Rain — and death
Monday, July 20, 2009


Though the intense infrastructural damage inflicted in Karachi by the intense weekend rainfall has been enormous, what is truly staggering is the amount of human lives lost as a result of the downpour. According to reports by our own reporters, the death toll for the past 48 hours stands well over 50 — a majority of whom were living in katchi abadis.

It is difficult to pin blame when it comes to the physical damage caused by the severity of the rain (the most in one day since 1977) that has fallen this weekend in Pakistan’s largest city, but the loss of so many lives is something that requires explanation. Also, and while this does not involve human deaths, the fact that much of the city was still without electricity over 24 hours after the downpour does not speak well of the KESC at all. As for those who lost their lives, the majority died as result of two main causes: they lived close to overflowing waterways, which, in some cases, swept entire families away, or the building that they lived in (usually a ramshackle irregular construction) collapsed.

In the case of katchi abadis located close to waterways, the settlements are usually illegal and built on encroached land by people living in deep poverty. Though authorities argue that there are many problems associated with moving these people, such as resettlement issues, political pressure and resistance from the residents themselves, there are other factors that need to be taken into consideration — not least corruption in the agencies that deal directly with shanties. Despite some attempts at the higher levels to have these settlements razed, corruption by lower level officials often sees these people being allowed to live there in exchange for monthly bribes. Political expediency also factors in, with politicians often exploiting these issues for short-term gain at the expense of a proper infrastructural policy. Secondly, in the cases that these poverty-stricken are thrown off the land, there is no policy to resettle them, which means they just end up encroaching upon other lands — where they are no safer. The result: heavy monsoon rain and many lives that veer towards death.

This however was not the leading cause of fatalities during the recent downpour. A majority of deaths were reported in katchi abadis which had been regularized. These areas have absolutely no safety standards for buildings, and there is little or no check on infrastructure in the area before or after it is regularized. Departments such as the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA) are totally absent from this — and some say this may well be by design as in their officials willingly look the other way as all kinds of building irregularities take place in the katchi abadis. Of course, all of this is linked to governance issues, transparency in government and a singular lack of a system which holds government officials accountable for their misdeeds.

While the emergency measures taken during and after the rains may have been somewhat satisfactory (and many city residents will probably strongly dispute this), it is clear that more proactive measures need to be in place. It is not enough to argue that such natural calamities are unexpected in Karachi or that it is difficult to battle the forces of nature when they come down hard on mortals. The concerned authorities need to take a good look at this situation and take some major policy decisions need to be made that should be free of political expediency. Losing 50 lives due to rain is absolutely unacceptable. Also unacceptable is that every time the heavens open the city’s electricity networks falls into tatters and all kinds of excuses, untruths, half-truths and plain disinformation are bandied about in self-defence. As difficult as it may seem, someone needs to be made answerable because clearly what we have seen over the past two days is confirmation of Karachi’s pitiable rankings in various human development and livability surveys — where it is usually ranked first from the bottom.



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America & peace in South Asia
Monday, July 20, 2009


US secretary of state Hillary Clinton’s acknowledgement that Washington has not always been understanding of Pakistan’s needs in the long run, and that relations between the two countries have been contingent upon US interest, is on the face of it a welcome admission but should be followed up with concrete action to make up for these past mistakes. When the Obama administration first took oath, the US president made some welcome policy promises, such as a greater effort to find a solution to the Kashmir dispute, which had many in pro-peace quarters expecting a lot. However, presently, there seems, once again, to be an all-too-familiar silence on the issue. Ms Clinton’s guarded response to a question on Kashmir also seems to be a throwback to past policies of stagnant and non-progressive US diplomacy on the India-Pakistan peace process. It may be unfair to draw definite conclusions from her words considering that she is, after all, on an official trip to India, but it is clear that the US is not pursuing matters as actively as the president’s initial words suggested.

Pakistan has long sought international intervention in Kashmir, dating back to the call for a plebiscite in the disputed area, while India has insisted that global powers stay of the picture and it be left for India and Pakistan to decide the issue bilaterally. The latter option has not yielded any results, which should logically suggest that an alternative policy be adopted. Ms Clinton however reiterated New Delhi’s stance of a bilateral solution to the issue. Also, in stark contrast to the initial importance given by the Obama administration to Kashmir, which was highlighted by the US president himself, the US secretary of state now described the issue as something that “should certainly be on the agenda of discussion.” There are reports that Pakistan will figure prominently in the US-India talks, and one hopes that the US presses India on stopping interference in Balochistan and using Afghanistan as a base for destabilising Pakistan – in the same way that it has urged Pakistan to address Indian concerns about Pakistani soil being used to plan attacks on India. Both sides need to be urged to stop politics of destabilisation, which is not in either’s long term interest. If the US, on its part, wishes to sincerely build a long term relationship with Pakistan and change its negative perception here, then persisting with the policies of the past cannot be the way to go. A way to do this would be helping to bring sustainable peace between India and Pakistan

The ostrich solution

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Cowardice is an indictable offence in the military – and can if proven can have terminal consequences. Perhaps sadly, a charge of cowardice cannot be levelled at those bodies and institutions that fail to live up to their public duty, or to satisfactorily give an account of themselves and their shortcomings in the court of public opinion. Were it possible to bring such a charge the Karachi Electrical Subtraction Company (KESC) would stand before us in the dock today – if, that is, anyone representative of it could be found who could actually be placed in the dock to hear the charges. At the time of writing on Monday afternoon there has been no statement from this cowardly and ostrich-like organisation which once again has failed millions of customers, brought the largest city in the land to its knees yet again and would apparently be unable to successfully give away free tickets to a test match played in the city it is supposed to supply power to.

