|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 
|
persecution food The government should act against violators of ban on smoking By Shahzada Irfan Ahmed A good-looking man comes out from amongst the crowd and darts along the riverbank to reach a troubled spot of panicked onlookers. He stops there for a second, drops a cigarette butt on the ground, tramples it with his right foot, and without hesitating a moment jumps into the river. After struggling with waves for some time, he reaches for a hand and rescues a beautiful girl who had lost all hope. Minutes later, they sit at a bench with sinking orange sun in the background and puff at cigarettes to celebrate the feat. politics Is
this a milestone worth celebrating? review Revival
of nationalism in Sindh? Trends
in mobile marketing
persecution Connivance at a cost Targeted killings of Shias this time is not business-as-usual. It follows the pattern that is evident countrywide and it is linked to the Taliban finding new havens and areas of control By Raza Rumi It seems that Pakistan
is heading towards another purge — this time a violent process of
cleansing the Shia population. There is a mysterious wave of terrorism
that is killing Hazara population on a daily basis in Balochistan, Shias
in Gilgit-Baltistan, Kurram Agency and elsewhere. In the last one-month,
dozens of Shias have been targeted and killed as if Pakistan was a
medieval land, practicing witch-hunting. The ‘banned’ organisations
have taken responsibility for most of the attacks in Balochistan. The case of
Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), on the other hand, has faced a virtual media
blackout. Not long ago, GB was touted as the fifth province but when it
comes to the vital question to protecting its population, the state is
miserably failing. The most gruesome
incident took place when 15 passengers of the Shia community were taken
off the buses in Chilas, Diamer district, and shot. People from the region
say that GB is under attack by the Taliban insurgents from Malakand
division and Waziristan. The Darel and Chilas Valleys provide them refuge.
The stronghold of Salafis and Wahabis on Pakistan’s Afghan and,
consequently, Taliban policy cannot be delinked from the ongoing massacre. GB is a plural society
where Muslims from different sects — Shia, Ismaili and Nurbakhshis and
Sunnis — have coexisted for long. Sectarian tensions started in the area
during Gen Zia’s rule when militant organisations such as Sipah-e-Sahaba
Pakistan were formed and nurtured. But the targeted
killings of Shias this time is not business-as-usual. It follows the
pattern that is evident countrywide and it is linked to the Taliban
finding new havens and areas of control. Such was the mayhem in GB that
the cellular services were down and a whole region was cut off from the
rest of the country. Curfew was in place for days and the local population
continues to live in fear of violence. Most notably, the Shias of the area
are under attack. In the tribal areas,
Parachinar has also witnessed the re-emergence of sectarian tensions and
Talibanisation in recent years. In 2008, the local Sunni population sided
with the Taliban and laid siege to an enclave of Shiites in the area.
Subsequently, Shia residents fled to the city of Peshawar. Since then, the Taliban
have been successful in exploiting the generations-old sectarian conflict
in the region as a way of challenging the government’s writ in the
Kurram agency. The spillover of the Talibanisation has also been witnessed
in the settled district of Hangu in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). Parachinar’s Shiite
population has been subjected to abductions, violence and murder. Sunnis
perceived as being too friendly to the Shias have also been targeted.
Reports of Shia militias have also appeared in the media in retaliation to
the attacks by the Taliban. The efforts of Pakistani
state to use religion to construct a national identity have come home to
roost. Since the 1950s, the textbooks and public education were used to
develop a non-inclusive identity; and glorification of historical
characters who hated Shiaism such as Shah Walliullah and Emperor Aurangzeb.
The sectarian decrees of
apostasy against the Shias of Pakistan in the ‘90s cited such religious
figures to justify their pedigree. Zia proceeded to impose a rigid
interpretation of Islamic law on Pakistan, in part to legitimise his
illegal rule and in part as a result of his own ideological inclinations.
A gradual movement from the more tolerant, pluralist expression of
religion to a more austere and puritanical Deobandi Islam had already
begun in the country earlier. I have written elsewhere
on how the Deobandi creed was further strengthened with the Soviet
invasion of Afghanistan and the advent of the Islamic revolution in Iran
in 1979. Afghanistan had always practised the Deobandi variant of Fiqh
Hanafia and the ‘jihad’ against the Soviet Union increased the
charisma of the Deobandi seminary. The geopolitics of Shia-Sunni tensions
in the Middle East after the Iranian revolution also added to the
hardening of religious identities. The strategy of using
Deobandi militia proxies in Kashmir further alienated the Barelvis.
