A factory of suicide bombers
Peshawar may keep suffering more violence until Darra Adamkhel is cleared of militants
By Javed Aziz Khan
Once known all over the world for manufacturing hand-made guns, Darra Adamkhel town in the south of Peshawar has recently turned out to be a factory producing suicide bombers. The softest high-profile target for the bombers being launched from Darra Adamkhel and nearby Khyber Agency remains Peshawar where they have struck over two dozens time in the past two months.

awareness
Marriage with strings attached
Interestingly, the NWFP PHB 2009, which makes it mandatory for a prospective couple to get their blood tested for hepatitis C and thalassemia, envisages no mechanism for its implementation
By Ammara Farooq Malik
Six and a half years ago, if someone had asked me what a blood disorder was, I would definitely have shown my ignorance. My family had no history of blood disorders and so I could not have imagined in a million years what was going to happen to my own child.

On way to self-rule
It is expected that working relationship between Islamabad and Gilgit will be smooth as the ruling party shares same values and ideals
By Ershad Mahmud
A largely peaceful and over-publicised first-ever assembly election in Gilgit-Baltistan is over and PPP is up to assume power and nominate chief minister in a few days. The party's victory in the elections was not unexpected owing to a host of favourable factors. The party has strong mass support and some secure pockets in the area since 1970s when the People's Party's founder and then Prime Minster Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto introduced drastic reforms by abolishing feudal lords, Rajas and Mirs' stronghold besides rescinding Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), a colonial draconian law. Since then, PPP has always been calling the shots in local politics.

Peshawar was known as Pushpapura, or the city of flowers, since the days of Gandhara civilization and was famous as a seat of learning, a hub of cultural activities and a historic place. But it is now widely known for sanguinary terrorist attacks unleashed by militants operating out of the tribal areas. Today the flower-studded Peshawar's streets and bazaars are soaked in human blood.

Peshawar was frequently bombed during the last one and a half month, indiscriminately killing hundreds of innocent men, women and children. These attacks left quite a few heartbreaking stories as a number of families lost several members in a single incident. To mention a few, Riaz had to endure the killing of nine members of his family in Meena Bazaar blast. Nasir Hussain mourned the death of his father and two sisters in Swati Phatak bombing. Adnan and Sana whose marriage was fixed for December were killed in Pishtakhara suicide attack. Several families lost their breadwinners, leaving them at the mercy of God.

The bombing spree had a crippling impact on the city. Life in Peshawar has been paralysed by the insane bombing and people from all walks of life find it difficult to continue their routines, besides having affected their earnings. "I would earn Rs1300 a day but now I hardly make Rs800," a taxi driver Kabir Ahmad said. "When stuck in a traffic jam, passengers leave the taxi fearing a bomb blast."

All markets have been wearing a deserted look as people avoid going to a crowded place after the bombing incidents in Meena Bazaar, Khyber Bazaar and Fakhr-e-Alam road in Saddar -- all public places.

Though Eid-ul-Azha is fast approaching, the number of customers has been thinning out at shopping malls and garment markets. "How can we go to markets when bombs are exploding like crackers without missing a day," Ikramullah, a resident of Gulberg said.

Peshawarites prefer to stay home as the situation in the city has grown so precarious that no one knows for sure that he/she would return safe when they go to offices or businesses. "My parents' frequent calls to inquire about my safety have embarrassed me," said Latifur Rahman. "I will tell you when something happens to me," he yelled at his mother on mobile phone.

Mobile services almost jam when there is a bomb blast in the city as people start ringing up their near and dears ones to learn whether they are safe.

Days in Peshawar have become terrible due to fear of explosions and evenings have turned out boring. People have stopped dining out. No one is ready to come to the city from other parts of the province or country. The city has become a no-go area for foreign sightseers who would love to visit the city to enjoy meals in Namak Mandi, famous for tikka (fried and roasted mutton), roam in the historic Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Chowk-e-Yadgar, Gantaghar, learn about the Gandhara civilisation and see the historic architecture like Qila Balahisar and Islamia College. Insecurity peaked during the current year after a kidnapping for ransom spree, -- that includes the kidnapping of Afghan and Iranian diplomats who are still untraceable -- target killings and now bombing of public places.