To be fair to all concerned, rainfall was at record levels with 225 millimetres falling by Saturday night; 20mm more than the previous record of 205 mm set in 1977. Numbers aside, the fact is that the infrastructure to cope with rainfall, be it power or drainage and water supply, is no better than it was 32 years ago and in many ways is significantly worse. There was no drinkable water in most of the city, families were marooned in their cars and workers in their offices and by midnight on Saturday the population was beginning to riot in a number of places. Whilst we would never condone violence of any sort whatever the provocation, we can at least understand why some felt moved to vent their anger. In less than twelve hours the city had become a disaster area, after forty-eight it remains so.

Whilst nobody has yet admitted this publicly the chain of events leading to this appalling state of affairs suggests that the city does not have a disaster management plan – and if it does, then it doesn’t work. In a time of fast-changing and unpredictable weather patterns the world over cities everywhere have revised and updated their disaster planning. Karachi, as one of the world’s largest cities, should have been at the forefront given that the annual monsoon is a predictable event – though its severity isn’t. Now the blame-game starts as this herd of ostriches led by KESC all frantically deny that this was in any way their fault, that it was everybody else who failed to do their duty and would you mind if we just put our heads into the (wet) sand once again?

This gutless bunch of cowardly lions has once again brought shame, misery, death and destruction on a once proud city. Now, the City of Blights suffers under a blanket of incompetence and mismanagement that renders almost insignificant the actions of political and religious terrorists. Today’s ‘terrorists’ are the bureaucrats and politicians and deal-makers who have parlayed themselves into personal wealth at the expense of those they were employed to serve. Will any heads roll for this gross abuse of power and trust? No. Will all concerned promise to do better next year? Yes. Will they? No. Should they be in the dock? You bet they should, every single last one of the shystering, conniving, wriggling, duplicitous, deceitful, self-righteous, self-serving, incompetent, cronying, crawling and maggot-infested one of them. Give ‘em six months to fix the basics, a year to publicly present a feasible disaster management plan, and an immediate pay cut of 50 per cent for all of them until the goods are delivered. And just for good measure they can do all this work that should have been done before, up to their knees in filthy water and by candlelight. Court adjourned sine-die.


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Karachi crippled

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Life is slowly getting back to routine in Karachi – but only just — after the heavy rain of July 18. Although main commercial areas are being cleared by the City District Government (CDGK), large parts of the city are still inundated with sewage-mixed rainwater, including major business centres. And while the city’s youthful nazim does flying visits and tells reporters and anyone within earshot that were it not for his team, the city’s mess would be far worse, one cannot help but disagree with him. The much-vaunted drainage system in Clifton and Bath Island worked well on the main roads but in the smaller roads and side streets the condition was terrible – and it seems that in many parts the new drainage system failed to work. The same is true for the city’s DHA where a drainage system that cost over a billion rupees (and for which area residents have now been asked to pay a new charge) was put in place over several months failed to do its job in many parts. The result was the same old familiar one – residents in neighbourhoods all over the city found their homes flooded and streets turning into veritable rivers and lakes.

The near-total collapse of the city infrastructure in the immediate aftermath of the downpour speaks volumes of the CDGK’s lack of preparedness to deal with well-anticipated monsoon rains, notwithstanding the city nazim’s well-publicised visits to clear the rain water. Sustainable development experts and town planners have consistently spoken against the CDGK’s attempt to equate city development with a ruthless construction of underpasses and flyovers and widening of roads to facilitate private vehicles at the expense of footpaths and greenbelts while totally ignoring the public transport sector. To further aggravate the situation, the senseless digging and reconstruction of roads across the city may have compromised the network of stormwater drains and little attention was paid to removing encroachments – which in many cases block the smooth flow of drains – or to cleaning them regularly of plastic bags and other waste material. At the time this was being written, the only ray (no pun intended) of hope for most of the city’s residents whose neighbourhoods and routes to work were still flooded was the bright sun, which finally made an appearance on Monday. A city the size of Karachi, in the twenty-first century, with no semblance of anything even remotely looking like a disaster management plan! No wonder it ranks among the least liveable cities of the entire world.

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Growing fast

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

It seems that our Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani puts fertiliser in his boots; such is the spurt in growth that he is exhibiting recently. There have been reports for many months – all unconfirmed consistent enough to become credible over time – that all was not sweetness and light between the offices of president and prime minister. Substance has started to be added to mere anecdote by the interview that the prime minister gave to this newspaper last Monday, which has given many pause for thought. Even allowing for the usual circumlocutions, Mr Gilani seemed to be putting down a few markers as to where he wanted things to be going, and those markers were not on the same spots on the gameboard as those put down by the president. He is recently on-record as saying that our government was neither ‘presidential’ nor ‘parliamentary’, and that it was something of a hotchpotch. If we read him aright he seems to be trying to shift the balance in the direction of the premiership, and away from the presidential.

The assumption by most on his appointment was that he was the presidential yes-man, there to rubberstamp whatever his master placed before him. He seemed a little overawed by the job, uncertain of himself, and out of his depth in his interactions with others of his ilk globally. Today, he is confident enough to reverse at least some presidential decisions, most recently regarding the appointment of our ambassador to the French Republic, which had caused furore inside the diplomatic service. He says he has reviewed the performance of his cabinet members, and indicated that there may be some who are going out to pasture – presidential favourites. Henceforward, merit appointments for cabinet posts – and about time too, say we. Rather pointedly, he said that he was…”responsible for running a country of more than 170 million people”. As in he personally, not him and the president, hands joined in fraternity as they dance down Democracy Street.

He sharply and entirely appropriately rejected the pronouncement regarding SMSs and emails. Our prime minster, it seems, is unworried about who sends what on their mobile phones and perhaps feels that expensive state resources might be better used in other areas than snooping on the national sense-of-humour. In doing so he also demonstrated an ability to rise above the superficiality of some of his colleagues, for his is a cabinet full of hidden shallows, rather than hidden depths. He claims brokerage for the meeting between the president and Mr Sharif a few days ago and makes it plain that he wishes to do away with the 17th Amendment – and on current form he may just be able to do that. The question in many minds is whether the president is going to allow yesterday’s yes-man to become today’s hit-man, and moreover to hit a few of those close to the presidency. The president is not a man to be trifled with and remains powerful in his own right. The prime minister, it seems, has an alternative view of how he would like the world to be shaped.


