Even Karzai now

Saturday, July 31, 2010
The regional game of finger pointing continues. This time blame has been directed towards Pakistan from the West, with President Hamid Karzai saying in Kabul that allies should be aware that the training centres and sources of funding for militants in Pakistan are a key reason for terrorism in Afghanistan. He also suggested that ISAF forces target militant strongholds in Pakistan, a statement that almost beggars belief for its naïveté. Mr Karzai, it seems, regards an invasion of our sovereignty as little more than an operational trifle. We wonder how he would react if we suggested that in an attempt to cut cross-border criminal activity Pakistani forces should target his half-brother who allegedly runs a vast criminal organisation out of Kandahar. As of late, we have become something of a punching bag, with various accusations coming in from a number of places that we harbour terrorists – or worse. The charges have come from the US, the UK and from India. Now Afghanistan and its wobbly president have jumped on the bandwagon.

Pakistan has a terrorist problem and there is no point in denying this. But it is also not alone in creating it, nor is it the only country where militant bases exist. The main issue that needs to be emphasized is that the relentless game of redirecting blame will lead nowhere at all. The countries of the region, and others involved in the war on terror need to sit down together and agree on a joint plan to defeat militants. Such cooperation is essential. We know the groups that operate on either side of the Durand Line are closely linked. They can be overcome only if countries work together -- and not against each other -- for this purpose. It is unfortunate that a willingness to accept this has not developed. Only when Kabul, Islamabad and also New Delhi are willing to work together will any headway be made against the terrorist threat. Mr Karzai in his address also spoke of a desire for friendship with Pakistan. He must understand that making accusations is not the best way to move towards this. The antagonism that exists between the two countries has strengthened the militants. Kabul must recognise this and work towards the cooperation required to weaken them in all the countries where they operate.

Manmohan's desire

Saturday, July 31, 2010
The Indian prime minister has continued to speak in positive terms about Indo-Pak relations, and has stated that, in time, talks between the two countries will resume. The comments of course say very little that is concrete. Manmohan Singh has in fact refused to be drawn into the debate of how the foreign ministers of the two countries handled the last round of dialogue, though he did suggest that the barbs heard at the Press Conference in Islamabad were, at best, unwise. This of course is true, though the matter of the unfortunate comments made in New Delhi regarding the alleged ISI involvement in Mumbai on the eve of the talks has not been taken up.

The statement of course does nothing to break the current state of deadlock. Nevertheless, it expresses a sentiment of good intent and a desire to move on with the peace effort. This in itself is important. Without goodwill, the bid to improve relations between India and Pakistan would undoubtedly flounder. Mr Singh's assertion that he does desire better ties is encouraging. What is crucial though is for him to work out what the best way is to proceed from this point on. Islamabad too needs to think along similar lines. The bogging down of the process will lead nowhere and only push back the many dividends that peace can bring to both countries and also to the South Asian region as a whole.

A national disaster

Sunday, August 01, 2010
Every province of the country, along with Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan, has been struck by the unusual severity of the July 2010 monsoon. Some have been struck harder than others with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa currently bearing the brunt of fatalities and damage; but downstream troubles await Sindh as the floodwaters surge down the Indus river system. This is no localised disaster, this is going to affect virtually everybody in the country either directly or indirectly and its impact is going to be felt for months and years to come. The scale of the problem is such that in places the rescue and disaster response machinery has been overwhelmed both literally and metaphorically. Although there will be local failures to effectively organise or coordinate efforts, overall this event has to be seen in the context of a massive disaster such as an earthquake – but affecting far more people over a much greater area.

There are calls from all sides for helicopters and relief be it food, water or medicines. The number of helicopters we have that are suitable for flood relief work is probably no more than eight, ten at most. The relief that helicopters can provide is extremely limited – they cannot mass-evacuate casualties for instance, and their load-carrying capacity is too small to make a significant difference. There may be little point in relocating the majority of victims to camps because the floods will recede almost as rapidly as they rose once the monsoon abates. Camps are complex to set up and administer and would have a very short life anyway. There is no high ground for people to evacuate to in most of Sindh and Punjab, similar in much of Balochistan where the thin population is concentrated around river banks. We need fast short term help, especially helicopters, along with large quantities of water purification kits which can be air-dropped and culturally appropriate meal packs which can also be air-delivered. Mobile health teams which can be river-capable and portable health units that are air or water transportable – all of this we need soon. The real work will be done once the waters recede and the dead are buried. Homes, crops, livelihoods, infrastructure such as roads, bridges and water management systems – all are going to need to be rebuilt in all the provinces and this out of provincial and federal budgets that are already stretched. The 2010 monsoon has brought damage and loss of life on a scale beyond living memory. We need to ensure that if it happens again – and it might – we are better prepared than we were this time around.

Shifting focus

Sunday, August 01, 2010
Much mention has been made in the last week of the Wikileaks revelations, and of specifically what they say about Pakistan and its our prime intelligence agency, the ISI. Viewed overall, the references to our contacts with the Taliban are but a tiny part of the volumes of material now in the public domain and all of it relates to the period 2004-2009. There is nothing that is current and it is thus unwise to extrapolate what was - to what is. The complexity of the dynamic that exists between ourselves, the Americans and the Afghan Taliban is ill-understood. Whilst on the one hand we need to work with the Americans, at some future date we are going to have to be working with the Afghan Taliban as, like it or not, they are going to be a part of the governance of any future Afghanistan. The Americans are not. It would be foolhardy in the extreme if we so alienated the Taliban as to lose contact with them completely. Rather than be surprised by our contacts with the Taliban we need to see this as an acknowledgement of our security services taking a long view. Difficult to swallow it may be, but geopolitical realities are rarely palatable.

