Joint effort

With Pakistan mere steps from the finish line an election that could mark the country`s first uninterrupted transfer of power from one democratic government to another the conduct of the polls will be more important than ever. If carried out reasonably fairly and transparently, they could mark another milestone in the evolution of Pakistani democracy. Which is where the Election Commission of Pakistan`s code of conduct for political parties, a new draft of which was issued this week, comes in.
Most of the restrictions whose violation the code claims should be met by legal action and possible disqualification are reasonable. They are calculated to avoid law and order problems, ensure that voters and electoral staff are not pressured, and that citizens and local administrations aren`t inconvenienced by campaigning. But historical experience suggests that many of the rules will be ignored, which is why the ECP must focus on two things.
First, getting buy-in from the political parties. The draft has been circulated to them for their comments a useful first step. And this ECP has already demonstrated its willingness to compromise; the previously prescribed campaign expenditure limits of Rs1.5m for a National Assembly seat and Rsim for a provincial assembly seat are being revisited because of feedback that they were unrealistic. Thisconsultative approach between the Commission and the parties on formulating the rules should pave the way for the second key step: a good-faith effort by the ECP to actually enforce them, which is important not just for the outcome of this election but for the authority of the ECP over future polls as well. Wall chalkings and larger-than-prescribed posters might not call into question the fairness of elections, but such violations as pressurising voters and preventing women from voting both sully the polls and diminish the ECP`s authority if no action is taken against them.

This leads to another task that political parties and the ECP must focus on together getting added to the voter list the up to 20 million Pakistani adults who remain unregistered. Nadra and the ECP have taken a transformational step by linking voter registration to CNICs, but without a noticeable public information campaign and reaching out to citizens in rural and remote areas, many will remain unregistered or will be registered at the wrong addresses.

The ECP did hold a day of awareness last month, but that campaign wasn`t enough and voter lists aren`t accessible as widely as they should be. Nor can the ECP ensure all adults are registered without the help of political parties, in whose own interest it is to get more people on the rolls.

Scenes of anarchy

November 2nd, 2012

Cause for serious concern should be read into the rising number of cases of mob violence in Pakistan. There have been several instances where incensed individuals, often egged on by malicious elements, have united under perceived common grievances to take the law into their own hands. One such incident, too heartbreaking to be forgotten, was that of two brothers being beaten to death by an enraged mob near Sialkot in August 2010. Now we learn that on Wednesday, a large number of protesters gathered in Lahore`s Ravi Road area after rumours of an act of blasphemy started swirling, and turned violent. Holding off both police and the fire brigade, they set alight three buildings of a private school whose staff was implicated in allegations of blasphemy and torched the owner`s car. Reports suggest that activists of some religious groups were among the mob, no doubt adding fuel to the fire.

Whether or not blasphemy was actually committed is a matter for investigators acting under the mandate of the law to decide. What is undeniable, however, is that vigi-lante action is simply unwarranted in the context of any norm of justice or, indeed, of civilisation itself. Regardless of the enormity of the perceived provocation, under no circumstances can individuals or groups be allowed to take it upon themselves to deliver their version of `justice`. Such incidents constitute dangerous precedents and only embolden future offenders that nurse anarchic tendencies.

To avoid sending out the signal that the state and its justice system are either blind to or tolerant of such behaviour, the administration must act fast and come down with a heavy hand on the perpetrators.

The ringleaders of the mob need to be identified, investigated and prosecuted, sending out the message in no uncertain terms that the law will not stand by while citizens` rights are violated by those who have no authority to act in the matter. In the case of the Sialkot lynching, several men were eventually sentenced to varying degrees by an antiterrorism court last year. A similar procedure needs to be initiated and expedited in terms of the Ravi Road arson too.

Learning from Sandy

November 2nd, 2012

Pakistan must learn from America`s Sandy experience, especially how, in spite of the deadly potential of the superstorm, human suffering was reduced to a minimum. Weather warnings helped. But what mattered greatly was how the people and the emergency services reacted to minimise the storm`s ravages. The administration and relief agencies seem also to have learnt from Katrina and acted with speed and planning. As TV images showed, conurbations along the long coastline were pounded by walls of killer waves, and houses were simply smashed and washed away. But because the evacuation of the coastal communities was done well in time and the people cooperated with the relief agencies there were very few casualties. The people also heeded the authorities` warnings to keep off the roads there was no panic and no one called 911, unless there was a lifethreatening situation.

In drawing lessons fromSandy, we have to be mindful of the obvious differences between a developed country and any Third World nation. The absence of a well-oiled rescue machinery and a late, inadequate response tend to aggravate the misery.

Also militating against a scientific response to disasters and contributing to chaos are features typical of developing countries unplanned housing in depressions or close to coasts, lack of discipline among communities with little education, the absence of unity in cities teeming with migrants and the lack of mutual trust and sympathy between the victims and help providers.

The trauma of the 2005 earthquake and the havoc wrought by the devastating floods in 2010 and last year are fresh in the people`s memories. We do not know how the monsoon will behave next summer, but it is time the National Disaster Management Authority learnt its lessons and prepared itself in advance for any disaster that may strike Pakistan.

Balochistan crisis

November 3rd, 2012

The shambles that is the Balochistan government has taken yet another turn for the worse this week with Chief Minister Aslam Raisani under siege from rivals within his party, the speaker of the Balochistan Assembly and the Supreme Court. Citing an Oct 12 Supreme Court interim order, Speaker Aslam Bhootani has turned to the governor for constitutional advice on whether Mr Raisani`s government is still intact and if a session of the Balochistan Assembly can be convened as demanded by the chief minister. Meanwhile, the Balochistan chapter of the PPP has suspended the membership of Mr Raisani on grounds of various allegations of corruption and incompetence against the chief minister. But so far the central command of the PPP has not weighed in on the matter. In the murky world of Balochistan politics all is rarely as it seems. Both the speaker and the PPP Balochistan leader, Sadiq Umrani, are believed to be upset with the chief minister for political reasons supporting rivals, manoeuvring a caretaker set-up in place to favour Mr Raisani, etc and that may have much more to do with the crises that now confront Mr Raisani. The chief minister is expected to survive his political challenges in the age-old fashion of Balochistan politics: wheeling and dealing and reassurances given to wary and suspicious allies.Yet, the central problem remains: the Balochistan government is dysfunctional and Balochistan continues to suffer all manner of problems. Added to this is the searing scrutiny of the Supreme Court which, while by and large beneficial to putting Balochistan back on the national agenda, has introduced an unpredictable element in the provincial equation. If there is any part of the country that desperately needs fresh elections and a new political leadership, it is Balochistan. But provincial elections are now synchronised with the federal elections and both are very much on the horizon. So an intervention for rapid elections in Balochistan at this late hour may actually create more problems than it could solve. Better then to focus on creating a fairer electoral environment.

