Reopening Nato supply routes

February 9th, 2012

Defence Minister Ahmad Mukhtar has put his hand in the hornets nest by saying that “reopening of Nato supply routes after negotiating a better deal with the US was possible”. There is rage in the reaction of citizens to his statement on the internet, and the Difa-e-Pakistan Council is yet to launch its attack on him. No one, of course, took another look at an earlier Foreign Office indication that “the routes would be reopened once the parliament approves new terms of engagements with the US”. The ban was an act of forgivable rage after the November 26 American attack on the Salala checkpost that killed over two dozen Pakistani soldiers. Pakistan asked for an apology; the Americans offered only regrets. Then, an investigation by the US Army found that the attack was unintended and that Pakistan, too, was partially to blame. Finally, it came down to semantics: regrets don’t sound like an apology. Strangely, Washington too, abandoned its much vaunted ‘realism’ and stuck to its guns and did not ‘apologise’, which meant that Pakistan was spared the humiliation that comes from policies moulded by passion. Thereafter followed the even more damaging American accusation, via a leaked Nato report, that the ISI was fully in charge of guiding and helping the Afghan Taliban who were killing American and Nato soldiers in Afghanistan.

Defence Minister Mukhtar is showing ‘pragmatism’ in a national milieu drenched in passions. He says that Pakistan should get better terms and conditions following a review of its ties with America and should profit by the reopening of the routes. The Americans are going to leave but some residual presence of US-Nato forces is expected to continue, which means that the northern route through Russia and Central Asia will be used if we don’t budge. Islamabad is obviously scared and Interior Minister Rehman Malik has immediately forestalled the barrage of condemnation expected from the opposition by saying that Prime Minister Gilani has already said that “only Parliament’s decision” on this issue will be implemented. The moment of anger in Washington, too, seems to be subsiding. More and more advising elements are telling US President Barack Obama to apologise and be done with it: Pakistan is too important to set aside and that the apology would be nothing more than mere words while the drones were substantial and continuing to kill al Qaeda leaders in Fata. An American compulsion came to the fore when Pakistan was included in the Qatar talks where the other interlocutors are the Taliban of Mullah Umar, the Haqqani network and Hekmatyar’s Hezb-e-Islami. The Northern Alliance is out and all the Pakistani pawns are in play, with Prime Minister Gilani acting like a statesman in Doha.

Observers, especially in the media, dedicated to taking on the US-India-Israel combine, are already counting the money Pakistan actually lost fighting America’s war and what Pakistan actually gained from America in recompense. Their conclusion: say goodbye to the US and get nothing for fighting your own home-grown terrorists and win kudos from an impoverished nation. The American press, too, is anticipating a pragmatic closure while reporting that General James Mattis, the head of the US military’s Central Command, will meet an already somewhat appeased post-Qatar General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and pacify him further. Meanwhile, parliament is mulling over what the politicians think should be the proper content of US-Pakistan relations with an obvious, though unrealistic, reference to sovereign equality. It is expected that the debate over the subject will arouse a lot of rehearsed passion and make it difficult for the ruling coalition to reopen the routes. Any country’s foreign policy needs flexibility of response and pragmatism. It needs to be shielded from populist politics because when passions reign supreme, the policy that results from such an environment can be self-defeating and damaging for the state itself. Out on the streets, the masses are moved more by hatred for America than about the state of the economy or the fact that the country’s education and healthcare systems are in the doldrums.

Suspension of lawmakers

February 9th, 2012

In the run-up to next month’s Senate elections and the general elections scheduled for 2013, the Supreme Court may end up being the biggest player in town. Its verdict on February 7 — suspending the membership of 28 parliamentarians, including two federal ministers, on the basis that by-elections were held in contravention of the 18th Amendment — could well set off another round of confrontation between the Supreme Court and the executive. The judgment, which doubts the veracity of the electoral list and blames the PPP-led government for not properly reconstituting the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) could well give the opposition parties ample opportunity to stymie the electoral process. The suspension of the MNAs and senators will only be overturned once parliament passes the 20th Amendment, giving the PML-N leverage to press the government to accept its various demands. Some observers are of the view that the Supreme Court is soft on the military, for the simple reason that while the prime minister has been called in for contempt of court for violating the court’s ruling on the NRO, nothing of the sort has been done with regard to military interventions, which clearly were violative of the Constitution.

One consequence of the verdict, relying as it does on supposedly flawed voters’ lists is that its logic could also be applied to the 2008 elections themselves. There were complaints after the general elections that the voters’ lists were incomplete and the ECP at that time, more or less, admitted this. Looking forward, it promised to do a better job for the next elections. The Supreme Court, now that it has set the precedent for putting aside the results of elections, could go down a slippery slope and challenge the authenticity of the 2008 elections too. The idea that the Court would do this may seem ludicrous, but such is the logic advanced by the Court itself. For the sake of democracy, the best thing the political parties can do now is pass the 20th Amendment as soon as possible so that scheduled elections, both for the Senate and National Assembly, can be conducted smoothly. For the future, an elected government would do well to abide by the Constitution and ensure that all its subordinate organisations and bodies do the same, lest its policy or action may be challenged in a court of law.

Books not bombs

February 10th, 2012

The third iteration of the Karachi Literature Festival, to be held this weekend, promises to be even bigger and better-attended than the successful events held over the past two years. Many excellent writers and poets have been flown to Karachi and, apart from the usual suspects of Pakistani literature, include Hanif Kureishi, Mirza Waheed and William Dalrymple. The two-day weekend will be a cornucopia of reading and learning and as always, the entry will be free. For a city that is starved of entertainment, the Karachi Literature Festival is a rare oasis. Despite the pervasive threat of terrorism, security isn’t suffocating and writers mingle freely and answer questions from attendees.

