Lacking the apparatus
Government departments responsible for curbing the menace of drugs should be properly trained to handle the task
By Alauddin Masood
In percentage terms, Pakistan now ranks high among drug-afflicted societies. Statistics on drugs point to the urgency for tackling the problem through a pragmatic approach, aimed at protecting the society’s prime segment — youth — from falling a victim to this scourge.

A matter of resolve
Development projects should be rationally planned and
timely completed
By Dr Noman Ahmed
The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC) recently approved 28 development projects in different sectors. A cursory review of this development allocation shows the denominators of development that include hardware development, capital intensive infrastructure, cost intensive facility expansion, and support to ultra-conventional approach to development. Highway and road development get the lion’s share of the funding.

firstperson
"I am where I wanted to be"
By Zaman Khan
Olaf Kellerhoff is the Country Head of Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom (FNF), based in Islamabad. Kellerhoff is attracted to the Islamic world and has studied Islamic history, language, and culture, besides political science. He can speak a number of languages, including Arabic. Besides doing compulsory military service in Germany, he had the opportunity to join several peace missions to places outside Germany, such as Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Lebanon besides living in Morocco for about a year. Kellerhoff joined FNF in 2008 and despite a string of terrorist attacks that hit Pakistan during the recent past he loves his stay in the country and desires to go on a tour of Pakistan on his motorbike. While Kellerhoff was here in Lahore a couple of weeks ago The News on Sunday, caught up with him for a talk.

Whatever happened to Swat?
It is the responsibility of all those who claim to be committed to democracy to demand a full social audit of Swat operation
By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar
It has now been almost a year since the signing of the infamous Nizam-e-Adl agreement between the government and Taliban militants in Swat. Welcomed and maligned at the same time, the agreement marked the beginning of the end for peace in the Valley. Only a few short weeks later the military launched a ‘scorched earth’ operation and Swat was never to be the same again.

We continue to bemoan the failure of democratic norms to take root in our governance culture. True, that the repeated extra-constitutional interventions and direct or indirect military rule have rendered democratic governance as a distant and seemingly unattainable goal. In addition, the emergence of non-state actors, sometimes more powerful than the state itself has also led to formidable and multiple centres of power. In such a milieu, achieving the sustainability of democratic process is a Herculean task. Whilst the intentions of our unelected state institutions and their overt and covert non-state partners are clear, the behaviour of the political elites is confounding.

Not unlike the past, the divisiveness of Pakistan’s political elites has entered into a decisive phase. Fissures are apparent in the post-2008 political accord that led to the unanimous election of the Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani. The first cleavage, now a recurrent pattern, has emerged in Sindh where the coalition partners — the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) — are pitted against each other for political control of urban Sindh. The latest skirmish is rooted in the evolving arrangements for the local governments and who will end up controlling the third tier of government. However, there is an ethnic dimension to it as well. Karachi remains besieged by sectarian, provincial, and linguistic ghosts that apparently are alive and kicking.

The second disruption in the political compact that led to a transition towards representative rule is unfolding in the shape of a brewing discord between the ruling PPP and the opposition Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). The PML-N rules the Punjab and thereby has a stake in the system and power matrix but it is also striving to maintain its ‘opposition’ status. This is why a dual strategy is evident where a few firebrand leaders of PML-N take a hard line against the federal government and the President Asif Ali Zardari. The party does not want to rock the system it says but also considers ‘options’ that lead to a mid-term election or even the premature exit of the President from the office in the wake of Supreme Court rulings on the National Reconciliation Ordinance.

The third and perhaps more important factor relates to the rag tag parties that boycotted the election in 2008 but are now keen to wreck the system to get into power or share it with other contenders that may include non-political forces. The Tehreek-i-Insaf (TI) led by cricket super-star-turned-philanthropist Imran Khan and the mercurial Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) top this list. Their views on the Taliban threat and proclivity to make peace with the miscreants are also well known and add significant weight to their calls to undo the ‘system’. The recent shifts in the stance of Western powers, especially the United States, towards the Afghani Taliban groups is being touted by these forces as an interim victory of their long held worldview.

Though we can never be sure in Pakistan, how instability is garnered. Is it a systemic fault-line, a handiwork of the shadow state composed of unaccountable and mighty intelligence agencies and/or the influence of regional and global powers such as the US? Political scientists, analysts and conspiracy theorists have all sorts of reasoning for the continued cycles of instability and crash of democracy and constitutionalism. Whatever may be the driving factor, it is clear that the overall impact of this state of affairs has been debilitating for the economy, society and security of Pakistan.

At present, we are mired in the grip of serious economic and fiscal crises. The growth rate at 2 percent or so has been an all-time low and public discourse hardly features it. Inflation has also been unmanageable and seemingly uncontrollable due to the oil price fluctuations, energy costs and other factors. This situation is bound to have a serious impact on the immediate future of Pakistan. The energy and water crises require long-term policymaking and stability in political process and economic management. The federal and provincial governments are strained for resources and moving towards a state of perpetual indebtedness. A shrinking economy also limits the chances for revenue mobilisation and the security scenario rules out increase in foreign investment.