Barelvi mosques began to be forcibly taken over by Deobandis with state
patronage. Today, bolstered by the support lent to them by the Saudis and
radicalised further by the presence of Al Qaeda commanders of the likes of
Al Zawahiri and their Salafi teaching, the Deobandis dominate the
ideological landscape of Pakistan. Al Qaeda continued to
operate from the Pak-Afghan border despite the US invasion of Afghanistan
in 2001, and its leadership found safe havens in Pakistan. Although over
the years Bin Laden and his partners were successful in creating a
structure in Afghanistan and Pakistan that attracted young recruits, it
was never established as a cohesive network. Instead, Al Qaeda continues
to operate like a “venture capital firm”, providing funding, contacts,
and expert advice to militants from all over the Islamic world. In
Pakistan, Al Qaeda is known to have links with the Tehreek-i-Taliban
Pakistan and several other extremist groups. The Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ)
is the new ally of Al Qaeda; and the mayhem caused by this network
indicates that its demise as touted by the global pundits is far from
true. We are gradually moving
towards the term ‘genocide’ when it relates to the Shia population. Of
course, the term genocide has legal implications and well defined
parameters. But there is a ‘cleansing’ of sorts underway in the case
of Hazara. Indeed, the term ‘sectarianism’ that has been in currency
is now outdated for the largely one-sided attack on Pakistani Shias. Many bloggers in the
social media have denounced the use of term sectarianism for the current
spate of killings. But the term sectarian is also used to define what
happens when large sections of society are brainwashed with a sectarian
worldview, i.e. Wahabi-Salafi version, courtesy the generous grants by
Middle Eastern countries to Pakistani madrassas. Pakistan has the
second-highest Shia population in the world and to witness this slaughter
amid a dark, culpable silence is deeply disturbing to say the least. If
Shia killing is an offshoot of a state policy, then it needs to be
challenged by the intelligentsia and the media. The political parties must
not be silent about it as they have been. The deepening divisions within
the society and continued legitimisation of Shia killing at the subaltern
level by militant organisations, is a trend which will destroy Pakistan. Sectarian organisations
like the SSP/Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat continue to operate out of brick and
mortar offices in the Punjab with impunity. The state should disband all
armed militias and militant organisations under Article 246 of the
constitution. Existing bans on sectarian organisations like the SSP should
be strictly enforced. The government should
publicise evidence of sectarian organisations’ involvement in violent or
criminal activities. Laws against hate speech should be strictly
implemented. Jihadi publications supporting supra-state ideologies and
sectarian agendas should be banned and the license of such publications
should be revoked. Human Rights groups have
already recommended that the government officials and politicians accused
of maintaining links with sectarian organisations should be investigated
and, if found guilty, should be prosecuted. The government should ensure a
competent prosecution team for those being tried for sectarian violence.
The security of lawyers and judges who oversee sectarian cases should also
be ensured. We need witness protection programmes in the larger context of
counter-terrorism efforts of the state. Most importantly,
Pakistani state policy of allowing space for militant organisations needs
a serious overhaul. The militarisation of Pakistani society and the havoc
wreaked by rogue ‘strategic assets’ on the country should be evidence
enough that the state cannot continue to support militant organisations at
the cost of dividing Pakistani society. The provincial
governments which have all the legal powers must now clean up the Pakistan
Studies and Islamic studies textbooks of all contents that promote
sectarianism or spread hatred. Raza
Rumi’s writings are archived at www.razarumi.com
food South Asia as a region is food insecure and marred by hunger. According to the Global Hunger Index 2011; Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan are facing alarming level of hunger, whereas Nepal and Sri Lanka have “serious” level of hunger which is only one step behind “alarming”. Like other South Asian countries, the things on this front are quite disturbing in Pakistan too. According to Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) and World Food Programs (WFP)’s district ranking of food insecurity, 33pc population in Pakistan was food insecure in 2003. Despite the claims of
historic economic growth during Gen. Musharraf’s era, over a six years
period the food insecure population had touched 48.6pc in 2009 (SDPI-WFP-SDC
report 2010). The same trend was also reported by South Asia Human
Development Report 2011 as well as by recent National Nutritional Survey
which quoted that in 2010, 58pc people in Pakistan were food insecure and
63pc children under five were anemic. Despite the fact that half of the population in Pakistan is food insecure, the government policy makers, till recently, were denying that food insecurity was an issue in Pakistan. Most of them used to quote bumper crop of wheat and rice as evidence that Pakistan was not a food insecure country. To them, hunger was merely a production issue which was to be addressed through increased production. Let me clarify that I am not against increased production as long as it is achieved through principles of sustainability and within the socio-economic access to every one. Food security is a multidimensional concept. It is not only about increasing the yield. It is not only about increasing the income and not only about improving utilisation capacity (through provision of better drinking water, sanitation, and health facilities). It necessitates physical availability of food (through production, imports, aid), socio-economic access to food, and improved conditions for food utilisation. Ensuring food security is too complicated and required a dedicated agency that should coordinate with public and private sector actors, draw up, and implement food security policies. The good news is that despite the persistent denial from official sources food insecurity has eventually been acknowledged as a problem in Pakistan at the official level. Thanks to the 18th Amendment in the Constitution which turned food and agriculture as provincial subjects and gave room for creation