Re-elected
During his second tenure as president, Hamid Karzai is expected to face more aggressive pressures
By Aimal Khan
The re-election of Hamid Karzai as president for next five years has come at a time when the violence-hit country is passing through a critical phase. On one hand the western powers are struggling to uphold their credibility and are still undecided about their future line of action and on the other there is no sign of weakness and defeat among the Taliban rank and file.

Time for a new system
December 31 will mark the end of the Local Government system. Does the government have a better plan to replace it?
By Babar Dogar
With the present Local Government system expiring on Dec 31, 2009, the Punjab government is actively engaged in drafting a new Local Government Act which is likely to replace the existing Local Government Ordinance 2001 promulgated by Musharraf.

Neglecting a vital matter
In Karachi the street children can become fodder for terrorism!
By Dr Noman Ahmed
During a warm June afternoon along the pavements of M. A. Jinnah Road, some members of law enforcing agencies thrashed few adolescents. When questioned by a passer-by, they retorted that boys could be terrorists, as they had no identity card on them. And they confessed to have come from Swat. The visibly shaken lads, now in sobs, begged for the help of the conversing soul. They narrated their ordeal that their house in Mingora was destroyed in a shell attack and their parents killed. They simply ran for their lives and ended up in Karachi to search for a relative only to learn that he is no more. Now they have nowhere accepted the street as the only abode. After terse interrogation, the boys were left to their destiny to brave the ruthless streets of the metropolis.

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I know that tomorrow there will be more deaths and more so the day after, but that is not the reason I hold back my tears. I fear I am unable to cry

 By Waqqas Mir

I, as an individual, am always contented as long as I can feel a distinct unease about myself. It lets me know that I am sane and still thinking. I value melancholy as it allows me to lament many things. Times are ripe for lamenting, I believe.  As my favorite fictional lawyer, Alan Shore, says, “there was a time when melancholy was a quality you could be proud of, with people such as Abraham Lincoln and Lord Byron. Now you are expected to smile at people and say things like 'great!'".

For most of my life I have lamented the loss of decency and tolerance among people, chiefly myself. Maybe this is an extension of the same. This piece is not meant to answer many questions, if any at all. Answers more often than not are believed to settle and conclude debates, rather than generate them. I believe this is especially true in our culture where we are averse to questioning every answer.

I want to write because I want to generate a debate. This silence is deafening. I hope that those among you who while away their time reading this will debate and argue over some of the issues I plan to touch upon. I side with Amartya Sen when he classifies argumentation as a wonderful thing. Argumentation is not always pleasant and if it is meant to be fruitful, it doesn't always have to be pleasant. We need to have conversations that make us uncomfortable. Here, I begin one.

October has been a particularly bloody month. 200 people have perished already in terrorism related violence. And yet, as the best and the worst among us would say, 'life goes on'. But does it really? In all this violence and the fear that it has imported into our lives we have lost many things. Chief among them is probably our humanity. I often wonder if we will regain it. To the dead I have this to say: I wish I had known you. Maybe it would help me or allow me to cry harder, or maybe cry at all when you perished. I wish I had enough humanity left in me to bawl my eyes out and be debilitated with grief, if only for a few hours.

I know that tomorrow there will be more deaths and more so the day after, but that is not the reason I hold back my tears. I fear I am unable to cry. Adam Smith, in his book 'The Theory of Moral Sentiments', says that sympathy is largely imagination. We can never feel what others feel, we can merely try to imagine it. Is imagination then another casualty of our times? I do not find myself or others holding back tears each time there are innocent deaths in our midst. What is it inside so many of us that has brought us this inexplicable lack of feeling; we shrug and say "well, that is life in today's Pakistan. What is next on today's work agenda?"

Disappointment we do feel, yes. But how many of us feel grief, genuine grief? The dead watched this home of ours wilt away and now they are gone. The eyes that lit up at their sight will never do so again. We do not mourn this enough. We have forgotten how to mourn and I lament that. Vigils although common at first now do not honour the often nameless and faceless who sacrifice their lives for us, such as the janitor at Islamic University who tried stopping the bomber or the motorway cop who didn't shirk from his duties at 3am only to be killed in the ensuing explosion.

To the living, including myself, I pose this question: have we mourned enough? Is this it? Why is the bravado about your freedom or my freedom greater than the mourning for what we have lost? Many of us may say 'the terrorists cannot take away our freedom'. But they so nearly have. In ways that we do not realise yet. However, that freedom can be regained. It is the freedom to feel, to grieve and to mourn.

Quite often people say that the worst thing about terrorism is that it infuses fear in peoples' lives. True, but is this the whole truth? Having lived in Pakistan these last 3 years I vehemently disagree. I think the worst thing about terrorism is that it de-sensitises you; to the loss of innocent life and to violence. Each time you shrug your shoulders and say "well, that is life", each time you turn away while the deaths are listed you are failing to mourn. The worst thing about terrorism in today's Pakistan is the collective loss of our ability to grieve, and more importantly the collective loss of our innocence. We have forgotten how to mourn. We get angry but we do not mourn. Not at the collective level.

Thanks to terrorism-related violence, the stranger we meet in the street, on the bus or outside the mosque is not innocent anymore. I am not saying that it is unnatural to be suspicious; of course in these times it is a rather normal reaction. But what we can do is acknowledge and realize that we are losing our innocence and a belief in the innocence of others. Maybe, just maybe, that will help us salvage some humanity. For when this is all over and the body counts are done and we start re-building then God knows we will need enormous reserves of humanity to build up this society again. Right now those reserves are diminishing. That alone is reason enough to salvage our diminishing faith in basic human goodness and the presumption of innocence.

The loss of innocence affects not just us but also the suspects, especially those suspected on account of ethnicity or appearance. New laws are being debated and promulgated that provide for elongated periods of detention without trial. Scores are being rounded up throughout the country. And most police officials that you will speak to cannot guarantee that those people will ever see trial, let alone a fair one. Oh, and they are not being released. They grace 'unknown locations' at the pleasure of the powers that be.

The irony is that most of us were enraged when that giant of legal scholarship at Harvard, Alan Dershowitz, wrote of torture warrants. And today, here and now, in our home we look away and do not question the State's practices of arrest and detention. The State failed us earlier by acting as a patron to violent elements and now the State is hitting back hard.

Only this time our silence makes us accomplices. Lack of documentation regarding identity will mean punishment much worse than the one deserved by an illegal immigrant. The libertarians and the rights activists among us are silent as people are being detained for months on end. It is not uncommon to hear "why don't we just throw these Afghans out?" And yet even though we are prisoners to xenophobia our analysts will classify the right-wing politicians of the US, Europe and Australia as racist.

