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viewpoint elections Financial
indiscipline issue Nor any drop to drink Green
revolution Corrigendum conflict The
provincial puzzle
Understanding conspiracies With fears of democracy’s derailment in the air, authorities need to take people into confidence by exposing the conspirators and their objectives By Alauddin Masood Some elements
seem to be contriving either to get the 2013 general elections postponed
or prolong the caretakers’ term. The dual national’s long march and
recent statements by some politicians lead one to this conclusion. Any
untoward incident during Shaikhul Islam’s long march would have provided
the crafty minds with an excuse for accomplishing their designs! On the eve of his return
to Pakistan, Dr Tahirul Qadri had articulated that the caretakers should
remain in saddle for at least two years to ensure return to assemblies of
persons who fulfil qualifications as spelt out under Articles 62 and 63 of
the Constitution. But, if general elections are pushed beyond the
timeframe stipulated in the Constitution, this would open the proverbial
Pandora’s Box, creating thorny issues about managing affairs of the
state during the period intervening between the dissolution of the present
government and installation of the new administration after elections. If the
supra-constitutional demand of some quarters to reconstitute the Election
Commission of Pakistan (ECP) was accepted, any disagreement between
stakeholders would have provided an opportunity to the vested interests to
govern behind the facade of a technocrats’ government. Months before Qadri’s
return to Pakistan, persons ‘more loyal to the king’ had aired a
desire to get their leader re-elected as President for a second term from
the current National Assembly by extending its tenure by one year under
Article 232(7) of the Constitution. However, strong opposition to their
“wish” reflected sentiments similar to the ones articulated in the
proverb “if wishes were horses, fools would ride.” During talks, the
official negotiating team had clearly informed Qadri that it was not
possible to dissolve the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) because the
ECP enjoyed protection under the Constitution. However, Qadri seems to be
adamant to pursue this supra-constitutional demand and has moved the apex
court on this subject. Furthermore, at a time when the date for general
elections is drawing near, the demand for the ECP’s reconstitution
amounts to seeking the election’s delay. However, the nation is not
prepared to accept any delay in elections. On January 28, 2013, the
ruling PPP’s Deputy Secretary General and Chairman Parliamentary
Commission on National Security, Raza Rabbani, thought it proper to alert
the nation, saying that a conspiracy was being hatched to set up an
unconstitutional caretaker government for the next three years. “Until
the new assembly, after the general election, elects the new leader of the
House, there is a threat of conspiracies against the democratic
dispensation in the country, and it is time that the whole nation stands
up to foil such conspiracies against democracy.” Three days later, Prime
Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf stressed that the country’s future was with
democracy alone and all political forces must stand united to thwart any
attempt to derail it. He said: “Anyone who loves Pakistan must not
become a stumbling block for democracy.” Among others, nuclear scientist
Dr Qadeer Khan and former despotic ruler General Pervez Musharraf have
also joined the chorus harping on the tune of a caretaker setup for three
years. Earlier, Interior
Minister Rahman Malik made an unprecedented statement about conspiracies
and Karachi city’s plunging into violence in February. People feel
agitated over the Interior Minister’s remarks and wondered why did he
opt to make the statement instead of taking concrete measures against
conspirators? Perhaps, to alert the masses and enlisting their support to
face a lurking danger! In a bid to quell unease
generated by reports about democracy’s derailment, the Supreme Court
ordered the military and civilian high commands, on January 31, 2013, to
refrain from doing anything that might delay the elections. As statements
about democracy’s derailment have disturbed the people, the authorities
would do well to take people into confidence about the conspirators and
their objectives. History is replete with
instances where vested interests engineer certain events to whip up public
sentiment against a certain party or group and then use the negative
sentiment as a carte blanche for taking excessive (often inhumane)
measures against that same group which has already been demonized in the
public’s eyes. From the recent history, one may cite intrusion by the
US-led coalition forces in the internal affairs of a couple of Afro-Asian
states. An intense propaganda campaign preceded the intervention by the
West to demonise the targeted countries or their leaders. To avert the possibility
of becoming a victim to the scheming minds, analysts say that when such an
event occurs, it is the duty of each and every citizen to try and see
through the façade. The easiest manner in which these situations can be
analysed is to establish two things: motive and benefit. Emotional
reactions and blind support can land nations in the abyss. Therefore,
before taking a decision, each and every citizen should analyse every
situation on the touchstone of ‘motive and benefit’ to avoid later day
catastrophic situations. Threat to Nuclear Installations Express.co.UK, in its
May 15th edition, carries a news comment by Marco Giannangeli on the US
decision to deploy troops in Pakistan if the nation’s nuclear
installations come under threat from terrorists seeking revenge for Osama
Bin Laden’s death. A loud whoop has gone up from the political pundits
who had stated that this was the ultimate purpose of “Osama Drama”. It
was always the nuclear arsenal of Pakistan that the US had been after,
while the rest was plain hogwash! Giannangeli adds the plan will be put in
action without President Zardari’s consent. How come, the terrorists
will attack Pakistan’s nuclear installations, but will spare the USA’s
nuclear installations when it is the US who is the target, asks
Lahore-based lawyer and university teacher, Yasmeen Ali? And, it is the US
who took out Osama bin Laden? Or does the US think that after stealing
Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, the terrorists will transport the cache all
the way to the US for a possible target in that country. Yasmeen reminds the US
of its intelligence failure of the proportion of 9/11 and also another
event, a few years back, when five fully-armed nuclear-tipped cruise
missiles were loaded onto a B-52 at Minot AFB in North Dakota and flown
across the entire US, landing at an Air Force base in Shreveport,
Louisiana, all without the knowledge of anyone in the chain of command.