If we were to analyse the Karachi violence, target killings and political mayhem in this context, then the shortsightedness of the political forces and their bickering becomes a matter of immense concern. Similarly, the PPP-PML(N) wrangling also has a perverse effect on the way markets and economic management work. Already, the federal and provincial governments of Punjab and Sindh appear to be on a constant election trail. But the sad reality is that both PPP and PML-N are only dwindling their chances for an electoral success in the next round. The falling popularity of the PPP due to incumbency and economic strain and the by-election results in the Hazara region of NWFP suggest that their strategies have been noting short of political suicide.

This leads us to the recent victorious and smug posturing by TI chief Imran Khan. His contention that even the US has bowed to his desire for dialogue with the Taliban is neither correct nor a great news for Pakistan. The US, as always, has its selfish national interests in view while deciding on foreign policy matters. Its invasion of Afghanistan was wrong and its hasty exit strategy is equally questionable. After a decade of failure in arresting the problems there, the US public opinion has turned against the war. This is hardly a victory of the Taliban. Let us not forget that in the previous Taliban regime US corporations were supporting the barbaric regime and expanding their business. There is incontrovertible evidence that confirms this.

But the effects of Taliban rule next door will be damaging for Pakistan. The proponents of strategic depth, India bashers and Pakhtun card users might feel elated but the Pakistani Taliban are hardly going to give up their power-capture agenda. Pakistan has never been under US occupation despite the fact that US imperial interests have completely defined Pakistan’s governance choices, national policies and state’s conduct for decades. The Pakistani Taliban represent the embedded instruments of extremism nurtured by the state over time. The jihad factories, the militant madrassas and, above all, the nihilistic and anarchic view of Pakistani Taliban are hardly going to evaporate. Should we be asking them to accept a slice of power as advised by TI and JI? The answer is plain no. Only electoral process, and that too an impartial one, can establish that. Until such a prospect arises, the offers of political reconciliation and tacit offers of power to those who do not represent the people are undermining our nascent democracy in letter and spirit.

This is why the rejectionist point of view by TI and JI is not a means of their return to the Parliament but it can unfortunately bring about a major crisis in Pakistan. Any effort to pack up the present assemblies will be naïve and dangerous at this stage. We have done this too many times in the 1990s. But this time the state itself is a victim of this anarchy. In a political vacuum — a much coveted state for the militants — the non-state actors beyond the confines of constitutional and electoral bounds are likely to step in or at least struggle harder to gain control of power. Their ultimate design is the access to nuclear programme that is a source of Pakistani state’s strength as well as its biggest vulnerability. It is therefore not difficult to understand who wants the present coalition of anti-extremist political parties (PPP and ANP) out of power and to what end.

In addition to our economic meltdown, we are also going to witness a partial reversal of war against extremism that the naïve politicians and media mujahideen, and to use Ayaz Amir’s coinage ‘laptop warriors’, have been calling for. There is no doubt that sectarianism, religious fundamentalism, militancy, and bigoted calls for Sharia imposition are our own problems. If the opinion leaders wish to gloss over this reality then they are doing a huge disservice to our country and even to their role. The future historian will remember these men and women in the unkindest of manners.

In this situation, a wide section of public opinion including former judges, lawyers and civil society activists have raised concerns about using the Islamic provisions of the 1973 Constitution, especially those inserted by the Islamo-fascist dictator General Ziaul Haq to oust the incumbent President. The constitutional way is clear: impeachment is the only way of dethroning the President. The route suggested by the maverick lawyers, and litigants of dubious antecedents, before the Supreme Court is fraught with danger and strangely, not through sheer coincidence, echoes what the JI and TI want us to do with the Taliban and their allies: abject surrender. Pakistan was not created to be a theocracy or a haven for religious fascism and Jinnah’s statements are on record. Its people, ethos and political mainstream remain secular and moderate.

In 1958, there was a band of opportunists, which invoked Army’s help to sort out the mess. The result was the break-up of Pakistan at the hands of his successor whose ally was the JI and whose government was ably assisted by Mr Roedad Khan as Information Secretary. In 1977, Asghar Khan and other politicians lacking legitimacy, the dross of our history, made a similar Faustian mistake. Their laments, books, and shenanigans are insignificant now as we were doomed with a decade of retrogression and socio-political destruction due to the personalised anti-Bhutto stance of handful politicians. In 1999, after sabotage of three civilian governments, a wide array of politicos and civil society luminaries welcomed General Musharraf. The situation that we are in cannot be attributed to the person of General Musharraf alone. All the collaborators and abettors are equally guilty of bringing us to such a pass.

In 2010, the interventionist chorus of opportunists and losers among the political elites, select individuals from the media who are convinced that GHQ will intervene with boots and tanks, regurgitates the same old recipes for our survival. We have only grown weaker and weaker with each decade of authoritarian, unaccountable rule. This is a lesson that the politicians need to learn — otherwise the camel is always willing to peep into the proverbially tattered and fractured tent.

It is time that the political elite sat down to resolve their power-sharing issues for the next two years and resolve that they will not aid or abet any extra-constitutional calamity. In addition to a political accord, they will have to agree on a bi-partisan basis on the two key issues: economy and war against extremism. Any shift of focus at this critical juncture will lend credibility to the propaganda by anti-democratic forces that our politicians are meant to be in jail, exile or inspiration for national monuments.

