Hacktivism unchecked

While street protests led by the PTI and PAT have brought governance to a standstill in the red zone, a similar effort is being led online by a network of hackers, or ‘hacktivists’ who claim to be independently seeking the ouster of the PML-N government and accountability for the Model Town tragedy.
The hackers — a local chapter of global hacktivist network Anonymous — have attacked hundreds of local websites belonging to the government, media and security forces.
The weeklong campaign rendered many sites temporarily inaccessible through denial of service attacks, many pages defaced, and worryingly, private data records of government employees and security forces leaked online.
While the role that hacktivism and online data leaks play in exposing corruption and human rights violations has been applauded worldwide thanks to the efforts of WikiLeaks and Edward Snowden, the ongoing hacking spree targeting local sites is hardly worthy of praise.
Leaving aside the question of who is behind the attacks, who the targets are and the questionable timing, the justification of ‘taking down the system’ in the public interest does not translate to leaking thousands of bank records, names, contact information and CNICs of government officials and security personnel unrelated to the political crisis.
By exposing the names, addresses and contact information of police officials, the hackers have potentially put lives at risk.
By releasing personal bank records of government employees, a massive breach of privacy has occurred.
By releasing data dumps of the army and ISPR websites, including names, contact information, usernames and passwords, a potential threat to national security has arisen.
If those undertaking this hacking campaign are doing so under the misguided notion that they are raising political awareness, the attacks could at best be labelled mischief with unintended but potentially dangerous results.
However, the possibility of this effort being something more cannot be ignored. In either case, the state must act beyond restoring broken sites, blocking online access to the data leaks and changing passwords.
The new Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill has been in limbo for over a year.
The FIA has often said it is unable to act on cybercrime except in the case of influential persons, or those crimes that fall under the inadequate Electronic Transactions Ordinance, 2002.
The PTA blindly follows the orders of a shadowy Inter-Ministerial Web Evaluation Committee.
This is a case that requires governance and state action for the public good, and not for short-sighted political gains in cyberspace.

Published in Dawn, September 9th , 2014

Poor flood planning

Far from the sound and fury in Islamabad that is agitating many a politician’s mind, the hapless millions watch as vast swathes of land are inundated by the rivers Chenab and Jhelum in flood. The speed at which the current tragedy has unfolded is astounding; up until just before the weekend, the relevant authorities — while concerned about the levels of rain that the northern parts of the country were receiving — continued to believe that this year, Pakistan would not suffer flooding on a large scale. [*]And true, the eastern rivers Ravi and Sutlej have not yet shown any signs of being unable to cope with the volume of water.[*]But in central Punjab, the area through which the Jhelum and Chenab wind their way, havoc has been wreaked: many thousands are marooned, dozens upon dozens of settlements and villages inundated, and cattle, livelihoods and lives have been washed away. With the memory of the catastrophic floods of recent years still fresh, many are wondering why the present calamity was not better predicted, flood warnings were not issued with more urgency, and mitigation measures not undertaken speedily. District administrations are now swinging ponderously into action and in some areas the army has had to step in to assist. But surely, prior experience should have meant that Pakistan would now have a system in place to effectively deal with floods. A few villagers confessed to the media that they did receive warning of rising water levels and that they were asked to evacuate. But, as they pointed out, would anyone abandon residences and belongings believing that they would be protected or helped by the government and administration? Surely the rulers can do better than focusing all their attention on the political manoeuvrings taking place in the capital city. The task immediately at hand is to rescue those who are stranded or marooned, and ensure that adequate food, shelter and medicine are made available. Beyond that, though, there is still time to take measures to mitigate more damage further downstream in Sindh where the waters are headed. As is usual, prior to the monsoons some routine measures had been taken, such as the desultory silting of a few — but by no means all —canals in the extensive irrigation network. But that has not proved very effective, and may not stave off further damage now. The relevant sections of the administration and bureaucracy, both at the federal and provincial levels, need to urgently review the situation on the ground and plug in the gaps on a war footing. Without that, there is risk of downstream areas being trapped in the same situation as the one prevailing in central Punjab. Further, Pakistan needs to critically review its understanding of what the monsoon weather pattern is evolving into, and revise its preparedness in that context.

The great unwashed

Listening to the way some politicians talk about the protesters in Islamabad, one would think the biggest problem we face at the moment is that the pristine grounds of the parliament building have been sullied by the arrival of an unwashed multitude. For instance, Minister Ahsan Iqbal opened his speech in parliament by referring to the large numbers camped out on the lawns, and complained the protesters had made the parking lot inaccessible.
PkMAP chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, too, had contempt for the protesters’ drying their laundry on the front fence of the Supreme Court. Privately, political figures from the PPP — whose populist slogans revolve round lifting people out of poverty — have also showed their disdain for the camped protesters who have now been pushed out of parliament’s grounds by the authorities. These attitudes reek of snobbery unbecoming of elected officials.
There was a time when only bureaucrats held the masses in disdain while elected politicians showed awareness of the citizenry’s toils. But it appears that the establishment of democracy has caused our leadership to retreat further behind their hermetically sealed walls of privilege. Even at the best of times, Constitution Avenue remains inaccessible to those whose interests are supposedly served from there. It is exempt from load-shedding, its roads are never flooded, and ordinary people dare not venture too close. The protest encampments on the lawns of parliament, then, represent the reality of a nation whose rulers have failed to live up to their promises of improving the lot of the people. No doubt, those leading the protesters have a flawed approach to achieving their goals, and showed themselves remarkably contemptuous of the inviolability of the country’s most representative forum when they permitted their armed rioters to run amok in parliament’s precincts. However, that is no excuse for the attitude of our politicians. They must recognise that they are the representatives of the people — the same men, women and children who hung their laundry out to dry in front of the Supreme Court.