This is all adding up to our loss of humanity and our loss of innocence as a people. It is also a loss of awareness. Call me insane if you will but a Gitmo like facility isn't exactly incompatible with our silence right now. Adam Smith's 'impartial spectator' would put us to great shame, if we have any left. Shame, too, presumes humanity.

So, is this it then? Have we admitted that the greater the perception of threat the more ferocious the response? Proportionality of the response is another casualty then. Are we going to replace presumption of innocence with that of guilt? The video that showed Army officers torturing people generated some hue and cry but where are the giants from the media and the intelligentsia demanding explanations? Transparency was never one of our virtues; it might just be another irretrievable loss. We blame the USA and resent it its greatness as a country but it is great because a wave of people and lawyers had the intestinal fortitude to rise against Gitmo. They questioned it at every forum and every few months the judges from the District level to those at the Supreme Court listened and affirmed the arguments of rights activists. The battle wages on but at least they generated noise. America has many faults but the Americans make sure that the whole world knows of those faults, regardless of action. There is virtue in acceptance. Let us begin by taking that route too, individually as well as collectively.

We speak of winning hearts and minds and yet the media and our politicians call it a war. Off the top of my head, wouldn't "struggle" be a more apt word? No, I do not mean to use it in the Wahabi-jihadi sense. But we must not forget that wars are waged by armies, regardless of countless generals barking, "No, son. Nations fight wars." Struggle implies something collective. An effort on the part of all of us; to regain what we have lost, to salvage what we have and to re-build whatever we can in the future for our children and children's children. For me this is a struggle against ignorance and violence. A struggle against the loss of feeling. Against apathy. It will need guns and bullets in some measure but our ultimate and eventual triumph lies in preserving argument and evidence over assertion and aggression. In the words of Elie Wiesel we must say, in one voice, "never again".

Yesterday morning, I was jolted by a piece of poetry penned by Zehra Nigah. Poets are amazingly sensitive people. In a country where millions fire abuses at the brain-washed suicide bombers, she found it in her heart to pity him. It is a tribute to the spirit of compassion that we humans can generate at times. There is hope yet. She writes:

Reports have come that his head was found, a half opened eye in which a dream was entangled… Immersed in blood a dream of paradise (where) Virgin, pretty Houries are waiting.

That is sympathy in the Smithian sense. Imagination and mourning, at the loss of a life and what that life destroyed through ignorance. And the sense of mourning persists as she writes of a school girl in Swat:

My papers, pens and inkpots… All have been defaced along with my family members, I come here every day,

In the bag of my memories I look for my previous lessons, A paper of dust on which I write And then I come back.

We have it within us to be cognizant of all that is being destroyed in today's Pakistan, not just our life-styles but the dreams and ideals of many. Let us not be ignorant. I confess, each time a bearded young man whizzes past me on a bike, I tense up and often notice the same reaction around me. In the past few months, I have become a changed man. Each time I suspect someone, I lose a little bit more of my humanity. I hope that as a nation we come out of this struggle while keeping intact our most precious reserve: our humanity. I hope I can pause in my day each time there is a suicide bombing and I can mourn the deaths, no matter how hard I have to try.

But do we have it in us to be out on the streets for the liberty of those detained for months merely because they look/act suspicious? I cannot say yes and that is surely something to lament for now. Can we even see any more the lines that we have crossed? As Arundhati Roy says, "Once you see a line, you can't un-see it" so then are we planning on erasing some of those lines? Will our kids ever see them re-drawn and how will they judge us? Have we forgotten how to mourn? Can we find it in our suspicious and cynical selves to mourn and grieve yet not fall prey to xenophobia? Well, I never promised you answers. 

For now, a bunch of 16 year olds are calling me to join them for a debate after my work hours. They will skirt around the barriers in Islamabad, the city under siege, and gather to debate and argue late into the night. They are more fearless and human than I am, more innocent too. And so is my 6 year old nephew who thinks that the violence-sponsored school closure is actually his winter-break.  If for nothing else, this debate is worth it for keeping intact their humanity. That, I feel, would be our most enduring victory.

(The writer is a self-loathing lawyer with no particular talent for anything. He respects Sen, Smith and skepticism. Email wmir.rma@gmail.com)

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it is important to constantly guard against the tendency to think of Pakistan in pathological terms

 By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar

It appears that the impending political brawl over the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) has been averted, at least for now. Before the NRO there was the Kerry-Lugar bill, and before that the sugar crisis, and so on and so forth. Recurring bouts of sensationalism have become the most predictable feature of this country's politics. Soon we will all be talking about the next 'big thing', thanks in large part to the hype generated by the (primarily electronic) media.

This is not to suggest that we are not living through quite extraordinary times. After almost 40 years, the state's policy of patronising 'holy war' is imploding in quite spectacular fashion, at least in part because our imperial patron is insisting on a direct presence in our backyard. While this erstwhile friendship gone sour continues to unravel in gruesome and cynical fashion, our own homegrown military empire continues to belligerently refuse to share meaningful power with civilian elites. If this were not enough, Baloch alienation has reached almost irretrievable proportions, while ethnic tensions in general are deepening across the board.

Having said this, it is hard to remember a time when Pakistan was anything but dysfunctional. The state has been wracked by internal contradictions since it was conceived, let alone created. Since it has emerged on the world map it has been a crucial site of global power rivalry, first during the Cold War and now in the so-called 'age of terror'. In a manner of speaking, Pakistan has always been the perfect getaway for the proverbial chaos junkie.

Of course this tortured history is hardly a cause for celebration. In fact it is important to constantly guard against the tendency to think of Pakistan in pathological terms. There is nothing intrinsic to the people or the land that prevents a break in the recurring cycles of political and social ferment. We are structurally encumbered, no doubt, but I think that as much as anything else, it is important that political chaos not be made into a self-fulfilling prophecy and instead that continuity and normalcy be allowed to take root.

What I am trying to say is that there appears to be, amongst considerable numbers of the 'opinion-making' elite, a clear proclivity towards intrigue and gamesmanship rather than (sometimes banal) political, economic and cultural matters that should be at the forefront of intellectual and media discourse. So, for instance, rather than creating mayhem over the 'threat to sovereignty' that is the Kerry-Lugar bill, columnists and TV anchors should pay much more attention to the virtual fiefdom that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has created for itself within the ministries of finance, commerce, agriculture, industries and production, petroleum and natural resources and more or less every other ministry there is.

The only discussion that takes place over the nature of the economic policy paradigm that prevails in Pakistan is over how many billions are needed from the IMF to stave off bankruptcy. There is nothing about the history of Pakistan's relationship with the IMF and its sister institutions, how since at least the late 1980s these institutions have micro-managed economic policy, that our precarious economic situation is due to, and not in spite of, these policies, etc. etc.

