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frontier Heart
of darkness
Taal
Matol Smoke
Free reform Working for
justice RIPPLE EFFECT
NWFP remains in focus -- for peace agreements, bombings and killings By Rahimullah Yusufzai This is the season for
peace accords in the NWFP as the one in Swat has been followed by another And barring something unusual, the most important peace agreement might be concluded in the coming weeks between the top Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mahsud and the government in South Waziristan. If that were to happen, the peace deals could be replicated elsewhere in the volatile tribal areas and adjoining districts of NWFP. It is ironic that the peace agreements are taking place in summer, the traditional 'fighting season' for the past three decades in neighbouring Afghanistan and for the last few years in Pakistan's tribal borderland. Rather than fight, the combatants are putting down their guns and preferring to talk. In doing so, they are responding to the wishes of the war-weary people of these economically-depressed areas. Guns first fell silent in the scenic Swat valley. Ceasefire took hold in early May and the peace deal was concluded in just three rounds of negotiations spread over 13 days. The ease with which the negotiations made headway and resulted in a comprehensive, 16-point accord between the ANP-PPP coalition government in the NWFP and the Swati militants on May 21 raised hopes that some domestic tourists would be tempted to return to Swat this summer. The traditional summer tourist season these past years turned out to be a nightmare for the hoteliers and their employees as well as others dependent on tourism for a living. An oft-quoted remark one has been hearing in Swat all these years was that the 'black turbans,' the name given to the members of the radical Islamic organisation, Tanzim Nifaz Shariat-i-Mohammadi (TNSM), lie dormant until the arrival of summer when they become active and hold protests or resort to violence as if they are trying to keep away potential tourists from Swat. In fact, the pressure from the common people and those running businesses and hotels would be crucial to keep the militants engaged in the peace process because tourism has been the mainstay of Swat's fragile economy. To survive, the militants have to ensure that they aren't held responsible for endangering the livelihoods of the Swati people. Close on the heels of the Swat peace accord, militants in Darra Adamkhel agreed to a ceasefire after talks with a jirga of tribal elders sent by the government. On May 28, a spokesman for Taliban operating in Darra Adamkhel announced cessation of hostilities following assurances conveyed by the government that it would stop military operations in Darra Adamkhel. The spokesman who introduced himself as Mohammad said he was speaking on behalf of Taliban commander Tariq, whose house along with those of several other militants were earlier demolished by the security forces to punish them for taking up arms against the state. In return, the Darra militants promised not to attack security forces and government installations, including the strategic Kohat Tunnel built with Japanese assistance and the stretch of the busy Indus Highway passing through Darra Adamkhel and linking Peshawar with Kohat and rest of southern NWFP and onward with Karachi. The Darra peace talks leading to the ceasefire took six days. The jirga, comprising tribal elders from Darra Adamkhel and two influential Mahsud tribesmen, Amir Mohammad Khan and Ikramuddin, from Baitullah Mahsud's tribe in South Waziristan, started its work on May 22 and the ceasefire came into effect on May 28. Further peace talks are now being held to formalise an accord. The government side gave guarantees through the jirga to abide by the terms of the ceasefire and peace accord and refrain from launching military action against the militants. The guarantors, who reportedly include the two Mahsud tribal elders and some Afghan Taliban figures, would ensure that the two sides respect the peace agreement. The Mahsud tribal elders, Amir Mohammad and Ikramuddin, and some Afghan Taliban officials had also played a crucial role in facilitating the exchange of prisoners between the government and Baitullah Mahsud's group in South Waziristan. It was through their efforts that Tariq Azizuddin, Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan, was recovered after being held in custody by his kidnappers for 97 days, and swapped for Taliban prisoners. Keenly-awaited is a formal peace agreement between Baitullah Mahsud, head of the Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the government in South Waziristan. The two sides have already undertaken confidence-building measures by exchanging prisoners and strictly observing the ceasefire. The Pakistan Army has withdrawn troops from parts of South Waziristan inhabited by the Mahsud tribe and dismantled roadside checkpoints in the area. Displaced Mahsud families are returning home from Tank, Dera Ismail Khan and other places where they took refuge when the military launched operations using jet-fighters, gunship-helicopters and artillery guns last winter. Reporters who recently visited Spinkai Raghzai village after being airlifted there in choppers from Islamabad and Peshawar saw extensive damage to homes and properties resulting from aerial bombing by the military. Mediamen reported seeing even more destruction when they subsequently drove through the Mahsud country to meet Baitullah Mahsud in one of his hideouts near Srarogha, the same town where he inked his earlier peace agreement with the government in Feb 2005. While the peace accords raised hopes for a respite from the cycle of violence gripping the NWFP and FATA in recent years, the news coming out from Bajaur and some other places was depressing. First there was the US missile strike that killed up to 20 people in Damadola, the same village which suffered a similar American airstrike in Jan 2006 and killed 13 persons. After more than two and a half years during which the US attacked targets inside Pakistan's tribal