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change facts “US
role in region has affected Pak-China ties” rights Fruits
of democracy Talk
of the town harmony Minorities
and elections
A welcome shift The Pakistan army has reportedly revised its security assessment and is now placing more emphasis on ‘internal threats’ rather than the external enemies By Raza Rumi Media reports
suggest that the Pakistan army has revised its security assessment and is
now placing more emphasis on ‘internal threats rather than the external
enemies which have informed its strategy as well as operations. This is a
welcome development. The details of its new doctrine are unclear but there
have been three indications in the recent past. First, the tacit support
to the civilian government’s thaw with India and undertaking the
unimaginable: trade with India. Second, the chief of the army staff, Gen
Kayani, while speaking at an official ceremony, cited the threat of
extremism and reiterated the moderate ethos of Islam. Thirdly, the
continued battle against militants in the northwest of the country
continues without any major policy reversal. There are two issues
with the internal shifts, if any, with the way military is proceeding with
its strategic rethink. First of all, due to its structure and
institutional culture it is not an open and engaging entity. Decisions are
centralised and are taken by a coterie of top commanders. Secondly it is
also learning to readjust its power and influence within the context of a
changing Pakistan. After five years of
civilian rule and emergence of new power centres (judiciary and media),
its exclusive monopoly of power had been eroded. For instance, launching a
coup though not impossible is a far more complicated endeavour. In this
fluid political environment, the Army has yet to find a comfortable
equilibrium with the political forces and the parliament. It might have
been more useful had the army tried to engage with the national security
committee of the parliament thereby giving its rethink more depth, public
input and long term legitimacy. Let’s not forget that
the ideological propaganda of al Qaeda and its affiliates has penetrated
various sections of the Pakistani society. Whilst the Pakistani population
does not want a Taliban type regime that bans women’s education, a vast
majority of the population considers the US as an enemy of Islam and the
Muslim. More often than not the West — as a vague construct — is also
employed in the xenophobic and violent ideology of resistance. This
narrative had gained ground in the country whether we like or not. Sadly the elements of
the state, especially the military, have added to this paranoia by firstly
allowing the torchbearers of this ideology to live safely in the country
for over a decade and secondly to operate from within the country. In this
lax environment, the al Qaeda and its junior partner, the Taliban, have
mad some local alliances and established more bases beyond the rugged
mountains of the north. Media reports again inform us that sectarians
groups are also in alliance with the Salafi Islamists and many places in
mainland Pakistan such as Karachi, South Punjab etc are the new havens. Therefore, the military
may have changed its doctrine but the internal efforts cannot be
accomplished by it alone. Its past record of internal reform and
restructuring is not that encouraging. The reforms led by military machine
have been transient at best. Without political praxis this feat will be
partially successful if not entirely fruitless. Secondly, the media which
has also imbibed the decades of influences in the form of a faux identity
would need to partner in this effort. It can only come about with a better
regulatory environment. Not the kind of gagging that takes place under the
garb of “regulation” but an effort by the owners and editors of
placing more emphasis on filters, fact verification, avoidance of unnamed
sources and presentation of “opinion” as facts. This is a plague that
has engulfed our collective consciousness and media personnel are not
immune to this societal attitude. However, the assumption
here is that there is a move towards a reassessment of the way our
soldiers and their commanders look at security and threat. Recent events
have been chilling. The cold blooded attack
on Peshawar air base on Dec 15, assassination of Bashir Bilour on Dec 22
in Peshawar, the execution of 22 Levies on December 29 in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and the subsequent murder of dozens of Shia pilgrims in
Balochistan have shaken the state as well as the population of Pakistan.
However, the response of Gen Kayani was intriguing. In an official
statement, the enemy was called “amorphous” at the Pakistan Naval
Academy. The truth is that our
strategic assets are not being that asset-like. Hakimullah Mehsud, his
leader Mullah Umar and their spiritual master ie al Qaeda chief, Ayman al
Zawahiri, and other groups such as Hizb-ut-Tahrir are promoters of
anti-Americanism. Al Qaeda Inc in Pakistan holds the Pakistan Army as just
targets of attacks due to its alliance with the United States. Why cannot the military
leadership see that coalitions such as Defence of Pakistan Council are
part of this larger security problem. Why do they have to be pandered and
used like the 1980s when the world and the country have moved on? While we look at the way
military is dealing with the internal threats, we cannot absolve the
civilian leadership of its massive oversight of taking charge of the
extremism. It may have been expedient for the PPP leadership to outsource
the security policy to the army but as a constitutional entity elected for
delivering governance it cannot absolve itself. The opposition party,
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz has been too busy responding to the populist
antics of Imran Khan whose understanding of foreign and security policy is
problematic to say the least. Thus far Khan has found two punching bags:
the United States and the Pakistani liberals (one often wonders who are
they?) and held them responsible for extremism and terrorism. This
simplistic worldview makes for good headlines and content for shallow TV
debates but it surely weakens the consensus against which Pakistanis need
to be part of. The brave ANP has been fighting it out amid severe
challenges and loss of its leadership and workers but it needs support
from other parties, especially the mainstream parties. In this milieu,
Pakistanis are the victims. On the one hands they are under the illusion
that elected leaders have all the powers to fix the country especially its
security climate, and on the other hand they are also getting
indoctrinated by the continuous anti-American propaganda and conspiracy
theories. The army is still figuring out ways to stay relevant in its
regional ambitions with respect to Afghanistan and rising power of India
and the politicians are keen to play it well for the forthcoming
elections. Given such a complex
environment and the real challenges that the security establishment faces,
it makes one wonder where did the idea of launching Allama Tahirul Qadri
come from? Allama’s plans to turn Islamabad into Tahrir Square are a
formula for chaos. Unlike Egypt, Pakistan is a democracy and gearing for a
general election. Allama is a scholar of note and has millions of
followers but that does not imply he understands politics or the
unenviable art of governing Pakistan. At best, he is being played by
forces which always want to achieve “positive results” to use a Zia ul
Haq phrase, from the electoral process. It is some measure of satisfaction