The Karachi Literature Festival is also a chance for foreign correspondents to grasp that elusive ‘softer’ side of Pakistan and file feature stories on how books, not bombs are winning the day. From fashion shows to kids picking up garbage from littered streets, there is no everyday activity that cannot be framed by some journalists as a response to militancy. For once, though, it would be nice if an event is treated as just that — an educational and entertaining diversion which provides an outlet for fun that Karachi sorely lacks. There is no need to impute any bravery to Karachiites simply for turning up to a literary festival.

This is not to say that politics will be wholly absent from the Karachi Literature Festival. A good portion of the panels will be dealing with the war on terror and other geo-political matters. In a country where political books occupy most of the space on best-seller lists, this is hardly surprising. In fact, there are nearly as many journalists scheduled to appear at the festival as writers. Unfortunately, there is no escaping politics in Pakistan. Still, the Oxford University Press, the organisers of the event with support from the British Council, deserves kudos for expanding the scope and size of the Karachi Literature festival with each passing year. We may not yet able to compete with the likes of the Jaipur Literature Festival hosted in India, but we are surely getting there.

Laptops for free

February 10th, 2012

As per the scheme announced late last year — ironically, after the PTI came up with the same idea — the Punjab chief minister and the PML-N party chief, Nawaz Sharif have handed out 100,000 laptop computers to ‘talented’ students in public-sector institutions across the country. The criterion is based on marks secured in board examinations and is intended to facilitate college and university-level students. There can be little doubt that in theory, at least, the idea is a noble one; students in our country certainly need all the help they can get. We can only hope that the merit system which is the basis of this scheme is meticulously followed in the future as well and that the nepotism we see so often is not, and will not be employed.

The image of students tapping away on laptops is certainly a pleasant one. It suggests progress, modernisation and a desire to explore. But perhaps, we need to take a more holistic view of the situation. Is it really wise to spend Rs12 billion of the taxpayers money on laptops? Instead, shouldn’t we assess what our real educational priorities are, rather than opting for decisions that garner publicity and public perception. Perhaps, we should think about the situation in our primary school classrooms across the country, where children have no desks to sit on, no fans to keep the heat away and no clean water to drink. Teacher absenteeism makes things even worse. Only when our primary-level of learning improves will we be able to turn out truly educated men and women, who are able to compete with their counterparts across the world. Hence, investing this same amount of money in the education system will bear more fruits for the longer run.

Laptops handed out to top achievers in higher education cannot work on its own. The manner in which our money is spent must therefore be carefully considered. Only when the base of the pyramid is strong can there be hope for true success. Placing boulders, no matter how attractive, atop a shaky foundation will serve little purpose as far as the final analysis goes.

Turmoil in Syria

February 10th, 2012

When the Arab Spring blossomed in earnest last year, there was widespread hope that the authoritarian regimes in the Middle East would swiftly collapse. The results have been decidedly mixed but no government has been as brutal as that of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad in its willingness to repress its own citizens in order to cling on to power. An attack launched on the city of Homs last week has already lead to hundreds of deaths. The opposition to Assad has been going strong for nearly a year but the dictator is willing to use all tools at his disposal — including the murder of his own citizens — to ensure his survival. Thus, it is now time for the international community to act before more innocent Syrian lives are taken.

The biggest obstacle to action against the Assad regime is Russia. The Syrian ally vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that would support an Arab League plan to transition away from the Assad regime. Russia had also blocked an earlier resolution that sought to place the blame for the violence solely on Assad’s shoulders. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has publicly criticised Russia and China for blocking action and urged the Security Council to work with the Arab League to, at a minimum, send an observer mission to Syria. The Arab League has already placed sanctions on Syria and called for him to step down.

Even if Assad does go the way of Hosni Mubarak and other Arab autocrats, Syria will have a hard time rebuilding its country and ensuring that a healthy, democratic political system is in place. As we have seen in other countries that have toppled hated dictators, the transition can be as difficult as the revolution. This is where traditional Syrian allies like Russia will have to forget their support for Assad and step up to the plate. Just because Russia doesn’t recognise that Assad’s days are numbered doesn’t mean that all of Syria should have to suffer the wrath of its unelected leader.

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

A hearing on Balochistan

February 11th, 2012

There is reason to be both optimistic and cynical about hearings by the US Congress’s Foreign Affairs committee on the situation in Balochistan. The hope is derived from the fact that the state’s violations of human rights in the province, including alleged killings, abductions and torture, have generally been ignored by the international community and so, any publicity given to the issue can be seen as a net positive since it opens the prospect of a much-needed change in policy. At the same time, however, the sudden concern by some members of the US Congress about Balochistan could be part of larger strategic concerns that may have little to do with human rights and international law. The Americans have always been suspicious of Chinese investment in the region, including their involvement in the port of Gwadar and in the country’s energy sector. The proposed gas pipeline from Iran is also supposed to run through Balochistan. This, apart from the embarrassment caused to the federal government by the hearing having taken place, may explain the Foreign Office’s denunciation. Even the US State Department, acutely aware of how sensitive this issue is, distanced itself saying that the hearing did not reflect the policy of the US government and that the issue of Balochistan should be solved through internal negotiations.

Having said that, the mere fact that the US Congress saw fit to conduct these hearings shows just how dire the situation in the province really is. Human rights activists and experts apprised the committee of the violations taking place in Balochistan. A representative of Amnesty International even called for the Leahy Amendment to be applied to all military units operating in Balochistan. The said amendment is commonly applied to security assistance programmes to prevent foreign aid from being used to further human rights abuses. While one can understand why the Pakistan government is upset about the hearing, a better response may be to change in existing policy on Balochistan in a manner that the wishes of the local population are factored in. This is the best way of ensuring that the situation improves and that separatist feeling is quelled. That, clearly, is an end that should not even require prodding by a committee of American lawmakers.

