Friday, March 29, 2024
07:23 PM (GMT +5)

Go Back   CSS Forums > General > News & Articles > The Express Tribune

Reply Share Thread: Submit Thread to Facebook Facebook     Submit Thread to Twitter Twitter     Submit Thread to Google+ Google+    
 
LinkBack Thread Tools Search this Thread
  #51  
Old Saturday, January 08, 2011
Arain007's Avatar
Czar
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Venus
Posts: 4,106
Thanks: 2,700
Thanked 4,064 Times in 1,854 Posts
Arain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant future
Post

Reversing the petrol price raise

January 8th, 2011


The government has buckled under a ‘political consensus’ against raising petrol prices in line with the international ones, as Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani told the National Assembly on January 6 that this decision would cost the country Rs5 billion a month. In a way, he has accepted the ‘consensus’ as a countdown for his government. Many sections of the media did cartwheels of joy with headlines like ‘awam ki fatah’ and ‘hakumat nay ghutnay tek diyay’ (‘people’s victory’ and ‘government falls to its knees’).

The government had had to abandon the policy of subsidising oil prices in 2009 after accepting the IMF regime of bringing under control its budget deficit and extending the tax net. This prescription should have been adopted in Pakistan in any case for its own benefit, because widening deficits can cause high levels of inflation. Pakistan had offered to impose the reformed general sales tax (RGST) as a first step to reach the stage of registration of the economy, prior to improving direct taxation. The RGST, too, was used as a political tool and rejected by the opposition.

The combined opposition has more votes in the National Assembly than the government. It can either get the prime minister to prove a majority through a no-confidence vote or make the government adopt policies that will ensure its demise through such ‘natural means’ as international isolation — which will result in stoppage of foreign assistance and the inability of the state to buy energy-related imports. The opposition has taken the latter course at the risk of appearing to be ignorant of basic economics. It has chosen to ignore that Pakistan became ungovernable, in large part, by the Musharraf regime’s decision to accumulate a mountain of circular debt by subsidising the 2007 hike in the international oil price.

Large sections of the media are also at fault in this. While it was all right to expose the government’s corruption scandals, it was not proper to turn the face away from economic principles that guide the world today. The clergy, which has combined to hit the roads in protest against any modification in the blasphemy law, is equally opposed to the latest price adjustment by the Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority.

The ulema do not believe in any economic system dictated in their eyes by the West, in general, and America in particular. They think Pakistan remains tainted by the curse of bank interest at home and the interest it pays on loans contracted through west-dominated international organisations. Their recipe is a bloody revolution that will squeeze the capitalist to fill the coffers of the state. But the political parties know better. The PML-N knows that it is taking the populist path which will harm Pakistan. It must also know that coming to power after the PPP, it will not be able to handle the inflationary fallout from the present subsidy, just as the PPP was not able to tackle the circular debt of Musharraf. Unfortunately, the PML-N has played ducks and drakes with its own finances in Punjab by dishing out a Rs20 billion subsidy through its infamous ‘sasti roti’ scheme. The professional economists are all speaking out against the latest splurge, but not the economists aligned with the political parties, which is a pity.

Recovery, after a period of mismanagement or after crises caused by upheavals in the international market, requires tough decisions. If these decisions are not taken responsibly and if fiscal discipline is not adopted even at the risk of popular outrage, no one in the world would be willing to bail Pakistan out — not because of any violation of doctrine, but because everyone knows that after a subsidy, no amount of assistance will help. In France and the United Kingdom, parliaments have taken these tough and ‘unpopular’ decisions across the political divide in the face of public anger.

Our politicians have turned ‘economic lemmings’, running pell-mell, in the direction of an abyss beyond which al Qaeda and its madrassa minions are waiting for the state to be handed over to them on a platter. Pakistan needs external sympathy and help at this stage, not rupee-destroying subsidy. Furthermore, economic decisions should be made on economic principles, not on the bedrock of populism.

From bad to worse

January 8th, 2011


As if the actual events surrounding the death of Salmaan Taseer were not bad enough, the process of trial seems to be even more chaotic. The scenes witnessed in Rawalpindi, as killer Mumtaz Qadri was finally presented before the Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) judge, are enough to induce a shudder in anticipation of what may lie ahead.

Earlier efforts to produce Qadri at a venue in Islamabad failed after a large crowd of religious party activists, along with a few lawyers, prevented the ATC judge from leaving his office. Qadri was then taken to the court, smiling as he received a hero’s ‘welcome’. Since the public prosecuter was too scared to turn up, police officials argued the case themselves. It is unclear if things will improve in the near future, but the omens are not promising. The trial of Qadri threatens to turn into some kind of circus, with the media bent on highlighting the extent of the support he enjoys. The fact that this support comes from individuals who will not stop at anything to make their point means that the judges and witnesses, as well as government lawyers involved in the case, face a threat at every moment. We can quite imagine what may happen if Qadri is convicted. Police and the administration have demonstrated they are quite unable to manage the situation, and are demonstrating signs of panic — at one point considering shifting the case to a district and sessions court as they struggled to bring the killer before the ATC judge.

The situation is ludicrous. We have on our hands an assassin who is quickly being turned into a man who everyone is afraid to touch. Vigils organised to demand a repeal of blasphemy laws have received far less attention than the pro-Qadri hysteria we are seeing. The environment that has been created makes a fair trial next to impossible. There is also a risk to the life of others who speak against the blasphemy law. We should also consider what can be done to safeguard the life of Aasia Bibi, locked away in a Sheikhupura Jail. Other persons accused of blasphemy have been killed before in prison. The frenzy we see makes it more likely she could be targeted. Everything possible must be done to prevent this.
__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga
Reply With Quote
  #52  
Old Sunday, January 09, 2011
Arain007's Avatar
Czar
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Venus
Posts: 4,106
Thanks: 2,700
Thanked 4,064 Times in 1,854 Posts
Arain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant future
Post

How the blasphemy law divided the nation

January 9th, 2011

The murder of Governor Salmaan Taseer by a policeman deputed to guard him has divided the nation into fragments of varying opinion. The most significant segment is the solid religious opinion speaking out in favour of the murderer in the name of Islam and agitating on the roads with a lot of intimidatory clout. The second segment is political, which is further divided between supporters of the PML-N and the PPP. Watching these two phenomena is the civil society, which has become polarised with a majority cleaving to the conservative view.