The city has been barricaded with 104 checkpoints to frisk all and sundry. But despite the red alert, five blasts took place within seven days. In the cantonment area, walls and gates have been erected on most of the roads and even pedestrians are not allowed to use some roads in the cantonment. There is a general perception that those who have been armed and equipped to protect the people are interested only in their own security and caused problems for the people by making the cantonment a no-go area.

"This is army property and it has the right to secure it. It doesn't send any negative signal," former secretary security Brig (retd) Mahmood Shah told TNS.

Hotel business has almost come to a naught. Bombing of PC hotel on June 9 last year proved the last nail in the coffin of the local hotel industry. PC has been shut down. Now even journalists and people working with NGOs or other foreign organisations don't stay in Peshawar. They do their work and go to Islamabad, even if they have to come to the city the next morning. In addition, economic slump has also dealt a crippling blow to the hotel industry of the city. People from other areas of the province, who would stay in Peshawar, prefer to stay away, unless having an unavoidable engagement.

Nooristan, a receptionist at the Grand Hotel on the university road, said they were finding customers only for two rooms out of 40 everyday. "Previously, the hotel would remain full to the capacity but the recent bombing in the city has brought the business to a halt," he lamented, adding foreigners had stopped coming for the last one year.

Once the hub of cultural activities, Peshawar is passing through a period in which holding cultural gatherings is out of question. Nishtar Hall, where cultural events were held, has been a ghost place for the last several years, first due to MMA government and now because of terrorism. Stage-shows and dramas are now things of the past. Gorgatri archeological site is no more visited by tourists.

People have stopped coming to parks, which have been wearing a deserted look. The most powerful blast in the city has occurred near the most visited Army Stadium. Residents are not ready to risk their lives to have recreation.

The continuing bloodshed in the city of flowers has also changed the style of folksongs. There was a time when folksongs like: "Larsha Pekhawar ta kameez toor mala rawra, taza taza guloona dre salur mala rawra" (go to Peshawar and bring a black shirt and a few fresh flowers for me) would echo everywhere. Today the songs have turned gory to depict the present situation: "Zamung kale ke shar ma jorawa" (don't bring war to our land). Several artistes were kidnapped and forced to abandon their profession and others have left Peshawar.

The city that has produced great cricketers and squash players has hosted no mega or small event during the last one year. It was Nov 2008 when it hosted inter-provincial games which were marred by a suicide blast during the closing ceremony. It had to host national games starting from Nov 14, the day when a big explosion at the ISI headquarters rocked the city. The games had already been postponed, citing bad security. No international squash event has been held in Peshawar for quite some time. No international match has been played in the Arbab Niaz Cricket Stadium for several years due to militancy in Fata and Swat, and now bombing in Peshawar.

There is rising fear among the people but they are resolute to face it. "We wouldn't leave the city just because it is being bombed," said Saeeb Zeb, a shopkeeper in Khyber Bazaar, who had lost one of the salesmen in the October 9 blast. The bombing by terrorists is aimed at pressuring the government to halt the operation in South Waziristan but it seems to have backfired as people keep on asking the government to take the offensive to its logical end and eliminate these callous people.

The recent wave of bombing in Peshawar has clobbered the NWFP's economy -- industrial and trading sectors have suffered huge losses, with fresh investment not coming in and industrialists pulling out of the province. "It's an alarming situation," said Riaz Arshad, President Sarhad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SCCI).

"The province took 60 years to develop some kind of an industry, which militancy and terrorism has shattered in a span of a few years," he laments, adding that now the wealthy people are moving to Karachi and Lahore to set up businesses. He is afraid that it would take "120 years to revive the industry, if no emergency measures are taken".

Riaz informed TNS that 1,630 industrial units have closed down in the last two years and currently only 570 are operational. "These units are struggling. Their businesses and productions have been reduced to half," said SCCI President. He claimed that they have lost Rs70 billion in production, which constitutes about 80 percent of the losses reported by the country on the whole.