Another drone strike

February 11th, 2012

In a strike that is sure to reopen the debate over the morality and efficacy of drones, the US reportedly killed Badar Mansoor — the man believed to be the head of al Qaeda in Pakistan — in a drone attack on February 9. Among the crimes Mansoor is held responsible for is the attack in Lahore in 2010 that killed 100 members of the Ahmedi community. He is also believed to have run training camps in North Waziristan that sent militants to fight in Afghanistan. If indeed Mansoor has been killed in this drone strike, then it is a significant blow to al Qaeda’s operations in Pakistan and a victory in the fight against militancy. But this does not mean that it spells vindication for the controversial drone programme.

For one, we cannot be sure if Mansoor has actually been killed. Information coming out of the tribal areas is notoriously unreliable and even though the US seems adamant that they got Mansoor, Pakistani authorities have been hesitant to confirm it. As we know from the experience of Hakeemullah Mehsud, who seems to be declared dead in a drone attack every few months before turning up alive, there is no way to be certain that the intended target has been hit.

Even if Mansoor has been killed, this does not entirely justify the use of drone technology in Pakistan, since recent studies by investigative journalists have found that even with the supposed precision of drones, mostly civilians end up being killed in the attacks. However, this strike does indicate that both parties are cooperating with each other in the war on terror, especially since Mansoor was believed to be involved in attacks on various military installations. In the long run, it is important for the US to get Pakistan to reopen their supply routes to Afghanistan and to have a healthy relationship again. As for Pakistan, it should develop the capability itself which allows it to reach and target militants and terrorists in the areas that are currently covered by the drones. That would resolve the controversial and very emotive issue of sovereignty once and for all.

Funds for the Taliban

February 11th, 2012

The war on terror — and the terrifying fact that we may be losing it — has been discussed over and over again at all kinds of forums. The nature of guerilla warfare, the possible lack of genuine commitment to oust the Taliban, and the complications created by the porous nature of the border with Afghanistan have all been discussed at length. But the president, in his latest comment on the issue, has raised and often-ignored but relevant point. He has highlighted that the war on terror is closely linked to drug trafficking, and can only be won if this source of funding was cut off. The matter is one that has, we are told, been taken up at various international forums. However, it is in many ways surprising that this issue has not been raised with greater frequency within our own country, despite all the focus on militancy and the devastating impact it has had here. It would seem obvious that cutting off funding for the extremists could go a long way towards stopping them, or atleast hampering their activities. Given this, there needs to be a much greater focus on battling trafficking and eradicating the trade of heroin which continues from both Pakistan and Afghanistan, where, along the border, poppy continues to be grown.

There is another dimension to this. While the drug trade may be the chief source of funding for the Taliban, they have through the years, also established links with criminal gangs involved in bank robberies, kidnapping for ransom and other such activities. This keeps the money flowing in and so action to end militancy must then be tied in with a wider drive against law and order. The need to stop drug trafficking exists not just because of the Taliban link but also because it will save the millions who have become addicted to the white powder which is responsible for evil of many kinds. One hopes that the governments of Pakistan and Afghanistan will work together on this pressing issue to fight a malaise that afflicts both their people.

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

Qatar talks and Pakistan

February 12th, 2012

The talks with the Taliban at Doha in Qatar seem to have taken on elements of reality after recent American diplomatic activity and Pakistan’s response to it. The parties that will take part in the talks will be the two major antagonists — the Hamid Karzai government and the Taliban of Mullah Umar — plus other stakeholders. From reports it is apparent that Pakistan’s concerns have been addressed by allowing it in plus the Afghan factions it thinks it controls. If reports about who will come to Doha to talk about post-withdrawal Afghanistan are accurate, then Pakistan has got want it wanted. India is absent while Pakistan is very much there. Pakistan has been backing the cause of the Afghan-Pakhtun side of the war and doesn’t enjoy any mutual level of confidence with the Northern Alliance containing Tajik, Hazara and Uzbek parties at present ruling Afghanistan in tandem with the government of President Karzai. The talks are being held in an atmosphere of implied reversal for the overall American war in Afghanistan and an undisclosed acknowledgement that America has to speak to the Taliban and Pakhtun factions from a position of weakness. This means that Pakistan gets the upper hand and will back its protégés — in so far it can control them — to achieve the objective of having a government in Kabul that will safeguard its strategic interests.

Washington’s special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Marc Grossman reportedly met Taliban leaders in Qatar as a sequel to his earlier talks with them in late January. The consistent stance of the Taliban led by Mullah Umar is that they will not talk unless the Americans leave Afghanistan, after which they will also not talk to President Karzai because “he is a puppet and nothing more” of the Americans. But there is obviously some movement on this front because the Taliban have agreed to open an office in Qatar, instead of Saudi Arabia which they preferred, and have been given satisfaction on how much leverage they will have during the talks. There is growing evidence that President Obama’s ‘surge’ has not yielded dividends in the shape of a tactical upper hand which would give America the chance to negotiate from a position of strength. Stories emanating from US military personnel back home after operations suggest that the US cannot rely on the Afghan police and military to fight the Taliban after the Americans leave.

A hitherto angry Pakistan now seems willing to talk about letting the Nato supply convoys resume and meetings that were made taboo have started to take place. Senior military officials from Pakistan, Nato and Afghanistan met for the first time in months this past week in what a post-meeting statement said was “an effort to improve border coordination”. An apology is finally being considered in Washington over the November 26 border attack that seriously damaged relations between the US and Pakistan. Although recent drone attacks have killed mostly al Qaeda fighters, and are supposed to taper off only after the US somehow reaches an understanding with Pakistan about al Qaeda and its Pakistani affiliates, the progress at Qatar is supposed to break new ground distinctly in line with the thinking of Pakistan.