When divisions take place, the essence of the divisive issue is lost. It no longer suits the clerics to focus on why the blasphemy law is in dispute. They insist that anyone who disputes the law is blaspheming against the Holy Prophet (pbuh); they refuse to get into the details of why a lot of believing but non-clerical people think that the blasphemy law is a man-made law which contains not divine but human error and should be improved in light of the jurisprudence of the law. Why are only the poor and mostly non-Muslims trapped in it? And why, after the accused is found not guilty, is the accuser not held to account?

The argument is won by the clerics, not because they are right but because they are powerful and have behind them a number of supporting elements who are no longer within the power of the state to curb. Is the politician united against the misreading of the blasphemy crisis? The PPP, scared of riling the clerics and their power to enlist suicide-bombing as one of their weapons, has hastily taken cover behind the ‘it is not a religious issue’ slogan. It is already under attack from the mullahs and doesn’t want to intensify this trend. But by calling the issue political, it has actually provoked the opposition PML-N, with whom its polemic has now entered its most bitter phase. The clerical campaign and the PPP-PML-N political clash have coloured the judgement of civil society in general.

In Rawalpindi, a stronghold of the PML-N, a noisy procession eulogising Mumtaz Qadri has pinned its thesis to the wall: Qadri is a national hero who has despatched a blasphemer and should not be punished under law. His father and brother are out in the open, morally supported by the conservative lawyers claiming they will save the killer. The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa assembly, scared to death of what the Taliban might do to Peshawar, have unanimously resolved that the blasphemy law may not be changed. Most liberal TV anchors and their guests have taken the same line. A few hundred moderates and liberals, nonetheless, joined a PPP-led march on Friday in Lahore defending the cause of Governor Taseer, together with NGOs defending the minorities and members of a much-scared Christian community.

The PPP-PML-N rivalry is fast morphing into a ‘duel unto death’, familiar from the 1990s. Nawaz Sharif has sent an ultimatum to the government, asking it to carry out a number of ‘reforms’ if it wants to avoid being overthrown. In the coming days, the PPP will find the Sharif agenda of ‘correction’ impossible to execute, which will be followed by an involuntary closing of the ranks across the political-clerical divide and an open season of ‘long marches’, completely disabling the government in its pursuit of ‘justice’ for the family of Governor Taseer. Xenophobia and anti-Americanism, based on the clerical gloss that the blasphemy law is under threat because of ‘external’ pressure on a ‘willing’ PPP, will heighten in the coming days and combine with the general anti-IMF feeling in the country.

The moderates are outraged, but on the run. But they are also divided among those who think that Governor Taseer was right in standing up to defend a weak community and those who think he should have been less rashly outspoken. If civil society is supposed to be always right, it is time to change that view, after seeing the above divisions and a clear dominance of those who wield the power of the street plus those who will not oppose them.

Square one

January 9th, 2011


The return of the MQM to the treasury fold ends the suspense that has been continuing for many days over the future of the government. The PPP, having regained its majority in the National Assembly, has warded off the immediate threat it had faced of a no confidence move against it. However, it may be premature to look on this as an all-out victory. The ruling party was able to persuade the MQM back in the government only by making some major concessions. The withdrawal of the increase in petrol prices was chief among these. The move has created complications with Washington, raising new questions about sovereignty. It has also made the task of managing a floundering economy all the more difficult. Some would argue that it may, in fact, have weakened the PPP in the longer run. The party has been made to seem somewhat desperate to keep its hold on rule at all costs. But on the other hand, democracy, as a form of government, listens to the voice of the people rather than ignoring them, as happens under dictatorial set-ups. This is its strength.

The true connotations of the agreement will emerge over the coming weeks. The MQM has opted to remain out of the Federal Cabinet. This means it is well placed to continue its criticism of the government and move away whenever it chooses. Though it has won back its’ government, the vulnerability of the PPP remains. The prime minister, on his first visit to the MQM headquarters in Karachi, had to sit through a series of slogans suggesting that Sindh and Karachi belonged to Altaf Hussain. But despite all this, successful talks with the MQM mark an important scoring of points for the PPP. Much will now depend on how it builds on the situation. The task of running a coalition government is never an easy one. It has been reported that promises have been made to the MQM on various issues, including abandoning the reformed general sales tax (RGST) and tackling corruption at various levels. These will not be simple. The true test for the prime minister and his team could still lie ahead. For now, calm has returned. We do not know how long it will last or at what cost it has been won.
__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga
Reply With Quote
  #53  
Old Monday, January 10, 2011
Arain007's Avatar
Czar
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Venus
Posts: 4,106
Thanks: 2,700
Thanked 4,064 Times in 1,854 Posts
Arain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant future
Post

Pakistan-India talks

January 10th, 2011


There have been so many false dawns in Pakistan-India relations since the Mumbai attacks of 2008 that any good news must be tempered with a healthy dose of scepticism. Thus, while it is heartening that the foreign secretaries of the two countries will meet on the sidelines of a Saarc summit in Bhutan next week, it would be extremely unrealistic to expect the meeting to yield tangible progress. We have been through this process before. The two foreign secretaries also talked at the UN General Assembly last September but were unable to make any breakthroughs.

The Mumbai attacks fundamentally changed the nature of the relationship between the two countries. Historically, Pakistan has always insisted that the Kashmir issue should be front and centre of any negotiations while India has wanted a broader agenda that encompasses trade and economic cooperation. That has now been reversed. It is Pakistan that doesn’t want to limit the scope of such talks while India refuses to discuss anything but terrorism. Thus, to repair relations with India, Pakistan first needs to take action on the domestic front. The government and military have been hesitant to take on the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the militant group believed to be behind the Mumbai attacks. The court case has faltered and it continues to operate relatively unhindered. Until there is a decisive shift in policy, India-Pakistan talks are destined to fail.

Even doomed negotiations, however, are preferable to a complete break in negotiations. It is heartening that both governments, despite their intractable differences, are willing to give diplomacy a chance. The next step, which would ideally take place during the Bhutan talks, would be a softening of their rigid stances. India needs to realise that increased economic cooperation would inevitably lead to greater political relations. If the two countries are bound together through trade, it will be in their interests not to upset the apple cart. Pakistan, for its part, needs to pledge to fight the LeT with the same vigour and intensity with which it took on militancy in the tribal areas. Fighting home-grown terrorism is vital not just for our relations with India but for our own survival.

Gas woes

January 10th, 2011


The question of what makes news is determined everywhere by the media. This ‘agenda setting’ determines what is discussed at various forums and which matters are considered significant. The role is a powerful one. For the last three weeks or so, protests have been staged almost daily, blocking GT Road, by residents of towns scattered across Punjab. They complain that, for days, there has been no gas in homes, making it impossible to cook or keep warm. This is no trivial matter as northern Punjab is facing a bitterly cold winter, but the issue has received only the most sporadic media attention. Perhaps this is seen as something to be expected given that they happen every year.