The caretaker set-up, the participation of all parties in the election and a polling machinery that better represents the will of the people all are areas that need serious attention. The pressure on Mr Raisani, then, could serve some useful purpose in perhaps forcing him and his government to make better decisions in the crucial months ahead. It may seem like a forlorn hope given the appalling record of Chief Minister Raisani & Co, but nothing concentrates the mind of a politician like a battle for survival.

Collective failure

November 3rd, 2012

Finance Minister Abdul Hafeez Shaikh is correct to remind his cabinet colleagues that the failure of this government to resolve the power crisis is a collective one, that they must all share the burden of accountability. The figures given by the minister tell us the scale of this failure. Despite pouring Rs1.4tn into the power sector since this government was elected, the scale of the crisis has only grown. It`s also important to note that the same time period has seen power tariffs climb by almost 75 per cent, by some estimates.
Where did all this money go? And the power crisis is not the only failing for which the government needs to be collectively held responsible. The finance minister was compelled to remind his colleagues of their joint responsibility after they had reacted with displeasure and disbelief to his admittedly rosy take on the state of price inflation in the country.

It is true that problems like power shortages and price inflation are beyond the scope of any one ministry to address. In the power sector for instance, a proper execution of the right policies will need tight coordination among the ministries of petroleum, finance and water and power. It is a mystery why the government has not appointed a strong and credible minister to head the water and power ministry. The same applies to price inflation. The finance minister has a large role to play in maintaining fiscal discipline, which is essential for price stability, but his role must be matched by the rest of the government that must draw up proper spending priorities. If the cabinet fails to pull together in setting and executing the policy agenda the result will inevitably be failure, in spite of the best efforts of individuals. And that is the biggest letdown on the part of this government. It has not been able to come together to draw up and execute a policy agenda that addresses key problems. Instead its approach has been piecemeal and ad hoc. As a result, its performance has been chaotic. That failure belongs equally to each member of the cabinet.

Death in custody

November 3rd, 2012

There are conflicting claims regarding the death in an alleged encounter on Tuesday of Azizullah Janwari, the prime suspect in last month`s armed attack on a PPP meeting in Khairpur. A number of people were killed in that incident. The suspect was held in a police lock-up near Sukkur after being arrested from Bahawalpur.
The police claim members of the suspect`s community tried to free him from detention, which resulted in a shootout with the law enforcers. However, Mr Janwari`s clansmen have alleged that the suspect was eliminated in a staged encounter. Several questions about the `encounter` need to be answered, namely how come the injured attackers managed to flee and no police officers were injured in the `shootout.` Also, serious allegations reported in a section of the media that a ruling party lawmaker wanted the suspect killed in an encounter need to be addressed by the government. Considering that elections are close, it is essential that this case is investigated to unearth exactly who attacked the PPP meeting and why, as well as the circumstances behind the suspect`s death in custody.
Custodial and extrajudicial deaths are unfortunately quite common in Pakistan. One of the main reasons for this is that the legal system has failed to deliver. Since the courts take too long to try suspects or free them on ball, eliminating `troublesome` suspects through encounters is seen as an easy solution by the law-enforcers. This is totally unacceptable. As stated countless times, the system of investigation and prosecution needs to be overhauled while the culture of tolerating or even encouraging, as it has been alleged extralegal killings by the police must be done away with. It is for the courts to decide who is guilty and who should be punished. Condoning extrajudicial and custodial killings will further speed up our descent into lawlessness.

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Left is Right

Time to pay up

November 4th, 2012

Now it`s the turn of cricketers to be named and shamed for tax evasion or failing to pay their full income tax dues. The Federal Board of Revenue`s income tax division has issued notices to over 20 cricketers for tax dues owed to the state and a sum of at least Rs100m is expected to be recovered.

As a percentage of the overall tax revenue projected at nearly Rs2.4tr in the current financial year the sums are insignificant, but as a means to alert tax dodgers that the taxman means business, the measure is a public relations coup. The idea stems from the creation last year of an income tax investigation department within the FBR that has been busy accumulating data on wealthy Pakistanis who pay little or no tax.

Data drawn from Nadra last month helped assemble a list of 2.3 million Pakistanis who have multiple bank accounts, travel abroad frequently and live a wealthy lifestyle but do not figure in the direct tax net at all. Previously it had become known that of the abysmally low three million people with a national tax number, less than half file their tax returns. That the system is broken is universally known. That it has forced a highly unjust, unfair and regressive tax system on the public at large is less well understood. State expendi-tures have to be paid for regardless of whether or not the rich pay their mandated share of income tax.

And because the rich don`t pay income tax the less well-off have to carry a disproportionate burden of the tax burden through indirect taxes like the sales tax, customs duties and other levies. Roughly, for every Rs3 raised as direct taxes, Rs7 are raised through indirect taxes. If that were not bad enough, the overall tax collection is disastrously low, forcing the government to borrow heavily from the local market, which creates inflationary pressures at the same time as it crowds out private investment. So it isn`t just a double whammy for the less well-off higher taxes and inflation but a triple whammy: the squeeze in credit for the private sector slows down growth and the creation of much-needed jobs.

The picture is even bleaker when the power crisis and circular debt are factored in: the rich still get subsidised electricity because of the tariff structure and even then don`t always pay for it, driving up government expenditure which is largely paid for through more borrowing and the indirect taxes. So if naming and shaming the wealthy produces results, the FBR should go after the real untouchables including politicians and the media.

A province on edge

November 4th, 2012

While acts of violence continue to plague Balochistan, officialdom seems bent on denying the fact that a major problem exists. At least 18 people were killed in the ensuing blaze when gunmen attacked abusatafuelstation outside Khuzdar on Friday. Initial police reports suggest personal enmity triggered the attack, with the fuel pump as the target. Aside from the latest tragedy Khuzdar has been on edge for the past several weeks; last month two sons of a local journalist were shot at one of them died while a journalist was gunned down in September. Balochistan overall suffers from rampant lawlessness, with murders, kidnappings and enforced disappearances being common.

What is ironic is that the bus attack in Khuzdar occurred on the same day the government was defending its record on Balochistan during a Supreme Court hearing on law and order in the province. An interior ministry report cited at Friday`s hearing suggested that the violence in Balochistan was a `limited local issue` concerning some `so-called nationalists` and that the provincial government had not failed. These observations, echoed by the interi-or minister in the apex court, would be laughable had the matter not been so serious.