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Daylight robbery

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Those of you who thought robbery was committed by desperate thieves who would stop at nothing to cut your throat for a few paisas rather than by the upright men and women who staff the revenue and excise departments – had better think again. The government is currently putting its hand in your pocket every time you refuel your vehicle, and no, it’s not the GST which you know you are paying, it’s the other costs that are discreetly woven into the fabric of taxation in such a way as to be largely invisible to the naked eye. The government in a show of what it claims to be transparency has revealed for the first time the formula by which taxes on POL products are determined. Complicated it is, but transparent it is not. An analysis published in this newspaper on reveals a range of anomalies in the pricing formula. Most glaringly, the government is ‘fattening up’ GST by imposing it after other charges like the Inland Freight Equalisation Margin (IEFM), oil marking companies’ (OMCs) margins, and dealers’ commission margins have been added; rather than imposing it on the basic import landing cost. If we look at the price of oil at the point of entry between June 29 and 17 July, then the landed cost of petrol comes to Rs34.39 per litre. If GST at the standard rate was applied to this cost then it would come to Rs5.50 per litre – which should make the ‘price at the pump’ Rs39.89 per litre. Which of course it isn’t. Why it isn’t is because the government is artificially inflating the price of petrol to Rs51.37 per litre by first levying the IFEM of Rs3.56 per litre, OMCs’ margin of Rs1.52 per litre and dealers’ margin of Rs1.90 per litre. GST is then calculated on the inflated figure at a rate of Rs8.22 – which is a very neat trick if you can pull it off.

Effectively, petrol consumers are paying taxes on taxes which have already been levied, and the net result is calculated to earn the government an additional Rs2.72 on every litre of petrol sold at the pumps. You do not have to be a financial genius to see that this puts a lot of money in the pocket of the government, but you would not have known of this piece of fiscal chicanery had not somebody gone digging with calculator in hand. Other anomalies are also exposed :- a similar trick is pulled with kerosene which means the government pockets an extra Rs2.52 per litre; and on high speed diesel giving them a healthy Rs2.12 per litre. There is nothing transparent, equitable or fair (as in fair to the consumer) about any of this. Attempting to pass off the revelation of the POL pricing formula as an exercise in openness and good governance is disingenuous at best and downright dishonest at worst. We accept that taxes have to be paid – death and taxation being the only things we can be sure of in life – but we should be able to see and understand them for what they are. Drive safely and watch out for robbers, because these days they come in many guises.

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Building collapse

Thursday, July 23, 2009

The collapse of a building in the low-income neighbourhood of Liaquatabad, which has claimed at least 15 lives, is a grim reminder of the repercussions of the continued apathy on the part of authorities. There is plenty of evidence in the gruesome incident that should be used not only to take those responsible to task – including not only the owner, but the authorities responsible for giving the building clearance – but also to compile a case study for immediate action across the city.

Firstly, it is clear that the building was constructed against building by-laws – which, unfortunately is not an aberration in Karachi. The structure itself, including the height of the building should have been stopped straightaway. Those responsible for ensuring this action are the authorities in the Karachi Building Control Authority (KBCA), which, over the years, has proved to be not only a fangless institution, but one in which corruption has risen to disastrous levels. KBCA building inspectors being bribed is an open secret, one that sees little action other than of cosmetic nature to save the hides of the top authorities every time a hue and cry is raised after such an incident. As it stands, implementation of building by-laws is limited to those who refuse to bribe the inspectors. Secondly, reports suggest that there was substandard material used in the high-rise – also, unfortunately, not an aberration – which was also obviously not stopped by the authorities. Thirdly, there were actually families living in the building – who were labourers by some accounts – which has not even been completed yet. This is also not surprising given that buildings that are even declared dangerous are not evacuated by the KBCA.

There is plenty of evidence in this case to ensure that those responsible are taken to task. There must be concerted efforts to ensure that this issue, like dozens before it, is not swept under the rug once the initial shock fades. The larger problem is more pressing: Such buildings are a regular sight across Karachi. This, therefore, while not being the first such case, will definitely not be the last unless measures are taken now, such as a comprehensive survey across the metropolis. Before that, however, the government will need to look into the affairs of the KBCA. It is clear that this institution has delivered nothing in terms of the important task that has been assigned to it. In fact, political wrangling over the KBCA's control has further eroded its efficacy.


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Destiny's child

Thursday, July 23, 2009

The trial of Ajmal Kasab continues in Mumbai and has taken a twist not expected by the defence or the prosecution. In a volte-face that left the court stumbling to catch up with itself Kasab changed his plea from 'not guilty' to 'guilty'. The judge has deferred a decision on the plea reversal and Kasab has been addressing the court on what he described as his 'indoctrination' as a part of his preparation for the Mumbai raid. Such is the sensitivity of what he had to say that the judge decided to place the court 'in camera' in order not to inflame religious sentiments, and there is to be no reporting of what the accused has had to say. Likewise there can be no reporting of messages between himself and his handler. However, it can be reported that he said he was recruited to become a member of a Pakistani militant group while he was searching for training to become a professional robber – which suggests that such training may be available somewhere; in itself a sorry reflection on the state of our nation.