While roadside eateries do a roaring business, the pockets of people empty faster than ever. Money goes out on buying gas cylinders which, in smaller towns, are now being sold in the black. There are many implications attached to this state of affairs. Even giant cities like Lahore and Faisalabad are badly affected.

What is most disturbing, however, is the governments indifference to the plight of these people. Their representatives seem not to have bothered to inquire into their complaints or offer a few words of solace. Even such demonstrations of concern offer people some relief. At present, there is a sense only of hopelessness and anger. The Punjab government, after accusing the centre of staging a conspiracy against it, has, to some degree, addressed the concerns of industrial consumers but it has ignored the domestic sector. Sui Northern says no gas loadshedding is taking place as far as domestic supply goes. But there is no gas coming through the pipes. The condition of these people deserves to be given far greater attention. The crisis, from their perspective, is still more acute than the political turmoil we stand in the midst of.

Rail losses

January 10th, 2011


Three years after the terrible day in December 2007 when the country burst aflame at the news of Benazir Bhutto’s assassination, Pakistan Railways appears to have been unable to clean up the ashes. Of the 87 locomotives destroyed in the conflagration that followed, only three have been made serviceable again. This does not bode well for a country that once boasted a reasonably well-run railway network and that is in desperate need of a massive upgrade of its transportation network.

But the company is horrendously inefficient and runs an operating loss of close to Rs40 billion a year. Yet it is not without potential. Over 55 million Pakistanis use the railway every year and the network handles a substantial proportion of domestic cargo, including most shipments of oil to refineries. The government, however, seems incapable of running the company properly or even privatising it.

For instance, the plan for the restricting and privatisation of Pakistan Railways has been handed over not to the Privatisation Commission but to the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). By no stretch of the imagination is it the mandate of the central bank of a country to formulate privatisation strategies of state-owned assets. The SBP should turn down a task for which it is not equipped and does not have the mandate for. For its part, the administration would do well to pay more attention to the woes of the railways, lest the losses mount up to the point where it is forced to sell the company for a fire-sale price. Over the past several years, the government — regardless of which administration was in office — has proven itself incapable of running businesses. It should heed the advice of Senator Waqar Ahmed Khan and get out of the business of running commercial enterprises, focusing its efforts on regulating commerce in the country instead. The country would be better served by having robust private enterprises regulated by a robust government.
__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga
Reply With Quote
The Following User Says Thank You to Arain007 For This Useful Post:
mazar (Tuesday, January 11, 2011)
  #54  
Old Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Arain007's Avatar
Czar
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Venus
Posts: 4,106
Thanks: 2,700
Thanked 4,064 Times in 1,854 Posts
Arain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant future
Post

Silent against the hate

January 11th, 2011


After Friday prayers last week, at mosques in many places, pamphlets were distributed praising the murder of Salmaan Taseer and warning that others who spoke against the blasphemy law would be punished in the same way. The Imam of Karachi’s Sultan Masjid has directly attacked Sherry Rehman, declaring her a ‘non-Muslim’, and created against her precisely the kind of environment conducive to death. In Lahore, the Sunni Ittehad Council has warned NGOs not to hold protests against the killing of Taseer and said, ominously, a “Mumtaz Qadri would be present at every street corner’” Sinister text messages say others will die for objecting to the blasphemy law; some of the intended victims have been named.

While this campaign continues, the government has shown itself to be as spineless as a marionette freed from its strings. It has refused to consider even an amendment in blasphemy law. Under the law, incitement of hatred is a punishable crime. Yet, those who urge murder and deliver threats from public forums are free to do so. It appears that the government has handed over the country to those who refuse to accept the rule of law. Some TV anchors and columnists have joined this group, condemning the comments made by the late Taseer suggesting he deserved death.

Members of civil society and some activists of the PPP, the ANP and smaller parties stand on the other side of the divide. But they are not powerful enough to take on the religious groups who can bring thousands onto the streets. The government needs to take a stand for what is right. Irrespective of the merits or demerits of the blasphemy law, no one should be allowed to promote death or threaten citizens. The fact that this is happening before the eyes of the government says a great deal about the collapse of order in a society where extremism now holds sway.

Coalition considerations

January 11th, 2011


The issues inherent in running a coalition government are now surfacing. Days after the increase in petrol prices was withdrawn in order to pull the MQM back into the treasury, the prime minister has made a commitment to the PML-N that its demands will be met. The list presented by Nawaz Sharif included demands for a tightening up of the running of administration, a more ‘people friendly’ power and gas policy, action against corrupt officials and implementation of Supreme Court rulings, including those on the NRO. The key demand, a reversal in petroleum prices, has already been met.

Gilani’s announcement means the PML-N has agreed that the coalition government in Punjab will continue. Something, of course, has been gained by the government. But what has it lost? The concession to the PML-N makes the government look weaker, at a time when the PPP is anxious to win back allies. Whereas compromise is an inevitable part of running coalitions, it is also important that a government not be seen as giving in too easily. When this happens, it places the government in a position where it is vulnerable to blackmail and perpetual pressure from allies ready to take advantage of its situation to push forward with their own agenda. Succumbing to this will not help the PPP and will expose it of charges of failing to stand by principle.

There are other questions as well. There must be some doubts as to whether it is even possible to implement the ambitious PML-N agenda within the 45-day period laid down by the party. For now, time has been won. But the full implications of the decisions taken will emerge only in time. For any elected government, some degree of respect from the people is important. The manner in which demands made by other parties have been accepted raise questions as to whether retaining power at all costs is the paramount consideration of the prime minister or whether there is also some desire to stick to the party’s own stance on various matters of significance.

Trading vegetables

January 11th, 2011


The recent decision by the government to ban onion exports to India is unwise and may have already provoked Indian retaliation. In trying to prevent the rise in prices of one agricultural commodity, the government may end up causing an increase in the prices of a far greater number of foods items. Free trade is based upon a simple principle of reciprocity. No country can expect the rest of the world to allow access to its markets and goods if it closes off its own. The government must realise that Pakistan imports a far wider range of food items from India than it exports. If it tries to close off the export of a commodity that India needs in order to keep domestic prices low, India is likely to stop the export of a range of products that Pakistan needs, such as lentils, chickpeas and spices. Imports from India keep prices of these commodities low in Pakistan and many of them form a staple part of the nation’s diet. If imports from India stop, food price inflation — already skyrocketing — will shoot up even further.