Notwithstanding the rather more visible role of American diplomats and generals in Pakistan, surely the tens of billions of dollars of debt owed to the international financial institutions (IFIs) are much more a threat to sovereignty than the measly one and a half billion that Senators Kerry and Lugar have promised?

If the right-wing zealots in the media and establishment have their way and Zardari is forced out of office on account of the various smear campaigns that have been orchestrated in recent times, will whatever dispensation that comes into place dramatically overhaul our economic policy paradigm? Instead of baying for the blood of individual political personalities, critics and political opponents should be asking questions about the sitting government's policies. For its part the bills that the government brings before the parliament should reflect people's actual concerns (in any case it put itself into a tight spot by trying to table the NRO bill).

I suspect that a significant majority of people in this country, which means those who live outside the metropolitan centres, are least concerned by the non-issues that are brought into the public spotlight due to media hype. The right-wing 'sovereignty' brigades attempting to create conditions for 'regime change' clearly have no message for the small or landless farmer who is concerned about the subsidies that the IMF is trying to scrap, or the power looms worker who is without work because textile exports are being suffocated by trade liberalization.

Yes there should be a politics of anti-imperialism, a politics against corruption, a politics that demands accountability of elected representatives. But what we witness in Pakistan on an almost daily basis is not a politics that relates to the daily needs and aspirations of working people or a politics that represents a meaningful challenge to the multiple structural pillars of status quo. Indeed media hype actually precludes such a politics from emerging because there is no depth to the debates that take place on TV or the sensationalisms that are bandied about in newspaper columns.

To the extent that there are people that attempt to introduce substance to political debates, or even political constituencies that do more than mere posturing, the media does not cover them. A good example is the almost unanimous opposition being expressed by the almost 100,000 workers of Pakistan Railways (PR) to privatisation. PR is the biggest state-owned enterprise in the country, employs more workers than any other public entity and is one of the commanding heights of the economy. No TV anchor invites lawmakers to sit and debate PR's planned privatisations, or to engage with PR unionists who have reasonably well developed positions on why privatisation is unacceptable.

It is high time that we stop asking rhetorical questions like "can our politicians deliver?" Our politicians have to be made to deliver on issues that matter. Instead of thinking along these lines, too many people simply demand change at the top, which changes very little. Democracy is not just about elections, or about other procedures. Procedures cannot produce change in society. Much more important are democratic attitudes, a commitment to democratising all elements of social life and the rejection of the pathology of political chaos that we stubbornly refuse to change.

At the recent conference in UK these pertinent questions were raised: Can the Doha Development Round be re-launched? Is it time to reform the functioning of the multilateral system? If so, how?

 By Pradeep S Mehta

At a recent conference on WTO and Doha Round at Wilton Park in UK, many were taken aback by the candid comments of Gareth Thomas, the UK minister of state for international development, expressing frustration over the lack of movement by the US on the WTO agenda. He was only reflecting what the whole world feels. The Round is in the intensive care unit and the main protagonist, the USA has not got its act together on international trade issues.

This conference, the 976th Wilton Park Conference, had precisely this among other current hot topics on its blurb: "How will the new US administration, global financial crisis, economic downturn and food security concerns impact future international trade negotiations?" Quite realistically it added: "Can the Doha Development Round be re-launched? Is it time to reform the functioning of the multilateral system? If so, how?"

The Doha Round is like a bicycle standing at a traffic light with all three colours flashing. This confusion was visible among the august audience, but there was also a lack of realisation about the shift in global polarities and redistribution of power that has followed the collapse of the WTO's Cancun ministerial meeting in September, 2003. A new quad comprising of US, European Union, India and Brazil has replaced the old quad comprising US, EU, Japan and Canada.  China too has come into the picture, first under the Southern Alliance of G-20 floated at Cancun and in July 2008 mini-ministerial on its own steam. In spite of all efforts to engineer disintegration, this alliance, comprising of variable interests, continues to be functional even today. The whole geometry has changed and the western world, reeling under the financial crisis, is unable to digest this.

The standoff is bad for the multilateral system and the global economy. It can perhaps spill over to the climate change talks as well. Even in these talks, the western world is pitched against China and India. The meeting at Copenhagen in December is, therefore, also fraught with signs of failure. There is a tussle about how far do China and India need to move on capping their carbon emissions. Fact is that the western world has been the major emitter historically, while China and India are only now emitting more because of their economic growth, and even then account for very little in terms of per-capita emissions.

The Western stand, at the same time, is fractured on both trade and climate change. While the EU is ready to move forward in the Doha Round, the US is less inclined as it wants a pound of flesh for each pound lost through a cut on its farm subsidies. This arouses a sense of déjà vu because it was the EU which had wanted new rules on investment, competition and government procurement to move on their own farm subsidies, but did not succeed. In the end they gave up their demands but the talks did not falter. Now the USA wants more market access in China and India for agreeing to cut its subsidies. And it is seeking that goal more through bilateral overtures than in the multilateral negotiations.

The climate change agenda is also in a flux due to the lack of political will in the US. While the Clinton administration had signed the Kyoto Protocol, the US senate turned down its ratification. The question then and valid even now, is whether lack of action by the US is associated with whether China and India will make binding commitments. The US is working bilaterally on China and India, admittedly with some success, before making its position clear multilaterally. The mood in the US on both Doha and Copenhagen is that compromises will affect the battered economy. Therefore, there is a lack of will to move forward. .

The pitch on the Doha agenda is further complicated by the poorest countries, which met in September in Tanzania and demanded an 'early harvest' as a 'down payment' for agreeing to a deal. There maybe some valid grounds to demand early benefits, but negotiating partners wishing to use them as negotiating chips will not agree. After all in WTO jargon, nothing is agreed until everything is agreed. In the process, delay in conclusion of the round is adversely affecting the least developing countries even more than the others. Unlike them, the bigger developing countries like China, India and Brazil have a big domestic market to sustain delays.

Thus, the Doha Round and the climate change talks at Copenhagen - are both imperilled due to the features these have in common. Both are multilateral in nature with groups taking different stands on the basis of economic positions and geopolitical realities - United States which is still the world's only superpower and hell bent on maintaining its position; the EU - which resents the dominance of the United States and is trying to enhance its position through greater internal cohesion with BRIC economies; the large and vibrant emerging economies in Brazil, China and India which have now acquired enough economic muscle to make unilateral and independent changes in policy; and the poorest countries of the world which still lack the supply side, technological and negotiating capabilities to leverage the international economic order for mutual gains or  induce any significant progress in climate change issues which pose a significant threat for their economic well being.