The writer is a development professional and a writer based in Lahore. He blogs at www.razarumi.com and edits Pak Tea House and Lahorenama e-zines

skill

For ages, learning to stitch clothes and preparing dresses has remained part of a young woman’s training. Stitching, embroidery and knitting have remained an integral part of a girl’s skills. There are schools that still have a weekly class of needlework for them. While they have been sewing clothes for the entire family, but when it comes to benefiting in monetary terms, men take the lead in the stitching industry in Pakistan. Till 2006, this industry had 100 percent men working in this sector, with women assigned thread-cutting job only — a low-end job that pays little. With the effort of Gen-Prom, a programme that gives 10-12 weeks training to women and men in this field, 20 percent of the workers in the stitching industry are now women.

An initiative of UNDP, gender promotion through skills development in the clothing/garment sector, Gen-Prom aims at enhancing the skill level of garment and sewing industry workers so that this important backbone industry of Pakistan can survive the tough challenges of global competition.

"Gen-Prom has trained 6,000 workers out of which 4,500 are women, in just two years time," says Sajeel Butt, National Project Manager, Gen-Prom Project Punjab. More and more women are coming to the fore to learn the skill and be a helping hand in the family. The age-group that gets training is 18-30 years old. Why not women older than these? "This age-group delivers efficiency," says Mian Mehmood Anwar, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Gen-Prom Punjab.

Every person eager to learn has to qualify a test to get this training. It’s a test where you have to put thread in needles of different sizes and arrange blocks within a box in the given time. In short, it is a test of eyesight and reflexes. Certainly, young people are likely to have quick reflexes, so the choice is simple.

The good part is that once selected for training, workers are paid from day one — Rs6,000 a month. Ninety percent of the women Gen-Prom has trained were doing no work before. The world over, women dominate in the textile industry. It is the other way round in Pakistan. Gen-Prom has established 37 training units in various factories. Here are brief interviews of some of the workers who have benefited from this training.

Shabana Mushtaq has come from Okara to learn the skill. The 22-year-old came to know about the opportunity from newspaper and is staying with her sister in Lahore. After three months training, she is working in the production unit.

Safia Tariq is the best operator according to the master trainer. Like all other girls working in the stitching factories, this girl also commutes in the factory bus. "Whatever the worker takes interest in, the supervisor pays attention to which makes learning and working easier."

Rabia Iftikhar comes from a big family. She is studying and learning stitching at the same time. She is doing B.Com and goes to academy for two hours after the factory. Her enthusiasm to move ahead in life and contribution to the family income is remarkable.

Tahira Omar is a mother of two. She has three and five years old children. The skill has enabled her to earn the much-needed money. Salima has one child and her husband is out of work for the last six months. "He used to do embroidery on computer. He has been to everyone who could give him work. Such is the situation in the embroidery business. "In this scenario, the skill Gen-Prom has imparted to me is nothing less than a blessing." Salima was introduced to this opportunity by a niece who has already benefited from the training.

Irshad, a mother of three children, is the sole earning hand of the family after her husband fell ill. She says, "The environment is excellent here. They are giving very good training. We make trousers here." Sidra and her sister are in the stitching factory while their mother does clipping work there. "We have skill. We can work now and earn. The environment is very good here. This work has brought good times in my family. We have to wed off our eldest sister. A lot of change has come in our home with the money we bring in." She was in class IX when she quit school.

Sidra is engaged but her marriage has not been planned yet. "My father is a security guard and draws the same salary as I do. We are five sisters and one brother. One of my sisters works in a bread-making factory that pays her Rs4,000 only for 12 hours work. She is in bread-packaging. I have just completed training here."

All these girls are less than 30 years of age. They are enthusiastic about moving ahead in life. It is important that they learn more skills so that they continue working or they would leave the work after getting married. Still, there are so many young women who need work.

The trainers are from India. Gen-Prom took fresh engineers and attached them with consultants. These people impart 60 percent of the training. Gen-Prom has developed training curriculum for operators, master trainers and middle management. Gen-Prom offers its curriculum to Tevta for free, TNS learns this from Sajeel Butt. Tevta should immediately seize the opportunity so that more people benefit from a curriculum that has trained 6,000 hands in just two years.

A consultant, Prabhat, says, "It is easier to work with women because they are more committed." In India, Bangladesh, and China, 80 percent women are working in this area while in Pakistan it’s only 20 percent. The main idea is to improve family income by training women to work in garment industry. One can safely say that Gen-Prom has been successful in that and will help more women do better.

caption

Women workers improve on their skills.

As many farmers have started using their sugarcane to make gur instead of sugar, the practice does not bode well for sugar millers in FATA. Some sugar mills in the frontier, especially those in central districts, have closed or have stopped crushing sugarcane much before schedule. While sugar mills in Dera Ismail Khan and other southern districts of the province are operating, most of them in Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan, have been closed for good or have stopped crushing because they have already consumed their stock of sugarcane. Frontier Sugar Mills and Khazana Sugar Mills in Mardan, for instance, are already closed while the Premier Sugar Mills in Mardan — reportedly the biggest sugar mill in Asia — has also stopped crushing.