Pakistan’s position — heavily blinkered by its perception of India as an encircling enemy interfering in Balochistan — is less studied about how far it can use the Taliban and the two Afghan factions that it is said to be fielding at Qatar. What kind of leverage will Pakistan exercise over them after the Taliban sense that the Americans want to quit in a hurry is still up in the air. The Taliban have never been reliable as partners in the past. It is not certain whether once ensconced in Kabul in place of the Karzai government they will help Pakistan fight its tough battles in Orakzai and Kurram against its own increasingly criminalised Taliban. Few in Pakistan realise that over the years Pakistan’s wrong policies have caused it to resemble Afghanistan in its internal landscape of a state with a weak writ and a heavy penetration of the enemy’s worldview — not India’s — among the general population.

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

Missing persons case

February 13th, 2012

One of the criticisms of the Supreme Court has been that it operates under a double standard, with the military seemingly getting deference that is not extended to the civilian government. Certainly in Pakistan targeting the military, an institution used to giving, not receiving orders, is fraught with danger. However, with the ongoing hearing on the missing persons issue, it can be said that the Supreme Court is addressing a matter that is very important and in need of urgent attention. One of the reasons former president Pervez Musharraf had suspended the chief justice was the latter’s insistence on tracking down those who had been secretly detained by the intelligence agencies. It now appears that the chief justice has not given up on that crusade, ordering the ISI and Military Intelligence (MI) to produce seven suspects in the GHQ bombing who had been abducted from Adiala Jail after they were found not guilty. During the hearing, the CJ specifically said that if the prime minister had to submit to the authority of the Supreme Court then everyone else also must obey its directives. Despite the Court’s admirable persistence on the issue, this battle is far from over. The ISI and MI have already missed one deadline for producing the prisoners, giving a cornucopia of reasons for doing so, from a shortage of time to illness. Should they keep defying the Court, the chief justice should hold the military to the same standard it has now set for the civilian government and haul up the heads of the intelligence agencies, forcing them to produce the missing people. If this also fails to work, the intelligence agencies should be held in contempt of court.

The Supreme Court also needs to continue pursuing the cases of those who have been picked up by intelligence agencies and held without charge, be they separatists in Balochistan or suspects in terror cases. Additionally, the Court should also investigate the multiple claims of torture directed against the agencies. By picking up those who have already been acquitted in terror cases, the intelligence agencies are making a mockery of the verdicts delivered by the courts. Evidence is no longer needed to ensure a conviction; the military can simply decide someone is guilty and then hold him indefinitely.

To do as the court says

February 13th, 2012

There are many possible reasons why Prime Minster Yousaf Raza Gilani has defied the Supreme Court’s orders and refused to write a letter to the Swiss authorities asking them to reopen their case against President Asif Zardari. He may be trying to play out the clock to a time when it may not matter whether the letter is written or not, i.e. right before a general election. Or, he may even genuinely believe that the president’s immunity under Article 248 of the Constitution gives him the authority to ignore the Supreme Court’s directive. Whatever the reason may be, after yesterday’s hearing, where the Supreme Court dismissed the prime minister’s appeal against a possible indictment on contempt charges, Gilani now has no option. It is time for him to write the letter so that there is no reason left for the apex court to indict him on the said charge. The PPP and its defenders have argued that the Supreme Court is against its government. These suspicions, which in any case are impossible to prove, should not mean icence to ignore the court’s orders. The prime minister has flirted with contempt of court before by refusing to follow the Supreme Court’s orders on appointments before giving in at the last minute. He now has till February 13 to do the same in the Swiss corruption cases. Should he fail to write the letter, the PPP will have no one but itself to blame for the consequences. And those consequences could extend to the removal of the prime minister from office.

The PPP may well be justly aggrieved that it is surrounded by hostile institutions from all sides. But the prime minister’s actions reek of protecting the president over our system of democracy. Even if the president’s immunity is upheld, it will no longer be applicable once he is out of office and in that eventuality there may be no legal or constitutional hitch in preventing the Supreme Court from going ahead on this issue. That is why it is better right now for the prime minister to do as the court says.

A dead fish

February 13th, 2012

The whale shark carcass on display at the Karachi harbour last week caused quite a stir, but it is heartening to note that the relevant authorities have acted in a responsible way and a team of experts is now working to preserve the carcass for research and educational purposes. The case 35-foot fish found off the Gadani coast of Balochistan was mired in controversy. An enterprising dealer became its ‘owner’ after buying the whale shark for a sum of Rs200,000. He planned to recoup his investment by putting the fish on display for the public which came eager to catch a glimpse of the wonder. Over 3,000 people paid Rs20 each to see the dead creature when it went up on show at the Karachi Harbour auction hall. But those, who actually found the fish, complained that they had only been paid a few thousand rupees for his pains and had been, in the manner of all fishermen in Pakistan, exploited by the middleman. On February 8, the Karachi Fish Harbour Authority realised belatedly that the fish was government property and compensated stated the middleman. However, the fishermen who caught the creature have reason to be upset: not only did they not receive any recognition for their efforts, their fishing permits have also been confiscated.

Unfortunately, these fishermen have never been given any training on the conservation of marine species and are therefore not in a position to know how to act if they accidentally catch endangered animals. Initial reports suggested that the fishermen caught the fish alive, not dead, and if this was indeed the case, it is bad news. Still, it is commendable that a team from the Pakistan Museum of Natural History has started dissecting the whale shark for the purpose of research. Plans are underway to reconstruct the fish for display in a museum. Experts say that preserving it can cost over Rs2.5 million, given that it has cartilage instead of bones, so clearly government support in this would be good.

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

International Women’s Day

March 8th, 2012

On the occasion of International Women’s Day, it can be useful to take stock of just how dire the situation for women remains in the country. Just this month, two women were declared kari by a jirga in the Shar community of Shikarpur. Although the women were later released after a public outcry and the intervention of influential people in the community, the fact that a jirga can be held and hand out such sentences in open defiance of the orders of the Sindh High Court, shows how long a way we have to go before women’s rights become a reality in Pakistan. The issue of ‘honour’ killings is also one that refuses to go away. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, at least 675 Pakistani women or girls were killed in the name of honour during the first nine months of 2011, leaving us on pace to match the 791 such victims in 2010.