This emerging reality is within the thinking of the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, who has asked the ISI to “strategically shift its focus”. He refers to a past in which elements of the ISI clearly did have a relationship with extremist organisations, moreover one which was initiated and fostered by the Americans. That some of those relationships may have lingered into another time and are now seen as inconvenient may indeed indicate that a shifting of focus is in order. Mullen acknowledged that the process of shift was underway and not yet complete. What we have now is a geopolitical layer cake with the plates not all pulling in the same direction. It is not to our advantage to have a hostile government in Afghanistan and if a significant part of that future government is going to be Taliban – then keeping our options open with them makes all the more sense. Managing the dynamic tension between fighting terrorism and safeguarding our own long-term strategic interests is going to be one of the great challenges of modern diplomacy.

Launching Bilawal

Sunday, August 01, 2010
In what promises to be a rather bizarre ceremony, young Bilawal Bhutto Zardari is to be ‘launched’ as PPP chairman in the UK. The event has little real meaning. The affairs of the party in real terms will continue to be controlled by his father. But the politics of dynasty continues. The message to all of us is clear. Only those with the right second name have the authority to control the fortunes of our parties and the people who form a part of them. This of course is damaging in more ways than one. We are still many miles away from the dream of democracy that so many desire as the most powerful tool available to change their destiny and the fate of the land they live in.

There is another aspect to all this. We do not know how much money is to be spent on the launch of the young chairman. But it will certainly amount to a sum that could have been far more wisely utilized. The explanation offered by a party spokesperson that the event is one involving the president of Pakistan does not justify the expenditure. For the future, the issue of quite how Bilawal Bhutto he thinks and what he believes in could determine a great deal in our country. He would do well by stepping in to cancel the ceremony and instead setting about to prove himself a worthy leader through more solid action rather than flamboyant gestures.

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Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Hard times

Monday, August 02, 2010
There is little cheer in the newly released Monetary Policy Statement of the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP). Inflation at 11.7 per cent is 2.7 percentage points above the target – and local conditions will peg it even higher than that particularly as the effects of the ongoing monsoon disaster are felt. Energy shortages and what is described as the ‘dismal’ condition of law and order hamper an already stumbling economy. Waiting in the wings we have yet to see the effect of the rise in government employees wages (to counter inflation), increases in electricity prices and the elevation of GST – not to mention the ongoing battle to get provincial unanimity on the matter of Value Added Tax (VAT). Viewed together it appears that the baseline inflation rate for the coming year is going to be between 11 per cent and 12 per cent - against a target of 9.5 per cent. We are experiencing a rising domestic demand which is set against a weak capacity for production, and although some improvement can be seen when set against the situation three years ago the future looks bleak.

Turning to taxation the SBP highlights the eternal ball-and-chain on the national ankles – a massive shortfall of taxes collected against projections. The scheduled banks and the SBP are financing the fiscal deficit generated by low tax revenues, high current expenditures and projected shortfalls in external financing. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) may have collected Rs1380 billion in the current FY, but they also show a shortfall of Rs53 billion against a target of Rs1380 billion. Inflow from external sources was the poorest performer – Rs177bn against a projected budget estimate of Rs377bn. Although the figures in the SBP report are provisional they indicate that the fiscal deficit target of 5.1 per cent has been missed and the real figure for the deficit is more likely to be 6 per cent. That we live in hard times is undeniable, and these developments are inconsistent with the objectives of increasing the tax-to-GDP ratio in order to reduce the revenue deficit. As things stand there is little room for development expenditure – and that situation is going to worsen sharply as the bill for the floods comes in – or for sustainable economic growth. On the plus side exports have picked up, workers remittances have increased and the realisation of the Coalition Support Fund (CSF) go some way to brightening the horizon. Overall, the report is a picture of several missed targets, an unhealthy reliance on external supports and a patchy recovery for some sectors of the economy. Unless we solve the problems of expanding our tax base and getting the energy sector back on its feet we are never going to see other than hard times. We can do both, but whether our rulers would ever mature to the point at which they could allow that to happen is very much open to question.

Beyond a joke

Monday, August 02, 2010
Anybody who is involved in the delivery of education in Pakistan found themselves convulsed with uncontrolled mirth at the recent remarks of Prime Minister Gilani. Our politicians are renowned for their ability to stuff one or both of their feet in their mouths every time they open them, but PM Gilani gets an award for speaking little sense whilst keeping a straight face. And the joke was? The PM was speaking to the principal of Lawrence College, Murree, when the principal was paying a visit to the PM House. He highlighted the government’s mission of ‘Education for all’ and said, without a trace of irony or event the faintest embarrassment that ‘education is at the top of the priorities of the government.’ He went on to say that ‘the youth are precious asset and need to be educated to meet future needs of society’ – a statement that nobody would find much to disagree with.

It will come as no surprise to anybody reading this newspaper that education is not at the ‘top of the priorities of the government’. Consider the current state of play within the education system. One third of primary-age children are not in school. Around 35 per cent of those who do attend school and get to class 3 cannot do single-digit subtraction. For every 100 children that start school in class KG just one will make it to class 12. Every day about 25 per cent of the nation’s teachers in the state sector do not turn up. Sixty per cent of schools have no electricity and 34 per cent no drinking water. Low-cost private sector education delivers a better product than public schools at less than half of the unit cost. There are about 4 million school-age children in Karachi, of which 600,000 are enrolled in public schools with 1.5 million enrolled in low-cost private schools, which suggests that there are about 2 million not being educated at all. That is 50 per cent of all children in Karachi, our biggest city, who are outside of the education system. Our school curriculum is a generation or more out of date and attempts to reform it over the years have mostly failed. We rank 163rd (out of 177 countries) in the UN index of education systems. And all this before we come to the budgetary allocation for education as a percentage of GDP, and the upcoming difficulties associated with provincial ability to effectively spend their now-devolved budgets. There is no evidence whatsoever that the current government is any more committed to education reform than any of its predecessors. Indeed it is likely that real education budgets in 2010/11 will actually be reduced. Are we laughing Mr Gilani? We laughed until we cried.