Although we do not know what Kasab had to say regarding his indoctrination the fact that he used the word indicates that he is very much a child of his time. Ours is a society riddled with indoctrination of one form or another from top to bottom and side to side, in every segment of society. It can be found in school textbooks in every province, and the foundations of our animosity towards India are laid in early life. (As is their animosity towards us, we are not alone in the race to indoctrinate.) Sectarian schisms and conflicts have indoctrination at their heart, and by and large madressahs are the medium by which the message is delivered. Militant training has indoctrination as a universal core component. No matter who the person being inducted, or where they are in the world, the group that is preparing them for war needs to embed its creed and philosophy to the exclusion of all others; to narrow the range of vision and to take away the desire to question or challenge. Be it in South America or somewhere in central Africa or the Middle East or India or Sri Lanka; indoctrination is a vital part of the training.

We know that Kasab came from humble beginnings, his family are poor and when his trainers caught him in their web he was looking to pursue a life of crime – to hone his criminal skills the better to 'earn' his living. He would have been easy prey for them. Like many other rootless or criminally minded young men he had little education and is open to every kind of half-baked conspiracy theory; open to being convinced that it is somehow worthy to enter a railway station and open indiscriminate fire on unarmed civilians, to kill and maim and terrorise in the name of whatever morally squalid doctrine had been planted between his ears. He now has his metaphorical 'fifteen minutes of fame' before the court and the cameras of the world's media. A finding of guilt seems inevitable and another young life will have been wasted, sacrificed on the altar of extremism and the product of a process of indoctrination that is pervasive and insidious. Whether we like it or not – and many find it difficult to come to terms with – Ajmal Kasab is one of our own. We made him. He was born and raised here by simple ordinary parents and went astray as many do in a country where opportunity is determined by what strings you can pull and how rich you or your family are. There are millions of potential Kasabs out there, and those who seek to turn their minds to the dark paths will have no difficulty finding a replacement for him.

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Charm offensive
Friday, July 24, 2009


The Obama administration is now settled in and the shape of its foreign policy is clearer. It would appear that the new broom in the White House is not only sweeping cleaner than its predecessor, but is committed to a wholesale cleanup rather than just rearranging the dust. Mr. Holbrooke is a man with a mission and a message, and he is a realist. He understands that there is a deep well of anger and resentment towards the US by many – perhaps most – of the people of Pakistan, and their animosity is in no small part a direct product of the eight years of the Bush presidency. Six months of Obama is not going to cancel out eight years of Bush, but at least a credible effort is nowadays being made by the US to engage in dialogue with us rather than shout at us from the sidelines.

Holbrooke made several comments that were indicative of the changing relationship that America working towards with Pakistan. We need assistance, specifically money, and we need a lot of it if we are to stay afloat. America is our largest donor and since May 2009 the Obama administration has committed more than $320 million to the Pakistani people to help them respond to the IDP crisis. This is not 'new money' and will be deducted from the $1.5bn package already agreed. But money is money and American money is as good as anybody else's, but the 'anybody else's' who could come to our aid are notably slow – particularly the Gulf states and the Europeans. Global economic recession is probably as much to blame for this as anything else said Holbrooke, and admitted that the cost of the war we fight today hits our exchequer hard. He was moderately optimistic that the money pledged would eventually get here, but he was also dropping a broad hint that we were going to have to manage with what we had got and that there was not a bottomless pot of treasure to help us out of our difficulties.

Looking wider, he commented that tension had reduced between Pakistan and India and that it was now up to both parties to get down to business – and Kashmir was not something he saw America becoming engaged with. India would be 'taken on board' in respect of actions against militants as they were a common enemy of Pakistan, India and Pakistan. He kept predictably silent about drones, their control or transfer of drone technology; and spoke positively of his four-hour meeting with President Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif. There was nothing new or dramatic about what he said or did during his visit and this is as it should be. We are moving into a different type of relationship with the US. Uncle Sam can wave the big stick, but he can also be attentive and avuncular and it is his interests that Pakistan does not slide into the darkness currently offered by the Taliban. Keep coming Mr Holbrooke, and keep listening – because if you don't listen you don't learn anything.


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A long goodbye
Friday, July 24, 2009


Getting the IDPs back home was never going to be easy. That they want to go home is clear enough and hundreds of thousands have already made the trek back from whence they came. The repatriation has not always been smooth but in broad terms has gone ahead as well as may be expected. In the last 24 hours a halt has been called while the army and other support agencies re-arrange their logistics in the hope of easing bottlenecks and generally improving the flow. However, repatriation is not going to be for everybody – at least not in the near future according to UNICEF emergency office director Louis-Georges Arsenault. He was speaking in Geneva after a visit to Pakistan, and the message he gives us is perhaps not the one we most wanted to be hearing. He was of the opinion that one million people could remain displaced at the end of the year, with no clear indicator of when they would return home. Pinpointing the needs of children and the role that schools had played in accommodating the displaced, the destruction of schools in the Swat valley – particularly girls schools – is going to disrupt education generally and that of girls specifically for years to come. Around 4,000 schools have been brought into service as temporary shelter – and if the people currently housed in them are not able to return home then the students who would have started the new school year in September will also be affected.

The reason why the displaced would not be able to return was clear – lack of security. Fighting is continuing in many areas, and although urban areas like Mingora have seen the return of large numbers, it has yet to be determined if the security they see now is durable, whether peace will endure and they can pick up the threads of their lives. The 'knock-on' effects of the conflict are going to be felt particularly in and around Peshawar for months and perhaps years – and all this before the operation in Waziristan has gathered speed – which will generate a further wave of displaced persons. Mr Arsenault also identified the reason why it was that the crisis did not mutate into a disaster …"If it wasn't for the host communities, who have welcomed something like 1.4 million people, we would have had a crisis," he said. "I think it needs to be recognised that communities were the first port of call for the humanitarian response, it wasn't the government, it wasn't the UN, it wasn't the NGOs. We also have to say it has a limit," he added. He went on to talk of visiting a household of eight who had taken in 50 'guests'. There is indeed a limit, and host communities cannot be expected to indefinitely house and feed tho

Doctors and patients

Saturday, July 25, 2009

The sight of patients, some quite obviously in need of urgent care, sitting helplessly outside hospitals across Punjab on Thursday moved many. Unfortunately these did not include striking doctors who were pressing for demands including a regularization of services. Operation theatres were locked and all work at hospitals suspended through the day. Without attempting to assess the merits or demerits of the demands, there is a point to be made: the very nature of medicine as a profession demands commitment to the sick and those in need of help. This must take precedence over personal concerns. However pressing these may be, doctors, bound by the oath they take, must serve those who need their expertise. Many accounts of terrible suffering due to the strike have already emerged. Others are likely to follow. This is not the first time such a situation has been witnessed. But the PMA and other bodies representing doctors' need to assess tactics and determine if such lockouts can be justified. This having been said, the provincial government needs also to look into the demands of doctors. While the DG Health has stated this is already being done, doubts clearly exist. There is a need for dialogue so that the dispute can be settled and the kind of pitiful scenes seen this time avoided for the future.