A high-ranking official of a big sugar mill in the area, on the condition of anonymity, says increased sugarcane price is the biggest problem, "Farmers are demanding high prices for their sugarcane which is simply not viable for us. We are giving them more than the official purchase price but they insist for more and are not bringing sugarcane to the mills. We cannot run our mills in this situation."

The official rate of 40kg of sugarcane is Rs130 locally as compared to Rs100 last year. Despite this price, there is limited sugarcane supply to mills because the gur mafia purchases the standing crop at Rs180-200 to make gur from it. Farmers either sell their crop to them or opt for making gur from sugarcane.

General Secretary Pakistan Sugar Mills Association, K Ali Qazalbash, claims farmers were offered between Rs140-200 per 40kg of sugarcane on different stations. But they demanded more than that which was simply not affordable for the millers. That was why several mills were closed down," he says adding, "Seven out of 82 sugar mills were located in FATA. I cannot say exactly how many of these are closed nation-wide. But one thing I know for sure that sugar millers in FATA are faced with the problem of reduced supply of sugarcane as farmers prefer making gur from their crop. They prefer it because it fetches them more income as more gur can be produced from a given quantity of sugarcane than sugar," he adds.

"Gur prices have gone up considerably and the commodity is being traded at around Rs80-100 per kg these days. It was cheaper than sugar two years back. But no one is questioning and investigating the issue. It is ironical that gur price is being determined by market forces while sugar prices have been determined by administrative decision," complains Qazalbash. According to Qazalbash, sugar prices are going up internationally. Sugar prices must be around Rs60-65 per kg," he argues.

There is no tax on the gur trade. The previous government had levied a fixed tax on gur ganees which was latter withdrawn after facing opposition from farmers. The Pakistan Sugar Mills Association NWFP chapter has been asking for a ban on the export of gur and for a 15 percent sales tax on gur industry. "Gur exporters earn huge chunks of money from exports to Afghanistan and Central Asian Republics (CARs) where it is used in wine-making and other items. Why has its export been allowed when there is shortage of sugar in the domestic market and the government spends billions on its imports?" says Qazalbash.

Haji Niamat Shah, Senior Vice President of Anjuman-e-Kashtkaran NWFP, however, says mills were offering prices of Rs150 to Rs175 per 50kg for different categories of sugarcanes as against official rate of Rs130 per 40kg. "Farmers are not bringing their produce to mills because they can earn more from gur-making. The result is that sugar mills have stopped crushing before schedule. It means revenue loss to the government, joblessness, and shortage of sugar in the market."

On the suggestion to impose taxes on the gur sector, Shah says that the demand is unjust and would affect the already overburdened 85 percent poor farmers, "Instead, farmers should be offered incentives for bringing their sugarcane to the mills. For this purpose, the government should announce a relief package and a rebate in taxes for NWFP sugar industry which in turn would increase sugarcane prices for farmers. This would revive farmers’ declining interest in bringing sugarcane to the mills."

Growing an estimated one million hectares of sugarcane annually, Pakistan is the 5th largest sugarcane producer of the world. Gur and seed consume an estimated one third of the produce. According to an estimate, 1.5 million tonnes of gur is annually produced in Pakistan. Some even claim the yield is two million tonnes. In 1996-97, it was estimated that 32 percent of the sugarcane crop was diverted for the production of an estimated 1.4 million tonnes of gur.

Gur prices have gone up sharply this year. The price of two purs of gur, weighing 160 kg, is between Rs9500 to Rs12500 as against Rs4500 to Rs5000 last year. In 1996, an average retail gur price was 14 rupees. Currently, it is Rs60-80 for different varieties.

Farmer can hardly be expected to take their yield to mills when they can earn double the amount by opting for gur. Sardar Ali, a farmer says an acre of sugarcane yields 600 maunds of sugarcane, "The farmer gets a maximum of Rs100,000 if he takes it to a sugar mill. But his net income will be around 50-55 thousand rupees after deduction of all of his expenditures. Conversely, it can produce 40 purs. With the current rate, these purs can fetch him over Rs200,000 and his net income may be over Rs100,000."

The government has failed to implement the decision of the Supreme Court (SC) to provide sugar at Rs40 a kilo to domestic consumers. In a move that revealed its helplessness vis-à-vis the powerful sugar barons, the government raised its price to Rs45 per kg from Rs38. It also failed to stem steep rise in its prices in the open market. Sugar prices have surged to Rs70 a kilo.

According to reports, the government is mulling a crackdown against sugar mills for selling the commodity at higher price. However, it may be reminded that when the government launched a crackdown on sugar mills last year, following the SC directive to ensure availability of sugar, the commodity disappeared from the market and its price almost doubled in a matter of days.

Pakistanis consume 26kg of sugar per person annually. According to the Ministry of Industries and Production figures, around 170 million require about 4.4 million tonnes against the expected production of 3.1 million tonnes this year. If we reduce sugar consumption by one kg per person in a year, it can save 200,000 tonnes of sugar and Rs650 million with the current international price of the commodity. The government should encourage sugar-beet. The Competition Commission should also investigate and pursue allegations of cartels in sugar industry.

caption

A gur-maker at work.