He warned that terrorism will flourish if the NWFP industrial sector is not rescued. "The liquidation of industries will cause unemployment and taper off people's buying power which will encourage terrorism to thrive."

Activities in the Peshawar markets have drastically reduced following the bombings in Meena Bazaar, Khyber Bazaar and Fakhr-e-Alam Road in Saddar that mowed over 200 people, including shop owners, their employees and customers.

The major city bazaars -- Khyber Bazaar, Qissa Khwani Bazaar, Saddar, University Road, Chowk-e-Yadgar and Karkhano -- are deserted. The shopkeepers are seen twiddling their thumbs. "The once very busy and noisy Qissa Khwani and Khyber Bazaars are quiet," said Haleem Jan, President Trader Union Peshawar. He claimed that 95 percent of the business has been affected by the spade of recent bombings.

Jan said according to rough estimates business in the Bara Bazaar had been reduced by about 27 percent.

"Who will come to the markets when you have five blasts in a week's time? Shopkeepers are unable to pay the rent of their shops. Besides, Eid ul Azha is only days away. Still shopping has not gained momentum," said Jan.

Although the NWFP governor has established a fund of Rs50,00,000 to compensate the families of shopkeepers who have lost their lives in the blasts yet "life seems such a hell," he added.

Jan further suggested that businessmen in Peshawar should be exempted from income tax and wealth tax. "Here, we are dying of hunger. The government, instead of giving, is taking from us."

Riaz Arshad said NWFP should be declared war-affected, and electricity should be supplied at 60 paisa per unit to bail out the industrial sector.

-- Delawar Jan

Welcome to the world of Maajid Nawaz, a former top-ranking member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (the Liberation Party), who in a remarkable turnaround has unleashed his own kind of 'jihad' in a rebuke to the ideology of hate and division he grew up on.

Born to Pakistani Gujarati parents in Essex in the UK, the private school-educated Maajid Nawaz joined Hizb-ut-Tahrir as a college student in London and soon progressed to the higher echelons of the party to become a national speaker. In 1999, he was tasked to take the ideology of the party to Pakistan, the country HT has eyed as a major interest for a long time.

Maajid set about recruiting young people from Pakistan's educational institutions and used his western education and exposure to allure professionals and officials linked to the security establishment to the ranks of HT. Then, whilst on a course to study Arabic in Egypt in 2002, Maajid and two other HT members were arrested for their membership to the organisation, which was and remains a banned organization in Egypt. He was eventually adopted as a "Prisoner of Conscience" by Amnesty International.

The jail term in Egypt proved a life-changing experience for the HT ideologue, as he met and befriended some of the leading Muslim Brotherhood Islamists in prison and learnt a great deal on Islamic theology, history, jurisprudence and Hadith Historiography.

Released in March 2006, Maajid Nawaz was offered a chance to join the national leadership of HT, but he declined the offer. Later, he made public his disillusionment with the extremist ideology of the party, which believes in replacing the governments of Muslim majority countries with a Khilafah and launching an offensive 'jihad' against non-Muslim countries.

According to Maajid, he soon realized that HT was abusing the Islamic faith for a mere political project and that Islamism was not the religion of Islam, but rather a modern political ideology with clear aims of capturing power and dominating anyone who disagrees with the HT's radical ideas.

Along with Ed Hussain, another former member of HT and author of the best selling "The Islamist", Maajid Nawaz laid the foundations of the counter extremism think-tank the Quilliam Foundation in 2007. Since then, the Quilliam Foundation has actively participated in the discourse on Islam through media engagements, public meetings and counter-extremism initiatives. One of Quilliam's major focuses is Pakistan and the Pakistani Diaspora, who number around a million in the UK and retain strong cultural, economic and political ties to Pakistan.

Quilliam recently released its first research report into Pakistan, entitled "Pakistan: Identity, Ideology & Beyond", which strongly advocates engagement with the Pakistani youth to shield them from the poison of Islamist extremism and changes in the government policies.