The violence in Balochistan is complex and involves many actors.
There have been sectarian and ethnic attacks, lawenforcement personnel have been targeted while extrajudicial killings of Baloch political activists have been reported in the province. The security apparatus (said to target Baloch political workers and separatists), sectarian groups (who have claimed attacks targeting mostly Hazara Shias) and nationalist militants (believed to target non-Baloch citizens, security personnel and pro-government individuals) all appear to be involved. In such circumstances, claiming that law and order in Balochistan has not collapsed is selfdelusional. As a first step, the federal and provincial governments need to stop pretending that all is well in the province and face the facts. While the state is responsible for maintaining order, Baloch nationalists also need to clearly condemn ethnic and sectarian violence. Balochistan`s problems must be handled on several fronts, foremost of which are addressing the grievances of the people and establishing the rule of law.

Losing the plot

November 4th, 2012

The problem is not that Pakistan gets it wrong; it is that the country goes astray even when headed in the right direction. Proper planning, realistic projections of the future, oversight these factors are generally missing from any given endeavour. Consider, for example, two reports published yesterday. The debate on large dams aside, there has been general agreement for years that small dams can prove very useful.

Accordingly, over the first decade of the new millennium, 20 small dams were constructed at the cost of some Rs2.62bn in the Potohar area to provide water to 30,000 acres of farmland. But, according to a recently released Punjab Irrigation and Power Department report, in actual fact they are irrigating a mere 7.45 per cent of the target area. One of them, Sawal Dam in Jhelum Division, is irrigating just three acres against a 930-acre target. Why? Because of insufficient geological investigations, flaws in design and execution, mismanage-ment in supervision and substandard construction materials.
On the other side, it has been recognised for some years that school curricula use pedagogical methodology that promotes rote learning and fails to interest or challenge the students. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government, to its credit, made an intervention. A revamped curriculum which, for example, teaches science through experiment, was introduced two years ago. But since only a fraction of the schoolteachers were actually trained to use it 22,000 of roughly 87,000 primary and middle school teachers students are still learning by rote. Disparate though irrigation and education may appear, the problem is the same in both stories: the administration intervened, but didn`t think it through long enough. The result? Wastage of time, effort and funds, to the benefit of none. Until Pakistan learns to stop losing the plot halfway, its `progress` will be characterised by halfbaked initiatives.

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Left is Right

Judicial limitations

November 5th, 2012

The Supreme Court goes to Quetta, it goes to Karachi, it summons officials to the court headquarters in Islamabad, all the time trying to get the other institutions of the state to do more to stabilise trouble spots and protect the public. Controversial as the attempts may be in some quarters, the court`s moves have definitely helped put on the national agenda issues that otherwise languished at the margins: for instance, a slow-burn insurgency in Balochistan and the state`s brutal response, and unending violence in parts of Karachi even as the main political players in the city are in government together. But the longer the court`s intervention continues, the more the limitations of the judiciary are becoming apparent. True, the judiciary was never really designed for interventions on the security front but the main problem appears to lie elsewhere: a numbing reluctance by the state the political government, the security establishment and the security apparatus to do its job, that is, effectively counter security threats and to keep the public as safe and secure as reasonably possible.

There is no easy comparison between events in Karachi and Balochistan, as indeed there is no direct comparison with the threat posed by militancy in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Counterterrorism measures are different from a counterinsurgency, and an IslamistTHE Supreme Court goes to Quetta, it goes to Karachi, it summons officials to the court headquarters in Islamabad, all the time trying to get the other institutions of the state to do more to stabilise trouble spots and protect the public. Controversial as the attempts may be in some quarters, the court`s moves have definitely helped put on the national agenda issues that otherwise languished at the margins: for instance, a slow-burn insurgency in Balochistan and the state`s brutal response, and unending violence in parts of Karachi even as the main political players in the city are in government together. But the longer the court`s intervention continues, the more the limitations of the judiciary are becoming apparent. True, the judiciary was never really designed for interventions on the security front but the main problem appears to lie elsewhere: a numbing reluctance by the state the political government, the security establishment and the security apparatus to do its job, that is, effectively counter security threats and to keep the public as safe and secure as reasonably possible.

There is no easy comparison between events in Karachi and Balochistan, as indeed there is no direct comparison with the threat posed by militancy in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Counterterrorism measures are different from a counterinsurgency, and an Islamistinsurgency in the northwest of the country has very different drivers to a separatist insurgency in the southwest. But as months have become years and the years threaten to become a decade, policy drift continues to bedevil Pakistan`s attempts to find internal stability. Perhaps most worrying is the ad hoc approach to the disparate problems. When violence flares in one place, urgent meetings are held between political principals to tamp down the problem. When the killings and attacks on various targets go up in another part of the country, suspects are temporarily rounded up and then after a short while the same cycle of violence and counter-violence begins again. Missing throughout is a coherent, long-term policy.

In Balochistan, without a political leadership that is tenacious about reconciliation between the warring separatists and the security establishment, swathes of the province will effectively remain cut off from the rest of Pakistan. In many parts of urban Pakistan, the coordination between the various arms of the security apparatus is still very unsatisfactory, the judicial framework is still too inadequate to deal with terrorism and militancy and a meaningful counter-extremism strategy has yet to be discussed. So, perhaps a rethink in strategyisneeded by the superior judiciary and the various arms of the state it is trying to cajole into behaving more responsibly.

Need for caution

November 5th, 2012

It has been indicated by officials that 7,000 Taliban operatives may have infiltrated Karachi. Media reports have since alleged that the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan have taken over several of the city`s large localities. It has long been known that the Taliban have some presence in Karachi, but the kind of claims that are now being made could prove dangerous for a couple of reasons. For one, Karachi is a tinderbox, and ethnic rivalry is one of the main forces that can set it alight at a moment`s notice. Seven thousand is a significant number, a frightening sound bite that will easily be repeated, but it is unclear where it came from. Add to that the assertion that the TTP is in control of several of the city`s Pakhtun neighbourhoods, and such arguments, if not made carefully, can easily spark violent clashes in the port city. Of course the TTP`s Friday statement, in which the outfit set up a direct confrontation with the MQM, did not help matters. But it is essential to avoid tarring an entire ethnic or linguistic group with the same brush. Criminal ele-ments exist in all communities in this metropolis, and conflating them with specific communities, or overstating the extent of Taliban influence in Karachi, can quickly lead to bloody ethnic conflict. Secondly, the hype about a Taliban presence can become a convenient way for law enforcement to claim that outsiders who have infiltrated Karachi are making it harder to control crime and violence.