So, the US is driven by fear to destroy the world, for something that
hardly has a chance of happening. Of course, at someone else’s expense! Hard as I tried, says
Yasmeen, I could not come across a law that allows any nation, be it the
US or another, to have troops on the ground of another country to
“protect” anything of theirs without their consent. Is this a prelude
to the invasion of “the trusted ally”, as some political pundits have
been predicting for long? Mumbai was attacked right? How come US is not
afraid of Delhi losing their booty? They have had eight secessionist
movements in India already. But, one is serenely reminded of the support
the US lends India in the region. I recall what a great
man — Theodore Roosevelt — said about America: “This country will
not be a good place for any of us to live in unless we make it a good
place for all of us to live in.” Had this great man lived, he would have
surely, included the entire world in his wise quote, Yasmeen concludes. Alauddin Masood is a
freelance columnist based at Islamabad. E-mail: alauddinmasood@gmail.com
elections Elections have
always been central to any democratic dispensation, whereas the actions
and preferences of voters have been central to the process of elections.
So voter is a pivot around which the whole democratic political system
revolves. The voters’ decision
in favour or against a political force is the upshot of interplay of many
factors. These factors among others include: the ideology of the political
party/candidate, charisma and leadership quality of the political
party/candidate, the candidate’s interaction with the people and
conceptualisation of their problems, issues of the country and the
constituency, the track record of the party/candidate. All these factors
depend largely upon the perception of the electorate regarding the party
and the candidate. Perceptions of the
voters in turn depend upon the direct observation and experience of the
people as well as on the information and editorial view of the mainstream
media about the candidates and the parties. General elections in Pakistan
are a couple of months away and all the above-mentioned factors would play
an important role in the formation of public perceptions regarding the
parties, candidates and issues. Important features of
traditional Pakistani voters are that they generally are rural, largely
unaware of the local issues and their relationship with the wider
international political, economic and diplomatic factors. Majority of
voters in Pakistan also have largely been unaware of the political system
of the country and the critical role which it performs in the stability,
development, effective administration of the country and so on. Thus,
mostly those people who have voted in the past elections did not take into
consideration these significant factors and aspects while voting. This time round, the
general awareness level among the voters in Pakistan is higher than the
past due to the continuation of the existing political system, in whatever
form, for the last ten years as well as the simultaneous unprecedented
boom in electronic media. Nevertheless, this does not mean that the voters
are fully aware of their preferences and choice of candidates and voters.
There is too much information in the air, which is too difficult to
process and to make sense of, by the largely illiterate, partially
literate or literate but politically insensitive voters. Contemporary democracy
is largely the result of mass society and capitalism. Mass societies may
not be conceptualized prima facie as being composed of mass publics, but
in fact it is the nature and interaction among the members of such
societies which make them so. The nature of social relationship among
members of modern societies is largely impersonal and detached. Pakistani society is not
a purely mass society but the signs of a mass society have started
appearing. In other words, Pakistani society is still largely a
traditional society but there have been significant shifts towards
becoming a mass society particularly in the urban areas, which are fast
growing and turning the formerly rural regions into somewhat urban.