that the major parties are united in their resolve not to let Qadri and
his backers derail the parliamentary system and constitutional provisions. But how can the
civilians and the military fight extremism if they will not work towards
political stability and a focus on policy making through open and
transparent means? It is time that a concerted effort is made which
involves the political parties, the military, the media and the civil
society to agree on a long term policy on combating violent extremism. To begin with, we need
to limit our ambitions in Afghanistan, start getting serious about mosque-madrassa
reform, and decide on the multitude of proxies that have turned against
us. Once the state and its lords show resolve, Pakistanis will follow. Raza Rumi is a writer
and Director at Jinnah Institute, Islamabad. The views expressed are his
own. His writings are archived at www.razarumi.com
facts The prevailing
myth in Pakistan that our tax base is disappointingly narrow and majority
of the people do not pay income tax must be exploded as the reality is
quite the opposite. The Pakistanis are the most heavily, rather
over-taxed, people in the entire South Asia — not only total taxable
population but million of those having below taxable income are paying
taxes at source, but not claiming refunds by filing of returns. In most of the cases,
the tax deducted is the full and final discharge of liability. Section
115(4) of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 says that this class of taxpayers
is only required to file statements and not regular returns. Since only a
fraction of taxpayers file returns or statements, a wrong impression
exists that our income tax base is narrow. The fact is income tax payers
are in millions, but return filers are pathetically low — less than 1.5
million. According to Pakistan
Telecommunication Authority (PTA), there were 118 million mobile users in
Pakistan as on 30 June 2012. A huge population, not less than 60 million
(if we exclude multiple and inactive subscribers), paid both 10% income
tax and 19.5% sales tax for using this facility in 2011, but only 513,044
individuals filed income tax returns. The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR)
did not bother to issue notices to them after utilising data available
with the service providers. Majority of the mobile users might not have
taxable income yet they never bothered to claim the tax withheld back by
filing tax returns — primarily because it would have cost more than the
amount withheld. On the contrary,
majority of the rich just pay a fraction of income tax on their colossal
incomes — in 2011 only 14,978 individuals in Pakistan filed tax returns
showing taxable income exceeding Rs500,000! This confirms beyond any doubt
the ineffectiveness and incompetence of the FBR. Our tax base is not
narrow as over 50 million are paying income tax at source, but the rich
and mighty are not paying taxes according to their ability. If Pakistan has 10
million individuals having taxable income of Rs1.5 million (a very
conservative estimate), total income tax collection from them should have
been Rs3750 billion. If we add income tax collected from corporate bodies,
other non-individual taxpayers and individuals having taxable income up to
Rs1,000,000, the gross figure would be nearly Rs5000 billion. The FBR
collected only Rs716 billion as income tax in fiscal year 2011-12 — it
shows a whopping gap in income tax alone. The FBR has been
apologetic, specifically before the IMF and the World Bank, that total
income tax payers in Pakistan are just around 1.5 million in a population
of 180 million. This is a blatant lie. The truth is that since July 1,
1992 all commercial electricity consumers (including about 5 million
retail outlets in urban areas) are paying income tax whether their income
is chargeable to tax or not. In 2007, this tax was converted into minimum
tax, except for companies and from 2008 with the threshold of Rs20,000. Any business outlet
receiving electricity bill exceeding Rs20,000 is to pay 10% as advance
income tax. The total number of commercial and industrial electricity
consumers in Pakistan is more than 20 million. It means that during the
financial year 2011-12, the total number of persons who paid income tax
under section 235 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001 was not less than 20
million. The FBR, in its
Quarterly Statement for April to June 2012, admitted that tax collection
from telephone/mobile and electricity users during the financial year
2011-12 was Rs37 billion and Rs15 billion respectively. It is worthwhile
to mention that total number of mobile and land-line telephone users,
subjected to withholding tax, in this period was in excess of 50 million
and yet the FBR says that our tax base is narrow. The above figures
explode the myth that Pakistan’s tax base is narrow. It is a matter of
great pity that the FBR itself does not know how may people in Pakistan
are paying income tax. The people of this country are accused of not
paying income tax; whereas the reality is that even today a small
shopkeeper in a village (whose annual total income is much below the
minimum taxable limit of Rs400,000) is paying minimum income tax of Rs960
per annum with electricity bill of Rs600 per month. On the contrary, the
absentee landlord of his village, who is earning millions by giving fruit
orchards on lease, is paying negligible amount, it at all, as agricultural
income tax. The total urban
population of Pakistan, according to Economic Survey of Pakistan 2011-12,
increased from 65.3 million in 2010-11 to 67.5 million in 2011-12. The
percentage of rural population is around 60% now. Out of total population,
45% are below the age of 15 years (they are not income earners, hence
cannot be taxpayers). The total labour force stands at 57.2 million, out
of which 40 million is rural labour force. Reading all these facts
together, the income tax paying population of Pakistan having taxable
income during the tax year 2011 could not have been more than 25 million,
yet over 50 million paid income tax as mobile users. Thus entire taxable
population and even those having below taxable incomes are already paying
income tax at source under various sections (section 148 to 156A, section
234 to 236 of the Income Tax Ordinance, 2001), yet the FBR is engaged in a
vicious propaganda that people of Pakistan are not paying income tax and
that our tax base is narrow. It was the duty of the
FBR to allot National Tax Numbers (NTNs) to all those who paid income tax
under section 148,149,150,151,152,153, 153A, 154,155,156, 156A, 156B,
231A, 231AA, 231B, 233, 233A, 233AA, 234, 234A, 235, 236, 236A, 236B and
236C in 2011-12 and forced them to file tax returns under section 116
and/or tax statements under section 115(4) of the Income Tax Ordinance,
2001, as the case may be. Had the FBR done this by just obtaining the
names and particulars of PLS account holders of banks, commercial and
industrial electricity consumers, mobile and land-line users (paying tax
with bills) and vehicle owners, Pakistan would have over 40 million income
tax filers. It is the FBR’s
failure, for which it cannot blame the public at large. Are the people of
Pakistan responsible for this pathetic performance? The responsible
officials of the FBR should be taken to task for this state of affairs. It
is high time that the FBR should put its own house in order and enforce
tax laws rather than blaming the others for its fiascoes. The writers are members
of Adjunct Faculty of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS).
