Yet another kidnapping

August 27th, 2011

We are rapidly turning into a land where opinions cannot be expressed; views that clash with the fundamentalist opinion cannot be said out aloud. When this happens, the punishment meted out is one that frightens most into silence. This is, of course, what the extremists want. In January this year former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer was shot dead by his police guard, who wished to take revenge on the courageously outspoken politician for daring to suggest that the blasphemy laws in the country should not be used to victimise people. It is not yet known if the audacious kidnapping of his son Shahbaz Taseer in Lahore, close to his office, in an upscale part of the city, is linked to his late father’s words. But it is known that the Taseer family has been facing threats in connection with the ongoing case in an anti-terrorism court against Salman Taseer’s alleged killer, Mumtaz Qadri. Since then, Qadri has been declared a martyr by extremist forces while the dead man’s alleged lifestyle is time and again mentioned in court.

Police are also reportedly exploring the possibility that Shahbaz, taken away after armed motorcyclists surrounded his car, dragged him out and drove him away in a larger vehicle, may have been abducted over a business feud. There has, since Salmaan’s death been some litigation involving business affairs. This is, of course, a possibility. But it is disturbing that a broad daylight abduction took place on a day when security was already on high alert because of Jummatul Wida. There are also other aspects to the crime that are disturbing. The kidnapping hit news channel headlines minutes after it occurred. Yet the disappearance of ordinary people, which happens day in day out in this land, goes relatively unnoticed by those in authority. Kidnappings of businessmen, traders and others — some members of minority communities — take place on what is a regular basis across the country but we don’t see the prime minister giving pledges that all state resources will be used to ensure their safe return. Some of these people have been missing for years and in most cases their families lack the influence to make their voices heard. One can only hope that Mr Taseer returns home safe as soon as possible. However, the government also needs to give a thought to the fact that lives of just about every ordinary citizen need to be made safer, whether they ride limousines or motorcycles.

Risalpur under fire

August 27th, 2011

The bomb blast in the military town of Risalpur in the Nowshera district just goes to highlight that no place is safe and no amount of security can make it so. Risalpur, located less than 10 kilometres away from the town of Nowshera of course houses the prestigious air force academy at Risalpur and is studded with other military institutions that stand all around. But obviously, despite the presence of a large number of military personnel, not every location can be kept under constant watch. The terrorists who move through our country can mingle easily with crowds, and also slip undetected into market places.

This factor obviously played a role in allowing a bomb to be placed at a restaurant where some air force officers had planned an iftari. Five personnel from the force were among the 11 killed as the device detonated. Reports say it had been attached to a cycle, perhaps a child’s tricycle. 15 others suffered injuries. The question of whether the terrorists had any inside information about the iftari is an open one. There is really no way of saying. The eatery was frequented by military personnel daily at iftar time, so it could have been the target for a random attack. On the other hand groups engaged in terrorism have in the past been able to gain access to inside information that makes them even more dangerous.

The tactics used at Risalpur are not new. Previously, a bakery used often by military personnel was targeted in Nowshera. This should make it easier to identify precisely which groups are behind the attack and who is planning them. Surely our elaborate intelligence network has succeeded in infiltrating, at least, some of these groups and determining how they operate. If this has not happened, it is a matter of grave concern — and something that needs to be looked into. The first-ever major attack on Risalpur should remind us of the urgency required in the matter and the need to take action to break-up the forces, who as yet are able to quite easily reach their targets and strike them at will.

Powers to Rangers

August 27th, 2011

There are some lessons that we never learn. Expecting miracles from the military and paramilitary forces may be among the worst of our delusions. When we have had enough of corrupt civilian rule, we welcome military dictators with open arms. When the law and order situation gets worse, more power is handed to the paramilitary authorities. Inevitably, this has now happened in Karachi. Extraordinary powers, including the right to carry out warrantless searches, have been given to the Rangers. To expect these powers to be used wisely is extremely optimistic, almost to the point of naivety. Past experience, with the latest, example being the brutal and unjustifiable slaying of civilian Sarfaraz Shah, has shown that the Rangers are not to be trusted with unbridled power. Karachi already has a police force that has sufficient numerical strength to be capable of stabilising the city. The problem, however, is that the police is heavily politicised and will be afraid of taking sides for fear of retribution from one side or the other. The police is also dissuaded from intervening against extortionists and criminals, all of whom pay bribes to the law-enforcement authorities to ensure that they can ply their trade without worrying about the consequences. That the criminals and the politicians have formed an unholy nexus makes the job of the police even harder, as they have to separately contend with two powerful and ruthless factions.

If there is one positive to the extraordinary powers given to the Rangers, it is that this has been done in lieu of calling in the army to control the situation. Adding the army into the volatile mix, that is Karachi, may have led to a few days or weeks of calm, but would also have been followed by a release of pent-up anger that would dwarf the violence of last month. The truth is that there is no perfect solution to the situation in Karachi. Until the political parties themselves realise that power needs to be earned at the ballot box and exercised within the constraints of law, no amount of heavy-handed paramilitary tactics will lead to permanent peace.

Shahbaz Taseer and today’s Pakistan

August 28th, 2011

Two cars and a motorbike were used to kidnap the son of former governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer, Shahbaz, from Lahore’s Gulberg area while he was on his way to work on August 26. The city was gripped with panic because this was the second high-profile kidnapping, coming soon after the kidnapping of an American official from the city. Most likely, Shahbaz has been picked up by the Taliban through their affiliates such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, which last February kidnapped the son-in-law of former chairman joint chiefs of staff committee (CJCSC), General Tariq Majid.

The police is considering other possibilities too. It could be Mr Taseer’s tenants in a plaza which he wanted vacated for repairs; it could be a rival real-estate tycoon seen attacking the Taseer family through a local newspaper; and it could be a quarrel within his circle of personal friends. However, the most credible candidate among the kidnappers is al Qaeda and its subordinate groups out to augment the fast-dwindling kitty of the global terrorist organisation.

Thirty-five year old Amir Malik, the son-in-law of General Tariq Majid, was kidnapped for ransom. He was picked up by armed men in August 2010 from his Faisal Town, Lahore residence. The videotaped message received later showed masked militants wielding kalashnikovs in the background. The price: Rs130 million as well as the release of 153 militants being held in various prisons across Pakistan. The American named Warren Weinstein, too, will most probably be returned after a big payment. An American officer similarly picked up in Quetta was rumoured to have been released after a payment.