In the Doha Round as well as climate change negotiations, the large emerging economies can make a huge difference through unilateral moves, which might shame the developed world into responding. In the climate talks, such signs are emerging. They will, of course, need more than full reciprocity particularly from the US, the biggest emitter. In the trade talks, it will be perfidy of its 'development' content if the US insists on matching pound for pound when negotiating with developing countries. In both cases, the insular approach of the US in maximising national gain at the expense of global welfare casts a grim shadow over the proceedings.

  The writer is the Secretary General of CUTS International, a leading policy research and advocacy group and can be reached at psm@cuts.org.

life

What does Swat look like after the operation…

 By Aoun Sahi

Life seems busy at the Green Chowk in Mingora city. Two policemen standing near the traffic light installed in the centre of the intersection are busy managing traffic, passing through remains of destroyed buildings and billboards.

"Only three months ago, there was nothing routine about this potholed chowk. For more than two years, this place was used by the Taliban to spread the terror. This Green Chowk came to be known as Khooni (Bloody) Chowk. They used to slaughter their opponents at this place. At least 40 people including a female dancer were killed here; many of the bodies were found hanged to that light pole," tells says Muhammad Ismail, owner of a butcher shop in green chowk.

"This place was Taliban's headquarter in Mingora city; all the destroyed shopping plazas around the chowk were occupied by them. Army got these vacated from them forcefully," he says pointing at the remains of many destroyed buildings. "Army operation has given confidence to the people of Swat valley. They are happy to get rid of the Taliban. People have started coming back to normal life, forgetting the terrible past."

Only a few kilometers from Green Chowk, Swat Cinema has reopened after a gap of 18 months. "Today we are going to watch a film on the big screen after a gap of two years. It is very exciting," says 25 years old Syed Alam who along with three of his friends has covered 35 kilometers to watch the movie in the Swat cinema in Mingora city. He belongs to Matta, the stronghold of Taliban. "They were in total control of the area from early 2007 to April 2009 when the military started an operation against them." Alam could not even dare watch a movie or listen to music on his DVD players during Taliban days. "Those were horrific days; the minimum punishment for watching a movie or listening to music was public lashing."

The cinema was closed by Taliban forcibly in March 2008 was reopened on August 14 this year. Muhammad Khaliq, manager of the cinema, tells TNS smilingly that closing cinema was not a tough decision to make as the management had no other option. "Dozens of Taliban armed with AK47 and other sophisticated arms came and ordered us to close the cinema otherwise they were going to bomb it. It was not only a threat as they had been bombing CD selling shops claiming music and movies." According to him Swat has always been a centre of art and culture and they love such activities. "When we reopened the cinema, only a few watched the first show of the film but today more than 200 have already bought the ticket."

Muhammad Usman Khyali, owner of a music CD shop in the Mingora city, tells TNS, "CD shops full of Pashto and Indian films and music have once again become favorite spots for youngsters. They come and enjoy freedom, they also reserve the right to sing and laugh."

Khyali who is also a poet says that Taliban spread their influence gradually in the valley. "In 2004, Mullah Fazlullah started broadcasting sermons from his own FM radio station. Initially, he used to discuss the basic beliefs of Islam. He managed to win a lot of support especially of many local housewives. But by the end of 2006 Fazlullah's message started becoming more hardline. He declared polio vaccination a conspiracy, movies and music as anti-Sharia, and stopped women from going to school or market. It was utter terrorism in the name of religion."

Omer Ali, a 28 year old barber of Mingora, seems very relaxed now. "My business is blooming every passing day. Some people are still resistant to get their beards shaved because they think that Taliban might make a comeback after the army will leave the area".

Administration of the area does not agree that Taliban can make a comeback. "This menace has been rooted out by the Pakistan army completely. Taliban are finished now, we have rule of law once again in the valley" Anwar Hayat Khan, Tehsil Nazim Swat tells TNS. According to him Swat is the largest tehsil of the NWFP. "It comprises on 58 union councils; we used to have traditional Jirga system to govern the area. Taliban first targeted this system to destabilise the administration but we kept on serving people until April 2009 when the government ordered us to leave the area. We came back in July and found the whole infrastructure of the city completely destroyed. We have made a fresh start. Things have started getting normal. Everybody is happy in the valley over the fall of Taliban."

People have made a fresh start as the terrible past is over but there are some for whom making a fresh start and forgetting the past is not that easy. "So far 52 orphans belonging to war-affected families have joined us during the last three months," Haji Muhammad Ali, director of Khapul Kor Foundation Mingora, that runs an orphanage, tells TNS. "They are still in shock as their parents were killed in front of them. They faint or start crying all of a sudden. We are trying to console them but it is very tough task to get them back to life. We are trying to hire a psychologist for the purpose and hopefully in one year or so, we will be able to get them back to normal life," says Ali.

The Foundation is in a process to do a survey of Tehsil Swat to find out the families lost their heads during the war to identify the real number of children lost their father, mother or both. "We have completed a survey of 22 out of 58 union councils of tehsil Swat and found 123 such families and more than 500 affected children. The total number of such families can cross the 500 mark in the whole valley. We fear that this war has made more than 2000 orphans in the valley," he says.

There are fears that Jundallah could become a role model for the Baloch youth -- transforming their ethnic movement into a religious one

 By Raza Khan

Traditionally Pakistan and Iran have had friendly relations but in recent years certain international players and non-state actors have complicated the bilateral ties. The biggest source of acrimony between Iran and Pakistan of late has been an esoteric militant-terrorist group Jundallah. The relations were further damaged when the Iranian leadership accused Pakistan based-Jundallah for the suicide attack in Iranian Sistan that killed around 50 people. The attack was made on October 18 at a meeting of senior Iranian military officers of the elite Revolutionary Guards Corps. Jundallah took the responsibility. Subsequently, the Iranian government called upon Pakistan to take effective steps to bring to justice Jundallah and other anti-Iranian elements operating from Pakistan's soil.

It may be remembered that Jundallah after a lull of several months started attacks in Iran in May 2009. On May 28 a bomb attack on a Shiite mosque in the South Eastern city of Zahidan, on border with Pakistan, killed 20 people and wounded 50. On the following day gunmen attacked Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's Zahidan election office.

Ayatollah Sayyid Ahmad Khatami, a member of the Iranian Assembly, after the May attacks had said that he believed the US and Israel had a hand in the attack. He specifically accused the US of supporting Sunni rebels operating on the border with Pakistan, who have close links with al-Qaeda. Khatami said, "Although those who planted the bomb are malicious and non-believer Wahabbis and Salafis, (referring to Saudis and al Qaeda) the real masterminds are others. Those who planned the crime wanted to undermine the Supreme Leader's (Khamenei) move to help build closer bonds between Shiites and Sunnis."