The SC has now asked the provincial government to act against the Taliban threat in the city, but where was law enforcement when thousands of Taliban activists were supposedly entering it? Nor is Karachi`s violence entirely a product of outsiders; as a senior bureaucrat in the provincial home ministry said on Friday, all political parties need to rein in their militant wings if law and order is to be restored. The Taliban threat needs to be taken seriously, and law enforcement should act against it with as much discretion as possible. But it should not be used to distract attention from Karachi`s underlying political problems, or to spark an ethnic war.

Stock market puzzle

November 5th, 2012

The spectacular rise of the stock market is bringing back memories of 2007, when the market showed dramatic rises as political uncertainty mounted. To what extent is the continuous upward spiral of the market being driven by corporate earnings and dividend payouts, and to what extent is it speculative buying in the context of a declining interest rate environment? Ever since the State Bank started cutting interest rates, the only measure of economic activity that has risen is the stock market, with values and volumes both registering steep increases. Corporate earnings in the listed companies are encouraging, but investment is still nearly zero, and private-sector credit off-take from the banking system is similarly low. Given this context the refusal on the part of the corporate sector to invest it is surprising that the earnings alone could be generating such enthusiasm on the trade floor.

It`s noteworthy that theSecurities and Exchange Commission has initiated a high-profile probe into the stock market crash of 2008 at precisely this time, when the market is touching record highs all over again.

It`s important to understand why the stock market tends to register such sharp increases in times when all other indicators of economic activity show a moribund economy and deteriorating investor confidence. In the present case, for instance, it`s interesting to note that different categories of stocks have played their role in driving up the index at different points in time. Not too long ago, we were told that penny stocks is where the rally is, with large purchases being made by a single bank. Today, the activity has moved to cement and other blue chips. The shifting winds of trader interest belie most economic analyses given by the market players themselves. The hype surrounding these spikes needs to be carefully scrutinised. Let the buyer beware.

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Left is Right

Few answers

November 6th, 2012

State institutions and the relations between them are back in the news but it’s difficult to interpret what it all means at the moment. President Zardari, Gen Kayani and Chief Justice Chaudhry have all spoken publicly in the space of a day about what is best for Pakistan going forward and the first question is whether they have all said the same thing, i.e. that the constitutional order needs to be protected and strengthened, or if they have hinted at some underlying conflict that could boil over in the weeks and months ahead. When President Zardari spoke on Sunday of “the dying kicks of the old order” and of some threats still existing against parliament, was he painting a picture of slow but meaningful progress in the democratic order or was he obliquely warning of new dangers? Should the emphasis in Gen Kayani’s statement be on his reference to moving forward with “consensus” or on his warning that “conspiracy theories” and “rumours” were trying to drive an “unacceptable” wedge between the public and the armed forces and between the leadership of the armed forces and the rank and file?
And was Chief Justice Chaudhry’s statement that it is the responsibility of the Supreme Court to ensure the “supremacy of the constitution in connection with the actions of state institutions and authorities” a routine reiteration of a line that the judiciary has consistently taken under Chief Justice Chaudhry or a pregnant comment aimed at other institutions?

If the questions are many and the answers few at the moment, it is because of the unfortunate history and nature of institutional power in Pakistan. What is clear is that the old order is crumbling at the edges. New power centres — the judiciary, the media, an increasingly informed and vocal public, and even the political class — are jostling for space and trying to exert their newfound influence. So far, while forward movement in the democratic project has been halting it is also very real — the various power centres have avoided a truly destabilising clash that could take the country back to square one. Perhaps, then, it is a sign of progress that sniping between institutions through public speeches and press releases is as far as things go before common sense prevails and all sides back down temporarily.

Perhaps also this is the way forward: a messy system in which no institution enjoys predominance and all fight for space. But the ghosts of the past have not truly been exorcised either. Which is why the alarm bells start ringing when elliptical warnings, and threats, are brandished. The days ahead will reveal more.

American cliffhanger

November 6th, 2012

Americans go to the polls today in a cliffhanger that analysts predict might end up in a tie, leaving the choice to Congress. Sandy did help the incumbent, as did two Republican heavyweights — New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. But Mitt Romney can still spring a surprise, so forceful has been his indictment of the Democratic administration’s economic performance. Indices over the last few weeks have favoured the president, but they cannot serve to veil the Obama administration’s lacklustre economic record since 2008. Mr Romney remains an unapologetic defender of corporate sharks, but asserts that his policies will help revive the economy, create jobs and restrict the state’s interventionist role. President Barack Obama has hammered home his foreign policy achievements — the end of the Iraq war, the drawdown from Afghanistan by 2014, and the crippling blows dealt to Al Qaeda, including Osama bin Laden’s killing. But the campaign has largely revolved around domestic issues, and that’s where Mr Obama is vulnerable. Most analysts agree it is the swing states that will clinch the election.

The real issue will be the victor’s post-election discomfiture, for neither Mr Obama nor Mr Romney will find it easy to push forward his agenda through a divided Congress. If Mr Obama gets a second term, he will have to face a lower house that is under Republican control, while a victorious Romney will have to deal with a Senate that has a Democratic majority, even if wafer-thin. The mid-term polls could further create problems for the winner and obstruct legislation on such key issues as a quick economic recovery, healthcare, combating climate change, and in Mr Romney’s case an extra $100bn for the Pentagon. For the world at large, there will be little change: notwithstanding differences in shades, American foreign policy is largely bipartisan. Mr Romney’s kind words for Pakistan contradicted his support for drone attacks, and Mr Obama’s June 4, 2009 speech in Cairo turned out to be nothing more than a PR exercise for he has failed to bridge the divide between America and the Muslim world.

Patients’ misery

November 6th, 2012

Doctors in Balochistan’s public hospitals have been on strike for nearly three weeks now due to the abduction of Dr Saeed Khan, an eye specialist, in early October. Only emergency services are available while operation theatres and OPDs have remained closed. Doctors have complained that the provincial government has done nothing to recover the kidnapped medic, while security for medics in Balochistan is very poor. Perhaps Dr Khan’s abduction was a trigger. While the security situation in Balochistan is highly unsatisfactory overall, it has been particularly so for doctors of late; over the past few months several medics have either been murdered or kidnapped for ransom in the restive province. In fact media reports say that in some cases doctors have identified the kidnappers, yet the state has failed to act.

