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  #1171  
Old Wednesday, September 07, 2016
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September 07, 2016

Kashmir calls


Nearly two months after protests over the killing of Burhan Wani erupted in Indian-occupied Kashmir, the indefatigable Kashmiris are still rallying in the streets and bearing down the wrath of Indian security forces. And the occupying power is still indiscriminately using force, including rubber pellets, smoke shells and tear gas. The last two months have shown that breaking the spirit of the Kashmiris is impossible and they will never give up on their quest for freedom from Indian rule. Yet, India has shown distressingly little awareness about how untenable its brutal occupation is. It has responded to international criticism in a superficial manner, doing nothing to address the underlying issue. Pressed by its use of rubber pellet bullets which were affecting so many people, including children, that there weren’t enough doctors in Kashmir to treat them, India decided to swap the rubber bullets with chilli-based shells. Apparently, the chilli-based shells cannot be lethal but they can cause blindness. These are the ‘moral’ calculations that an occupying force will keep having to make until it loses all shreds of humanity. Pro-freedom leaders like Yaseen Malik have realised this and refused to meet with a government delegation so long as talks are held under the Indian constitution. The ‘special’ status of Kashmir under that constitution enables the occupation and there is no point in talks if the Kashmiris are not given the right of self-determination.

At the international level, India’s growing importance has saved it so far from as strong a condemnation as it deserves. Modi’s growing closeness to the US, most recently seen during John Kerry’s visit to India, is sparked by his country’s status as both an ‘economic powerhouse’ and an inviting market for Western goods. Even then, Narendra Modi feels the need to blame Pakistan at every forum. On the sidelines of the G-20 summit in China, Modi told Chinese President Xi Jinping that ‘response to terrorism must not be motivated by political consideration’. Modi was clearly trying to paint the protests in Kashmir as terrorism, trying to then pin that imagined terrorism on Pakistan and then trying to get China to distance itself from Pakistan. He followed this by complaining about the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and thus making his intentions all too clear. India’s true fear is that it is being muscled out by China in the battle for regional supremacy and helping Pakistan out in the process. Creating the phantom of Pakistani terrorism in Kashmir is Modi’s only strategy for trying to disguise the brutality of Indian security forces. The message from Kashmiri leaders is clear: self-determination is the only solution. It is time that this solution was made real. Those who have remained silent on the Kashmir issue must join in the voices asking for the rights of the Kashmiri people to be recognised.

Kabul attacks


Yet another day of destructive violence in Kabul showed that the ability of the Taliban to launch attacks at will has not been diminished. First, there was a double suicide bombing near the Afghan Defence Ministry which killed at least 24 people, many of whom were senior security officials. Later on Monday night, three attackers stage a suicide bombing in front of the international aid group Pamlarena’s offices and then took hostages and barricaded themselves in their offices. The siege lasted well into Tuesday morning and after 11 hours the police were able to kill all three attackers, while 11 others were also killed. The Taliban have claimed responsibility for the defence ministry bombing while no one has stepped forward to take credit for the Pamlarena attacks. These two targets, along with the attack on the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul last week, tell us a lot about the targets militants in Afghanistan are going after. Anyone who is seen as complicit in any way with the foreign occupying forces – and in the Taliban’s mind that seems to include students studying at universities paid for by the American and international aid groups – will be considered a legitimate target. The government, especially those departments related to security, is obviously being targeted by the Taliban too.

Previously, and usually, what has been curious about attacks like these is that responses of the Afghan government to such attacks implicate Pakistan. This ‘strategy’ of alienating Pakistan is ill-advised and does nothing to deter the attacks. The Taliban’s spring offensive was more successful than most believed was possible and they may soon be in a position to take over Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, and retake the northern city of Kunduz. Ghani must know by now that he cannot militarily defeat the Taliban and so should have been working more closely with the Quadrilateral Coordination Group to bring the Taliban to the negotiating table. But the path he seems to have chosen is to work on reconciliation with the help of the US and India only, a policy that is doomed for failure since neither country has ever had any way to act as a go-between between the Taliban and Afghan government. With devastating attacks in Afghanistan now so routine, the government should not shut itself off to any avenue for peace.
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  #1172  
Old Friday, September 09, 2016
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September 09, 2016

No longer mine


Speaking on the floor of the National Assembly on Thursday, PTI chief Imran Khan condemned Speaker Ayaz Sadiq, saying he no longer considered him the speaker of the National Assembly. Sadiq’s supposed offence was that of the three disqualification references he received against Imran Khan and Jehangir Tareen, he decided to pass on two of them to the Election Commission of Pakistan while rejecting the four against Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. Perhaps it would have been better for the speaker to pass on or reject references against both sides for the sake of apparent propriety – even if it can be argued that the role of the speaker is not and should not be that of a postman. Ayaz Sadiq has said that the process of forwarding references is not a matter of keeping equilibrium but of ruling on the basis of the constitution and the law, and after examining the content of references in detail. He has claimed that this process was followed. Even if one were to totally accept the premise that Sadiq acted out of base partisan instincts, the net effect of his actions will be zero. The matter now rests with the ECP and not parliament. The ECP has already issued notifications to both Imran Khan and Nawaz Sharif, directing them to respond to the disqualification petitions already with it by September 22. But then let’s not forget that this is yet another body that Imran has vehemently attacked. Targeting institutions and individuals who ‘fail’ to favour him has always been his stock-in-trade, and the victims include the ECP, the judiciary and parliament among others. If Imran believes his foreign assets are kosher while Nawaz’s family’s assets merit his removal from office, then he has ample opportunity to make his case and there is nothing Ayaz Sadiq can do about it.