Saudi Arabia and Iran have competed for swaying political influence in Pakistan and both historically supported Wahabi and Shia Pakistani groups, which led to large-scale sectarian violence particularly in 1990s.

The recent attacks by Jundallah also precipitated another wave of criticism by Iranian leadership of US accusing it of harbouring terrorists. Moreover, the attacks in Iran brought to limelight Jundallah -- also known as "Army of God", or "God's Brigade", or the new name Popular Iranian Resistance Movement. The organisation comprises members of the Baluch tribe, Rigi and operates out of the Balochistan province in Pakistan. It has been active since 2003 and has staged several militant attacks including suicide assaults inside Iran.

Iran considers Jundallah as a group connected to Taliban and their opium revenues, getting financial as well as ideological support directly from Saudi Arabia in coalition with certain Pakistani officials and other hard-line anti-Shiite, Sunni groups within Pakistan like the banned Sipah-e-Sahaba. There is a sort of discrepancy in Iran's accusations against Jundallah; on one hand it charges the Americans for supporting Jundallah and on the other calls Taliban and al-Qaeda behind the militant outfit.

Quetta-based analyst and writer, Malik Siraj Akbar told TNS, "Jundallah was headed by 27-year-old ruthless Abdul Malik (Abdolmalek) Rigi, who belonged to Iranian province of Sistan-Baluchistan and has studied at various Pakistani madrassas including one in Karachi. Most of the Afghan Taliban top leadership also studied at Karachi madrassas particularly Jamia Banoria. This could have been the common ground for initial contacts."

About Jundallah militants it is believed that they mostly move in the border areas of Pakistan, Afghanistan and then into Iran. The Jundallah militants usually use Pakistani border towns of Taftan, Turbat, and Pajgoor for their activities.

Siraj said, "According to the self-declared agenda of Jundallah, Regi himself has said that it does not aim at killing Shiites. He has been demanding that Iranian Baluchs, mostly Sunnis, should be given equal rights like Shiites. Regi believes that his movement is not purely religious and blames Shiite Iranian state of keeping them politically and educationally backward and should appoint Iranian Baluchs to key government positions and the deliberate policy. Regi also contends that his Baloch outfit does not have any link with Pakistani Baloch militant separatist organisations like Baloch Liberation Army, Baloch Liberation Front, Baloch People's Liberation Front, Balochistan Republican Army. Because they have a nationalist agenda while Jundallah does not subscribe to ethnic ideology per se."

The ideology of Jundallah could be described as based on three main tenets i.e. quasi Baluch nationalism, Islamism and religious conservatism. This is indeed strange that a Baloch group has Islamist underpinnings because the traditional Pakistani Baloch nationalists groups have been completely irreligious and profoundly secular.

Whereas, the nationalist cause of Jundallah is also strange as it does not demand or struggle for Greater Balochistan i.e. carving up of a new Baloch state combining Iranian and Pakistani Baloch areas as espoused by Pakistani Balochs, which means Jundallah does not want either dismemberment of Iran or Pakistan. When Iran and Iraq were engaged in a war (1980-88) the latter had used hundreds of Iranian Baluch against their native country. In this era the relationship between Iranian government and Baloch population become strained. Since then Iran has seen its Baloch population apart from Kurds as a big threat to the state.

The potential danger that Pakistani authorities fear is that Jundallah could become a role model for the Baloch youth, transforming their ethnic movement into a religious one. Thus making Balochistan another Waziristan or for that matter NWFP where clerical militancy has wreaked havoc.

Professor Dr Mansur Kundi, teacher of political science at University of Balochistan told TNS that although nobody has concrete evidence, from a theoretical standpoint, accusations by Iran of American support to Jundallah sound correct. "In international politics bilateralism is always important and under zero-sum game it is considered that enemy of my enemy is my friend and friend of my enemy is my enemy. On this basis Jundallah's links with US being anti-Shiite and Iran are somewhat natural."

Kundi believes that no one can deny that Iran has emerged, as a real nation-state however, there is hostility in Baloch areas of Iran. There is a religioethnic factor to this disaffection. The religious factor is that dominant majority of Baluchs are Sunnis in a Shiite state. In Iranian state structure, being a Sunni fundamentalist outfit is considered an anathema. For instance, you would find scores of Shiite mosques in Sunni dominated Zahidan city of Iran. But in Tehran (national capital of Shiite state) you would hardly find any Sunni mosque.

About Iran's threat perception of Pakistan-based terrorist groups Dr Kundi said, "On Iranian side of the border with Pakistan there is a black-topped road after every three kilometres linking the border posts with the rest of the country and all posts have been supplied with electricity. This is not the case on Pakistani side. The reason is Iran perceives the threat from Pakistan while we don't."

The writer is a political analyst.

Email razamzai@gmail.com

During his second tenure as president, Hamid Karzai is expected to face more aggressive pressures

 By Aimal Khan

The re-election of Hamid Karzai as president for next five years has come at a time when the violence-hit country is passing through a critical phase. On one hand the western powers are struggling to uphold their credibility and are still undecided about their future line of action and on the other there is no sign of weakness and defeat among the Taliban rank and file.

The election uncertainty may have ended but Afghan government's difficulties have just begun. Keeping in view the enormous internal and external challenges, his second tenure is expected to be a tight-rope walk for newly elected Afghan president Hamid Karzai.

Spiralling violence, governance, unemployment and soaring price-hike and virtually no social and physical infrastructure are some of the internal challenges. So is developing a stable government. Unlike Karzai's first tenure, some of his rival candidates will be around to check government's performance this time.

The ethnic-based political polarisation, sharpened after his main rival's boycott of the run-off round of presidential election, will be another internal challenge for the new government which sought national cohesion and political stability.

The foremost challenge is the unending insurgency. The military option has repeatedly failed in Afghanistan and there is need for exploring political options. There was a time when Karzai advocated talks with Taliban but was faced with resistance from some powerful external quarters and denied free hand in this regard. Now the US has realised the need for talks with the Taliban and is using different Afghan and non-Afghan channels for reaching some kind of understanding with them. Bringing Taliban to the negotiation table and striking a deal with them will test the political acumen and tactfulness of President Karzai.

As far as external challenges are concerned, the western powers are becoming more demanding and desperate, and want to see concrete results and significant improvement in the political and security situation in Afghanistan. Due to the growing financial and human costs of Afghan mission and public opinion increasingly getting against the presence of its forces deployment in Afghanistan, the western powers are under immense pressure. The western governments are facing difficulties to justify and sustain its support and commitment to the Afghan mission.