of a ministry for food security at the federal level. In fact, this is something that I have been advocating for long. For the last 12 years I have been criticising the bureaucrats when they are wrong, but it was extremely pleasant to see that the Secretary Ministry of National Food Security and Research (MNFSR) had gone through the literature on food security and was of the firm opinion that attaining food security is something beyond increasing production of wheat. I should give full marks to this nascent ministry which did its homework and got principle approval of a “Zero Hunger Pakistan Program” from the Prime Minister. Addressing the concluding plenary of National Food Security Conference last month, the Prime Minister acknowledged that food insecurity was a serious issue in Pakistan and mattered immediate attention. He approved school feed programme in 45 worst food insecure districts of Pakistan. He also approved special nutrition programmes (in collaboration with the United Nation agencies mainly the WFP and FAO) for breast-feeding mothers, pregnant women, and children under five years of age. He announced establishment of “zero hunger shops” in urban slums and rural areas of 45 extremely food insecure districts. These shops would provide subsidised food items to the beneficiaries of the programme. The Prime Minister also promised that funds would be allocated in the next federal budget for Zero Hunger Pakistan program. On top of it, he approved establishment of National Food Security Council, a body that would help in preparation of national food security strategy and facilitate simultaneous implementation of a set of food security policies under this strategy by different federal and provincial agencies. Some of the salient interventions of Zero Hunger Program include, 1. School feeding programme in most food-insecure districts 2. Nutrition programmes for under 5 year children and pregnant and breast feeding women 3. Conditional cash/food transfers to the most food insecure households 4. Cash/food support for vulnerable affected by man-made and natural disasters 5. Stimulus programmes to expand farm outputs and market access 6. Targeted and conditional social safety nets 7. Rationalisation of market prices of food commodities 8. Food supply and distribution programmes for urban/rural poor and highly food insecure 9. Improved nutritious quality of food intake (fortified food) 10. Diversification of food 11. Food processing industry even at community level 12. Food and nutrition awareness and education programme 13. Overcome malnutrition through health and nutrition programmes; and 14. Enhanced coordination among various federal and provincial ministries, and public-private-civil society partnerships Zero Hunger Program (ZHP) also talks of food security surveillance; research for food policy/production, quality improvement, storage, distribution and monitoring and getting Policy formulation to ensure food security as a human right. There would be lot of challenges for ZHP. The programme seems quite ambitious and would require lot of coordination and integration with some of the existing programmes. Its implementation also seems problematic in terms of institutional arrangements not only among various federal ministries but also between federal and provincial governments. It is also true that we do have governance problems. The targeting of food insecure may not be very ideal and there may be lot of pilferages in targeted and non-targeted interventions for the food insecure. Another bottleneck may be scarcity of resources. The provinces may not buy the idea of ZHP, and the list of challenges would go on and on. I realise that most of the above-mentioned constraints to ZHP are very real and complicated but so is the issue of food insecurity. On practical side, one can learn what worked and what did not work from countries like Indonesia, Brazil, and Mexico where such programmes are being run very effectively. One can also learn from Nepal and India’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Schemes to design food for work and cash for work initiatives that would help the masses to combat food price volatility. I am mindful that it would require a great paradigm change to give the same importance to (to be constituted) National Food Security Council which we used to give to National Security Council. However, this would have to be done. The fact of the matter is that food insecurity can threaten national security. A country can never achieve “state security” without assuring food security for its citizens. We cannot climb up the ladder of nations with more than half of our population which is food insecure, anemic and malnourished. Poverty-violence nexus aside, hunger has direct and indirect economic cost too. According to DFID, economic cost of Iodine and vitamin deficiency in Pakistan is 2.5pc of GDP. One may imagine the cost of macro nutrient deficiencies if only the micro nutrient deficiency can cost us 2.5pc of the GDP. A hunger-free Pakistan should be the dream of all of us. Ensuring food security must be part of the manifesto of every political party. The Prime Minister should ensure that his words are translated into reality and sufficient resources are allocated in the next federal budget for ZHP plan. The provincial governments, especially the Government of Punjab, should not ignore this plan thinking it is an initiative of the federal government. Hunger hits all of us and any possible solution to reduce it should not be politicised. The writer is Executive Director Sustainable Development Policy Institute and lead author of SDPI-WFP-SDC report Food Insecurity in Pakistan 2009 suleri@sdpi.org
Ending
up in smoke? A good-looking man comes out from amongst the crowd and darts along the riverbank to reach a troubled spot of panicked onlookers. He stops there for a second, drops a cigarette butt on the ground, tramples it with his right foot, and without hesitating a moment jumps into the river. After struggling with waves for some time, he reaches for a hand and rescues a beautiful girl who had lost all hope. Minutes later, they sit at a bench with sinking orange sun in the background and puff at cigarettes to celebrate the feat. This is something we have all seen in cigarette ads on TV screens, obviously with little deviations, since our childhood and some of us have copied it as well. Of late, there has been a break for viewers, mainly for the reason that an official ban was imposed in Pakistan a decade ago on romanticising smoking, in advertisements. There are other
restrictions as well, like allowing advertising cigarettes on television