The News on Sunday (TNS) caught up with Maajid Nawaz to hear from him about his organization's work in Pakistan and what solutions he has in mind for the tumultuous country he, his friends and foes are strongly linked to.

He told TNS that a change in approach should begin with viewing Islamist extremism as an ideological rather than a religious debate. Policymakers mistakenly tend to view the current problem of extremism and terrorism within Pakistan as a religious problem by focusing almost solely on madrasahs. He said madrasahs may produce individuals used as disposable foot soldiers to carry out acts of violence but "it is from university campuses that the ideologues and thinkers of extremist movements are recruited".

He advocates that a distinction must be made between the faith of Islam and the political nature of Islamism, thereby making it clear that rejecting Islamist extremism does not amount to a rejection of Islam. Quoting from Quilliam's report into Pakistan, Maajid says Pakistan has struggled to forge an identity for itself which could unite the country's rich religious and ethnic diversity. "A failure to do so till now has enabled Islamist extremism and separatism to flourish. There is a need to reinforce the secular Pakistani nationalism initially conceived by Jinnah when Pakistan was created."

The report criticizes the US government's so-called Af-Pak strategy on the basis that the strategy works against Pakistani interests as its regional approach views Pakistan and Afghanistan in the same nexus. "The Af-Pak strategy's broad focus on similar economic, developmental, and institutional assistance for the two vastly different countries is ill-conceived. We recommend that the connection between Afghanistan and Pakistan should only be utilized for mutual security concerns rather than social development issues."

Fully aware of his role in planting the seeds of radicalism in Pakistan, Maajid came face-to-face with the volatility of the current situation when on his last tour of Pakistani campuses in May this year, he was attacked by a British born member of HT in Lahore. He is determined to continue his work in Pakistan through civil society organizations and student unions but concedes that personally the mission is fraught with dangers due to the fact that many of his former HT friends are actively working for HT cells in Pakistan.

"Ironically, the greatest opposition to my efforts didn't come from Pakistani students at all - a British member of Hizb-ut-Tahrir (HT) physically attacked me and that provides sad evidence to the fact that British citizens continue to export Islamism to Pakistan."

Maajid says his aim is to provide a "fresh perspective on Pakistan by combining empirical evidence collected from over 5,000 Pakistani students across 21 university campuses with unparalleled insights into Islamist ideology gained from years of personal experience inside Islamist organizations" because often the approach adopted in the case of Pakistan is too simplistic.

During the last nationwide speaking tour, the Quilliam Foundation visited 21 different university campuses and its findings demonstrate the on-going political and social milieu of the country.

In Quetta, the prevailing preoccupation amongst students was the question of 'Punjabi hegemony'; in Sindh, students tended to be supportive of the message of pluralism and anti-extremism; in Mirpur, from where more than 90% of British Pakistanis hail, students expressed greater hostility towards the West as compared to anywhere else and voiced their suspicions about Quilliam's "foreign agenda".

"It was incredibly inspiring to come across so many intelligent, progressive and motivated young people across Pakistan. However, the current scenario has lent to a great amount of confusion amongst the youth as to how to bring about a change within the country. In addition, young people in Pakistan face severe constraints today due to a lack of opportunity and constructive social avenues. Since it is these individuals that represent the country's future, it is vital to equip them with the skills and knowledge to be able to work towards a more peaceful and progressive Pakistan, free from the scourge of extremism.

Pakistan has a rapidly growing youth population - an incredible 63% of Pakistanis are under 25 years old. It is vital for these young people to take a frontal role in addressing Pakistan's current situation."

Maajid believes that while dealing with the ideology of Islamists, it is vital to differentiate between key concepts and it's equally important to remember that non-violent jihadism is as dangerous as the violent kind. "Non-violent Islamism breeds intolerance within society against any kind of difference. In contrast, the Islamic faith does not define any one way of engaging in politics, but rather encourages difference, diversity and pluralism, both in faith and politics."

Maajid identifies his former party's priorities as two fold. "Firstly, they aim to politicise the Pakistani masses via popularising their Islamist ideology and their call for a 'Caliphate'. Secondly, they wish to recruit from the army and encourage a military coup so as to overthrow the will of the people and replace it with the will of HT. They will then name their rule as God's rule."