During his second tenure as a president, Hamid Karzai is expected to face more aggressive and demanding external environment and this time the external pressure will be more vigorous and sustained. Some western quarters are already in action to draw a roadmap for the new government and pressure is mounting on Karzai for the formation of inclusive government and initiating reforms.

Behind the scenes, hectic diplomatic efforts are underway to strike a deal between Karzai and his main rival Dr Abdullah Abdullah for accommodating opposition in the government. Reports of curtailing some of the presidential powers, creating new posts and accommodating more technocrats in the government are in circulation.

Karzai is reportedly accepting some of these suggestions and is ready to take his rivals on board; he even announced to include the Taliban who are ready to work with the government. Besides taking some administrative measures, the new Afghan government is poised to initiate some legislation.

The issues of good governance particularly the cancerous growth of corruption, drug smuggling and strengthening of national law enforcement agencies are considered to be top on the agenda of the new government.

Whether Afghanistan is like Iraq or Vietnam or the US president opts for counter-insurgency or counter-terrorism strategy, the fact is that major western powers have so far failed to bring the desired stability and order to the violence-hit country. The frustration and unease over its Afghan mission is getting visible in major western capitals. There is difference of opinion among the western military strategists, political and security analysts and Afghan experts and deliberations have begun over whether to send and commit more troops and resources to Afghanistan or to exit.

For the first time in the last eight years the exit options is becoming a hot issue of strategic discourse on Afghanistan in the west.

The controversy over the electoral irregularities somehow undermined the democratic process. The recent row over presidential election further added to its difficulties and the opinion-makers in the west started raising questions about the viability and credibility of the Afghan democratic project. Also it strengthened the anti-war lobbies in the West. Even the US president is still undecided whether to commit additional troops to the Afghan mission or not.

Afghan government has failed to deliver and there exists wide public dissatisfaction in this regard. Though, his popularity graph has declined in the last two years, Karzai is still more popular than his political rivals. One of the big challenges to Karzai is how to restore public confidence in government and improve the governance.

Over the years, state writ has significantly decreased and violence has phenomenally increased. The nation-building process is faulty and slow and the economy is still not very strong. The Afghan masses are losing confidence in foreign troops who of late are increasingly seen as an occupying force rather than as liberators. The perception that the foreign powers in Afghanistan are there to protect their own narrow interests rather than that of Afghans is getting stronger.

The west itself can also be blamed for making the election process "messy" by mishandling the situation which led to undermining the democratic process in general and election process in particular. First, they tried their level best to discredit Karzai and cultivated some alternatives. When they failed to find a suitable alternative they started manipulations to put him in a weak and more subservient position. Foreign meddling in the election process in Afghanistan was seen from day one and reached its culmination at its last stage.

The writer, a political commentator, is associated with Sungi Development Foundation

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Deforestation is in full swing in Pakistan's NWFP. But the forest department is undeterred by this menace

 By Tahir Ali

Pakistan's North West Frontier Province has huge forest resources, which, if fully and efficiently utilised, can fetch billions to the national exchequer.

But officials and experts point out that scientific management and exploitation, vigilant monitoring, protection and participatory management of forests, lifting of ban on felling of old, mature, disease-hit trees imposed by the federal government in 1992, reclaiming of waterlogged and saline areas for forest development and cultivation of more forests are must steps to reverse the tide.

Pakistan has an estimated 4.8 percent of its territory (around 4.2 million hectares) covered by forests. Compared to Japan (36 percent), Sri-Lanka (42 percent), Philippines (44 percent), Korea and Bhutan (50 percent) and Brunei (90 percent), Pakistan's forest cover is very low at 25 percent. In NWFP alone, around 1.3 mh (30 percent) of area is covered with forest -- which is about 17 percent. In 2007, NWFP forests spread over an area of 5 million acres with their biggest concentration in Malakand and Hazara divisions. These comprised deodar, pine, chilghoza, fir, nandar, partal, kail and other trees.

An official of Forest Development Corporation (FDC) said forests can be divided between reserved, protected and un-classed forests (state-owned) and communal and guzara (community-owned) forests. According to sources, out of 5.08 million acres (MA) of forest area in the province in 2007, 0.23 MA were reserved, 1.16 MA were protected and 0.25 MA were un-classed. The communal and guzara forests were 0.12 MA and 1.12 MA in all. Another 1.76 MA comprised private plantation. Besides, the forest area on sides of canals and roads in the province was recorded at 8600 avenue kilometres throughout the province.

There were hundreds of thousands of sheesham trees in different districts especially in Mardan, Swabi and Charsadda. Most were destroyed by the die-back disease and others are at risk. These should be preserved.

Deforestation is the biggest threat to forests. As per official estimate, from 1990 to 2005, the deforestation ratio in the country was recorded at around 2 per cent which meant disappearance of 47,000 hectares of forest resources annually. The deforestation was the highest for coniferous forests in NWFP and Northern Areas. Excessive deforestation caused a loss of approximately Rs 65 billions to the state-owned forests alone, said an expert.

Deforestation is in full swing as the rich want to build luxury villas in Murree and the Guliyat -- and the forest department is indifferent to stop this unlawful trend. There are also wide-spread but unconfirmed complaints of collaboration of forest department with the timber mafia in Hazara and Malakand divisions.

Non availability of gas for domestic consumption is also dangerous for forests. "The government should provide gas to the area as soon as possible. Any delay will be disastrous for the forests. Deforestation is bound to increase as due to increased population, more and more forest wood will be used for construction and heating of homes and hotels," said a Swat dweller.

Militancy has also destroyed around eight percent of forest resources in Malakand which had a forest cover area scattered over about 1.4 million acres.

The forest department has prepared a damage assessment report of loss in area. An official source from the forest department said that about 1 million acre of forest cover had been lost in Malakand division during 2007 to 2009, causing a loss of about Rs 100 billions. "Timber mafia took hold of the situation once Taliban took over the area. Taliban's chief in Swat was a timber dealer himself. During the Taliban's sway in Swat, the forest department officials could not monitor or protect the resources. An unprecedented deforestation campaign ensued in Malamjaba, Miandam, Kabal, Pecuchar and other areas," he said. One could see fallen trees on roadsides in Mansehra, Kohistan and Swat.

The government was clueless till recently as to what to do with the timber recovered from smugglers. Now it has decided to return the confiscated timber to its owners after levying a fine on it.

Minister for Forest and Environment Wajid Ali Khan said the government has not given due attention to this revenue generating natural resource. "Forest guards, scavengers and other officials should have modern equipment such as wireless and sophisticated weapons. They should have modern communication gadgets like wireless system to quickly pass on information. They should have official vehicles for their duties. Their capacity building through provision of modern equipments and training is a must."