It is unfortunate that Shahbaz Taseer did not think much of the security detail provided to him by the Punjab government. The Taseer family had a total of 17 police and five rangers personnel posted with them while Shahbaz himself had two police guards for his personal protection. Because his father, the late governor Taseer, was killed by his own police guard, he travelled without them on the fateful day. The family says they have been receiving threatening phone-calls from the Taliban and their extremist followers in Punjab.

Why should the Taliban-al Qaeda combine be interested in this kidnapping? It should be recalled that when the clergy led by the Barelvi school of thought went on the rampage in Punjab against governor Taseer’s defence of Christian Aasia Bibi’s conviction under the blasphemy law, the Taliban declared themselves resolved to take revenge from the governor. It should also be noted that the cleric who led the funeral prayer for governor Taseer was delivered credible threats till he fled to the UK to seek asylum there. The Barelvis simply don’t indulge in this kind of activity except al Qaeda is short of funds and has slowed down its attacks not because it’s ‘back is broken’ but because it needs to have money to buy weapons and explosives. This happens periodically and the kitty is replenished through kidnappings. These have taken place rather heavily in Karachi and Peshawar. In the latter city, rich people have been pauperised by the heavy ransom they have had to pay to remain alive. Those who collect include warlords like Mangal Bagh of Khyber Agency who have to finance their internecine wars. The last time al Qaeda ran short of funds, it got a retired army officer, Major Ashiq, to kidnap putatively rich people from across Pakistan for ransom. Use of explosives is the mainstay of terrorism in Pakistan and al Qaeda even tried to steal the Wah Factory explosives meant for the mining industry.

Pakistan’s record in foiling kidnapping for ransom is not very good. It is said that one senior Pakistani diplomat kidnapped by al Qaeda’s affiliates in Waziristan was released after a big payment. The same is true of an Afghan diplomat who has recently been released and lives in the palace of President Karzai for fear of being kidnapped again and is narrating his tale of woe to the world media. In the case of General Tariq Majid’s son-in-law, the negotiations may still be ongoing and one should be grateful that state agencies still have a way of reaching the kidnappers. We hope and pray that Shahbaz Taseer will be released soon.

Controversial appointment

August 28th, 2011

The appointment of Akhtar Buland Rana as the auditor general of Pakistan (AGP) has become yet another matter of controversy pitching the executive against the judiciary. In a letter written to the president, with a copy to the prime minister, the Chief Justice of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, has pointed out serious charges exist against Rana, which could render him constitutionally ineligible to hold the post for which he has been nominated.

The charges against Rana are disturbing. They include the obtaining of the nationality of another country without government permission, using several different passports and identity cards, and assault on a woman who worked under him in the past. In all, the CJP has sighted seven different charges against the man appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister. From the letter, it appears the CJP believes action can be initiated against the AGP under Article 209 of the Constitution which deals with disciplinary action and lays down the role of the Supreme Judicial Council in this.

All these are, of course, extremely serious accusations. If any of them are true, it is obvious that Rana should not hold the post to which he has been appointed. The AGP, responsible for looking into financial wrongdoing in government ministries and bodies, needs to be a person who can command respect and is himself seen as being above board. If this is not the case it makes it difficult for him to operate with any degree of effectiveness. For these reasons it is important the government examine the matter and see how much weight the CJP’s stern words hold. It is also important that all institutions of the state work together as a team. If this does not happen, there can only be trouble of various kinds. We have seen too much of this in the past. Cooperation and trust is badly required. Whatever can be done to build it should happen, even if this involves some loss of face for certain individuals or the search for a more worthy candidate to hold one of the most important offices in the country.

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

The non-Muslims of Pakistan

August 29th, 2011

In compliance with the 18th Amendment, President Asif Ali Zardari recently signed an amendment in the Senate (Election) Rules 1975 to reserve four seats for non-Muslims in Pakistan’s Upper House. This means that each province will send an additional member to the Senate which consists 100 members including 17 seats reserved for women and 17 seats reserved for technocrats and ulema. The Senate will have reserved seats for non-Muslims for the first time. Although the Senate represented the provinces, it was presumed earlier that they did not need to pay special attention to getting their non-Muslim minorities an airing there despite their disadvantaged position.

On the other hand, the National Assembly was sensitive to the position of the largely backward religious minorities. It had a total of 342 seats, including 60 seats reserved for women and 10 seats reserved for non-Muslims. We are at a loss to understand the thinking behind this difference in envisaging representation in the two houses of parliament but welcome the correction that the 18th Amendment has brought about. The provincial assemblies already have non-Muslim seats in proportion to the numbers in the constituencies, in addition to those elected on the basis of still controversial joint electorates.

A lacuna has been addressed by all the political parties who voted for the 18th Amendment. It is just as well that the ruling PPP did not have a two-thirds majority to pass the amendment; now the change denotes a political consensus otherwise in short supply in the country. This is not to say that problems faced by the non-Muslim minorities are well on the way to being resolved. The controversial and much-misused blasphemy laws, are still on the statute book and regularly used to victimise them individually or collectively. Finally it is a measure of how incapable our political parties are of providing leadership on crucial issues and will go along with the base instincts of society to retain themselves in popular focus.

Pakistan has a very small non-Muslim population. By normal accounts, it should have no ‘minority problems’ unlike Bangladesh which was declared a secular-socialist state in 1971 but was not able to handle its large Hindu minority amounting to almost 25 per cent in 1947. Because of the maltreatment meted out to the Hindus, their population is down to 11 per cent in today’s Bangladesh. Deprived of land through legislation and maltreatment, the Hindus have steadily fled into India over the years. Ironically, Muslim Bangladeshis, too, have fled to India in large numbers.

The germ of the two-nation doctrine is embedded in the mind of the Muslim majority community and it is misapplied to an already minuscule non-Muslim population in Pakistan. Its original application was related to the ‘imagined’ nations in India. The Congress claimed there was one nation in India and the Muslim League claimed there were two. After Partition, Pakistan should have moved to a single identity: whoever is a citizen of Pakistan belongs to the nation of Pakistan. But this universally applied concept was soon scuttled when the Muslim League thought of separating the non-Muslims through separate electorates.