Maajid told TNS that Islamist extremism cannot be addressed through military intervention alone. Efforts must be heavily bolstered with civil society engagement to completely de-legitimize the extremist narrative and it is vital that recent positive developments within Pakistan are harnessed to support such counter-extremism efforts.

"The civil society movement we wish to start will popularize the counter-extremism message and help promote a culture of democracy and pluralism, a step we feel is essential for Pakistan to move forward and take its place in the modern world."

Once known all over the world for manufacturing hand-made guns, Darra Adamkhel town in the south of Peshawar has recently turned out to be a factory producing suicide bombers. The softest high-profile target for the bombers being launched from Darra Adamkhel and nearby Khyber Agency remains Peshawar where they have struck over two dozens time in the past two months.

Located around 35 kilometres south of the historic Peshawar city on Kohat Road (Indus Highway), Darra Adamkhel is administratively a semi-tribal area -- the Kohat Frontier Region -- being controlled by an assistant political agent working under the supervision of the district coordination officer (DCO) Kohat. The Frontier Region Peshawar also makes some part of the Darra Adamkhel, which means it is not part of any agency but comprises two Frontier Regions and is being headed by the administrative chiefs of two districts, even two divisions. Probably this complex administrative structure helped this mountainous town to become a safe haven for criminals in the past and for militants recently.

This was in early 2006 when militants, many of them foreigners, started to converge in the town after fleeing from Waziristan due to a military operation. After setting up their headquarters in the Tor Sapar village, the militants were warmly welcomed as they were the only force that dared challenge the powerful criminal rings in the area and eliminated many of them. Kidnappers, car-lifters, robbers and other criminals were beheaded and their bodies thrown out in the main town to send a strong message to criminals. Some of the gangs were eliminated while others fled to safety. The slogan of imposing Shariah also earned some support from the locals.

Tribesmen started to feel the heat when the guests tried to impose their own brand of Islam, blowing up CD and music shops and threatening barbers to wind up their profession. And then the law and order situation took a sudden ugly turn with increase in kidnappings for ransom, killing of government and NGO officials, blowing up and rocketing schools and government offices, bridges and forcing tribesmen to join the Taliban ranks. Jobless tribesmen helped the network to get stronger after it spilled over to the Matani and Adezai, settled villages of the provincial capital next to Darra Adamkhel. The town is now the stronghold of militants, second only to Waziristan.

It was in 2006 that the capital city police authorities asked the government to stop the spillover of militants from Darra Adamkhel to Peshawar by deploying army. The request was granted quite late last year at a time when Darra had really became a powder keg and was playing havoc with the peace of Peshawar. A military operation was launched in Darra Adamkhel while police and Frontier Constabulary carried out simultaneous clean-up operations in Matani, Adezai and Akakhel settled towns. However, Darra is yet to be cleared of militants. It also poses serious threat to the peace of Peshawar as well as thousands of commuters traveling daily on the busy Indus Highway that connects Peshawar with the rest of the three provinces via southern districts of NWFP.

People are now forced to take long route via Attock district in Punjab to travel between Peshawar, Kohat and the rest of the province. The killing of Adezai union council Nazim Abdul Malik, who was heading a peace Lashkar to stop the spillover of militants to the settled areas, is likely to further ease the spread of these elements to the Khyber Agency and southern parts of Peshawar. The city of Peshawar, unfortunately, may keep suffering more violence until the tribal areas on its three sides, especially Darra Adamkhel, are cleared of militants.

Six and a half years ago, if someone had asked me what a blood disorder was, I would definitely have shown my ignorance. My family had no history of blood disorders and so I could not have imagined in a million years what was going to happen to my own child.

It is high time that someone who has experienced the misery of having a child with a blood disorder spoke out. Every single person who is affected by a blood disorder, thalassemia or leukemia, wishes that no one should have to go through so much pain. It's just that very few people who are directly affected by this disease have the courage to put their depression and misery aside to speak up for others.