Therefore, for the first time urban voters could and would play a
significant role in the outcome of the next elections. Given the level of
problems which people in cities have been facing for the last five years
due to institutional collapse and lack of good governance plus information
aired by the electronic media, a large number of urban voters are expected
to cast their votes. If this happens, this would be a significant
political change in the history of Pakistan. On the other hand, the ratio
of rural voters this time may be low relatively to the past due to the low
level of awareness among rural voters because of the unavailability of
electronic media channels in the countryside and the general apathy
towards the dynamics of politics and political system. Given the importance of
the coming elections for the state structure and its functions, it has
become extremely important to educate the voters. This education should
not be merely about exhorting them to come in as many number as possible
to vote but also the critical need of voting for the appropriate
candidates and the parties. In contemporary
Pakistan, the maim issues in general terms are religious
extremism-terrorism, poverty-unemployment-inflation, economic meltdown,
lack of good governance, institutional and individual corruption, which
are above any political ideologies. A close look at these issues suggests
what sociologists would call macro-sociological and political scientists
systemic issues. Therefore, the voters needs to be told and made aware
about these aspects of the issues. It is also important to
tell the electorate that they have to rise above their petty local
problems and issues and vote for those parties and candidates, which have
any solid programme for addressing these issues. If this message is
effectively communicated to the general voters, it is anticipated that
some kind of a positive political change may take place which would be
forerunner to pro-social transformations in the country. It is also important to
tell the voters that the candidates which they will be going to elect
would form the country’s legislature the basic function of which is to
formulate laws, devise policies and ensure good governance to which the
key problems of extremism-terrorism, unemployment-poverty, inflation,
economic meltdown are directly linked. The voters also need to be made
aware that their petty issues and local allegiances and relationship upon
which they have always been voting have nothing to do with the national
and provincial legislature and they are rather grass-roots governance
issues for which they would get the opportunity to vote sometime in near
future to elect local bodies and municipal corporations. Now the question arises
that who is going to educate the voters regarding the importance of their
votes as well as about their choice of parties and candidates. This can be
done on the two levels: through interpersonal communication channels and
by the mass media. As far as the interpersonal communication channels are
concerned, the highly educated and more importantly politically
well-articulated and aware individuals need to take the lead in this
connection. These people could include teachers, doctors, lawyers,
engineers and even businessmen which could spread this awareness through
their social circles, networks and forums. In the rural areas, the
well-educated individuals could even make use of the interpersonal
channels and forums like choppals, hujras etc to tell the voters about the
importance of their votes and significance of electing those candidates
who can bring about systemic or mass level change in the political and
legal system. On the other hand, the
role of the mass media in the next elections and how they articulate and
portray issues and candidates by placing them on their respective agendas
would be critical in people’s choice of candidates and parties. In a
country like Pakistan where almost 50 per cent of the population is
illiterate and educating about the political-electoral system and laws is
not part of the curricula of educational institutions, media is the most
efficient means of informing and educating the masses. Electronic media
can be quite instrumental in fulfilling this task. The reach of electronic
media, particularly radio and television, is such that it crosscuts all
barriers of space and time and delivers the message quite efficiently.
Today significant portion of Pakistan’s population has access to radio
and TV channels therefore, it is not that difficult to inform and educate
the masses about the electoral system and the importance of voting as well
as the key issues facing the country and the agendas and manifestos of
different parties and candidates regarding these issues. Nevertheless, as pointed
earlier, to inform someone is not an end itself rather a means towards an
end. If the media role is limited to mere information than it would be
well-informed futility, as one media expert defined. The end is to
persuade people to take part in the electoral process actively and vote
for the right candidates. The coming elections are critically important
for the country and its inhabitants. There is a need to bring about a
systemic and mass level change in the political as well as economic arena.
The writer is a
political analyst and researcher: razapkhan@yahoo.com caption Time to elect honest
legislators.
As feared by
many analysts and critics, the financial health of most of the public
sector institutions is anything but satisfactory. During January 2013, a
peculiar war of words erupted between administrator of Karachi
Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and the Sindh government on account of
transfer of funds. Staff and officers have
not been paid salaries for more than two months, as reported by the press.
Public sector universities are under tremendous financial duress for over
a year as the Higher Education Commission (HEC) has not been able to
disburse funds according to the stated budget estimates prepared by
universities. Utility agencies such as
Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) remain cash-starved as the public
agencies that acquire water and sewerage services refuse to pay the bills
which now run into tens of billions of rupees. The exponentially rising
budget deficit of Pakistan International Airlines, Pakistan Railways and
many others has overburdened the already lopsided balance sheet of public
finance. Whereas prudent financial management and related measures are
considered as a prime pre-requisite for any public agency or enterprise,
the same are conspicuous by their absence in the governance scenario in
the country. Several issues need a threadbare analysis and response from
all those concerned. Appointment of chief
executives with dubious credentials and incompatible backgrounds has
played havoc with the working of many large corporations, autonomous
bodies and agencies. Oil and Gas Regulatory Authority and PIA are the two
visible cases in point. In the case of former, it is found that a former
chief was on the run over charges of corruption and national sleuths were
chasing him in the deserts of the Middle East on the directives of Supreme
Court. The airline has allegedly hired more cronies and affiliates of the
ruling clique than it can possibly support. As the end result, a critical
mass of incompetent employees and managers has gathered which is one of
the causes that led to the grounding of dozens of aircrafts. The airline, despite the
huge and untapped potential in domestic and international aviation market,
is displaying a whooping rise in financial debts year after year. Many
negative repercussions arise from this practice of appointing incapable
cronies, causing heartburning of the worthy and capable senior officers.