and radio only between 3 am and 4 am, prohibition on association of
tobacco advertising with sports, adventure, sex and success in life and
ban on encouragement of smoking as a means of improving concentration or
performance. Besides, there is a restriction on tobacco advertisement in
or within 50 meters of registered schools, on buses, in sports centers, or
in comic books. Despite all these efforts, it is believed that smoking has been a rising trend among the youth and the desired results could not be achieved mainly due to lack of implementation of anti-smoking laws. Stakeholders agree to the fact that there are several lacunae in the existing anti-smoking law titled “Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of Non-Smoking Health Ordinance 2002” that need to be addressed without delay to make it more effective and result-oriented. The said law was introduced in 2002 whereas the UN’s Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) was ratified in 2004 which means the country’s anti-smoking law is not in total conformity with the convention. Secondly, as after the passage of the 18th Amendment health as subject has been devolved to the provincial government, there is a need to present the law before a legislative body for amendments, etc. In this connection, The Network for Consumer Protection, an NGO working for consumer rights in the country, has launched a campaign at different levels to create awareness on these issues. The organisation is also highlighting how cigarette manufacturers have succeeded in devising other mechanisms to capture new markets and influence young minds. Nadeem Iqbal, executive director of the organisation, tells The News on Sunday, “there are penalties like fines prescribed under the law for violations like smoking cigarettes at public places and selling them to children under 18 but they have been on the lower side. It has also been observed that policemen are not even trained to register FIRs related to these crimes,” he says, adding he was impressed by police inspector in Gujranwala who had booked a lot of people under this law. The reason was sample; he had been trained by the Tobacco Control Cell. Phillip Morris was recently fined under the law for advertising in national publications,” he adds. As per country’s law, hospitals, dispensaries and other healthcare establishments, educational institutions, offices, conference rooms, all domestic flights, restaurants, buses, wagons, trains, indoor stadiums, gymnasiums, clubs, lounges of airports, waiting rooms at railway stations, waiting rooms at bus stations have been declared public places where smoking is prohibited. Staff working here has been designated authority to act against violators and hand them over to police but such action is hardly witnessed. Nadeem adds that a lot more needs to be done than banning advertisements as points of sale are multiplying leading to increase in consumption. “Whether you go to a CNG station, a kiosk, a shopping mall or a café, cigarettes are readily available. What’s the use of banning advertisements when cigarettes are everywhere around you?” Another major trend which has caused opponents of smoking and health experts is the use of tobacco in other forms like sheesha, by declaring it less or not at all harmful. This assertion has been challenged by health experts who have declared it equally harmful. For example, Dr. Javaid Khan, Professor and Consultant Chest Physician at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, conducted a study on sheesha and declared that in addition to lung cancer, it is also linked with increased risk of mouth and urinary bladder cancer. The composition of the tobacco used in sheesha, he finds, is variable and not well standardised. The study adds that more than 100 million people worldwide smoke sheesha daily and it is a common practice in the Middle East, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and some Parts of China. “In some parts of the Middle East, sheesha use is more prevalent than cigarette smoking. Among Arab women in many countries, there is less of a stigma associated with sheesha than with cigarette smoking and, therefore, more and more women are taking up this habit as a fashion.” Jameel Ahmed, a once Lahore-based paan shop owner who quit this business two years ago, tells TNS the ban on advertisement could hardly discourage the trend, “Advertisement promotes goods which are not easily spotted; cigarettes are available everywhere starting from schools, offices, parks to even hostels.” He says he quit the business and smoking both when he realised he was a partner in the crime of promoting tobacco use. Traumatised by a mouth infection which he thinks to be a warning sign of cancer, Jameel suggests to the government to limit points of sale to get the desired results. He believes conditions like prohibiting sales in the vicinity of schools cannot be enforced as schools are springing up like anything. “What will you do if one day someone opens a school in your neighbourhood. Then there will be a law prohibiting opening of schools near cigarette shops,” he says sarcastically. Nadeem believes sale of cigarettes has not been declared illegal altogether, everyone agrees tobacco use is injurious to health and this must be propagated at all levels. These sales are a source of heavy revenue generation, especially for KPK government-which may be a reason for half-hearted implementation of the law,” he says adding: “Nothing is as important as saving our people from contracting lethal diseases.”
politics On April 5, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan, along with a retired bureaucrat Dost Muhammad Khan, had filed a petition with the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP), seeking orders for polling in NA-42, a constituency of South Waziristan Agency. Since the 2008 general elections, the seat of NA-42, which consists of Mehsud areas of South Waziristan, has been lying vacant owning to the law and order situation and ongoing military operation in the constituency. However, the polling was conducted on all other 11 seats of National Assembly of Fata, including the seat of NA-41, another seat of South Waziristan comprising Wazir areas. South Waziristan, the
restive tribal belt bordering Afghanistan, is considered a stronghold of
militants not only belonging to banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but
also to Afghan Taliban, al-Qaeda and other foreigner militants. Four major
military operations have been carried out in South Waziristan especially
in its Mehsud areas to clear the area of the Taliban militants since 2004.