Adopting a more-in-sorrow-than-anger pose while saying one no longer considers Ayaz Sadiq a legitimate speaker would perhaps be impressive if the nation suffered from amnesia. Imran cannot claim to have ever accepted Sadiq’s legitimacy; from the day after the election Imran and his party have been after Sadiq for allegedly stealing a seat. Also, few have forgotten how the same speaker and parliament were abused in the most obscene way from a container in 2014 and how the PTI members of parliament were able to make their way back to the assembly with their perks and salaries uninterrupted – because Ayaz Sadiq did not accept their resignations. At the time, the speaker was severely criticised by disinterested analysts for not acting according to law and the norms. Imran now threatens politics of the streets but there is nothing new about this as far as the PTI and its chairman go. The PTI has mostly either boycotted elections or refused to accept results; it has made a mockery of parliamentary decorum and has made its claim to power the sole reason for its existence. Politics of protests is not an evil in itself – contrary to what the PML-N stalwarts are fond of telling the nation these days. There were aspects in Imran’s speech on Thursday which have been appreciated for their general relevance. However, what matters is the ambitions and designs of those doing any kind of politics. Unfortunately for Imran, democracy seems only to be an acceptable system of government if he is in charge. That is the overriding concern behind his tirade against individuals and institutions. Preserving and strengthening the democratic system is the last thing we notice in the whole affair.

Bad boy


At the best of times, Karachi’s traffic can be a nightmare to navigate. When a politician decides to block off the city’s main hub to protest what he calls ‘Pakistan’s problems’, it is he who becomes the real problem. Faisal Vawda of the PTI took to Shahrah-e-Faisal in Karachi during peak traffic hours on Wednesday with a group of his followers and used a bus to block off access to the road for six hours. Naturally, the blockade at Shahrah-e-Faisal had a knock-on effect of causing traffic jams throughout the city, leaving ambulances stranded and access to the airport limited. Law-enforcement officials even tried negotiating with Vawda to no avail and he was justifiably arrested when he finally ended his protest. The PTI tried to disassociate itself from Vawda, saying his venture was a freelance effort but that is not good enough. As the party’s head of media affairs in Karachi, Vawda’s actions must reflect on the party.

It is likely that Vawda was trying to make a quick name for himself. He has been the subject of rumours in recent days for alleged inclinations towards Mustafa Kamal’s Pak Sarzameen Party. But Vawda has disavowed those rumours, which makes his stunt the responsibility of the PTI. No one is going to take seriously the insistence that Vawda acted alone. But if it is true it means the central leadership of the PTI, both in Karachi and nationally, is so weak that anyone can flout its will at any time. Disciplinary proceedings must be opened within the party. The larger issue of how political parties operate in Karachi also need to be addressed. A special law of the urban jungle seems to be in play wherein parties and groups feel that the hurly-burly of daily life allows them to act in any way, without caring that they are being a nuisance to the people. The norms of not only politics but community are discarded without a care. The PTI is not the only example of this but it does not appear particularly bothered by it either. A party that claims to represent a new choice should not end up acting like the old which, it claims, mostly meant nothing but misery to the people.
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  #1173  
Old Saturday, September 10, 2016
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September 10, 2016

Bad bargain


The plea bargain is routinely used in many countries as a way to quickly settle cases in a clogged judicial system or to provide relief to an accused in return for their testimony in snaring bigger fish. Only in Pakistan is it specifically designed as a way to whitewash the crimes of public servants and others. The Supreme Court, in a suo motu case, is looking into the constitutionality of plea bargain and voluntary return schemes used by the National Accountability Bureau and its impression is that these schemes violate the constitution. In practice, what NAB tends to do in the case of voluntary return, when corrupt officials willingly return even a portion of the money they stole, is give them a pardon and allow them to resume their jobs. The business and industrial elite use these schemes to avoid prosecution while paying only a fraction of the amount stolen, and that too usually in instalments. In the case of plea bargains, investigations have already been initiated when the government offers a deal for the accused to pay back all the money they stole in return for having criminal charges dropped. With voluntary return, the NAB chairman has the sole authority to release criminal liability for the person returning the money, while under the plea bargain scheme the deal must be approved by the courts, which usually act as a rubber stamp.

There are many reasons why both schemes should be abolished. First, there is the fact that the right to a plea bargain is not available to most Pakistani citizens. It was only introduced in the National Accountability Ordinance of 1999 and can only be offered by NAB. If plea bargains are such a great deal for the state then why are they not extended to the rest of the population? The answer is implicit in the question. Plea bargains and voluntary returns are used to pad accounts and tout success in retrieving stolen money while the corrupt escape real punishment. That NAB keeps details of plea bargains secret from the public shows just how little scrutiny these deals can bear. This quid pro quo makes a mockery of justice and allows NAB to play by its own rules. As the Supreme Court observed, this only ends up encouraging more corruption. Corrupt officials pay only a fraction of the amount they have looted since NAB is usually unwilling to expend the resources to fully investigate cases and determine the full amount that was stolen. With their public benefit so minimal, it is time to do away with schemes that seem to have been created to keep the corrupt out of prison. The government should also look at the tendency to offer inducements as a way of preventing criminality. This extends beyond voluntary return and plea bargain to include the various tax amnesty schemes that are regularly proposed. Until enforcement is beefed up, such ways of recovering looted wealth will either be ignored or used to whitewash dirty money.

