|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
   |
analysis
industry Countering
tax evasion and money laundering extremism
The barrage of public criticism directed at the army for its over-arching role is a qualitatively new phenomenon By Aasim Sajjad Akhtar At a time when the
Pakistan Army faces the most acute criticism in its history, it is imperative
to study the historical genesis of this state institution, in particular the (dis)continuities
between the British Indian Army and its Pakistani successor. This is an important
exercise because the nature and practice of national armies cannot and should In comparison, in many
Latin American states that gained independence from the Spanish and Portuguese
rule in the early part of the twentieth century, armies of national liberation
were constituted by independence movements that later became national armies in
the new states. This was also true in the case of the Red Armies of China and
Russia that spearheaded those countries' respective Communist revolutions. Similarly the largely
guerilla armies of Algeria, Cuba and Vietnam secured unprecedented victories in
their freedom / revolutionary struggles against regular, organised armies that
on the face of it were far superior to them in terms of size, weaponry and
other infrastructure. Aptly, many of these
armies of national liberation / revolution were called the 'People's Army'.
This reflected the immense importance of implicit or explicit public support
for these armies -- particularly in the case of guerillas -- without which it
is unlikely that the physical battles of the freedom movements could have been
won. People's armies were also
conceived of as playing a major role in building the new society, not just
through their physical exploits but also as members of a collective that shared
values and a commitment to meeting the people's needs. It can be argued that
many people's armies have since evolved in a very different direction,
complicity undermining the people's will. But there are still
examples of modern-day armies that remain committed to the principles of
national liberation and the people who comprise their nation. Among others, one
of the most prominent examples of such an army at the present-time is that of
Venezuela, which has been a crucial component of ex-army officer President Hugo
Chavez' Bolivarian Revolution.
It is important to bear
in mind, however, that the barrage of public criticism (rightly) directed at
the army for its over-arching role is a qualitatively new phenomenon. For most
part of Pakistan's history, the army was projected as, and considered by many
to be, a people's army. At the very least, this is what was assumed. In practice, however, the
army was considered as a people's army by only a certain segment of the
population. For the under-represented ethno-national groups, the army was
anything but a people's army -- in fact, it was very much perceived to be a
colonial army that considered its primary objective to be the subjugation of
the very people it purported to protect. This was a legacy
inherited from the British Indian Army, which performed two basic functions for
the colonialists. On the one hand, it protected as well as extended the
empire's external frontiers ranging from as far west as the Indian subcontinent
to Australia and New Zealand in the Pacific. Indian soldiers travelled all over
the world in the name of the British Empire, killing and being killed in tens
of thousands along the way. However, arguably the
more important function of the colonial army was to ensure order within India.
In other words, the army was the bastion of colonial rule -- it was charged
with the responsibility of guarding the state as well as insulating it from the
challenges posed by rebellious elements. In exchange for the
services rendered by Indian officers and soldiers to the British empire, land
was allotted generously to them, particularly in the newly irrigated parts of
Punjab and Sindh. Much of the rank-and-file of the British Indian Army hailed
from Punjab and the NWFP, under the guise of a quasi-biological theory of
racial affinity that designated these regions to be the home of 'martial
castes'. The internal order
function, the ethnically-skewed composition of the army and the practice of
rewarding army men for serving the political objectives of the state have
remained major characteristics of the Pakistan Army in the post-independence
period. It is horrifying that the
army has fought almost full-fledged wars against dissenting ethno-national
movements, including that of the Bengalis in 1970-71, the Balochs in the 1970s
and at present, the Sindhis in 1983, and the Pakhtuns on various occasions in
the last 60 years. More generally, the army has directly undermined political
parties by intimidating, harassing, arresting, torturing and even killing
dissidents, primarily those associated with left-of-centre ideologies. The reason why these
practices did not necessarily invoke outrage in Punjab until very recently --
arguably the reason why the army no longer enjoys a pristine image in the areas
in which it traditionally did has more to do with its interference in the
country's economic affairs rather than its repressive role -- has to do with
the fact that the loyalty of Punjabis continued to be 'bought' in much the same
way as the British had done. It should not be
forgotten that the British decision to make Punjab the bastion of its rule had
to do with the fact that the province stood with the empire during the War of
Independence in 1857. Thus there is a long history of mutually-reinforcing
interests, though contradictions of an increasingly serious nature are now
emerging. The Pakistan Army has
also served the purposes of western imperialism for a large part of its 60-year
history. However it has been an unpopular policy for the most part, with only
the Afghan War in the 1980s perceived as a just one by the country's people. This reflects not only on
Pakistan's continued geo-strategic importance, but also on the sensibilities of
the army officers who have always remained close to the West in terms of
personal lifestyles and ideological inclinations. This has arguably changed in
the last 25 years or so, but clearly internal ideological divisions in the army
have still not compromised the imperative of unity vis a vis its relations with
external powers. It is then simply a
matter of stating fact that the Pakistan Army remains a colonial one. Perhaps
the most damning characteristic of colonial armies is their arrogance, and
their unshakeable belief in their moral and physical superiority. For 60 years,
through a variety of means, the Pakistan Army has managed to put off the
inevitable surge of anti-army sentiment that now has finally come to the fore. One fears, however, that
even after the intense public scrutiny to which it has been subject, the army
-- and particularly its high command -- remains imbued with the elitist ethos
that it has inherited from its colonial past. Thus, it is likely to fight
against its own people for control over this state called Pakistan until the
bitter end. One can only hope that the generals consider what history has
proven time and again -- there can be only one winner in the battle between the
coloniser and the colonised. By Kaleem Omar The parliamentary form of
government was invented in Britain, which, of course, is why the British
parliament is known as the mother of parliaments. But the British writer and
satirist Hillaire Belloc took a somewhat cynical view of things when he wrote
after the British elections of 1922: "The accurs'd power that goes with
privilege, / And women and champagne and bridge, / Broke, and democracy resumed