The most recent offensive — Operation Rah-e-Nijat (Path to Salvation)
— was started in October 2009, and is still going on. According to local tribal elders, the entire Mehsud population of around 0.1 million is displaced from the area because of military operation. Some of the Mehsud IDPs are living in adjacent settled districts of Tank and Dera Ismail Khan as well as Bannu and Peshawar, but a majority of them went to Karachi. “About 75 per cent of Mehsud IDPs have arrived in Karachi and moved in with relatives or rented accommodation,” says Shah Wali Advocate, a Karachi-based Mehsud social activist, who heads Pashtun Peace and Development Movement (PPDM). He says that Mehsud IDPs are living in Sohrab Goth, Sultanabad, Mingophir, Pipri, Landhi, Ittehad Town and other suburban areas of the city. Although the government officials repeatedly claim that the area is now completely cleared of militants and they are sending displaced people back to their homes, the locals are unwilling to return to their villages as they fear the militants are either hiding in mountains or have escaped to adjacent tribal areas. Most of the displaced Mehsuds TNS spoke to were not yet ready to return due to security situation, damage to their houses, lack of livelihood opportunities, electricity, food and other facilities. “It is very dangerous. If we go back to our homes, militants will be there because they are still alive and have just moved to neighbouring tribal areas,” says Sharif Mehsud, one of the displaced persons who refused to go back. The displaced families say it is the fourth time they have been displaced from their homes due to operation against the Taliban militants. Khalid Aziz, a former bureaucrat and president of Regional Institute of Policy Research and Training (RIPORR), a Peshawar-based think tank, claimed in an article he wrote in an English daily on March 9 that 90 per cent of the inhabitants of South Waziristan did not suffer displacement, citing the findings of the RIPORR. However, Maulana Saleh Shah, Senator from South Waziristan, strongly denouncing the RIPORR’s findings, say that the report is a well-thought-out plan to camouflage the ground realities, as inhabitants of the five Tehsils — Ladha, Makeen, Sararogha, Sarweki and Khaisor — were forced to live a miserable life elsewhere in the country as IDPs. Thousands of houses vacated by Mehsuds were either washed away by rains or damaged in skirmishes between the security forces and the militants, he says. Shah says that the inhabitants of constituency NA-42 could not even elect their representative in the National Assembly then how can they claim that the area was not affected. Although the people of the constituency NA-42 have already urged the ECP to hold election, political analysts believe that Imran Khan’s recent petition will pressurise the ECP to conduct polls at alternative places as Mehsud IDPs are not willing to go back to their villages in South Waziristan. The petitioners also referred to similar arrangements made for the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Northern Areas in Rawalpindi and Karachi whenever elections are held. The PTI’s leaders claim that the party has made significant inroads in the tribal areas, especially South Waziristan, through Imran’s consistent opposition to the US drone attacks. Sources in the PTI say Dost Muhammad Khan, Imran’s friend and a retired bureaucrat, is the party’s possible candidate from the NA-42. However, local political observers say the contest on NA-42 in upcoming elections will be among the three political parties — Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), the PTI and Awami National Party (ANP). In 2002 general polls, Maulana Merajuddin of JUI-F won the seat from NA-42. “JUI-F had considerable influence and strong organisation in the area, but the party has been facing rift because of ticket allocation during the recent senate polls,” says Anwar Mehsud, a senior journalist. JUI-F’s former leader Maulana Hisamuddin, who has recently joined Nazaryati faction of JUI, will spoil the votebank of JUI-F in the Mehsud area. Although the popularity of the PTI is growing rapidly among tribal people, migration of Mehsud IDPs to Karachi will help the ANP win the seat from NA-42. Mehsud tribal elders complain that the constitution clearly gives the right to Pakistani citizens to choose their representatives from their respective constituencies, but they (Mehsud tribesmen) are deprived of this fundamental right. Ismail Mehsud, provincial joint secretary of ANP in Sindh, demands that like AJK polls, the ECP should make arrangement for holding elections on NA-42 at alternative places, especially in Karachi. Local analysts say that ANP can grab majority votes of Mehsud IDPs living in Karachi. It is pertinent to mention that Amanullah Mehsud, one of the ANP’s two members in Sindh Assembly, also hails from Mehsud tribe of South Waziristan. The
writer is a journalist and researcher: Email: zia_red@hotmail.com
Is
this a milestone worth celebrating? The flurry of articles as of late focusing on the “milestone” that the Zardari-Gilani government has attained by managing to stay in power for 4 years of non-performance and mismanagement, is maddening, to say the least. Arguments about how it’s been good for democracy, kept the Army in its place and how it has empowered the people leave me confounded. The price of petrol rose
by 8 rupees. As of this moment, a thousand rupees will not get you even 10
litres of fuel for your car. Five years ago, it could get you nearly 20.