This is one of those rare instances where allowing for free trade benefits both producers and consumers in Pakistan. Onion farmers benefit from the higher prices they are likely to command on both the domestic and Indian market, while Pakistani consumers benefit from continued access to cheaper Indian food items. There is no justification for the government to take this step. It is short-sighted policy-making at best and outright incompetence at worse.

The Indian government has not taken any retaliatory steps yet, though a group of Indian exporters have halted shipments to Pakistan. There is still time for the government to reverse the decision. The last thing the country needs right now, as it battles economic and political uncertainty, is to spark a trade war with India. We could not afford it in the best of times. We certainly cannot afford it now.
__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga
Reply With Quote
  #55  
Old Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Arain007's Avatar
Czar
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Venus
Posts: 4,106
Thanks: 2,700
Thanked 4,064 Times in 1,854 Posts
Arain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant future
Post

Why did Qadri kill Governor Taseer?

January 12th, 2011

The anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Islamabad, on January 10, listened to a confessional statement of Mumtaz Qadri, the policeman who killed Governor Salmaan Taseer. He said he had acted “alone” and that he had planned the murder over three days before manoeuvring to get himself posted in the special police squad which protects the Punjab governor.

The killer also revealed that he was persuaded to carry out the murder after listening to the ‘rousing sermons’ delivered by Maulvi Hanif Qureshi and Ishtiaq Shah at a religious gathering, on December 31 near his residence in Rawalpindi. He said in his statement: “These sermons not only moved me to act against the man who spoke against the sanctity of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) but compelled me to stand up against those who were demanding changes in the blasphemy laws.”

Mr Qadri also exonerated “any political or religious group” of involvement in the governor’s assassination. Several religious groups have of late been protesting against what they claim is a conspiracy to change a law considered sacred. In this context, it is also claimed that the aim of this alleged conspiracy is to change the blasphemy law, an act which will encourage people to commit acts of blasphemy against the Holy Prophet (pbuh). This, of course, is not true and nothing can substantiate such a serious allegation, which is made with much impunity by the clerics.

Following Taseer’s murder, a debate has arisen with protagonists arguing that Qadri and the governor represented two extremes. This is where the Pakistani mind needs to be concentrated. It is entirely wrong and self-serving on the part of those who lean on extremism to say that ‘religious extremism’ and ‘liberal extremism’ are equally bad. Regrettably, the country has for some time regarded liberalism as a borrowed or imported value, serving the interest of ‘foreign powers’ hostile to Pakistan. The hidden message is: put an end to liberalism and you will see Pakistan moving away from ‘religious extremism’. Liberalism, alas, will always remain a minority reaction among those who fear some kind of endgame in ‘religious extremism’. Equating the two is not a wise thing to do because no one will ever say that Pakistan is threatened by ‘liberal extremism’ or that liberal extremist suicide bombers are roaming the streets killing innocent people. The religious speakers who affected the thinking of Governor Taseer’s killer say they are not to blame for what happened. According to their statements, they simply said that a blasphemer had to be dealt with in accordance with the law and that “Sherry Rehman should not bring an amendment bill to parliament but should take recourse to the court of law”. The statements betray a lack of knowledge of the country’s institutional working. But Mr Qadri could not have stood up to say that the courts in Pakistan adjudicate in accordance with the laws as framed or amended first by parliament.

What the religious parties are getting wrong is the difference between the law itself and its abuse. Any law, divine or human, can be abused and this can be set right not by removing the law but reformulating it in such a way through procedural readjustment that the aspects of its abuse are minimised. Was not the Hudood Law misused on a daily basis by the police which took money to book the accused under Hudood, rather than the normal law, to make the process more punishing? What Maulvi Hanif Qureshi and Ishtiaq Shah should have noted is that poor, illiterate and unprotected persons belonging to minority communities are often trapped under the blasphemy law. It takes long years for them to be exonerated by the higher courts and the wrongful accusers are never called to account. What happened to Mumtaz Qadri is happening to most of us falling under the influence of the campaign of misplaced outrage led by clerical parties. The court may not find them directly guilty of having plotted to kill Governor Taseer through him, but any rational person will agree that the atmosphere of extreme reaction deliberately created in the streets and mosques of Pakistan is responsible for Mr Qadri’s actions.

Missing years

January 12th, 2011


If the complaint by one of the plaintiffs in the missing persons case — that another 100 people have been ‘picked up’ since April last year — is accurate, it is a disturbing reminder of all that is wrong with our system. It is significant that the additional attorney general, who appeared before a three-member Supreme Court bench hearing the case, did not deny that more people were being taken away, but emphasised only that 134 had been recovered.

The court’s reassurance that the over 100 or so persons missing in the country would be recovered in 2011 is encouraging. So is its commitment to penalise those responsible for their illegal detention. We all know this means the agencies which operate beyond the command of the civilian government. Bringing them to account for their actions could change a great deal about how the business of the state is conducted in Pakistan. The perception of the agencies themselves, as well as of other people, that they are immune from prosecution, appears to have encouraged the whisking away of people — the largest number from Balochistan. The SC action in the Adiala Jail case and the acceptance by agency bosses that they were bound to follow judicial orders has been a key step in changing the tide.

It is, in some ways at least, a pity that the report of the Judicial Commission set up by the SC in the matter will not be made public. The court has agreed to this. But what is most important is that there is no repetition of the actions seen since 2002 against citizens who fell under agency scrutiny. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, vanished in these years. Some have yet to be located. Clear-cut instructions must go out to the agencies in this respect. It is also important that we gain clarity about the command structure that regulates agencies. They must not be permitted to continue to play the role of a ‘state within a state’. This function has weakened democratic governments in the past and led to grotesque abuses of rights, as we see in the missing persons case. It is time for such actions to stop and measures to be taken to prevent more people from being taken away from their homes or from the streets.
__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga
Reply With Quote
  #56  
Old Friday, January 14, 2011
Arain007's Avatar
Czar
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Venus
Posts: 4,106
Thanks: 2,700
Thanked 4,064 Times in 1,854 Posts
Arain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant future
Post

Brave and timely words

January 13th, 2011

Breaking from the more cautious line adopted by his party at home, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari has spoken of battling extremists and defending minority communities. Some have said that these are the words of an impressionable young mind and that perhaps were he older or in Pakistan he would have said something different. However, we cannot base our assessment on what Mr Bhutto has said on clairvoyance and would in fact applaud him since such remarks are much-needed in the current climate of extreme intolerance. They are also necessary because following former Punjab governor Salmaan Taseer’s assassination, the government seems to have all but abdicated its writ and authority and the result has been that the extremist sections have become even more emboldened. In effect, these people are telling the rest of the country that even to express any opinion in support of Mr Taseer or to the effect that the blasphemy laws should be modified so as to minimise their misuse is enough for one to be labelled an apostate.