General Zia actually separated the non-Muslims from the rest of the nation through separate electorates. Behind the change in the Eighth Amendment to the 1973 Constitution was the idea of ‘zimmi-hood’ which he and his partners in power had close to their heart although many thought it was violation of the spirit of Mithaq-e-Madina envisaging one nation. He, however, stopped short of ‘jazia’ (special protection tax) which is a historical corollary to ‘zimmi-hood’ — a kind of ‘payment from minorities’ received by some Muslim kings in India. There is helplessness in the face of the cruelties inflicted on the non-Muslims by the blasphemy law. When late Governor Punjab Salmaan Taseer publicly condemned the law, he was killed by his own bodyguard. After his death no one would lead his funeral prayer, and the man who finally did has run away to the UK seeking asylum from those who threaten him with death. And the Christian woman whom Governor Taseer died defending is still rotting in jail under a seemingly trumped-up charge of blasphemy. In Punjab, the Christian minority wants its support to the Pakistan Movement mentioned in the textbooks while religious fanatics torch their houses.

Ties with America

August 29th, 2011

The first signs are emerging that the Pakistan-US relationship, so badly damaged by the Raymond Davis saga and the fallout from the May 2 Abottabad raid, may finally be approaching something resembling normality. Reports that the estimated 200-strong US military trainers, most of whom were expelled from Pakistan during the recent freeze in relations, may be allowed back into the country are the strongest manifestation of this thaw. This follows a long period of negotiations where the ISI chief, Lt. General Shuja Pasha, met with his CIA counterpart in Washington and various US officials made hurried trips to Pakistan. If the return of US trainers is the first manifestation of improved relations then it is to be welcomed.

Allowing US military trainers back into the country, a large and likely controversial step for Pakistan to take, needs to be reciprocated. The very least the US can do is restore the $800 million in military aid that was cut after the trainers were expelled. There also need to be reassurances that these trainers will only be here for their specific work and will not actually be spying on us for the Americans. It is essential that an understanding exists that the trainers will be expelled again if they are caught transgressing. Additionally, it is vital that the trainers be official US military personnel and not private contractors. The word Blackwater has now become a term of abuse in Pakistan and their presence will make rapprochement harder to achieve. It is also needs to be acknowledged that these short-term measures are unlikely to lead to sustained, healthy relations until both sides trust each other. For the US, this means being convinced that our intelligence agencies aren’t maintaining ties with militants. The Americans seem to believe that information they pass along to our intelligence agencies will be transmitted to the militants. Pakistan is worried that the US will abandon us as they did after the Soviet Union was defeated in Afghanistan and that they will continue to trample on our sovereignty.

These issues will take a long time to resolve but a climate of trust can be created by ending the selective leaks to the media against each other and continuing to hold regular talks. Only then can we begin to dream of normalised relations.

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

High noon

August 30th, 2011

Pakistan is quite used to drama and theatrics of all kinds. But the astonishing press conference, spread over an expansive two hours, delivered by former Sindh home minister Dr Zulfiqar Mirza at the Karachi Press Club, surely resembles, in terms of dramatic performance, the ‘fat lady’ singing at the end of an opera as people rise to their feet.

Certainly, Mirza’s comments made everyone look up. But whether this was in appreciation or sheer astonishment is somewhat hard to gauge. Much of what Mirza said appears to include at least some element of truth; and truth is not something we are accustomed to hearing very often in this ‘land of the pure’. The former minister, who also announced his resignation from the Sindh cabinet, the Sindh Assembly, his post as provincial vice-president of the PPP as well as from the party’s central executive committee, swore that he would remain an ardent worker of the party. He lashed out chiefly against two main targets, both of whom later, and in totality, denied his very serious allegations. He accused the federal interior minister, Rehman Malik, of being a congenital liar and of having a hand in the ongoing violence in Karachi. The chief accusations hinged around his charge that Malik had played a part in the deaths of thousands of people mainly through his efforts to strike a deal with the MQM and that his interventions in Karachi had made it impossible for Mirza to try and reimpose order.

Mirza was also not any less scathing when he accused the MQM of being behind the frenzied violence Karachi has seen this year which has led to at least 1,400 deaths. Holding a copy of the Holy Quran in his hand — rather over his head most of the time — and emphasising that he would give evidence of what was really happening in Karachi, Mirza said MQM chief Altaf Hussain was directly ordering the deaths in the city and was engaged in a plot with the US to break up the country. He stated that killers, including those who had murdered reporter Wali Babar, had been let off the hook on the orders of Sindh Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad after he had, as home minister, taken action against them. All this is, of course, extremely serious and cannot simply be swept under the carpet. Perhaps time will tell what the precise truth is and how much of what Mirza has laid out before a wide-eyed audience is accurate, but that will only happen when the government of the day and the ruling party respond to the allegations. For instance, the one regarding extortion needs answers, and a solution, because that menace strikes at the very heart of Karachi’s economic and commercial activity. Moreover, in light of the Supreme Court’s hearing on the Karachi situation, Mirza’s explosive allegations may need a more formal forum for investigation.

That all said, one wonders what is the purpose, or perhaps motive, of Mirza’s emotional press conference. One could easily ask why he didn’t take this issue up with his party directly, especially given his close personal relations with President Asif Ali Zardari. During the press conference, hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people from Lyari surrounded the press club premises and shouted slogans in favour of Mirza. Was the purpose of his talk then to alter the political reality of Sindh and win appeal for himself? Is the PPP divided, or was this all a deft move by the party itself to prepare the public at large for a change in the province? Why, for instance, was Mirza praising the army and the ISI so much, especially given the circumstances of the deaths of the PPP’s two previous leaders? Lest we be accused of conspiracy theories, it should be understood that all of these are valid questions given the country’s experience with political change, especially of the extraconstitutional variety.

The question also is whether what Mirza has said is the first whiff of a scenario that could bring lasting change to the country and to Sindh in particular. Certainly, it is hard to believe things will remain calm and exactly in place after this hurricane has swept through our midst. It seems quite likely there will be more developments in the future. Let us hope that if these happen they will be peaceful and not bring with them further violence and unrest. We have seen far too much of that already.