Many such professionals either leave the organisations or lose the
initiative due to non-recognition. The culture of fiddling
with accurate and transparent documentation of transactions and business
is another common ailment found in many organisations. In situation of
inter-organisational conflicts and disputes, each organisation very
conveniently refutes the validity and veracity of financial claims of the
other. When the pressure rises, the matters are taken to courts of law
where months and years are consumed simply to obtain the correct records
and valid information. A sizable portion of the
hefty circular debt accumulated by various government bodies is a
reflection of the same state of affairs. The state oil company is chasing
its defaulters for years and end up posting a crippled performance record
as a consequence. The two gas companies, which had a healthy financial
profile, are also reported to have inaccurate documentation that does not
reveal the true picture to concerned stakeholders. While it is
understandable that business secrets and operational decisions cannot
always be shared publically, a credible mechanism of internal
documentation can greatly bolster institutional transparency and trust of
the allied customers and shareholders. It is a standard
operating norm that the main policy framework is laid down by the
government in power that sets the rules of game for such organisations and
enterprises. One common attribute that is shared by all the recent regimes
is to force these vital bodies serve the regime interest, not the national
interest. For instance, oil
exploration companies and concerns have been routinely influenced to hire
ghost staff to accrue direct clandestine dividends to local political
elite, a practice that remains usually unreported. The tribal heads would
use their henchmen to create artificial security threats and pressure the
industrial enterprises to strike overt or covert deals for smooth
sustenance and operations. Provincial administrations look the other way
as an intervention would cause weakening of coalition or an ‘outright
harm’ to democracy, as interpreted by the various party pundits. While the provincial and
federal government functionaries complain about paucity of funds, the
surrounding indicators reveal otherwise. If one stands close to cluster of
any provincial secretariat buildings, one will lose the count of new cars
with green number plates. Similarly, many government departments have
opened offices after renting out expensive bungalows and properties in
posh localities such as Clifton, PECHS and Gulshan-e-Iqbal in Karachi. It
is often seen that actual work on the projects and programmes begin much
later than the acquisition of accommodation, vehicles, lower staff and
other paraphernalia. There are rules of
business available for such procurements. One wonders whether relevant
officers draw the necessary reference from such rules while making such
financial choices. Similarly, no one knows about the entitlement of
motorcades or police or rangers escort as gun-totting official guard vans
can be found following even ordinary government functionaries. How are the
operational costs equated in such cases is any body’s guess! Common people are right
when they blame the political wheeling dealing under the garb of democracy
as the root-cause of financial drain of institutions and other government
bodies. With the virtual evaporation of financial discipline, the overall
sustenance of such bodies has been jeopardised. There are several
important remedies that must be considered. People should keep themselves
mobilised and informed about such affairs and make rational choices in the
forthcoming elections. The corporations must be exposed to greater public
scrutiny by media to help the clean cadres of professionals and
administrators eventually exert themselves.
Time to take education seriously Educational indicators remain alarming with low public spending, low literacy and enrollment levels, high dropout, unequal opportunities, poor infrastructure and lack of training By Irfan Mufti Primary
education has never been a priority of governments in the past. Amidst
claims and galore of achievements, the condition of education has remained
dismal. The country’s literacy rate is just 54 per cent with 66.25 per
cent for men and 41.75 per cent for women, but unofficial estimates
suggest that functionally the literacy rate is just 36.3 % — 51% net
primary enrollment ratio and 50.3% adult literacy. The major problems that
confront education in Pakistan are identified as low enrollment and high
dropout rates, low female participation at every level, examination based
on rote learning, poor physical facilities, and shortage of trained
teachers and the absence of creativity in managerial systems. Educational indicators
remain alarming, which include low public spending, low literacy and
enrollment levels, high dropout, unequal opportunities, poor
infrastructure and lack of trainings for professional development of
people engaged in education sector. According to the ‘UNDP Millennium
Development Goals Pakistan’ report, Pakistan is not on the right track
to achieve it in all levels by 2015. This situation explicitly reflects
the state of education in the country, which may be rooted in the unsuited
policies or lack of implementation. In Pakistan, free
elementary education is the state’s responsibility, but unfortunately,
it has never been a top national priority. It did never get serious
attention and adequate resources. Today there are 27 million children in
the primary school age bracket 5–9, of whom 13 million are not enrolled.
Approximately 50% of enrolled children drop out before completing primary
education. So far, nine educational policies have been announced by
governments, though the major portions of the policies remained the same.
However, implementation of the policies varied in nature and spirit
depending on the priority of each successive government. Recently released Annual
Status of Education Report (ASER) 2012 on Pakistan gives a bleak picture
on status of primary education. The report says that 23%
of rural and 7% of urban children aged 6-16 are not in schools with girls
lagging behind boys by one third in rural areas. Global Monitoring Report
2012 ranks Pakistan as the second highest country for out of school
children. 59% children in urban areas and 24% in rural areas study in
private schools. Interestingly, private
schools absorb a large share of schoolchildren. About 26 per cent of all
school-going children are enrolled in non-state schools in rural Pakistan.
Of those, 23 per cent children are in private schools; 36 per cent of the
children enrolled in the private schools are girls and 64% are boys.
Approximately, three per cent of the total school-attending population
attends madrasah schools and one per cent attends non-formal institutes. Early childhood
education, for children of age 3-8 years, is seen as the essential basis
for holistic human development with supporting research evidence from
economic, sociological, neurological, medical and human development
perspective. However, this is a
highly neglected area in Pakistan. Consistently for the last several
years, 63 per cent of the pre-primary age children are not attending any
form of schooling. Of the children who do attend pre-primary education,
71% are enrolled in public institutions and 29% in private institutions.