Dr Xiao Jianming
is a research fellow in the Institute of Dianchi Cooperation for Opening
Asia located at the Kunming, Yunnan, China. He has taught religious
studies and the Chinese religious culture at the Yunnan University from
2003 to 2007, and at Kunming University from 2010-2011. He was also associated
with the Institute of Yunnan Provincial Conditions Study, Yunnan
Administrative College, from 1999 to 2008. He also authored two books —
The Political Islam in Contemporary Southeast Asia and The Contemporary
International Relations of the Southeast Asia — apart from many research
papers. He recently visited Pakistan and delivered lectures at different
universities and research institutions especially on the 18th National
Congress of the Communist Party of China. He has also worked on the role
of religious parties like the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in the national
politics of Pakistan. The News on Sunday had a chance to interview him. By Raza Khan & Akhtar Amin The News on
Sunday: What are the major challenges confronting contemporary China? Dr Xiao Jianming:
Controlling the menace of corruption seems to be the major problem that
confronts China, because this evil is growing at the rate of the growth of
Chinese economy. In the past one decade dozens of government officials
have fled the country taking away more than 120 billion dollars with them,
thus causing serious economic losses to the country. Government, however,
is taking serious measures against people accused of corruption and the
new Chinese’s leadership has all the capacity to minimise the menace of
corruption in the country. As per the Transparency
International global Corruption Perception Index, China stands at 80th out
of the 178 member countries. This is an alarming situation indeed. There
are certain departments within the Chinese government which are taking
steps to control corruption but their performance so far has not been
overwhelming. Promotion of the Chinese
culture and traditions in the world is another challenge for the Chinese
government and serious steps are being taken for this as well. TNS: There has been much
criticism of China for doing little to control serious environmental
issues emanating from the country? XJ: Due to the growing
industrialisation in the country, the country is faced with numerous
environmental issues which indeed seem to be a major problem to overcome
for the government. Presently, all the top ten most polluted cities are in
China, but the government has realised the issue and more serious measures
are being taken to overcome this. The general public is also taking the
problem seriously and is making efforts to control the problem. TNS: Do you foresee the
sustainability of the Chinese economy in the long run keeping in view the
volatility of international economic system and its inherent problems
which have transpired in the last couple of years? XJ: Well certainly. We
are the world`s fastest growing economy and the second highest in the
world. Many countries of the world may want to limit us and criticise our
policies but they are mere media propagandas which are against the
reality. Although various countries may have ideological differences with
China but the fact is that they have no option but to keep good terms with
us owing to the range and quality we offer in our products. Even today in
the United States of America an ordinary Christmas tree is available for
more than 100 dollars which you can get in China merely in four dollars. TNS: What are the
expectations of Chinese nation of the 18th National Congress of the
Communist Party of China? XJ: The Communist Party
of China has been playing a great role in promoting the historic cause of
socialism with Chinese characteristics. The amendments of the 18th CPC
National Congress enable the constitution to stay current with the demands
of the 21st century for the Chinese people. It focuses on the new
generation of communist leadership and resultantly the new generation
would come to power with the urge to bring about change. TNS: What is the
prospect of reforms in the Chinese’s society. Is another Cultural
Revolution by Mao Tse Tung possible in China? XJ: Today eight out of
10 people want political reforms in China. They want the government to
take moderate political reforms, which may include separating party from
the government, and ending the one-party rule. But it is a fait accompli
that Chinese system of government is more centralised where decision are
made by the central government which is ready for introducing economic
reforms in the country but not for major political reforms. TNS: The industrial
revolution anywhere has been a product of capitalism, yet China wants to
stick to its own system of government and disrupt individual prosperity?
There is also criticism that Chinese system has all the characteristics of
capitalism but only the state has the monopoly over the system and thus is
referred to as ‘State Monopoly Capitalism’. XJ: China believes in
collective prosperity of its people where the gap between the rich and the
poor is minimal. With a population of 1.3 billion, our government is the
richest in the world and is investing heavily in the internal and human
security of its countrymen in comparison to threat from outside. Yes, I
would say the budget for defense has been increased manifold in the past
few years as well. China simply believes and pursues socialism with the
Chinese characteristics. TNS: China is a country
often accused of human rights violations? Is it a fact? What is the
counter argument against it? XJ: All the human
rights, be it social, economic or political, can only be seen through the
prism of national culture and the level of development of the country.
China is giving rights to its countrymen while staying within its
constitution and governance system. However, the need for reforms to have
an independent judicial system, freedom of speech and press is the cry of
the hour. TNS: In the absence of
access to social media like Facebook, Twitter etc, how can you connect
Chinese youth with the global community? XJ: China has its own
set of home-grown websites with the names like Weibo, Wechat and Kaixin
which fulfill the demands of the Chinese for social networking. There are
also signs that the country will encourage the growth of micro blogging
sites like Sina Weibo and instant messaging services like Tencent and
Wechat. TNS: Do you see Pakistan
alliance with the US in the war against terrorism has affected the
Pak-China ties over the past one decade? XJ: Yes it has but not
to a considerable degree. China has been supporting Pakistan in every
thick and thin and as the real frontline state role of Pakistan starts
post-2014 American withdrawal, you would see an open handed support of the
Chinese government to Pakistan. TNS: It is said that
America wants to limit China and that’s why it is in the region? XJ: Well, we have kept a
very close eye on the series of events that are happening in Afghanistan
and the region and know how to defend ourselves while remaining stuck to
our own territorial boundaries. The general notion that the US would
create a new country alongside the borders of northern Pakistan would
remain an elusive dream. TNS: What is your
assessment of the Pakistan religious-political parties? XJ: As you know, the
Pakistani Islamic political parties have a very important role in Pakistan
socially, and I think some of them could affect the extremist
organisations in some ways. So, they can restraint terrorism to some
extent. TNS: Your country has
some complaints regarding Uighur Muslim separatists or East Turkistan
Islamic Movement terrorists getting training in Pakistan tribal areas? XJ: As for the blame of
training of Uighur in the tribal areas of Pakistan, I think the Pakistani
government could understand the Chinese concerns easily; so it can’t
affect the relations between our two countries.