One such person was 24 year old Salman Mahmood, a thalessemic, who died this October trying to raise awareness about the difficulties faced by such families. Salman died advocating that at least premarital blood screening should be made compulsory in Pakistan.

A cry of joy ran through the families of children who heard this November that the NWFP government had finally passed the NWFP Preventive Health Bill (PHB) 2009. The Sindh Government had also passed a similar resolution in October to make blood testing compulsory before a couple decides to get married.

According to Health Secretary Khushnood Akhtar Lashari, the government is working on legislation for compulsory blood screening before marriage to protect newborn babies from thalassaemia and added that the bill in question had already been sent to the National Assembly Standing Committee. However, the matter has not been raised for further debate in the Parliamant yet and one hopes that further amendments to the proposal can still be considered before such a bill becomes a law.

Interestingly, the NWFP PHB 2009, which makes it mandatory for a prospective couple to get their blood tested for hepatitis C and thalassemia, envisages no mechanism for its implementation. There is a sanction imposed upon the Nikkah registrar that in the event that he is unable to register the test reports of the couple before the solemnisation of marriage, he will be liable to have his licence as registrar revoked. If, however, the couple decides to by-pass the registrar and get another individual to solemnise their marriage without such blood test results, that person shall be fined Rs 10,000 only.

The premarital blood screening can save not just one life but the lives of all the members of such a family which has to deal with the financial and emotional difficulties of hereditary blood disorders.

Former Dean of Children's Hospital, Dr. Sajjid Maqbool, is of the view that making blood tests compulsory before marriage would be very useful. He also suggested that a media campaign should be launched to create awareness about such a proposal.

However, where there are supporters of the cause there are critics too. A famous hematologist in Lahore, on condition of anonymity, gave a half hearted response to such a proposal, saying: "How can such a law be made? It would be impossible for everyone to get their blood tested. It's so expensive. Such laws suit other countries more than Pakistan."

A Pakistani couple that decided to settle in the UAE and had a thalassemic child eventually decided to undergo a risky bone marrow transplant to cure their daughter. Now after almost six years of good health, the parents are keen to help others to fight this disease as well. When contacted to express their views about such a legislation in Pakistan which can help control thalassemia, the mother remarked, "It would be wonderful if such a law can be passed in Pakistan. Thank God, it's compulsory in the UAE to have oneself tested before marriage…so by the time it's my daughter's turn to get married, we can make an informed decision."

In Pakistan, it would be difficult to lay down one uniform law for all provinces on this point, considering we have a very low percentage of high literacy rate and access to healthcare facilities. But according to Barrister Ahmad Farooq Malik, who is an active volunteer at a health and social awareness think tank: "What can be done here is that at the time of making the national identity cards, an evaluation of blood type and testing for thalassemia traits should be done. This will ensure that people can know their status of hereditary conditions before they get married."

The NWFP law does not force a high risk couple to not get married. However, it focuses more on letting the couple be informed about the consequences of their decision. The law further requires the registrar to keep the blood test reports for a period of two years. The problem with this requirement is that medically a report for identifying thalassemia traits may remain valid even after two years but a test to identify hepatitis may not be valid even after a few months. Saudi Arabia requires men to get themselves tested for thalassemia and HIV every time they are about to enter into wedlock and acknowledges such blood test reports to be valid for a period of six months only. According to health officials, "The disease spreads because of intermarriages. As a result, the disease is carried from generation to generation,"

Mufti Kafayatullah, a JUI member, validly opposed the NWFP Bill on the grounds that it would be very difficult to screen people in places such as Kohistan and Chitral. One can argue logically here that it is the responsibility of the government to allocate funds within the provincial budgets to make allowance for such compulsory screening. There is no point in making a law where there can be no possibility of its implementation. Naturally the person who will have to bear the brunt of such a legal violation under the PHB 2009 will be the nikah registrar or any other such person who will solemnize the marriage without having the requisite test results. When the poor and possibly uneducated residents of Kohistan and Chitral will not be able to afford the tests themselves then they may work their way around the law and get married anyway, giving rise to corruption and legal violations.