Not surprising


As the first by-election to be conducted after the sidelining of Altaf Hussain by MQM-Pakistan, the polls for PS-127, a Sindh Assembly seat which covers Malir, was always going to be seen as a referendum on the state of the party. That the MQM candidate Waseem Ahmed lost the seat to the PPP’s Murtaza Baloch – and that too by a margin of nearly 7,000 votes after the party had held the seat for 12 years – would not seem to augur well for the MQM’s future. But such elections tend to hinge more on local issues and structural factors like ethnic make-up and the rural-urban divide than a party’s national standing and it would be advisable to start there when analysing the cause of the MQM’s defeat. PS-127 can be divided into two halves – the urban Malir Cantonment, Malir Extension Colony and its surroundings, and the rural villages of Gadap Town where the population is mostly ethnic Baloch and Sindhi. The former has always been dominated by the MQM and the latter by the PPP. The PPP was able to prevail by turning out more voters from its areas than the MQM managed in their areas of influence.

That the PPP was able to play the turnout game better than the MQM was hardly surprising as it had been laying the groundwork for retaking seats it had lost to the MQM for more than a year. In March 2015, the provincial PPP government fulfilled a longstanding demand of rural residents and revived the District Council Karachi, which gave the rural areas of Malir and other districts their own separate local bodies representation. By taking the rural areas of Malir out of the hands of the Malir District Municipal Corporation, the PPP earned itself the gratitude of its residents. It was further helped by the poor performance of the PTI, which theoretically should appeal to the same voters as the PPP but is in disarray in Karachi. The MQM, meanwhile, suffered low turnout in its areas as it found itself involved in, or facing, clashes with the MQM-Haqiqi. It has alleged that Haqiqi men were working in cahoots with the PPP to disrupt the process for the MQM and that the police made the task easy for them. The MQM was also not helped by the Pak Sarzameen Party – which was not on the ticket but spurred the by-election when the constituency MPA Ashfaq Ahmed Mangi defected to them – decided to hold a large anti-MQM rally with Mustafa Kamal. In the national narrative, though, all these factors will be cast aside to portray the MQM as facing an existential crisis and the potential loss of its Karachi stronghold. The problem for the MQM is that such impressions, even if mistaken, can quickly take hold and become reality. It will have to get its electoral game back in order to quiet the negative headlines.
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  #1174  
Old Monday, September 12, 2016
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September 12, 2016

Informal affairs


While the federal government continues to boast rising tax revenues, the controversial strategy of using indirect taxes has received another unfavourable review. This time the criticism has come from the State Bank of Pakistan. The forced ‘broadening of the tax base’ – under IMF orders – has resulted in a decline in cash deposits in banks and an increase in currency circulation. This is according to the quarterly report by the SBP, which contrasts key figures from this year and the previous year to draw a rather bleak picture. Sure, tax collection has increased by over 10 percent, but the cost is the informalisation of the economy. The imposition of withholding tax resulted in a sharp increase in the purchase of prize bonds; to Rs94 billion from the Rs50 billion last year. The SBP seems to be saying that prize bonds might be used to conduct transactions instead of banking. The rise in bank deposits – Rs150 billion – is also low compared to the period between July 2015 and March 2016. The reason behind all this is simple: the 0.6 percent withholding tax on bank transactions, which exposed the government to the wrath of the trading community.

Experts had predicted that the outcome of such short-term measures would be an increase in the undocumented economy. Indirect taxes cannot be a long-term measure to secure the financial health of the country. While the finance secretary does not seem very worried about the negative data, there is an argument to be made for claims that people have been using cash and other mechanisms for trade since forever. It is banking that is the relatively new kid on the block. One must recall that it took a significant change in government policies towards banking in the late 1980s that made groups traditionally resistant to operating within the formal economy start using banks to store their wealth and conduct their businesses. The return to informal mechanisms of trade has clearly been faster and smoother than the government expected. The SBP has also criticised frequent changes in tax policy after the announcement of the annual budget. The use of regressive taxation measures, such as indirect and withholding taxes, indicates a failure to develop a long-term fiscal policy. Withholding taxes are 67 percent of all direct tax collection, a rather alarming number. The government must weigh the short-term benefit of withholding taxes against the long-term damage they cause to the process of formalising the economy. The SBP’s data must be considered seriously by policymakers to shift the focus of our tax policy to direct taxes.

Our ill health sector


A Supreme Court hearing last week into corruption in the public health sector showed once again that even this vital sector is not spared the incompetence, adhocism and neglect that befall most government departments. The Supreme Court found that recruitment has slowed to a crawl because the applicable laws for hiring have yet to be framed. Many public-sector hospitals are even operating without a permanent head and confusion prevails in hospitals around the country. Speaking specifically for Islamabad, the joint secretary for the Capital Administration and Development Division, Ayesha Farooq, said that primary health care was being taken care of by the interior ministry, an assertion which drew a stinging rebuke from the judges who wondered what authority that ministry had in the health sector. Part of the problem is that the centre and the provinces have been unable to figure out the lines of responsibility after the passage of the 18thamendment and the devolution of the health sector. Rather than clarifying jurisdiction, they seem to be making up the rules as they go along. The SC has now asked the attorney general to supervise the formulation of rules for recruitment and given the government two weeks to submit a response.