ASER survey 2012 once again highlights that the basic issue of access to
early childhood education is not addressed. Almost 63% children between
3-5 years age are not receiving any formal or informal education. While the percentage of
out-of-school children significantly drops at age 5, with only 62.2
attending the school, the right to education ensured by the constitution
is not realised for 37.8% of children. For the pre-primary age group (3-5
years), provincial figures are even more alarming with lowest range at 50%
out-of-school children in Punjab and highest at 78% in Balochistan. In terms of teachers’
qualification, the report confirms that more qualified teachers are in
government schools than private institutions. About 34 per cent of the
teachers in government schools have post-graduate degrees, while private
schools had only 21% teachers with post-graduate degrees. Sixteen per cent
of the teachers had Master degrees in Education in government schools,
while only 10% of the teachers in private schools had the same degree. The good news is that
while overall learning level shows an improvement compared to 2011
results, but barring Urdu/Sindhi/Pashto where 50% children in grade 5 can
cope with grade 2 level competencies, while in English and Arithmetic 52%
and 56% children respectively in grade 5 are still unable to deal with
basic grade 2 skills. This must be
corroborated with facts from school facilities which reveal that in public
sector schools (rural) 50% of grade 2 children are in multi-grade
situation sharing a teacher and space with more than one grade. Whilst the
teachers and students attendance has improved from 2011, on an average 13%
of teachers and 18% of students are absent on any given day (Sindh 40%
absent!). Interestingly, the private school teachers’ presence is at
similar or lesser levels! Primary schools, where
bulk of the children is enrolled, continue to suffer the most neglect in
public sector. ASER 2012 records 2.3 classrooms per primary school and
only 50% have usable toilets and 61% have useable water and 31% with
playgrounds and 62% have boundary walls. Among many complaints
about the lack of quality education, the main concern is the lack of
proper teaching and teacher motivation. This problem continues to lead to
the erosion of standards in schools. In practical terms, a teacher’s
poor motivation translates into absenteeism, indifferent classroom
practices and teachers leaving the profession. Other contributing factors
include inadequate salaries, the horrible working conditions, little
opportunity for career advancement and no system of accountability of
teachers. Per capita expenditure
on education in developing countries is inevitably lower because they have
to educate larger populations of school-going children. In 2010, the 18th
Amendment added article 25-1 in the constitution, stating that; “the
State shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the
age of five to sixteen years in such manner as may be determined by
law”. However, after 32 months of this amendment, only Islamabad Capital
Territory has in place a free and compulsory education act 2012. All
provinces are still waiting to get such laws passed. The last two years has
seen several efforts for education improvement — some have only focused
on missing facilities in schools, other have singularly targeted
teachers’ professional development or increasing literacy rates.
However, both the scope and scale of these efforts is limiting when it
comes to setting strong foundations and getting it right at the very first
step of learning ladder. The time has come to urge the public and private
education planners, policy makers and investors to look at the bigger
picture and develop strategies that are nuanced to the needs of any early
and solid start of education. It is critical for the
civil society to mobilise parent, children and every citizen of Pakistan
to push the state to deliver. After all, another delay will not only
jeopardize the promising start children must get to realise their innate
potential, but also deprive Pakistan of a chance to become a peaceful,
productive and conscientious nation vis-à-vis social and economic
parameters. The writer is Deputy
Chief of South Asia Partnership Pakistan and Global Campaigner. irfanmufti@gmail.com
Nor any drop to drink “Day after
day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor
motion; As idle as a painted
ship Upon a painted ocean. Water, water, every
where, And all the boards did
shrink; Water, water, every
where, Nor any drop to
drink.” The above verse is from
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, the longest poem written by renowned
English poet, literary critic and philosopher, Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
and published in 1798. The last two lines of this verse have become
immortal, and people have been widely quoting these over the centuries, to
capture a situation where there is plenty of water around but none of it
is potable. And so we zoom in on
Kakapir and Soomer, two villages on the coastal belt along Sandspit and
Hawksbay beaches. A stone’s throw away is the Arabian Sea, wave upon
wave of frothy water crashing on the beaches frequented by literally
millions of holidaymakers throughout the year. Home to about 3,000
inhabitants, mainly fisher-folk, Kakapir and Soomer have no permanent
supply of fresh water for their daily needs. The only water available
irregularly, both for drinking and domestic usage, is through tanker
supply, which is both expensive and not hygienic from a consumption point
of view. Coupled with this, there
is no sanitation system either in the villages, which have burgeoned over
the years from sleepy hamlets into crowded communities. The villagers use
pit-latrines, which often overflow, causing exposed sewerage to become a
serious health hazard. As a result, the residents, particularly the
children, are constantly suffering from a variety of bacterial infections
and diseases. Even the solid waste is just dumped in open spaces, selected
on basis of community members’ discretion. This then till recently