Attack in Chitral

August 30th, 2011

That the fates of Pakistan and Afghanistan are intertwined was demonstrated once again on August 27 as Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militants based in Afghanistan carried out a daring attack on checkposts in Chitral, killing over 30 security personnel. The attack is believed to be the handiwork of Maulvi Fazlullah, who was the TTP’s head in Swat, and Maulvi Faqir, who held the same position in Bajaur. Both men had sought refuge in the Kunar province of Afghanistan after they were forced to flee during military operations in their area. This attack is the latest sign that they have been able to regroup in Afghanistan, which they are using as a base to hit back at the Pakistani state.

Maulvi Fazlullah, in particular, has been hitting Pakistan as often as possible. Among the more daring attacks ascribed to him was a bombing that targeted ANP Senator Zahid Khan in Dir, earlier this year. He has also been accused of carrying out kidnappings in Dir for the past year. It has become clear that militants targeted by the Pakistan Army are easily able to cross the porous border and bide their time in Afghanistan.

The situation is even more perilous as the militants know that the US will begin phasing its troops out of Afghanistan from next year. Afghan President Hamid Karzai has shown little willingness to secure the border and tackle the TTP militants hiding in his territory, preferring instead to constantly blame Pakistan for attacks in his country. Both sides need to admit that they have a responsibility to stop such attacks and need to step up their efforts without indulging in a blame game. It is hard enough to fight the militants while carrying on a war of words with someone who can be a natural ally in this battle.

The one lesson the Pakistani Army needs to learn is that it cannot treat different tribal agencies as separate entities. Military operations will have limited effectiveness if they do not take into account the ability of militants to flee the area and take refuge in any one of North and South Waziristan, Mohmand Agency, Bajaur Agency or settled districts like Swat and Dir. It has become obvious that the Pakistan Army cannot hold these areas simultaneously, and even if it were able to do so, the porous border with Afghanistan remains a problem.

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

Eid in difficult days

August 31st, 2011

The happiness of Eid is no longer about the spontaneous upsurge of joy; it is about the persistence of Muslims in saying yes to life no matter how tough it is. People say it is the urban man’s hardening of the heart against others’ suffering; some say it is the affirmation of faith in the face of tribulation. Routine prayers all across Pakistan repeat that Muslims are observing Eid under duress because of their sins and that they have to be more pious and observe the rituals of faith more strictly to assuage the wrath of Almighty Allah.

The facts are staring us in the face. There is violence in our land and it is borne out of external factors as well internal ones. The killers linked to international terror murder innocent Pakistanis, a stark example of how Muslims have killed Muslims in history, no matter how much the ‘deep state’ insists it is not al Qaeda but Americans and Indians. In Karachi, which is now a miniature of Pakistan’s national travail, the stakeholders of governance are killing one another to eclipse the cruelties of al Qaeda and its local affiliates.

Eid is a collective festival and during its celebration one would assume that friends as well as rivals will embrace one another and remember that they are brethren in faith and that acts of omission and commission have to be forgiven. But the truth is that this one day will not change the ground realities of divisions among us; will not make friends of those who torture and cut up people to stuff their bodies in bags and their victims. One wonders if religion has lost its binding power, especially given the killing spree that went on through Ramazan in Karachi.

The state has wound down in the past decade or so and that includes the decade of Musharraf’s years of high economic growth rates. As the economy contracts under unavoidable IMF conditionalities, more and more people are unemployed and those still employed find it hard to take the shock of rising prices. The services the state is expected to provide have gradually dwindled and come to a halt in some areas. It is not safe to travel by road because the roads are no longer protected. The mass transit system of the railways has become dysfunctional and subject to violence by helplessly suffering passengers.

The terrorist who has joined hands with al Qaeda kills with impunity and no remorse during Ramazan because the prayer congregation is a sitting duck. He fasts while killing others and joins the very people he kills in the prayers of Eid, that is, if he is not blowing up innocents on Eid day. Those who look at this mayhem are divided on what to make of the phenomenon. The thinking of the killer has seeped into the minds of the victim population. Those who kill and those who are getting killed are on the same page with their isolationist rage against America and the West.

Extremism has been embraced at a time when it should have been shunned in the face of the ‘khariji’ philosophy of al Qaeda. The common man is encouraged by the pulpit, the TV anchor, and the column-writer to hate those who do not agree with this uniformity of the extreme mind. Hate speech is being used, not against al Qaeda and its ‘fitna’ but against fellow-Pakistanis who dare to think differently. The security forces are not spared by this penetration of poisoned thinking. But as one says this, one is made to realise that the state is no longer able to defend the police in Karachi against the killing spree of the mafias. In old times, the state would have come to an end, but in the 21st century the failing post-colonial state in Asia, Africa and the Middle East has lingered in the midst of unspeakable public suffering. Let us hope that this Eid day we use the occasion to reflect on what has become of us and what we can do for a better future. Atleast we can try and make it a memorable day for our younger generations.

Balochistan conundrum

August 31st, 2011

The situation in Balochistan is so hideously violent and complex that it becomes impossible to ascertain who is responsible for any single attack. Such is the case with the August 28 attack on a train that left three people dead. All we know so far is that armed gunmen started firing at the train, which was headed from Quetta to Peshawar and that FC personnel were on the train. Add to that the fact that the three dead were from Punjab and one would conclude that the attackers were probably Baloch separatists.

There is a lot of sympathy for the cause of the Baloch rebels but their tactics leave a lot to be desired. It is undeniable that they have been targeting the Punjabi community, seeing them as interlopers occupying their land. As justified as the grievances of the Baloch may be, this kind of collective guilt must not be allowed to stand. It is also undeniable that the Baloch feel alienated in their own land but the fight must be restricted to one for greater rights, not outright separation.

At the same time, there is no doubting that the centre needs to do more to bring the Baloch into the political mainstream. If more rights are given to the Baloch and they are allowed a greater share in the province’s resources, then support for the separatists will slowly melt away. There needs to be a genuine effort to address the grievances of the people of the province. Till this happens, the situation will only worsen.