its reign, / That goes with bridge and women and champagne." John F. Kennedy would
have agreed with Belloc. In 1961, Kennedy said: "It is one of the ironies
of our time that the techniques of a harsh and repressive system should be able
to instill discipline and ardour in its servants -- while the blessings of
liberty have too often stood for privilege, materialism and a life of
ease." Then, there was this
piece of graffiti seen on a wall in London in 1979: "If voting changed
anything, they'd make it illegal." Bernard Baruch, the
American financier who was the first one to use the term 'cold war' in a
testimony before the US Senate War Investigating Committee on October 24, 1948,
said: "Vote for the man who promises least -- he'll be the least
disappointing." Some Pakistani
politicians and other holders of high office here have undoubtedly taken
Baruch's message to heart. That's why the last song on their hit parade is
'I'll Never Promise you a Rose Garden'. We are forever being promised rose
gardens that either fail to materialise or else turn out to be a patch of
weeds. Elections in this country
and many others, too, for that matter, are like cobwebs, which may catch small
flies, but let wasps and hornets break through. French writer Simone de
Beauvoir (1908-86) -- much associated with the Existentialist movement;
companion of Jean Paul Sartre until his death in 1980; author of the novels
'She Came to Stay' and 'The Mandarins', several volumes of autobiography, and
'The Second Sex' (1953), one of the earliest statements of the modern feminist
movement and perhaps her most influential book -- said: "The ballot box is
a most inadequate mechanism of change." However, she did not say anything
about there being a better mechanism of change. American sociologist
Edgar Z Friedenburg, better known by the pseudonym 'RD Laing', said back in
1973: "To vote, then, may make the voter feel as if he has accepted some
meaningless badge from an authority he dare not admit he loathes." Writing in the 'Daily
Mail' newspaper in 1964, British journalist Bernard Levin said: "Ask a man
which way he is going to vote, and he will probably tell you. Ask him, however,
why, and vagueness is all." Arch right-wing American
columnist George F Will said in a piece in 'Newsweek' magazine in 1976:
"Voters do not decide issues. They decide who will decide issues." In Pakistan, elections
tend not to be about issues but about political personalities. It is another
matter, however, that many of our worthy political personalities would not
recognise an issue if they tripped over it. Even so, issues have a way of
tripping up politicians. At a dinner party in
Karachi a few years ago, a well-known Sindhi politician once said: "Sain,
when in Rome, do as the Romanians do." I won't name him because I don't
want to embarrass him. James Dale Davidson,
former executive director of the US National Taxpayers Union, said back in
1978: "Democracy is that form of government where everybody gets what the
majority deserves." The 1948 Hollywood film
'A Foreign Affair' had one of the characters saying: "If you give a hungry
man a loaf of bread, that's democracy. If you leave the wrapper on, it's
imperialism." 'The London Observer'
newspaper quoted German novelist Gunter Grass as saying back in 1965: "The
job of a citizen is to keep his mouth open." The British novelist of
today is a neatly-dressed, soft-spoken indoor horticulturalist tending a highly
prized and exotic hothouse plant. Not for him the call of the wild. One look at
shaggy, pipe-smoking, beer-drinking Grass tells you that such a life holds no
appeal for him. He looks like, and is, a trouble-maker, a rabble-rouser. And,
as such, he has a large popular audience. Grass has not been afraid
to speak his mind strongly on issues throughout his life. Even in Germany, his
idiosyncratic views are said to have annoyed both conservatives and social
democrats at different times. Then, of course, there is
Prince Philip. Visiting Paraguay in 1962, he once said: "It's a pleasant
change to be in a country that isn't ruled by its own people." Dictators
of every stripe would say: "Right on, Prince Philip." Indeed, they
might even make him an honorary dictator. German philosopher
Herbert Marcuse took a somewhat similar view. He was quoted by the 'London
Daily Telegraph' newspaper in 1972 as saying: "The general will is always
wrong. Wrong inasmuch as it objectively counteracts the possible transformation
of society into more humane ways of life. In the dynamic of corporate
capitalism, the fight for democracy thus tends to assume anti-democratic
forms." In his book 'Minority
Report' (1956), American essayist and journalist HL Mencken said: "Under
democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that
the other party is unfit to rule -- and both commonly succeed, and are
right." In Pakistan, however, we
usually have dozens of parties contesting elections, though some of them are
little more than tonga parties -- meaning parties whose total membership would
fit into a tonga. And while tongas may have become pretty much a thing of the
past in many parts of this country, we still have plenty of tonga parties
around. The forthcoming elections are likely to see scores of tonga parties in
the fray. Seventy parties contested
the 2002 elections -- all of them clamouring that their rivals were unfit to
rule. That's why I didn't vote. I couldn't decide just which party was the
least unfit to rule. Happy elections, everybody!
The new
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Policy, unveiled by the government
recently, has invited a lot of criticism from the concerned circles. The
stakeholders have expressed the fear that it would further marginalise the
small entrepreneurs; while, at the same time, it would strengthen the big
ones. Having a
total outlay of Rs 13.128 billion, the first-ever SMEs Policy aims at
creating a conducive The
policy names a number of initiatives with regard to its implementation,
including the establishment of an SMEs Credit Guarantee Agency with a fund of
Rs three billion and an SMEs Promotion Council with a fund of Rs 143.72
million; and setting up of an SMEs Subcontracting Exchange costing Rs 26.09
million, an SMEs Development Institute costing Rs 115.66 million and an SMEs
Export House costing Rs 156.89 million. To
ensure proper implementation of the SMEs Policy, a permanent monitoring
mechanism has been proposed in the form of National Committee on SMEs in
addition to the four provincial committees on SMEs. In this regard, the
government has approved a fund of Rs 25.82 million for the Policy
Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Unit. Simple
allocation of funds, however, is not enough to bring about a drastic change
on the ground. The critics strongly believe that the definition of SMEs given
in the policy is aimed less at their promotion and more at that of big
companies. The policy sets the SME employment size of up to 250, paid up
capital of up to Rs 25 million and annual sales of up to Rs 250 million.
According to these critics, the definition of SMEs given in the Medium-Term
Development Framework (MTDF), unlike the new policy, sets the employment size
of up to 50 employees, and paid up capital of Rs 2-20 million.
During
the consultation process, SMEs representatives from Peshawar also pointed out
that the government should safeguard the interests of micro-level enterprises
and demanded a separate definition for them in the new policy. However, their
plea fell on deaf ears and the SMEs Policy has so far failed to address the
micro-level cottage industry. SMEs
have played a key role in developing economies of various South East Asian
countries -- Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong and China to name a few.