Khan said the department also faces shortage of personnel. "A guard has to monitor an area spanning thousands of acres which is anything but possible."

Shahraz Khan, former Forest Minister said there were only 2,200 forest guards to cover the province's forests. "It is but impossible for them to monitor forests under their domain," he reiterated.

A senior forest officer had told the scribe last year that in Mardan there were only 68 guards to cover 729 miles of forest area. "Is it then impossible to monitor and protect trees from the powerful and resourceful timber mafia?" he asked.

Another problem is the meagre funds allocation to the sector. Of Rs 51 billion allocated in annual development plan for this financial year, only Rs 223 million has been allocated to the sector so far. Again, out of Rs 6.6 billion in foreign assistance, only one million rupees is meant for it. Also, as the white paper for the year 2009-10 points out, in the comprehensive development strategy of Rs 583 billions for next seven years, not a single rupee has been allocated to the sector.

It is alleged that the main focus of the FDC is to meet the revenue targets. The FDC official however claimed that it has developed infrastructure in forest zones, ensured scientific exploitation of forests and invested in modern timber harvesting techniques.

Forests earned the cash-strapped NWFP Rs 538 millions, Rs 539 million and Rs 584 million in 2006, 2007 and 2008 respectively. For 2009-10, the revenue target for the sector is Rs 584 million. It could fetch even more if illegal timber harvesting and trade are brought under control.

Official record suggests that about 1.75 million cubic feet (MCF) of timber was harvested in 2007-08. Whereas, in 2003, 8.74 mcf and in 2004, 8.70 mcf -- and in 2005 only 1.6 mcf timber was harvested.

The minister said that a scientific management working plan (SMWP) has been prepared using modern satellite imaging technology. But, he said, it was non-operational at present. "The federal government banned felling of trees in 1992. It should allow implementation of SMWP. This will allow extraction of old, disease-struck and surplus trees from congested parts in the forests. This is vital for saving rest of the trees from diseases. It will also create room for new trees and earn millions for the government."

Khan added that NWFP has a favourable climate for building more forest reserves -- and "we want to increase the forest cover to about 23 percent in the coming years".

He informed that joint forest management committees (JFMCs) had been constituted consisting of officials and local owners. "The JFMCs are fully involved in marking, harvesting and marketing of timber from the communal and guzara forests. The income from timber is divided between the government and local owners at the ratio of 20:80 in Hazara division and 40:60 in Malakand division."

Khan said that there were timber markets at Dargai and Goharabad but both were distant from other parts of the country. "Now we plan to build another timber market near the NWFP-Punjab border. This will make timber deals easier and cheaper and earn more money for NWFP."

Despite all these claims, "Corruption, deforestation, and smuggling of timber are the biggest threats the sector faces," says an official. This must be tackled with first.

December 31 will mark the end of the Local Government system. Does the government have a better plan to replace it?

 By Babar Dogar

With the present Local Government system expiring on Dec 31, 2009, the Punjab government is actively engaged in drafting a new Local Government Act which is likely to replace the existing Local Government Ordinance 2001 promulgated by Musharraf.

The spadework on the new Local Government system in the province has been going on for quite some time. The provinces had earlier sent their suggestions to the Federal Government for getting presidential assent as the LG Ordinance is protected under the sixth schedule of the constitution. President Zardari however withheld his assent after facing resistance from his coalition partner MQM.

The recommendations sent by the prime minister secretariat for granting provinces permission to amend or repeal the LG ordinance were not accepted and no order was passed on the file. The constitution envisages that till the assumption of the new local governments, the existing local governments have to work. Hence, in effect, the inaction on the part of presidency provided an extension to the Nazims till Dec 31 when the Local Government becomes an exclusive domain of the provinces.

There is no denying the fact that the present LG system has certain plus points. It devolved powers to the local level and empowered the representatives of the people to solve their problems at local level. Due to this empowerment, there have been unprecedented development works at the local level. Despite its aforementioned positive aspects, the present local government system will be long remembered for the thoughtless demolition and destruction of time-tested administrative structures and creation of fiefs for the local elite.

The present LG system will also be remembered for the discord it sowed between various units of governance and between various stake holders of the system. It was primarily because mala fide was at the root of the new system. Had various stake-holders been consulted and their viewpoints accommodated, it would have been more acceptable and could last longer. Provinces were stripped of their powers and new tier of district governments was created without making corresponding amendments in the constitution. While the powers of the provinces were taken away and entrusted to the districts, the Federal Government refused to devolve powers to the provinces. Even the powers in the concurrent list of the constitution were not given exclusively to the provinces. During the period of the local government, particularly during Pervez Elahi's term, the joke went that the Provincial Government was confined only to the four walls of the Civil Secretariat.

Talking with TNS, Law Minister Rana Sana Ullah Khan stated there was no denying the fact that the Local Government system brought massive development. However, he added, the writ of the provincial government was eroded and there were no proper checks upon the district Nazims. He claimed that they wanted to retain its positive aspects and would restore the previous district magistracy system having control of district administration, while the elected representatives at district level would do the development work.

The system will be remembered for lack of any effective external and internal control. This lack of control bred unprecedented corruption in the local councils. The framers of the LG system, allegedly out of vengeance against the DMG, stripped every such institution of oversight over local councils where DMG officers could be posted. The internal control in the form of monitoring committees of the Zila Council squarely failed.

 In the first place, these committees for various departments and offices were not constituted, and where the committees were constituted these were packed with vested interests. An example is the Works and Services Committee which was a favourite grazing ground of contractors. Likewise, those Nazims and other persons who were viewed by the local people as touts of the police were given membership of the District Public Safety & Complaint Commissions resulting in a collusive relationship between them and the police on the basis of "you scratch my back and I scratch yours". External control proved equally ineffective. The Local Government Commission failed to take cognizance of thousand of complaints against the local governments. The system became a classic example of free-for-all.

The effort to bring in the new system started when the expiry term of the existing Nazims neared. The Provincial Governments started their efforts to replace the system with a new one on Oct 17. Their efforts, however, failed due to many reasons. First and foremost being the inefficiency and ineptness of bureaucracy. The style of governance of the current provincial political leadership has scared away many efficient bureaucrats and the province was left only with "run-of-the-mill officers."

Some insiders have shared with this scribe an interesting incident of the incompetence of such officers. When the Federal Government asked the provincial government some months back to send their proposed local government acts, the local government reforms committee comprising supposedly of 'efficient' DMG officers, got a copy of the LG Draft Ordinance of NWFP, replaced the word NWFP with the Punjab and sent it to Federal Government. They say, even mimicry requires a modicum of intelligence. As the ill-luck would have it, the word Peshawar was not replaced and exposed the truth.