Published in Dawn, September 9th , 2014

__________________
"Not failure, but low aim, is crime."
-James Russell Lowell-

Much secrecy shrouds the foiled militant attack targeting the navy’s dockyard in Karachi. Though the attack occurred on Saturday, the maritime force released only sketchy details about the incident on Monday. But while there was no official word on who the ‘miscreants’ — as the navy described the assailants — were, the banned TTP’s spokesman, Shahidullah Shahid, said on Tuesday that his outfit was responsible for the assault with “support from inside” the navy. At the other end, security officials say that Al Qaeda carried out the attack — again with help from within the naval force. Regardless of which militant group targeted the naval facility, if claims of insider help are correct, it would reinforce the view that weeding out militant sympathisers within the armed forces is as daunting a task as eliminating battle-hardened terrorist groups. Unfortunately, there are a number of cases where those with links to the armed forces have been involved in attacks targeting the military. For example, former army medic ‘Dr’ Usman was said to be one of the main planners in the 2009 militant assault on GHQ. Also, dreaded militant Adnan Rasheed, known for various terrorist exploits, including a failed attempt on Pervez Musharraf’s life, was a former air force man before he turned his guns on the state. Even in the navy’s case it was reported that information from within the service was provided to those involved in the 2011 Mehran base raid. So concerns of insider links are valid, as such attacks bear out. With the army conducting a counterterrorism operation in North Waziristan, the military is especially in the cross hairs of militants of all stripes. Yet, there has been little focus on de-radicalisation efforts within the services. The increased use of religious language and symbolism in the forces began during the Zia era; however, today the problem has morphed into something far more complicated — and dangerous. The foremost challenge is to conduct a thorough internal audit of the armed forces to identify any personnel with links to terrorist groups. If such connections are established, firm disciplinary action is required. The second — and admittedly more challenging — step is to initiate a long-term de-radicalisation process within the forces. While the military’s top brass — including the serving army chief — has spoken about the threat posed by extremism in general terms, very little has come out, at least publicly, about extremist sympathies or trends within the ranks. The forces will need to candidly assess the situation and understand where the problem lies and thereafter initiate a process to counter the extremist narrative. This will not be easy as for decades both society and the forces have been influenced by ultra-conservative trends.
But unless remedial steps are taken soon, the presence of extremist sympathisers within the military will only increase, creating a complex new security crisis for Pakistan.



NEW revelations in the Pervez Musharraf trial — revelations purporting to exonerate or lessen the burden of blame on the former dictator — seem exquisitely timed, with the protesters on Constitution Avenue seeking to ramp up their agitation once again after days of rain. The discovery of a second letter that then-prime minister Shaukat Aziz is believed to have written to Mr Musharraf in the run-up to the imposition of the 2007 Emergency certainly buttresses the Musharraf camp’s argument that the former strongman did not act alone and was acting on the advice of his government in November 2007. The letter contains Mr Aziz’s clear advice to Mr Musharraf to impose an Emergency — unlike an earlier letter where no such explicit recommendation was given. As such, the Musharraf defence team will likely once again try and highlight the so-called political nature of the trial on the grounds that only Mr Musharraf has been targeted and none of the other alleged co-conspirators have been hauled up. Certainly, there are two aspects to the issue here. First, the legal one. Whether Mr Musharraf received advice or not, whether he had any co-conspirators or not, the imposition of Emergency in November 2007 occurred when Pervez Musharraf in his capacity as chief of army staff signed on the dotted line. That means regardless of who else may also have been responsible, Mr Musharraf certainly was — and all that remains to be determined in his case is whether the imposition of Emergency was a legal and constitutional act or not. To allegedly act in good faith on bad advice if the aim and result is a gross violation of the Constitution is surely not a viable defence. But there is clearly more to the Musharraf trial than just the legal issues at stake. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s personal decision to have Mr Musharraf tried, the army leadership’s reluctance to accept a Musharraf trial and the resultant civil-military tension are clearly — even if they shouldn’t be — factors in what will happen eventually to a Musharraf trial, to the Sharif government — perhaps even to the democratic system itself. The second letter that has now mysteriously emerged will energise Mr Musharraf’s defence and further events in the days ahead may suggest a path is being paved for an exit from the country for the former army chief. Only time will tell whether or not the PML-N government can fend off the political pressure.



THE by-election in Dera Ismail Khan is a vindication for everyone. The PTI victory in PK-68 can be seen according to the way one wants to see it. That the PTI chose to contest is a confirmation of how its fate is tied to democratic politics. Sending a new PTI man to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, which is in turmoil at the moment because of the threat of en masse resignations by PTI members, will surely aid those voices who ask Imran Khan to, above all, respect his own mandate. The advice would be for him to use his party’s presence in the various elected houses to the collective benefit of the people.
Indeed, in the wake of this fresh evidence of his popularity, Mr Khan, in the present crisis, could also be accused of following a policy that has verged on insulting the people’s trust in him. On the other hand, with the application of equally simple logic, the election can also be used to build an argument against the anti-Imran Khan theories that are circulating today. Even though it involves just one provincial assembly seat, the by-election victory counters the assertion that the PTI’s popularity ratings have dropped because of its leader’s refusal to budge from his demand for the prime minister’s resignation. Mr Khan’s candidate was pitted against a formidable opponent supported jointly by the PPP, the ANP and the JUI-F. All three parties have traditionally had a good presence in Dera Ismail Khan. Nevertheless, the PTI candidate won by a respectable margin, which indicates the possibilities that lie ahead for the party and its potential both as the challenger of the old and a harbinger of change. The victory is in line with the PTI leadership’s effort to project the party as the sole agent of change, and emphasising through this contest that the old system is in dire need of reform — even if the party’s role in the present crisis has been a controversial one.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2014

__________________
"Not failure, but low aim, is crime."
-James Russell Lowell-

Abject surrender

TWO words best describe the reaction of the law-enforcement personnel who were supposed to guard the Dera Ismail Khan jail when TTP militants stormed it last July: abject surrender. This is the gist of a new report looking into the incident issued by an inquiry committee formed by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa administration. This is the second report investigating the D.I. Khan disaster; while the earlier probe was a much more detailed analysis of what went wrong, the new report, finalised recently, has a more specific focus on the role of police and jail staff. It certainly minces no words about the lack of resistance put up by the law enforcers. To recall, a band of militant raiders stormed the facility in a well-organised foray and succeeded in freeing over 250 prisoners, including a number of dangerous terrorists. The D.I. Khan affair followed the 2012 Bannu jailbreak, in which militants were able to free over 400 inmates. The report says that the D.I. Khan jailbreak was not due to intelligence failure — an intelligence agency had apparently issued an alert — but because police and jail staff did not put up a fight.

A particularly troubling finding of the inquiry committee is that many amongst the jail staff were sympathetic to the raiders and apparently facilitated the jailbreak. What is absolutely shocking is the finding that over 50 jail staffers with “doubtful credentials and dubious characters” were transferred from Bannu and posted at D.I. Khan jail. It is incomprehensible how individuals with suspect backgrounds were posted at a facility that contained dangerous militants. It also points to a grave and growing problem we have highlighted in these columns — that of the presence of individuals with sympathies for extremist causes within the security forces and law-enforcement agencies. The report has summed up the performance of the police in a frank, damning fashion. However, it offers no new recommendations about what action to take — apart from calling for the dismissal of some police officers as well as penalties for others who were seen as most responsible for the debacle. It also fails to follow up on the recommendations made by the earlier inquiry report. It is not clear if the KP administration has taken any action against the errant officers.