__________________
Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Chaos and anarchy

Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Killings of top leaders or their families in Karachi and Peshawar, the latest being the MQM leader Raza Haider, the almost inhuman and callous indifference of the ruling setup to the miseries and suffering of the flood-hit millions, the boiling rage in people’s minds who turn to violent protests, burning vehicles and instant shutdown of business and economic activity, all point to a total lack of confidence in the competence of the present rulers and cast a serious doubt on whether they are capable of giving the country the quality of leadership that is desperately needed in these trying times. The Raza Haider shooting and many others before it invoke an immediate and standard statement from some ministers and other PPP spokespersons but then everything goes back to normal and leaders return to their businesses.

This state of affairs cannot be tolerated and sustained for long. The MQM reaction to the latest killing has been sharp and shows they may have reached the end of the road with their coalition status in Sindh, sitting on the government benches with the PPP and the ANP but blaming these parties for their woes on the streets. The MQM-ANP exchanges of accusations have become blatant and both have taken off their gloves. Names have been named and demands for crushing each other have been made. In his recent speech from London, MQM supremo Altaf Hussain was almost at the edge of crossing all the red lines. ANP leaders have called the MQM a terrorist outfit. In this mayhem, the real terrorists are carrying on with their business of targeted killings with absolute ease. Though all will condemn the murder of Raza Haider and his guard, mere words are no longer enough. The PPP government in Sindh has failed to control the situation and the overwhelming energy deployed by top PPP leadership to control, incapacitate, decimate or destroy all law-enforcing institutions, are not helping democracy or even maintaining the semblance of normal order. Laws meanwhile are being flouted and courts defied. The situation calls for all thinking heads to come together and hammer out some ground rules otherwise anarchy and collapse of the society are not far behind. Major stakeholders have a larger responsibility and a major responsibility to apply the brakes now before even they become helpless spectators.

Amateur at work

Tuesday, August 03, 2010
It is not just our politicians who have a predilection for inserting the footwear into the mouth; the British can be pretty good at it as well. The higher up the tree one is the larger the boot to be inserted. British Prime Minister David Cameron, recently elected and doubtless wanting to make an impression early in his premiership, has produced a significant diplomatic foot-in-mouth moment. It will be recalled that whilst on a visit to India last week to promote UK trade and social ties with our neighbour, Mr Cameron offered the opinion that we ‘could not look both ways’ on the matter of terrorism and that the funding of terrorist outfits as a matter of strategic policy (ours) was unacceptable. Quite so, Mr Cameron, quite so. We suspect that it might be a little early for you, whose regional experience appears limited to say the least, to offer opinions from the vantage point of a state with whom our relations can be a little tendentious and then tootle off back to the mother country wondering what all the fuss was about. Indeed we might go so far as to suggest that before you repeat the foot-mouth procedure you might like to have a quiet word or two with your Ambassador here in Pakistan, a man who appears to know which end of the fork to pick up his dinner with. We are sure he may be able to advise you as to the subtleties of modern diplomacy.

The consequences are considerable. They include the summoning of the British high commissioner to our foreign office on Monday for what is unlikely to have been a cosy chat over tea and biscuits; and an upcoming meeting of possible frostiness between President Zardari and Prime Minister Cameron during the formers visit to the UK — and add to that the cancellation of a visit to the UK by representatives of our security services, local experts in anti-terrorism. They are presumably somewhat miffed at the Cameron take on the complexities of a conflict that dates back to the last time the Afghans gave the British a jolly good thrashing – 1842 and the retreat of Lord Elphinstone from Kabul. Casual off-the-cuff remarks in this part of the world can have unforeseen consequences. 5/10 Cameron. Do better next time.

Rising toll

Tuesday, August 03, 2010
The flood disaster threatens to worsen. Initial reports of villages being submerged in Sindh had already begun coming in by Monday. The situation could worsen if the fresh spell of rains forecast by the Met Office hit us over the coming few days. While the Sindh irrigation minister has stated that barrages in the province can cope with the 900,000 cusecs of water expected to stream into them as the flood reaches Sindh, villagers in the province are less confident. Many have refused point blank to leave homes located close to rivers on the basis that camps set up by the government in schools and at other places are inadequate and that the needs of displaced people are rarely cared for at them. Even as things stand now, around 1,400 people have lost their lives as a result of the flooding. In the Shangla and Swat and districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the worst-hit area, thousands of people remain stranded on rooftops unable to access food or water. Rescue efforts have been impeded by the washing away of roads and dozens of bridges.

The situation is monstrously difficult given the circumstances that prevail. Humanitarian agencies have conceded that it is proving extremely hard to reach the affected people. Over 150,000 families are reported by the UN to be in need of help in KP alone. However, the difficulty of access and other similar concerns should not prevent authorities from doing all that is possible to bring in much needed relief. This is what people expect from governments. The failures seen so far even in the Peshawar area, where a protest was staged by some 300 flood victims over the poor arrangements at camps set up for them, is already generating a great deal of disquiet. Further disillusionment with the government is not something we can afford given the problems we already face as a result of it. It is essential then that the rescue effort move into top gear. Right now rescue is a priority. But in the future a great deal more will be needed to manage the outbreak of disease, to rebuild destroyed housing and to rehabilitate people who have lost livelihoods as a result of their lands being washed away by the worst flood here in living memory.