This is only one example of not only the deterioration of our economy but
of our living standards and the effects of this downturn on a majority of
households in the country. Yes, the rich still live unfettered, which
would not be such a major problem were it not for the barrage of articles
in the past few weeks heralding these 4 years as having strengthened
democracy and having had no debilitating effect on the lives of
Pakistanis. After all, writes S Akbar Zaidi in an opinion piece for the News on Sunday dated 25th March, “Why is it that the poor numbers at the macro level are not being reflected in any marked deterioration in the lives of most Pakistanis?” I cringe at the use of the words “poor”, “marked” and “most”. “Poor” because our stats are far worse than simply “poor”, they are appalling, “marked” because of the degree of denial vis-à-vis the difference in our living standards over the past few years, and lastly, “most”, because it tells us that Mr. Zaidi, despite being a Pakistani and a Visiting Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for South Asia, clearly is ignorant about who “most” Pakistanis are, let alone what kinds of lives they lead. When Mr. Zaidi, who has contributed several articles like this over the past few weeks, proceeds to begin his assault on the Musharraf regime, I’m not sure whether to laugh or fume. God knows there were problems with Musharraf, but the economy was clearly not one of them. Prices under Musharraf were relatively stable, even in 2008; the prices of petrol and diesel were half of what they are today. Food prices are exponentially high, with the prices for wheat flour, sugar and pulses, to name a few rising by more than 100pc. These are cold, hard facts. I would love to know what disastrous policies the Musharraf team implemented from 1999-2008. Were they the policies which caused our GDP to average 7pc between 2003 and 2007? Or those which resulted in us being touted as the one of the fastest growing economies of the world? Mr. Zaidi, instead of telling us what these policies were, makes sweeping statements; when he chooses to talk about increases in rural incomes, and how that indicates a rosier outlook for Pakistan’s future, I am at a loss for words. Firstly, it is the incomes of the non-taxpaying feudals and the landowners which have gone up, not the toiling rural masses. Secondly, even if rural incomes are increasing, Mr. Zaidi seems to ignore the proportionally much larger increase in prices — increases which look to continue for many days to come and decimate the poor. Even though he says that criticism of the preceding government should not be seen as a free pass to the present one, something doesn’t entirely ring true. He mentions this government having a lack of vision, economy-wise; there is hardly any conviction in his words. If claiming that a government which has lied to us, cheated us, and stolen from us at every instant in the last four years, has led to the strengthening of democracy, is not giving a free pass to them, then I don’t know what is. At the end of his article, he talks about the need for a wider, more honest and unprejudiced analysis of our economic situation. But, ultimately, this seems like a weak and rather inconsequential closing statement. Which takes me back to the question; if he did not want to give a free pass to this government, why didn’t he give an honest and unprejudiced assessment of our economy that he has demanded. Our country, like it or not, is at a standstill, if not in backward motion. We need to look past this “4 year milestone” propaganda. The only thing worth celebrating about these 4 years is that they are over. Now, we need to look to the next four years, which we can hopefully embark on with a new government. We will have to start at less-than-zero, at square negative one, because that is exactly where this government has left us. No matter how much Mr. Zaidi and his ilk would have you believe otherwise, that is the pure, honest and unprejudiced truth.
review Back to Work: Whey We Need Smart Government For A Strong Economy Author: Bill Clinton Publisher: Knopf Price: Rs. 1800 According to former US
President Bill Clinton, “America at its core is an idea — the idea
that no matter who you are or where you’re from, if you work hard and
play by the rules, you’ll have the freedom and opportunity to pursue
your own dreams.” The former President has written this book because he
believes that the America of recent times has deviated from its strong
rudiments and needs to revisit its ideologies and policies to maintain its
competitive edge over other nations of the world. The premise of Clinton’s argument is that the role of government is critical in establishing robust economic policy. He is wary of an era where the importance of government is being downplayed by critics who believe governments are inefficient and consume too many state resources without providing comparable output. This stance reflects his bias as a Democrat as he juxtaposes himself with the Republicans who favour lower taxes and reduced government machinery. Clinton shares data that suggests that during his tenure, the budget was balanced and economic indicators remained superior to the current scenario where the country has been allowed to run a deficit. Following this introduction, Clinton adopts an approach that is prescriptive rather than merely descriptive. He is not just in favour of higher taxes, he actually points out that despite America’s high corporate tax rates, it is the wrong sectors that are being taxed and this is causing economic growth to languish. He thus makes tangible suggestions on how to reform the tax structure not to maximize the government revenue but to allow industries on which the future of the country hinges. The most appealing part of the book is that it is based on empirical data and historical analogies to make its points. Clinton has highlighted managing energy and infrastructure as key challenges for the coming years and identified sources of inefficiency in the current setup. Clinton shares numbers to prove that the number of jobs created by setting up infrastructure related to solar and wind power is higher than what is obtained by setting up conventional power plants. In fact, nearly all the policies he advocates are related to the primary function of creating new jobs in America since he sees this step as fundamental to a resilient economy. While the opening concept of the American dream is rather idealistic and romantic, most of the book is based on pragmatic principles. Clinton is aware of the fact that many European and Asian nations have usurped America’s position of dominance across objective indicators like college graduation rates and broadband penetration. He elucidates the government policies that have resulted in such benefits. For example, we learn how Germany stresses vocational training over the broader liberal arts curriculum of the United States and allows employees to work for reduced hours in lean times to prevent layoffs. We also learn about the kind of incentives offered in Scandinavian countries to raise educational standards. Clinton’s ability to draw such parallels shows his willingness to accept the shortcomings of the United States and commitment to understanding how to ameliorate the situation. In the modern age where non-government actors and technology startups entice the smartest minds and governments are often associated with bureaucracy and corruption, it is easy to assume that the role of government in the future can only dwindle. But Clinton’s book reminds us that there will always be room in the public sector for intelligent and motivated people who wish to make an impact on the kind of scale that is not possible to achieve through the private sector. It is only the government that can set industry-wide incentives and disincentives to ensure that energy, infrastructure, education and employment are managed in a utilitarian manner. At just about 200 pages, the book is not a major challenge to consume and the copious use of tables breaks up the monotony of text. There are certainly some portions that are dry and academic in nature and non-Americans may get bogged down in understanding the divide between Democrats and Republicans or the significance of Fannie Mae in the recent financial crisis. But even if you skim through such sections, those with a general interest in politics and economics should find plenty of interesting material. What is most interesting to me is how Bill Clinton, like Al Gore and other politicians, is willing to invest his time and resources in intellectual debate well after the spotlight on him has receded. Clinton himself was a Rhodes Scholar and well versed in issues of economics and history. It is a symbol of the quality of a state that it is led by those with strong academic backgrounds who are willing to use their exposure and experiences to make cogent policy recommendations long after it ceases to be their job.