Simply issuing a hard-hitting report and not taking subsequent corrective action can do little to improve a dangerous situation. Without doubt the D.I. Khan and Bannu jailbreaks are just two of many major security lapses this country has seen. Like so many incidents before and after them, they have exposed the weaknesses in the national defence and law-enforcement structure, at the same time highlighting the remarkable organisational capabilities of the militants. Unless the state learns from its mistakes, adapts its law-enforcement and counterterrorism strategy to the needs of the time, and holds those responsible for lapses to account, it will be extremely difficult to prevent further terrorist atrocities.

From China, with love

MINISTER for Water and Power Khawaja Asif wants us to believe that China is standing by with $34bn worth of ‘investments’ for Pakistan if only matters would settle down. He insists that the funds are “not a loan” and will “not show up on Pakistan’s balance sheet”. But scepticism remains regarding the government’s claims, which many think will not stand up to scrutiny. For starters, we don’t know the breakdown of the $34bn figure. Nowhere in its regular cache of economic documents does the government go into any meaningful detail about it. The finance ministry’s latest Economic Survey has a small box with a simple list of the various energy and road projects, but says nothing about the amounts for each project or about the terms. In its revised determination for an upfront tariff for coal-fired power projects issued on June 26, Nepra said investors can include a 7pc financing charge against Sinosure fee in their project cost “in case the investors avail Chinese financing” — this is the fee for reinsurance against default for borrowing from Chinese banks. This clearly indicates that at least some of the funds in question are in fact loans for private parties to set up coal-fired power plants, using Chinese technology.

If a sum of $34bn has indeed been arranged by the government as Chinese ‘investment’, and a signature is all that remains, then one would think it would feature more prominently in chapters on growth, investment, energy and infrastructure. It would be included in documents like Vision 2025, for instance, where a small section on the Pak-China Economic Corridor again lists areas as disparate as agriculture, energy, tourism and media for “investment and economic cooperation”. According to the document, the projects “will be financed through substantial inflow of foreign investment and disbursements”. So the question remains: what mix of “investment and disbursements” is contained in the $34bn figure claimed by the government? And how does the figure break down between the various projects? The government’s claims would be less open to politically motivated attacks if there was more transparency in the details of the projects. The minister’s credibility would also benefit if he could clarify whether or not the entire amount of $34bn is “investment”, and if so, what exactly is the status of the “early harvest” projects being incorporated under the Pak-China Economic Corridor initiative.

ICC’s ban on Ajmal

THE indefinite suspension of spinner Saeed Ajmal by the International Cricket Council over an illegal bowling action has come as a body blow to Pakistan cricket. The player, who was reported for the offence in the first Test against Sri Lanka in Galle last month, later went through biomechanics tests in Brisbane which confirmed the doubts raised by umpires over his bowling action. Ajmal had easily been the country’s leading wicket-taker during the past five years and a match-winner on whom hinged the country’s hopes of reaching the podium at the 2015 Cricket World Cup that will be hosted jointly by Australia and New Zealand. The 36-year-old spinner now faces the stiffest challenge of his career — he must alter his bowling action altogether in order to make a successful comeback to international cricket. The timing of Ajmal’s ban is also catastrophic for the national cricket team as it prepares for one of its toughest challenges in years, in the form of the Australians with whom they will play a full cricket series in Sharjah next month. He was seen as Pakistan’s trump card in the Aussie clash.

Now the team’s hopes of making the series a real contest seem to be vanishing fast. Sadly, the country’s cricket cupboard stands bare at the moment as there’s no immediate replacement of Ajmal’s calibre in sight. For this, the blame lies with the Pakistan Cricket Board which has fallen short of organising domestic cricket on professional lines to produce and groom back-up players and match-winners. With as many as seven Pakistan bowlers being reported for suspect action during the past two decades at the international level, and countless such bowlers featuring in domestic cricket, it is lamentable that the PCB has not been steadfast in adopting measures to nip the menace in the bud. Even after the ICC’s imposition of the ban on Saeed Ajmal on Tuesday, the PCB continued to dillydally over the possible course of action despite the clear option of appealing the verdict.

Published in Dawn, September 11th , 2014

__________________
"I am still learning."

Mosque tragedy

AS workers continue to sift through the rubble of Jamia Masjid Hanifia in Lahore’s Daroghawala area, several families are mourning the over 20 people who died on Tuesday when the mosque’s second storey collapsed. Those fortunate enough to survive say that there was a loud bang immediately followed by the caving in of the newly constructed roof. Within minutes, say eyewitnesses, the whole edifice had turned to rubble. What makes the episode even more tragic is the all-too-common reason: substandard construction and additions to the original design on the one hand, and the lack of governmental oversight in ensuring that building requirements were met on the other. Five or six years ago, the mosque administration decided to expand the 40-year-old building whose design had not been approved by the district administration since the government then was still some decades away from issuing no-objection certificates.

Unfortunately, it also bypassed consultation with any architect or civil engineer whose concern it is to ensure that a building is structurally sound and safe for the purpose for which it will be used. The result was a second storey resting on inadequate foundations. This made the collapse more or less inevitable. While the mosque administration must of course be taken to task for its negligence, the city administrative apparatus must equally shoulder the blame for not enforcing the standards that are thoroughly spelt out by the law. The fact is that across the country, it is routine for structures — whether mosques, houses, buildings or any other construction — to be built in violation of the structural requirements, and without government agencies ensuring that all rules and regulations are complied with. In terms of mosques, their administrations, too, often play a controversial role: any questions about mosque expansion are usually met with outrage, and the issue is distorted through a religious lens. Tuesday’s tragedy should serve as a wake-up call: building codes need to be urgently enforced, and not only the administration but the citizens themselves need to recognise their importance.