The court intervention is timely because the health sector is in a state of paralysis. The new National Health Vision, launched recently, was the first such document since devolution and only the fifth in our history. It wisely chose not to dictate to the provinces and instead tried to be more strategic. It was also the product of intensive collaboration with the provinces and the public and private health sectors, giving it more weight than previous such proposals. But, as the court hearing showed, there is much that has been ignored. Chief among the unanswered questions is how we plan on funding the health sector. The centre seems to have assumed that international organisations will cover whatever shortfalls we have. While that may be true for issues like polio which affect the whole world, we cannot expect outside help for primary and preventive care. Despite taking on board the views of the provinces, the centre is still to institute a forum for the federating units to formulate joint strategies and compare their performances. Ideally, devolution would allow provinces to adopt each other’s best practices but in reality it has been a race to the bottom. The National Health Vision must not only be endorsed by parliament, it must be accompanied by efforts to ensure there are sufficient doctors and nurses and that each province is getting the resources it needs to spend on health. A document – or even a Supreme Court instruction – alone will not get us there.
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  #1175  
Old Wednesday, September 14, 2016
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September 13, 2016

Eid reflections


The occasion of Eidul Azha at the end of the Hajj – one of the biggest gatherings of mankind in the world – marks the togetherness of Muslims around the world, no matter where they live and what their race is. This message was driven home clearly by the Imam-e-Kaaba in the Hajj sermon, which Sheikh Al-Sudais standing in for Grand Mufti Abdul Aziz al-Sheikh who is not well. It was stressed that Muslims need to put up a collective struggle to combat violence and defeat terrorism and that Islam is a religion of peace and it should not take outside intervention to maintain peace amongst Muslims. This of course is a relevant message in the times we live in and where Islam has been increasingly vilified as a faith. Eid is a time for sacrifice and no part of the world has sacrificed more in the recent years than the Muslim world. It is hard to think of a Muslim country which is not in a state of war. In Syria, nearly half a million people have died in a civil war that keeps raging more fiercely than ever. Brutal violence has been such a part of daily life in Syria that a ceasefire beginning on Monday that is supposed to last only 48 hours is being touted as a major celebration. Iraq is little better, with the Islamic State fighting the government to a bloody draw in most of the country. Even Turkey is facing militant attacks. The Islamic State, more than any other militant group, has done more to shatter any semblance of peace in the Muslims. Its allies, like the Boko Haram in Nigeria, are equally brutal. What makes matter worse is that, in trying to fight the IS threat, many Muslim states and their allies in the Western world have ended up committing atrocities of their own. The civil war in Yemen has been made worse by outside intervention. The bombing campaigns in Syria and Iraq have not stopped IS or ended civil wars.

Muslim countries are torn apart right now, by internal and sectarian divisions or by terrorism. Pakistan has not been an exception to these problems and suffered years on end by being riven by militancy, with its weak democracy and a less than enviable record of how its poor and vulnerable have been treated. For the Muslim world, then, the year ahead looks to be one of great sacrifice too. What is needed is deep refection and a strong resolve to tackle the problems and challenges facing us. Many of us will not be celebrating Eid in the expected manner because of the acute financial pressures they face and the rising inflation which makes it harder and harder for many families to mark the event as they did in previous years. Yes, the poorest of the poor will receive charity – many eating meat for the only time in the year when they are able to do so. But there are many others who are too proud, too dignified to seek charity. They suffer instead in silence. Increasing ostentatiousness adds to their plight and contributes to the growing social divide in our country. Eid should be an occasion when we consider ways to bridge this divide and bring people together everywhere regardless of their differences – creating the equitable, society that Islam envisages.

Ghani’s route


Afghan President Ahraf Ghani seems to be becoming more anti-Pakistan by the day. His latest outburst was threatening to cut off Pakistan from Central Asia should Pakistan not allow Afghanistan to use the Wagah border to trade with India. Pakistan has responded by saying that Afghanistan is still allowed to use the Wagah border to send goods to India; under the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit Trade Agreement it is only India which is not allowed to use Pakistan as a transit point in trading with Afghanistan. What prompted Ghani to launch this tirade was Pakistan’s decision to require Afghan nationals to carry valid identification to cross the border at Torkham. While the merits of that policy can be debated, Ghani comes off as hypocritical for his criticisms since Afghanistan has always accused Pakistan of not doing enough to control the movement of militants. The Afghan president wants it both ways, with Pakistan somehow managing to stop militants from crossing between the two countries while allowing Afghans to move freely. This, needless to say, is impossible. Ghani cannot seriously expect Pakistan to be used as a transit point for Indian goods going to Afghanistan since that would require Pakistan to negotiate a treaty with Narendra Modi, a hardliner who has shown little inclination to pursue diplomacy with Pakistan.