The government allocated a 20 per cent increase in the Fiscal Budget 2009-2010 for the health sector. However, sources said that the programme for the prevention and control of thalassemia had been discarded due to the financial crunch. Philanthropists and NGOs must step forward at this stage after the passage of the PHB 2009 to urge the government to allocate funds for the implementation of this law because without it, the spirit of this law and the morales of 150,000 thalassemia major patients and their families will indeed be crushed.

Though this law may not be the only solution for protecting people from HIV/AIDS and hepatitis, it certainly is a way to avoid a hereditary disease which cannot be checked by safe intercourse practices, women's empowerment or accessibility of quality services.

There may be doubts about the law's implementation and effectiveness, but this bill is a first step in the right direction. A parent whose child has thalassemia remarked, "This is a very positive step. This can save so many people the agony of having a child who has to have a life of transfusions and pain…and who may possibly die just by the age of 10."

What such a health policy gives a couple is a CHOICE…a choice many couples were not able to have. Couples may feel that they still want to go ahead and get married despite knowing that they are thalassemia or other blood disorder carriers, but then they will become solely responsible for the health concerns of their off springs. If the effects of thalassemia and other blood disorders can be fully explained then hopefully with more awareness, not many couples will be willing to live with this guilt of knowingly bringing a child in pain into this world.

The writer is an academic lawyer and founder of SEPLAA , a health and social Think Tank. She is currently writing her memoir on dealing with bone marrow transplants and can be reached at ammarafm@gmail.com

Facts about thalassemia

- Pakistan has more than 1,50,000 thalassemia major cases.

- At least 10 per cent of Pakistan's population or one in every ten persons is a thalassemia minor carrier.

- There are 5,000 to 6,000 thalassemia babies born every year.

- The estimated birth rate of thalassemia-affected children is 1.3 per 1,000 live births.

- At this estimated rate, the number of thalassemia cases will be doubled to over 200,000 in the next 10 years.

- The national exchequer incurs an expenditure of approximately Rs 130,000 per thalassemic child annually.

- These are only estimated numbers, the actual numbers (including the unreported cases, the deaths following birth and the cases involving other blood disorders such as enzyme deficiencies) are much higher.

Saudi Arabian case

Granted that Pakistan has a host of problems, but one of them does happen to be the rise in the number of thalassemia and other blood related disorders. Many other Islamic states have similar laws on the point. In Saudi Arabia, blood screening for thalassemia before marriage became a law in 2004.

Though initial research findings of the premarital screening programme under the 2004 legislation in Saudi Arabia, which has included tests for AIDS and hepatitis since 2008, are rather sobering, one has to give this programme more time to show positive results.

According to a study published in 2007, of 488,315 individuals tested, 2,375 couples were rated 'high-risk'. A total of 89.6 per cent of these couples got married despite the risk involved while only 11 per cent of these couples decided to call off their weddings.

A largely peaceful and over-publicised first-ever assembly election in Gilgit-Baltistan is over and PPP is up to assume power and nominate chief minister in a few days. The party's victory in the elections was not unexpected owing to a host of favourable factors. The party has strong mass support and some secure pockets in the area since 1970s when the People's Party's founder and then Prime Minster Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto introduced drastic reforms by abolishing feudal lords, Rajas and Mirs' stronghold besides rescinding Frontier Crimes Regulation (FCR), a colonial draconian law. Since then, PPP has always been calling the shots in local politics.

Additionally, it has been the area's tradition to support Islamabad-backed party in Gilgit-Baltistan elections as people believe that local government should have smooth working relationship with the federal government. That is considered a key to bring speedy development besides ensuring flow of funds from Islamabad to Gilgit. The population divide along the sectarian lines also helped PPP win elections as GB houses 39 percent Shias, 18 per cent Ismailis, and 16 per cent Noorbukhshis while Sunni population is only 27 percent. It means 63 per cent are non- Sunnis living in the area. This segment of population considers PPP as a minority-friendly party. So, in some constituencies they backed PPP candidates en mass.