For now there is no conceivable way to get the army and paramilitary organisations to withdraw from Balochistan. As the latest attack showed, the situation is far too tense for such a hands-off approach. Many of the Punjabis residing in Balochistan have been there for generations and simply cannot be asked to resettle based on the whims of a violent subset of the Baloch population. A solution to the Balochistan problem, as we can see, is as distant as ever. The word compromise is on no one’s lips, which makes it even harder to exclusively blame any one side for the violence.

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

Supreme Court on Karachi violence

September 3rd, 2011

There is no greater indictment of the political system than the fact that the Supreme Court has had to take suo motu notice of the violence in Karachi. Over 400 lives have been taken in the last three months and the response of the various political parties has been to pass the buck and shift the blame. Expecting the Supreme Court, no matter how well-intentioned, to be able to bring an end to the violence or even provide justice to the families of those who have been murdered is far-fetched and fanciful. What it can do through its hearings is to hold the law-enforcement agencies, and by extension the politicians who command them, accountable for the worst violence the city has seen in 15 years.

In just a couple of days of hearings, the Supreme Court has already been able to embarrass the Sindh police and for good reason. The Sindh Inspector-General Wajid Durrani was told that his presentation was no better than a police report. It has quickly become obvious that the law-enforcement agencies are either unable, or more likely unwilling to identify who is behind the violence in Karachi. The Supreme Court too may not be able to get answers out of them but at least this is the first time the police will be strongly questioned about their inaction.

Questioning just the police, however, is not enough. Until the political parties that have inflamed the violence are held accountable, the Supreme Court will be unable to get to the bottom of the matter. Zulfiqar Mirza’s press conference on August 28 may have been quickly disavowed by the PPP leadership but what he said resonated with those who are opposed to the MQM. Similarly, those in the city predisposed to oppose the PPP and the ANP would level similarly heinous charges against those parties. The violence in Karachi is a failure of politics, not police work. Those placing great hope in the Supreme Court to sort out the situation should also be wary. This suo motu action feels more like an inquest than an investigation. It may point a few fingers and embarrass those in power but it is extremely unlikely to change the ground realities in Karachi.

Death and joy

September 3rd, 2011

Eid is of course meant to be an occasion for joy, as well as for prayer. But it seems even this is to be denied to some in the country. For the families of the 11 people killed and 13 others injured in a bomb attack at a Quetta mosque immediately after Eid prayers, the day of happiness turned in to one of mourning. As has happened before in the city, Shias were the target of the attack. A car bomb planted near the Shia mosque caused the explosion — but such technicalities are of course largely irrelevant. The fact is that 11 more graves have been dug, 11 more people have been buried and even on an occasion such as Eidul Fitr we are incapable of demonstrating the kind of unity we so desperately need as a nation.

More and more fissures are appearing everywhere, cutting through our society and dividing it up into smaller and smaller groups. We are split on the basis of ethnicity, of social status, of gender, of religion and of sect. Quetta over the last few months, appears to have emerged as the focal point of the attacks on Shias — often members of the minority Hazara community. The latest act of violence directed against them shows they are not to be allowed even to observe one of the most holy days on the Islamic calendar without being stalked relentlessly by death.

Why, we must ask, are we so helpless against the forces that carry out such attacks? Why have the culprits not been apprehended despite the presence of a vast security and intelligence network? Even after the hundreds of sectarian deaths that have taken place over the last decade there is a lack of clarity as to precisely who is responsible. We must also ask why there has not been a louder outcry: from civil society groups, from the media, from political parties and from clerics. After all, the persons carrying out such attacks cannot claim to be Muslims, to be members of a religion that preaches peace and tolerance. They must then be openly condemned as the murderers they are, to restore to our nation the harmony it so badly needs.

Check on freedom

September 3rd, 2011

The freedom of the internet is, it appears, to be curbed. Authorities do not like the licence it gives people everywhere to freely gather information from around the world and gain access to opinions of all kinds. According to a report in this newspaper, the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority’s (PTAs) powers to monitor the information people exchange over the internet is growing, with a new notice to ISPs ordering the prohibition of the use of technology that allows the private browsing of the internet. Right now it is possible to use such services, which include encrypted virtual private networks, to exchange messages and information that cannot be accessed by the PTA. Blackberry to Blackberry messaging, and other similar services, are presumably to be included in this.

In our particular situation, it can of course be argued that security concerns make such steps unavoidable. Al Qaeda and other groups have in the past been known to use text messaging and internet services for dangerous purposes. But there is reason to believe the PTA measures go beyond this. Lately, there have been more and more instances in which websites have been blocked; those run by Baloch nationalist groups remain prohibited, we have in the past seen the shutdown of Facebook and, most recently, in what is a particularly absurd move, the website of the radical music magazine Rolling Stone has been shut down, to prevent people from viewing an article that lambasts Pakistan’s high military spending. Of course, for the tech savvy, it is possible to get to the item through more roundabout means. This makes the act of censorship even more ridiculous.

But we are treading into very dangerous waters. Freedom to information is a basic right of every citizen. It is protected under the law of the land. The last thing we need is measures, such as those imposed by the Iranian state, to restrict internet freedom. This would only add to the frustrations we see everywhere and create new dangers in our society.

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

‘Bad cop’ or double-edged sword?

September 4th, 2011

Those who lean towards the theory that ex-PPP leader Dr Zulfiqar Mirza is a ‘bad cop’ deployed by President Asif Ali Zardari to punish the MQM, should carefully watch the trajectory of Mr Mirza’s journey to see if the theory still holds. Zulfiqar Mirza said in Lyari on September 2 that he released MQM killers under pressure from federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik whom he accused of being a Jewish and American agent. He then most strikingly went on to invite the army to tackle the trouble in Karachi.

Of course the real chastisement was meant for the MQM; the PPP leadership was sniped at indirectly through the person of Rehman Malik, the spearhead of the party chief’s policy of appeasement of Altaf Hussain and his party. Mr Mirza took a couple of steps forward on his road to rebellion by leading a procession composed of the Sindh National Party (SNP), Awami National Party (ANP), Punjabi-Pakhtun Ittehad (PPI) and what looked like PPP supporters fed up with the policy being imposed on Sindh from Islamabad. People may wonder, was he doing President Zardari’s bidding?