Afghanistan is already planning to give India access to Central Asia thanks to the Chahbahar port deal which sets up both rail and road access for India. Pakistan was deliberately excluded from that deal. For Afghanistan the main issue with Pakistan is what it considers our use of militant groups against them. It is undoubted that many leaders of the Afghan Taliban and the Haqqani Network have been based in Pakistan with not much action taken against them – at least till Zarb-e-Azb was launched. But it is equally true that Mullah Fazlullah is based in Afghanistan and Ghani’s government seems to have no interest in apprehending him and his men. Afghanistan’s close relationship with India is based not only on a mutual loathing for Pakistan but also the pursuit of better economic ties. Being able to transit in Pakistan would greatly reduce transportation costs for both India and Afghanistan while giving Pakistan extra revenue in the form of transit fees. But such an agreement is impossible at a time when all three countries accuse each other of sponsoring terrorism on their soil. Perhaps, at a later date, if ties are improved, the matter can be raised again.
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Old Saturday, September 17, 2016
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September 17, 2016

‘Honour’ trees


Every new day seems to bring yet another case of ‘honour’ killing. This time the victims were a woman from a village near Multan and the young man she was alleged to be having an affair with. The perpetrators were her father, brother and husband. The details of the case are particularly grisly, with both victims beaten up and then hanged from a tree. All three of the accused confessed to the murders and are currently in prison but there is no guarantee that justice will be served. This incident follows the recent killing of Samia Shahid, a British national who was lured to Pakistan by her father, raped and then killed; also involved was her first husband. Samia’s remarriage had angered her family. It is over such reasons that over 1,000 women on average are killed each year. According to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, the figure stood at 1,100 reported deaths for 2015. The trend appears to be continuing with a large number of killings having taken place already this year. Certainly, the government’s threats of meting out punishment to culprits or initiating new laws have had no impact. The brutalisation of society and the disempowerment of the weak and vulnerable pave the way for such killings.

A large number of ‘honour’ killings never come to public view. They are carried out in the dark and ‘sanctified’ confines of ‘family’ from where the truth never emerges. We do not know how many really fall victim to such acts. Not only are the police and the judiciary reluctant to punish such crimes, the government, despite promising to do so, is yet to close a loophole in clemency laws that allows family members to forgive murderers. But in the case of ‘honour’ killings both the victim and the perpetrators have the same family who, under pressure or because they agree with the killing in the first place, decide to drop the murder case. The government claims to have come up with a bill to forbid the practice in ‘honour’ killing cases but it is yet to present it to the public or table it in parliament. This is unforgivable when such killings take place on a daily basis. The federal government is reported to have put a draft before the CII for a new law which eliminates the possibility of granting forgiveness. The body – whose own role in advocating regression in society is glaring – says it is studying it and initial reports suggest it will stand with the law. But what if it does not? That question aside, are laws enough to stop the horrendous killings that we see? Can they alone prevent honour from being hanged from trees? Amending laws will not change the poison that afflicts us. In parliament, right-wing ‘religious’ parties like the JUI-F have consistently been at the forefront of opposition to any pro-women bill introduced. But they are not alone in this inhumanity. The so-called ‘liberal’ parties too have offered legions of examples where the holders of jirgas that mete out ‘honour’ punishment have been patronised and protected. A deeper social and political change is required, along with strong implementation of laws. The way is to resist and change the immoral status quo rather than accept it. Where and what is the agency of resistance and change?

Ghani’s Pakistan bashing


Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s trip to India, where he inked a billion-dollar aid deal and lost no opportunity to bash Pakistan should put to rest any idea that his government seeks better ties with Pakistan. The growing cooperation between Afghanistan and India on energy, agriculture, infrastructure and other areas will understandably make Pakistan wary as it sees this as part of an Indian plan to gain further influence in the area and use it to destabilise us. Ghani’s needlessly vitriolic statements against Pakistan only confirmed that belief. In a speech at the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses in Delhi, Ghani described Afghanistan as a country which is “landlocked but thinks openly” while condemning Pakistan as a country which has “access to the sea and thinks like a landlocked country.” This reference to land and sea was not accidental since recent sticking points between Afghanistan and Pakistan centre on Pakistan’s refusal to allow Indian goods destined for Afghanistan to pass through the Wagah border. Pakistan, meanwhile, is upset at being shut out of the Chahbahar Port deal, which gives India access to both the lucrative Central Asian market and an all-weather port in Iran through Afghanistan. Add to those the new deals signed between Afghanistan and India and it is clear that we are deliberately being isolated in the region.

Pakistan’s response to the deal and the statements came not long after. Our permanent representative to the UN Maleeha Lodhi said Pakistan cannot be expected to fight Afghanistan’s war on its own soil and also called on Ghani to ensure his territory wasn’t being used to plot attacks in Afghanistan. This kind of tit-for-tat, where the two countries accuse each other of fomenting terrorism against each other has become depressingly familiar and it appears it will only increase in the near future. It is no coincidence that as Ghani has sought better ties with India, he has taken to making barely-veiled accusations against Pakistan on an almost daily basis. Even on areas where there should be some agreement, Ghani has stuck to his anti-Pakistan guns. For instance, Maleeha Lodhi pointed out that Pakistan wants to build fences along the border – something Afghanistan should support since it has long accused us of not properly patrolling the border. Now that we want to do something about it, however, Ghani is dead set against it; the closure of the Torkham border even led to indiscriminate firing by Afghan forces. While no one should want Afghanistan to be Pakistan’s proxy in the region, there should also be concern that Ghani is leading it down a path where it will be acting as India’s proxy.
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Old Monday, October 03, 2016
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October 03, 2016

Levelling the corridor


The last Chinese and Asian Development Bank loan of $8 billion for the renovation of the railway line from Karachi to Peshawar takes the total investment in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to over $50 billion. It has now become easily the largest single project in the country’s history and its success will be crucial to our economic prospects for the next 20-30 years. There have been signs of confidence in the CPEC in recent days with both Iran and Saudi Arabia expressing interest in joining it. The sheer alarm India and increasingly the US have shown about the CPEC point to its effectiveness since they are unlikely to be so worried about something doomed for failure. China has pledged a total of $35 billion in the energy sector, which should go a long way towards solving our persistent power crisis, with the rest going for infrastructure development. But there is cause for worry too. A special Senate Standing Committee on the CPEC claimed that the centrepiece of the CPEC – the port in Gwadar – was being ignored and funds allocated for its development were instead spent to upgrade the port in Karachi. It also accused the government of refusing to prioritise the western route of the CPEC, which covers neglected cities like Turbat, Zhob, Burhan and Panjur.