Root cause

Historically, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) have remained a secluded and ignored part, even after Pakistan came into being. Over the years, successive governments have failed in making the resolve to bring millions of tribal people into the mainstream through sustainable progress and development.

The vacuum created by ineffective governance not only plunged FATA into chaos but made the region a breeding ground for militancy, extremism, and ignorance. The area suffered dearly because of the institutionalised indifference meted out to it in the 63-year history of the country. Despite this negligence and numerous other hurdles, all that has been built over the decades in the area has been reduced to heaps of rubble during unabated violence in the last several years.

Besides loss of precious lives, the entire infrastructure, especially the social sector, has been destroyed. Children’s education is one area where a lot has to be done as militants continue to destroy schools and colleges. Schools and colleges are soft and easy targets that have been frequently bombed in the conflict-hit areas in the region. While acts of blowing up schools and colleges in the Malakand region had been somewhat curtailed as security forces launched a successful military operation in Swat and Dir during 2009, destruction in Khyber, Bajaur, Mohmand, and Orakzai Agency has not yet been stopped.

The number of destroyed institutions, including girls’ schools in the four tribal agencies has recently reached to 122 as 74 schools in Bajaur, 30 in Mohmand, 12 in Khyber, and six in Orakzai have been blown up so far by militants. At the moment, there seems to be no let-up in the instances of destruction of schools. Militants consider educational institutions, besides government installations, as their target. More than 200 schools in Swat district alone were destroyed before the operation Rah-i-Rast in May 2009.

Militants shot dead three female teachers a couple of months ago while they were going to schools. They were killed for imparting education to tribal girls in Bajaur. The federal government did not compensate families of the slain women teachers who were performing duties in the militancy-plagued area putting their lives at risk and were perhaps the sole breadwinners of their families.

Khalid Khan, working as social mobilizer with the Community Appraisal and Motivation Programme (CAMP), an NGO says, "Violence has adversely affected education of children in Mohmand Agency as drop-outs from schools are an all-time high due to displacement of residents for safer places and non-availability of teachers." He says students of destroyed schools are facing difficulties in getting enrolled in other schools as they are located miles away from their homes."

Muhammad Gul Afridi teaches at a government school in Bara. He says, "The destruction and closure of schools in tribal areas is denying education to tribal youth who need it the most. The youth in Fata is already suffering from inferiority complex as they cannot compete with their peers in the rest of the country."

Usman Khan, a resident of Khyber Agency, says he has taken many children in his family to Peshawar as they are unable to receive education in this area. But he also agrees that all residents are not fortunate enough to afford education of their children in Peshawar or elsewhere. Understandably, the ignoble practice of blowing up schools is generating hatred against militants, whose extremist agenda is detested all over the country, including FATA.

Hazrat Khan, a grade-9 student, describing the ordeal of students says, "Schools and colleges in Bara Khyber Agency have remained closed for the last four months and many of my classmates have no other way except to join jihadi organisations and seminaries as there is nothing worth-doing." Khan worries how he would be able to appear in the annual examination of secondary school certificate scheduled in March. Migration of tribal people for safer places has further deteriorated the situation as far as children’s education is concerned.

The situation is no different in South Waziristan where a major military operation is in progress against militants. As schools are destroyed, seminaries have started enrolling the drop-out students. Statistics reveal the education of more than half a million students of government-run institutions in FATA has been adversely affected in the prevailing violence. According to Pakistan Economic Survey conducted in 2007-08, the number of government primary schools in FATA is 4533, the number of middle schools is 423, and higher secondary schools is about 270, with only 33 colleges.

Besides institutions imparting formal education, there are only eight technical institutions in FATA and Frontier Region (FR) together, which have no university. Literacy rate in the tribal region is the lowest, merely 17.42 percent. Girls’ education shows a discouraging ratio as literacy rate among women is only 3.00 percent in FATA.

Commenting upon the situation, a spokesperson of FATA Secretariat media cell says on the condition of anonymity, "The government knows that imparting education is the only way youngsters can have a future. Our secretariat is focusing on finding ways and means to educate children in the area." The official says that "as soon as government’s writ is established and peace is restored, major reconstruction activity in the region will start, which will also include rebuilding the damaged schools."

While the government is mulling over the establishment of a university for the Fata students, there is an urgent need to evolve a strategy to protect schools and secure education at the grass-root level in Fata.

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Closed: Bomb attacks scare students away.

As pressure mounts on Pakistan from the United States and Afghanistan to sign a new agreement on the Afghan Transit Trade (ATT), India has figured strongly on the issue. Both India and Afghanistan have demanded Pakistan allowed Indo-Afghan trade under the mechanism of ATT. Of late, Afghanistan has been demanding of Pakistan to reconsider the 46-year old ATT agreement due to changing regional economic dynamics.

President Hamid Karzai-led Afghan government wants that under the new agreement of the ATT, Pakistan should allow Afghanistan to export all kinds of goods through its territory. This also includes goods from India through Wagah border to the Torkham crossing point in Khyber Agency. Under the ATT agreement of 1964 between Pakistan and Afghanistan the latter is allowed to import a specific list of items through Pakistan territories from other countries.