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Courting trouble

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Like dictators before him, General (r) Pervez Musharraf, the former commando who saw himself as invincible through his tenure from 1999 to 2008, has run into a spot of potentially sticky trouble. Summoned by the Supreme Court in a case brought by the Sindh High Court Bar Association, which challenges his actions of November 3, 2007, Musharraf must now decide if he will indeed appear before the apex court. His past animosity towards it and its chief justice are obviously factors to consider and will no doubt come up as the ex-president continues the process of discussion with aides and lawyers in London. The fact that he evidently found it difficult to persuade anyone to defend him shows how swiftly and treacherously tides change in the sea of politics. But beyond all this, the case is significant in more ways than one. The ouster of the chief justice by President Musharraf in March 2007 marked the turning of the tide against him. The events that followed, as civil society rallied behind the judges, meant that even those who had supported Musharraf as a man of liberal values abandoned him. The current hearing and Musharraf's decisions in this regard may determine how he finally goes down in history.

There are other factors too. The case brought before it must be used by the Supreme Court to prove it is capable of acting as a neutral body which stands above bias and political vendetta. A demonstration of this would further raise the standing of the judiciary in the eyes of people and place it, as an institution, in a prime position to institute the reform the country so badly needs. Its move to summon, for the first time in the country's history, a former military dictator suggests it is willing to take on this responsibility and initiate genuine change. There are also rather dastardly implications that Musharraf and his lawyers may attempt to drag the army into the mess. This would be unfortunate. We must hope it does not happen, and no doubt attempts will be made behind-the-scenes to ensure this. A single individual must not be permitted to tarnish the image of the armed forces as a whole, and this too is a matter the court will need to keep in view. A return by Musharraf to the country to defend himself opens up fascinating possibilities. He says he is eager to do so. It is yet to be seen if this is mere bravado or something more substantial.

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Thou shalt not steal!

Saturday, July 25, 2009

The eighth of the ten commandments laid down in the Bible was evidently one unfamiliar to the female MPA who is accused of stealing a credit card from the purse of a fellow gym user and attempting to then buy jewellery on it. While the MPA has made vehement denials, the mounting evidence in the case suggests the charges are based on fact. The PML-N has denied it is making any attempt to push for an out-of-court settlement in the matter and is indeed said to be preparing to expel its thieving representative or at least force a resignation as a member of the provincial assembly. The wide media publicity given to the affair and the broadcast of an audio tape of a conversation between the MPA and the bank that had issued the card of course leaves the party with little real choice. But perhaps it needs to go beyond action against a single member to reviewing ethics within the party as a whole. This scam involving the card is the latest in a series of criminal offences and other misdemeanours committed by its representatives. These include cheating in an exam, the rape of a woman complainant and misuse of ministerial influence to whisk luggage past customs at the airport. In each of these matters television channels have played a key role in putting facts before the public. Taken on their own some of the acts amount to petty crime of the most unsavoury kind; taken together the various incidents act to tarnish the image of the ruling party in Punjab.

So far, it has acted sternly in most cases. But clearly the message has still to reach all representatives. It is true much worse acts of corruption take place too in the country. Stories about misdeeds circulate in many places. But what is important is for all parties to make it clear to their members that their role as representatives is to set examples. Petty acts of robbery act only to further discredit politicians and indeed democracy itself. For this reason they must not be tolerated. The PML-N needs to make this clear to its members and demonstrate its commitment to ushering in a new era of good governance, which must begin within the party itself.

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Divided we stand?
Sunday, July 26, 2009

The political waters which run through the country rarely stay completely calm. We now hear almost constant speculation of the scene being set for a big battle in Islamabad, pitching the prime minister against the president. This is not entirely unexpected. Over the past months, since he was picked as the man most likely to accept dictation from the presidency, Mr Gilani has demonstrated this is something of a misjudgement and he is indeed capable of exerting his own will. Others before him – notably a certain Mr Junejo – did much the same. There is conjecture that the PM has the backing of the PML-N and key forces that have always had influence in national affairs. If this is indeed the case, the rumours of a serious divide assume still more significant dimensions. We do not yet know what events they will result in.

There can be little doubt that a string of presidential actions has acted against Mr Zardari and perhaps even triggered what seems to be a rebellion from within the ranks of his own party. The appointment of a DMG officer as the ambassador to Paris, conjecture that this was linked to the planned sale of a certain property in that city, the extraordinary orders issued by the interior minister against 'anti-government' e-mails and SMSs and other acts of interference in matters that include appointments in government departments are some of these. Mr Gilani has made increasingly obvious attempts to disassociate himself from such decisions and has implied the president is the source of much that is wrong. He has suggested too that Article 58-2-B could be challenged and that he possesses the parliamentary majority to do so should the need arise. This having been said, we must ask why the prime minister and his cabinet have failed so miserably to offer good governance. It is after all too easy to blame everything on the president. But the power crisis, the growing tales of corruption, the failure to address the economic crisis and the struggle to rehabilitate the IDPs are just some examples of government failure. At best, things seem no worse than before. The prime minister and his team must also review their own performance; they cannot entirely evade all blame.