One of the biggest problems women face is that for the sake of their reputation (that is the way many see it). They rarely report the crimes that have been committed against them. This is as much a cultural problem as it is of law-enforcement. Women who report cases of rape often have to face shame and ridicule without the benefit of knowing there is a good chance that their rapists will be punished. Meanwhile, the continuing spread of militancy, particularly in the tribal areas, has worsened the misery of a lot of women. In areas that are controlled by militants, women are denied access to education; furthermore, they do not have the right to work and are forced to remain strictly in their homes.

But there is some good news too. The current government has been proactive in passing legislation that serves the interests of women. Last month, the National Commission on the Status of Women Bill was passed, while the government has also passed the Prevention of Anti-Women Practices Bill and the Acid Control and Acid Crime Prevention Bill during its tenure. However, we still have a long way to go before every woman in this country feels safe enough to take on tasks similar to their male counterparts.

Servants and robbers

March 8th, 2012

The first time the issue of domestic help turning on their employers came to public notice was when, legendary artist Gulgee and his wife were brutally murdered in 2007 and one of their servants was accused of the crime. There has now been a repeat occurrence as a driver has been accused of killing a family of five that he used to work for in Karachi. The police claim that the killings were a case of a robbery gone wrong and not a revenge mission. But there are clearly economic factors at play. Hired help in Pakistan are paid a pittance but are surrounded by luxury and opulence. It is only natural that their thoughts will turn to getting some of that wealth instead. Unfortunately, there have been various cases reported across the country where servants have resorted to using violence. While arresting and putting on trial such individuals is necessary, what is far more important is changing the culture that surrounds the master-servant relationship present here.

A strengthening of the enforcement of labour laws in the country is imperative, not just to reduce the chances of such incidents occurring again, but also out of a sense of basic decency. Everyone who is rich enough to keep servants should also be bound to provide domestic help with a decent wage, living quarters, three meals a day and a weekly holiday. Servants who are below the age of 18 should also be given access to education.

We may also want to consider toning down our opulent lifestyles. In a country where income inequality is as pronounced as it is here, it should come as no surprise that jealousy and anger lead to theft and violence. Leading a more modest existence is not only good for us, it could also help reduce such cases in the future. Living behind a wall of armed guards and fancy alarm systems may give us the illusion of safety. But when our lavish spending takes place in front of people who barely earn enough to make it through the day, it is not surprising that those very guards end up turning against us.

Vote of anger

March 8th, 2012

The heavy losses suffered by India’s ruling Congress Party, in four out of five states where elections were held on March 6, sends out a strong message. It is a reflection of the people’s anger with the governance of a party under which there has been rampant inflation, economic decline and multiple accusations of unfettered corruption. A warning sign has been put out for the Congress, with these polls being considered crucial in terms of the general election due to take place in 2014. Ahead of that, there is much for the party to worry and ponder over, especially by the 41-year-old Congress party scion Rahul Gandhi, who spearheaded the campaign.

This is all the more worrying, as the Congress fared extremely poorly even in its traditional stronghold of Uttar Pradesh, which is the home state of the Gandhis. Even in the Rai Bareilly and Amethi constituencies, the family’s home base, the party lost eight out of the ten seats contested, even though all these were thought to be safe seats. The left-leaning Samajwadi party — led by the UP Chief Minister Mulayam, who is a Dalit— won in UP. Her political success is, of course, in itself a sign of major change in India. Many Muslim voters backed the party, essentially since it is seen as a key rival to the Bharitya Janata Party (BJP), with its strongly communal Hindu agenda. In Punjab, another crucial state in terms of politics, the Akali Dal, a Sikh party, claimed 56 out of 117 seats, leaving the Congress with 46 seats. The state of Uttarakhand in the Himalayan foothills was lost narrowly to the BJP, the latter also comfortably claiming Goa. The Congress was, however, able to hold on to the small state of Manipur.

The party has conceded that it has a lot of thinking to do. Much of it will need to be done by Rahul Gandhi, the man seen as a future prime minister and party leader, who had campaigned with great vigour by personally visiting constituencies across the country for these elections. The losses suffered by the Congress party sheds light on dynastic politics: has the Gandhi hold over India been broken?

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

Women’s Day and Rinkle Kumari

March 9th, 2012

The Sindh High Court Chief Justice, Mushir Alam, has ordered by March 12, the production of 19-year-old Rinkle Kumari, a girl kidnapped from Mirpur Mathelo in Sindh’s Ghotki district. She is said to have been subsequently forcibly converted to Islam and married off to a Muslim man — or that’s the version of her family members. The judge was outraged by the event and pledged that law would no longer tolerate such crimes.

So far, so good. But the judge will ascertain from the kidnapped girl whether she wanted to be with the Muslim husband or not. That is where the rub is. The parents of the girl have already said that she was abducted by one Naveed Shah who was threatening the family, forcing it to flee from Sindh and take refuge in a gurduwara in Lahore. Those backing the kidnappers are said to be related to Abdul Haq alias Mian Mittho, a member of the National Assembly. A local magistrate has already been pressurised to give a ruling in favour of the abductors and to ignore the written testimony of girl. In fact, the girl, who has now been named Faryal Shah, appeared before the media in Sukkur on March 8 and said that she had not been forced to convert and wanted to live with her husband of her own free will.

What is promising is that President Asif Ali Zardari has directed ‘the authorities’ to investigate the kidnapping and has asked the Sindh government to submit a report on the incident. But those who have seen the phenomenon of Hindu girls’ conversions in Sindh are not very sanguine especially after her most recent appearance before the media. Dozens of people belonging to different minority communities have jointly held a demonstration in front of the Lahore Press Club to protest what has happened to Rinkle Kumari. Here the facts were more clearly revealed: the girl was allegedly kidnapped by the son of a relative of a PPP member of parliament. Also, that girl had then given a statement in the court that “she was not willing to convert to Islam and wanted to live with her parents” which is in complete contradiction to her words now.