areas with Hellfire missiles fired by the pilotless Predator planes, the Pakistan government gathered courage to lodge protest with the Americans. However, the protest was delayed and made in a roundabout manner as it was lodged with the tripartite military commission that comprises Pakistan, Afghanistan and the US and Nato and is tasked with the task of addressing concerns of member countries and border violations. Neither the US ambassador was summoned to the Foreign Office in Islamabad for lodging the protest with him nor an apology from Washington was sought or compensation demanded for the human and material losses. As expected, the Bajaur missile strike was followed by a revengeful suicide bombing at a military-run bakery in Mardan, where the Pakistan Army's Punjab Regimental Centre is located. Five soldiers were among the 13 people who lost their lives in the attack. This was the second time that the Punjab Regiment was targeted, the last time being in 2006 when its training centre in Dargai was hit by a suicide bomber who killed himself and 42 mostly young soldiers to avenge the US missile strike against a seminary in Bajaur's Chingai village. The US attack, which was unwisely claimed by the Pakistan Army in a bid to minimize the impact of the loss of the country's sovereignty under President General Pervez Musharraf, had killed 80 young madrassa students. Bajaur was again in the news when journalist Mohammad Ibrahim was shot dead near Inayat Killay while on his way back after interviewing TTP spokesman Maulvi Omar. The Taliban denied involvement in his murder and their leaders Maulana Faqir Mohammad and Maulvi Omar visited his home in Bhai Cheena to offer condolences and to declare that they would publicly execute his killers. The killers of Ibrahim, 44 years old and father of eight children, remain unidentified. He was the sixth journalist in FATA after Hayatullah, Amir Nawab Wazir, Allah Noor Wazir, Majeed Afridi and Dr Noor Hakim to have been killed in recent years. Add to the figure the death of journalist Sirajuddin in a suicide bombing in Swat and it is easy to imagine the kind of dangerous environment in which journalists in the NWFP and tribal areas have to work since 2001, when Pakistan started experiencing the fallout of the US invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan. Though the government and Ibrahim's employers, Express News TV, made generous contributions for the upkeep of his aggrieved family, his assassination deprived his widow and eight young children of their only breadwinner and sent a chilling message to journalists to stay away from independently covering stories concerning national security. As this wasn't enough, eight militants riding a vehicle were reportedly killed in another missile strike in Bajaur on May 28. Eyewitnesses blamed a US drone for the strike even though there wasn't enough evidence to support this claim. If true, this was another reminder from the US that it would continue to launch airstrikes in Pakistan's tribal areas and oppose peace accords that Islamabad is hurriedly signing with the militants despite objections by America and its Nato allies.
By Behroz Khan Passing through the rugged mountains and unpaved bumpy roads, a 25-member media delegation was taken to the Mehsud belt of South Waziristan by the Taliban to meet the most wanted Pakistani militant Baitullah Mahsud, a character wrapped in myths and mystery. This was the first-ever
exposure of the virgin terrain to the world when journalists working with TV Long beards and long hair are the trademark of these militants identifying themselves as Taliban Mujahideen. Hafiz Latifullah, the young lieutenant of Baitullah was co-ordinating with journalists in Peshawar and Islamabad before we finally met him in Mirali. Latifullah believes that besides being Islamic and symbol of Jihad, the long hair and bushy beards of Taliban was a sign of terror for the enemies. But he was not much clear when asked that the enemies (US and its allies) were equipped with high technology and could hit targets from the skies without confronting them on the ground, so what was the point in growing beards and hair so long? However, local tribesmen wary of the might and tactics of the Taliban while dealing with 'spies' and 'informers' were mindful of the fact that the Taliban get-up was a sign of terror for the locals than any body else. However the behavior of the Taliban fighters accompanying the journalists was mild and they treated their guests politely. As expected, the hosts were not harsh towards them for not offering prayers five times or being clean shaven, though, some of them did mention that those journalists betraying the Taliban's trust should face the slaughtering squad, this did send a shiver down the spine of many of us. The Taliban were constantly asking for a Peshawar-based journalist whom they thought was using inappropriate words for them in his reports like miscreants etc. The drivers carrying the guests from one place to the other were driving the vehicles very dangerously. Fighters as young as 15 years were brandishing their AK-47 assault rifles and playing with daggers and it looked like as ifthey had been assigned the task of beheading spies and captured enemies. The squad of suicide bombers headed by Qari Hussain has a special status. Young boys not more than 17 years of age were introduced by the Taliban as the ones restlessly waiting for their turn to strike against targets and embrace martyrdom. Baitullah Mahsudbelieves that the suicide bombers (fidayeen) were a force which can never be defeated. "When these 'fidayeen' are told that 'Hoors' (beautiful girls) are waiting by looking out of the windows in paradise to embrace them, these youngsters are fighting with the leaders for not allowing them to be with the 'Hoors'", said one of the Taliban fighters. From Razmak, the summer station of North Waziristan down to Makeen the major town of South Waziristan and to the end of the Mesud belt at Spinkai-Raghzai, no security check post has been left intact and the two forts of the security forces at Nawaz Kot and Sra Rogha have