The crisis after military action

AS Operation Zarb-i-Azb in North Waziristan enters its fourth month, has army chief Gen Raheel Sharif hinted that the operation may have to be expanded to other areas or simply reiterated that the slow progress in North Waziristan will continue until the entire agency is cleared? On Wednesday, the ISPR reported that Gen Raheel has pledged that terrorists will be pursued to the “remotest corners” and military action will continue until all militant “sanctuaries are taken out”. What is known is that clearing and holding territory by the military in North Waziristan is incrementally moving ahead, but that it may take a while yet — perhaps several months more — before the military can claim to have regained territorial control of the agency. In addition, what is often speculated — facts being difficult to independently verify in a war zone that is sealed off — is that many militant groups have already melted away from North Waziristan and re-established themselves elsewhere in Fata. So can the so-called decisive operation in the agency really be a turning point in the fight against militancy unless, after Zarb-i-Azb succeeds in retaking control of North Waziristan, the fight is taken to new sanctuaries established elsewhere? The military leadership though prefers to share information in a piecemeal manner with the country and seems more intent on the public relations aspect of the war than sharing meaningful information on the overall strategy to fight militancy.

Set aside the issue of what comes next for a minute though and consider what the military’s plan is for the ground it has already covered — and reclaimed. With devastation left in the wake of the military machine cutting a swathe through North Waziristan, there is simply no question of IDPs returning to their homes unless a massive rebuilding effort is undertaken in the towns and areas shattered by the war machine. Yet, there is simply no word from the military about when and how the rehabilitation effort will begin. Surely, equally important as ensuring that the territory is properly cleared and secured is to make certain that the civilian population can return as quickly as possible and pick up the pieces of their lives. Ghost towns do not amount to territory that is held and secured in any meaningful sense. Inevitably, when the question of the return of IDPs, rehabilitation and reconstruction is raised, the question of quite where the civilian administration is must also be debated. Displaced inevitably and enormously by the presence of a massive war machine in Fata, the civilian administration stands marginalised. To revitalise it, to get the administration back into some kind of shape to address the urgent needs of a returning population — when the population does return — the civilian administration itself will need to be revived first. Is there even any thinking happening on that front, in either military or civilian circles?

More sectarian targets

THE spectre of sectarian killing continues to haunt Karachi. Professionals — especially doctors — as well as leaders of religious organisations and their members, teachers, small-time shopkeepers, etc, have all found themselves targeted on account of their faith. On Wednesday, at least two individuals lost their lives to sectarian killers. One of the victims was Dr Maulana Masood Baig, son-in-law of the founding chief of Jamia Binoria al-Almia, Mufti Mohammed Naeem. On the face of it, his murder could be seen as a tit-for-tat response to two recent killings. Last week, Allama Ali Akbar Kumaili, son of Jafria Alliance Pakistan chief, Allama Abbas Kumaili, was shot dead. Before that, in July, a senior lawyer and son-in-law of prominent Shia scholar Allama Talib Jauhari was killed while on his way home from court. However, looked at in a larger context, Dr Baig’s murder is consistent with what appears to be a shift in strategy by those carrying out this deadly campaign; targeting family members of prominent clerics. Usually, while most high-profile religious personalities — those considered most at risk — qualify for the highest security detail, their relatives are comparatively vulnerable.

They are ‘soft targets’ going about their daily business; mundane practicalities of life make it difficult to perpetually be surrounded by a phalanx of police mobiles. Allama Kumaili, for example, was accompanied by only two guards when he was targeted while going home from his ice factory. Yet more vulnerable, of course, are those hapless millions who have no security at all. And here another trend has been evident over the last two years or so, which is the targeting of victims regardless of the presence of accompanying women and children, which has resulted in the deaths of several family members as well. Last month, a Shia man and his daughter were killed and his wife and another daughter injured in a sectarian attack in Khuda ki Basti locality.
While one can scarcely hope for a ‘code of honour’ among those who commit murder in the name of religion, it seems that the benchmark of savagery has risen still further. And why should it not? For, while the usual platitudes emanate from official quarters, the much-vaunted Karachi Operation has been unable to stop sectarian killers running amok. Granted, the tentacles of sectarianism are many, deep-rooted and diffuse — but that in itself demands a comprehensive, coherent and nationwide strategy which appears nowhere on the horizon.

Published in Dawn, September 12th, 2014

__________________
"I am still learning."

CNG racket

THE use of natural gas, a vehicular fuel, has turned into a racket from which there seems to be no extrication. It has been almost 10 years since Gen Pervez Musharraf’s government made the decision to ‘migrate’ large numbers of vehicles to CNG in an effort to keep auto transport affordable in an era of sharply rising oil prices, as well as check the growing oil import bill. In the short term it worked. The number of automobiles on the roads multiplied faster than during any other decade in Pakistan’s history under the former general’s rule, a fact he touted as an emblem of his success. And CNG stations sprang up like mushrooms all over the country. Today, the CNG sector is amongst the largest consumers of natural gas in the country, with high rates of loss and theft, pumping growing volumes of precious fuel into highly inefficient engines, and has grown into such a lucrative enterprise that no government has been able to shut it down.

The present government has also wearied of its efforts to restrain the sector’s unending appetite for precious and dwindling fuel. Instead of further curtailing the sector’s allocations, the Economic Coordination Committee is exploring a proposal to allow the import of LNG specifically to feed CNG stations around the country. The proposal has been supported by the All Pakistan CNG Association which has agreed to a curtailment of almost 22 mmcfd of gas from its quota if this can be made up from imported LNG instead. But in order to keep costs constant, the government will have to give considerable tax benefits to the LNG imported under this proposal, a step the IMF has already frowned upon. The government has limited options though since further curtailment to the sector is proving politically impossible. So while they’re talking about a proposal to arrange alternate supplies for the sector, perhaps a market pricing model can also be bundled into the measures to further encourage efficiencies and reduce losses.

Disaster compounded

Yet again, large parts of the country stand inundated. And yet again, Pakistan’s disaster management authorities have been caught napping. Now that the scale of the disaster has become evident, officials from all quarters, including the prime minister, can be heard expressing regret and giving out assurances that not only is the government doing the best it can, but that it had also prepared as well as was possible before the deluge and that mitigating the effect of natural calamities remains a priority. How far from the truth this is — indeed, what outright falsification this is — can be easily gauged by one hard fact: the National Disaster Management Commission, which is headed by the prime minister and is the forum at which the highest-level decisions can be taken about disaster management, has not met since 2012. A 10-year plan to improve the country’s capacity to cope with future disasters in the wake of the 2010-2011 floods that was formulated at the last NDMC meeting in February 2012 has yet to be ratified because the commission has not bothered to meet since then.