This criticism by the Senate committee has both economic and political ramifications. The CPEC is meant not just for Pakistan’s economic development but specifically for those regions which are under-developed and traditionally neglected by the government. Balochistan, in particular, was wary of the government’s intentions and if it turns out that money for Gwadar was diverted to Karachi that would only confirm Baloch cynicism. This happened earlier too when the government decide to change the route of the CPEC from Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to concentrate on Punjab, claiming that the infrastructure needed for many projects was only in place in Punjab. But the entire point of the CPEC should be to create a level playing field. There are worries about security too and with so many different actors who have a reason to disrupt the CPEC there is a danger that China could be spooked if there were a real security threat. We have too much at stake here; for that reason and more, the CPEC needs a carefully thought-out policy on all levels. On top of the agenda should be a way to ensure all stakeholders get their jitters regarding the corridor put to rest.

Asia’s air


Asia faces an unseen health emergency. The World Health Organization has warned that nine of out 10 people in the world breathe bad air. This is responsible for over six million deaths a year. Most of these deaths are concentrated in low-to-middle income countries in the South Asian, Southeast Asian and Western Pacific region. China is one of the worst affected with smog a regular feature of some of its biggest cities, including Beijing. But other major cities are fast competing to take the title of the city with the worst air quality in the world due to an increase in traffic and rapid industrialization without adherence to air quality standards. In India alone, at least 600,000 people die due to poor air quality. Major cities in South Asia such as Dhaka, Mumbai, New Delhi and Karachi are not far behind in terms of poor air quality. There is no doubt that there is an air quality emergency in the world but our leaders seem to be unconcerned. Despite the historic agreement on climate change in Paris last year, there has been little concrete effort on the ground to improve environmental standards.

The fact is that environmental issues are still thought of as an impediment to development – and this is not unique to Asia. The inability to marry environmental concerns with developmental ideas is a challenge our governments and policy planners face daily. In our own case, after suffering from numerous climate related catastrophes in the last decade, including floods and heatwaves, Pakistan is still committed to building more coal-fired power plants and has a vehicle-centric idea of development. For example, environmental concerns have been completely missing from the conversation on the CPEC. Even a few simple steps would help make things better. One step could be the introduction of hybrid vehicles or enforcement of emission cleanliness standards on both power plants and industries. Needless to say, none of this is happening. Add to that rapid deforestation and the culling of trees in major cities and it becomes obvious why breathing clean air is almost impossible in the more ‘developed’ parts of the country. The lack of obvious health scare – like dengue or Ebola – makes it more difficult to highlight the urgency. Poor air quality is a silent killer. Combating it does not win elections – but it does save lives. And that is what our government and other governments in the developing world must prioritise.
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Old Tuesday, October 04, 2016
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October 04, 2016

Security plans


More than any other time of the year, the entire country is on a knife’s edge during the month of Muharram. Our unfortunate recent history has shown us that militant groups are likely to strike during Muharram and target the Shia community. Also obvious is that no matter how much security the government provides, it is an impossible task to secure every space in every city of the country. And no matter how many attacks are foiled, it takes only one successful attack for militants to claim a propaganda victory. The plans announced by police throughout the country certainly make it seem that they are taking security during Muharram seriously. Of the over 65,000 who will be deployed to provide security during the month, more than 25,000 will be posted in Karachi, where some of the most devastating Ashura attacks have taken place. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, every procession, no matter how small, will be provided protection while Islamabad will be provided security by over 11,000 law-enforcement personnel. As impressive as all this sounds, past experience has taught us that foolproof security is always an illusion.

Some of the measures taken by law enforcement should be cause for worry. In Islamabad, the police have said they will launch search operations in slum areas where Afghans reside; there is a danger that Muharram security could be used as an excuse to target Afghans. In Peshawar, the district administration has imposed Section 144 in the city, banning the entry of Afghans to the city for 10 days among other measures while only banning arms dealing for three days, which seems an odd inversion of priorities. The irony of discriminating against one marginalised community in the name of protecting another marginalised community should not be lost on anyone. The coming month, particularly for the next 10 days, will be one of the largest security challenges the federal and provincial government, the intelligence agencies and the police have faced in a long time. Their ability to protect everyone in the country without discrimination will go a long way towards restoring faith in our institutions while any failure could plunge us closer to irreparable division.

Child labour


The question of child labour in the country has been debated again and again. But there is really no debate about it; children should be at school and other means need to be found to help families who depend on their earnings to survive to manage. We simply cannot justify the fact that 25 million children in the country are out of school, out of which 15 million are part of the labour force. A seminar in Karachi held by the Society for the Protection and Rights of the Child and the Child Rights Movement, an umbrella of 60 Sindh-based organisations working for child protection, has noted that the abolition of the 1991 Employment of Child Act with the passage of the 18thAmendment had left children increasingly vulnerable. New legislation at the provincial level is needed as part of the devolution process. It has also been pointed out there has been no survey of child labour in Pakistan for 20 years. Such a study is badly required to determine precisely how many children go out to work and in what circumstances.