been dynamited. Sra Rogha Fort was built by the British in 1923 while Nawaz Kot fort was the residence of a local tribal contractor rented out to the forces for stationing there. There is complete control of Baitullah's men, as the security forces have been withdrawn from these areas due to insecurity and hostile environment. The main Jandola-Makeen road is in a bad shape. It is unpaved, narrow and exposed to land slides. The journalists were stranded at a point for more than two hours due to closure of the track by land slide as heavy shower lashed the valley. But the resourceful Taliban managed to take us to Sra Rogha after communicating with their leadership through a satellite phone. The four-wheelers were sent from Spinkai-Raghzai to the spot and we had to change vehicles to embark on the journey with excitement and skepticism to meet Baitullah Mehsud. Many believed that Baitullah Mahsudmight not compromise on his safety to be among such a big crowd. After spending a comparatively comfortable night at the 'hujras' of local tribal elders in Gharlama village of Sra Rogha area, the delegation was taken to all those villages and houses in Kotkai, Sra Rogha and Spinkai-Raghzai bazaar, which had been destroyed and bulldozed by the forces during the military operation in January. It was observed that beside the demolition of portions of the houses owned by Taliban top commanders, Qari Hussain and Hakimullah in Kotkai, majority of the destroyed buildings and houses were owned by common tribesmen. Families displaced due to the fighting between militants and the military, are slowly and gradually returning to their ruined houses, which need rebuilding.The entire bazaar at Spinkai-Raghzai has been bulldozed, which over the years had become the main trade and business center in the Mahsudbelt. On returning from Spinkai-Raghzai to Kotkai, we were informed that 'Amir Saib', a name given to Baitullah Mahsudby his men, was waiting for us in the building of a high school, which has been converted into Taliban local headquarters. All the schools are closed as majority of the buildings are serving as offices and bases of the Taliban. But during the meeting with Mahsud, he asked the government departments other than the army to come back and resume activities in health, male education, roads, supply of electricity, drinking water and other social services. He said only 'muftis' will decide about giving permission to girls to go to schools. He spoke at length about all the issues ranging from Benazir Bhutto's assassination to the release of Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul, Tariq Azizuddin and the ongoing peace talks with the government to restore order. However, Baitullah Mahsudcategorically stated that his fight against the US and its allies will continue in Afghanistan and also owned the claim that suicide bombers were his asset. "They are my Atom bombs. If the infidels have atom bombs, I have them too," he said. He denied his involvement in Benazir Bhutto's murder and held the rulers accountable for eliminating her. "We are not involved in her assassination and will not co-operate with the UN because, the world body is a slave of the United States," he said. About his meeting with Osama bin Laden and Mulla Muhammad Omar, Baitullah Mahsud said, "I did not get the opportunity to meet them but I wish I could." By Shoaib Hashmi The other day a bunch of us old classmates happened to be together and got the dumb idea to have a reunion. The downside of it was that we made a quick calculation and discovered that the last time we had been together was fifty five years ago, which meant that none of us could pretend to be a spring chicken! The good side was that we recalled many a good story from the olden days. One of these concerned the first 'native' commander in chief of the navy. I may have told you this before but it can stand repetition. The gentleman's name was Sharif and he got to be admiral and so the navy chief which used to be an Englishman, this being just after our independence. It was also known that very early in his life, in fact before he was born and his mother was still carrying him, she had been for pilgrimage, and according to ancient tradition such a child is also considered to have been on the pilgrimage and entitled to say so. The man thus became 'Hajji' Muhammad Sharif Chaudhry, which abbreviated to HMS Chaudhry. As I said this was just after we stopped being a colony, and our friendly neighbour Australia too had just attained dominion status, and there, and a few months earlier here, ships of the line in the navy, both being British colonies, ships were designated as His Majesty's ship so and so, or HMS so and so. The man who became admiral wanted to visit Australia, so the navy wrote off to the Aussies that Admiral HMS Chaudhry wanted to visit. The Australians were most eager to receive a fellow ex-colonial and arrangements were made for a grand tour. I guess some messages were misunderstood, and the day came, and the Australians had decorated Sydney harbour with lines of fire fighter boats standing by to splay their high powered hoses to create a display, awaiting the arrival of the Pakistani navy ship HMS Chaudhry. The man, in the meantime arrived at Sydney Airport on the scheduled BOAC flight which was the British Overseas Airways Corp, before it became BA. No one was there to receive him and he had to take a cab to Naval Headquarters where everything was sorted out, and we and the Aussies have been friends but never very enthusiastic about each other. In case you happen to glance at the coded name for this letter you will know that I am in my second most favourite city. Arrived this morning to find that Delhi is as alien, and as familiar as ever. It has been raining, and it is cool and clean, and at each crossroads I keep waiting to come to some familiar Lahori landmark at the next corner. Even better, I am just transiting on my way to the even more delectable, if possible, Srinagar! Srinagar is the fabled land of our ancestors, and I have a few theories about the nostalgia attached to it, so more about it next time.