Among the officials who have utterly failed to make this issue a priority are, other than the prime minister himself at whose call the NDMC meets, the four provincial chief ministers and governors, opposition leaders from the Senate and National Assembly, the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff committee and representatives of key government departments such as the railways and the motorway authority. All of them are supposed to attend when an NDMC meeting is called, and should presumably be aware that drawing attention to disaster management is part of their duties. But having the state and government wake up to its responsibilities in Pakistan has historically been a daunting task, and those who have sworn to act for the benefit of the citizenry often prove to be enduringly hard of hearing when it is time to make an effort. If this is the level of interest shown by top government functionaries regarding an issue fundamental to the citizens’ welfare and safety, and national economic prospects, there can be little wonder that matters have reached this pass — yet again.And little hope can be har boured for any positive change in the foreseeable future. The country has now seen floods in 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2014. How much havoc will the next one be allowed to wreak?

A perilous path

IT may, rather will, drop out of the news cycle quickly enough, but the claim that the attack on a naval facility in Karachi last weekend was facilitated by insider information and/or help has profoundly troubling implications for the armed forces. To wit, the problem is neither new nor unheard of: for years, perhaps even more than a decade, the problem of militant ideology penetrating the ranks of the armed forces — often but not only the smaller forces, the navy and the air force — and terrorist recruitment taking place time and again has bubbled up, only to be quickly taken out of the public arena by a military that zealously suppresses its less savoury secrets. Only a thorough and honest reckoning with the problem will ensure that the armed forces are able to put their own house in order. Unhappily though, that would require more transparency and scrutiny than the military leadership is perhaps willing to allow. Sunlight can be a disinfectant, but it also makes clear where blame must lie and which heads must roll — something most institutions reflexively oppose. Mostly what is reported in the public arena is that infiltration of the armed forces are isolated incidents that are quickly and emphatically dealt with. But tracing the origins of the problem suggests that the military is either in denial of the true scope of the problem or is unable to do much about it.

Two phases are of critical importance: the Zia era, when Islamisation of state, society and the armed forces was official policy and vigorously pursued; and the Musharraf era, when an about-turn was attempted, sparking much anger and fury over the alleged betrayal of the now-established ideological roots of the armed forces. In addition, the profound changes in Pakistani society, from which the armed forces are drawn, made it more difficult to sell to the forces the theory of a professional military with non-religious, non-ideological roots devoted to the protection of the country’s territorial boundaries. Instead, increasingly, the forces were seen by military personnel as the first and foremost defenders of an ideological, religion-based version of what Pakistan ought to be. The road from there to active support for militancy within sections of the armed forces may not have been a straight line, but it was short enough. If the confusion is to be done away with, both the Zia and Musharraf eras need to be re-examined unflinchingly. The alternative — the inadequate alternative — is what Gen Musharraf’s successors have hit upon: label anyone attacking the Pakistani state and its security apparatus as anti-state — without doing anything to explain why the Zia Islamisation was misguided and the Musharraf policy was clumsy. The latter choice will cause insider attacks to continue, and the corpus with its head buried in the sand may eventually be decimated from the inside out.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2014

__________________
"I am still learning."

Protesting teachers

THERE has been another, smaller protest going on in Pakistan since the past week, far away from the sound, lights and fulminations in Islamabad. This one has been taking place close to another seat of power — Bilawal House in Karachi. Here the participants include some of those inducted to teachers’ posts by the Sindh government’s previous education minister, Pir Mazharul Haq: they say they have not been paid their salaries for two years and are now being made to sit departmental tests in an effort by the current education minister, Nisar Khuhro, to weed them out. The latter, meanwhile, maintains that his intention is to ensure appointments on merit, and says that in Mr Haq’s tenure 13,000 people were recruited against the 1,425 sanctioned vacancies. Matters came to a head Friday evening when police cracked down on the protesters who, frustrated by Mr Khuhro’s insistence on his stance, tried to march on to Bilawal House — perhaps taking a cue from recent events in Islamabad but drawing a far harsher response in this case. As the African proverb says, when two elephants fight, it’s the grass that gets trampled.

In politics especially, when big egos clash, it’s the common man who gets crushed in the middle, his rights and privileges given short shrift. So it appears to be in the case of these employees of the education department who find themselves caught in that perennial revolving door of political appointments where those inducted during the tenure of a previous minister — or government, as the case may be — find themselves in peril of being shipped out wholesale to make way for fresh appointees. Graft and nepotism are wretchedly all too real in Pakistani politics, and while efforts must indeed be made to root this out, it should not be at the expense of those who, for no fault of theirs, have had to survive in a system that values connections over merit. The protesters’ genuine grievances must be addressed without delay.

Polio emergency

WHEN the world embarked on its fight against polio decades ago, amongst the most iconic images coming from Pakistan was that of the then prime minister, Benazir Bhutto, administering the drops to her child. Since then, millions upon millions have been poured into the initiative and in much of the world, the dreaded virus has been eradicated altogether. In Pakistan, though, things have gone far from as planned. This now remains one of the world’s three polio-endemic countries — the others being Afghanistan and Nigeria — and, much more frighteningly, the only one where the crippling disease seems to be on the resurgence. For years now, Pakistan has received aid in cash and kind from all sorts of donors, and has been materially helped by international polio eradication initiatives, because it was recognised that a polio-free world cannot be envisaged unless all countries are taken along; this state’s abysmal rate of success — even though matters reached such a pass that the WHO was forced to issue a travel advisory for unvaccinated travellers in May — would suggest that it has all been money and effort down the drain.

Since the fight is too important to be abandoned, though, helping hands continue to reach out. On Friday, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council approved a Rs33bn emergency plan to battle the virus. The plan is made possible through loans running into millions of dollars from sources including the Islamic Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency, with the tab for interest on these loans being picked up by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Under an agreement with the lending agencies, the loans will be converted into grants if Pakistan succeeds in eradicating polio. It can thus be argued that for an already indebted country such as this, there is an economic reason to urgently ramp up its efforts. That said, however, Pakistan needs to wake up to the fact that its interests stand compromised in all sorts of ways by the increasing incidence of polio. Over 20 cases have been detected this month alone, and the count for this year so far is soaring near the 150 mark. Punjab and Balochistan, which had earlier been thought to be polio-free, have also seen the myth shattered. The new emergency plan simply has to be made to work; the lackadaisical approach of the authorities must not lead us into quarantine.