There is also a need to eradicate the confusion that exists over child labour. Perhaps, speaking of the immediate, it is inevitable. But at the very least we can adopt measures to protect children in their workplace as has happened in the Sialkot sports industry as a result of ILO intervention and international pressure. Schools have been set up for children where they work and a limit put on the hours of labour. The same is true of the carpet industry. But in the longer run, this is not enough. As stated at the seminar, ‘a child employed is a life destroyed’. We need to ensure that the lives of so many children in our country are not destroyed. Too many children are denied opportunity because they must go out to work. There have also been findings that the poor state of public sector schools and the refusal of children to attend them results in parents instead sending them out to work in the hope that they will learn a trade. This cycle of evil needs to be addressed collectively and everything possible done to protect children, a large number of whom are employed in hazardous professions despite the fact that Pakistan has signed international conventions against such practices.


A rare thing


Over the weekend India once again started firingacross the Line of Control, naturally provoking aresponse from Pakistani troops. There was also an‘attack’ on an Indian army camp in Kashmir which killedone Border Security Force officer. Even the avian divisionof Indian law enforcement swung into action and detaineda pigeon which, according to reports, they claimwas sent by the Lashkar-e-Taiba with a threatening noteto Narendra Modi. Modi himself was in typically belligerentform, one again insisting that his country had carriedout surgical strikes across the border rather than randomlyfiring and taking pride in these supposed strikes.In the same breath, Modi also declared that India hasnever attacked anyone and is not hungry for any territory,an assertion that millions of Kashmiris will scoff at.In Pakistan, there was a long overdue show of unityas Nawaz Sharif chaired an All-Parties Conference attendedby the heads of all major political parties – withthe notable exception of Imran Khan. They agreed on theneed for national unity and condemned Indian aggressionand, for once, there seemed to be unanimity across thepolitical spectrum, with even the routinely oppositionalPTI having no critical words. The meeting agreed to thesingle-point agenda to send a message to the world tocondemn Indian aggression on the Line of Control andoccupied Kashmir, and the government decided to set upa National Security Council on Kashmir. Still, it can besaid that such a demonstration should first have come inthe form of a public joint sitting of parliament rather thana closed-door APC. What was encouraging was the attitudeof the PPP leadership which, while critical of thegovernment over the Panama Papers leaks and its failureto appoint a foreign minister, called for unity over theKashmir issue. The APC was meant to show the Pakistanipublic that political parties can put aside differences inthe face of an external threat. But for them to succeed inthat aim, this rare moment of political unity will have tolast beyond just one meeting.
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Old Wednesday, October 05, 2016
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October 04, 2016

Dictators and democracy


Pakistan’s first dictator Ayub Khan had famously proclaimed that we were unsuited to democracy because of the warm weather, which presumably made passions run high in everyone but cold-blooded generals. Our most recent dictator, Pervez Musharraf, has now echoed these sentiments by claiming democracy is ineffective in Pakistan and the army is required to act as a check on democratic failure. Musharraf’s statement may not be as laughable as Ayub’s theorising but it is rooted in the same dangerous mindset: for most of our history quite a few men in uniform have seen themselves as the country’s indispensable rulers and our democratic system an inconvenience to be praised or trashed based on the needs of the dictator. That dictators have no use for democracy should be self-evident since their very first act in becoming dictators is to discard democracy. But they have still been forced to pay lip service to democracy, be it Ayub’s Basic Democracies scheme, Ziaul Haq’s party-less elections or Musharraf’s own constant insistence that only he was bringing ‘true’ democracy to Pakistan. For Musharraf, needless to say, the only true democracy was the kind that put him in charge. Once the people of the country had their say and Musharraf was sent packing, he no longer had any use for democracy whether ‘true’ or otherwise – as his most recent remarks show – or indeed for the country itself which he tried so hard to flee.

Dictators have tried, usually not very successfully, to hide their contempt for democracy because the people themselves do not share their ugly sentiments. It was a combination of students, workers and peasants that brought Ayub down while Zia had to face the strength of the non-violent and populist Movement for the Restoration of Democracy. Musharraf, too, faced the wrath of civil society when he attempted his second coup in 2007. But the constant undermining of democracy by military dictators has had an ally in the form of opportunistic politicians whose own base of power is small but whose influence is outsized during military rule because of their willingness to provide the illusion of democratic legitimacy to coup-makers. These are the politicians who joined the smear campaign against Fatima Jinnah in 1965, who welcomed the overthrow and hanging of a prime minister and who formed the King’s Party in Musharraf’s time. It is they who side with the dictators and also do their best to prove them right in their assertion that democratic politicians are hopelessly corrupt. In truth, more harmful has been the corruption of the dictators and their henchmen who ruthlessly divide the country and buy off politicians with schemes like the National Reconciliation Ordinance a la Musharraf. When they have fled the country they did everything to corrupt, they then have the temerity to declare us unsuited to democracy even as they sit in luxury in foreign lands and avoid democratic accountability for their actions.


Do we miss them?