By Asifa Khanum Majority of sportspersons,
sports enthusiasts and spectators are young people. Recent researches on
tobacco consumption suggest that nearly one-third of juvenile smokers start
smoking before For attracting new smokers, the tobacco industry spends hundreds of millions of dollars a year on advertising their brands. High-profile and exciting sports that receive significant coverage are the main focus of tobacco industry due to vast print and electronic reporting and massive viewership throughout the world. Sport sponsorships have increased substantially since most of the countries banned direct tobacco advertisements on electronic media, especially television. By sponsoring sports, tobacco companies try to establish a link between tobacco and the power, pace, grace, fun, fame, enthusiasm, excitement and the sensation of sports. Keeping in view the impact and influence of advertisements and sponsorships by tobacco industry on the youth and its consciousness among common citizens, movements by healthcare professionals, pressure from civil society organisations, and support by conscious celebrities, tobacco-free sports is emerging as a conscientious response by sports organisers. Also due to strong encouragement from World Health Organisation (WHO) and other leading health organisations and institutions, International Olympic Committee, Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), professional and youth organisations and sports leagues and boards, the trend of declaring tobacco-free sports events is on the rise. Since the advent of first Olympics Games in 1896, the International Olympic Committee never allowed any commercial advertisements or availed sponsorships from tobacco companies. Ban on smoking in all Olympic sports venues was reinforced in 1988 when WHO and International Olympic Committee lobbied with the Olympic organising committees. The Australian government approved its commitment of tobacco-free Olympics in Sydney in 2000. In 2004, the Olympic Games returned to Greece, which followed the commitment that was later on sustained in Torino, Italy 2006 Olympics. Being a host of the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing has officially announced these games as tobacco-free Olympics. Directive from the Chinese government has been released and was effective in the city from May 01, 2008 for delivering the promise of a tobacco-free sports environment. Besides announcing other venues as smoke-free; the notification clearly mentions that all indoor, open-air gymnasiums, stadiums and the competition and spectators areas would be smoke-free. According to studies, the use and approval of tobacco consumption by peers or siblings, smoking by parents or guardians, accessibility, availability, price and low socio-economic status are the major causes associated with youth smoking. World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) is observed internationally every year on May 31, this year's theme of WNTD 'Tobacco-free Youth -- demanding ban on all tobacco advertising, promotions and sponsorship' is completely aligned with the aim of tobacco-free Olympics, 2008 -- sharing the common objective of discouraging the marketing, sponsorship and consumption of tobacco in general but specifically among youth. Following the footsteps of decisions and measures taken for keeping Beijing Olympics 2008 clear from smoking, Pakistan should also plan to ensure all future sports events free from the tobacco industry to protect future generations from the preventable deaths and diseases caused by tobacco. Pakistan has ratified the WHO's 'Framework Convention on Tobacco Control' and promulgated the 'Prohibition of Smoking and Protection of non-smokers Health Ordinance 2002' enforced in July 2003. However no significant changes have been noticed. Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani takes the torch of prison reforms By Ali Waqar Even in the 21st century,
Pakistan still continues to have 150 years old prison laws and rules of the Though, in the past 60 years, from time to time, a number of committees and commissions have been constituted to bring prison reforms. It seems that after coming into power, the government wants to change the 'monologue' of prisoners into 'dialogue' of reforms. The new proposed package expectedly, would be announced by the political prisoner of his time and PM Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, who spent as many as eight years in jail on the charge of corruption and illegal recruitments, which proved wrong at the end of the day. Interestingly, not only PM Gilani, was once a prisoner, but also the PPP co-chairperson Senator Asif Ali Zardari has also spent around 11 years in jail. According to insiders, this could be one of the reasons that the new federal law and Human Rights Minister Barrister Farooq H Nayek in a formal interview aired on a private television channel announced prison reforms as his one of the top priorities. PM Gilani, according to reports, has convened a number of meetings on the prison reforms since becoming premier. He wants to unveil a prison reform package at the earliest after resolving the ongoing judicial crisis, insiders said. In the recent past, he has to postpone his official visit to Adyala Jail, Rawalpindi where he had been spending some