AN emphatic set of statements by DG ISPR Gen Asim Bajwa during a press conference on Friday may help roll back some of the persisting criticism that the army leadership is directly or indirectly backing the anti-government protesters camped out on Constitution Avenue in the federal capital. At the very least, whatever the truth to criticism directed at the army previously, it appears that the army leadership has, going forward, decided against direct intervention or open involvement in the ongoing political crisis. To the Sheikh Rashids and Shujaat Hussains of the political class, this is surely a setback. Many an ardent admirer of military rule and unabashed supporter of the army’s role in politics have openly invited the military to either take over or keep the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pinned to the mat — self-serving advice at best, given that it is the military that would have to deal with the fallout from a derailment of the democratic process. Now, with the army speaking more firmly and candidly of its commitment to the democratic process, the air of conspiracy and intrigue can hopefully begin to clear. Yet, in a depressing re-enactment of many of its earlier missteps, the PML-N appears to have interpreted the lifeline handed to it by the army leadership as an opportunity for renewing pressure on the anti-government protesters.

Two things will eventually need to be done by the government: the protesters will need to be peacefully moved away from the present sites they occupy; and those involved in violence on Constitution Avenue and attacks on state property will need to be identified, arrested, charged and prosecuted. Anything beyond that would be an excessive, unnecessary and unwise use of force — and a potentially fatal mistake by the PML-N. Unhappily, the PML-N often appears to have its priorities mixed up: rather than focusing on doing what it will take to strengthen the democratic process and salvage the government’s mandate, the PML-N leadership seems more inclined to flex its muscles against the protesters. Perhaps the PML-N leadership mistakenly has come to believe that the protests are really a numbers game — that if Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri had managed to bring a crowd in six figures into the streets of Islamabad, the government would have fallen. But it is not and never has been a question of a numbers game. Even when whittled down to a few hundred protesters, Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri have had their voices amplified nationally through the media. Even if the numbers at the PTI’s rally surge over the weekend — assuming the government backs away from its disruption tactics — that would not fundamentally weaken the government’s case and the democratic argument that much can be negotiated, but not everything the protesters want. Strategic patience, tactical nous and generosity of spirit — the PML-N still appears to lack all three.

Published in Dawn, September 14th , 2014

__________________
"I am still learning."

A US-led coalition

AN America-led coalition to take on the Islamic State (IS) — formerly known as the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham — is now a reality, with regional states appearing more than willing to be part of it. The idea had been floating around for quite some time, but on Friday the White House clinched the issue when it said America was “at war” with the IS the way “we are at war with Al Qaeda” and its affiliates. A day earlier, President Barack Obama announced his country would lead “a broad coalition to roll back” the IS’s military offensive, because it was a terrorist organisation “pure and simple”. Arab support for the coalition idea came on Thursday in Jeddah, where US Secretary of State John Kerry and 10 Arab countries pledged to “do their share in the comprehensive fight” against the IS. Mindful of domestic criticism for involving America in another war in the Middle East, President Obama said on the 13th anniversary of 9/11 that America would “degrade and ultimately destroy” the IS through air strikes.

The array of regional states on America’s side is impressive: six Gulf Cooperation Council countries, besides Egypt, Iraq, Jordan and Lebanon. But Syria and Iran are not there, while Turkey has said it will not allow its airbases to be used for strikes against IS. That means Arab support will be non-military — stopping the flow of funds and fighters to IS and rebuilding “brutalised communities”, as a communiqué put it, and it is America which will have to bare its military teeth. Regrettably, America’s record leaves little room for optimism. It destroyed Saddam Hussein’s regime and helped in the overthrow of the Qadhafi regime. The result is the anarchy we have been witnessing in Iraq and Libya, while Afghanistan is a story unto itself. If the IS’s mass murderers are to be checked and destroyed, real efforts will have to come from such regional heavyweights as Saudi Arabia and Iran.

YouTube ban

IT’S been two years since the ban, and everyone seems to have forgotten. Those who know how continue accessing YouTube using proxy servers. Those who don’t know how have simply moved on with life, using other video-sharing websites as a substitute. In the middle, at some point that nobody cares to remember, the site was briefly restored, then taken off again. Little trace of this website seems to be left in our lives now, except for a collective sigh of resignation with which we have come to terms with the fact that arbitrarily imposed internet censorship is yet another fact of life that we must learn to live with. If this was only about YouTube, it would be nothing more than a sad story. The site is not entirely absent from our lives, as is evidenced by the fact that daily talk shows from local TV channels continue being uploaded on it, as well as clips from news coverage. Clearly people have found ways to get around the closure. The same technology which gives us the means with which to block sites gives us the tools to get around the blockages put up by government.

The absurdity of the whole affair is compounded by the hypocrisy. We have a Freedom of Information Act, for instance, which allowed the net freedoms activist group, Bolo Bhi, to access the documents that detail the mechanism through which the government determines which sites will be blocked and which ones won’t. The document shows that the decision is made by a committee comprised of six government officials. And the same document tells us that this committee has no record of ever having met, eight years after it was constituted, nor does a publicly disclosed takedown procedure exist. So who decides? Based on what criteria? Are the whims of the telecom minister, Anusha Rahman, all that stand between citizens and their constitutional right to free access of public information? This is not just about the YouTube ban; from time to time other websites too have unobtrusively been made inaccessible from Pakistan, some to be reinstated, but uncounted others not. Net freedoms are as important in our day and age as the right to protest in public places. It would be a travesty for our constitutional freedoms if these freedoms are bartered away with nothing but a sigh of resignation, and the activation of a proxy server.

Dangerous possibilities

In certain national security circles, the renunciation of violence inside Pakistan by the leader of the TTP Punjab aka the Punjabi Taliban, Asmatullah Muawiya, will be greeted with satisfaction, even glee. Luring the Punjabi Taliban back towards the mainstream of society and politics has been a long-term goal of a section of the Pakistani security establishment; the thinking being that the former allies of the security establishment are merely misguided and can be persuaded to lay down their arms and lead peaceful existences again. From here, it would hardly be a surprise to see Muawiya being propped up for a political role, the route of former jihadis into politics being a well-trodden one now, including the likes of Fazlur Rehman Khalil, Hafiz Saeed, Malik Ishaq and Masood Azhar. At the very least, the next Difa-i-Pakistan Council agglomeration can look forward to recruiting Muawiya to whatever cause is deemed worthy of agitation next. Whether or not Muawiya and his companions do end up making the journey from violent militants to respectable citizens, it is really the thinking of the Pakistani security establishment that needs to be scrutinised. The Punjabi Taliban are essentially Kashmir-centric and sectarian militants who turned their ire on Pakistan itself after then-Gen Pervez Musharraf put the security establishment’s jihad policy into cold storage and even banned many of the groups that the Pakistani state had long patronised.