Bilawal Bhutto needs to consider certain things: we certainly need people who are willing to take on the fanatics. But they must do so from home. As a person in a position that demands considerable responsibility, it is also important that he act to strengthen his party so that it can take the decisions which should be taken, if his words are to be taken at face value. The key issue is to create harmony. The chasm between the factions in society is growing wider and wider. The party needs to sit down and devise a tactic that can help improve the worsening situation on the ground. Some process of educating people is needed. This is not just a minority issue. Majority of the people in jail on blasphemy charges are Muslim. No law should be misused as this one has been. Religious scholars, some of whom have been speaking out against the frenzied campaign that has been launched, need to be brought forward to speak of their interpretation of blasphemy. Other institutions of the state also need to rise to the challenge of taking the extremists head on.

Another blasphemy case

January 13th, 2011


The depths of absurdity to which some people will sink in abusing the blasphemy law appear to know no bounds. The case of a father and son being convicted by a court in Dera Ghazi Khan for the simple act of removing a poster from their private property illustrates the point made by the critics of the law: That as it stands now, the law is open to abuse and does an injustice to the legacy of the Holy Prophet (pbuh).

In this particular case, however, it appears that there may have been a miscarriage of justice even under the existing law. One of the men who stands accused of blasphemy is a mosque imam. The prosecution alleges that after removing a poster advertising a celebration of the Holy Prophet’s (pbuh) birthday, he trampled on it. This seems highly questionable, especially when taking into account the fact that the accusers are Barelvi and the imam is of the rival Deobandi school of thought. Might this be another case of somebody exploiting religion to settle personal differences? We think so and we are glad that, at least in this case, the defence attorney has put up a spirited argument and plans to appeal the lower court’s verdict.

This case is about as absurd as that of the doctor in Hyderabad against whom a blasphemy case was filed because he threw away a card of a pharmaceutical sales representative whose first name was Muhammad. The arrogance of the religious right in prosecuting these and other cases, and their assumption that they somehow have the right to punish others for a perceived lack of piety, is quite astounding. It would be laughable, were it not quite so tragic in its consequences. The events of the past few weeks have only further strengthened the case that the blasphemy law needs to be amended. If the religious right feels otherwise, they would do well to make their arguments in the hall of parliament, not the streets.

Murder mystery

January 13th, 2011


Is the killing of the parents of Justice Javed Iqbal a criminal act no different to those that occur on an almost daily basis in times of growing lawlessness, or is the purpose to send out a message of some kind? Either motive is possible in times when the force of fear is used frequently to silence those who dare to speak on controversial issues or to disturb a hornet’s nest that has been left untouched for years. As a result, it has grown larger and larger, threatening anyone who veers too close. Could the angry buzzing have turned into a deadly sting?

The fact that the strangulated bodies of Malik Abdul Hameed, ironically enough a former deputy inspector general of police, and his wife Amna Bibi were found in their living room — a day after Justice Iqbal had made some tough comments while hearing the missing person’s case as part of the three-member Supreme Court bench — has raised suspicion. This doubt is in itself testimony to the times we live in, when people can be targeted simply for doing the right thing. Investigation will focus on this sinister possibility too.

It is also worrying that the killing took place in a high security zone, with cameras installed along many streets in the Cavalry Grounds area where many army officers reside. Contradictory versions from police officers, with suggestions made that robbers may have shot the couple, add to the confusion. Other accounts say they were smothered using pillows. It is unclear if there were any signs of robbery. The murder has sinister connotations. A thorough investigation is needed. The fact that we are even discussing the possibility that it may have been carried out to influence the verdict in a case that has repeatedly created waves is a frightening thought. It indicates the fact that law no longer has any meaning in our land and that the state is increasingly incapable of guaranteeing security of life.
__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga
Reply With Quote
  #57  
Old Friday, January 14, 2011
Arain007's Avatar
Czar
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Venus
Posts: 4,106
Thanks: 2,700
Thanked 4,064 Times in 1,854 Posts
Arain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant future
Post

What next in relations with America?

January 14th, 2011

US Vice-President Joe Biden has had a “good meeting” with army chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani and “both countries have narrowed down their differences on certain issues that haunted them in the past”, according to a Pakistani government official quoted in the media following Biden’s visit. Biden came after visiting Kabul where he was, it could be assumed, briefed on the situation in Afghanistan and its so-called ‘Pakistan connection’. Neither the US embassy nor the ISPR has let on about the message Biden gave to Pakistan, but the general impression is that he was inclined not to protest too much about Pakistan’s decision not to attack North Waziristan just yet.

Sensing the rising religious sentiment in Pakistan and its resultant anti-Americanism, Biden delivered the following observation after meeting Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani when he said: “We are not the enemies of Islam and we embrace those who practice this great religion in our country.” He was insistent, however, that Pakistan and the US were both facing a common enemy, that is, militancy expressing itself in the form of terrorism, and that al Qaeda continued to plot attacks against the United States and its interests.

He did refer to the widespread hatred of America in Pakistan when he said: “We know that there are those — I am not talking about the leadership, I am talking about the public — [who believe] that in America’s fight against al Qaeda, we’ve imposed a war upon Pakistan.” One could add another Pakistani beef, recently embraced by the government, to sum up some of the wrinkles appearing in US-Pakistan relations: drone attacks that violate Pakistan’s sovereignty. In post-Musharraf Pakistan, a lot of revisionism has been injected into Pakistan’s military-dominated policy towards the US. Some issue could be taken with this revision on the basis of realism.

Anti-Americanism is a part of the general extremism of attitudes in Pakistan. For any middle-level state to express extremes in foreign policy is not advisable, not even in a positive way while talking of China, if it appears to be an either-or option, based on the wrong assumption that China is an enemy of America. Alas, the military bias in Pakistan against the US is not entirely because of Washington’s AfPak policy, but also because of how the GHQ views America’s clear tilt in favour of India. This bias is a response to the perception in Rawalpindi that Pakistan is being thwarted in its policy of keeping a friendly Afghanistan on its western border.

Pakistan needs to look realistically at its time-worn doctrines of national defence. Its India-centric regional view has created an anti-Pakistan neighbourhood which it must allay before it decides to take on the US and its powerful allies in the European Union, where the attitude towards Pakistanis is far less cautious than that of the US. Pakistan must share the American view that terrorism radiating from Pakistan in the direction of the West is also ultimately harmful for Pakistan. Al Qaeda is increasingly becoming embedded in Pakistani society — or support for thinking that mirrors its ideology certainly is — and its minions, the Taliban and the madrassa network of extremist clergy, challenge the sovereignty of Pakistan far more seriously than the drones.