Pakistan and Afghanistan agreed last year to make a new bilateral arrangement, providing transit trade facilities to Afghanistan. Political questions have so far prevented the two neighbouring states to ink a new trade regime. Both the countries last year exchanged diplomatic drafts and also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to arrive at the new agreement regarding the ATT by December 31, 2009.

There are different areas which need to be addressed before arriving at a new transit trade agreement between Pakistan and Afghanistan, prominent among them being massive smuggling of goods from Afghanistan into Pakistan, absence of uniform tariffs in both the countries, list of items to be included and, above all, allowing India to use the ATT arrangement to export goods to Afghanistan.

Recently, Federal Board of Revenue Chairman, Sohail Ahmed, informed the National Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue that "Indian goods coming from Wagha to Afghanistan is not likely to happen under the fresh ATT agreement." He also informed that Afghanistan and Pakistan are presently engaged in negotiations but nothing has been finalised. So, one should not take it for granted that India will not be allowed permission to export goods to Afghanistan and beyond through the ATT.

According to the Chairman FBR, Afghanistan has been demanding inclusion of Indian exports under the umbrella of ATT. Moreover, Americans have also been putting a lot of pressure on Pakistan to go for the new ATT and that India should also be included in the arrangement. The MoU signed between Afghanistan and Pakistan in the presence of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was termed "historic". Pakistan government seems to favour allowing India export goods to Afghanistan though Pakistan territory.

Political considerations have so far prevented it from doing so. It is important to note that on January 26 Punjab Assembly passed a unanimous resolution asking the federal government not to give India access through Pakistan to reach Afghanistan and Central Asian markets. The reason given by the Punjab legislators to deny India trade route is the Kashmir and water disputes between Pakistan and India. The MPs contended that India could only be given a trade corridor through Pakistan for Afghanistan and Central Asia once India solves Kashmir issue and restores the agreed-upon quantity of water to Pakistan rivers.

According to one view, allowing India to export goods under the new ATT mechanism will be detrimental to Pakistan in a number of ways. At the moment, mostly Pakistani industries are fulfilling the demands of Afghanistan for consumer items. Since 2001, when multi-billion dollar foreign-funded reconstruction began in Afghanistan, a large part of the demand for consumer items in the war-ravaged country has been met by Pakistan.

On Afghanistan’s part, it is understandable that as the process of reconstruction and rehabilitation has gained some speed, demand of various goods in the Afghan society has risen. ATT is the key mechanism by which the world could export consumer items to the landlocked Afghanistan through Pakistan. However, as far as the Afghanistan demand for importing every kind of goods under ATT, it is a colossal demand. If Pakistan accedes to the new ATT agreement and if Indian companies are allowed to send goods to Afghanistan, Pakistani companies and businessmen will lose billions of dollars.

At present, Afghan imports are dominated by Pakistan and the balance of trade between the two countries is in favour of Pakistan. The official trade between the two countries is more than one billion dollars. However, according to a study of Area Study Centre for Afghanistan, University of Peshawar, the total volume of trade (official and unofficial) between the two countries is around a $12 billion. In comparison to Pakistan, Indian exports are quite diversified and include highly value-added products. That will give Pakistan exporters a tough time.

Under the ATT, Afghanistan has been smuggling Pakistani goods back into Pakistani markets. The practice has inflicted huge losses in terms of revenue on Pakistan economy. According to FBR figures, the value of total smuggled goods into Pakistan stands at $4 to $5 billion, out of which the revenue losses are around $2 to $ 2.5 billion. According to one estimate, 70 to 75 percent of the revenue losses to the country have been due to the smuggled items in Pakistani markets.

So, if Indian goods are allowed entry into Afghanistan through a new ATT agreement there are ample chances that Pakistani markets will flood with Indian goods. This would increase the revenue losses in terms of ATT, resulting in further shrinking of the country’s revenue base. One of the reasons why the industrial infrastructure of NWFP and Balochistan collapsed is the smuggled goods from Afghanistan.

Keeping in view all these realities the Afghan government should not press Pakistan for allowing India to export goods to Afghanistan under the ATT. In order to protect the interest of domestic businessmen and industrialists, and also to keep alive to the international economic realities of interdependence, Indians goods could not be given a trade corridor by Pakistan but after levying of adequate custom duties.

Still, the best policy for Pakistan could be to go for a qualified mechanism to allow Indian goods entry into its borders for Afghanistan. This is because Pakistan is in a situation where it cannot estrange its neigbour Afghanistan. The opposition leader in Punjab, Chuadhry Zaheer-ud-Din Khan, said on the floor of Punjab Assembly that "doors of trade should not be closed on Afghanistan since it will be equivalent to strangulating the Afghan brothers." In order to give a boost to Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) between India and Pakistan the latter has to provide some economic incentives to India, despite whatever opposition it might face at home for doing so.

The writer is a political analyst

Lacking the apparatus

In percentage terms, Pakistan now ranks high among drug-afflicted societies. Statistics on drugs point to the urgency for tackling the problem through a pragmatic approach, aimed at protecting the society’s prime segment — youth — from falling a victim to this scourge.