From the facts on the ground nobody appears to be safe in Balochistan. Yet when doctors are targeted and hence unable to perform their duties in a secure environment, the miseries of the common man in Balochistan are compounded. Many patients do not have the means to afford private medical care, the only available option when public health institutions shut down. The doctors appear to have a very genuine reason to protest. The provincial government needs to make concrete efforts to recover the kidnapped doctor, while security for medical practitioners needs to be beefed up, especially in public institutions. Doctors commuting to and from work must also be provided extra security. However, as legitimate as their demands are, the doctors should consider other methods of protest. Going on strike for weeks on end hurts the poorest and most vulnerable members of society. The medics have every right to pursue their legitimate demands. But this should be done in such a manner that while their message is clearly communicated to the state, people are not denied medical care.

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

Army’s concerns

November 7th, 2012

As the country digests the army chief’s latest foray into, strictly speaking, non-military matters, it appears that Gen Kayani’s comments on Monday were directed at his prin-cipal constituency: the armed forces itself. The discomfort within the rank and file and the leadership too in recent weeks is not very difficult to fathom. Mehrangate, the NLC scam, inquiries into a luxury resort in Lahore, and myriad other questions about the army’s political role and management of security affairs have all combined to probably create a sense of siege. For an institution as proud and domestically predominant as the army has been over the decades, it may well be bewildering to be subjected to the kind of scrutiny and commentary that non-uniformed leaders have long been used to. So Gen Kayani’s words — targeted as they appear to have been against the judiciary and sections of the media, and not really the civilian political leadership — were probably intended to allay concerns within the armed forces that somewhat legitimate criticism of narrow problems, from the army’s perspective, were growing into wanton and gratuitous criticism of the entire institution.

Questionable as the army’s concerns may be — those never subjected to intense scrutiny will always resist a changing order — it is perhaps a sign of the times, and a good one at that, that the army chief chose tough words instead of strong action. In eras past, a discreet phone call or a public swipe would have been enough to tamp down criticism and make unwanted investigations disappear. So perhaps in time, even the dubious use of the ISPR to put out such controversial statements will be a practice curbed.

For the long road to civilian control of the state to be travelled, however, one of the key elements is the question of who determines the ‘national interest’. Gen Kayani was correct in saying that “no individual or institution has the monopoly to decide what is right or wrong in defining the national interest” and that it should emerge through a “consensus”. But in truth, it must go much further than that in a truly democratic polity. While other institutions do have some role to play, the central pivot has to be the civilian leadership that represents the will of the people through parliament. It cannot and must not be forgotten that the internal and external instability the country faces today is largely rooted in policies pursued by the army itself in the name of the national interest. But if a few court cases and investigations so unsettle the armed forces, can they really be willing to cede control of the ‘national interest’?

Development projects

November 7th, 2012

Any way you look at it, Balochistan is in dire straits. On the political front, the air is murky especially following a Supreme Court interim order last month which led to the current predicament of Chief Minister Aslam Raisani and the crisis over the convening of the Balochistan provincial assembly. (An assembly session has now been called for Nov 13.) On the law and order front, matters are even worse. Many commitments and expressions of good intent later, there has been no improvement in the security situation. The missing have yet to be traced; minorities continue to be targeted; and the average citizen remains under threat from several quarters. It could have been hoped that matters were better where development is concerned — this would have gone a long way towards putting balm on old wounds. But that, it seems, is far from being the case. The blame for this rests squarely on the shoulders of the provincial administration.

On Monday, several Balochistan senators and Planning Commission officials told a sub-committee of the Senate that none of the 32 federally funded development projects initiated in Balochistan over the past decade have been completed. All these projects had been handed over to the provincial administration for completion. Together, they are worth some Rs60bn. The list reads like a roll of shame: a technical college in Gwadar completed some years ago by the federal government but now derelict because access roads and facilities were not built, and teachers never appointed; the Pat Feeder Water Sector Project launched 15 years ago by Wapda and then taken over by the provincial government, but completion remains around 10 years away — these are just two examples of numerous others. To be fair, some Baloch senators have accepted the onus of responsibility; however, that is hardly enough. If the crisis in Balochistan is to be turned around, here is the simpler part of the solution: develop the province, raising education and employment rates and thus pierce the environment of resentment. If the provincial administration cannot do that, it would be dangerously undermining its own position as the people’s representative.

Still no YouTube

November 7th, 2012

Almost two months after the government blocked YouTube, the video-sharing site remains inaccessible to Pakistanis. Google and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority have failed to reach an agreement over blocking links to The Innocence of Muslims, despite the fact that such arrangements have been made with other governments, and as a result the PTA has stuck to its convenient solution of putting in place a wholesale ban on the website.

In some countries Google is more willing to comply because it has large, localised operations and banning certain videos in those countries would not block the same videos elsewhere. But if the Internet giant is not going to budge on the issue, surely the Pakistani government should be trying to find a way to block specific videos, even if that requires buying more staff or new technology.

The fundamental question is this: after the massive strides Pakistan has made towards freedom of expression, will it continue to take a step back every time someone irresponsible in some part of the world posts something offensive on the Internet? Pakistanis now have the ability to generate and consume a profusion of content through traditional media outlets, social media, and websites and blogs, giving them more space to express themselves than ever before. That has been one of Pakistan’s defining achievements over the last decade. And yet in its populist or moralistic zeal, or simply for security reasons, the government continues to take clumsy, arbitrary actions that block large chunks of the Internet when banning specific material becomes inconvenient or challenging. In today’s globalised world, there will always be something online to take offence at. The PTA needs to find a way to target its efforts so that it can stop depriving Pakistanis of a fundamental right they are becoming increasingly accustomed to.

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

Obama & Pakistan

November 8th, 2012

As a country that has been the focus of world attention for reasons more than one, Pakistan will watch with hope and concern how the foreign policy of President Barack Obama during his second term will affect it in the years to come. Will the new Obama administration reassess some controversial aspects of its foreign policy, like the unceasing drone attacks in the northwest, or will the new mandate serve to reinforce its belief in the righteousness of its policies and stay the course? Since 2008, the US-Pakistan relationship has gone through unprecedented turmoil. Three events last year aggravated tensions between the two — the Raymond Davis affair, the American commando raid that killed Osama bin Laden and the death of 24 Pakistani soldiers at Salala in a US-led Nato attack. In anger, Pakistan boycotted the Bonn conference and suspended the Nato supply line, insisting on an apology. The damage-control exercise took nearly a year to succeed; but it still remains to be seen to what extent the frosty rapprochement can remove the mistrust. The task before the two governments now is to strengthen bilateral ties and cooperate to achieve common objectives.