was the status of these two communities, who have been living here for
generations, even as hordes of city dwellers passed them by for a day of
fun and frolicking on the adjoining beaches, stocked up with their bottled
water and picnic hampers. They breezed past the villages, ignorant and
mindless of the poor living conditions of the people in whose locale they
came for their merriment. Fortunately, someone did
perceive the plight of the marginalised Kakapir and Soomer communities and
a project is now well underway to change things for the better. As part of
its corporate social responsibility outreach, Coca-Cola Pakistan has
teamed up with WWF-Pakistan and UN Habitat to undertake a sustainable
project for water and sanitation improvement in the two villages. The two years duration
project has three primary goals — establishment of a community managed
sustainable water supply, environmental sanitation improvement and
bringing about public awareness, capacity building and an institutional
set-up. While the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board is also involved, the
significant actor is the local community itself. Greatly appreciating that
the project is directly and solely for their benefit, and also
appreciating that the project can only be sustainable in the long run if
they take ownership, the local community is a hands-on participant and a
willing learner. WWF as the
implementation partner is bringing considerable expertise in these areas
to the project. The work started off with social and technical surveys,
followed by a comprehensive plan. A Project Launch Workshop was held to
bring all stakeholders on board and define roles and responsibilities. Next will come the
various activities related to establishing a potable water supply,
installation of household toilets, management of solid waste, physical
improvement of water supply and sanitation in selected schools, training
of the local people and comprehensive public awareness creation. Ensuring the full and
committed participation of the communities themselves in decision-making
and in implementation in turn ensures the viability and sustainability of
the improvements being brought about. Seen in this light, this project is
a fine model of multi-stakeholder cooperation to achieve clearly defined
objectives — a model that can now be easily replicated for other
communities facing similar hardships.
The story of Jadav Molai who single-handedly turned a desert into thick green jungle By Ayoub Hameedi The limitless
capabilities of a single man’s efforts and their remarkable results are
best told by Jadav Molai’s story. It begins with the 1979 floods in
Sandbar region, in the state of Assam, India. When the flood water
retreated, it left behind lifeless bodies of reptiles particularly snakes
which had died because of heat as there were no trees to provide any
shelter. Molai, greatly affected by this, decided to protect the
ecosystem. He accordingly contacted the forest department and inquired if
they could use the land for forestation. However, they replied that
nothing could grow there and was advised to try growing bamboo. After a few years of
personal struggle and efforts, the area changed into a bamboo copse. At
that moment, Molai decided to plant trees and kept on doing the same for
the next three decades. Finally, his efforts
bore fruits and he was successfully able to regenerate a forest covering
an area of 1360 acres in the sandbar region. This forest is now named as
Molai woods and, according to an article published in The Times of India
by Manimugdha S. Sharma, April 1st, 2012, is now home to vultures, deers,
cattle, elephants, one horned rhinos and royal Bengal tigers. Not to
mention that the later two have been categorised as endangered species. Various migratory birds
have been sighted in the forest which provide priceless ecological
regulating services including flower pollination, seed dispersion, insect
and rodent prey among others. Molai actually transported red ants to
sandbar region to alter the properties of soil which surprisingly they are
capable off. This brings us to what
we can learn from Molai’s experience. Sadly, as per the World Bank data
on forest cover across the globe in year 2010, Pakistan has a mere forest
cover of 2.2% which is amongst the lowest in the world while our
neighbouring countries like India and China have 23% and 22.2%
respectively. The question which arises here is that how can we enhance
our forest cover to ensure environmental sustainability. The solution to this
problem is relatively simple and practical. At present, our population is
estimated around 180 million. If the government of Pakistan along with all
provincial governments is successful in mobilising half of its population
to plant a tree per person, which takes around 5 to 7 minutes, as a result
90 million trees will be planted within a few minutes. Let’s assume if a
quarter of these survive, are taken proper care of and grow over a period
of time, 22.5 million trees will be added to the existing 2.2% cover.
Repeating the same activity over the next few years will enable Pakistan
to have a forest cover similar to that of China and India. The most important fact
to concentrate on is to plant mixed form of native trees like Kiker
(Arabic gum tree), Amaltas (Golden shower tree), Arjun (White Marudha),
Sumbal (Silk Cotton tree), Okan (Salt cedar), Rangeela (Indian Coral
tree), Sukh Chain (Indian Beach tree), Kachnar (Camel’s foot tree),
Kanair (Mexican Oleander), Campa (Indian temple tree), Gulrah (Chinese
Rose), Bair (Indian Jojoba), Toote (White Mulberry) and Jand (Prosopis
Cineraria). Theodore Roosevelt, 26th
President of the United Sates of America, once said: “A people without
children would face a hopeless future, a country without trees is almost
as helpless.” It is a simple solution
for mitigating climate change especially in a scenario when German Watch
categorised Pakistan as 8th among countries seriously hit by climate
changes during the last two decades. Now it’s upon us, how quickly we
realise this and take appropriate actions accordingly.