Marriage of inconvenience Legislation takes too long as inhuman practices keep marring marriages in tribal societies By Alauddin Masood Even in the 21st
century, might continues to remain the right among a section of the
Pathans living in remote and far away areas of Pakistan. One of the
manifestations of this social evil is the practice of ‘Ghag’ in Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa (KP) under which a man of power enamoured of a girl and
refused her hand can demand her by making a public declaration that she
stood engaged to him. This practice is also
prevalent among some Pathan tribes in Loralai and Zhob districts of
Balochistan. However, this system of marriage is known as “Aar” in
Balochistan. When refused the hand of a girl, the mighty person persisting
in his demand, throws the head of a slaughtered sheep or goat into the
house of the girl of his dreams, fires a gun in front of the house, cuts
of her locks of hair or the ornament called Zarungae, and runs away with
her shawl, declaring that she was his and no one else dare to marry her. Now, in the KP province,
the Provincial Minister for Social Welfare and Women Development, Sitara
Ayaz, has tabled an ordinance for legislation, seeking to ban the social
evil of ‘Ghag’. Moved in mid-December, 2012 after introduction, the
House has referred the matter to a select committee of the provincial
assembly for in-depth consideration and report. The Elimination of
Custom of Ghag Ordinance, 2012 was promulgated by KP governor on October
25th, last year, in the light of the directives of the Peshawar High
Court, asking the government to legislate against the inhuman custom under
which a man could claim the right to marry a woman of his choice. The
ordinance, says a report in daily The News (December 24), declared Ghag a
penal offence punishable with imprisonment for a term which may extend up
to seven years but shall not be less than three years and shall also be
liable to fine up to Rs500,000. Under Article 128 of
Pakistan’s Constitution, an ordinance promulgated by the governor shall
be laid before the provincial assembly and stand repealed at the
expiration of 90 days, if not adopted by the assembly. However, the
assembly is empowered to extend the ordinance once for a further period of
90 days. Therefore, the provincial assembly has to convert the ordinance
into law by January 24th, 2013 or extend its life by a further period of
90 days. Like parents elsewhere
in Pakistan, the Pathans have a strong desire to marry off their grown up
children at the first opportunity. However, certain customs and
compulsions sometimes delay marriages. One such custom is the widespread
practice of paying bride price or ‘Walwar’. This practice compels many
a families, especially those in the lower income brackets, to wait till
they save enough money to meet the marriage expenses. Marriages are ordinarily
arranged by the parents and a prospective husband or wife has no say in
the selection of his/her life partner. The process starts when parents
wishing to marry a son depute one of their female relatives to see the
prospective bride and satisfy herself about the general appearances,
skills and other qualities of the girl. Among the enlightened families,
the parents may ascertain the wishes of their children as well before
looking for a suitable match. The amount of Walwar
depends upon the position of the bride’s family, her personal qualities,
and the paying capacity, age and the social status of the groom.
Generally, the Walwar paid for a widow is one-half the amount paid for a
virgin but, in exceptional cases, when a widow is young and attractive, it
is more. Among Sadozais, Spin Tarins, Ustaranas, Panris and Baruzais of
Balochistan, no Walwar is usually demanded when marriages take place
within their own clans. Should the girl die before the wedding, the amount
of Walwar or a portion of it, say half, is refunded. The practice of paying
dower also prevails. However, its amount varies according to the position
of the parties. When, it is paid by the groom in the shape of livestock,
the female animals are the sole property of the wife, while the husband
can slaughter or dispose of the male animals without her consent. About a month after
Hokra/Ghusht, some members of the groom’s family visit the bride’s
father and pay him a portion of Walwar. The bride’s father presents
gifts, and in Killa Saifullah area of Balochistan a pyjama string and the
collar of the girl’s dress. This is known as Kozda or formal betrothal.
This ceremony is followed by rejoicings, dancing, etc. After Kozda, the groom
presents the bride with a dress, a shawl to her mother, and sweetmeats to
the household. Thereafter, in some tribes, including Kakars of Zhob, the
groom is permitted to visit the bride’s family, though he may not meet
the bride. Among Achakzais, Tarins and Barech, the first Nikah is also
performed on the occasion of Kozda and the groom is permitted to visit the
bride at her father’s house and enjoy the privileges of a husband. In
the case of mixed marriages, the father of a Baresh bride may permit such
visits, but if the girl belongs to a Baloch or Brauhi tribe, the Baresh
groom cannot approach her before Rukhsati. Nikah is performed
usually at the bride’s house, but among Achakzais, Zamaris, Isots and
Sanzarkhel Kakars, the bride is taken to the groom’s house for the Nikah.