Drug abuse has assumed alarming proportions in Pakistan, turning the country, which was free from drugs some three decades ago, into a state with a large concentration of persons addicted to heroin or other drugs. According to Anti-Narcotics Force (ANF) Deputy Director General, Altaf Qamar, about eight million people are abusing drugs of different kinds in Pakistan. Addressing a seminar in Islamabad, he disclosed that among them 0.8 million are heroin addicts, who are highly vulnerable to dangerous diseases.

ANF Joint Executive Director, Colonel Riaz, informed the seminar participants that 95 percent of drugs, supplied worldwide, originated from Afghanistan and, being a transit country, Pakistan was worst-affected. The revelation by ANF officials is both shocking and alarming. If the incidence of addiction, as quoted by ANF sleuths, is correct then over 4.75 percent of Pakistan’s population of 175 million is now dependent upon drugs against 2.87 percent till June, 2003 when the number of addicts was quoted by ANF’s Brig. Saleem Akhund to be at four million.

In other words, the population of drug addicts has doubled during the last 6 ½ years. Till 1979, Pakistan was free from addiction to hard drugs, including heroin. No doubt, there were some 0.1 million addicts, but they were mostly dependent upon oral use of less harmful substances, like opium and marijuana. Furthermore, in the past, the addiction was restricted to aged persons engaged in some menial professions. And the addicts of yesteryears were peaceful and productive citizens, who used opium, bhang (cannabis) or charas in seclusion for quasi-medicinal purposes.

Rapid increase in the number of addicts and changing patterns of drug abuse like heroin is a serious matter which should ring alarm bells. Studies show drug addiction spreads like wild fire. A survey conducted by Pakistan Narcotics Control Board (NCB) in the mid-1970s, revealed that 90 percent population of Kuria, a village in Buner, had become dependent upon chandu, an opium derivative which is used for smoking within a span of 12 years.

As the legend goes, one of the residents of Kuria served a zamindar in Mardan for about 40 years. As the zamindar was an addict, the Kurian picked up the habit from his master. On retirement, the old man returned to his native village, where he would smoke chandu. Occasionally, his pals would also have a puff or two of the substance. In no time, his friends also got hooked to the vice, which gradually permeated to every household in Kuria. The residents of Kuria ended up in selling their lands and properties to the residents of adjoining villages to support their habit.

Traditionally, Pakistan has been an opium and marijuana (cannabis) producing country, and addiction here was low and restricted. It remained so till 1970, when some stocks of morphine tablets, received in aid from the West for Bisham earthquake victims, found their way to the underworld and from there to the donor countries. A market of morphine tablets of Pakistan origin thus emerged in the West. When stock of those morphine tablets dried up, some ‘enterprising’ people started production of morphine tablets in Punjab and NWFP to meet the demand.

After the overthrow of the Iranian monarchy, the revolutionary government banned all drugs and imposed death penalty for smuggling heroin and other drugs. But addiction in Iran was endemic at that time. In 1973, Iran had 400,000 people on heroin out of an estimated one million drug addicts. Iran needed 600 tons of opium to meet the demand of addicts at home against its domestic production of 200 tons. The deficit was met through smuggling from Afghanistan but the Soviet occupation of landlocked Afghanistan in 1977 and presence of troops on the borders made opium movement highly risky.

In 1997, Pakistan also banned the use and sale of narcotic drugs. The measures by Pakistan and the new governments in Iran and Afghanistan made the opium movement difficult and highly risky. Consequently, the smugglers decided to go into production of heroin which, being 50 times more potent than opium, had a ready market and could be sold at a high price, thus ensuring more returns to racketeers. Furthermore, as the bulk is reduced — 10 kilograms of opium yield one kilogram of heroin, it was easier to smuggle it.

Gradually, several heroin laboratories sprang up in the tribal areas. Apart from meeting foreign demand, these clandestine factories started catering to local needs as well because the source of opium supply to addicts through ‘opium vends’ had dried up after their closure by the government. While opium users tended to be 50/60 years old, the use of heroin is concentrated among the youth and teenagers. Those hooked to heroine lose interest in everything. They may even resort to crime. Actually, fighting heroin addiction is very painful.

The current increase in crimes can be partly attributed to the growth of drugs like heroin. Heroin affects the brain and nerve cells. In a nutshell, addiction to heroin and other drugs poses a great threat to Pakistan. If the situation is not tackled on a priority basis, it may become uncontrollable in the years to come. It must be kept in mind that the developed countries with far more resources and expertise — technology, money, medical facilities, and the ability to launch effective motivational campaigns, have not been able to arrest the problem.

Those aware of the magnitude of the problem in Pakistan have started talking about it because the job in this country is being handled by officials that are not properly trained. By the time those posted at the anti-narcotics department get to know about the problem, they are posted to some other department. One may argue that large quantities of drug seizures indicate government’s resolve to control drug trafficking but the situation also points to large scale smuggling of narcotics to Pakistan from the neighbouring countries. The smuggling of drugs is, however, governed by the economic theory of demand and supply.

Historic evidence suggests that addiction cannot be controlled through legislation or punitive measures alone. India’s slave dynasty king, Alauddin Khilji, had banned the use of alcohol and other drugs in Delhi and would award heavy fines and severe punishment on consumption of such stuff in the city. The measure, according to the king himself, resulted in decreasing his revenues while addicts would visit towns in Delhi’s periphery to satisfy their craze for drugs. Therefore, the remedy is to reduce the demand for drugs.