Some countries of Latin America and India have also been concentrating their
efforts on developing this sector. In Pakistan, SMEs constitute nearly 90 per
cent of all the enterprises, they employ 80 per cent of the non-agricultural
labour force and their share in the annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is
almost 40 per cent. Despite this, they have constantly been lacking adequate
access to financing from the formal sector, because of which they have to
take credit from the informal sector at a much higher interest rate. The SMEs
sector has not only been highly unorganised, but it has also been one of the
most ignored sectors in Pakistan. Half-hearted government policies over the
years have further compounded their problems. Despite tall claims by
successive government to put the house in order, the viability of SMEs still
depends largely on the large-scale manufacturing (LSM) sector. It is an
irony that the SMEs sector has never been taken seriously by the country's
rulers, who looked after the interests of big industrialists at the cost of
SMEs. Despite such supportive measures, the growth in the LSM sector is
stagnant over the last 30 years -- it was growing at the rate of 16 per cent
in 1985 and is still growing at the same rate. The
first genuine effort to streamline the SME sector was made in the last era of
former prime minister Nawaz Sharif, when SMEDA was formed with Khawaja Bilal,
a hosiery tycoon, as its first head. Initially, since the prime minister was
himself looking after the authority's day-to-day affairs, many efforts were
made to make the SME sector more functional and a number of related projects
were launched. Not only
did SMEDA became functional, other government ministries and departments also
started taking notice of its performance. Meanwhile SMEDA launched the
Textile Vision 2005, a first-of-its-kind initiative that attracted an
impressive investment of $5 billion. The realisation that the major focus of
the Textile Vision 2005 was limited to the basic textiles only dawned upon
the policy-makers much later. As a result, a major chunk of the new
investment went to the basic textiles, and SME sectors like garments and
hosiery were more or less ignored. This negatively affected not only the
value-added sector's production level, but also the country's exports. After
Nawaz Sharif was ousted from power, SMEDA was given under the control of the
Ministry of Industries. This badly affected the authority's functioning, for
which SMEs had to pay the price. SMEDA, as a matter of fact, continued to do
cosmetic arrangements in the name of SMEs. It is another thing that the
hosiery units of Khawja Bilal, the first head of SMEDA, have also closed down
by now. Other
than the SMEs Policy, SMEDA has been actively pursuing the One Village One
Product project on the direction of Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz. No
impressive development, however, has so far been witnessed in this regard.
Similarly, business incubators for women entrepreneurs were introduced at a
limited scale. They are yet to show results either. All this suggests but one
thing -- the chances of success of the new SME Policy are bleak.
It is a
curious paradox of Pakistan's economy that while there is a dearth of money
for industrial growth and public sector projects on the one hand, a colossal
amount of unaccounted for cash is circulating in the country, in search of
further undercover gains, on the other. What is even more unfortunate is that
this social evil inherent in our tax system necessitates additional tax
burden on those who are law-abiding. The most
important problem faced by a government under a fiscal reform programme is
that of Responsible
for the collection of federal taxes, the Central Board of Revenue (CBR) has
miserably failed to introduce any comprehensive plan to counter massive tax
evasion and money laundering. It has yet not devised a computer-based,
reliable tax intelligent system, despite the fact that it has a market-wage
oriented company, Pakistan Revenue Automation Limited (PRAL), at its disposal
with huge funds from international donors. This failure, coupled with corrupt
practices (according to a rough estimate, at least Rs 250-375 billion go
annually into the pockets of tax officials) has contributed to the generation
of enormous black money in Pakistan. Large-scale
tax evasion and the existence of a large black economy, while resulting in
colossal loss of revenue to the state, tend to reduce the built-in elasticity
of a fiscal system to the extent that the tax evaded income is spent on goods
and services that help to generate inflationary pressures and raise prices of
real property. In the
context of the prevailing challenge to combat terrorism, together with the
money laundering crisis and the problem of ever-growing black money (which
according to official and independent experts is around Rs 2.5 trillion or
about 70 per cent of the total economy), there is an urgent need to introduce
a well-thought out anti-money laundering law to prevent this huge money from
becoming a lethal weapon in the hands of mafias, who now are in control of
economy as well as the government. However, before introducing such a law, it
is important to identify the sources generating black money. If such sources
are not blocked, black money will keep on thriving notwithstanding the
existence of stringent laws. According
to a conservative estimate, an amount of Rs. 800 billion is generated every
year in Pakistan by the parallel economy. Add to this the black money
generated through smuggling in goods and narcotics trade -- Rs 300-500
billion. This amounts to a whooping Rs 1,300 billion. When the presence of
black money is so apparent, why its criminal accumulation and generation is
not revealed and the offenders not punished? This question continues to
baffle the minds of honest citizens, who ask whether it is on account of lack
of political will or collusion of tax dodgers and tax administrators? During
the last 25 years, money launderers in Pakistan have hardly needed any
international channel, as all support from the state was available at home.
Even today, if somebody brings money (earned from whatever sources, including
drug trade) into Pakistan through normal banking channels, the State Bank and
tax authorities do not pose any question about the source. Tax
evaders, drug-arm-human traffickers, rent-seekers and terrorist apparatus
remit millions of rupees into the country every year from bank accounts
maintained in various countries in fictitious names. This money, in the hands
of drug-mafia, tax evaders and terrorist networks, has made them invincible,
besides making life harder and harder for those who earn from legitimate
sources. In the
Income Tax Ordinance 2001, promulgated on the dictates of International
Monetary Fund (IMF) on September 13, 2001, a special provision {section
111(4)} has been inserted, facilitating the money launderers to remit their
ill-gotten money through banking channels; and surrender the foreign currency
to the State Bank and get Pakistani rupees as encashment. This
way, they can escape not only taxation but any query from the CBR. This
scheme, presumably announced as a measure to attract huge foreign funds,
succeeded immensely as foreign reserves of Pakistan have crossed the $16
billion mark in the wake of this facility. This scheme has been used
liberally and cleverly by the Pakistani drug syndicates and tax dodgers to
launder their money under the state's patronage. The
people hooked on ill-gotten wealth for the last many years know for certain
that after every two or three years, there will be an amnesty scheme giving
them a chance to get their income whitened by paying far less an amount than
what they would have been required to pay under the normal income tax regime.