Some of the worst attacks against sectarian targets and the security apparatus have been carried out by the Punjabi Taliban over the years. The Punjabi Taliban are a very different breed of militants as compared to, say, the Fata TTP, whose origins and, arguably, even present motivations are largely tied to the army’s presence in the tribal areas. The Punjabi Taliban are ideologically committed militants who believe in a global jihad complex, which is why their announcement of ending their so-called armed struggle inside Pakistan has left the door open to armed struggle being waged outside Pakistan. Satisfaction then at the latest development in the world of militancy here can only mean one thing: the policy of good militant/bad militant continues and the security establishment continues to see some kind of a significant role for the religious right and good militants in the national discourse. That is deeply troubling because it suggests that no lessons have been learned, and it sets the stage for even greater problems down the road. By seeking to mainstream rabid ideologues wedded to violence and the overthrow of the Pakistani state, the security establishment is creating a pincer in which the state and society will eventually be caught: on the one side the armed militants who refuse to give up violence; on the other the political militant handed a ticket to mainstream society and politics. Surely, that is a pincer that no state or society can survive for very long. Everything that Muawiya and his ilk stand for is in direct opposition to what Pakistan ought to be. It is a ruinous strategy that seeks to empower them further.

Published in Dawn, September 15th , 2014

__________________
"I am still learning."

Road show

With the country embroiled in a seemingly never-ending political crisis, there are many who fear that the dark clouds will never lift, that nothing can be allowed to function as normal in Pakistan. No wonder, then, that it is increasingly possible to detect in the citizenry a desperate desire for something other than the projections of gloom. Happily, it is possible to turn to other interests, as Karachiites were reminded on Sunday when an automobile show brought together some 500 stately ladies of the mechanical kind at the Expo Centre. Organised by PakWheels, one of the largest community-based websites in the country, the show had vehicles both of the classic and fairly new variety — a 1982 Suzuki FX and a 2000-model Honda Civic can’t be termed vintage but that doesn’t prevent them from being spectacular. Jeeps, VWs, vans and trucks rubbed shoulders with sedans and motorcycles, a motley crew with one thing in common — they were all owned and kept in top condition by enthusiasts who clearly lavished time, expertise and money on motor vehicles.

On display were vehicles that, as many a visitor to the show must have fancied, reminded one of the gentler, more charismatic times when these designs and technologies tooled along the country’s roads. There can be no denying that nostalgia for the Pakistan that once was is alluring. But the organisers and attendees of events such as the automobile show, and the very many other similar efforts that are made across cities and towns, should be aware of the value of their work: they aren’t just providing an avenue of distraction, they are actively helping construct the country that aspires to be. With every piece of good cheer, every show of normalcy, the tide is reversed to that little extent against those who wish to pull Pakistan towards darkness. There is a large constituency for positivity, and more importantly, the willingness to work towards it is strengthened in a thousand small ways each day.

Talks, not theatrics

As the country awaits some kind of good news, some kind of an exit strategy from a national political crisis with seemingly no end, the chief protagonists themselves appear strangely comfortable with the impasse continuing. Instead of the focus being on urgently moving forwards in talks between the two sides, both the government and its opponents, the PTI and PAT, seem more interested in taking aim at each other. As ever, Tahirul Qadri has led the way in strange and unnecessary antics: this time first calling for a campaign of defacing currency notes with anti-Nawaz Sharif statements, only to hours later withdraw the campaign as it appeared to have dawned on Mr Qadri that defacement would render the currency notes useless and so cause monetary losses to his supporters. It is not yet known quite what will become of the hunger strike that Mr Qadri also announced on Sunday. Meanwhile, Imran Khan decided to take the law into his own hands and free PTI supporters detained by the Islamabad police in the early hours of yesterday. Apparently, Mr Khan has realised that his national fame makes it possible for him to waylay police vehicles and free detained individuals — and then berate the police.

Of course, anything the PTI and Mr Qadri do, the government is often able and willing to best them. Seemingly emboldened by the pro-democracy army statement over the weekend, the government has taken to arresting protest organisers and PTI and PAT supporters on technical grounds. Also Read: Case registered against Imran Khan for releasing arrested activists. Suddenly remembering that Section 144 is still in force in the federal capital and that loudspeakers cannot be used beyond certain decibel levels is truly the stuff of farce — and all that more depressing given that this is what a federal government has been reduced to. What should be done — though whether it will be done is another matter altogether — is for the advanced stage of talks between the government and the PTI and PAT teams respectively to be moved along quickly and decisively. If the government is unable to make the PTI and PAT listen to reason on their own, then it should bring other opposition politicians directly into the talks instead of keeping them on the periphery. If the PTI and PAT are appalled at the government’s push against their supporters, then they should focus more on talks instead of public theatrics and provocative statements. A negotiated settlement ought to be the only acceptable solution to all sides.

Left behind as Asia forges ahead

INDIA has just inked a set of agreements with Vietnam. Earlier this month, Shinzo Abe of Japan became the first Japanese prime minister to visit Bangladesh, a tour that included a stop in Sri Lanka. He brought along with him an entourage of 22 Japanese businessmen looking to do business in both countries. And this weekend, China’s President Xi Jinping concluded a visit to the Maldives, where amongst other engagements, he contributed a written piece to a local newspaper that talked of a 21st-century “maritime silk road”, and said, “China welcomes Maldives to get actively involved” in building this trade corridor. He then headed for Sri Lanka, where the maritime silk road is already in substantial evidence, with a Chinese deep sea port as a key factor in a sea lane that connects Southeast Asia with the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Japan this past Saturday, meeting Shinzo Abe and giving him his own message of “come, build in India”. Both sides agreed to set up a dialogue process involving their foreign and defence ministers to create a long-term, sustained process of cooperation on strategic and economic concerns. Soon the Chinese president will sit down with Mr Modi in discussions that will touch on the sources of tension between these two giant economies, as well as the wellsprings of opportunity that exist. A Sri Lankan diplomat, observing the whole round of meetings and summits and state visits taking place around Asia all month, described it as a “complex tapestry of relations” that is being woven in the region ever since India’s new prime minister was elected.