It has been more than two months since Wahid Baloch was picked up by armed men in plainclothes from the outskirts of Karachi. The only problem around him appears to be that he participated in protests and press conferences for the relatives of ‘missing’ Baloch persons. The official silence over Wahid’s abduction has been all-encompassing and it was only this week that the police, pressurised by civil society demonstrations and an order from the Sindh High Court, finally agreed to file an FIR – against unknown persons. This is not good enough when law enforcement themselves are culpable, since there were both police and Rangers checkposts near where Wahid was picked up. Yet, both the police and the Sindh government, which has ultimate authority over the police, have been silent on the abduction. As in the case of others like him, we don’t expect to see a charge sheet against Wahid. Organising protests is a constitutionally-protected right. Wahid was a telephone operator at the Civil Hospital and his role as a citizen of this country ranged from educational and cultural activities to participation in protests.

Civil society, the Human Rights Commission and Wahid’s family have demanded only that he be produced in court and given an opportunity to defend himself. This is the bare minimum the state can do, particularly when it is apparent that there are not even the bare bones of a case against him. Wahid is far from the only Baloch to have ‘disappeared’. Human rights organisations estimate a big number of such people. The home department in Balochistan only admits to the laughably low figure of 71. Even if one were to accept that low figure, it means that the constitutional rights of 71 people have been openly violated by the state. The National Assembly occasionally holds hearings on ‘missing’ people and there is much wailing and gnashing from politicians but they have yet to do anything concrete. Virtual carte blanche appears to have been given to the act of picking up anyone and holding them without charge. Even the intervention of the Supreme Court in cases of missing people has not been successful in securing the release of all those in secret custody. Not only must Wahid and all those like him be released immediately but, to deter future such incidents, action must also be taken against these unlawful kidnappings.
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Old Thursday, October 06, 2016
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October 06, 2016

Security review


The PM House became the site of a full day of action on Tuesday as the top civilian and military brass huddled together to discuss both the threat of terrorism and the escalation of tensions with India. Three separate meetings were held; one of the National Security Council, one on the National Action Plan and one between Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Army Chief Raheel Sharif. The meetings sent a clear message that the civilian government and military were committed to combating any threats to national security together. Moreover, that they remain committed to implementing NAP despite the ongoing tensions with India. The much ignored issues of madressah reforms, terror finance, banned outfits, judicial reforms and making Nacta operational are expected to be prioritised. The issue of terror finance has already begun to be addressed, with the recent news that around two thousand bank accounts had been frozen. But this is only the tip of the iceberg. Terrorism financing operates outside formal channels, which makes it much more difficult to curb it. The NSC meeting noted correctly that any escalation of troops on the eastern border would only make the threat of internal terrorism higher. This would go against both the interests of Pakistan and the purported interests of India.

It is good to note that the tensions with India have not shifted Pakistan’s own focus towards eliminating internal terrorism. The fact that the government has sought progress reports on NAP and kept itself aware of how the fight against terrorism is going is a sign that Pakistan will not let itself be distracted by tensions with its old rival. This is the correct message to send to both the Pakistani people and the international community. India’s escalation of tensions with Pakistan is hurting Pakistan’s fight against terrorism. While Pakistan’s progress against terrorism may not be as great as our leaders would like to believe, the clarity to remain focused against terrorism is one that has been rarely seen in this country. PM Sharif himself seems to be focused on ensuring that the 20-point NAP is fully implemented by the end of his five-year term. At least that gives us a workable deadline for progress against terrorism. Timelines and milestones have been agreed between those attending the meetings. While Pakistani authorities have been good at saying the right things, they will now need to prove that they are up for handling the dual challenge of terrorism and India. In letting Pakistan not be distracted by the tensions on the eastern border, the civil and military brass of the country has shown the correct path to follow. This is a message that should be heeded by India, which has used international conflict as a way of shirking its domestic responsibilities. Focus is the need of the hour.

Easy target


The four Hazara women shot on a public bus by two armed motorcyclists as they travelled from the heart of Quetta city into Hazara Town must constitute the easiest target of all. Police say the women were picked out on the basis of their ethnicity – and possibly their sect. They are among the hundreds of Hazaras killed within the past five years solely on the basis of their ethnic and sectarian identity. As police pointed out after the latest incident in Quetta, the fact that Hazaras are easily recognisable makes them particularly vulnerable to the targeted killings that have decimated the peaceful community. Naturally this brutal act of mowing down helpless bus passengers who could do nothing to defend themselves will bring no comfort to the already fear-stricken Hazaras of Quetta. It has been believed that sectarian groups in the country have been responsible for the bombings which ripped through Hazara Town in 2013 and in other parts of Quetta over the years. But with the regional situation complicated by the heightened animosity with India, there is also a risk that elements based beyond our borders could take advantage of the divides along sectarian lines we have permitted to tear through our country and engage in actions intended to pull them wider.

Despite the calls for inquiries and condemnations from the top provincial officials in Quetta, it will not be easy to detect who carried out the killings. This has been the pattern in the past. It is also why we have been unable to stop such murders. Even though there have been far fewer mass bombings this year and the year before it, targeted killings of Hazaras and other Shias including pilgrims travelling across the border into Iran or back have continued. In the last 15 years, an estimated 1,400 Shias have been killed in Balochistan. This is a shameful number. The new deaths in the month of Muharram also add to the dangers that always lurk during this sensitive time and remind us that we are still a long way off from turning our country into a place within which all citizens can be safe regardless of their belief, their ethnicity or their political affiliation. The fate of the Hazara population of Quetta tells the story of an entire country that has fallen victim to forces operating both from within and from the outside.
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