Besides Walwar, the groom has to supply provisions to the bride’s father
for the entertainment of the wedding guests. In fact, all marriage
expenses usually fall on the groom’s party. On the occasion of Rukhsati,
the bride’s parents present her with a dress and a few silver or gold
ornaments. A dress suit is also given to the groom. Wealthy families
present scores of dresses, household furniture and other items of daily
use to the bride. Among Kakars of Zhob, on
the day of marriage, the elder brothers of the bride usually leave the
village out of shame. Sanzarkhels, Mandokhels,
Shiranis, Khostis and some other tribes recognise the share of women in
inheritance and allow them to hold one-eighth of the deceased husband’s
property so long as she does not remarry. However, among Sargara Kakars,
the widows are generally not allowed any inheritance. Most of the tribes,
including Bazai and Sanatia Kakars, reserve to themselves the right to pay
a woman cash compensation for her immovable property in case of her
remarriage in another tribe. Though divorces are
rare, the usual reasons for divorce are the temper of the woman and
immorality. The method of divorce is the throwing of three stones or clods
of earth in the woman’s lap or in the lap of her father/brother in the
presence of two witnesses. A woman can also obtain a divorce if her
husband is proved to be impotent. A divorced woman has the status of a
widow and can remarry. But, if she is divorced for misconduct, she is not
permitted by custom to marry her seducer. If the woman is divorced on
account of ill-temper, Sanzarkhels and Shiranis of Zhob refund a part of
Walwar to the husband. However, among the Sanzarkhels in case of divorce
for misconduct, the man, who marries the divorcee, has to pay a sum of
money to the husband. In the past, death was
generally the punishment for a faithless wife, but among some tribes the
nose and ears of the woman were cut off, while a cut was made on the
forehead and wrists of a seducer. As per custom prevalent among the
Shirani’s and some tribes in Loralai (including Dumars and Wanechis),
the seducer’s nose or right foot is cut off. In the case of misconduct
on the part of a widow, her nose and ears are cut off. Alauddin Masood is a
freelance columnist based at Islamabad. E-mail: alauddinmasood@gmail.com
Fruits of democracy December 2012
reverberated with a number of conspicuous events in Pakistan. The dramatic
return of Dr Tahirul Qadri and his public address to, what is termed by
many, a sea of humanity at Minar-e-Pakistan has seemingly jolted the
already volatile political landscape of the country. Amongst the various
shortcomings in political systems spelled out by him, inappropriateness of
the electoral process was a prime mention. He lambasted the rulers and
their cronies for reducing democracy to the limited exercise of voting on
the polling day. Another episode of the
month was the speech by Bilawal Bhutto, the successor of his late
mother’s legacy. It is believed that the young Bhutto was trying to
prove his acumen as the next leader of his party and beyond. For this
reason, he referred ad nauseam to the sacrifices of his family towards
democracy in Pakistan. Several questions pop up
from this confusing milieu. Relevance and status of dynastic politics,
limitation of democracy to a fractured voting process, ability of
citizens/voters to hold accountable their chosen law makers, credibility
and practice of intra-party electoral process and importance of governance
in a democratic dispensation are matters that demand honest and
dispassionate response from our political pundits. It is a sad commentary
on our state of affairs that while the founders of Pakistan did not
patronise their offspring to become heir apparent in state craft,
politicians after them ensured that politics become their family
enterprise. Thus our major political parties are shackled under strong and
expanded clans with only residual possibility of lateral entries. Any
secondary political worker is only allowed to rise as a politician if he
pledges unconditional and total faithfulness to the clan-head. Even slight
independent action or communication of view becomes an unpardonable crime.
Controversial exit of Sherry Rahman as information minister during the
initial days of present regime is an example. She is believed to have
returned to limelight after she totally submitted herself to the dictates
of the party leadership. The information secretaries and ministers only
serve till the time when they defended all the dubious, ludicrous,
quasi-legal and even illegal actions of their masters. The PML-N leadership is
not far behind on this count. The disappointing episode where a bakery
worker was beaten up by the security guards of a daughter and son-in-law
of the sitting chief minister shows the haughty mindset which has not
changed at all. While the political
parties and their henchmen keep harping on the benefits of democracy, the
process is not visualised beyond participating in rallies and casting
votes in the elections. One finds that the core matters of the party and
its management are tightly held by the dynastic leaderships without any
possibility of deviation. No process of credible intra-party elections is
followed. It is quite ironic to note that those pseudo-democrats who
deliver sermons about the universal merits of democracy are too shy to
practice it within their own parties themselves. The central executive
committees, central working committees or rabita or coordination
committees comprise handpicked bands of most faithful individuals. These
individuals watch out the party ranks to ensure that only compliant,
obedient and non-dissenting folks are allowed to exist. Any voice possessing a
tone of difference is strongly dealt with. In some cases, such folks are
made to desert the party while in the others, the license to live on the
planet is cancelled. The invisible hands quickly spring into action and
the number of political martyrs rise. From Liaquat Ali Khan to Benazir
Bhutto, the unsolved puzzles of cases of assassinated politicians are many
and rising! The democratic process
enables people to choose representatives of parties in line with their
political manifestoes. Contemporary references inform us that manifestoes
are reduced to combination of flashy slogans. This document is only cited
during the season of electioneering. Thereafter, no appraisal is conducted
to evaluate the enforcement of clauses of these public doctrines. Some
parties prefer to keep the issue of manifesto absolutely vague leaving the
simple voters groping for any significant merit to choose their
representatives. Similarly, larger and older parties that have stuck to
older manifestoes like bread (roti), clothing (kapra), and shelter (makan)
stop short of creating enabling environments for under-privileged to
access the same. Democracy promotes a
culture of meaningful dialogue, leading to consensus around the most
contentious issues. At present, there are five such matters that need
united and swift response without delay. Strategy to deal with various
militant outfits such as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan; action plan to address
the concerns of Baloch proletariat and ways to combat so called miscreants
in the province; firm approaches to weed out religious intolerance and
safeguard of minority rights; revival of vital national institutions
through effective operational and administrative management and ways to
combat corruption. Some parties have
resorted to approaches accepting the significance of one or few of these
issues, but no concerted effort has been made to adopt an all-inclusive
approach for dealing with the entire agenda. On a positive note, baby
steps towards improvement are abound. Composition of Election Commission,
a general understanding to have a neutral caretaker government and general
tolerance of the federal and provincial governments towards political
opponents are some vital mentions. However, as a progressive nation, we
need to do much more to benefit from the full bloom of democracy.