The father of the girl, Nand Lal, is a teacher at the Government Primary School in Ghotki. According to him, Mian Aslam, son of MNA Mian Mitthu and his friend Naveed Shah kidnapped his 19-year-old daughter from his house. He is quoted as saying: “Initially, Mirpur Mathelo police station refused to register a case against the culprits, but later, after a protest by the relatives, they lodged an FIR and produced the girl and Naveed Shah before Magistrate Hassan Ali Kalwar. The girl denied that she wanted to convert to Islam and said that she wanted to live with her parents, but the court sent her to Darul Aman and the abductor was handed over to police on a one-day remand.”

President Zardari should do something about the Ghotki magistrate who, according to a report “saw the culprits along with the girl before court time and then straightaway handed over the girl to Mian Mittho’s men without asking the parents to appear before the court”. It is on the basis of this magistrate’s villainy that the feudals are now pressurising the victims. The president should also look closely at the statistics on this Women’s Day. There are approximately three million Hindus in Pakistan. They are a part of Pakistani life and need to be treated with respect and dignity. At the founding of Pakistan, Hindus comprised nearly 15 per cent of the country’s population and are now barely two per cent. Many have left, many have been killed, and many have converted to other religions to protect themselves.

Around 25 Hindu girls are abducted every month and converted to Islam forcibly in Pakistan. Counting other non-Muslims girls, at Shantinagar in Punjab, Christian girls were forcibly converted in the 1990s, then married to Muslims. This kind of dirty business has been going on in the Tharparkar region of Sindh too. Islam disallows conversion of its followers to other religions but welcomes conversion of non-Muslims to its fold. However, what is ignored at the popular level is that Islam bans coercion during conversion.

Punishment well-deserved

March 9th, 2012

The two-year disqualification handed out to the PPP’s Waheeda Shah by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) is an entirely appropriate punishment for an unwarranted crime: slapping an ECP staff member at the polling station. Ms Shah’s actions threatened the integrity of the electoral process and by not allowing her to contest polls for two years, the ECP has ensured that she has to vacate her Sindh Assembly seat immediately. Consequently, she will not be allowed to run for office in the next general elections. The next step should be for the Director of the Sindh Police — who is seen standing silently behind Ms Shah in the video as she slaps the ECP official — to be removed from office.

Those who are trying to downplay the incident, saying that it pales in comparison to other crimes committed in the country on a daily basis, need to realise how essential free and fair elections are to the country’s future and that a strong message — that no one is above the law — needs to be sent to those who hold or vie for public office. Ms Shah’s punishment will hopefully serve as an example to all those who may consider throwing their weight around to ensure that the orders of local polling officials need to be heeded. So egregious was her offence that her party, the PPP, should consider taking further action and expelling her from the party. In fact, the party should have taken punitive action immediately to distance itself from this event and to reassure voters that it believes in free and fair elections while respecting the ECP’s independence.

But the news is not all good. Two of the five members of the ECP who were hearing her case voted to absolve Ms Shah, despite the fact that her actions were caught on video. One of the two was the chief election commissioner and it really boggles the mind that Ms Shah would be let off, given the video footage showing her quite clearly slapping a female staffer. The other member also seems to have cast his vote in a manner that observers would, perhaps, wonder about his political loyalties. While such things are normal for members of government bodies, this particular case seemed quite clear-cut.

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

Echoes from the past

March 10th, 2012

It has been 16 years since the Mehrangate scam, involving the distribution of millions of rupees to politicians by the agencies and the military took place. The purpose of course, was to rig the 1990 election and keep the PPP out of power. Many years may have passed, but the echoes from that episode still ring out, offering a bleak reminder of how ‘democracy’ has been manipulated. The ‘powers’ who believe that they have the right to dictate every event, have not been entirely tamed. It is when the truth comes out that an effort can be made to change things and so, now is the time to hold accountable those who thought they were above the law.

The truth though is an ugly one; it is in some way frightening to even contemplate it. As court hearings continue, crucial players in the scam have begun to tell the court their stories. Even though they claim ‘dim memories’, the tales they tell confirm rumours that have floated for years. Younis Habib, the then head of Mehran Bank — which later collapsed — says he obtained Rs350 million and distributed Rs140 million from it into the accounts of politicians. The rest went to army welfare funds and other schemes. Jam Sadiq was given Rs 150 million to set up the bank, with the money obtained from Habib Bank Ltd to fund all these deeds. Asad Durrani, the then head of the ISI who had orchestrated events, confirmed what had happened, while the court also heard of the involvement of General (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg and then president Ghulam Ishaq Khan in the sordid affair. Even though the key players who appeared before the court said they could, after so many years, recall only the broad details, what we see unfold before us is a horror story. The fact also is that such misdeeds continue today. If we are to function as a state with rules that conform to the Constitution, the forces engaged in such acts need to be controlled. One hopes that as the hearings go on, and other details come to light, some kind of action will be taken by parliament and the institutions involved, in particular, to ensure that such a misuse of public funds and of interference in politics is not repeated.

A welcome change

March 10th, 2012

All too often, procedural changes in the way parliament works get short shrift in the media even though they can have far-ranging consequences for governance in the country. Such is the case with the newly-adopted rules of business in the Senate which, if implemented in the spirit with which they were intended, should improve the way the upper house of parliament conducts itself. One of the most important changes is that the chairman of the Senate no longer has the discretionary power to appoint the leader of the opposition. This very issue became controversial last year when then leader of the opposition, Waseem Sajjad had to vacate the position after his party, the PML-Q, joined the government benches. The preferred candidate of the opposition was the PML-N’s Ishaq Dar, but under the rules of party discipline, dissidents in the PML-Q couldn’t vote for him. Senate Chairman Farooq Naek — in a move that reeked of undue haste and was criticised by Raza Rabbani of the PPP — chose the JUI-F’s Iqbal Haideri for the position. Fortunately the new rules would prevent a similar controversy from breaking out in the future.