Behind the scenes negotiations are currently going on with the Presidency for an early introduction of the new LG system on the basis on some give and take. It has been reliably learnt that the provincial governments have shown their willingness to cede primary education and primary healthcare to the districts in addition to the municipal functions available to the Local Councils under the 1979 Ordinance.

Revival of the office of the deputy commissioner is the centre-piece of the new system. There may not be any legal hitch in restoring the institution of the Deputy Commissioner as Land Revenue Act will have to be amended besides the LG Ordinance which will become a provincial subject after Dec 31. There are, however, many legal issues involved in the restoration and strengthening of the tied office of the District Magistrate. Since the amendments in Criminal Procedure Code, through which District Magistracy was abolished, were made by the Federal Government and later validated by the Parliament, only the Parliament can withdraw the amendments and resurrect the Executive Magistracy.

Political pundits are of the view that a lot depends upon the success or failure of the political dialogue currently going on between the PPP and PML-N in the aftermath of which, a draft of constitutional amendments may be brought in the Parliament which may repeal some portions of the 17th Amendment including amendments in Article 270 AA and thus denude the Cr.P.C and Police Order of constitutional validity. If political dialogue fails, the provincial governments may have to contend with a very weak Deputy Commissioner without any magisterial or police powers.

In Karachi the street children can become fodder for terrorism!

 By Dr Noman Ahmed

During a warm June afternoon along the pavements of M. A. Jinnah Road, some members of law enforcing agencies thrashed few adolescents. When questioned by a passer-by, they retorted that boys could be terrorists, as they had no identity card on them. And they confessed to have come from Swat. The visibly shaken lads, now in sobs, begged for the help of the conversing soul. They narrated their ordeal that their house in Mingora was destroyed in a shell attack and their parents killed. They simply ran for their lives and ended up in Karachi to search for a relative only to learn that he is no more. Now they have nowhere accepted the street as the only abode. After terse interrogation, the boys were left to their destiny to brave the ruthless streets of the metropolis.

Street children are not a new phenomenon for Karachi, or for that matter, other large cities of similar scales and profiles. There are many reasons for rendering children and adolescents shelter less and hence street bound.  The war ravaged Afghanistan pushed thousands of children into Pakistan to fend for them. Many of them eloped out of refugee camp confinements for better lives. Abject poverty in the central parts of the country -- such as southern Punjab -- prompted the children of worst affected households to try luck in the glitters of larger urban centres. In certain cases, family breakdowns were a means for disintegration of parental bonds.

Consequentially, affected children escaped from the brutalities of stepmothers, stepfathers or other kins. In few cases, the children ran away from the tyrannies of a feudal, land lord or similar character who had become custodian of the lives of the entire families. Research by scholars in urban planning and sociology also show that apart from those who permanently dwell on the streets, there is a category of daytime street mongers who are still connected with their families. Such folks only use the street experience for income generation pursuits of varied kinds. Some street based ring leaders also bring in children under their charge to make the most of economic opportunities.

The predicaments faced by street children are several and utmost painful from any human standard. For the bare and basic necessities of life, they have no confirmed access. Every morning, they search for a desolated corner to attend calls of nature! Access to a hygienic option to this effect is totally far from imagination. In some cases, they force their way in to public places such as mosques, hospitals or roadside public buildings. But the keepers of such premises hound them away. Clean drinking water is another luxury that is not within the reach. Public taps, shops, eateries, restaurants, kiosks and other such establishments are the options. Harassment of various sorts is a daily hazard faced by them. Cops, members of rival street dweller groups, local gangsters and organised criminals pester them to no end. Tales of sexual and physical abuse, deprivation of measly personal belongings or cash, accusation and persecution haunt them without fail! The physical, social and psychological scars cast irrevocable shadows on their innocent souls permanently. Many become hardened criminals. Others end up as pedophiles, street urchins or small time drug peddlers, boot leggers or affiliates of the more conspicuous dons!

Survival thresholds for street children are extremely dismal. For food, the city has some solace. There are many restaurants and extended tea stalls that offer breakfast and food free of cost to the poor. Working through donations from local philanthropists, these outlets have worked out special time schedules for them. There are many NGOs and trusts that offer either free or heavily subsidised food regularly. Khana Ghar in Surjani Town is an example, which charges two rupees per person for wholesome meal. Alternatives of positive employment are available in some domains in informal sector. As majority has no skill or social capital to bank upon, they resort to rag picking and scavenging as a readily available avenue of income generation. The city does not have an effective system of waste management. This urban bane becomes a boon for the poor destitute. They pick up every object that has a recycling worth. Paper, bottles, packing material remains, metallic left overs, glass, bones and plastics are some of the usual categories of objects collected by this juvenile and self employed work force.

After a day's hard work, they either dump the collected items in an isolated corner along the street or sell it to junk dealers of the area. "I earn Rs120/= per day after non-stop working from dawn to late evening," replied Khasta Khan -- a 15 year old boy from Mazar-e-Sharif in Afghanistan. He is saving regularly to be able to buy a bicycle to enhance his mobility. "As the local hotel owner (in Nazimabad) is very kind and gives meals for free, I will be able to purchase a second hand bike in three months", he replied with mirth on his face. But this work has his own hazards. According to a research report by Dr. Syed Mansoor Ali who works for 'Practical Action' -- a UK based NGO -- there are more than 30,000 street children/teenagers connected to scavenging. While their effort helps in reducing the volume of waste in Karachi, it is a source of grave health hazard for them.

When they come across used needles, syringes, bandages, blood bags and other forms of health care waste articles, the probability of contracting deadly contagious diseases mount tremendously. The problem further compounds when some of them end up as blood donors to public hospitals or ill equipped facilities. Other occupations include working as porters in Sunday bazaars or other such places, selling flowers or small time articles on the roads and begging. Some of them also become child prostitutes and carry that trade in the later parts of their lives.

Negligible support is available for the rehabilitation or repatriation to normal life. Azad Foundation is an NGO devotedly engaged with the affairs of street children. It spreads awareness about health hazards through demonstrations, lectures and counselling. The foundation also lobbies for the development of necessary infrastructure such as drop in centres, toilet blocks and literacy facilities. It is planning a moot in October 2009 on the topic of mental and psychological issues affecting street children. Other organisations that support the cause of street children include Edhi Foundation, some orphanages and madrassas.

However, the magnitude of the problem is far greater than the available options. The works of well-initiated NGOs must be boosted and up-scaled. The city authorities may apportion funds for the proper design and construction of basic physical facilities for street users, including children. They may be suitably located all around the city to benefit this vast category of destitute. If we keep neglecting this vital matter, menaces like street crime and even terrorism shall continue to haunt our cities.