It is a tragic situation where the entire state apparatus is subservient to
those who blatantly manage to hide their income and wealth. It is an ugly
joke with those who are paying their taxes honestly at much higher rates than
those offered to tax evaders. The
ugliest face of black money emerges in the corridors of power, political as
well as administrative. No country other than Pakistan knows better the
dangers of allowing money launderers and drug traffickers to get an upper
hand. We are at present not only facing a drug-abusing population of nearly
four million, mostly young, but also many terrorist organisations, which by
themselves are a threat to the government. The fact is that a cartel or a
group of cartels have become so powerful that they can work out agreements
with terrorists and saboteurs to undermine the authority of the state. Pakistan
has been facing a perpetual crisis of fiscal deficit (for fiscal year
2006-07, despite record collection of Rs 841 billion by the CBR, it was Rs
200.5 billion) for the last many decades. Amongst many causes for this malady
is the ever-growing size of the underground economy. No serious effort has
been made by successive governments, both military and civil, to determine
the loss of revenue due to the existence of underground economy, not to talk
of devising concrete counter measures to bring enormous untaxed money into
the mainstream of economy. Rampant corruption and unprecedented tolerance
towards black money has made Pakistan a state where the very survival of
public institutions is at stake at the hands of ruthless forces representing
money power. One of
the worst consequences of black money and tax evasion is their pernicious
effect on the general moral fabric of society. They put integrity at a
discount, and place a premium on vulgar and ostentatious display of wealth.
This shatters the faith of the people man in the dignity of honest labour and
virtuous living. It is, therefore, no exaggeration to say that ill-gotten
wealth is like a cancerous growth in the country's economy, which if not
checked in time is certain to culminate in its death. It is
not possible to determine the precise amount of revenue loss and size of
black money or informal economy in Pakistan. According to an estimate by the
World Bank, the country suffered a revenue loss amounting to $18.08 billion
in 2005-06 because of smuggling. In 2005, its quantum was estimated at over
$14 billion. According to government's own admission (page 262 of Economic
Survey 2006-07), tax loss under the head of granting exemption to capital
gain earners alone during the fiscal year 2006-07 was Rs 112.45 billion. Besides
direct monetary costs of corruption, other significant costs --such as loss
of government credibility, spread of injustice, distortions in resource
allocations, and loss of foreign and local investment -- are destroying the
very fibre of civil society in Pakistan. According to figures released by
independent quarters during 2006, the parallel economy is growing at an
alarming rate of 22.93 per cent per annum. Every
fifth rupee transacted in Pakistan is black, according to the volume of black
money generated in the year 2005-06 -- Rs. 900 billion. This also means that
everyday tax fraud in Pakistan exceeds Rs 247 million. This is not the final
count. We have yet not accounted for kickbacks in foreign trade, smuggling
(for example, huge tax evasion in the name of Afghan Transit Trade) and
foreign exchange racketeering, apart from narcotic trade and other criminal
traffic. It is
tragic that in a country where billions of rupees are being made on daily
basis in speculative transactions in real estate and shares, tax-to-GDP ratio
is pathetically low at just 9.5 per cent in 2006-07. The government seems
least bothered to tax undocumented economy and benami {name-lender)
transactions. The mighty sections of society are engaged in these
transactions and the CBR, being their handmaid, has neither will nor ability
to tax them. It exposes the uselessness of the CBR as an institution to tap
the real tax potential of the country. So, it hardly matters that its name is
being changed to Federal Board of Revenue or anything else. The
writers are tax advisers. Email: www.huzaimaikram.com
In the
modern age, the media has become so much integrated with social institutions
that sociologists have started regarding it as one of them. The media's
positive as well as negative impact on other social institutions has been a
topic of intense debate among researchers around the globe. Just like its
role in promoting or curbing any societal trend, the media also has a very
strong bearing on the phenomenon of terrorism. Since
terrorism is generally defined as "the politically-motivated
violence", the media plays an Dr Abdul
Siraj, chairperson of the Mass Communication Department, Allama Iqbal Open
University (AIOU), Islamabad, views that the media and terrorism have a
"symbiotic" relationship. "The
extremists and terrorists want to remain in the news to obtain not only
massive -- possibly worldwide -- publicity, but also the legitimisation that
media attention gains for them in the eyes of their sympathisers. At the same
time, terrorist acts provide an endless source of sensational and
visually-compelling news stories for media organisations, thus boosting the
number of their audiences or readers," he told TNS. Dr Siraj
further says that as long as media organisations exist, terrorists will
continue to long for what former British prime minister Margaret Thatcher
called "the oxygen of publicity". Similarly, he adds, as long as
terrorists keep on committing acts of violence, the media will continue to
scramble for sensational stories. Media
coverage of terrorist acts has been instrumental in the growing public
knowledge about extremism in Pakistan. Experts believe that extremists and
terrorists are fully aware of the importance of media for them. "Since
getting media attention is critical to extremists, they even resort to
terrorist acts to get their message across," views Khalid Sultan, a
senior television producer. The
strategy employed by extremists and militants in Pakistan is to either
control the media or, where this option is not feasible, to influence it
favourably. In line with this strategy, they have been able to control
journalists in the tribal areas as well as some parts of the NWFP, thereby
effectively stopping the dissemination of facts. The sway
over media representatives has been achieved through naked aggression, threat
of force and other violent means. In the process, many conscientious
journalists working against the interest of extremists have lost their lives,
while others have to bear with intimidation. The
extremists have also tried to influence the mainstream media by inviting its
representatives to their hideouts and obliging them through 'information',
which at best is one sided. They have also tried to advocate their cause and
justify their tactics through the media, by using the good offices of their
high-profile sympathisers within right-wing political parties like the
Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and the Pakistan Muslim League (PML). Through
the use of an assortment of tactics to sway the mainstream media and by
taking an anti-government stance, especially through propaganda that it is
acting on behalf of foreign masters, extremists and militants try to
construct the 'reality'. "Extremists have been able to achieve only
limited success in this effort, as the traditional values of the media like
liberalism have foiled their strategy to a great extent," views Khalid
Sultan. Another
strategy employed by extremists, which has been critical to their overall
goals, is to organise local media channels and networks, and target mainly
rural areas and illiterate people. In this respect, FM radio stations have
been the first choice of extremists -- as they are inexpensive and their
contents can easily be directed to the desired target group. The FM radio
stations in the hub of extremists have greatly served their purpose of
radicalising the society, and winning legitimacy for them and their tactics. The
exact number of FM radio stations operating in the NWFP and the Federally
Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) is not known, though some estimates put
their figure at around 300. The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory
Authority (PEMRA) has already seized dozens of illegal FM radio stations in
the NWFP, but its powers do not extend to FATA or the Provincially
Administered Tribal Areas (PATA). According
to sources, some FM radio stations in FATA have been indoctrinating people --
including women -- to become suicide bombers. Though it is difficult to
ascertain the impact of extremist messages being delivered through FM radio
stations, it can be said with certainty that they do influence at least a
part of the population. "The
propaganda tools used by terrorists -- such as communiques, broadsheets,
pamphlets and magazines -- generally have a very limited circulation, but
they do serve the vital function of maintaining ideological militancy among
members and sympathisers, besides spreading militant ideas to other
potentially sympathetic groups. It would be foolish to underestimate their
importance as channels of propaganda, as means of inspiring fervour, and as
means of explaining new policies of leaders to the rank and file," views
Dr Siraj. Internet
is yet another tool which extremists in Pakistan have very effectively used
to disseminate their messages and to terrorise the society. With terrorists
unable to reach the mass audience directly due to the fear of law or other
limitations, Internet has come in handy to serve their purposes. Besides
the strategies being used by terrorists and extremists to meet their ends,
the violence that is portrayed in the media also indirectly serves their
purposes. Television programmes in general have been instrumental in
injecting violent trends in the Pakistani society, thus preparing a large
number of people ready to join the ranks of terrorists in order to give a
vent to their extremist feelings. Violence
in TV programmes may have an impact on viewers at a number of psychological
levels, which can be broadly divided into cognitive, affective (emotional)
and behavioural. Behavioural effects of TV violence have been hypothesised to
act via a number of mechanisms, principal among which are catharsis, arousal,
disinhibition, imitation and desensitisation. According to the catharsis
hypothesis, accumulated aggressive impulses can be discharged by individuals
if they become absorbed in violent events. As the
media research in this regard has been conducted in the United States and
Western countries with almost universal education, it seems that the
catharsis hypothesis is irrelevant to Pakistan. In our context, the other
four hypotheses seem more relevant. The
arousal hypothesis suggests that watching violent television programmes can
arouse viewers and make them excited. According to disinhibition hypothesis,
watching violence on television may legitimise the use of violence by the
viewer in real life by undermining social sanctions against behaving
violently that normally work to inhibit such behaviour. This is typically the
case in the Pakistani society. The
imitation hypothesis assumes that viewers, most especially very young ones,
are inclined to learn from behaviours they see performed by TV characters and
copy the actions themselves. It is hypothesised, for example, that children
may learn that violence is a useful and appropriate way of overcoming one's
problems. Alternatively, young viewers may copy their heroes' behaviours to
become more like them, through a psychological process known as
identification. The strategy of al-Qaeda and the Taliban to make movies
depicting slaughtering of their opponents by children is a typical example of
employing this hypothesis. Desensitisation
is another method which serves the purpose of extremists and terrorists
indirectly. According to this hypothesis, repeated viewing of TV violence
leads to a reduction in emotional responsiveness to violence on the screen
and to an increased acceptance of violence in real life. In the light of the
knowledge of extremists' use of media for their radical purposes, there is
the need for an elaborate strategy to protect the society and the state from
total radicalisation. The writer is a journalist/analyst and researcher.
Email: razapkhan@yahoo.comxxx
Following
the collapse of Karachi Northern Bypass Bridge, the usual steps are being
taken without even examining the situation. For instance, the National
Highway Authority (NHA) has instituted a routine inquiry into the incident.
This appears absurd as any inquiry cannot be considered appropriate and
impartial if it does not hold all the concerned parties accountable and
liable to response. Going by
this logic, the NHA too must be answerable for this episode as any other
stakeholder. The
boiler explosion incident in North Karachi, collapse of Ran Pathani Railway
Bridge, complete destruction of Makran Coastal Highway (another trumpeted
feat of the NHA) and countless tragedies were investigated in the past. Soon
thereafter, the matters fizzled out and the files were put in cold storage --
only to be taken out for witch-hunting in future. Infrastructure
development in Pakistan, including Karachi, is undertaken through a peculiar
institutional format. There are federal bodies of various hues and profiles
that are entrusted this task. The NHA, housing authorities, port authorities,
land development agencies and power generation/distribution bodies are all
examples. Many of
these bodies are only top-heavy organs, which sublet almost the entire outlay
of their work. The organisational culture is usually derived from military
organisations, with the top leadership coming from the same domain. It makes
a happy combination for all concerned, as they are quick in taking all the
credit if some project proves successful. They are equally skillful in
preventing any disciplinary action if the projects fall apart. The military
elements do not allow criticism, least of all accountability.
The
multiplicity of organisations, their confusing and overlapping jurisdictions
as well as absence of coordinating mechanisms, have been a prominent ailment
in city development affairs. The city nazim absolves himself of the
responsibility of looking after the management of the entire metropolis for
the same reason. It is
true that different bodies do exist and continue to perform parallel
functions related to infrastructure development and management tasks, but
this is quite common in many large cities across the world. What makes them
better managed is that the objectives of and approach to development and
management are defined for the common people. In other words, the singularity
of purpose does not make the multiplicity of managers a handicap. What is
peculiar to Karachi and many other cities of Pakistan is the lack of common
purpose and sincerity in application at various ends. Thus one finds the most
vital of urban infrastructure projects being transformed into nightmares due
to organisational conflicts and managerial disarray. Bridge disaster is a
case in point where agencies instantly began the blame game in order to
off-load any responsibility of action to the next stakeholder. Programming
of development works is an important consideration in urban infrastructure
management. It is usually carried out with great care to obtain the best
value for municipal spending as well as to reduce the inconvenience to the
citizens. The city has been turned into a hodge podge of make-shift
arrangements as all the prime transportation and sanitation projects seem to
have begun in one go. Flyovers, trunk drains, interchanges and other related
civil works were all initiated without any reference to scientific
programming. Owing to
political insecurity, the city nazim announced the launch of high spending
projects, assuming that the city shall be able to brave out inconvenience.s
Little did he know that the limited capacity of contractors, inherent process
jams in approvals and release of funds as well as delays would turn the city
into an inconceivable nightmare. The rains further compounded the problems. One is
not sure whether the quality of construction would remain as specified, given
the endless spot damages caused to the various components of projects.