It is difficult to believe the ‘Mirza-Malik’ bad cop-good cop routine keeping in mind the content of Mirza’s Lyari speech, which marked a rising graph of hostility towards his own party leadership. He no longer displayed his earlier reverence for President Zardari when he said that the “Sindhis, as soldiers of Benazir Bhutto, will not let this [violence in Sindh] happen anymore”. Furthermore, he condemned Malik for misleading Ms Bhutto. Indirectly, he accused President Zardari of relying on a man who had betrayed the PPP in the past and was doing so now. Is he a ‘bad cop’ put up to his dramatics by Zardari or an unbalanced personality trying to hurt the MQM without taking care not to hurt his own party?

How should one read the participation in his procession of the SNP and its foul-mouthed leaders? The rhetoric was sharp against the MQM but in the case of the PPP it stopped short of the person of Asif Ali Zardari. Blending with the Sindhi nationalists and the Pakhtuns of the ANP, he was escalating the challenge faced by Zardari. He narrowed the appeal of the big all-Pakistan party by allowing the nationalists — not all joined, possibly because of doubts about his real intent — to climb his bandwagon. He then made another gesture that would separate him from Zardari: he joined the ANP in their appeal to the Pakistan Army to quash the ‘conspiracy against Pakistan’. The irony is that only the mainstream parties — the PML-N and the PPP — have so far avoided appealing to the army for intervention.

Mr Mirza has always spoken as if he were a loose cannon. His outbursts in the past apparently caused a lot of crises of confidence between the PPP and the MQM; but these episodes invariably ended in Mr Mirza apologising for his intemperate speech. This in reality was what caused most observers to dub him as the ‘bad cop’ put forward by Zardari in his pantomime with the MQM. The question is: is he still the bad cop or the first sign of rebellion in the Sindh branch of the PPP which sends the largest number of MNAs to the National Assembly? The trigger was the undoing of the ‘commissionerate’ system in Karachi and Hyderabad and reversion to local government. The grievance within the non-MQM elements is real, but is Mr Mirza himself for real? Is he so devoted to Zardari that he is ready to deceive so many stakeholders at a later date?

The Sindhis don’t have a big presence in Karachi. The MQM leans on big populations in the four major cities of Sindh. The Pashtun live only in Karachi in great concentration — perhaps second only to Peshawar, but only 22 per cent to the MQM’s over 40 per cent — and all of them are not with the ANP. Is Zardari then more realistic in retreating from the demand for the commissionerate system? He can bring the MQM under pressure but can he take it on? What would he gain by pushing the MQM on the warpath courtesy a ‘bad cop’ being played so realistically by Zulfiqar Mirza?

Attack in Lakki Marwat

September 4th, 2011

By now further proof shouldn’t be needed that the militants have no regard for the sanctity of human life and the religion they claim to kill for. But for those who remain unconvinced, the suicide car bombing at a police checkpost in Lakki Marwat should be the final straw. Five people were killed in the blast, which took place on the second day of Eid. That the militants would not even spare the beleaguered population of Khyber-Pakthunkhwa on this holy occasion tells us everything we need to know about them. Their fight is not for religion; they are simply at war with the state and its citizens. On the same day, seven people were killed in an ambush in Kurram, an attack that might have sectarian motives.

The knee-jerk reaction when hearing about attacks like the one in Lakki Marwat is to bemoan the incompetence of the law-enforcement agencies. This should be avoided. The police at the checkpost stopped the vehicle and only fired at it when the driver ignored them. It was then that the militants detonated the bomb. Among the almost-daily barrage of attacks, it can be easy to overlook the bravery and dedication of the policemen who man these checkposts. They arrive at work every day knowing well that it may be their last. For that they should be applauded and we should be humbled that they are willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for the sake of the country.

The ire would be better directed at intelligence agencies that seem to have made little headway in infiltrating militant groups and providing the police with better information and a government that does not have a coherent strategy for taking the fight to the militants. Lakki Marwat shares a border with South Waziristan, a region that the government and military have been unable to tame and control. These attacks show the impunity with which militant groups operate out of the tribal areas. The police can only play a reactive role and try to limit the damage from each militant attack. It is up to the generals and politicians to minimise the number of attacks by tackling head-on the menace of extremism.

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

Rain peril

September 5th, 2011

Just as we were beginning to believe that this time round the monsoon season may pass by without creating major disaster, we have been proved wrong. Heavy rains which fell in Upper Sindh immediately after Eidul Fitr have destroyed acres of crops and caused the loss of at least 20 lives. Most people died when the roofs or walls of their homes collapsed as a result of the deluge. As always, it was those who live in poor quality mud housing who suffered the most, with mud structures caving in to bury residents. Khairpur district has suffered worst of all, but there has also been extensive damage in other areas. The loss of the sugar cane crop is likely to hurt farmers; some are still recovering from last year’s flood disaster which wiped out livelihoods for millions. Paddy and vegetable crops have also been hit. Areas of Balochistan, including Jaffarabad district, have also suffered. Heavy rains triggered torrents in the hilly terrain, forcing people to flee to higher ground. Most have received no help in doing so.

Of course nothing can be done to prevent rain. But as a number of humanitarian agencies had warned, the lessons from 2010’s flood havoc lay before us like an open book. We choose to look away from the pages. Better disaster preparedness, good planning on what was to be done and early warnings to people could have helped save a great deal of misery. We have already seen this in Badin on the Sindh coast where heavy rains last month caused the displacement of thousands and left others marooned. Torrents triggered by rains also caused at least 50 deaths in the Kohistan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. We now have several entities at the national level that have been tasked with dealing with natural calamity. As the scenes of this Eid from Sindh and other parts of the country suggest, most of these organisations have been reactive instead of being proactive, which perhaps limits their efficacy. Furthermore, it seems that we did not learn much from last year’s devastating floods, especially since the affected area happens to be, by and large, the same. Perhaps now the government’s eyes will open and it will ensure that the disaster management bodies do a better job the next time around.