Revival
of nationalism in Sindh? Nationalism in Sindh has very deep roots, and one can find this element in Sindhis throughout history, we can trace it from Dodo Soomro to Hosh Mohammad Sheedi; from “Surya Badshah” (Pir Pagaro) to present day nationalists. One should have no doubt that the spirit behind nationalism in Sindh was G.M Syed. If we look at the 65 years history of Pakistan, politically this country has remained under continuous suppression and oppression. Martial laws have ruined the entire political system of the country. Love for the land,
language, culture and people, was replaced by love of religion. From day
one, its citizens were told that: “Pakistan was established under the
slogan of religion.” This wasn’t Mr. Jinnah’s idea of Pakistan. If one is to work on nationalism in Sindh, he or she would find the pure nationalistic layer entering the hearts of young Sindhis during Ayub’s horrifying ten-year regime. Amar Jalil, an eye witness of that era; mentions that in preface of his book Jedhen Maan Na Hundas: “To retrieve the evil act of ‘One Unit’ field martial Ayub Khan started to reign tyrant, people were unable to breathe, those ten years (1958-1968) created chaos and turmoil.” In western Pakistan it was Sindh that reacted against one unit. That period of horrifying and deadly ten years totally changed the ideology of Sindh. Mystic natured Sindhi people came to defend their very existence. Jalil further writes: “It wasn’t acceptable for us to add word ‘ex-province’ with Sindh. In those days, whenever they would mention any province in news through radio, television or newspaper, they would add the word ‘ex-province’ before its name. At the end of Ayub’s regime, and Yahya losing half of the country, a new era in Pakistani politics started, it was known as the Bhutto dynasty. As charismatic as Mr. Bhutto was, he was able to divert Sindhis from nationalism, with his idea of socialism. Sindhi youth filled with nationalism followed him and his slogan: “Roti, Kapra, aur Makan” blindly. In 1973, Bhutto was able to give a constitution upon which all political forces agreed. Talking about Bhutto, Tariq Ali in Can Pakistan Survive? claims: “In his campaign against the military regime of Field Marshal Ayub Khan, Bhutto had stressed the importance of human rights. In one of the first pamphlets produced by the PPP, its leader said: ‘civil liberties hold the key to our future happiness.’” This cooled the burning fire of nationalism for a time being in Sindh, till General Zia kicked out the charismatic Bhutto on July 5, 1977, and put him behind bars. This was another martial law wearing a religious mask. Quoting Zia’s speech T. Ali writes: “Pakistan is like Israel, an ideological state. Take out Judaism from Israel and it will collapse like house of cards. Take Islam out of Pakistan and make it secular state; it would collapse.” Political activists like Rasool Bux Palejo, Fazil Rahu, Nazir Abbasi, and Sindhi journalists like Sohail Sangi were arrested and tortured. Those were days of bloodshed for the people having leftist socio-political ideas, the Nara Jail, central jails of Hyderabad and Karachi, and the deadly Kotlakhpat Jail, were filled with political activists belonging to the left-wing. But Zia’s hunters were unable to stop the waves of politically aware people. He had to face Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD). It was Benazir Bhutto, who led Pakistan towards democracy in 1988, after eleven hard years of martial law. Sindhi youth, taking BB as a redeemer, entered PPP in large numbers. It seemed that Sindhi nationalism and nationalist political parties were in disarray. Nationalists of Sindh were divided into many groups. Dr. Qadir Magsi left Jeay Sindh and formed his Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party (STPP). Even Mr. Palejo was able to launch his Awami Tahreek (AT). Mumtaz Bhutto, rejected by his niece Benazir Bhutto, entered Sindhi nationalism by forming Sindh National Student Front (SNSF), and there were many small units and parties. From the early 1990s to the late 90s, it was a dark period for nationalism in Sindh. After the death of G. M Syed, his party spilt into groups. Highly qualified leaders like Abdul Wahid Arisar, Bashir Khan Qureshi and many others were unable to sit together and new groups were seen within Jeay Sindh, with two new groups — Shafi Burfat’s Jeay Sindh Mutahidda Mahaz (JSMM) and Safdar Sarki’s Jeay Sindh Tahreek (JST). However, on the core issues like Kalabagh Dam, or water distribution, they would come together. Still, they were unable to work together for a longer period of time. Later, Syed Jalal Mehmood Shah, grandson of G.M Syed launched Sindh United Party (SUP). Rather than going for the extreme path like other nationalists striving for an independent Sindh, Shah brought the idea of provincial autonomy according to the 1940 Resolution of Pakistan. He tried to bring Sindhis together telling them: “They can’t get rights unless they have their true representation in the assemblies.” In December 2007, when Benazir Bhutto was assassinated, there was a huge vacuum of leadership that also hit Sindh hard. Sindhis became fed-up of the political system. The vacuum brought back life to Sindhi nationalism once more. Sindhis started to speak and think about their land, language and culture. Not only politicians but civil society