The new Senate rules also make it harder for parliamentarians to absent themselves from important proceedings. Ministers will have to be present in the Senate for hearings and meetings that pertain to their ministries. The prime minister, meanwhile, will have to answer weekly questions from senators. All of these changes are positive, as they force government officials to be held accountable by parliament, rather than acting as if their ministries are personal fiefdoms which they can operate as they see fit. These changes will become especially important if, after the next general elections, we get a divided parliament where the National Assembly is held by one party and the Senate by another. It will ensure that no one gets a free ride and will have to answer questions about their performance from potentially hostile opponents. But the Senate can only operate as efficiently as its members allow.

Well played, Rahul Dravid

March 10th, 2012

The word ‘legend’ is bandied about too freely in sports these days but, if there is one sportsman who lives up to the title, it is the Indian cricketer Rahul Dravid, who brought an end to his 15-year international career on March 9. Dravid never got the endorsements of a Sachin Tendulkar, nor was he as showy as Virender Sehwag, or as in-your-face as Sourav Ganguly, yet from the time he made his Test debut with a 95 against England in 1996, he had been the rock around which the Indian batting line-up revolved.

Statistics can never tell the entire story but, his 36 Test centuries at an average of above 52, speak of his unique contribution to the Indian team. Dravid’s greatness cannot be measured by his on-field exploits alone. The class and grace with which he conducted himself only added to his reputation. In a team that has been pilloried for its arrogance, no one ever had a bad word to say about the humble Dravid. Added to his innate politeness was an unparalleled eloquence. His speech as the first non-Australian to deliver the Bradman Address in Melbourne late last year, was brutal in its honesty and disarming with its wit and elegance.

It is unlikely that a cricketer like Dravid will grace the international stage again. His classical technique, straight out of the Lord’s coaching manual, is an anachronism in this age of Twenty20s. There is a growing fear that cricketers, especially batsmen from India, have grown soft as they become instant superstars, but that was never a problem for him. He thrived on adversity and was often at his best while the rest of the team struggled in alien conditions. His performances during the tours of South Africa in 1997 and England in 2011, may not have been enough to prevent Indian defeats but they showed that Dravid never gave up even when his teammates weren’t up to the task. It is only now when we have lost his talents, that we will come to appreciate his greatness.

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

A question of accountability

March 11th, 2012

A combination of factors — including, above all, a brave, activist judiciary and vocal media — may shift Pakistan from an old jurisprudence of exemption, with regard to the Army, to a new era of even-handed justice. The famous Asghar Khan case pending at the Supreme Court since 1996 has been reopened accompanied by a surprisingly convincing new evidence about how army chief Aslam Beg together with the then President Ghulam Ishaq Khan bribed the various politicians and journalists with an amount approximating Rs1.5 billion in order to successfully rig the 1990 elections.

The swashbuckling General Beg cannot browbeat the present Chief Justice the way he did with Chief Justice Afzal Zullah. As he prescribed ‘strategic defiance’ to the nation, he allegedly gouged money from a banker made to act in the ‘national interest’, floated his personal ‘think tank’ and snubbed the incumbent prime minister after 1990 to carry out his own nuclear proliferation programmes in the region.

Pakistan normally wakes up to the real character of military rule after the dictators are dead and gone. General Ayub was condemned by history posthumously for alienating and finally losing East Pakistan; General Yahya was held responsible for the Fall of Dhaka but was never put on trial; General Zia’s era has been interpreted as the most transformational era for Pakistan because it gave rise to fundamentalism and violence in the country. The process stopped when General Musharraf was finally confronted by the Supreme Court that he had roughly dismissed and made to resign.

The modus operandi for gaining exemption in the past was indemnification from helplessly intimidated civilian politicians. Post-martial law parliaments passed amendments ‘forgiving’ the trespasses of constitutional law made by the dictators. In general, the top brass expected to be spared normal investigation into their corruption on the basis of a phone call from the GHQ. Certain areas in policymaking were kept away from the elected governments in clear violation of the Constitution. The Army presumed that all subjects relating to national security could not be brought under scrutiny by the prime minister and his cabinet. When something went wrong — like the Ojhri Camp blast under General Zia — it was the prime minister who had to go home.

Clearly, things have changed in 2012. While kudos are in order for the current military leadership for letting accountability happen across the board, it must be noted too that the military view of Pakistan as national security state has taken a beating. Such inchoate doctrines as ‘strategic depth’ no longer make sense except as ham-handed instruments of isolationism that Pakistan can ill-afford. A series of recent incidents have proved again that unless the role of the Army is redefined and confined to the limits prescribed by the Constitution, Pakistan may find itself in a terminal crisis of the state. The ‘discovery’ of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, the ‘disappearance’ of citizens in Balochistan and elsewhere, the aggression of domestic terrorism while the nation is being made to focus on external enemies, are some of the disturbing developments that Pakistan must prevent.

Pakistan has to travel some distance to normalcy before the distortions introduced by the dominance of the military are sorted out. Our current phase has grown directly out of a warlike nationalism etched into the national mind as ideology. We have designated one permanent enemy towards the East and have developed the military-induced habit of judging the rest of the world on the yardstick of this single factor. Our neglect of the western borders while we fought fruitless wars in the east is responsible for today’s scattering of internal cohesion. The Mehrangate case will be instructive since most of the dramatis personae of the scam are alive and their fair trial will give us the direction we were made to ignore. It is the moment of the restoration of civilian paramountcy and full constitutional role for the elected government in Pakistan.

Appointment of new ISI chief

March 11th, 2012

There will be a temptation to think that the appointment of Lieutenant-General Zahirul Islam, as the new director-general of the ISI, will bring about a sea change at the premier spy agency. While it is entirely possible that General Islam will be less combative and more conciliatory than his predecessor Ahmed Shuja Pasha, the fact remains that simply appointing a new head is unlikely to have too much of an impact on the agency’s activities and performance of duties. As such, the most likely scenario is that the ISI under the new chief will continue on its path of trying to have it both ways — at least in the eyes of some — on the issue of militancy.