The Prime Minster of Pakistan Yousaf Raza Gilani also travelled to Gilgit-Baltistan a few days before the elections and announced several development packages including declaring Skardu and Gilgit as big cities and the upgrading of the Skardu airport to international standards to attract tourists. All these factors helped PPP win elections easily. Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and Pakistan Baitul Maal have also doled out huge funds to impress people - which are considered pre-poll rigging by other stakeholders. Interestingly, Pakistan Muslim League-N and MQM lured voters by offering huge incentives in terms of jobs and admissions to students in Punjab and Karachi metropolitans, respectively.

Above all, PPP had also taken full advantage of the recently announced landmark Gilgit-Baltistan Improvement and Self Rule Presidential Ordinance 2009 which grants quasi province status to the area. It immensely mobilised public opinion in favour of PPP on the election eve. The PPP had a steady record of public service in these areas. It played instrumental role to uplift the Gilgit-Baltistan legal status in different times. In 1988-90, the PPP government appointed Qurban Ali, then head of PPP in Northern Areas, Advisor to the Prime Minister for Northern Areas. Later again, during the second PPP regime, the party introduced a Reform Package for Northern Areas on April 25, 1994. It was decided that members would be elected on the basis of adult franchise. A position of elected Deputy Chief Executive was introduced to pave way for full-fledged representation.

Other contenders such as PML-N and PML-Q, MQM and JUI also did well. Though appearance of the MQM in the area was new, it stunned stakeholders by standing number two in several constituencies. Many observers believe that MQM's entry into the area politics is a smart move by Altaf Hussain to widen his party base in the national political landscape. It has already token representation in Azad Jammu and Kashmir assembly. Karachi is considered second home to the inhabitants of GB. A huge number of students have always been moving to Karachi every year to get higher education particularly in the Aga Khan-run schools and colleges.

Subsequently, most of them stayed there and played vital role in the city's socio-economic life but never snapped their connection with remote villages back in Gilgit and Baltistan. MQM capitalised its politics on these factors.

Mian Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif's visit not only generated a healthy political competition but also helped reconnect local politics with the mainstream one. Though the PML-N could not secure reasonable number of seats in the assembly, it emerged a key stakeholder there along with PML-Q.

PML-Q despite low popularity ranking on the national level got two seats and did impressive electioneering. Senator Wasim Sajjad gives credit to the crowd-puller and hardworking party leader Marvi Memon, who has become a household name in the area.

It is a fact that the post-election allegations of rigging whether true or not put a damper on the entire exercise. It is a norm in Pakistani political culture that defeated parties or candidate never wholeheartedly accepted the results. Some parties also walked out of the National Assembly to register their protest against the alleged rigging. However, Prime Minister Gilani rebutted the charges, saying: "We should not give a message that there is no difference between them and us," he said in a reference to vote-rigging charges often made during elections in the Indian-held Kashmir. However, political analysts believe that the allegation of rigging will continue to haunt the government until the upcoming national elections. Nasim Zehra, political analyst, believes that PPP rivals will use this tool to beat the government in the years to come.

Due to the lack of political activities and representation in the government bodies, sectarian groups had been calling the shots in the area. In the recent elections, people of GB not only rejected these affiliations but also joined mainstream political parties. A number of known stalwarts of sectarian organisations also shunned their previous associations and joined national political outfits. If the current political process continues without any interval, violent sectarian groups will be marginalised soon.

The people of Gilgit-Baltistan are about to begin a new journey with an elected government but there are lots of hurdles in their much-proclaimed self-rule. The governor holds immense executive powers. Likewise, federal bureaucracy has yet to acclimatise with the new ground rules and realities. It used to run the show over six decades but now it has to follow the elected representatives. On the other hand local people and their government need to be consulted about the ongoing mega projects such as Diamer-Bhasha Dam construction and issues related to its royalty.

It is expected that working relationship between Islamabad and Gilgit will be smooth as the ruling party shares same values and ideals. This relationship should play a vital role in the transfer of power from Islamabad to Gilgit. Besides, it is high time that PPP wholeheartedly resolved all outstanding issues between Islamabad and Gilgit to consolidate the nascent government authority in the area.