Kidnapped

September 5th, 2011

What should have been a fun-filled outing during the Eid break for some 60 small boys who ventured out from their homes in the Gharki area of the Bajaur Agency has instead turned into a nightmare for them and their families. The boys, it appears, accidentally ventured across the border into Afghanistan, which is poorly demarcated in most tribal areas, and were kidnapped allegedly by Qari Saqib of the Ziaur Rehman faction of the Taliban, which has been known to carry out attacks in Pakistan. The motives behind the abduction of the children seems somewhat unclear, but the conjecture is that it may be linked to the fact that tribesmen from the area to which the boys belonged had opposed the Taliban. While victims aged under 10 years were allowed back, some 30 youngsters remain in captivity.

There is also some lack of clarity on precisely what is being done to secure the release of the boys. Officials on the Afghan side of the border claim they know nothing of the incident; Interior Minister Rehman Malik says the release of some of the boys has been secured through Pakistan’s efforts. But the credibility of the minister is not high, and it is possible this may be a reference to the younger children who were freed. It is unclear for now if there has been any official contact with the kidnappers at all.

We hope that every effort will be made to recover the boys especially since they are poor and belong to families lacking influence. The incident, all the more so since it comes on the occasion of Eid, goes also to expose the ruthlessness of the Taliban and the fact that they will apparently stop at nothing to expand their message of hate. Pakistan and Afghan officials need to work together to ensure the boys return to their homes as quickly as possible so that the misery of their families and the undoubted terror of the victims themselves can end without any further delay.

The AIDS myth

September 5th, 2011

For a long time, we have fooled ourselves into believing that AIDS/HIV is not a serious problem in our country. The disease continues to be associated with certain kinds of lifestyle. In the hypocritical environment we have created for ourselves, we like to believe that such behaviour does not exist in our midst. This is a dangerous misconception.

A new report by the Joint United Nations Programme on AIDS/HIV states that among 11 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, Pakistan hosts a majority of people infected with HIV. According to UNAIDS, HIV prevalence in Pakistan nearly doubled from 11 per cent in 2005 to 21 per cent in 2008. The use of injectable drugs is seen as the key factor in this. Previous studies conducted locally have also come up with the same findings. Most of those carrying the infection are young and the stigma they suffer often means they are unable to obtain the help and support that they need.

It is time that we learnt to face reality and address the issue before it worsens. The World Bank in past reports has noted that the problem in Pakistan has the potential of a very rapid multiplication in the number of people with the disease. We need to take measures immediately. In the first place, far greater awareness about the modes of transmission needs to be created and widely publicised. We cannot afford to be coy about this. In the past, television advertising has been so oblique that it has left people mystified rather than informed. This needs to change. We must also work to alter the ill-founded notions people have about HIV and those who suffer from it. These people do not deserve to be discriminated against, especially in a society such as ours with no counselling or safety nets. We need more openness about the illness and a willingness to accept the fact that it must be dealt with just like we need to deal with all the other issues in our society that we tend to ignore for ‘moral’ reasons.

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

The All-Pakistan Students Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Federation has killed another Ahmadi in Faislabad, the city where the Barelvi school of thought has been allowing itself to become dangerously aggressive. Naseem Ahmad Butt was shot to death by four youths calling him wajibul qatl (worthy of being killed). The wajibul qatl verdict was given in a pamphlet distributed in the city earlier by the authoritative-sounding Aalmi Majlis Tahaffuz Khatam-e-Nabuwwat and the All-Pakistan Students Khatam-e-Nabuwwat Federation, Faisalabad. The police were informed but they did nothing, feeling safe behind their routine categorisation of the crime as ‘blind murder’.

The state of Pakistan must look carefully at this pattern of behaviour. Ahmadis may be killed with impunity because their persecution by a significant segment of society is ignored by the state and the government of the day. Then comes the turn of the Shias and other sects who are not considered outside the pale of faith but who are still, nonetheless, target by extremist fellow Muslims who consider their views heretical. Faisalabad has been dominated for a long time by the Ahle Hadith and Deobandi schools of thought but the the Barelvis are also gaining in influence, and they are not to be left behind in their persecution of the Ahmadi community. This is ironic since the Deobandis, for instance, don’t see eye-to-eye at all with the Barelvis on most faith-related matters and both hurl invective, and sometimes much more, at one another.

The Punjab government has to answer for the deaths that have happened under its rule and this includes not just Ahmadis, but also others, including several Christians, all killed by sectarian and jihadi outfits, primarily in Lahore last year. In the public eye, the view that the Punjab Government may perhaps have a soft spot for jihadis is reinforced when its law minister meets and campaigns, prior to a by-election, with the leader of a banned sectarian outfit. This could be part of its strategy to gain a foothold in southern Punjab, since long a PPP stronghold, but such a tactic could be lethal for the province’s population of vulnerable people. In the process, Pakistan and its social contract are dying a slow death. The pamphlet mentioned above lists 50 Ahmadis who have to be killed in order to “achieve entry into Paradise”. It says the killers will be given a place under the flag of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) in the chosen place of luxury in the hereafter. The youths of Faisalabad, blighted by loadshedding and religious hatred, will now betake themselves seriously to the transaction of achieving precisely this, while the state sits by and does nothing. Quite shockingly, the Faisalabad police chief says he has no information about the pamphlets which brazenly name the threatening organisation. The fact of the matter is that the Punjab police is but a reflection of society in general, and is filled with people who have nothing but hatred for those from minority communities, or even for those who stand up in support of them. In Karachi, there is the Sunni Tehreek which is far more aggressive.

In June this year, an Ahmadi place of worship was threatened with assault from a nearby mosque. The threat came from a cleric who knew that his outfit was weaponised and could kill just as easily and with as much impunity as the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. The Barelvis were never taken to jihad by the Pakistani state but they have made up in virulence by embracing two laws that have brought infamy to Pakistan: the Second Amendment apostatising the Ahmadis; and the Blasphemy laws.

The state of Pakistan, after having declared the Ahmadi community as non-Muslims, has to protect them the way it is committed, under law and religion, to protecting minority communities. Its failure in Faisalabad to come to the help of the targeted Ahmadis is symptomatic of the terminal phase of its existence. Hatred and extremism are becoming the hallmarks of the sociology of the state.






