifiably lead to questions.

Still waiting Earthquake victims` travails

WE can only hope that the state eventually makes good on its promises because for now, good intentions alone are evident: provincial disaster management authority trucks will soon arrive with relief goods, the PDMA has completed its initial survey of the losses and these will be submitted to the government soon, a plan to build container homes as temporary shelters has been finalised and the Quetta Electric Supply Company has set up an emergency cell. The director-general of the Earthquake Reconstruction and Rehabilitation Authority has said that the affected people will not be left on their own. All these words paint a rosy scenario. But on the ground, the picture is very different. Several days after the 7.8 magnitude earthquake flattened much of the border town of Mashkel, the roughly 15,000 people rendered homeless are still waiting for food, tents and potablewater. They are still waiting for an indication of whether state and society are willing or able to help.

It is true that the state apparatus has generally been found to be sluggish and unable to cope whenever there are large numbers of people to be helped in emergency circumstances, be it in the aftermath of floods, large-scale displacement in the northwest or the current postearthquake scenario. Yet, unfortunately, in Mashkel`s case relief efforts are being significantly hampered by the fact that it is so remote, and that road access is at best limited.

Whatever few goods have reached the area have been flown in by Pakistan Army helicopters. Erra has promised now that the road network in the area will be improved and a water-provision scheme established. Mashkel was never the beneficiary of the sort of development it needed; now, it is doubly the victim.

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Yes We Can Do It!

23.04.2013

Not the full picture: Lal Masjid commission report

IN its recently released report on the 2007 showdown between the state and militants holed up inside an Islamabad mosque, the Lal Masjid commission has absolved the army of responsibility for the debacle. Instead, blame has been placed on the shoulders of Gen Musharraf, Shaukat Aziz and members of the cabinet at the time. But before the state files murder charges — as recommended by the one-judge commission — we must ask whether these recommendations are in consonance with some aspects of the affair that need greater critical appraisal. In other words, the sensitive nature of such an investigation should have entailed far broader terms of reference for the commission than merely affixing blame and focusing on compensation issues.

There are three crucial aspects of the Lal Masjid operation that can be considered independently of the report: a) the military operation that resulted in clearing the mosque of militants and the death of many civilians was an institutional decision, not solely that of Gen Musharraf, who was then army chief; b) the situation in the capital had been allowed to come to such a pass that a military operation became necessary; c) the operation was badly mishandled, resulting in the death of all those who were inside the complex, not just the militants. True, there was justification for the operation. The Lal Masjid militants had challenged the writ of the state in the heart of Islamabad. Aside from the seminary students’ moral policing in the capital, Sharia ‘courts’ were set up inside the mosque and there were a number of fire-fights with the police, paramilitary and army even before the military launched its operation. Heavy weaponry was stashed inside the place of worship — and later used by militants during the siege.

While the details of the siege itself were covered extensively by the media, very little is known about the identity of the armed militants who were in control of the mosque complex and their agenda. Here is where a bigger probe is needed; and also to answer what went on inside the complex during the operation and what prompted the military to act in a way that there was no survivor to give an alternative version of events. It can only be hoped that a wider probe will also summon army officials. Fact and fiction must be separated before blame is affixed on those responsible for carrying out a flawed operation and those whose terrorising tactics were getting out of hand.

Fatwa on vote: Ulema conference

IS not casting a vote a sin? If it is then the envisaged fatwa occupies the other end of the spectrum in which some ulema consider the electoral process — in fact democracy itself — un-Islamic. But over the decades, there has been a sea-change in this thinking. Some leading religious parties, initially opposed to Western-style democracy and elections, have reversed their position and taken part in polls. For the people of Pakistan, however, a fatwa this way or that is of no consequence, because over the last 50 years, they have unmistakably settled for democracy and never seen the issue of voting or not voting as a religious one. Against this background, the outcome of a meeting of ulema in Islamabad on Thursday will be watched with interest. If not voting voluntarily is a sin, what position will the ulema adopt in cases where women are prevented from voting? Are the women guilty of sin or should we hold as sinners those who keep them away from the polling booth? The issue is relevant to some parts of the country where traditions have stood in the way of a woman’s right to exercise her franchise.

The Islamabad moot is to be attended by virtually all political parties; that should give us an idea of its importance. If the conference makes progress, there will be a larger convention of 5,000 ulema, representing all schools of fiqh, including those from Saudi Arabia and Al-Azhar. Let us hope the conference does not get bogged down in dogmatic hair-splitting, and, instead, the learned participants adopt a position that recognises the modern political ethos and upholds a democratic approach. The Pakistan Ulema Council will use the occasion to launch a 40-page booklet, which deals with electoral issues in the light of Sharia. The PUC’s thrust has been towards a more liberal interpretation of the texts. For that reason, it would be interesting to see what response it evokes from the more tradition-bound sections of the ulema.

Easy pickings: Muggings at traffic jams

THE police in Karachi may euphemistically refer to it as “snatchings” but for the city’s residents, it’s an opportunistic crime that any citizen may have to face at any time: being relieved of your cash and valuables while stuck in a traffic jam. A young man — sometimes a whole group ‘working’ several vehicles at the same time — knocks on a car window with a gun, or brandishes it at a motorcyclist; the helpless victim hands over whatever he can, and watches in fearful frustration as the mugger calmly walks on to the next target. The stash of watches, wallets, mobile phones and jewellery thus collected is easy to fence, the hapless citizenry sitting ducks for criminals whose ruthlessness is only underscored by the nonchalance with which this crime is usually committed. It can happen anywhere, regardless of the locality, and to anyone, regardless of economic standing, and it’s so common that people have started carrying decoy phones and leaving documents such as identity cards and driving licences at home.

Cognisant perhaps of the futility of going to the police, few victims bother to register complaints. Nevertheless, the Citizens-Police Liaison Committee says that over 20,000 mobile phones were reported stolen in 2012 and 2011 each, of which half were ‘snatched’. The answer can only lie in better and more coordinated policing. Given this discernible pattern, when a traffic jam occurs word should go out on the police wireless and a mobile unit be sent to the spot. Meanwhile, efforts need to be made to shut down the thriving trade being done in stolen mobile phones. Citizens too can play a crucial role: through each phone set’s unique IMEI number, a stolen handset can be permanently shut down. Noting and reporting the IMEI number should become the norm.

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"Nay! man is evidence against himself. Though he puts forth his excuses." Holy Qur'an (75:14-15)