__________________
Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Violent days
The death toll in Karachi climbs steadily. In the violent frenzy that has followed the killing of MQM MPA Raza Haider, at least 48 people have already died. The number will definitely rise as gangs move through streets seeking to inflict more death. The MQM has been quick and keen to accuse the ANP, bracketing it with terrorist organisations. In a press conference held Tuesday evening, the deputy convener of its Rabita Committee named those MQM activists who died recently in targeted killings. The ANP will be equally swift in naming those victims who belonged to its ranks and in pointing out that most who die in the larger-scale violence that erupts in the city after such incidents are poor working-class members of the ethnic group the ANP claims to represent. Interior Minister Rehman Malik has blamed the MQM leader's murder on Sipah-e-Sahaba and the TTP. Dozens of activists of banned militant outfits have been rounded up but it is uncertain if this will do much good. The action seems akin to closing the stable door after the horse has bolted. There are reports now appearing about the police having been aware of an alleged plan that had long been in the offing to murder Raza Haider and other such politicians. Rehman Malik's warning that the terrorists might strike at the funeral of the slain MP was characteristic of how he always acts in the face of any disaster; his words serving only to increase the sense of doom and sharpen the impact of the tragedy. His statement about some people having survived the plane crash in the Margalla Hills also comes to mind.

Amid all the confusion and chaos, one thing is clear -- that in such a dangerous and volatile situation, the coalition partners in Sindh have nothing to offer Karachi that could restore some semblance of normalcy and sanity, but only contradictory and self-serving statements without an ounce of sincerity and care for the city and for its common people who have long been victims of the politics of hate and murder. Quite ridiculously the interior minister, speaking on the floor of the Senate, termed Raza Haider's killing 'Khuda ki karni' (God's doing). Instead of lecturing us on Divine wisdom, Mr Malik would do well to inform us what his government has done and is doing that could make any real difference and prevent Karachi from sliding further down the abyss of murder and mayhem. The killing of Raza Haider brings together various kinds of violence in Karachi. There is a question whether the incident was sectarian or 'political'. What's happening in Karachi will undoubtedly have an impact on the already shaky political situation in Sindh, and indeed in the centre. The harmony among the coalition partners has vanished and the PPP has failed to do anything to end the bitter war between the MQM and the ANP. For the first time since the deadly street wars of the previous decade in Karachi, we see how events played out in this city can affect the country as a whole. Condemnations of the latest incident have come in from the president and from others. But we have heard such words before. On their own they serve very little purpose. It is quite obvious that far more needs to be done. The history of Karachi is not encouraging in this respect. Once violence takes root it has always been hard to shake the streets, the alleys and the congested neighbourhoods free of the mayhem and the anger that spurs it on. It is sad that attempts were not made at an earlier stage to do so and, as we have come to expect, the interior minister failed to do anything at all to restore order despite his dash to the city a few weeks ago. This failure only adds to the complications and the difficulties inherent in the situation. The disruption to life in the city will affect millions. It is, as yet, hard to ascertain what the wider impact will be. But almost certainly it will diminish further the faith of the people in the ability of the government to run national affairs or to protect the lives of its citizens – a task that constitutes the most basic duty of a state.

The big squeeze

Wednesday, August 04, 2010

It is possible to read a degree of synchronicity into the recent diplomatic statements of the British and the Americans. We must assume that in broad terms the two are reading off the same page but the way in which they are currently convergent speaks of more than 'a special relationship.' It is remarks by US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates in an interview that are of particular concern. He spoke of a build-up of US forces in eastern Afghanistan to tackle the Haqqani faction and dropped a hint that any action could be on 'both sides of the border.' A host of questions lie within those five words, not the least of them being those around whether or not America would take unilateral action, without the permission or cooperation of Pakistan, or bilaterally in conjunction with our forces?

Realistically, it is able to do both depending on how it gauges the fallout (from unilateral action) and how much cooperation it feels is being extended to its efforts – and whether that cooperation is commensurate with the task or merely aimed at deflecting American criticism that Pakistan 'needs to do more.' On the other side of the Atlantic and in advance of President Zardari's meeting with UK Prime Minister David Cameron, there is a statement from Cameron's office which says that he has no intention of withdrawing or apologising for the remarks he made about Pakistan as a sponsor of international terrorism whilst he was visiting India last week. Viewed together these statements – one dogmatic and seemingly ill-advised and the other a not-so-subtle hint of the steel beneath the diplomatic glove – look pincer-like, designed to squeeze Pakistan. There can be little doubt that our own condition is currently weakened by the onslaught of the monsoon, which has left more than a thousand dead, millions homeless and is not yet over. The military is tied up with fighting the insurgency in the northwest of the country, and everywhere else in providing relief to a distressed population. What we need now rather than the big squeeze and the veiled threats is urgent support. We have enough difficulty supporting ourselves, let alone supporting partner nations in their own battles. Asking us to 'do more' at a time when we have less and less to do anything with helps nobody. A little less diplomatic game-play and a little more practical assistance would narrow the trust deficit for all sides.

__________________
Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Aimless travels

Thursday, August 05, 2010

President Zardari’s trip West, as Karachi continues to burn up with rage and floods sweep away thousands of homes across the country, has generated a great deal of controversy. The amazement of commentators in France and Britain that he chose to continue with his trip at such a moment in his country’s history has not been disguised. This is all the more so as there appears to be little real aim for the visit. Certainly, nothing very significant has been achieved so far during it. Predictably enough, the focus has been on terror and its various dimensions. In what constitutes a snub for the president, British Prime Minister David Cameron has declined to withdraw comments that Pakistan is responsible for the export of terrorism. It seems unlikely he will alter his stance when he meets Mr Zardari. The remarks made in an interview in France that Pakistan and its allies are losing the war on terror only add further gloom to an already bleak situation at home. What is more, they contradict previous comments by Mr Zardari about gains against militants. It is not clear why he has changed his position. Also, we would expect from the head of the frontline state in the war on terror a more cogent focus on what needs to be done, rather than defeatist comments which deflate the hopes of people and of troops still engaged in fierce battles in Orakzai, Bajaur, Kurram and other areas.