The politicians and the army must agree that Pakistan needs to think selfishly and this regard for the security of the state must be based on facts and not on doctrines of threat-perception written into textbooks. Both the mainstream political parties have done some lateral thinking on how Pakistan should behave towards India — and both have been punished for this in the past. The military may feel that its thinking is in the ascendant in the country, but such feeling would be misguided. This thinking is isolationist and can harm Pakistan by locking al Qaeda and its terrorists into Pakistan. Pakistan’s current policy does nothing to prevent the ascendancy of al Qaeda and the Taliban. That must change and give way to thinking based on the ground realties and a pragmatic and rational world view.

CII proposal

January 14th, 2011

While silence appears to be the operative word as far as the blasphemy law goes, with few willing to speak out on the issue of repeal on even reform, past recommendations by the Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), the top advisory body on religious affairs, offer a simple solution to the controversy. In 2001, the CII had recommended the death sentence for anyone misusing the blasphemy law and that blasphemy cases be heard by the Federal Shariat Court (FSC). The CII had held that the FSC, made up of five regular judges and three Islamic scholars, was better placed to decide on matters involving blasphemy.

While the CII had opposed any amendment in the blasphemy law itself, its recommendations would undoubtedly solve some of the most basic issues. Capital punishment for misusing the law would almost certainly prevent frivolous use of section 295-C to settle petty scores. And given the reign of terror enforced by extremists, the FSC may be better placed to judge cases without provoking frenzied wrath from the fanatics. What is shocking is that the CII recommendations, which have existed in dusty files for almost a decade, have not been tabled before parliament, either by the Musharraf regime or by the PPP government.

Bowing down to the extremists can only embolden them and encourage them to move a few paces forward, further blocking out space for debate and discussion on key issues. At present, we see a government apparently paralysed with terror. The reasons for this are to some degree comprehensible. But the approach will only complicate matters. A sensible strategy needs to be devised. The CII’s recommendations offer a means to construct one. Indeed, a number of other Islamic scholars have also spoken out against the manner in which blasphemy laws are abused. These voices need to be heard. At the very least, more effort can be made to circulate the opinions on the blasphemy law, offering an opportunity to people to decide where they stand on the issue. The reluctance of the government to comment on the matter and to insist only that the blasphemy laws will not be amended means that extremist voices ring out from everywhere and rationality has been lost. The CII’s recommendations can prove a means to restore it.
__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga
Reply With Quote
  #58  
Old Saturday, January 15, 2011
Arain007's Avatar
Czar
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Venus
Posts: 4,106
Thanks: 2,700
Thanked 4,064 Times in 1,854 Posts
Arain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant future
Post

The Reko Diq affair

January 15th, 2011


Since November last year, the Supreme Court of Pakistan is hearing a case in respect of a mining concession given to a foreign firm to dig copper and gold in the strategically sensitive area of Chaghai in Balochistan. That the contract was signed under the Musharraf government complicates the issue. The Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) was allowed a 75 per cent share in the profits of the project, which began to seem excessive after the exit of the Musharraf government. Also contested is the estimate of the deposits — some say Reko Diq is the largest such deposit in the world — and of the process of extraction which the companies backing the TCC plan to carry out abroad.

The honourable court will also adjudicate the clashing claims of how value-added the extraction is: the TTC says extraction takes away only 10 per cent from the ‘value chain’; the Balochistan government and its advisers claim a colossally larger margin. The Reko Diq mine is expected to yield 10 billion kilogrammes of copper and 368 million grams of gold over the 50-60 year lifespan of the project. But people who think the mine is a crucial hinge to the future of the province pitch the deposits at a much larger scale. Contestants include competing foreign firms, the government of Balochistan and the board of experts it has set up to work with the foreign company, which has already spent millions of dollars on the start-up of the project.

The chief minister of Balochistan is justified in feeling short-changed when he hears Pakistani experts say that his province would gain more by getting the TTC to surrender on the grounds that the Supreme Court is currently examining the deal. Former finance minister Shaukat Tareen, who was the first to raise his voice over the ‘deal’ given to the TCC by the Musharraf government, is on record as saying: “I think we have sold our future. Any government, anywhere in the world, can renegotiate such contracts on the basis of national interest, and we will do the same. If we are able to export processed metal, we can fetch up to $500 billion instead of $40 billion under the existing agreement.”

In December last year, the province’s chief minister announced that the agreement had been terminated in the interest of the people of the province. He said: “Local demands and needs were not taken into account when the initial agreements were signed.” He thereafter proceeded to acquire the services of Samar Mubarakmand, the Pakistani nuclear scientist who was in charge of testing Pakistan’s nuclear device in the same area in 1998, to head the board of governors overseeing the project, its other members being the secretaries of finance, industries and mines and mineral development, the president of the Balochistan Mine Owners’ Association and the project’s managing director.

The TCC has eight other projects in Pakistan and can raise the $3.3 billion required to develop Reko Diq. It has already offered an improvement of terms in the contract to the Balochistan chief minister, but it hopes to clear matters up at the Supreme Court, which will look at the case with impartiality. Exaggeration is one element to look into, especially when nationalism gets attached to natural resources, as it has in Balochistan and, in the case of Assam, in India. The other element to analyse closely is the claimed ‘local expertise’ of extraction and the ability of Pakistan to attract the capital needed for the project. The element of risk in Balochistan is high and capital markets weigh this risk with permissible caution.

Not to be ignored also is the reputation of the governments in Pakistan to run large and expensive projects with transparency. The Thar Coal Project was put on the backburner after the ‘officials’ handling the deal with a Chinese firm simply did not have the expertise to adequately estimate its overall running cost. Over-valuation is not an unknown factor in the region. The Caspian Region in our neighbourhood suffered from it and was left holding the bag after foreign firms realised they had exaggerated its natural resources. Our reputable and dispassionate Supreme Court will definitely help resolve this issue before the case goes to international tribunals.


Violence in Karachi

January 15th, 2011


Last year, over 1,000 people died in Karachi as a result of the ethnic and sectarian violence that has refused to leave the city in peace. That year was, in fact, the worst in terms of murders since 1995. And it was not too long before a new orgy of killings broke out — this time on the night of January 13. An ANP leader was shot at and injured, and a reporter of a local TV channel was killed in what appeared to be targeted killing. As of writing this editorial, 14 people had been killed in the past 24 hours and there was no indication that the violence would subside anytime soon. Perhaps the primary factor behind this is the virtual abdication of any semblance of authority over the city’s law and order by the government and the police.