as well as newly groomed Sindhi print and electronic media stood up with nationalist politicians. People like Ali Kazi of Kawish Group, Zulfiqar Halepoto, Jami Chandio and many others came out with a new ideology of Sindh. Writers like Badar Abro and Ishtiyaq Ansari started to work on history of Sindh on scientific lines. Sindhis showed their resistance on a remark about “Sindhi topi”. This revived their cultural values and they reacted very strongly when the walls of Karachi were painted with the slogan, “Separate province for Muhajirs”. Finally one could see the revival of nationalism in Sindh quite clearly from the gathering JSQM on 23rd March this year led by Bashir Khan Qureshi (late) at Karachi, or Shehla Raza shouting on the floor of Sindh Assembly: “We would prefer to die, but won’t give away Sindh.” A few days back, JSQM Chairman Bashir Khan Qureshi passed away, the Sindhis as a whole are in anger about the developments after his tragic death. If the authorities show negligence and truth is distorted there might be a chaotic situation and hardly anyone would be able to handle it. Kaleem_buttbutt@yahoo.com
Trends
in mobile marketing Communication always
pays off in the world of marketing. Different modes of communication are
used to attract customer’s attention. Within the last decade or so
mobile phone access has increased manifold around the world. Pakistan is
no exception. Today, mobile/SMS
marketing is emerging globally as one of the most successful marketing
tools. Mobile marketers, unlike traditional ones, do not have to push
their customers to get results. And that’s what makes it so effective.
As the boom is still in its early phase, the potential for growth is
enormous. Having said that, if we
change our angle a bit and look from a layman’s perspective, the
question might still arise as to why mobile users are becoming the prime
target audience for businesses all over the world? What’s the point in
getting marketing down from macro to micro? The answer is quite
obvious and simple. We just need to look at ourselves. Can we imagine
living a day without our mobile. Certainly not! Mobile phones are, in
fact, our second shadows. We carry mobiles or mobiles carry us is hard to
figure out these days. The last thing we do
before we go to sleep is check if there are any missed calls or unread
messages. And looking at our mobile screens is the first thing we do when
we wake up. Let’s look at some
figures. There are more than 110,000,000 registered Sims in Pakistan alone
out of which 85,000,000 are the active ones. The numbers are far more
tempting for national and international marketers to jump in and cash in
on the potential of mobile marketing in Pakistan. These are reasons enough
for a marketing strategist to go crazy over it. Emerging mobile social
networks, like Pring, are the platforms through which businesses and
brands can directly interact with their target audience. A mobile handset being
your personal commodity is never ignored. Any content sent to you is
surely seen if not responded to. And that’s where the mobile marketers
get their foot in the door. They know how fruitful it could be to engage
their potential customers in real-time. The majority of the cell
phone users are the youth of the country and SMS is their most frequently
used medium of interaction. They are more into texting each other that
they would seldom call. Mobile marketing is
unique and personal in a way that users can mange what content they want
to see and what they don’t by opting-in or opting-out. Leaving spamming
aside, which is not a legal or a right tool for marketing, the Opt-in and
Opt-out feature of mobile marketing puts it ahead of every other media of
advertising communications. If we look at the
marketing scenario, mobile social networks, such as Pring, is the first
that comes to mind. The network not only discourages spamming but also has
strict rules against spammers on its network. It claims to be the only
network in the South Asian region that follows the guidelines and best
practices laid out by MMA (Mobile Marketing Association). MMA is a global
organisation that works to promote, educate, measure, guide and protect
the mobile marketing industry worldwide. There are national and
international brands, including the ones that are not just marketing on
mobile networks, they are actually building relationships with their
customers. Every marketing effort done through mobile social networks is
based on the principle of Opt-in. Mobile marketing focuses
on providing service rather than selling hard. It is a two-way
communication which makes people feel part of the brand itself. By showing
interest in the communication, they become the loyal customers and the
feedback received from them works as an insight for the brands and their
marketing teams. Mobile marketing does
not work alone. It always needs to get social. The more interactive,
entertaining and informative it is the more effective and result oriented
it would be. In Pakistan, this
marketing method is getting popular thanks to the mobile social networks,
which are pushing things in the right direction. A lot needs to be done
still to fully utilise the potential of mobile marketing in the developing
countries like Pakistan. This medium has the promise for marketers and
advertisers which also guarantee customer convenience and satisfaction. |
|