At home, the images of a smiling president touring Europe and visiting luxury mansions have not gone down well at all. It is doubtful if his presence at home would serve any real purpose, but in the face of such calamity people need to feel that their leaders are standing by them. This point has indeed been raised by Asian politicians and the constituents of Pakistani origin in the UK. They seem set to do so even more vociferously as Mr Zardari steps on to British soil. At the very least we need to be reassured that public money is not being spent on the trip. We hope too that the government is aware that, given the mood at home, any public ‘launching’ of Bilawal Bhutto Zardari as PPP chairman at this time would be in bad taste, all the more so if fanfare is to accompany the event. Perhaps the young man himself should see this and act more wisely than his globe-trotting father by calling for the event to be cancelled.

Women at work

Thursday, August 05, 2010

The prime minister’s announcement of a ten per cent quota for women in all government departments is intended as a step to empower them. The intention as such is good. But piecemeal measures will, in the final analysis, have very little impact on improving the plight of women. As things stand now, a very large number are denied opportunity or the chance to escape the discrimination they face on a day-to-day basis. Tradition is one factor in this, with practices carried out in the name of convention leading to the oppression of women and the denial to them of basic rights. Continued ‘honour’ killings are one manifestation of this bleak reality.

While jobs for women can indeed serve a useful purpose, there are other areas too that need to be addressed. One is that of education. Though enrollment at schools has gradually increased for women in almost all parts of the country, even today fewer girls as compared to boys attend school. The literacy rate for women stands at around 25 per cent compared to over 58 per cent for men. In some parts of the country, notably the tribal areas, less than one per cent of women have attended school. Of the aim of empowerment for women that the PM talks about is truly to be attained, it is vital that learning be ensured for every child in the country regardless of gender. The fact that so many women today remain illiterate means they are denied access to information, to standing as income earners within households and to reproductive rights. The political rights of women – with a far smaller number registered as voters compared to men – is also tied in to their education and empowerment. As a government that speaks so often in the name of the late Benazir Bhutto, this is something the PPP must set about changing. Pakistani women have shown when they are offered the opportunity that they are capable of excelling in a very wide number of fields. Yet only a very small number of women have the privilege to reach their full potential. As a nation we could gain a great deal by working to alter this and ensuring that all citizens are equal. This is after all what the constitution lays down. Today we need all our people to contribute to the nation and this can happen only if each of them is educated, enlightened and empowered.

Preventing peril

Thursday, August 05, 2010

In Sindh, and also districts of southern Punjab, authorities have said force may need to be used to evacuate tens of thousands of people based in areas which may be hit by floods as the surging river waters travel southwards. Further rain, which on Tuesday had begun to fall over Punjab, could swell them further. The situation is a rather tricky one. People say they are reluctant to move because they lack faith in the government’s ability to offer them adequate alternative shelter. In Sindh people have pointed to dismal arrangements made in the past and to the lack of food or basic amenities at camps. Their concerns are valid. The flimsy polythene set over sticks, which were set up as ‘shelter’ for people on Sindh’s coast feared to be under threat from Cyclone Phet earlier this summer, hardly represented adequate housing – even for temporary purposes. Unsurprisingly, people moved to it left almost immediately, returning to villages. The situation also underscored the need for all people – no matter how impoverished – to be treated as human beings with dignity and respect. The inadequacy of the shelter offered to them suggested an official unwillingness to do so. These factors, alongside concern for property left behind, contribute to the reluctance to shift that we see now.

But given the hazards posed by the worst floods since 1929, there is obviously a need for people to be brought to safety. It is important, however, that for this purpose persuasive rather than coercive measures are used. Threats of police action being made by some officials are unwise. It would make far more sense to communicate with communities, allow them to play a role in decision-making and decide how best to manage the necessary process of moving people away to places where they can be kept safe from the flood.
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__________________
Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Crisis of legitimacy

Friday, August 06, 2010
If President Zardari’s visit to France and the UK were to be considered in the light of how it is seen in Pakistan, there would be little doubt that he made a serious miscalculation by going ahead with it. The country is awash with the worst floods in 80 years, thousands have died, more will die, and perhaps millions have lost homes and livelihoods. One might have thought that under these circumstances the least he could have done before jetting off for a few days was to address the state of the state of which he is president. It would have done him no harm at all to spend ten minutes talking to all 170 million of us and wish us well in our watery and uncertain futures.

Now the British media have got their teeth into our president. They have no inhibitions about pouring scorn and ridicule on him, and have resurrected the ‘Mr 10 per cent’ nickname for him that labels him as corrupt, a taker of bribes. He has been pictured on a visit to a French chateau owned by a relative and many media outlets have commented that the real reason for his visit is to see the coronation of his son Bilawal in what The Independent called “…that strangest of modern political roles – the dynastic democrat.” The reports of his luxurious lifestyle are juxtaposed with images of flooded landscapes and desperate people; and the overall impression is that the British media perceives a crisis of legitimacy for Mr Zardari. It is clear that the president has done nothing to help himself with this visit. He now says that he is going to ‘educate’ the British prime minister when he sees him at Chequers on Friday. Perhaps so, but few would regard Mr Zardari as the most objective of teachers and Mr Cameron has made it clear that he will stick to his ‘plain speaking’ line. The vulnerability of our president outside his own land as a man that few would trust is ruthlessly exposed. In the UK he does not have the protective shields that he has in Pakistan, no circle of sycophants whispering polishing platitudes into his ears day in and day out. In PR terms the Zardari visit to France and the UK has been an unmitigated disaster – if only because he turned his back on his own people at a time of dreadful disasters whilst in pursuit of his own dynastic aggrandisement.