The drug scene in Pakistan brings to the fore the need for adopting a well thought out strategy, to be executed by trained, capable and dedicated professionals. It should be aimed at curbing the scourge of drug abuse. During the Afghan war, the task was entrusted to the security agencies. Here, one may pose the question: Is it the job of security agencies to wean the youth away from drugs or launch motivational campaigns to achieve that goal? Certainly not, and the galloping rise in the rate of addiction over the last decade also proves that this job must be entrusted to people who are trained and equipped to handle it.

A freelance columnist, Alauddin Masood is a former civil servant and author of the first Urdu language book written in Pakistan on the hazards of drug abuse

E-mail: alauddinmasood@gmail.com

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An addict dares heroin.

It has now been almost a year since the signing of the infamous Nizam-e-Adl agreement between the government and Taliban militants in Swat. Welcomed and maligned at the same time, the agreement marked the beginning of the end for peace in the Valley. Only a few short weeks later the military launched a ‘scorched earth’ operation and Swat was never to be the same again.

It is testament to the power of the corporate media that so little is heard about Swat these days. Operation ‘Rah-e-Rast’ was declared complete some six months ago and soon afterwards media attention shifted to South Waziristan. But what has become of the millions who were forced from their homes in Swat, Buner, and other parts of Malakand? Have these teeming millions, and normalcy more generally, returned to the region?

The attack in Dir this past week should make clear that all is not well in Swat and its environs. The mainstream media has completely reneged on its professional responsibility to keep the public abreast of developments in Malakand since the government formally declared an end to the military operation. In fact, it would not be wrong to suggest that the media has deliberately avoided reporting on post-operation Swat because it wants to avoid a head-on collision with the powers-that-be.

Abuse of authority was commonplace during and after the operation. Even distant relatives of suspected Taliban militants were subjected to humiliation and torture; many homes were torched and hundreds if not thousands were incarcerated without charges. There is no telling when the many innocent Swatis who are being held by the military will be released or even if their whereabouts will be formally acknowledged.

Apologists will argue that these developments were to be expected because, after all, a military operation is never pretty. But let us not forget that we were fed tales about the Taliban’s brutality and the urgent need to restore civility to Swat. Things are surely different with the military now in Swat, but terror remains. Could there by a more damning indictment of the methods that have been chosen to deal with militancy?

But I want to return to the question of how the media has gone about its business in terms of reporting on Swat. Some of our bigger media outlets have no problem taking on the government on some matters, so why is there such selective reporting in this case? This is the same question that has been raised about media reporting on Balochistan over a long period of time (and most conspicuously military operations launched during the tenure of General Pervez Musharraf).

In particular, I would like to draw attention to the anti-Zardari campaigns being run by some media channels and newspapers. I do not have any particular affection for Zardari, or for any other mainstream politician. But Zardari is, nevertheless, the elected president of the country. He is not any more or less corrupt than anyone else around (in any case I consider the men in khaki to be far more responsible for the mess that exists than any politician could ever be). So is it not amazing that some media outlets are more than happy to run uninhibited anti-Zardari campaigns yet are unwilling to shed any light on what is going on in Swat (or Balochistan)?

It does not take a rocket scientist to figure this one out. Most journalists steer well clear of criticizing the establishment on sensitive matters, and in fact become ‘responsible’ and ‘patriotic’ Pakistanis when the military demands it. Zardari is a different proposition; he may do deals with the establishment but he is not the establishment himself, and more often than not the establishment uses the media to twist his arm.

And so carries on the ‘greater national interest’ brigade. The question, as ever, is how long such blatant shenanigans in the people’s name can go on. If nothing else, events of the past year in Swat have made clear to the people of the Valley that invocations of the ‘greater national interest’ are just as suspicious as the ‘paradise’ of the Taliban. This recognition hardly improves the lives of Swatis in the here and now but surely does suggest that in the future they will be much more circumspect in trusting the self-proclaimed ‘guardians of the state’.

In the meantime, it is the responsibility of all those who claim to be committed to democracy to demand a full social audit of the Swat operation (as well as basic information about the ongoing atrocities in Balochistan, Waziristan, and numerous other parts of this country). The media may not have fulfilled its basic mandate but this does not excuse the rest of us from taking to task those who act in the name of our security.

Some self-introspection is also called for, particularly amongst those who supported military operations in Swat, Waziristan, and other regions (presumably many still do). A serious rethink is required about the phenomenon that is passed off as ‘terrorism’. Even those who disagree with the basic thrust of my argument here will agree that the people of Swat now know first-hand what this ‘terrorism’ business really is. So why not spend time with those who have been forgotten by our media moguls to gain clarity about who is responsible for what?

They are spread all over the country; some still languish in refugee camps, others are living off the generosity of relatives or friends. When the military operation first began some of the high elite spent some of their precious time raising money for those displaced. Rather than viewing them only as unfortunate victims we should also learn from their experiences, so as to make sure that the events of the past year are never repeated again. One hopes that our pre-conceived notions of what is right and wrong do not prevent us from gaining a little insight into what really happened to Swat.

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Where to go: Displaced people look for shelter.