Asia has been abuzz with activity throughout the month so far, weaving itself together, talking, building and positioning its assets and relationships in a complex multi-player game that is all but set to emerge as the dominant theatre of Great Power rivalry. There is much tension across the region. A festering border dispute and suspicion of each other’s motives animates much of India’s relationship with China. In the rest of Asia too, rising China inspires as much trepidation as it does awe. Now consider what Pakistan has been busy doing since last month: indulging in political bickering, listening to scathing speeches with little purpose, and making hardly any attempt at a solution. For decades now, we have remained mired in conspiring against each other as a globalising world has raced ahead. Now, as globalisation draws to a close and a new world dominated by regional trading blocs begins to take shape before our eyes, we still remain busy in scuffles and speeches and point-scoring. At some point this behaviour must end. At some point we must learn to respect the rules we have laid down for ourselves, learn to demarcate our interests into strategic, political and economic domains, and pursue each separately.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2014

__________________
"I am still learning."

VIP culture

TAKEN as a principled stand, it must have felt good even if it wasn’t an earth-shattering victory. Taken as an indication of which way the wind is blowing, it has much deeper implications. On Monday night, PIA flight PK370, supposed to take off at 7pm, was delayed after boarding. Though the airline blamed technical issues, and later suspended two employees for “unnecessary delay”, passengers were given reason to believe that the aircraft was awaiting the arrival of some VIPs. This is just one part of the shameful VIP culture that exists in the country where public convenience is routinely sacrificed at the altar of the whims of the good and the great. Over two hours later, the passengers’ anger had reached boiling point. When PPP politician Senator Rehman Malik, and PML-N MNA Ramesh Kumar Vankwani, came on board, a hostile crowd refused to let them stay. Video footage shot on mobile phones has since gone viral.

It shows passengers in a temper. There are cries of “shame shame”, but mainly there is a palpable sense of people goaded beyond their capacity. It is not about one instance alone, but — as one passenger puts it — a result of 68 years of “all this”. Another calls to Mr Malik, “Come down to earth, sir.” What drives this resentment is obvious: over the decades, the privileged political and other classes have acquired a carapace of disdain towards the people in whose name they rule, hurting them not just through sins of omission but also of commission. Further, they are seen to operate with a preposterous sense of entitlement. This, coupled with the lack of governance and people’s frustration, has created a situation that could turn ugly at any time. With calls for change in the capital these days, it is time the ruling classes looked inwards and started to improve their attitude. It is their evident contempt for the citizenry that has created the constituency in which the desire for ‘something else’ is beginning to resonate.

Perilous journeys

The desire to flee violence and persecution, as well as the hope to find greener pastures in the developed world, often leads to desperate steps. People often end up putting their lives at risk as they cross continents, illegally, to get to the ‘promised land’. These perilous journeys are facilitated by unscrupulous human traffickers who exploit the migrants and can abandon them in the event of a crisis. The latest example of their cruelty came to light recently when it was reported that up to 500 migrants may have perished in the Mediterranean off the coast of Malta. Based on the testimony of two Palestinian survivors, the International Organisation for Migration says the likely high death toll was caused when traffickers reportedly rammed a vessel into the boat carrying the migrants. Hailing from Syria, Palestine, Egypt and Sudan, the asylum seekers had set sail from the Egyptian port of Damietta earlier this month, trying to find a way to Europe. The unfortunate individuals were ordered to board a smaller boat by the smugglers en route; and when they refused the traffickers deliberately knocked the migrants’ vessel over. Meanwhile, another boat, reportedly containing over 250 migrants, capsized off the Libyan coast on Monday.

Pakistan has witnessed similar tragedies. For example, over 40 migrants — mostly Afghans — were found dead inside a shipping container en route to Iran when it was opened by police in Quetta in 2009. Human trafficking is a major problem in Pakistan, both as a source country and a transit point. Traffickers are especially active in parts of Punjab, while both land and sea routes are used to illegally transport people to Europe, the Gulf and other destinations. The problem needs to be addressed on two fronts: firstly, firm action is needed against those running human smuggling rackets. Global cooperation must be strengthened to bust trafficking gangs, as these groups have transnational linkages, in order to prevent tragedies similar to the one witnessed on the Mediterranean. But beyond that, in the longer term, governments must ask themselves what is forcing people to adopt such drastic measures. Fleeing wars is understandable, but in Pakistan the lack of social and economic justice, as well as persecution on religious and ethnic grounds, propels many people towards taking this dangerous plunge. Hence there is logic in the call by activists for states to look into the ‘root causes’ of why people flee their countries of origin.

LNG import: some questions

After almost a decade of trying, LNG imports are now closer to becoming a reality. In a recent news conference, Petroleum Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi said the project is “in its final stages” and even mentioned the prospect of an early commissioning. Moreover, the government appears to have done the groundwork to develop a consensus around the allocations from the new gas, giving the vehicular CNG sector a large share of the imported gas, while diverting its allocations from domestic gas towards other sectors. In time, the minister said, all of the imported gas may end up allocated for vehicular use, freeing up domestic gas for the remaining stakeholders. Some of the numbers floated by the minister need closer scrutiny. For instance, it is not clear how the imported gas will be only 5pc to 8pc costlier than the existing price. If the minister is referring to the price at which the gas will be sold to consumers, then clearly there will be a subsidy element. But if he is referring to the landed cost of the LNG, then it needs clarification what price the government is anticipating to pay in the spot markets, where prices are almost double what they are for domestically produced gas. Likewise, the savings of $2.5bn in imports of oil that the minister claims will be realised as a result of allocating all imported gas for vehicular use needs to be explained.

Is his government thinking of sharply increasing the number of vehicles running on CNG after this decision is implemented? If so, this would be adding to the folly of having encouraged the vehicular use of natural gas in the first place. The ministry should release a breakdown of the numbers behind these claims, giving details of the cost at which the gas will be sold to the CNG station operators, and what cost they will be selling it on to end consumers. If a subsidy is involved, it should also be made clear at the outset, as should data on how the $2.5bn of savings on oil import has been computed. Nevertheless, it is encouraging to note that the government has finally managed to put some momentum behind the LNG import project. The idea has languished in our political culture of recriminations for far too long now. Admittedly, all parties involved do not feel fairly treated, particularly those who believe that their bids for the project were denied due consideration on political grounds. But it is a positive sign for the country that the first consignment of imported gas may soon arrive to breathe new life into our energy-starved economy. From here on, the overriding priority is to ensure fair play in decisions on allocations, and transparency and reform in pricing matters. In the final analysis, our gas woes will only end once we learn to price the precious resource appropriately.

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2014

__________________
"I am still learning."