The hunting game

Friday, August 06, 2010
In Karachi the death toll has continued to rise. The killings unleashed by the murder of an MQM MPA also continue to grow uglier in their nature. More than 80 lives have been taken since Monday. Defenceless people -- many of them Pukhtun labourers -- whose presence in the city is aimed only at earning enough to keep food before their families have been hunted down and shot. Some have been killed as small children watched. It is quite obvious that the coalition government has lost all capacity to maintain any kind of order. The sense of disarray has crippled everyone – and the poor who have no protection from bullets are the most vulnerable of all. In localities where those from all ethnic groups live close together there is growing unease and bitterness.

The need to protect people is an urgent one. All of them deserve a life better than that of animals facing the gun of the marksman. It is becoming clear that the political parties will not heed calls to sit together. But Karachi needs to be saved and its people need help. No one at present seems able or willing to come to their rescue and this raises the risk of an acceleration in the senseless violence that has claimed the lives of so many innocent people.

No letup in terror

Friday, August 06, 2010
There is no letup in terrorism. Even the devastation wreaked by the flood in KP has not been enough to persuade the militants not to strike. As in the past, they have targeted a senior member of the security apparatus. The killing of FC commandant Sifwat Ghayyur of course weakens the police setup and diminishes its ability to cope with terror. It does so in two ways: by removing yet another senior officer from the scene and by adding to the fear which deters others from going after the militants. Life, after all, is a precious human possession. But undoubtedly the element of fear serves a primary purpose of the terrorists. By spreading it they seek to paralyse normal life and cripple authorities. It is disturbing that well over a year after the full-fledged military offensive in the north began the militants remain capable of doing this. Their ability to send out suicide bombers into the heart of Peshawar appears not to have diminished. Clearly the organisational structure to plan these attacks and equip the bombers remains intact. We wonder then what must be done to defeat the militants.

The strategy used so far perhaps needs a rethink. The government’s inability to manage matters adds to the strength of the militants. In KP there has been fierce criticism of the government by flood-hit people. At a time of crisis the administration needs to deliver, or it risks adding to the capacity of the Taliban to beguile people into believing that they are out to serve them. For now we see no end to violence. Great damage has already been inflicted and more is being caused with each attack. Answers need to be found – in theory and in practice. So far the authorities have failed to offer any and this can only add to the sense of unease everywhere.

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Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

The disconnect

Saturday, August 07, 2010
The ability to read between the lines is an essential attribute in terms of understanding the political landscape in Pakistan. Politicians are not known for their plain speaking or transparency wherever they may be, but the politicians of Pakistan have a tendency to speak in 'doublespeak' that renders much of what they say incomprehensible. Despite this a look at the recent statements of PPP Information Secretary Fauzia Wahab is illuminating. The statements appear to point to a disconnect between the GHQ and the PPP. Her comment that there are 'differences' between the two and that such differences exist everywhere points to the two institutions not being on the best of terms – or even on the same page in respect of a number of key issues. With civilian government in some disarray in the face of multiple problems and threats, it is worth noting that the military made a number of preparatory moves of men and materials in anticipation of a request for assistance with the flood disaster by the civilian authorities. That it did so before being ordered to do so is an indicator of (a) its preparedness and (b) a lack of the same quality in the civil administration. Turning now to the situation in Karachi and the calls by the ANP and others that the army 'take over' responsibility for security in our largest city, it is not difficult to again see the failure of civilian governments and agencies to contain the violence that has claimed almost a hundred lives in the last week. Reading across from this, one has to wonder at the strength and durability of the coalition that, on paper at least, runs Karachi.

The disconnect is not confined to that between the ruling party and the military, there are schisms within the PPP itself and it is not unusual for Fauzia Wahab, who is generally seen as speaking for the party, finding that what she has said was later denied by other spokespersons and Federal Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira. With the floods advancing on Sindh, the president in the UK and the prime minister being befooled by 'ghost' emergency health camps, the military appears to have managed to keep its head whilst those around it lose theirs. There is a gaping hole where there should have been unity and national leadership and this speaks of a comprehensive failure of key figures, most notably the president himself, to lead this country when it needed it most. It is that poverty of leadership that is midwife to the cracks that are now appearing.

Poorly played

Saturday, August 07, 2010
Parts of the report on the attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore last year have come into public space. The 120-page document is the result of the work of an inquiry commission headed by a Lahore High Court judge. The excerpts make for miserable reading. They show that the police had no security plan that would have been appropriate for such a high-profile event and displayed dereliction of duty. They were poorly equipped, incompetently led and lazy. The catalogue of incompetence is added to by the CCTV footage of the attackers not being engaged by the police on the spot -- police patrol vehicles bypassing the attackers as they made their getaway and the ease with which they melted into the urban landscape.

It will be recalled that after the attack the ICC ruled that Pakistan would have to play all its matches at neutral venues. Cricket is our national passion. Pass by any street in town or village and there will be boys and men with bat and ball and an improvised pitch. Cricketers are our national heroes (and villains) and we follow every twist and turn of cricketing stories as if they were the stuff of life itself. Despite this we were unable to provide adequate security for international visiting cricketers and yet again besmirched our international reputation. Our team is banished to far-off places to play in front of small crowds and away from their fan-base and familiar home grounds. There seems little sign that this situation is going to improve in the coming years. And there is nobody to blame for this but ourselves.