The political dimensions to the killings mingle, one suspects, with the ethnic. This complicates the process of understanding the violence. Are the killings motivated by ethnic hatred, political differences or are they just plain criminal in nature, carried out by some mafia? Or perhaps there is a nexus where all three meet. The murder in cold blood of the reporter would suggest that it wasn’t an ordinary crime, since he was not robbed and was apparently killed by assassins.

Efforts made over the past months to bring parties together to discuss these issues have brought a temporary respite in the violence, but not an end. The tension that remains in place means any incident can immediately bring an upsurge in the killings, and this acts as a trigger, taking even more lives. Most of those who have died have been ordinary people, with no political connections at all. The six people killed when gunmen opened fire on a bus are examples of this. Their death means a terrible loss for families and an increase in the mistrust and hatred that runs through the city. There is obviously no magic mantra that can bring this about. What is needed is consistent commitment to doing everything possible to restore peace. Last year, the PPP had played a part in bringing all parties together to agree to cooperate to end the killings. This had brought a reduction in violence. We need more such measures.
__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga
Reply With Quote
  #59  
Old Sunday, January 16, 2011
Arain007's Avatar
Czar
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Venus
Posts: 4,106
Thanks: 2,700
Thanked 4,064 Times in 1,854 Posts
Arain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant future
Post

Terror and chaos in Karachi

January 16th, 2011


Even after reconciliation between the ruling PPP and MQM in Karachi over accusations made about target killings, people kept dying at the hands of killer gangs. The toll on January 14 was a shocking 22 dead in 24 hours. Indications persist that violence continues to emanate from political, religious and ethnic causes. The ruling trio — the PPP, MQM and ANP — are engaged in a three-way war of accusations and are hardly in a position to find a solution to the downward spiral of a city that is the economic heart of the country.

The killers have become sensitive to media reporting too, murdering Geo News reporter Wali Khan Babar before shooting and injuring ANP leader Bashir Jan in Orangi Town. As if to indicate the triangular nature of the urban war, victims included the PPP’s secretary district west, Naveed alias Noori, two MQM workers, Hammad and Zafar Sheikh, while two from the ANP had been attacked earlier.

Karachi has ample evidence of terror linked to the activity of bhatta (protection money) by criminal gangs who use murder as an instrument of persuasion. The reign of terror at Pehelwan Goth was still fresh in the minds of Karachiites when the courts exonerated those accused of killings, allowing them to walk free because of lack of evidence. The police have frequently used sign language to make the case that their work is greatly hampered by the fact that ruling politicians are involved in this score-settling homicide; yet the killing patterns reveal the presence of organisations other than the linguistic-ethnic ones. The last surge of target killing took place in mid-December, putting an end to the impression that killing stops every time federal interior minister Rehman Malik visits the city bearing an olive branch from PPP chief Asif Ali Zardari. This time the olive branch was bigger in size than ever before; yet the triangular spree of violence has swelled instead of going down. Pakhtun-dominated settlements — Sohrab Goth, Quaidabad, Banaras, Keamari, Jangabad, Luqman Colony, Machar Colony, Yasrab Colony, Maymar Complex, Decent Complex, Al-Asif Square, Gulshan-e-Akakhel, Quetta Town and New Sabzi Mandi — have often seen violence, indicating that the ANP doesn’t control and direct the entire Pakhtun community, most of whom originate not in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa but in Mehsud-dominated South Waziristan.

Sectarian killing is also rampant and recently the reverse-trend of killing Sunni doctors alerted the stricken people of Karachi to the rise of Lashkar-i-Muhammad. In 2008, the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) boasted that it had the capacity to control and rule Karachi. Its linkages to the madrassa network of Karachi are well-known. And madrassa-linked religious ‘high threat’ groups in Karachi, too, are known to the outside world: al Qaeda (Qari Zafar Group), the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and the Sipah-i-Sahaba Pakistan. The medium threat groups are: Sipah-i-Muhammad Pakistan (SMP), Harkatul Mujahideen al Alami, Harkatul Jihad al Islami, the Tehreek-i-Islami Lashkar-i-Muhammadi and Jandullah.

Ethnic politics has solidified in Karachi and social scientists say ethnic-based conflicts take a long time dying off. But two other developments starting in the 1980s have complicated the situation: the early quartering of al Qaeda in the city — a majority of the Arab terrorists surrendered to the US by Musharraf were caught from Karachi — and the pouring in of overseas money into the seminaries which proliferated and may stand at 3,000 today.

The pressure from the ethnic grassroots is such that the ruling trio has succumbed to it, instead of cooperating to put it down. All three political parties are secular in outlook and opposed to al Qaeda and the Taliban. When they are targeted by religious terrorists, other than in Karachi, they tend to stand up for them against one another. Benazir Bhutto was meant to die in Karachi, not in Rawalpindi, and the killers were directed from South Waziristan. A workable solution to this will only materialise when the three parties who rule the city can act in a non-partisan manner and purge their ranks of those in cahoots with various mafias.

Zardari-Obama meeting

January 16th, 2011


It may sound callous to say this, but President Asif Zardari’s visit to Washington for Richard Holbrooke’s memorial service had less to do with honouring the deceased diplomat than an opportunity to hold an impromptu summit with the Americans. On the surface, the Pakistan-US alliance appears to be as strong as ever. US President Barack Obama and Zardari said all the right things. Obama has pledged to continue helping Pakistan develop its economy to the point that it is no longer reliant on international aid. Both leaders also condemned terrorism and mourned the assassination of Salmaan Taseer.

Read between the lines of the diplomatic doublespeak, though, and it is clear that there are several unaddressed issues and points of contention. Pakistan’s ambassador to the US, Husain Haqqani, quoted Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as saying that they will find ways to “strengthen Pakistan’s economic reform process.” This appears to be an oblique reference to our inability to pass the reformed general sales tax (RGST) through parliament and our refusal to end electricity subsidies, both of which have been demanded by the US and the IMF. While the US may wish for Pakistan to stand on its own two feet, for as long as we are dependent on it for staying afloat, such demands will be a stark reality of relations between the two countries. Indeed, US Ambassador to Pakistan Cameron Munter admitted as much when he said that American financial assistance will lead to American interference.