The obvious goal is to give peace and stability to Afghanistan during and after the Nato forces’ withdrawal by the end of 2014. There are some harsh realities: the Afghan Taliban have not been defeated; the peace talks stand frozen, or if at all there has been progress, America has kept its cards close to its chest; and the beleaguered Karzai regime seems to be in no position to maintain security after 2014. It is here — and not because of the 100 nuclear warheads Mitt Romney spoke of — that America needs Pakistan. Given the bonds of history, culture, economy and geography that unite Pakistan and Afghanistan, the transition to a long-lasting peace west of the Durand Line would not be possible without engaging Islamabad and addressing its legitimate concerns. More important, it is in Washington’s interest to de-velop a long-term relationship with Islamabad instead of ‘returning’ to Pakistan only when a crisis beckons.

As for its policy towards the Muslim heartland, President Obama should re-read his Cairo speech and judge whether America under him has achieved any of its goals. Iran continues to be under harsh American sanctions, and Israel builds settlements in utter disregard of President Obama’s warnings, toothless as they have been. His commitment to the two-state solution has become academic, because Israel has blocked the peace process, and Washington is at the Likud government’s beck and call to deny state status to Palestine at the UN.

Drug regulation challenge

November 8th, 2012

The passage of the 18th Amendment to the constitution has thrown up a number of challenges on different fronts, some of which have proved trickier to resolve than was anticipated. Amongst these is devolution to the provinces of functions of the erstwhile federal health ministry. In recent months, this sector has been in the news frequently. Particularly in the wake of several deaths in Lahore due to the consumption of low-quality or fake drugs, and the scandal that surfaced regarding the manipulation of quotas of medicinal ingredients, the sphere has been the focus of public attention. Much of the confusion has been cleared up as a result of the law establishing the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan. Under this, the functions of the health ministry have been taken over by this agency. Yet cracks remain, as was highlighted by a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court on Tuesday in Islamabad.

Having taken up the matter of the availability of spurious drugs on the market, the SC bench ordered the four provincial governments to apprise it of steps they have taken to not just control the flow of fake or substandard drugs into the market, but also address the rising prices of medicines. The latter, it seems, does not fall under the purview of DRAP; according to a report submitted before the bench by the additional advocate general, Punjab, Jawwad Hassan, drug prices are fixed by the federal government under Section 12 of the Drugs Act 1976, through notification in the official gazette, and the provinces have no role in the matter. This is as it should be, since drug-pricing needs to be standardised across the country and availability must be uniform. Yet having regulations in place on paper is one matter; ensuring that they are adhered to is another altogether. In actual fact, the state’s role in keeping a check on the quality and sale of drugs is piecemeal to say the least. This gap must be plugged on an urgent footing. The cost to public health is too great to allow anything to fall through the cracks.

Yet more questions

November 8th, 2012

A US appeals court has upheld the September 2010 verdict that sentenced Aafia Siddiqui to 86 years in prison. The severity of her sentence raises yet another question in a case already riddled with them: what is Ms Siddiqui really being held accountable for? Is life imprisonment justified for firing at a handful of FBI agents and soldiers, none of whom were killed or injured? These questions will only add to the air of murkiness that still surrounds the case. That Ms Siddiqui had links to radical Islamists is not really a matter of dispute. What remain problematic are the circumstances of her arrest, the nature of her crimes and the conduct of her trial. Where was Ms Siddiqui between 2003 and 2008? Was she in Pakistani or American custody? If so, is the story of her arrest in 2008 real? If she wanted to carry out a terrorist attack against America, and possessed plans to do so when captured, why was she only charged with the crime of firing a gun at American officials after her arrest?

The problem with all this uncertainty is that it creates the impression that US authorities are hiding something, which raises doubts about the fairness of Ms Siddiqui’s custody and trial. All of which only provides an excuse to Pakistani firebrands to turn her into a symbol of everything that is wrong with America and a reason for Pakistan not to cooperate with the US (despite the fact that the Pakistani government has not been particularly forthcoming about her whereabouts prior to 2008). After four years of unanswered questions and a sentence that seems out of proportion to the charges that have been framed, the Aafia case will continue to be a lightning rod for anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.

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

The drama ends

November 9th, 2012

The end of the so-called Swiss letter saga has come in the softest possible way. Buried in the avalanche of news from the US presidential election, the government announced that the letter demanded by the court and finally agreed to by the government has been dispatched to Switzerland. The good news is that a crisis between the government and the judiciary that at times threatened to derail the transition to democracy has been defused ahead of the next election cycle. The bad news is the toll it has taken since December 2009, when the NRO judgment was handed down. Most notably, gone is the unanimously elected prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gilani, a sacrifice that seems ever more inexplicable on the part of the PPP given that the letter was eventually written. For the longest time it appeared that the PPP had settled on a political strategy to fight its legal troubles with the court. Why that was the strategy has never been fully explained. After all, even veteran PPP leaders with legal and political experience had argued, mostly privately but sometimes publicly, that writing the letter to Swiss authorities would have little to no impact on the legal status of Mr Zardari’s presidency.

The educated guess — though, admittedly, based on multiple presumptions with little real evidence — was that the PPPs strategy of defiance was linked to political calculations: yielding too quickly on the Swiss letter could have opened the floodgates to all manner of other legal headaches for the government, while not yielding had the benefit of bringing into question the court’s motives and perpetuating the myth that a PPP government always finds itself under extreme, and unjustifiable, pressure from the establishment. In hindsight, however, there is a sense that perhaps it was as much incomprehension and incompetence that propelled the PPPs strategy of defiance as opposed to shrewd political manoevrings. The party leadership under President Zardari has shown an uncanny ability for political survival but perhaps not so much for the nuances of institutional strengthening. Virtually forcing the Supreme Court to take a tougher stance, sacrificing a prime minister, and playing to the political gallery with hard-hitting comments — there were more sophisticated ways of engineering a compromise, even if Mr Zardari’s eye was on running down the clock on the statute of limitations in Switzerland.

Nevertheless, a soft end to a dispute that once loomed ominously over the political landscape is something to be thankful for. Have lessons been learned by both the PPP and the court? The country will only know when the next confrontation erupts. Perhaps with experience will come maturity.

Young doctors win

November 9th, 2012

The prolonged standoff between the Punjab government and the young doctors could finally be over. The chief minister is expected to issue a notification soon in a formal acceptance of the demands of the Young Doctors’ Association in Punjab. Hopefully, this time the agreement will be for real. Previously, many truce declarations have turned out to be false, unleashing the painfully familiar scenes of men and women in white coats leaving treatment rooms for the streets in defiance of government and court orders. The YDA accused the government of reneging on its promise of a change in the service structure for doctors in public-sector hospitals. Its distrust of those negotiating on the government’s behalf earlier was reflected in Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif eventually replacing some old negotiators with new ones from the top tier of the PML-N. At an estimated Rs1.5bn, the money required to introduce the new structure was an issue as was, the doctors claimed, an overtly bossy bureaucracy unwilling to loosen its control over hospitals. In return, and not unsupported by public sentiment, the young doctors were painted as a group lacking in professional ethics and the principles of trade unionism. The fact remained that there were problems with the conditions these doctors had been long working under.