time as a victim of National Accountability Bureau (NAB). The efforts have been started under Prison Reforms Package 2008 that would possibly include the issue of overcrowding (which on an average is 150 per cent), legal reforms and changes in jail remission system, training of jail staff, prisoners' welfare and many other administrative and legal reforms. National Reconstruction Bureau would finalise the package in consultation with the provincial governments, hopefully by the end of May 2008. Insiders said that in one such meeting PM Gilani still remembered the harsh treatment meted out to him by a jail superintendent, who has been transferred in the jail police-lines after PPP came into power. But the most interesting aspect of this conviction to bring reforms could be the unforgettable incidents which include the appointment of an ordinary patient with tuberculosis who was asked to tell the former speaker of National Assembly Gilani how to use a computer. Gilani told a meeting that he was shocked to know that his teacher had TB. But he was more shocked when he found out that the prisoner was unable to continue his treatment as the jail procedure of this treatment was quite lengthy and complicated. The major reason of Gilani's experiences with the ordinary prisoners was his custody under NAB rules which do not discriminate prisoners and do not allow any kind of remission to its victims. More interestingly, the sitting Punjab Jail Minister Ch. Abdul Ghafoor of PML-N who has also spent some time in jail, has also constituted a Chief Minister's Task Force, which would look into the matters of prisons with immediate effect from May 7, 2008. A recent official report of the Interior Ministry submitted to the PM Secretariat has highlighted overcrowding due to legal complications, mal-administration, lack of facilities, lack of welfare measures, and low priority of training jail staff, as some of the key problems in the jail. Pakistan's prison system is a relic of the colonial rule. The laws and rules related to prisons and prisoners in Pakistan Penal Code are of 1860. Similarly, Prison Act was formed in 1894. The other current laws on jail include The Prisons Reformatory Schools Act 1897; Prisoners Act 1900; Borstal Act 1926; Probation and Offenders Ordinance 1960 and so on. According to experts, there is hardly a major reform or law or revision of these old laws made according to the British colonialism time requirement in the past 40 years. According to studies, Pakistan is the country with the harshest life imprisonment sentence with the duration of 25 years as compared to other South Asian countries, which is 14 years. Pakistan has the highest death penalty number of prisoners in the world. In 1972, under the ZA Bhutto regime life imprisonment was made upto 25 years with the aim to abolish the death sentence but unfortunately both sentences, which are the harshest across the world, are still continuing in Pakistan. In the last 40 to 50 years, there are only around 60 minor reforms in the Criminal Justice System and prisons system. The first government level Jail Reform Committee of the country was formed in 1950, which submitted its recommendations after five years with a revised jail manuel and some other improvements. However, the committee failed to address vital issues. Then there was Jail Reforms Commission in 1968 whose recommendations were incorporated in Pakistan Prison Rules (PPR) 1978, 10 years after the creation of this commission. This was the Interim Constitution of 1972 and Constitution of 1973 which made prisons the common concern of the federation and the provinces, followed by a federal government's convened Jail Reforms Conference 1972. But, again, the recommendations of the conference remained unheard. Then, in 1983, the federal government formed a high-powered cabinet committee to examine the general state of prison system and propose measures for improvement. The committee also appointed sub-committees to examine some aspects in detail. The report was submitted after three years in 1986, which was not different from the points covered by previous committees/commissions. After General Ziaul Haq's era and with the release of long-xdetained political prisoners, the ruling PPP set up a broad-based Jail Reforms Committee. The committee was dismissed with the sacking of the 1988 government. Another committee was formed in 1993-4 to continue with the work of 1989 committee. But, the fruits of labour are still awaited. Moreover, another Jail Reforms Committee was set up in 1997 headed by Justice Rafique Tarrar. Then there was another Task Force on Prison reforms in 2000. No jail reforms commission has been constituted at national level after 2000 and no information has, so far, been received for the constitution of any such commission, except holding a few meetings, an Interior Ministry senior official told TNS. However, the Supreme Court of Pakistan had constituted a reformatory committee in 2004 comprising of Attorney General of Pakistan and Advocate Generals of the provinces to examine the situation in jails. The major categorisation of prisoners include women, foreigners, drug addicts, political detainees, mentally sick/challenged, juveniles, and condemned prisoners, which all require reforms of all kinds, according to the experts. An