Even more than economic issues, the ever-present spectre of terrorism also continues to cast a pall over Pakistan-US ties. For the best part of a decade, US policy has been to throw money at the problem, all the while urging Pakistan to ‘do more’. As the talks in Washington showed, this is likely to continue. The US has already been making noises about a possible military operation in North Waziristan, which Pakistan has been resisting, saying that troops are preoccupied with flood relief. As is likely, in the future more international terrorism plots that originated from the tribal areas will be unearthed. When that happens, the gentle exhortations will turn into full-fledged demands. It is only then that the shaky foundations of this supposedly solid relationship will be revealed.
__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga
Reply With Quote
  #60  
Old Monday, January 17, 2011
Arain007's Avatar
Czar
Medal of Appreciation: Awarded to appreciate member's contribution on forum. (Academic and professional achievements do not make you eligible for this medal) - Issue reason:
 
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: Venus
Posts: 4,106
Thanks: 2,700
Thanked 4,064 Times in 1,854 Posts
Arain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant futureArain007 has a brilliant future
Post

Deadly business

January 17th, 2011


Wali Khan Babar, 29, gunned down on the streets of Karachi during the latest spree of targeted violence in the city, became the first Pakistani journalist to die in the line of duty in 2011. Will he be the last? The omens are not good. Last year, eight media professionals were killed in the country; more than twice that number were injured. Most became victims of bombings or other acts of terrorism carried out with the purpose of maiming or murdering indiscriminately. The nature of journalism demanded, of course, that they be close to the place of action in situations rife with tension. This made them especially vulnerable when the bombers struck.

According to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, a US-based watchdog body, Pakistan emerged as the world’s deadliest place for members of the profession in 2010. There are no indications that this will change, unless far greater commitment is demonstrated by various groups. The government needs to devise policies in this respect. What is perhaps even more imperative is that media bodies work out a code of conduct to protect journalists. In an age when fierce competition poses its own perils, an agreement is needed that cameramen, reporters and others on the frontline of action will keep a safe distance when covering events involving terrorism. Preventing death is more important than bringing images into living rooms. Organisations running newspapers or TV channels should put in place work guidelines and also insurance policies for members of staff. Protective gear could help in some cases. Among those most at risk are stringers based in conflict-torn areas, who do not have the protection offered by large offices and who are often based within strife-torn communities. Special attention needs to be given to their plight.

The fact that so many dangers now face journalists stems also from the failure to penalise those responsible for violence in the past. Several high-profile cases of murder remain unsolved; suspicions of agency involvement heighten the threat — and this only leaves others in the field in a great deal of danger.

Bravery punished

January 17th, 2011


We all know why Shamshad Begum died. The masked gunmen who broke into her house in Hangu district and shot her dead alongside five family members, some of them minors, were obviously associated with the Taliban militants who had been threatening her for some time. The policewoman drew their wrath because of her role as part of a security team that had apprehended various militants at police checkposts in an area where the terrorist hold remains firm.

Beyond revenge, the ruthless murders were also intended to send out a clear message. It is one that has been spelled out in blood. The intention is to deter others from adopting the same devotion to duty as that exhibited by Shamshad Begum in her action against terrorists. The fact that she was a woman working in a field not common for her gender, especially in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, perhaps also left her open to attack. We have seen before the militant targeting of working women in many areas where the Taliban have exerted their hold.

The crime needs to be investigated. The demoralising impact it will have on others in the same line of work is a major concern. So, too, is the evidence that the militants seem able to act without any check on their activities. We wonder if the threatening messages the policewoman had received earlier had been followed up and if her complaints had been heard. She does not appear to have been offered any additional protection. Had this been the case her life may have been saved. In all this there is a message the authorities need to heed. It is hard to believe there was no information available about terrorist operations in Hangu. Agencies must have been assigned tasks in this regard. Their failure to pick up the danger to Shamshad Begum must be examined.

Birth and death

January 17th, 2011


The flood victims who poured out of their homes in a panic-stricken sea of humanity from July to September last year, as the worst floods in living memory devastated the country, have been largely forgotten. The cameras have swung away, volunteers moved on from camps, government attention switched to other issues and funding slowed down to a trickle. International concern has faded as the inevitable ‘compassion fatigue’ sets in. But the agony of tens of thousands of flood victims continues, aggravated by colder weather and reduced attention from both official and unofficial quarters.

A recent report from a camp, housing some 2,700 people in Karachi, speaks of at least, four newborn deaths, primarily as a result of, lack of healthcare for expecting mothers. A lack of protection from winter winds and a reduction in food supplies adds to the suffering of pregnant women and infants. This holds true not only for the camp in Karachi but also in other parts of the country. Freezing weather in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, much of Punjab and Gilgit-Baltistan leaves many without adequate shelter and at the mercy of the elements. International agencies report an increase in respiratory infections, most notably among small children. The lack of medical facilities adds to their suffering.

The flood may be over, but its aftermath persists. It will be many months, perhaps years, before anything resembling a full recovery is possible. Persons active in the relief effort report large-scale malnutrition, especially among women already weakened by multiple pregnancies. We need to see far greater initiative to assist the victims of the disaster. The government needs to take the lead in this, but other sections of society can also play a part by ensuring the people affected by the floods are not abandoned to suffer on their own, as has happened at the camp in Karachi and others like it scattered across Pakistan.
__________________
Kon Kehta hy k Main Gum-naam ho jaon ga
Main tu aik Baab hn Tareekh mein Likha jaon ga
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
editorials, express tribune

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are On
Pingbacks are On
Refbacks are On


Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
All about Pakistan Muhammad Adnan General Knowledge, Quizzes, IQ Tests 78 Wednesday, May 16, 2012 09:50 PM
Opinion: The Express Tribune Saqib Riaz News & Articles 1 Monday, December 27, 2010 10:59 AM
The Express Tribune: Saving face: K-P reverses dubious land lease Mohsin Mushtaq News & Articles 0 Thursday, December 16, 2010 08:46 PM
A good editorial... Nonchalant Journalism & Mass Communication 2 Sunday, March 23, 2008 07:31 PM
Role/Aim of Editorial Nonchalant Journalism & Mass Communication 0 Tuesday, February 19, 2008 02:10 PM


CSS Forum on Facebook Follow CSS Forum on Twitter

Disclaimer: All messages made available as part of this discussion group (including any bulletin boards and chat rooms) and any opinions, advice, statements or other information contained in any messages posted or transmitted by any third party are the responsibility of the author of that message and not of CSSForum.com.pk (unless CSSForum.com.pk is specifically identified as the author of the message). The fact that a particular message is posted on or transmitted using this web site does not mean that CSSForum has endorsed that message in any way or verified the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any message. We encourage visitors to the forum to report any objectionable message in site feedback. This forum is not monitored 24/7.

Sponsors: ArgusVision   vBulletin, Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.