The emerging divide is in many ways unfortunate. What Pakistan needs more than anything else is stability and some sense of normalcy in all spheres of national life. We have struggled on in a state of crisis for far too long. The key responsibility of our leaders – whether they plan their actions from the presidential palace or the prime ministerial mansion – must be to offer this to people. That after all is the reason they were elected. It is unfortunate that instead of any real attempt to alleviate the abject misery of most citizens, what we see from our leaders is internal squabbling and quite obvious acts of wrongdoing intended to add to personal wealth or power. This will in the longer run only add to the numerous issues we face. It will also make Pakistan's struggle for progress and development all the harder and hold back the country which badly needs to move urgently towards these goals so that all of us as citizens can look forward to a future that is brighter than our past or our present.


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Pause for thought?
Sunday, July 26, 2009



No system involving elected representatives at local or national level anywhere in the world is fault-free. There are instances of corruption and fraud everywhere – consider the furore over the issue of MPs' expenses in the UK or the very recent arrest of dozens of local politicians in the US, for instance. Our systems have their faults as well, and accountability, or lack of it, is one of them. Various efforts have been made to reform local government representation over the years with the latest being the creation of elected nazims. The idea was that local representatives, properly elected by local people, would better represent the grassroots than bureaucrats; and that there would at least be a foundation on which to build accountability as nobody expected it to spring out of the ground like wheat overnight. Now, there are to be no more nazims and we are back to the unelected bureaucrats and inaccessible civil servants – we never seem to be able to strike a balance. A succeeding government here is never able to admit that its predecessor was anything but wrong in all it said and did.

Plan A was for the nazims to be replaced by administrators early in August, and the prime minister had sent – as constitutionally required – a summary for presidential approval in order for it to go ahead. As of last Friday the president had not signed, and August is less than a week away. It appears that the president is minded to allow the nazims to complete their term of office - which expires in October anyway – as per the democratic process. He apparently feels that the consultation process at the provincial level should be completed before substantive changes are made. Sources have said that after examining Mr Gilani's summary the president decided to refer it to the federal law ministry to check that the appointment of administrators was (a) constitutional (b) congruent with the PPP manifesto and (c) not a violation of the Charter of Democracy.

Once again the local government is cast into the melting pot. There seems little doubt that the president wants to give back to the provinces the power of amending local bodies which Musharraf had vested in the federal government. The provincial governments have made it known that they want to bring back the system of local councils. The local government appears doomed to everlasting institutionalized instability as successive federal governments and vested political interests rearrange the pieces to their benefit and satisfaction. The everlasting loser in the game is the 'common man' who, having adjusted to nazims and their ways and wiles, now will have to pick his (and her) way through a maze of self-serving appointees accountable to nobody but themselves. The nazim system was not perfect, but in a land riddled with imperfections it, at least, had the advantage of being democratic in concept if not entirely in the enactment. If the president is seeking a pause for thought and consideration, and allowing the nazims to serve out their terms, then so much the better - after all, nobody has ever successfully invented a replacement for the wheel.

French foxes
Monday, July 27, 2009


Pakistan and France have a history of defence procurement/sales stretching back decades. The navy had its first Daphne-class submarines in 1971, succeeded by the Agosta 70s and 90s both equipped with the Exocet subsurface-to-surface missile. Exocets also equip our Sea King helicopters. We have for decades used the French Breguet Atlantique maritime reconnaissance aircraft; which is now rather long in the tooth and being replaced by the more capable P3C Orion. French Mirage fighters preceded today’s F16’s and now we hear that the French are to provide us with the small ‘Fennec’ helicopter (a Fennec is a type of fox) and, possibly, the much more formidable and aggressive Tiger attack helicopter. Reports earlier in July suggested that the ‘Tiger’ deal was done, but there are now indications that this might not be so, and the French ambassador to Pakistan speaking on a private TV channel pointed out that the lead-time on Tigers and the precedence in the queue of France and Germany would delay any delivery of Tigers to Pakistan. The Fennecs are going to be useful in terms of the fight in NWFP – if they get here in time – but they are not the heavy-hitters that we badly need. Our elderly Cobras are being stretched very thin, sourcing spares is increasingly a problem and the F16 is far from being the best counter-insurgency weapon.

Also in the frame is technical assistance to strengthen the security of our existing nuclear facilities, but France is not going to build a new nuclear power station for us. The French Secretary of State for Foreign Trade Anne Marie Idrac has recently visited, and said on Thursday last that her country required the international community’s permission before commissioning a nuclear plant in a country – and given the general levels of international twitchiness about things nuclear and ourselves this is about as likely to happen as an outbreak of universal honesty among the political classes. She also said that France supported Pakistan in its efforts to restore democracy and its commitment to combat extremism, and in a moment of Gallic understatement commented that Pakistan was ‘going through a difficult phase’. Correct, Madame Idrac. France has pledged 300 million euros in aid for Pakistan at the Friends of Pakistan meeting in Tokyo and trade between the two countries has increased by 6 per cent in the last year. The French are committed to a range of development projects aimed at rehabilitating the IDPs and they are quietly supportive of a range of health and social sector initiatives and programmes countrywide. The French have a reputation in Europe as being independently minded when it comes to their foreign policy, and the French relationship with the US is sometimes almost as ambivalent and tendentious as is our own. Our relationship with France seems to be ‘strictly business’ – they make the arms and weapons systems that we buy, and there is no ‘colonial baggage’ or superpower arm-twisting involved. However, the French have their regional interests like every other player, and have had a historical involvement in the Middle East. No matter, we would like to see these French Foxes in action as soon as may be and an ambush of Tigers would come in handy as well.