advocate of Children Rights Cell of AGHS, who visits juvenile inmates in the Punjab jails, is of the view that the juveniles are kept in jails in a very discriminatory manner. "With lesser medical, educational, psychological, legal and welfare facilities they are also vulnerable to being abused, unfortunately," she said, adding, "According to my observation as many as 40 per cent juveniles in Punjab jails are sexually abused and sodomised by the prisoners and jail staff." She said they are also not segregated from adult inmates. She further said juveniles are given expired medicines and taught by prisoners and awarded with certificates mentioning 'Jail School' on them. Another woman, who has been working for women inmates for the past 10 years, believes that the jail staff is responsible for all this mal-treatment as they never want to address these issues. "There is no change in theses issues except a little improvement on on-face attitude of jail staff when we visit jails," she said. Brig (r) Rao Abid Hameed, who is working with Human Rights Commission of Pakistan as Penal Reform Coordinator under prisoners' reform project, for the past 15 years, has a different view. "Only some 60 reforms have been made in the law in the past 60 years," he said, adding, "The apathy is that there is no implementation of any kind of reform.What politicians say is nothing but political statements and verbal dialogue," he said. Hameed pointed out parole and probation reforms, welfare and education of inmates, formation of open jail and allowing civil society to interact with the inmates as top priority reforms. He complained that the role and interaction of the civil society was always discouraged and being eliminated with the passage of time. Moreover, he also pressed the government to create an ombudsman like office that should investigate the complaints of prisoners and jail visitors as the jail staff is not habitual of listening to those complaints. Independent observers, however, hope that this time the power corridors would not only announce the reform package but also ensure its implementation in collaboration with civil society.
The recent announcment of increase in basic wages has not gone down well with factory owners By Aoun Sahi Majeed Haider, 45 and
father of five children, was a bus driver in New Khan Metro Bus Service, and
was sacked from the job three months ago. He had been working with the
company since seven According to him, they had been working in such miserable conditions since the first day but did not have the courage to protest against these tyrannies, "we knew nobody who would listen to us because the bus company owner belongs to a very influential political family of Mianwali district and one of his uncles was a minister in the last Punjab government while the previous chief minister Punjab was also a close relative. But after the Feb 18 elections, we thought that it was the time to show our anger and we protested against the tyrannies of the bus company owners but the situation is still the same" he says. Majeed has not left his struggle for the rights of bus companies' workers even after his getting sacked from the job. "Yousuf Raza Gillani's maiden speech in the assembly in which he announced to lift the ban on trade unions played as a catalyst for us and we decided to get the union of bus company workers registered with the labour department. On May 6, 2008, after a struggle of more than one month, we succeeded to register our union under the title of 'New Khan Metro Bus Service Labour' and 'Staff Haqooq Union' " Majeed says that when the bus company owners came to know that drivers, conductors and other staff of their company formed a trade union, they instead of listening to their demands, sacked 79 more employees, all of them were members of the union. "This was not all," says Majeed "the owners registered fake cases against me and another driver Saleem on the basis that our driving licence are fictitious (it is interesting to know that Majeed has been working with the company since seven years while Saleem has been since three years) while Malik Tahir another worker of the company and active member of union was badly tortured by some gangsters after the union held a press conference on May 16 on the same issue. Some of the sacked workers rejoined the company after providing an affidavit that they have no link with the union while around 40 sacked employees have gone to labour court for the justice. Though we are being given threats of life and we are also facing very tough days because of unemployment but we are determined to get our rights because we are labourers and not slaves," says a determined Hameed. This is not the only incident in which owners have terminated, tortured or registered fake cases against the workers who demanded their rights in the light of Yousuf Raza Gillani's announcement of increase in minimum wages and lifting the ban to form trade unions. According to Labour Party Pakistan spokesperson, Farooq Tariq, trade unions activists in several cities are facing arrests, tortures and kidnappings by the bosses and state agencies after Gillani's announcement. "Workers are fighting back against these attacks. The announcement by the government to lift restriction on trade unions activities has brought a new wave of