In the issue of
February 3, 2013, some irrelevant material was inadvertently published
along with the article “Democratic resilience” by Akbar S. Zaidi on
the Political Economy pages due to some technical error. The error is
regretted. Editor The correct text was: Postscript No matter how much one
argues for the need for a strong democracy, especially in a
military-dominated country like Pakistan, the emergence of 21st century
populism of the Tea Party, Anna Hazare or Tahirul Qadri type, which uses
extra-constitutional means to correct numerous flaws and shortcomings in
constitutional democracy, does require far greater understanding and
scholarship. For example, how does
one get rid of or correct a dysfunctional, weak, corrupt, inefficient
elected government (such as Pakistan’s), or one which is autocratic
(such as Zimbabwe’s), when the electorate has only one chance in five
years to do so? The damage caused to the social, political, cultural
fabric of a country could be irreversible. Does one just urge the
opposition to “play its role”, or are extra-constitutional measures,
such as long marches and Tahrir Squares, democratic alternatives? And if
they are, how are they manifest?
conflict Latin poet
Juvenal’s famous aphorism: Quis custodet ipsos custodies? — who shall
guard the guardian? — rings true in the wake of observations made about
the Kargil operation by Lt. General (Retd) Shahid Aziz. In his book, General
Aziz, who was the Director General of analysis wing of Inter-Services
Intelligence Agency (ISI) at the time of the Kargil operation, has pointed
out three fundamental issues regarding the infamous operation. First, the operation was
carried out, in complete secrecy, by a cabal of generals, consisting of
Gen. Pervez Musharraf, chief of general staff Lt. Gen. Mohammad Aziz, FCNA
(Force Command Northern Areas) commander Lt. Gen. Javed Hassan and
10-Corps commander Lt. Gen. Mahmud Ahmad while other corps commanders and
principal staff officers were kept in the dark. “Even the-then director
general military operations (DGMO) Lt Gen Tauqir Zia was not in the know
of it and was informed about it at a later stage,” notes General Shahid
Aziz. Second, the operation
had been shoddily planned; in fact, according to General Aziz, only FCNA
and a section of 10-Corps were involved in its operational and tactical
planning; but the strategic calculus of the Kargil operation — global
reaction to capturing of the Kargil heights, military response of the
Indian Army and the calculation of how our men would survive in the
inhospitable terrain without secure line of communication — had not been
factored in at the time of planning the operation. And, finally, General
Aziz states that Nawaz Sharif, the then prime minister, was not “fully
in the picture.” Contrary to that, the former President Pervez Musharraf
has said time and again that the prime minister had been given briefing on
the Kargil operation. Apart from the conjecture of General Aziz, many
other commentators have also suggested that Nawaz Sharif was briefed on
the operation after the initiation of hostilities, and had also been
falsely informed that mujahideen, rather army regulars, had captured the
heights to highlight the issue of Jammu and Kashmir. The argument that the
democratically-elected prime minister had been kept in the dark appears
plausible, as a few months before the Kargil operation, he had hosted the
Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in Lahore. To make amends on
the Indian side for continued animus between the two countries, Vajpayee
had visited Minar-i-Pakistan — a symbolic gesture meant to show
India’s acceptance of the reality of partition. Both countries had also
committed to peaceful resolution of the issue of Kashmir through Lahore
Declaration. In view of these facts,
the sudden volte face of Nawaz Sharif appears staggeringly
incomprehensible. That said, the essence
of Kargil imbroglio lies in rolling out the operation on ground without
seeking consent of the civilian leadership of Pakistan. It is an accepted
principle in the United States of America, United Kingdom and other
established democracies that military strategy is linked to overall
national security strategy because war is not considered an isolated act
and has to be employed rationally to achieve political goals. This principle of
subordination of military goals to the political objectives of the state
had been enunciated emphatically by Von Clausewitz, a 19th century
Prussian military thinker, in Vom Kriege: “war is nothing but a
continuation of political intercourse with an admixture of other means.”
He stated at another
place that war has “its own grammar, but not its own logic.” However, in Pakistan,
the principle of military subordination to the civilian leadership is
blatantly violated because of institutional imbalance between civilian and
military authorities. The structural asymmetry amongst different civilian
and military organisations such as Ministry of Defence, Army Headquarters
and the Joint Staff Headquarters further exacerbates that institutional
imbalance. Theoretically speaking,
an elaborate civilian institutional framework exists in Pakistan,
involving the cabinet committees and the Ministry of Defence, to carry out
decision making on defence and security matters. The prime minister
conducts national security policy at a strategic level through the Defence
Committee of the Cabinet (DCC) while the Ministry of Defence deals with
operational side of defence matters. On the military side,
the three services chiefs are responsible for combat readiness, planning
of operations, training and motivation. However, in practice they have
complete operational and tactical autonomy in planning, intelligence and
even formulation of the Rules of Engagement. In fact, because of its size
and political role, the army has gained complete autonomy over military
strategy formulation and as military objectives cannot be delinked from
the political objectives, so the army headquarters also indirectly
executes foreign policy. This leads to a
question: what is the reason for preponderance of the army over political
leadership even during democratic rule? The major factors for
military independence include the continuing war threat from India,
fractured political class, underdeveloped political institutions, and the
nationalistic ideology of the newly-independent state, centering around
Islam and loathing of India. Thus, if follies such as
in Kargil are to be avoided in future, the elected parliamentarians would
have to wrest control of national security strategy and military strategy
from the armed forces by building institutional capacity of civilian
structures.