The most important challenge facing the new ISI chief is trying to repair the steadily-worsening relations with the US. Last year in September, Admiral Mike Mullen, then chairman joint chiefs of staff, claimed that the Haqqani Network was a “veritable arm” of the ISI. The US has also been suspicious of the ISI’s role in the murder of journalist Saleem Shahzad. Furthermore, relations with the US soured when the agency failed to find the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden, however, one hopes that an attempt will be made to examine this under the new chief. General Islam is likely to be a familiar figure to the US, since he had previously served as a senior official in the ISI, before he took over as a corps commander in Karachi. But in the case of the US and the ISI, familiarity largely seems to breed contempt. The mutual suspicion between the two sides is so intense that one should not expect a complete change of tide especially since the newly-appointed chief is an established military figure.

Rebuilding the credibility of the ISI will be the general’s toughest task. The intelligence agency’s political activities are currently under scrutiny in the Supreme Court after the judiciary decided to take up Air Marshal (retd)Asghar Khan’s petition against the ISI’s funding of politicians in the 1990s. The US, while sure to breathe a sigh of relief that Pasha was not granted a second extension, will remain wary. Thus, the best start that can be made given the current situation is for the military to ensure that there is no such interference by the agency in the country’s political process.

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

Dengue danger

March 12th, 2012

Despite all the fanfare we heard through the winter about the measures being taken by the Punjab government to ensure Lahore and other cities in the province did not suffer the kind of outbreak of dengue which crippled many lives last year, it is now beginning to see all the claims made may be nothing more than rhetoric. At conferences and seminars held in Lahore, Faisalabad and other places, experts are warning that the dengue outbreak this year could be even worse than in 2011. Panic levels are beginning to rise as thoughts go back to the hundreds of deaths the virus caused last year. The figure stood officially at around 300 – but many suspect it could in real terms have been considerably higher with many deaths ‘covered up’ at hospitals and others which occurred at home possibly not reported.

We hear now that dozens of patients apparently infected with dengue have begun to pay visits to hospitals and clinics. There have been rumours of at least one death. Senior doctors and government officials deny that the dengue nightmare is beginning all over again, but few believe their accounts. What is most frightening is the warning by experts that the death toll could be higher than ever before because of the far larger population f previously infected people. It is an established fact that the disease hits harder the second time round. There had also been published data about new and potentially more dangerous serotypes of the virus emerging, while some accounts state there are more mosquitoes than ever before which carry the virus. We are also told the dengue mosquito can breed in both stagnant and clean water and does not bite only at dusk and dawn. This is in contrast to previous information. It is also becoming clear that the mass spraying campaign may not have worked and other measures may have been just as ineffective, leaving Lahore open to the possibility of yet another year where th fear of mosquitoes dominates lives and dictates all actions.

Fighting human rights violations

March 12th, 2012

On the surface, there is everything to welcome the Senate’s passage of the National Commission for Human Rights Bill. This will set up a body, headed by an experienced judge and include a minority member and the head of the National Commission on the Status of Women, to look into human rights abuses in the country. But the devil, as always, is in the details. By various accounts, especially of those who live in Balochistan, the intelligence agencies are allegedly behind the abduction and torture of many missing people. Any human rights commission worth its salt would include all state institutions within its ambit, without exception. This bill, however, has explicitly made an exception for the military. As a result, the commission will not be directly able to investigate the intelligence agencies but will instead have to refer any complaints to the ‘concerned authority’. This means the military will continue to police itself, and this takes out the role that parliament should have in holding all arms of the state accountable for their actions.

The bill also calls for setting up human rights courts that can ensure speedy trials of those accused of violations. This is another proposal that sounds fine on paper but whose results will be less than ideal. We already have more than enough parallel courts in Pakistan, which has led to a hodgepodge of justice where the anti-terrorism courts deliver speedy verdicts but, after an interminable wait, are usually overruled by higher courts. The solution is not to set up new courts, but to call on the regular judicial system to be more cognisant of human rights and to try and eliminate their backlog. Any new government human rights commission should complement and not compete with any existing independent human rights groups like the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. The commission should not end up being yet another government body that is ruined by inertia or used solely to attack political opponents.

A welcome law

March 12th, 2012

After a struggle that has spanned more than seven years, the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) has finally found the independence and autonomous status it had been seeking. The final stage in this process came as the Senate passed a bill last month making the NCSW a body with full autonomy in terms of financial and administrative matters. It was encouraging to see that there were no dissenting notes to the bill as it made a smooth passage through the Upper House. The law had already been passed by the National Assembly in January.

The government, with the prime minister’s adviser on human rights having proposed the bill deserves credit for making the most important entity on women and their rights in the country a little stronger. The former head of the Commission, Justice Majida Rizvi had attempted to gain autonomy for the organisation during the Musharraf era, but failed. The pressing need to determine the status of the NCSW came up after the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment Bill, with the ministry for women’s affairs devolving to the provinces. To remove the uncertainty over the situation of the women’s commissions center Raza Rabbani had moved a bill suggesting it be made autonomous.

Now that this has happened we will need to see how effective the role it can play is. This has been defined as suggesting means to improve the situation of women, identifying discriminatory legislation creating awareness and taking steps to remove other hurdles that stand in the way of the progress of women or act in any way at all to deny them equal rights as citizens. The key issue here as in the past is if the proposals put forward by the NCSW will be implemented. Many of the laws that it has noted act against the welfare of women, remain on the statutes books, despite the proposals made by legal expert working with the NCSW. Only time will tell if this situation is to change following the latest legislation and if the new powers granted to the commission can have a genuine impact on the lives of women in Pakistan.

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