unionisation in the private sector. The bosses are not used to it. They have made tremendous profits under 8 years of dictatorship and they are not ready to give space to labourers. Whenever workers have tried to form new unions, bosses have tried their best to intimidate the union activists with false cases, arrests, tortures and kidnappings. The practice is still on and PPP government has yet to show any action against these bosses," says Tariq According to data provided by different labour unions to TNS during the last two months, the incidents of torture, terminations from services and registration of fake cases against the workers in the private sector have increased alarmingly at least in Punjab. On April 18, Lala Niaz Kamoka, a labourer working in Faisalabad was arrested by police under the anti-terrorist act. His crime was that he was demanding the factory owners to increase the wages of all labourers to Rs 6,000 announced by the PM. He was later released on the bail after the intervention of provincial labour minister, Ashraf Sohana. On May 3, in Faisalabad, five labourers, Muhammad Saleem, Anwarul Haq, Akhtar ali, Muhammad Yasin and Amjad Hussain, were arrested by police on a compliant of factory owner after the workers of power looms arranged a large peaceful protest. They were demanding an increase in wage and implementation of labour laws in the power looms sector. The factory owner managed to register fake case against the workers. They were released on bail after 23 days on May 26. "In Faisalabad, 90 per cent of workers in power looms sector are not registered with labour department and as a result, they do not have social security cards that ensure free education and health facilities for their children and family," says Mian Abdul Qayyum, president Pakistan Textile Workers' union and chairman Labour Qaumi Movement.According to Qayyum, factory owners do not want their labourers registered with the labour department because this practice saves a lot of taxes. "Provincial labour minister, Ashraf Sohna during his last visit to Faisalabad, allowed workers to register themselves with the ministry if owners show reluctance to do so. After his instruction, 22 labourers of a textile factory tried to register themselves with the labour department to get social security cards but the department passed on this information to the factory owner who sacked 9 out of 22 labourers while the remaining 13 give him affidavit that they do not want to register with department." Qayyum thinks that trade unions are not in the interest of both factory owners and the labour department. "if trade unions become strong then why will the factory owners pay bribes to labour department officials?, he says. On May 1, in Kasur district, a labourer Hanif was badly tortured by his factory owners and later on was sacked because he gave an application to the labour department and demanded that labour laws should be implemented in his factory. A case has been registered against the factory owners for torturing Hanif, but so far they have not been arrested. In SAB textile factory, situated on defence road near Jalyana village, Lahore around 500 labourers had not got their salaries for the last three months. On May 23, all the labourers declined to work and started a peaceful protest for their salaries, but the factory owners instead of paying them closed down the factory. In a similar case, a factory situated on Raiwind Road, Lahore has been closed by the owners after the workers demanded an increase in their wages to atleast Rs 6,000 in the second week of May. According to data provided by Punjab Labour department there are only 0.65 million registered labourers in the private sector in Punjab, while the number of registered industrial establishments with the department is not less than 38,000. The department is so far is not allowed to inspect the factories. Department sources tell TNS that they know many industrial units which on paper are closed while practically they are running. Punjab labour minister, Muhammad Ashraf Sohna is well aware of all these problems. He puts blame on the previous government for most of these problems, "they were so anti-worker that they disallowed the labour department to inspect the factories while in the other three provinces the labour department was allowed to do so," Sohna says. He says that soon Punjab labour department will be allowed again for inspection. He is determined to enroll the maximum number of labourers with the department. "In the first phase I am focusing on educating the labourers about their rights and for this I am visiting different cities and factories and arranging combined meetings with factory owners and workers," he says. Sohna thinks that factory owners should understand that Pakistan is signatory of the ILO convention and that they will have to give rights to workers. Ashraf Sohna admits that problems for labourers have increased after the announcement in increase in the minimum wages and right to form unions. "Because so far both the orders of the prime minister have not been notified while labourers are not ready to wait for notification." Sohna is hopeful that in the budget, the federal government will notify both the announcements. "After that it will be very easy for me to implement these orders," he tells TNS.