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Nose dive?
Monday, July 27, 2009


The expectations from Pakistan International Airlines are lower and lower. Few of us now actually expect flights to take off or arrive on time. Concerns about safety have accumulated over the years and reports such as the recent one about the hiring of new pilots with total disregard for merit add to these. But even so, there are occasions when one is forced to again consider just how far PIA can fall, and perhaps more crucially, if it has the will to pull itself out of its current nose dive. Recently, to offer up just one example, a flight from London to Lahore was diverted to Barcelona to collect passengers stranded in Spain for three days. Their misfortune began after the aircraft intended to take them back broke down and all attempts at repair failed. The situation of course meant considerable inconvenience and a long delay for the passengers from London – as well of course as those from Barcelona, ironically enough only days after the inauguration of a flight to the Spanish city. It also meant huge costs for PIA who had to accommodate over 100 passengers for several nights. It is such incidents that dissuade people from flying with PIA – even though it currently has a monopoly on many direct routes to Europe and North America, given that other airlines have pulled out from Pakistan, both due to security concerns and the recession.


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Tigers in trouble
Monday, July 27, 2009


The news report about the acquisition of a pair of Siberian white tigers by Suleiman Sharif, the younger son of the Punjab chief minister, is disturbing. The tigers rank among the world’s endangered species and their export is banned under international conservation regulations. It appears that the young Sharif – who apparently wishes to house the animals at the family estate on Raiwind Road in Lahore – is an enthusiast who has established a kind of zoo at the farm house. But of course conditions there are unfit for so rare a species, which needs a different climate, expert care and plenty of space. It is hard to see the inhabitants of Siberia faring well in the heat and humidity of Lahore, even if cooling arrangements have been made. The fact too is that conservation rules exist to protect the biodiversity of our planet, rather than the welfare of animals at risk of extinction alone, and should for these reasons not be ignored. It is obvious influence was used to bring the beasts into the country and to bypass laws in this respect.

We must demand the issue be investigated. The PML-N has taken a hard-line on wrong doings committed by its members. Some have been forced out of the party. This of course is something to be welcomed. But the same principles must be applied across the board, even when they involve members of the Sharif family itself. So far, Suleiman Sharif has declined to comment on the tiger business, even though the story has broken in the media. He needs to offer an explanation. What is even more important is that the wellbeing of animals be safeguarded. There continued survival is far more important than gratifying personal whim. Our own wildlife authorities too need to intervene and ensure the matter is dealt with as per the laws of the land.

Sufi behind bars
Tuesday, July 28, 2009


The arrest of TNSM leader Sufi Mohammad Khan, along with two sons and another relative from their home in Peshawar indicates how confused the policy on terrorism has been. Sufi, who now finds himself once more in custody, had been freed only in April last year on the orders of the same ANP government, to broker the peace deal in Swat that saw the Taliban wreak havoc on the valley. Within a year, Sufi has been re-cast as a villain. This is despite the fact that his role in the happenings in Swat remains somewhat obscure. It is unclear how much power the aged leader still commanded as he was released and to what extent he played a part in decision-making. It is known Sufi had been overtaken by his son-in-law, Maulana Fazlullah, as the key militant commander in Swat.

The arrest, made under Maintenance of Public Order laws however demonstrates an unwillingness to trifle any further with terrorists. One hopes this is a strategy that will now be strictly adhered to. Attempting to distinguish between 'good' and 'bad' militants is a dangerous game. Men like Sufi Mohammad Khan have played a part in building the militant armies that today still threaten Swat. It was a mistake to trust him; a bigger mistake still to try and negotiate a deal in Swat. We hope the arrest of Sufi is the start of wider-ranging action. People who played a key role in the atrocities committed in Swat, those who hired and trained the teenaged suicide bombers arrested from Mingora and committed other acts of criminal violence, for the most part, remain free. Reports state militants still operate in the hills around Mingora and elsewhere in the valley. They must be tracked down and brought to justice. Only then can there be a hope of putting a final end to the militancy.


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Plan of action
Tuesday, July 28, 2009


The meeting between the prime minister and the Punjab chief minister in Lahore seems to have proceeded along harmonious lines. Both men agreed their parties should work together to repeal the 17th Amendment and Mr Gilani said that each province was free to deal with local governments as it saw fit, given that this was a provincial subject. The Punjab government has of course clashed with nazims in the past, with the governor of the province apparently attempting to use them to expand his own base of support.

The meeting itself and the cordial tone set during it, including agreement that the Charter of Democracy needed to be implemented, are not insignificant. This comes at a time when rumours are rife of a growing rift between the president and prime minister. The conjecture is that the PML-N is backing Mr Gilani in this, and perhaps even egging him on. Seen in this light, the united stand on the 17th Amendment could in the future be translated into action within Parliament. The issue of whether Mr Gilani or Mr Zardari command more support from within the PPP is a much debated one, but in recent days the PM has seemed increasingly confident that he holds the upper hand and with PML-N backing could swing things his way in the assembly. The invitation made to the PML-N to rejoin the federal cabinet could also point to the shape of things to come. But during the meeting, Shahbaz Sharif also raised some less pleasant issues. Key among these was the power crisis and the loss of livelihood caused by it. In response to his demand for swift remedy, the PM has agreed to convene a meeting of chief ministers in Islamabad . We must all hope they succeed in finding solutions. If we look beyond the issue of power politics, there can be no doubt that cooperation between major forces is what Pakistan today needs. None of these parties is likely to be able to resolve the mountain of problems we face alone. We must hope they can do so by standing together and initiating a joint plan of action that can help the country move forward.


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Superstition
Tuesday, July 28, 2009


In a bizarre spectacle near Hyderabad, three children were buried up to their necks in sand on the banks of the Indus, in the hope that a partial solar eclipse would help cure them of the various ailments they suffered. The measure had apparently been advocated by spiritual healers following age-old tradition. Scientists, naturally, deny that it will bring any benefit to the children – including a girl who suffers paralysis.