The
provincial puzzle After the “Qadri-volution”,
one thing became evident that the Sab pe Bhari sahib can sell lollypops to
anyone in the country, even to a person of the intellect and stature of
Allama Sahib. At last, it was revealed to the nation that the upcoming
election will be held in 90 days and NOT in three months, as propagated
previously by the incumbent government. On a positive side, however the
political players pulled their sleeves up for electioneering. With elections round the
corner, the point scoring by national level parties is high with dreams to
rule the nation. Right from the days of Yousuf Raza Gillani as a prime
minister, the government tried to make a “Seraiki Province”. The
opposition party denounced the move at the outset by stating that new
provinces cannot be made on the basis of language. The party has to pay
heavily through a nosedive in the public liking for it in the Seraiki
belt. Now taking stock of the
situation and with a bid to win a popular support in the area, the
opposition is also willing to make a Seraiki Province with a different
name i.e. Bahawalpur Southern Province. It must be understood at this
point that the opposition party only agreed to the plan that the formation
of new province shall only be on the bases of “administrative issues”.
We can call it a province made for Seraiki speaking people based on
administrative issues or once again an issue of “three months and ninety
days”. Now, an old movement has
once again jumped to the fore with the slogan of making of the Hazara
province. The claim is that a province shall be made whether it is based
on language, administrative issues, gender, age, income groups or whatever
demographic issues the government may deem appropriate. The important
thing is making of Hazara province. We need to settle the
following issues in Pakistan before going ahead with the elections. The
first issue is the making of Gilgit-Baltistan province. The areas
previously named as “Northern Areas” of Pakistan were combined and
given the status of a province in August, 2009. The province was made
through “the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self-Governance Order”
passed by the then Pakistani Cabinet and signed by the president. It was
expected that the province will be introduced to the Constitution of
Pakistan through the 18th Amendment in 2010, but it wasn’t there. Later
the 19th and 20th Amendments also failed to make it a province in the
Pakistani constitutional framework. The first question is
that what is the status of Gilgit-Baltistan province after the Cabinet
that passed its bill was dissolved with disqualification of the then prime
minister Yousuf Raza Gillani by the Supreme Court of Pakistan or can this
province run forever without being a part of the constitution of Pakistan? The issue of Fata is
also of great significance at this stage. As a legacy of the British
empire, the rest of Pakistan might have emancipated after the partition in
August 1947, however the notorious FCR still rules Fata. The presidential
order to allow political activities in Fata did give a breathing space to
the inhabitants, but there is a need for a reform package on a larger
scale. A plebiscite is needed
in the Fata to decide that whether they want to be part of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
province or want a separate province. If it is decided that they want to
be part of KP, then the name of the province given through the 18th
Amendment will become more relevant, as the name “Khyber” in the name
of the province is not part of the province and is part of Fata. If the
Fata people want a separate province then the name of Khyber must be
removed and the new name must be only “Pakhtunkhwa” as per the wishes
of the masses of Pashtuns living in the province. Then we have the
movement of “Karachi-Hyderabad Province” supported vehemently by the
MQM. Now, there is a need to think over this issue. Karachi, being a
“Mini-Pakistan”, houses people from allover the country. There is a
bigger population of Urdu-speaking Muhajirs, along with bigger population
of Pashtuns in both the cities, and then we have Sindhis (the original
sons of soil), Baloch and people from other ethnicities of Pakistan. The
question that needs consideration at this stage is that what shall be done
about this province? Shall it be made on the bases of language or
administrative problems? Shall it be made on the demand of the MQM or
shall the voices from Sindhi nationalists also worth a thought? Shall
other ethnicities and their views be also taken into account? The dilemma
will always end with more questions than answers. The last and most
important issue in this sequence shall the problems of Pashtuns living in
Balochistan. More than 40% of the inhabitants of the province Balochistan
are Pashtuns. The Pashtuns of Balochistan always wanted a separate
province in the constitutional framework of Pakistan. The demand of the
population for a “Southern Pakhtunkhwa” is rational on the grounds of
language as well administrative issues. Keeping this in mind, we might
have one Sindhi, one Punjabi, one Seraiki, three Pashtun, one Hazara (not
in Quetta), one Gilgit-Baltistan and one Baloch provinces in the Pakistan.
If provinces are sold to
the people of Pakistan in bulk then there is a need to consider many
options than just working on a few. For it may raise more concerns than
solving the disputes.
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