RIPPLE
EFFECT By Omar R. Quraishi For a week night, the movie was doing very good business. The hall at the Cineplex in one end of Karachi's DHA was almost full, and this wasn't even an Indian movie. The movie was said to be a comeback for Robert Downey Jr., an American actor who made quite a name for himself in the 1980s -- when I was growing up. The movie, Ironman, is also said to be one of Hollywood's biggest hits this year -- and perhaps will have been overtaken by the time this is being read by Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. But back to the cinema hall
-- where at least for then it seemed to me that some people in at least The militants apparently take him because they want Tony Stark to build a particularly lethal missile for them -- out of a cave in Afghanistan! But instead of that -- and this happens while the cave is apparently full of cameras that are monitored -- he builds this armoured suit for himself, complete with ready-to-fire armaments, and comes out the cave all guns (read arms) blazing. But it gets even more unbelievable than this -- not only can no rocket or missile penetrate the armour, Tony Stark can fly as fast as a jet aeroplane in his armoured suit -- in fact he can take off from Earth as if there was no gravity. Clearly, this kind of 'technology' could have immense military value to a country and hence perhaps the intended irony that Stark is determined, upon his return to the US, to disband his weapons company. But one could say that is perhaps the most unbelievable part about the whole film. Also, the Ironman character, and his manipulated reality where he becomes invincible and flies around faster than a plane, easily defying gravity, reminded me of a certain Ironman in these parts, though whose aura of invincibility has definitely come in for a beating in the past year at least. In any case, merits and demerits of the film aside, the fact of the matter remains that it was a good thing to see so many people turn up to watch a movie on a weekday. Also, the release of several Indian movies all over the country seems to have more or less made obsolete a long-standing prohibition on their display. Apparently, these movies are being released under some imagined/conjured up loophole which has to do with the source of financing of a film and the stated residence of its producer and distributor. Since the UAE is a now a major base of operations for many of Bollywood's producers and directors, in terms of financing at least, it is believed that this loophole in the prohibition is being used to allow the filming of these major new releases, which by all accounts are mainstream Bollywood films. Of course, there is still a debate of sorts among people whether such movies should be shown at all. Just a cursory look at even letters published in many major newspapers would suggest that some people don't like Indian movies being shown (and neither do they approve of Indian content on cable television) because, as they say, these attack 'Pakistani culture.' But to such people, one should always ask the counter-question, what exactly is 'Pakistani culture'? Pray tell us what exactly was 'Pakistani culture' prior to 1947? Ask them if they are aware of the notion that cultures are and have never been static and they precisely what they are today because of the evolutionary processes they go through -- as part of their natural existence. Also one should ask these mirror images of the BJP/Shiv Sena in Pakistan that how does a particular national culture come under threat merely if programmes of the outside world are shown on its TV and cinema screens. These are the very people who will actually even find fault with many Pakistani television channels as well, saying that the way women dress on them now is 'vulgar' and 'fahashi.' Obviously, one knows the kind of thought process that goes in to such a stance on television and one should also know that such people will only be happy if they get to see the Talibanised version of cable television (an oxymoron if ever there was one!). Obviously, they have never heard of the phrase 'live and let live' or the fact that there is a reason why a remote comes with your television set and that as a last resort why not tune out a particular channel? The
writer is Op-ed Pages Editor of The News. Email:
omarq@cyber.net.pk
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involving the government and the militants in the gun-manufacturing town of
Darra Adamkhel.
channels and the print media traveled for almost 14 hours to Sra Rogha, the
bastion of the dreaded man known for his extremist views. Reaching Mirali
town of North Waziristan, the journalists were taken in a big procession to
the neighboring South Waziristan by heavily armed men of Baitullah Mehsud.
celebrating their tenth birthday and adult smokers begin before the age of
eighteen. Enhanced tobacco consumption among youths has been observed
throughout the world in the recent past. According to experts, prohibiting
all forms of direct and indirect advertising, including promotion of tobacco
brands and sponsorship of events and activities by the tobacco industry can
help in reducing the consumption of tobacco among the masses especially the
youth.
colonial time in the subcontinent.
years and his only crime was that he demanded an increase in his, as well his
co-drivers and conductors salaries and improved working conditions. The
workers are forced to work for at least 12 hours a day. Majeed says
"under the agreement with the government the owners of these franchised
bus services are bound to pay a driver at least Rs 7,200 per month plus three
percent of the fare to both driver and the conductor. But none of the driver
is getting more than Rs 5,500 salary while conductors are getting just Rs
2,500 per month pay. The ratio of commission has also been reduced to 2.5
percent, most of which is taken back by the company in the name of different
fines."
parts of Karachi were heading back to the cinema and treating it as something
that could do by way of an outing. Of course the ticket price was, at Rs 250,
by no means cheap. As for the movie, it was perhaps slightly different from
the usual 'feel-good' (read nauseating) movies made primarily for an American
audience, because in this the protagonist was actually trying to disband his
weapons manufacturing company -- after experiencing an incident in
Afghanistan where he almost loses his life after being taken hostage by a
gang of apparent militants. However, the storyline itself was a bit too
unbelievable because here was a man, billionaire and what not of Tony Stark
of Stark Industries, who built an 'exoskeleton' for himself in such a manner
that he managed to become more or less invincible. Also, the power source for
this contraption of his, something like a very small nuclear reactor, in some
kind of crystal embedded close to where his heart otherwise would be (Wikipedia
says that this happened because of the shrapnel that hit his body during an
attack by the Afghan militants on a military convoy during which time they
kidnapped him.)