The fact that such superstition continues to dominate lives is in many ways sad. The families are quite obviously desperate and anxious to do anything they can for their offspring. But it is too easy to blame the methods they have adopted on ignorance alone. While this is undoubtedly a part of the problem, it is tied in to the fact that access to health care is still extremely limited. The vast majority of people in the country are simply not able to obtain the help they need. This is tied in both to the fact that quality medical treatment is simply unaffordable and to the limited number of state-run facilities, where the services available are most often in shambles. The reasons for this are no mystery: Pakistan spends less than one per cent of its GDP on health – a percentage far lower than the amount spent by many African and almost all other Asian states. The issue is one of government priority. It is absurd that while our leaders boast of possessing an atomic bomb and millions are spent on easing the lives of government ministers and other bigwigs, so little is offered to ordinary citizens. We must hope the pictures that have appeared widely in the media act to put our leaders to shame. It is their indifference to the plight of people that compels mothers and fathers to resort to superstition. They must be rescued from a life rooted in such practices. This can happen only by investing more in education and health and recognizing that people are the principal asset of any state and that its priority must be to ensure they have the basic rights that they require as human beings.

Downhill decade
Wednesday, July 29, 2009


The chances of there being good news coming out of the mouth of the Commerce Minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim were always going to be slim, and in that sense he did not disappoint when delivering the three-year trade policy framework 2009-12 to the federal cabinet. The picture he presented whilst upbeat in a narrow segment of the economy was one of unremitting decline over the last decade. He took a long-term view of our export performance over the last ten years and revealed that our share of the global market had declined by over one-third from 0.21 per cent in 1999 to 0.13 per cent today. Contributory factors to this chronic malaise were the energy crisis, the poor and deteriorating law-and-order situation and a sharp global economic downturn. Our exports declined in our major markets like the US and Europe, down from $19.1 billion in 2007-8 to $17.8 billion today. Textile exports dropped from $10.6 million to $9.6 million in 2008-9… the litany of decline and decay went on and on.

Stopping a deeply-rooted rot such as this is going to be difficult. The power crisis underlies much of the instability and uncertainty in the markets and cuts great swathes through our productivity. Promises to end loadshedding by year’s-end are sounding increasingly like fragile fantasy and until the issue of circular debt is resolved then we are going to be as powerless next year as we have been this. Mr Fahim tells us that in pursuit of the strategic objective of greater market access via trade diplomacy, the government will engage with trading partners such as the US and the EU; and utilise the Reconstruction Opportunity Zones (ROZs) to provide zero duty facility for exports to the US. Dry as they may seem it is figures such as those detailing our long-term decline as a trading nation that speak a truth that even our slippery politicians cannot deny. We cannot forever point the finger elsewhere; it cannot forever be everybody else’s fault but our own. Yes, let us engage in economic diplomacy and try to roll back some of the restrictive tariffs that limit our trade with the US and the EU; create new markets for our goods - but get the power back on first, because no power is no production and no production is no trade.

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Interesting times
Wednesday, July 29, 2009


The Supreme Court could call into question the actions taken by former chief justice, Abdul Hameed Dogar. If it does, this would also bring into doubt the oath taken as president by Asif Ali Zardari, and open up a whole range of other uncertainties about events in our judicially-murky past. The development comes at a time when there is much speculation regarding the immediate future of President Zardari, given his increasing isolation and the fall-out with the prime minister. The status of Justice Dogar, highlighted by comments made by former attorney-general Malik Muhammad Qayyum in a television interview, also offers some key lessons. The chaos we could find ourselves in arises from the appointment of a chief justice whose legitimacy was under doubt. This act by former President Musharraf – who himself has been summoned to appear before the apex court and has yet to decide if he will choose to do so – has created a bundle of problems which continue long after Musharraf and Dogar departed from the scene.

The episode we are now seeing throws up a reminder of the need for the executive to steer clear of intervention in the courts. The emphasis placed by constitutionalists on the need for a separation between the institutions of state exists for a very good reason. What we need now are measures to put this into effect. There must be no further tampering with the judiciary or attempts to elevate persons within it for personal motives. The legal and constitutional status of retired chief justice Dogar is also being questioned. Now is the time for a serious discussion to be opened up on ways to safeguard judicial independence. This measure can do a great deal to safeguard stability within the state and prevent the chaos we have repeatedly seen erupting within it when institutions clash.

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Suicide alert
Wednesday, July 29, 2009


The discovery of around a dozen young suicide bombers in Mingora, who have now been taken into custody, exposes just how widespread such recruitment and training is. There are, no doubt, other such would-be-bombers in Waziristan, southern Punjab and possibly in other places as well. The authorities have stated the young boys whom the Taliban had apparently intended to use to stage terrorist attacks would be offered rehabilitation and vocational training. This is a sensible measure, but it needs to be replicated on a bigger scale. Other teenage victims of militant forces need also to be rescued. In madressahs across Punjab and Sindh there are boys who tell stories of attempts to persuade them to wage ‘jihad’. In some cases mere children have been taken away for just such a purpose without parental consent.

This all must be stopped – but to do so effectively we will need to go beyond the recovery of young bombers from the hands of the militants. We must ask why and how they landed up there. The answers lie in issues of economic deprivation, social injustice, unemployment and desperation. It is these factors, above all else, which drive young people into the hands of the militants. Those who carry out recruitment for them have also specialized in exploiting the frustrations that arise from these realities of life. All the bombers taken into custody in Mingora belong to impoverished families and hence it is the failure of the state to address the basic needs of citizens that has made us so vulnerable to the terrorist scourge. Now that at least some success against the militants has been achieved in Swat and elsewhere, it is time also to open up discussion on the issues that underlie terrorism. So far, there has been little talk of the need for policy reform aimed at ensuring people’s basic needs are met; no party – not even the ANP which campaigned on a platform of rights for people – has meaningfully raised this issue in the assemblies. This must change if we are in the future to escape suicide bombings.