Loosening of earth, inappropriate concrete applications, poor quality of
masonry works and stagnant water in vital spaces are common sights. In
addition, the emergency relief was non-existent. Possibility of local/neighbourhood
or even town-based relief work also did not exist. Similarly inter-agency
coordination was lacking, eventually evolving into an ugly blame game. One
agency was blaming the other for diverting stagnant rain and sewerage water
to the jurisdiction of the other. Needless to say that the infrastructure is
the common property of the city and its custodian agencies, and each one has
a collective responsibility to safeguard and manage it in the larger interest
of the people. Several
important steps need to be taken in this respect. The first step is to create
a viable institutional set-up to address the issues on a long-term basis. An
administratively potent and professionally capable planning agency need to be
created within the framework of CDGK. This agency must be allowed to
independently plan and guide the development process, including
infrastructure development. Even federal and military based urban projects
should be scrutinised by this agency. It may
be noted that the existing provision of Master Plan Groups of Offices (MPGO)
in the city is not in a position to tackle these spread out responsibilities.
The next step is to re-examine the process of design and execution. A revised
set of project guidelines must be prepared for making the planning, design
execution and operation works compatible to strict standards of quality and
performance. The design merit should not be compromised at any cost. And
finally, the infrastructure planning must be undertaken in a coordinated
manner. With the recent promulgation of the Access to Information Ordinance
2006 by the governor of Sindh, the task has become achievable, provided the
will is there.
One has
termed this formula 'National Deal for Reconciliation and Harmony'. It is
conceived to be a win-win scenario for all contenders, most of all the
citizens and civilians; and is supposed to begin from September 10, when
Nawaz Sharif and his younger bother Shahbaz Sharif are due to land in
Islamabad. It offers a plan of complete transition from a military-dominated
state, democracy and governance to a civilian-led dispensation by April 2008. This
formula is developed keeping in view the big global and domestic political
picture that Pakistan However,
it is pertinent and relevant to spell out the assumptions that influence the
articulation of this formula. The single major assumption is that General
Musharraf, and his allies, are willing to take a giant step back for a
quantum leap forward, in the true 'national interest'. One minor assumption
is that General Musharraf actually means when he often says: "Sab say
pehlay Pakistan!" The
conceptual premise of this article, and the proposed national deal, is rooted
in the ageless Asian wisdom reflected in: "Don't fight fire with fire;
find water!" (Lord Buddha); and "When flood has approached your
house, open the doors and save the house!" (Chinese proverb). The
formula addresses seven major, short-term issues, and a set of as many
interwoven, long-term, issues. Following are the details -- possible ways of
addressing these issues -- of
this formula: Short-Term
Issues Return
of exiled leaders As a
first step towards national harmony, consider offering a general in scope but
limited in time clemency, effective between September 2007 and April 2008,
primarily from arrests but also from any other explicit or implicit form of
prosecution or coercion, to all those who were accused of financial and/or
executive wrongdoings while holding elected public offices between 1975 and
2005. This will also cover any action against you, at least for the time
being, under Article 6 (high treason) of the 1973 Constitution. Fate of
present assemblies Let the
present assemblies, for a change and for the sake of a unique record in the
last 60 years, complete their term. Instead of dissolving them, let the
parliamentarians go home with some dignity in mid-November 2007. Setting
up of a caretaker government If you
facilitate a truly representative and neutral caretaker government,
comprising conscientious people, you and your allies will get a lot of
mileage and political boost. This single act will positively influence the
process and outcome of several other steps proposed here. The
issue of uniform Announce
your intention to retire as the army chief, as part of this proposed national
deal, in September 2007; nominate your successor; and choose strategically
(or intuitively!) a suitable date for hanging the boots. It would add to your
credibility by leaps and bounds if the actual retirement coincides with or,
preferably, precedes the setting up of the caretaker government. Free and
fair elections You can
win hearts and minds if you could somehow manage free, fair and credible
elections -- the mother of all issues. This will primarily require two key
steps. One, nominating an independent (and credible) Election Commission, if
possible, from a panel nominated by the opposition; and two, holding both the
national and provincial elections on the same day with due role of advanced
technology for casting, counting and preventing fake votes. A good,
affordable and replicable example is the use of simple, push button gadgets
used in last Indian elections. One proposes that the elections should be held
in early February 2008, which will be within 90 days of the setting up of the
caretaker government as per this plan. Election
for a public office in uniform This is
the only area that will require an ordinance or a constitutional amendment,
offering a universal allowance to all those who retire from the peak of a
service (any state service: military, bureaucracy, judiciary, etc) or seek
voluntary retirement to take part in public or political life after 12 weeks.
Since the spirit and intention behind this proposed step are both universal
and inclusive, it is is not likely to be challenged in the Supreme Court. Restoration
of the 1973 Constitution This
issue is obviously tricky, but it can be dealt with if the 1973 Constitution
is restored in its original shape and made effective from April 2008.
Alternatively, it can also be dealt along with the complex, long-term set of
issues. In case we opt for the first choice, the proposed elections in
February 2008 should be held under the 1973 constitution and for a
constituent assembly. The thinking behind this radical suggestion is that a)
the 1973 constitution has been so bruised and battered by amendments,
violations and outright disrespect that we need a new constitution; and b)
since the issue of balance of power (between the president and the
parliament) has become so heated, it would make sense to involve people and
let the elected representatives decide whether they want to invoke the 1973
Constitution -- with one meta, purgatory amendment --or frame a new
constitution. Long-Term
Issues It is
proposed that a truly representative Pakistan Forum be set up to advise on
all these issues, including an even-handed plan to prosecute the accused (who
are being given limited clemency from September 2007 to April 2008) by a
single forum. Let us consider that the consensus recommendations of the Forum
will be binding on you, Mr president, as well as the government that follows
after the elections. The
Pakistan Forum will have to be a nationally representative body of major and
minor political and other interests. It is proposed that the Forum should
include all parliamentary leaders in the National Assembly; elected
representatives of lawyers, businessperons and the media (both journalists
and editors/owners); minority leaders; and civil society representatives. It
should also include two retired army chiefs (from those who showed respect
for democratic governments like General Jehangir Karamat and General Waheed
Kakar) and two retired judges of good repute (for instance, Justice
Saeeduzzaman Siddiqui, Justice Fakhruddin G Ibrahim and Justice Tariq Mahmood).