The proposed city of Zulfikarabad in Sindh is impregnated with environmental and social risks By Naseer Memon Zulfikarabad,
the dream city of the president of Pakistan, has sparked another
controversy in Sindh. In spite of tooth and nail opposition, the
government seems ready to proceed with its plans. The project, originally
named as Jheruk, was first heard of in 2009. The scheme was later
relocated to further south of Thatta district in Jati, Shah Bunder, Keti
Bunder and Kharo Chaan talukas. A meeting chaired by
President Asif Zardari on 28th January 2011 was told that the project
would require some 1.6 million acres of land in the four coastal talukas
of Thatta district. More than 1.2 million acres of the earmarked land is
presently under sea and would require huge amount of money to reclaim.
Sindh Land Management and Development Company has been established to
acquire land for the project. An autonomous body,
Zulfikarabad Development Authority (ZDA) has been established to steer the
project. The authority enjoys rare powers of approving any scheme even
without seeking approval from the provincial Planning and Development
Department. A high powered Executive Committee of the Authority has been
empowered to take decisions. The chief secretary of the province would be
just an ordinary member of the authority, ceremonially chaired by the
chief minister and practically operated by the managing director. This is
probably the only development scheme of its kind, for which key decisions
are taken in meetings chaired by not less than the president of Pakistan. Coastal strip is
globally considered as an enticing location for commercial investments
e.g. housing, tourism, industry and trade. Most expensive residential
schemes are developed along coastal towns and cities. According to some
estimates, approximately three billion people on earth live within 200
kilometres of coast and 14 out of 17 biggest cities of the world are
located on coastline. This development is often materialised at the cost
of indigenous communities. Against this backdrop, civil society has
expressed its serious reservations on social and environmental
implications of this scheme. Involuntary displacement of thousands of
people from coastal villages is afoot. China has shown its keen
interest in the scheme. Delegations of Chinese investors frequently meet
the president to lobby for major contracts in the project. The president
has also recently visited China and the two countries have signed MoU to
implement the project through Chinese companies. Such high value projects
nest hefty profits and poor communities become their casualty in numerous
ways. Pakistan does not have impressive track record in this context.
Resettlement of few thousand people of much smaller projects like Chotiari
reservoir reeked with massive embezzlements and nepotism. Plight of the
would-be displaced communities of Zulfikarabad is a foregone conclusion. Key reason for Sindhis
to oppose this project is lurking fear of being turned into a numeric
minority in their own province. According to the 1998 census, Sindhi
speaking population was 60 per cent. Sindhi speaking population in urban
areas was 25.8 per cent against 78.75% Punjabi speaking in urban Punjab
and 73.55% Pashto speaking in Urban KP. Demography of Karachi was even
worse with Sindhi speaking population standing at 7.7%. Against this
backdrop, any new city of expected population of 10 million would easily
convert Sindhis into a minority within a decade. Nationalist parties in
Sindh consider Zulfikarabad a tool of demographic genocide of Sindhis. The project is also
impregnated with environmental risks. Indus Delta is jewel in the crown of
Pakistan’s ecological heritage. For its rich biodiversity, the Delta is
declared as a Ramsar site and attains great environmental significance.
According to WWF Pakistan, the area where the city is proposed houses
about 50 per cent of the country’s remaining mangroves cover most of
which is declared as ‘protected’ since 1950s. Recent studies on the
existing land use of the location indicate that mangrove forests, wet
mudflats and seawater in various major and minor creeks cover 7.2, 40.2
and 20 per cent of the total area of the site, respectively (WWF
Pakistan). The remaining one third is the inland area which comprises
agriculture and inland vegetation on about 9 per cent and uncultivated
agricultural land and residential areas on 24 per cent of the total area
of proposed Zulfikarabad site. More than 50,000 hectors of the proposed
site are covered with mangroves forests, most of which are under the
administrative jurisdictions of Sindh Forest Departments. Pakistan’s
Environmental Protection Act requires an Environmental Impact Assessment
(to which Social Impact Assessment is a component) of such projects.
Considering the scope of the project, ideally a Strategic Impact
Assessment should be conducted. However, all these requirements have been
violated flagrantly. Coastal cities are no
more considered salubrious locations. Environmental hazards and coastal
disasters have made such cities more vulnerable. Tsunamis of East-Asian
coast in 2004 and of Japan in 2011 provide ample evidence of alarming
vulnerability of coastal cities. Tourism, industry, shipping and
aqua-culture are some of the prime areas of interest for investors.
Natural ecosystem is gradually encroached and eventually replaced by
concrete and steel in such areas. Tsunami hit East-Asian
countries developed shrimp farming into a $9 billion industry by erasing
mangroves forests in vast swathes. The massive wave of destruction caused
by the 2004 tsunami dwarfed all economic gain that the shrimp industry
claimed. According to some reports, Sindh coast witnessed an average of
four cyclones in a century. However, the frequency and intensity has
increased manifold and the period of 1971-2001 records 14 cyclones. From
2001 to 2010, two high intensity cyclones i.e. cyclone Yemyin and cyclone
Phet narrowly missed Sindh coast. Thus, Zulfikarabad would be exposed to
serious potential hazards. The proposed city is
located in an active seismic zone, where exists Allah Band Fault, a
potential threat of severe earthquake. In its southeast lies Gujarat
Seismic Zone (GSZ) and in north-west Makran Subduction Zone (MSZ) that
pose serious threat to the proposed city. Bhuj earthquake of 2001 caused
devastation in the adjoining areas across the border. Looking at shambolic
infrastructure and substandard quality of services in Sindh, one wonders
why these resources cannot be veered to improve the existing system. Most
of the province is devoid of vehicle-worthy highways, link roads and basic
infrastructure in secondary cities. Housing, drinking water and sanitation
facilities are not available in large parts of big cities and secondary
towns of Sindh. Thousands of schools and health facilities are without
basic facilities. According to official data, 10,722 schools are without
building and 24,559 are without drinking water facility in the province (Sindh
Economic Survey 2009-2011). The same document acknowledges that provision
of health facilities in Sindh is grossly inadequate. The province has only
3.5 doctors per 10,000 people and only 1.1 nurses against the same number
of people. Against this backdrop, the decision to pour billions of dollars
to build another big city lacks prescience.