Flood havoc

Saturday, August 07, 2010
According to the National Disaster Management Authority, 12 million people have been affected in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab alone by the floods. More rains could lie ahead and districts in Sindh remain on red alert as the waters roar down the Indus. Before such forces, man can do only little – but there must be some question as to whether even this little has been done or whether official action has largely been restricted to creating photo opportunities. The exposure by Geo TV of a sham health camp set up in Mianwali ahead of the prime minister's visit has caused a few blushes. But even now there is no real evidence of an all-out effort to tackle the situation. With help pouring in from around the world, it would not be too much to ask that people be provided with enough food to ward off starvation or be evacuated from homes in direct danger.

But for this to happen it is vital the government takes the lead. Efforts to do so have, at best, been floundering. We need the prime minister and his cabinet to give a more definite sense of direction. All ministers, especially those from affected areas, should be playing a part in organising relief. Some MNAs and MPAs have been active in their constituencies. Others need to be encouraged to stand with people, assess the situation on a day-to-day basis and take measures to ensure that people receive the help they need. The lack of cohesion in the relief effort has affected many and added to the scale of the calamity posed by the worst floods in our nation's history.

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Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Still uneducated

Sunday, August 08, 2010
Brave words need to be followed by brave deeds. Our president had vowed to ‘educate’ British Prime Minister David Cameron at their meeting at Chequers on Friday, but it would seem that suddenly education was off the agenda. There was very little educating going on and rather a lot of the recycling of diplomatic platitudes that were bland and largely meaningless. There was talk of the ‘unbreakable’ relationship with the UK – which given the fact that there are over a million Britons of Pakistani origin is fairly safe ground. The joint statement – not a press conference, far too dangerous with all those feral journalists with their pens sharpened and questions at the ready – had a Zardari classic embedded within it. “I’m looking forward to a relationship where Britain supports Pakistan around the world” – which for sheer vacuity wins this week’s award for emptiness. The very last thing these two men wanted was any sort of meaningful dialogue that would shine a light on the true nature of their relationship or what actually passed between them when they met.

Once again we are left with the sense that our president has risen to yet greater heights of mediocrity, and his callow failure to ‘educate’ Mr Cameron as promised is yet another reason why accidental presidents rarely make good presidents. Simply, our president is no statesman. He may be the head of state but it is an office to which he brings the qualities of a gambler, a chancer. A man more concerned for himself than the state he heads and for Mr Zardari the main event of this trip is going to be the PPP rally at the Birmingham International Conference Centre on Saturday. This was due to be his son’s coronation as chairman of the PPP, but Bilawal perhaps wisely has begun to put a little distance between himself and his father and announced that he will not be attending the rally but instead be at a fundraising event for flood victims at the Pakistan High Commission. So what came of the meeting? A commitment to visiting Pakistan by Mr Cameron on a near but unspecified date, a similar visit by Theresa May, the current British home secretary, and a commitment for ten million pounds to help the victims of the worst disaster this country has faced in its entire history. Beyond that, next to nothing. Mr Zardari is reported to have said that if he had realised the scale of the floods in his country he would have cancelled his visit to the UK and France. Statesmen tend to be wise before the event, Mr Zardari, not after it. Mr Cameron remains uneducated, and at a conservative estimate there are 14 million flood affectees — and we do wonder, oh yes we do wonder, just how much this junket has cost the nation. Care to share the details with us, Mr President?

Despite the ‘code’

Sunday, August 08, 2010
The ANP and the MQM may have sat together. But there is scant evidence that this has led anywhere at all towards peace in Karachi. Despite the federal government’s assertion of an agreement on a code of conduct, the killings that have traumatised the city continue. Most of those who were killed belonged to the working class. The deaths have left behind devastated families even less able to survive than was previously the case. The ‘accord’ counts as a step forward. However, on its own it is not enough; perhaps even meaningless. What is essential is that the agreement be backed by genuine goodwill and steps to ease the tensions that now divide communities. The setting up of a judicial commission to investigate the killings and the operation of criminal mafias of various kinds can also achieve its purpose only if genuine goodwill and a spirit of cooperation exist. The help of both the MQM and the ANP will be needed to get to the bottom of the violence. We must all hope Karachi can get back to normal as quickly as possible. But for now there seems to be no certainty that this is set to happen.

Advancing floods

Sunday, August 08, 2010
Misery is quite literally raining down on us with immense anger. According to the latest figures over 14 million have been affected by the floods. This number could rise. Agencies engaged in relief efforts are already stating that the scale of this catastrophe may be even worse than the 2005 earthquake in Azad Kashmir and NWFP. Around 73,000 perished in that disaster. There is no way of saying what the situation may be as the rainy season continues. Many active in the field believe the death toll is already considerably higher than the 1,400 officially stated to be dead. In Sindh, as waters stream out of rivers to overwhelm village after village, tens of thousands stream out in search of safety. Tragically, they appear to have nowhere to go. Insufficient arrangements exist to offer them shelter or even to evacuate them from submerged homes. In Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab we have reports of death due to starvation and disease. The government will need to answer for its failure to do more to tackle what now appears to be the biggest humanitarian crisis in our history. This in itself is saying a great deal given that the territory that makes up Pakistan has seen devastating quakes, floods, cyclones and drought.