The announcement of the agreement — pending official notification — must come as a relief for doctors and those they must treat. Under the terms, the Punjab government appears to have committed to facilitating the withdrawal of a July 2012 murder case filed by the father of a patient against a group of doctors for alleged negligence. While this case will need some sorting out, there is no reason why this glorious moment for doctors should be allowed to impede calls for rules that more effectively cover the issue of negligence. A health commission tasked to take up such cases and other aspects related to healthcare and health practitioners exists only on paper. It should be made functional immediately as a forum where grievances can be heard without the situation deteriorating to the level to which it had during this tussle between the government and YDA.

Regressive steps

November 9th, 2012

Though the Bahraini state crushed last year’s popular Arab Spring-inspired uprising for greater civic and political rights with Saudi help, the movement has failed to fizzle out. Despite state repression, political activists have continued to rally Bahrainis for change. In order to contain this momentum, the tiny Gulf kingdom has taken a number of regressive steps of late, including banning protests and most recently, stripping 31 Shia activists of their citizenship for “undermining state security”. Among those affected are former parliamentarians and clerics. While some of the individuals are abroad and have dual nationality, most will become stateless as a result of the move. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have condemned the action, as clearly the men have been targeted for their political activism. It has been pointed out that no substantial evidence proving the individuals threatened state security was produced, while the decision is said to violate international law. Interestingly, while the Bahraini authorities revoke the citizenship of political opponents, the kingdom has been accused of naturalising foreigners in an attempt to engineer a demographic shift.

Revoking citizenship is apparently not a new tactic in the region. Last year the UAE reportedly cancelled the citizenship of seven individuals linked to the Islamist Al Islah group due to their political activities. Yet as disturbing as the Bahraini government’s actions are, it is doubtful they will stop the movement for greater rights in the kingdom. Instead of smothering dissent, the Bahraini state needs to heed the people’s call for reform and work towards initiating an inclusive political process. As a start, it should reverse this drastic decision. Also, what is ironic is that while many in the international community have berated Bashar Al Assad’s regime for unleashing atrocities on the Syrian people, the human rights abuses and authoritarian tendencies of oil-rich, strategically important allies in the Gulf are being ignored.

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

Politicians’ reactions

November 10th, 2012

With refreshing maturity and more than a little cleverness, the ruling party and the PML-N have managed to spin the army chief and chief justice’s recent remarks as cooperative steps forward for Pakistani democracy. This was, for several reasons, the wise thing to do even as some commentators and public figures were ringing hasty alarm bells about clashes of institutions and threats to the current set-up. For one, Gen Kayani’s statement seems to have been designed to boost morale within the army rank and file and demonstrate a show of strength in the face of a media and a judiciary increasingly willing to hold the army to account. Best for the civilians then, including Nawaz Sharif, to stay out of the fray and focus on the less hard-hitting bits of Gen Kayani’s speech. And while the information minister did take the opportunity to reiterate that it is parliament that sets the constitution, his welcoming of the chief justice’s remarks was a sensible response. Whether or not it was appropriate for the chief justice to opine publicly on good governance, little would have been gained from reviving the not-so-distant antagonism between the government and the Supreme Court, especially given the relative calm that has followed the much-awaited writing of the letter to Swiss authorities.

More importantly, both politicians emphasised a specific and quite critical point: they focused on the two chiefs’ remarks about upholding the constitution and law. The constitution as it stands, though, is more supportive of elected representatives than it has been for several decades, and recent judgments have left little room for doubt about the unconstitutionality of military interventions. So by focusing on this aspect, both Mr Sharif and Mr Kaira managed to use Gen Kayani and Justice Chaudhry’s remarks to strengthen the argument for democracy and for institutions remaining within their defined roles.

There was much hype in the hours following the two chiefs’ statements: who was Gen Kayani sending a message to? Were his words an indication that the military’s patience was running out, a veiled threat that things were about to change? And even if the timing of Justice Chaudhry’s speech was simply a coincidence, was he once again trying to assert the superiority of the judiciary over other state institutions? Would Pakistan make it to the next elections? Reactions from the ruling party and the main opposition not only defused the impact of such overexcited speculation, but also cleverly offered interpretations that bolster the case for upholding the importance of parliament and the democracy it represents.

A welcome step

November 10th, 2012

Life is hard enough for the average Pakistani, but for those unfortunate enough to belong to certain marginalised communities, the scale of the challenge is much more intense. Where religious minorities face the threat of violence, for others on the margins the hurdles are often placed by the government itself. It is encouraging, then, that in the recent past the way has been made smoother for members of two such communities. Last month, the Supreme Court reiterated during a ruling that transgender people are entitled to all the rights afforded to citizens by the constitution, and directed the police and provincial administrations to ensure that such people have no complaints. Last year, following an SC order, the National Database and Registration Authority fixed things at its end and created a third gender-related category for transgender applicants for the computerised national identity cards — the requirement for accessing practically everything. Now comes the news that Nadra has taken another laudable step: on Wednesday, it announced that henceforth it would issue CNICs to people with unknown parentage.

As matters stood earlier, children of unknown par-entage could not legally obtain B-Forms, which are the basis on which CNICs are issued after the age of 18. It cannot be ascertained exactly how many people will benefit, but the figure is bound to run into several thousands. The move is the result of a petition filed in the Supreme Court by Abdul Sattar Edhi in 2010, and Edhi Home alone says that some 15,000 babies have been left in its cradles — i.e. abandoned by their parents — over the past two decades. There are several other reasons, too, due to which children may not be aware of their parents’ names or not have proof of their parentage. This category includes runaways and street children amongst others. In the case of transgenders, there are in many cities entire localities of people who cannot access their most basic rights, including the right to vote or file a police complaint, because they lack a CNIC or have to resort to fraudulent means to obtain it. Nadra has taken a progressive step, and this must be appreciated.