harmony Set in the
scenic Kathmandu Valley, December 2012 brought together some 50
participants from all over the Saarc countries to Park Village Hotel and
Resort for the annual South Asia ‘Conflict Transformation Across
Cultures’ (CONTACT). The 11-day programme
held under the auspices of SIT Graduate Institute, Vermont US is known for
its Peace-building Training and Education for Saarc Emerging Leaders by
both international and South Asian experts. With a focus on
representing diversity in the region, the wholesome CONTACT focused on
conflict analysis, conflict management skills and techniques, development
through conflict-sensitivity, negotiation and mediation, inter-group
dialogue and transitional reconciliation. Considering these
themes, all the participants from various walks of life, be it activists,
journalists, NGO leaders, academics, students, government employees,
social service providers brought in a unique set of experiences and
perspectives — through lively and engaging classroom lectures,
discussions, presentations, debates and role-plays that lit up the
environment. “CONTACT was like a
confluence of different streams carrying its indigenous essence. We all in
our respective countries have gone through our national and local
issues/problems. But today, after this two-week training my mode of
thinking has shifted from an individual approach to a regional
approach,” says Caesar Mandal, Indian journalist from the Times of
India. The 11-day,
large-hearted discussions helped Mandal realise that peace within Pakistan
is a must for a peaceful and a vibrant subcontinent. Afghanistan’s case
is also something that needs attention from the entire region. “We could come to
greater understanding and empathy for our counterparts throughout the
Saarc region. Similarly, issues like sharing of water resources came up as
a major area of discussion — an issue that has the making of becoming a
major conflict in near future,” says Mandal. This platform
highlighted shared concerns of sharing of information, open forums that
could lead us towards a regional solidarity what in future could be used
for more joint ventures to proceed towards the peace process in the
region. Abdur Rahman, a
Pakistani student from the Institute of Management Sciences, Peshawar
shares similar thoughts. “Belonging to Fata, an area most affected by
armed conflicts, I used to think that we are the only ones suffering while
the rest of the world is at ‘peace’. But it was after this training
that I have come to understand how the entire South Asia is suffering from
armed conflicts, societal dismays, and racial and ethnic
discriminations,” he said. It expanded his way of
thinking and for the first time appealed him to work for the common
solutions of these burning issues. “I came to know how societies are
involved in conflicts, how people would react to sufferings and what role
a peace builder can possibly play to resolve the conflict,” he
reiterated. The skills and tools
learnt in these training days will help peace-builders in preventing
inter-communal conflicts from escalating into problems that threaten
regional, national, and even global security. There is one
peace-builder from Afghanistan who is already seriously working and
utilising the skills and the tools. Muhammad Qahir Sadat, Human Resource
Manager Healthnet, Jalalabad Afghanistan says that he is working to design
a group for peace-building which goes hand in hand with the youth
federation and will work in the villages arranging sports, educational
competitions and providing training of peace-building in a systematic
manner to motivate the youth. “I have learnt ‘What
it means to build lasting peace’,” Sadat says. Peace building measures
also aim to prevent conflict from re-emerging. Through the creation of
mechanisms that enhance cooperation and dialogue among different identity
groups, these measures can help parties manage their conflict of interests
through peaceful means. This might include
building institutions that provide procedures and mechanisms for
effectively handling and resolving conflict. For example, societies can
build fair courts, capacities for labour negotiation, systems of civil
society reconciliation, and a stable electoral process. Such designing of
new dispute resolution systems is an important part of creating lasting
peace. Tsering Lhamo who is
working as a project coordinator at a local NGO in Nepal shares her
experiences saying, “Every problem has solutions. In order to solve it,
we need to understand the underlying problems. Building strategy, knowing
the core problems and tackling it with alternatives,” she says. She gives an example —
in a country there are lots of problems, some are tractable and others
intractable. By building proper strategy we can solve the problems
creatively. It could be caste system, religious conflict, gender violence
and so on. We can’t solve it all like that. To solve each of these
problems we need to understand what is at stake, what is needed to be done
and what needs are to be met. Until and unless we try, we can’t
eradicate problems. So, whatever we do may not be important but is
significant. Small steps must be taken and initiation is a must. Basanta Adhikari
activist, Livable Nepal Campaign: “During the programme I also came to
know that all over Asia there exist conflict in some ways and it is our
prime responsibility to promote peace in this region through our endless
effort. The programme taught me that there always lies hidden factor (root
cause) that escalates and increases the conflict, and if we want to
resolve the conflict and restore peace, we have to analyse these hidden
causes first and work on them,” he said. The programme gave him
knowledge, skills and energy to tackle the problem. “I am quite sure
that this experience will help me to promote the Livable Nepal Campaign
through which we are advocating to establish Rule of Law in Nepal.” Ayodhya Krishani,
Freelance Facilitator/Researcher from Sri Lanka gives us a different
perspective, “What I learnt most was not just knowledge, the people and
the sharing of experience impart wisdom. It was a time to admit the voice
as one against violence. Not only the violence against ‘us’ but also
to stop violence against the ‘other’,” she said. There was a call to
build solidarity to end violence committed against anyone, whether the
victims are from the community you represent, or any other. It was a call
for humanity, not in mere words, but through action. This was the first
time I was meeting people from Afghanistan and Tibet. They shared many
perspectives, reflections, experiences and their community work, which is
their effort for peacebuilding. “Do what you do, for
humanity’s sake. If we are united as one amidst our differences, that
means we are wiser. CONTACT reaffirmed this and showed that committed few
people want the world to be a better place, not tomorrow, but today,”
she says. Abdul Hamid from
Development Studies department at University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, rightly
puts, “Peacebuilding is not merely a concern of war driven region, it is
a concern all over the world, even in the developed country like Ireland
and many others. The real life stories of
participants from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Tibet, Myanmar and Nepal moved
me. Every country of Saarc region has some sort of, though at differing
levels, chronic conflicting issues to focus on, both nationally and
regionally, and sometimes without regional cooperation the problem cannot
be solved.” The writer was part of
the SIT CONTACT, Kathmandu, 2012
Minorities and
elections One in every 26
Pakistanis believes in a religion other than Islam but still these groups,
called as minorities in Pakistan, are struggling for their political and
electoral rights. These marginalised religious groups have been
continuously jumping from separate to joint electorate system for the past
six decades. The state still seems not serious in giving due and unbiased
political representation to these groups which include Christians, Hindus,
Sikhs, Parsis, and others. After 1974, this category also includes Ahmadia
community. A recent report
“Religious Minorities in Pakistan’s Elections”, which includes
history, views of community leaders and statistical assessments of their
present electoral significance, has minutely discussed the electoral
rights of these groups and suggested to improve their political status
through either increase in the reserved seats or giving them double-vote
right to safeguard their political and electoral identity in the country.