An appeal has now been made for emergency international help. Some of this has indeed already arrived. More should now come in. But most of all, the government needs to get its own act together. It is not possible to leave matters to chance or to hope for the best. A full-scale effort is needed to coordinate relief, ensure that the many agencies and government bodies active in efforts work together and that aid reaches all those in need of it. The philanthropic efforts we invariably see at such times have also begun. Individual and organisations are doing what they can to collect relief. But the experiences of the 2005 quake should be remembered. Organisation is needed to ensure efforts do not go waste and the key needs of victims are addressed. At present, we see little of this. Indeed there appears to be growing disarray as the situation worsens rapidly. The government needs to set up a plan. It must also remember that public anger directed against it is rising along with the waters. These sentiments could in time create a storm of their own and add to the turmoil we face as a nation beset with multiple hardships that have come in many forms.

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Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________

Shoeicide mission

Monday, August 09, 2010
During the final event of a disastrous visit to France and the UK by our president, the faces in the audience and their reaction to the president told the story. He was clearly not among friends, and their mood was summed up by an elderly man who hurled both his shoes at the president and was hustled away by security staff. The event was not broadcast live and the incident was censored out by the only channel allowed coverage at the venue. British Pakistanis were clearly unimpressed by Mr Zardari or his rambling and at times incoherent speech – he referred at one point to ‘triple-digit growth’ for our economy, something that no nation on earth has ever achieved. Jaws dropped everywhere when he said he was ‘no different to any other Pakistani’ – presumably no different to any Pakistani who is not a dollar billionaire, that is. He will now return to a country battered to its knees by the worst catastrophe ever to hit it, and blithely continue with a presidency that has become little better than a farce.

As reports of the shoe-throwing were picked up by news channels and the print media, we saw a savage response from the government. Newspaper hawkers were attacked and copies of this newspaper were burned. Cable TV channels including Geo (which was blocked in parts of the country overnight) were threatened and told to stop transmission. Some cable TV offices in Karachi were also burned. These were not ‘the people’ making a spontaneous defence of their president. This was the current dispensation seeking to intimidate those who would report honestly on the reception that Zardari had received in the UK. The entire episode – from the banning of cell phones and cameras at the Birmingham venue where the president spoke, to the attempts to erase or limit negative media coverage and the violent thuggery of ‘the people’ who tried to stop the truth from emerging – stinks of decay. With the president’s visit to France and the UK being an appalling example of how not to be the president of a country that is drowning before one’s eyes, we may only guess at what the rest of the world makes of us. And if they judge us by Mr Zardari, then small wonder that few respect us. The ‘shoeicide’ mission of our president is not yet over and he will return to smile on us once again. What lucky people we are.

Mianwali

Monday, August 09, 2010
And lo, it came to pass that a prime minister of this land did go on his travels, visiting the poor and the needy sorely beset by flood and travail. There was much wailing and grief, for the people were without their homes, the waters had taken their cows and mourning shrouded the land. ‘Verily must I go among the people’ said the prime minister. ‘And verily must the electronic media assemble those afflicted by this disaster in order that I may speak with them and offer them each a cheque for Rs5000 in order that they may put bread in the mouths of themselves and their children. I shall travel by boat as the roads are washed away and see for myself all that has befallen us.’

Thus it was that the prime minister and his followers did come unto a place where there were cameras and that place was called Mianwali. He went among the medical cases gathered in a government school there and expressed his grief at their suffering and verily did the cameras record his every word which was broadcast unto the nation that very evening. Such was the power of his words that the poor sufferers, richer by Rs5000, were able to raise themselves from their beds of pain in the medical camp he had visited and yea verily did they walk away! Cured! The government servants who had set up the camp dismantled it as the miraculous prime minister floated towards the horizon, likewise the makeshift treatment centre. Discharged patients disappeared in the other direction and peace descended upon the land again. Are we not fortunate to have a Prime Minister blessed with healing powers? Perhaps he could pay a visit to an ailing power station, or Pakistan Steel Mills. Take a train journey, perhaps. We await developments.

Roll of infamy

Monday, August 09, 2010
So now we have it, the first but probably not the last official list of fake-degree holders. Perhaps inevitably the PPP tops the roll with 12 fake or dubious degrees, closely followed by the PML-N and the PML-Q with 11 each. There are five from Jamiat Ulema-i-Islami, two from the Awami National Party, one each from the Balochistan National Party and the PML (Functional) and four false claims from independent members. If nothing else, what this tells us is that the predisposition towards fakery is not limited to a single political party or faction and that dishonesty spreads across the political spectrum. We always knew our politicians tended towards the corrupt, but here and in uncompromising and incontrovertible fashion we have hard evidence of the dishonesty of some of them. Within the media furore this matter has generated it is perhaps easy to lose sight of the fact that not all politicians sit in parliament and the assemblies courtesy of phony academic documents, and the majority of them, at least in this respect, is stain-free.

And where do we go from here? Some legislators have already resigned or been unseated by the courts for holding fake degrees. The Election Commission of Pakistan has now issued notices to the faking 47 to call them to a hearing in the next week. Some will doubtless sit tight hoping the storm will blow over, others will bow to their fate. There has been talk of legislation to ‘protect’ the fakers, and who among us can forget the attempt by the Punjab Assembly to muzzle the media that had pursued the fakers in a motion that was passed unanimously – with less-tainted honest men and women voting in support of the fakers and their protection. It was that moment that will perhaps be seen as the one that defines this whole sorry mess, because it is the indicator that tells us that the honest will seek to protect the corrupt, that power will go to any length to preserve itself and will sacrifice whatever shreds of decency cling to it in pursuit of ‘protection.’ We have not heard the last of the fake degree scandal. The glimmer of hope in all this is that possibly, just possibly, the seeds of a culture of accountability have been sown.

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Be shak, Main tery liye he jeeta hoon or tery liye he marta hoon.....!(Baba Fareed)
____________Punjab Police Zindabaad____________