We write with reference to an article that was recently published in the Christian Science Monitor regarding US government funding for Pakistani journalists based in Washington. It questioned the transparency and integrity of the process, pointing out that two organisations which are a part of the arrangement had not publicly disclosed it. The media group to which this newspaper belongs is one of the organisations mentioned. The paper published the article prominently the day after the piece first appeared, in an endeavour to give its readers that side of the story. This is the principle that we stand for: a free media that reveals all the facts and accounts for all sides of a story. That said, it must be added that the decision not to disclose the arrangement was not mala fide in any way. In fact, this is not the first time the American government has funded journalism activities in Pakistan.

There are several programmes under which Pakistani journalists are taken to the US or given training in one form or the other. The US government does it directly through the International Visitor Programme or indirectly like a recent initiative in cooperation with the International Centre for Journalists where about 130 Pakistani journalists will be trained in the US. Journalists are also selected under the Fulbright scholarship , and with the increase in US funding for non-military aid to Pakistan, resources for these programmes have increased significantly since 2009. But in the Pakistani media, even the weakest of perceptions are quick to cement, and disclosing this arrangement immediately, we felt, could open the group to all sorts of censure — particularly from quarters that are quick to pass judgement without allowing for explanation. That is what made the timing of the disclosure tricky, particularly since the matter involved a party — the US government — that is, almost as a rule, looked at with suspicion. In retrospect, bowing to this apprehension was erroneous, as admitted, especially since there was nothing to hide. That said, editorial discretion lies solely and unconditionally with the editors concerned for all stories filed under this arrangement. We appreciate the article for the questions it has raised in the pursuit of transparency — given that we, too, are a part of the same effort — and for compelling us to disclose the facts, which is something that we should have done a long time ago.

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

Solving Karachi troubles

September 7th, 2011

Since just about everyone else has had a go at trying to fix the situation in Karachi, no harm will be done if the Supreme Court also joins the effort. And if the early signs are anything to go by, the Supreme Court may just do a better job of it. Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry ordered Inspector General of the Police Wajid Ali Durrani to remove station head officers who had been appointed based on their political affiliation rather than on merit. This, the Supreme Court correctly believes, can form the basis of an independent police force that would have the ability to withstand political pressure and go after those who are responsible for the carnage in Karachi. The sentiment is a fine one but the reality is that court orders alone are not enough to get this done. Political parties will use every tactic they possess to ensure that the chief justice’s instructions are ignored. The Supreme Court will have to persistently follow through and haul up politicians who are impeding the process to have any chance of success.

Contrary to the advice of politicians, the Supreme Court should cast as wide a net as possible in its hearings. Both President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani are opposed to a judicial commission investigating the allegations levelled by Zulfiqar Mirza, primarily against the MQM, saying that political matters should not be settled by courts. This is a misguided view. The accusations Mirza made at his press conference specifically concerned the law and order situation in Karachi and what he believed was the MQM’s role in igniting it. Now that the Supreme Court is looking into this very matter, it should ask Mirza to appear before the bench and substantiate what he has been saying for the last week.

What the Supreme Court can do is hold accountable those who were responsible for the violence and those law enforcement officials who didn’t do their jobs. What it cannot do is prevent future violence. Only the political parties, if they come to the realisation that the exercise of political power does not have to include violence, can ensure peace in the city.

Back on track

September 7th, 2011

After months of tension between US and Pakistani agencies following the Raymond Davis affair and the capture of Osama bin Laden, it seems things may finally be coming together again. Pakistani officials announcing the capture of three key al Qaeda operatives in Quetta have gone out of their way to emphasise that this was a result of Pakistan-US cooperation. The somewhat cooled handshake between the two countries and their operatives appears to have warmed up again.

This of course is significant. Militancy has taken such deep root in the region we live in that it can only be defeated through cooperative effort. Indeed, this degree of cooperation should not be limited to any particular set of countries. It is quite possible that a great deal can be achieved by working together with India, Iran and Afghanistan as well, given the common threads of violence that run through them. The sharing of intelligence could lead to important clues as to how militants operate and what links they share.

It is also a fact that the US, over the course of its 10 year war on terror, notably against al Qaeda, has picked up a great deal of information. The fact that Pakistani authorities are willing to act on it is a good sign. The arrest of Younis alMauritani from a Quetta suburb removes from the scene a key al Qaeda figure. Some reports had suggested that he could rank third within the shadowy al Qaeda hierarchy, but such details are in some ways not relevant. The detention of alMauritani and two other high ranking al Qaeda operatives picked up with him lightens the load of dangerous terrorists harboured by our country. Perhaps even more crucially, it indicates good intention and a desire on the part of authorities to go after wanted criminals who have hidden for too many years in our midst. Others still remain to be found. Perhaps the new cooperative effort can help lead us to them, thereby making our country a slightly safer place for everyone who lives in it.

Fighting dengue fever

September 7th, 2011

With dengue fever rising to epidemic proportions yet again, it is to be lamented that the country did not learn from the spread of the virus last year. Pre-emptive measures, though now touted at every turn, were obviously not stressed upon earlier this summer, which could have prevented the spread of the epidemic. Punjab is the worst hit province and Sindh comes in second, while the number of cases reported in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan is comparatively small.

Dengue fever can be avoided by following simple guidelines such as keeping utensils filled with water covered at all times; avoiding unnecessary accumulation of water; and using mosquito nets, mosquito repellents, coils and effective fumigation. The ideal thing for the provincial health departments to do would have been to take preventive measures before the onslaught of the monsoons, raising awareness among the population while making preparations in public hospitals to treat the affected. As it turns out, the concern has come too late, with the rich and poor alike being affected by the virus at an alarming rate, particularly in Lahore.

With the number of those affected rising every day, the municipal governments should do what they can to use all resources at their disposal to fumigate the affected areas and provide prompt medical treatment to all dengue patients. This should be accompanied by a campaign to make citizens understand that the dangers of the disease can be minimised by ensuring that there are no pools of standing water in and around their homes or living environment. Dengue is transmitted by the bite of an Aedes mosquito infected with any one of the four dengue viruses. It is further spread when the mosquito bites an infected person and then transmits the virus to a non-infected person. Therefore, so long as dengue patients remain in the area, the threat of the virus cannot be wiped out. Hence it is imperative that the provincial governments act against the disease now.

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