Since
the Forum will be mandated to advise you also, therefore you should not
become its part. It would not include the three leaders who had been abroad
for quite some time -- Nawaz Sharif; Benazir Bhutto and Altaf Hussain --
because they have stakes in the outcome of this Forum's working. But, like
other free citizens, they would be indirectly taking part through their
representatives in the National Assembly. To sum
up, one would say that this National Deal for Reconciliation and Harmony,
while balancing the popular and the political in the public interest, would
save you from entering into 'deal' with any contender from apparent position
of perceived vulnerability. Besides,
it would demonstrate your selfless gesture of providing level playing field
to all contenders; would save you from consolidating multiple divides in
Pakistan; and would also take many a pressure from you as the Pakistan Forum
could act as a bulwark while taking care of, in particular, international
pressures on the one hand and the domestic insurgency on the other. One sure
outcome of this formula is your augmented stature as a statesman, as we
believe that your are aware of its value and it matters to you. Re-election
as the president After
taking all the above steps, one does not think you would have any close
contenders to be elected as the president of Pakistan. Let the new assemblies
elect you, under revised rules of the new or amended constitution. To
conclude, one would stress that it is about time to choose between a
potential salute, in case of a selfless approach, and drumming out by the
nation. The
writer, a former civil servant, is presently a freelance social development
consultant based in Islamabad. Email: civiljunction@gmail.com
Iqra was
too young to even properly say 'Abai' (mom) and 'Baba' (dad) when her father
agreed to give her in 'Swara'. The three-year-old girl is the daughter of
Pervez Khan, a resident of Jaffarabad in Lower Dir, NWFP. She was set to be
shifted to her in-laws' house on August 31, but was stopped thanks to the
media and subsequent action by the police. 'Swara',
a cruel custom of giving women to rivals for resolving a dispute, is in vogue
in all the It is
unfortunate that every Malik, Chaudhry, Sardar, Wadera and Khan can hold a
jirga in Pakistan, and can impose a decision of his choice on innocent people
with impunity, even if it conflicts with the law of the land. Countless lives
have been destroyed because of this, but the perpetrators mostly go
scot-free. Pervez Khan, a labourer in Kharian, Punjab, developed business
rivalry with some Afghans. The Afghans -- Haji Yasin, Inzar Gul, Allah Noor
and Qayyum -- accused Pervez of having illicit relations with the wife of
their business partner, Fazl Subhan, a Pakistani. The
Afghans received Rs 62,000 from Pervez to put the matter under the carpet,
but later they changed their mind and said that Subhan had not been properly
compensated. Subsequently, the four-member Afghan jirga 'decided' that the
three-year-old Iqra would be 'married' to seven-year-old Imran, son of Fazl
Subhan, to resolve the dispute. Pervez
had no option but to agree. JUI-F District Naib Amir Maulana Gul Rahim alias
Darbar Maulvi performed the nikkah on January 10, 2007, and August 31 was set
as the date for Iqra's rukhsti. However, Pervez later changed his mind and
sought the media's help by bringing the minor girl to the Chakdara Press
Club. The
story was widely published in the press."The Afghan refugees forced me
at the gunpoint to give Iqra to Subhan's son. It was done to punish me for a
business rivalry," he claimed. "This is a condemnable act to give a
three-year-old child in Swara," SPARC's Manager Law Ijaz reacted. The
police took timely action and arrested seven people -- Ghulam Muhammad,
Muhammad Gul, Gul Khan, Pervez Khan (Iqra's father), Lal Zada, Amir Nawaz and
Sultan Yousaf. The Ouch Police Station first confirmed to TNS that Subhan had
been arrested, but later denied it. The Lower Dir Sessions Court ordered the
registration of FIR against 18 people involved in performing the matrimonial
rituals. Finally, the marriage was stopped and police took custody of Iqra on
court orders. Majority
of the victims of this barbaric practice across the country are minor girls.
In June last year, a two-month-old baby girl fell prey to Swara in Buner,
NWFP. It was reported in June this year that two girls, aged five and seven,
had been given in Swara to their family rivals to end a land dispute at Hatan
Dara in Upper Dir. One of them, Fehmeeda, was recovered on court orders from
her 'in-laws' house after two years. The
court ordered the registration of FIR against 19 people under section 310-A
of Pakistan Penal Code (PPC), inserted in the PPC through the Criminal Law
(Amendment) Act 2005, which suggests up to 10 years imprisonment for handing
over girls to rivals. However, the accused in these cases were acquitted by
the Peshawar High Court on the basis that the law did not extend to the
Provincially and Federally Administered Tribal Areas (PATA and FATA). This
barrier came as a blow to the efforts aimed at discouraging the menace of
Swara. The legal experts say that the laws prevalent in the rest of the
country are not applicable in FATA and PATA under Article 247 of the
Constitution, unless the president and the governor extend them to these
areas through notifications. The
accused in Iqra case may also go unpunished due to legal compulsions. This
social menace needs to be checked with an iron hand and the laws in this
respect should be promulgated in all parts of the country, so that education
and better future is ensured to the minor girls. "We will launch a
campaign for extension of anti-Swara law to the PATA and FATA," Ijaz
vowed. These cases necessitate the immediate extension of the above-mentioned
law to the PATA and FATA, so that the practice of Swara is legally checked in
these conservative societies. It
is, however, encouraging that a seven-member bench of the Supreme Court
headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has declared all Swara,
Vinni and Sang Chatti marriages null and void, and ordered district police
officers (DPOs) across the country to prevent such marriages in future. Human
rights have become a 'flavour-of-the-month' term in contemporary politics and
even dictatorial regimes try to give the impression that they respect them.