Dangerous location

November 10th, 2012

It is a small miracle that Thursday’s truck bombing which targeted a Rangers’ compound in Karachi’s North Nazimabad area didn’t cause more havoc. The vehicle was reportedly laden with 150kg of explosives, yet fatalities were mercifully few. Considering that the compound is located — as in many other cases where the paramilitary Rangers are stationed in Karachi — in a densely populated residential area, and that the early morning bombing occurred at a time when vans are on the roads taking children to school, the number of deaths could have been high. The incident bears a resemblance to 2008’s bombing of Lahore’s FIA centre, which is also located in a heavily populated area. Over the last year, the Rangers have been targeted in Karachi several times. Though the paramilitary force has been involved in operations against political and religious militants in the city, this attack appears to be the handiwork of the Taliban. Mullah Fazlullah’s faction of the TTP has reportedly claimed the bombing as “revenge” for the security forces’ actions against the terrorist group.

The Rangers are often called out in Karachi whenever violence spins out of the police’s control. However, while the force’s presence in the metropolis may be necessary due to the police’s deficiencies, the state needs to think seriously about relocating the Rangers’ barracks and offices away from residential and commercial areas. One idea is to house the force in isolated areas, such as the city’s outskirts. But then questions about quick deployment in times of trouble arise. It is true that Karachi’s growth has been haphazard, thus security installations once located in isolated zones are now surrounded by urban sprawl. Yet for the security of both the Rangers and civilians, the force needs to be relocated in such a way that while remaining far from population centres, rapid deployment of personnel is still possible.

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

Fight for life

November 11th, 2012

Even for a country where victims of tragedy and callousness are left to fend for themselves, the manner in which ASI Sher Mohammad has been forgotten by the organisation he served for 25 years is shocking. Of the 55 policemen injured in Islamabad during the mindless violence witnessed on Sept 21 during protests against an anti-Islam film, he suffered grievous injuries when hit by a stray bullet fired by one of the protesters. Initially given up for dead, he was rushed by his colleagues to the nearest hospital an hour later. With the bullet having shattered his ribs, punctured his lungs and oesophagus and grazed his spinal cord, doctors say that even partial recovery, if it at all occurs, will take years. While his medical bills have climbed to Rs2.8m, the police department has, as routine, doled out the sum of Rs200,000 and now appears to have dusted its hands off a man who put his life in the line of fire.

To whom shall his family — two wives and six children — turn? Does the state and society care that the life of a man mandated to protect the citizenry hangs in the balance? Ironically, a hospital owned by the business tycoon Malik Riaz offered to treat the policemen injured that day, but Mr Mohammad is the only one in need of expert medical care and is in far too fragile a condition to be moved. An intervention, most suitably by the police department, is urgently required, and ought to be given impetus by the realisation that this is not a matter of just one man’s life. As security in the country’s towns and cities worsens, civilian law-enforcers are the ones at most immediate risk. Paid a pittance and under-trained to counter the new challenges that policing an increasingly violent polity involves, they cannot help but be cripplingly demoralised by the knowledge that if injured or killed, their organisation would be loathe to go beyond the bare minimum to help them or family members that survive them. The police department needs to learn lessons from the army, which does at least look after its own.

Militarised formula

November 11th, 2012

The words of Hamid Saeed, the retired brigadier who executed the orders of the military high command to rig the 1990 elections while posted with the Military Intelligence in Karachi, are only a footnote in the Mehrangate scandal. But as laid out in pages 12-14 of the detailed judgment of the Supreme Court released on Thursday, Mr Saeed’s words provide an eye-opening account of the framework in which the army-led security establishment judges domestic politics and the unshakeable certainty that the militarised worldview is what is best for the national interest.

To begin with, Mr Saeed refers to the fallout between the MQM and PPP before the collapse of Benazir Bhutto’s first government, and quickly connects the dots between the violence in southern, urban Sindh and Indian designs. This, for Mr Saeed, was ostensibly proved because the PPP’s alleged policy of “revenge” against the MQM had led to statements by the MQM leadership that Mohajirs needed to look to India for the protection of their rights which led to unnamed Indian leaders vowing to protect “India’s ex-citizens” against “state terrorism and genocide”. Mr Saeed concludes: “Such statements reminded one of the Indian interventions in former East Pakistan which finally resulted in the dismemberment of our country.” The sleight of hand is unmistakable: domestic political matters — in which the army’s role was already known to be significant but which Mr Saeed conveniently ignores — were creating the space for Enemy No 1 to hurt Pakistan. Then the retired brigadier continues with a litany of charges against the PPP and Ms Bhutto: the alleged criticism that Pakistan’s uranium-enrichment programme, under the military’s control, had crossed a threshold that was “not acceptable to big powers”; alleged endorsement of the Indian state’s attempt to crush the Khalistan movement, the continuation of which presumably suited the military here; the induction of Al Zulfikar activists into public-sector enterprises here, activists who had been trained by India in espionage and warfare; and having the temerity to allegedly criticise the army for ordering training exercises in Sindh without the prime minister’s approval.

Publicly, then, the army-led security establishment accused Ms Bhutto’s government of corruption and bad governance, when in private the real reasons for seeking her ouster was because she was seen as a threat to the India-centric security paradigm that viewed domestic politics as merely yet another weakness for India to exploit. When the military both defines the threat and determines the response, the national interest becomes a cudgel against anyone who disagrees with its militarised formulation. That was the problem in 1990, and it still is the problem today.

The apology issue

November 11th, 2012

It is a welcome sign that, despite the deep grudge many in Bangladesh still bear against the West Pakistani military action of 1971, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reportedly accepted Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar’s invitation to attend the D-8 summit in Islamabad this month. Dhaka would like a proper apology from the Pakistani government for the large-scale killing of Bengalis. It was not satisfied with then president Gen (retd) Musharraf’s expression of “regret” in 2002. According to the Bangladesh foreign secretary, “some unresolved issues” still exist although, he says, Ms Khar stated that Pakistan had “regretted in different forms and … it was time to move on”. The debate by academicians and propagandists on both sides will continue; they will fight over the actual number — in thousands for some, millions for others — of Bengalis killed while resisting the injustices perpetrated on them by an insensitive western wing. What cannot be denied is that brute military force was used to exterminate activists, intellectuals and ordinary supporters of what was united Pakistan’s largest political party, and that consequently led to Indian action and the creation of Bangladesh.

On its part Pakistan must recognise the wrongs committed by its leadership during those days, and issue a full-fledged apology — not just expressions of regret — that is acceptable to Dhaka. In doing so, it would be joining the ranks of other countries and institutions that have been courageous enough to admit the historical wrongs they have committed in order to give both themselves and the victim nation a chance to move on. The Vatican has apologised for the actions of Catholics who persecuted non-Catholics, and expressed sorrow over the attack on Constantinople during the Crusades. Japan has apologised to Koreans for wartime aggression. It is time for Pakistan, too, to come to terms with its past.

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