The report, initiated by Church World Service, an international
Non-government Organization, has judged the ‘electoral significance’
of non-Muslims. According to the
statistics, compiled in the report, out of every 1,000 Pakistani, 963 are
Muslims; 16 Christians; 16 Hindus (Jati); 3 Scheduled Castes; 2 Qadianis/Ahmadis
and 1 believes in a religion other than these. The study is a guide for
the political parties to know about the numerical strengths of non-Muslims
as a potential electoral capital that they can tap into and mobilise for
electoral gains. Such reports can result into mainstreaming of
non-Muslims, as opposed to marginalisation, into the body politics of
Pakistan. Historically, the
participation of non-Muslims in Pakistan’s elections have also some
roots in the pre-Partition Hindu-Muslim political tussles while others
aspects came up into the discourse by later religious enthusiasts. The debate on whether
Pakistan shall separate electors on the basis of religion started
immediately after the adoption of Objectives Resolution by the Constituent
Assembly in March 1949. The supporters of the Resolution insisted that
separating electorate was mandatory to align the governance system with
Islam. The main opposition to it came from Bengali nationalists who were
at loggerheads with the ruling elite of the new country on many power
sharing issues. They considered separate electorate as yet another attempt
by the central government to weaken them by dividing their political
support base along religious lines. In 1952, it was incorporated with a
number of “Islamic” provisions making it mandatory that only a Muslim
can be the head of the state. Later, General Ayub Khan
appointed a Constitution Commission in February 1960 to inquire into the
failure of the parliamentary democracy in the country. The commission also
sought opinions from all stakeholders on a questionnaire that included
queries on the issue of separate and joint electorate as well. The
commission’s report, published in April 1961, found that “the demand
for a joint electorate, by the minorities in East Pakistan ... is not
natural” as it thought “one would normally expect the minorities,
especially in a country where people are basically religious, to ask for
separate electorate”. During the period when
the 1973 constitution was being framed, the issue of joint or separate
electorate did not arise. It seemed that with the secession of East
Pakistan, which became Bangladesh in 1971, the issue lost its context.
Non-Muslims were now less than five per cent of Pakistan’s population
and less than half of these were Hindus. The general elections of 1985,
1988, 1990, 1993 and 1997 were thus held under separate electorate. The
opponents of this system blamed it for throwing non-Muslim minorities out
of the political mainstream and isolating them from the rest of the
society. The separate electorate
system was abandoned in 2002. The seats for non-Muslims were also reserved
in the elected houses. These seats were now allotted to political parties
proportionate to their share in general seats and filled through the party
list system. Ten seats are reserved for non-Muslim communities in National
Assembly, eight in Punjab Assembly, nine in Sindh Assembly and three each
in the other two provincial legislatures. According to the new system,
members on the reserved seats are not elected through any kind of voting
process. Instead, the parties are required to submit, at the time of the
nomination of candidates on general seats, a list of their nominees for
the reserved seats. The parties are also asked to prioritise their
nominees. A Pakistan People’s
party loyalist Dr Jaipal Chabbriya, who is an eye specialist working in a
Karachi hospital, says, “Non-Muslims are represented now everywhere in
assemblies, in ministries, and thanks to the 18th Amendment in Senate as
well. But there is still a lot to be done to end discrimination.” He
points to the constitutional bar on non-Muslims for higher offices, such
as president and prime minister etc. He longs to see the day when Muslims
are able to vote for non- Muslim candidates and vice versa. Interestingly, the
minority community views are heavily tilted in favour of joint electorate.
Everyone is appreciative of the change including those who contested
elections under the separate electorate system and were elected members of
various assemblies. People easily identify the benefits of the joint
electorate system as it integrates Muslims and non-Muslims making us one
nation. The CWS report, also
based on more than 80 interviews of minority group prominent
personalities, suggests that non-Muslims should be awarded dual franchise.
They should be given two ballot papers. They should cast one vote to a
general seat candidate and the second to a member of their own community.
This way they would remain integrated with the mainstream polity and be
true representatives of their communities. Khalil Tahir Sindhu, a
PML-N member of the Punjab Assembly, says he can only dream of becoming a
member of the Punjab Assembly through direct elections. He says that
General Zia’s act of separating non-Muslims from the mainstream was a
disservice to the minorities. Khalil, however, is not satisfied with the
joint electorate system as being currently practiced. “I totally
disagree with this system.” “Parties should be
legally bound to give non-Muslims a share in tickets,” views George
Clement, a seasoned politician. “Ending other forms of discrimination
will make the joint electorate system effective,” observes Peter Jacob,
political activist and a rights campaigner. He believes that separate
electorate was a scourge that worsened the lot of non-Muslims in Pakistan.
The study calls for
removing discriminatory laws to make joint electorate effective.
Non-Muslim women are the most marginalised of the minorities as they have
to bear double discrimination. The reserved seats members are supposed to
represent the views of their communities on issues presented in the
parliament, but they cannot be expected to represent the gender divide
within their community too. It suggests that some of
the seats reserved for women should be shifted to those reserved for
non-Muslims. In this way, the number of women in parliament will not
decline and the number of non-Muslims will rise from 10 to 13 while
presence of non-Muslim women in the parliament will also be ensured. vaqargillani@gmail.com |
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