However, it is difficult to find people in Pakistan who have actually waged
struggle for human rights and have suffered as a result. Shakeel
Pathan, who passed away on September 24, 1998, was one such courageous person
-- he Born on
April 1, 1956, in Hyderabad, Shakeel did his Master's in Political Science
from the University of Sindh. The environment at that time was politically
charged, with students actively participating in the movement for the
restoration of democracy. Shakeel
joined the left-wing National Students Federation (NSF) and soon became the
president of its Sindh chapter. "He started working actively against the
class system as a young student and later helped make bonded labour in
Pakistan an international issue," recalls Jan-e-Alam, a Pakistan
People's Party (PPP) leader and a former NSF activist. "In 1978, when
the journalist community waged a struggle for the implementation of Wage
Board Award under the leadership of Minhaj Barna, Shakeel #went to jail for
the cause of journalists. He was with me in the Central Prison, Karachi. We
observed a 21-day hunger strike against the excesses of jail authorities and
Shakeel had to be hospitalised," Alam says. "I
was forced to leave the country in 1981, when a PIA plane was hijacked and
the hijackers demanded the release of many political prisoners. When I came
back to Pakistan after several years, Shakeel was still struggling for human
rights," he adds. "He did not succumb to pressure even after being
hit by paralysis, and continued his struggle for the rights of peasants and
labourers," Alam lauds. Sohail
Sangi, a senior journalist and a former leader of the Communist Party of
Pakistan, recalls Shakeel with fondness, love and respect. "I was a
member of the Sindh National Students' Federation (SNSF) that had pro-Moscow
leanings, whereas Shakeel was an active member of the NSF (Rashid Group) that
had Maoist leanings. We differed ideologically, but I can say with certainty
that he was a shining star of the Left movement. It was not a joke to raid
private jails in Sindh where peasants were kept bonded," he says. Even
before the establishment of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP),
Shakeel was actively fighting for prisoners' rights and formed a committee
for that cause. "He also tried his level best to provide solace to the
families of the martyrs of the Movement for the Restoration of Democracy (MRD)
during the era of General Ziaul Haq," Sangi informs. Mahmood-ul-Hasan,
another former leader of the NSF, says: "Shakeel was committed to the
cause of working people, and even imprisonment and disease could not deter
him." Shakeel was one of the founding members of the HRCP in 1986. He
also worked as coordinator of its Special Task Force for Sindh from 1991 till
his death in an accident in 1998, when he was going to Umerkot, Tharparkar,
with a team to free bonded labourers. Shakeel
was a part of many fact-finding missions in Sindh, including those relating
to abuse of human rights, torture against women and children, custodial
deaths, child labour, bonded labour, karo kari, and violence against
minorities. It was Shakeel who raided the dungeon of a feudal lord in Sindh
along with a team of Anti-Slavery International, a foreign non-governmental
organisation, and freed 71 bonded labourers in 1996. The
famous Manu Bheel was not present at the camp at that time, but when he
returned he was severely tortured by the feudal lord who suspected that the
raid had been conducted at his behest. If we today find Manu Bheel staging a
symbolic hunger strike from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm daily in front of the
Hyderabad Press Club, the credit goes to Shakeel who gave an impoverished
farmer of Tharparkar the will to fight against atrocities. Though
the bonded labour system was formally abolished in 1992 during Nawaz Sharif's
first tenure as the prime minister, it continues to be practiced in Sindh and
Punjab even today. 'Analysis of Interventions in Bonded Labour in Pakistan,'
a study conducted in 2003 by the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and
Research (PILER), an NGO, explicitly says: "Though different NGOs claim
that about 30,000 bonded labours have been released in the country during the
last one decade, the PILER research team has been able to account for only
8,530 people confirmed released at this moment." The
study further says: "The effectiveness of state intervention can be
gauged from the fact that in 12 years since the law was enacted in 1992, a
total of 23 cases were detected under Bonded Labour System (Abolition) Act
and the fine collected during that period was Rs 6,100 only." Despite
the fact that tens of thousands of bonded labourers are still languishing in
private jails in the country, there is a silver lining because the Supreme
Court has taken a suo moto notice of the plight of Mano Bheel and has ordered
top police officials to take steps to recover his family members. The credit
goes to courageous people like Shakeel who not only raised consciousness
level of bonded labourers, but also acted daringly to free them. Shakeel
also received a special award, conferred by the Lawyers for Human Rights and
Legal Aid (LHRLA), in June 1994 for his contribution to the cause of human
rights. He was also awarded by the Council of Pakistan Affairs in 1998
posthumously. Also, he was given an award by Shehri Action Committee,
Hyderabad, the same year. His wife Nasreen Shakeel continues to carry forward
his mission with great zeal, while his son Adeel Pathan is a journalist known
for espousing the cause of human rights. |
|
not be taken for granted, in the sense that the armies inherited by
post-colonial Asian and African states were only occasionally armies of
national liberation that had fought on behalf of the anti-colonial movement for
the cause of freedom. 
For
a large number of Pakistanis, the idea of a people's army is increasingly
difficult to reconcile with the very clear and consistent self-aggrandisement
that has characterised the army's conduct in the economic and political spheres
of Pakistan's social life for about three decades. The discontent has increased
slowly but surely, and has reached a feverish pitch in the last six months,
particularly during the lawyers' movement for the restoration of Chief Justice
Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry.
environment for the growth of small business units to ensure more jobs and,
ultimately, a considerable reduction in poverty. In broader spectrum, the
policy has initially identified four major areas -- Small Business
Development Centre, Credit Information Bureau, Business Cluster and Credit
Enhancement Mechanism.
The
consultation process initiated by the Small and Medium Enterprises Authority
(SMEDA) last year proved to be a futile exercise, as the turn over of SMEs
representatives remained lower than expectations. The SMEDA, eventually,
decided to expand the consultation process to smaller cities after getting a
poor response in big cities like Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar. Due to these
reasons, the consultation process lingered on for months without any concrete
outcome. 
devising astute and stringent measures to curb tax evasion, so that the
burden of taxes can be distributed fairly and justly between people belonging
to different walks of life. The honest taxpayers need to be safeguarded, as
day by day they are being disillusioned by the fact that tax-evaders are
paying nothing in connivance with their friends in the tax machinery. This
unholy alliance between tax-evaders and corrupt tax officials has to be
eliminated as a first and foremost step, if we want to initiate any
meaningful change in the tax system. 
important role by disseminating the motivations and demands of the
perpetrators of violence. Through reflection and construction of the social
reality, the media justifies or otherwise the cause and tactics of
terrorists, and wins for them either supporters or opponents.
Besides, the terms of reference that are normally worked out for these
inquiry exercises are extremely limited. At best, they focus on the finding
of immediate reasons for the collapse of the bridge. The people hardly have
any faith in the conduct and outcome of such inquiries, as they have seldom
generated any worthwhile result in the past.
These
organisations are very eager to involve their sister concerns. For instance,
the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) is usually hired whenever and wherever
any project is initiated by the NHA. The FWO then acts as the supra-execution
agency with further layers of contractors working under it. One can imagine
the unnecessary rise in the cost of projects due to the multi-layered project
design and implementation mechanism. 
is a part of. It is cognizant of various internal rigidities, compulsions and
divides. The formula focusses on the common ground approach. 
provinces of Pakistan. It is known as 'Sang Chatti' in Sindh, 'Vinni' in
Punjab and 'Arjani' in Balochistan. The victims of 'Swara' are often made to
pay for the wrongdoings of their male relatives. Iqra was also made to pay
for her father's illicit relations with a woman. 
raided the notorious private jails of feudal lords in Sindh and got bonded
labourers freed from their clutches.